ALASKA - ( Itself Now.) I'll Try for Another One, on the "Lesser Length" Front. Though I Initially Ended up doing somewhat Good there on the Last One, the Cumulative Effects of some Neccessary Edits, Have it now that it Isn't so Good there. I Think I can Do so with Alaska Itself right now, I'll Try so again. So we'll Detour from Iceland for a Bit yet, and just Head Up thru the Aleutians and the Peninsula, to the Main Part of Alaska Itself! As a Song says, "North to Alaska!". Lets now Look and Turn North. To Alaska Itself!

ALASKA ( Itself.) - Here's one of the Great Areas of the World, Synonomous with The Great Outdoors, Frontiersmanship, and the COLD ! In the Far Northwest of Canada, / America, / and the Americas North and South, -She (Or is Alaska a He?) Reaches Outward from there, towards Siberia and the Eurasian Continent!

656,424 Square Miles of Such! This is a Sizeable Fraction of the Area of Both of it's Larger North American Neighbors, -Canada and the Lower U.S. They Come In at Three Million and 849,674 and Two Million and 879,854 Square Miles respectively. ( Funny, but I Think I once Recall that the Square Milage of the U.S. minus Alaska may have Come In at a Little over 3 Million Sq. Miles.) (My Source, from which I Subtracted for This Value, -and It Does Check Out, -is the 1997 Edition of the World Almanac.) So 3.8 Million, and 2.8 Million, Next to 6/10 ths of a Million Square Miles, is about It. Thogh Dwarfed in Comparison, Alaska Gives a Sizeable Enuf Addition, and is Huge. Obviously our Largest State, which with Both it's Southeastern and Aleutian Panhandles, -Can Stetch between Charleston SC and San Diego! If Overlaid on our Lower 48. Many of us do happen to Already Know that. It's Great Central Bulk would Take Up most of our Great Plains!, if similarly Overlaid.

It's in the Northern Arctic Regions of the World. It's one of the Last Great Frontiers, and one of the Earth's Greatest Wild Places!

Fish, Game, Forests, Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Tundra, Oil, Permafrost, Glaciers and Ice Floes, Volcanos, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Native Peoples, with Eskimos and Aleuts, Totem Poles, Dogs and Dogsledding, Treks and Hikes, Campfires, even some Forest Fires Beware!, Winter Cold and Snow, Salmon, Bears Polar / Black / Grizzly / Kodiak / and Brown, Fiords and Inlets, Landslides, Avalanches Down around Jeneau and Elsewhere, Snowshoeing and Cross Country, Bush Flying, Pioneering and Frontiersmanship, Mountaineering, Anchorage and Fairbanks, Ketchikan and Sitka, Defense Installations and an International Air Hub, Geology and Landforms, Gold and Other Prospecting, a Great Pipeline, Auroras and Midnight Sun, (As Well as Noon Darkness), Giant Vegetables, The Arctic Circle, a Far Reaching Oceanic Island String, The Mighty Yukon, Caribou Herds, Mt. McKinley, Katmai and it's 10,000 Smokes, Kodiak Island, The Malaspina and Other Glaciers, The Historic Russian Heritage, The Mega Quake of 64, People Usually Few and Far Between, ( But Usually Great and Helpful Company when They Are Around! )and Last but Not Least, -So Much of The Great Outdoors! As Well as Many Other Such Things in Between! Alaska is All These Things and More! I Admit thats quite a List, but Thats also Quite Alaska!, as well.

I Love and Am Drawn to Alaska Quite So! So Many of These Things are "Right Down my Alley", and in Many Ways and Respects, I Consider myself to be an Alaskan At Heart!

I would Like to Share Something of This Great Wild Area with you, includeing various Important Things concerning it's Survival Aspects.

Now How's It for Living and Surviving Up There?!

Well, it Revolves primarily around Cold, Forest, and Mountain Survival, as well as All the Other Sorts of Survival Subareas, mentioned in such Places as Siberia, Kamchatka, and the Aleutians. Some of these Lack only Trees and Forest. Alaska Overall has No such Lack, even if some Sizeable Subareas of Itself Does.

All of the Other Survival Techniques and Practices mentioned regarding Other COLD Wild Areas of the World, -Can Usually be Very Much Applied here as well.

I'll Add that in Much of Alaska, -You may be Well Inland. If you Want to Get Out, -Then you'd generally Want to Work your Way Southward andor Coastward. The Yukon and some Other Rivers would Serve you Very Well here.

The South Coast and Southeastern Panhandle, though Cool, are Uncharacteristically Wet, Warm, and Mild, for Alaska. As Oppossed to Most of the State's Weather and Climate, and the Public Perception of Such. This is a Lot like Britian or Seattle. This is the Moderating Oceanic Effect, from the Vast Pacific just Below. It Rapidly Decreases the Further Inland you Go. It's additionally Stopped, by Mountain Ranges such as the Chugach. I would Consider Placing a Higher Priority on Chooseing to Survive in This part of Alaska, than many Others. This would also be a More Preferred Coast, that I'd Want to Work my Way Towards. The SE Panhandle is particularly Filled with Fiords and other Inlets, Inside Passages, and Steep Forested Mountains Rising right up Out of the Sea!

Have and Use things like ELTs and GPS, Strike Out Towards, andor Try to Establish Radio Contact with a Settlement, and be Consciously Aware of Compass Problems, this Close to the North Geomagnetic Pole! River Floatdowns are a Great Way of Reaching a Settlement as well.

Some of your Most Crucially Important Things!, in Alaskan Survival, would of course be, -All Matters related to Fire, Shelter and Shelter Materials, Warmth and Dryness, Wind and Rain Protection, and Food and Water. Fortunately, At least these Last Two are Often quite Readily Available. As Often Fuel, Firewood, and Shelter Materials also are. Make Fish and Fishing, -a Major Part of your "Food Front", as well. Coupled with Having Smoking, Salting, Drying, and Other Food Preservation and Storage Techniques, -Down Pat.

Beware of a Lot of Soggy and Boggy Grounds and Swamps!, as well.

Signaling Can and Would be Very Important, and Possible, especially with Aircraft! Have such Equipment and Knowledge About yourself, Beforehand!

Warmth / Shelter / and Cold - Elements Protection is Foremost! Followed Closely by such things as Food and Water. Followed in Turn Closely by Things such as Compass, Maps, and Signaling.

Along with Mountaineering Knowledge, Rock and Other Climbing Knowledge would Come In Very Handy and Helpful too!

I would also Want to Find and Make Use of, some Sheltered Valleys and the Like, in the Mountains. They Moderate and Enmilden the Predominant Climate. It's Still Cold in the Winter,( and I'm Sure much of Autumn and Spring too.), but Less so. The Matunuska Valley is such a Place. This is Precisely a Reason Why it is such a Rare Alaskan Agricultural Breadbasket. I'd Try to Locate and Make Use of such Natural Shelters. (Or *More* Sheltered Areas anyway.)

Additional Pluses are that you still are in the United States, and that Nearly Everyone, Speaks or at least Understands, English.

Alaska would be a Fine Place to Stay! Though it's certainly Not the French Riviera or Tahiti either! But whether Staying or Trying to Extricate yourself Out, -You're Gonna Have to Survive! While There, You're gonna Have to Hold Fort, Make Best for Yourself, and Survive! This so has been a General Introduction to Alaska!, as well as One concerning some of it's Foremost, All Round Survival Aspects.

See Other E.W.P.-Survival Aspects,-COLD Mentions, -for some More such Survival Specifics. Many to Most of those are Very Applicable to Alaskan Survival as well.

Now concerning the Length Factor, Lets See how well I Did?!

Well I Did Do this one in 3. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]