ALASKA And THE ALEUTIANS. A Preliminary Note,- I was originally going to do perhaps Iceland here. But Tords Length Considerations and Better Reassurance on such, -I've Decided to do Alaska and the Aleutians. I Think this is going to be one of the Shorter Ones. And I Want to Better Show that it can be Done by me. So Let's now Head from that Mid North Atlantic Wild Place location, to this Mid North Pacific One!

ALASKA And THE ALEUTIANS- This, as Many to Most people know, is a Long, Curving Chain of Islands, to Alaska's Southwest. (It of course is a Part of Alaska Itself.) These Islands are either Actively Volcanic, or Volcanically Formed.

They are Much Like the Kuriles, in Many Ways. In Size, Rockiness and Treelessness, Rough Seas and Weather, Volcanoes and Hot Springs, Lengths, The Same Kind of Oceanic Curving Arcs!, probably in Other Ways as Well!

They're reasonably large Small Islands, All in much the same Size Range. (With the exception of Many Small accompanying Islets.) They're typically in the 10 - 50 Mile Range. ( 6 - 30 Km.)

There are at least 27 Major Ones. They Stretch for some 1500 Miles!, -Towards Siberia's Kamchatka. And we're Not even includeing, the Two Russian Kommandorski Islands, which are an Extension of Them, Separated by some Distance, and much Closer to Kamchatka. As to Climate, Topography. Etc, -They'd mayswell be considered Aleutian Islands.

These Aleutian Islands are Mountainous, Bleak and Treeless, and Very Often quite Rugged and Rocky! Coastlines more often than not, are Quite Jagged!, with many Twisting Bays and Whatnot. The Soil, or perhaps oftentimes Lack of it, and the Atrocious Climate Make them so Treeless! It's considerable Northern Latitude has something to do with this as well.

Cold, Wind, Rain, Fog, Ruff Seas!, -These are essentially the Everyday State of Affairs!, in the Aleutians!

It just so coincidentally Happens, that this Island Chain, Delineates the Meeting Place, of Cold Arctic Waters from the Bering Sea, and the Warmer Pacific Waters just to it's South. This Makes for the Ever Atrocious Cold, Wind, Fog, Rain, and Ruff Seas and Weather!

Beginning from the Southwestern Alaska Peninsula, Itself Nearly 750 Miles Long, (This is Before you even Get to the Aleutians), This 1500 Mile Chain begins. For all Practical Purposes, the Peninsula can be considered Aleutian as well. It has Things such as Mt.Katmai and the Valley of 10,000 Smokes! This Begins right Above Kodiak Island.

The Aleutians themselves then Continue all the way from Unimak Island to Attu. Well Known and Famous Names such as Unalaska, Umnak, Yunaska, Atka, Adak, Kanaga, Tanaga, Semisopochnoi, Amchitka, Agattu, Shemya, and Kiska, -Take their Places in Between.

East to West, They are Subdivided into 5 Ruff Subgroups, -The Fox Islands, The Islands of 4 Mountains, the Andreanofs, the Rat Islands, and the Near Islands. Nearest to Siberia, that is, These, in the form of Attu, are the Farthest from Alaska Proper. Or for that Matter, from anywhere Else in our Lower 49 U.S., North America, and Indeed, -All of the Americas.

Attu is on the *Other* Side of the (Non-Adjusted) International Date Line! It's at about 173 Degrees EAST Longitude! If you were from here to Travel Directly South, You would be Hundreds of Miles WEST of Most of New Zealand! Even the Start of the Aleutians at Unimak, would Take you Many Hundreds of Miles West of the Main Islands of Hawaii in this Scale. It just Goes to Show, the Actual Length and Breadth of our Nation and Continent.

Very Few People live here, including Not all that many Native Aleuts.

The Surrounding Seas, however, are Rich in Fish and Other Sea Life! This, along with some Local Livestock Grazing, and a Tiny Amount of Subsistance Farming, -Is the Economic and Livlihood Base of What People there Are. What Livestock there is, is probably Sheep more than anything else.

We have some Vital Military Outposts every here and there, The Japanese in WW 2 Actually Invaded and Occupied Attu and Kiska. We and the Canadians eventually Drove them back out.

Russians and Aleuts, had a Lot of Back and Forth Historical Activity here, Before we ever Arrived on it's Scene. That had to do primarily with Fishing and Furs.

Now as to How to Survive there! This Calls for Island Survival, Sea Survival, including Beach and Coast, Weather and Sea Wisdom, Cold Survival, Mountain Survival, Grasslands Type Survival, and Trying to Grow some Things in a Ruff Land! Add Hunting, Trapping, Gathering, and Fishing to that! Boating and Seamanship too.

One Thing you DON'T Have here!, Unfortunatey, is Forests!
Or for that Matter, even a Single Tree! -In 99 . 99999999 % of Locations! You will Not be Able to Avail yourself of Forest Survival Techniques. It would Sure come in Handy if you Could! But here in the Aleutians, -You just Cannot!

You'd want to do a Lot of your Gathering on the Beach and Seashore. You may be able to Garner some Berries and other Limited Plant Life, as well.

Shelter Materials, as well as Firewoody Fuel, -Can be Quite Dicey and Iffy! Your Best Bets here, beyond Rocks and Stones, (Plentiful), would be Turf, Thatch, Sod, and Other Grasslands Survival Techniques. You'd have to Use such Grasslandish Materials for your Fuel and Fire Sources, too!

Food is Plentiful from the Surrounding Seas, and perhaps also from Onshore Bird Life. Other than perhaps Birds, Food may be a Good deal More Difficult, to Wrest from the Land.

Fresh Water on the Land is Plentiful, but you may have to Store and Catch it!

It might Not get as Cold here as Nearby Siberia, or much of Alaska Proper, (Somewhat Moderating Ocean Climate just to the South), but Along with the All Round Atrocious Weather, it still gets Plenty Chilly and Cold here. If you've Got to Prepare for the Cold, in even the Lower Rockies at Summertime!, -Then you Certainly've Got to Prepare for it here!

As Important, if Not even More Important, would be Rain and Wind Protection!

If Stranded or Having to Survive there, I would Seek to Find one of the More Survival Conducive Locations that I Can, here in this Harsh Land. I'd Fish and Gather, Collect and Store Fresh Water, and Get my Rocks and Grasslandish Shelter Established. I would Have much Securely Dry Storage Areas. Rain Protection here Remains a Prime Order of the Day!

I'd have a Small, Seaworthy Boat, by which I can Scoot between Islands, and Do some Marine Fishing. In the Not All that Many "Good" Sea and Weather Days!, Up here in the Aleutians, at least for the Most Part.

Signaling might be Possible with Offshore Fishing Vessels. Or Perhaps even with Airliners Heading on Down from Anchorage to Tokyo. This Latter is a Possible Option for Kamchatka Survival too, of which I earlier there Forgot to Mention.

I would Take Maximum Advantage of Rather Rare Good Breaks in the Seas or Weather. For All Calls of Livlihood and Survival. As well as of the Brief Aleutian "Spring and Summer". You again here have both the Advantage of Long Summer Daylight Hours! (Though here you're a Little Too Far South to Get the Midnight Sun.) (The Latitude of England!, as a Matter of Fact. The Curve of the Aleutians Does Dip so.) But also the Short Alaskan and Arctic Growing Seasons! Plus the Often Atrocious Aleutian "Soil" Conditions!

And then there's Always the Earthquake, Volcano, and Tsunami Dangers! Knowledge and Preparations along These Lines, -Shud be Added to your Survival Package ( Or "Onion" ), as Well.

Were I to Want to Attract Attention or Rescue, and Extricate myself from the Aleutians, -I would Work my Way to one of the Scattered Settlements. Preferably, and Especially if I'm in the Eastern Half of the Aleutian Islands, -to the Alaskan Mainland. Afterwhich I'd Want to Hug the Cool, ( but Plenty Warmer than Most of Alaska! ), South Coast of Alaska to Anchorage.

These are What I Find to be the Survival Imperatives and Characteristics of our Aleutians! This is How I would "Make Best" for myself, Up There!

Finally, the Aleutians can be Used as a sort of Island Hopping Land Bridge towards Kamchatka!, -if you for any Reason ever Needed or Wanted to Go there! The Devil of course, as the saying goes, would be in the Details! The Aleutians and their Climate, Sure Aren't Gonna Make it Easy for you!

Well I,ve just Noticed that I've Made a Boo Boo in my Title! -Of "ALASKA And THE ALEUTIANS", whereas this was Thruout, only one on it's Aleutians! This had been my Intention from the Start. So the Main Body of Alaska Itself, Shall Appear sometime Later on it's Own, -as Another of the World's Wildest Places,-COLD ! "Alaska" in a Way is still Appropriate in this Title, -but it can certainly be Misleading! Thats certainly Not my Intention! So Knowing this now, Please Understand This particular One, -to be Only about the Aleutians!

Well I did this in 4 (Viewing "Pages"). Not Too Bad on the Length Front, I Think. Plus Only Half over the 3 1/2 I was Shooting For. Since Found,- What Comes Out as 4 Viewing frames in the Review Process, -Comes Out 5 in the Final Posting. (Due to Yellow Sidebar) [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]