Re: The “Last Greatest Race” Has Concluded!
 

!! I wasn't aware of those alternatives. Alaska attracts a lot of the "can do" crowd, because the "can't do" crowd leaves, or dies.

I met the most mature 22 year old in my experience on the middle mouth of the Yukon River, in Emmonak. The previous Fall, he'd been motoring out of an ADFG salmon counting camp when their boat hit a submerged log and sank with all their possessions. They had to hike out 30 miles to civilization in terrain that's 75% water, or die.

Another time I met two guys who'd lost a CV joint on their Jeep 32 miles in through the muskeg. They had to hike out, get a replacement, hike back in, repair the Jeep, and drive back out. All part of the Alaskan experience.

We had a similar experience, breaking a drive chain on an ATV 30 miles in. We had to drive out to a pay phone, call our wives, have them buy the link and a half master link for the repair, and drive it 150 miles to the pay phone the next day. We drove the 30 miles back to camp, dressed out the Moose we'd killed next to the dead ATV, and drove back to the pay phone the next day to get the chain repair part. Another round trip to camp with one of the wives and two curious kids, repair the chain, haul the moose meat to camp, drive back out with wife, kids, and 600 lbs of moose meat, and back to camp to resume hunting.