Meet an Alaskan at Heart!

Welcome to my website on Backwoods Alaskan Vacations! It's about the 'backwoods' because that's what I'm most familiar with and it really IS what Alaska is all about. The primitive, non-civilized environment can be such a challenge and yet it is so peaceful, beautiful and inviting. That's what draws people here and fires up their imaginations!

Though I wasn't born in Alaska, I am an Alaskan at heart. My parents moved here when I was five years old because they wanted more open space, freedom and probably some adventure in their lives. And I'm very grateful they did. I can't imagine a better childhood. We had adventures aplenty!

I'm not saying we had an easy life. We didn't. We lived a true Alaskan pioneer lifestyle. For several years, we lived in tents and log cabins in various remote locations. We were without many modern conveniences for most of my growing up years. Since we ended up with seven children in the family, we all had to share in the work. I learned to chop wood and haul water at an early age as did my older sister. We also took care of our five younger brothers and sisters as they came along.

Even when I was in high school and we lived in the foothills of the Chugach mountains just outside of Anchorage, we had no indoor plumbing or telephone. Our home heating system consisted of a 55-gallon oil drum that was converted into a wood-burning stove. The only convenience we had was electricity. That was quite a blessing as we could now have electric lights, a refrigerator AND a radio. Mom even had her old gasoline powered Maytag washer converted to electricity at that time.

But even then, we lived in a shell of a house without much insulation. In the winter, my older sister or I would get up around 6:00 AM to get the fire going. It was usually out and when it's 25 or 30 degrees below zero outside, the temperature in the house was below freezing too. We always had a galvanized bucket of drinking water inside, and it would often have ice on it in the morning.

Despite our apparent harsh living conditions, I wouldn't trade those years for any other lifestyle. We were a close-knit family and all the other Alaskans we knew helped one another when it was needed—no questions were ever asked. If a person was hungry or needed a place to stay, you could practically knock on anyone's door and get the help you needed. There is something about a harsh environment and scarcity of people that makes everyone friendlier and helpful towards one another.

After I became an adult I started my own life of adventure. I bought some property and built a cabin with the help of a few friends and my two daughters, who were 7 and 9 at the time. They loved it, too!

I also took up flying and got around to a few of the remote areas of Alaska. Since it can take weeks to find a lost plane, you have to carry survival gear in case you go down. But we took numerous enjoyable trips, both by plane and car and had no accidents.

Through my web pages on backwoods Alaskan vacations, I hope you'll get to know me more than anything I could say here. And in these, you'll read many of my adventures, both as a child and adult. But there is one thing I'd like you to know. Growing up in Alaska the way I did, gave me an inner strength and the belief that I can survive anything. That's quite a wonderful lesson!

People always seem to be interested in Alaska when I talk about it. They usually have many questions and most enjoy "Alaskan stories" as well. So I've tried to build a website that will answer questions and be informative, as well as interesting.

Alaska is much more available today than it has been in the past. With more roads, better transportation and communication, it's much easier to explore. But none of us want it to lose those qualities that make it so attractive to all of us—it's natural wildness and pristine beauty. So please take care of Alaska while you're visiting. Help all of us keep it in it's pure and natural state for future generations!

After visiting here, you may become an Alaskan at heart too! Hope you have the adventure of a lifetime and come back again soon.

Much Love from,

Carol

Your Alaskan Adventure Companion

P.S. I love to hear from my visitors, even if it is just to say "Hello"!

If you'd like to send me a letter, please use the form below. And tell me more about yourself while you're at it!

And if you have ideas, suggestions or other comments about my website, let me know about those too, in my Contact Me Form.

Also, to be notified about new information I add to my site, subscribe to my RSS Feed (in the left column of this page) and subscribe to my monthly Backwoods Alaska Vacations Updatesnewsletter. It will tell you about new pages I've added, as well as give special reports at times, such as road conditions, closures of trails or other information you may find useful when planning your Alaskan vacation.

Return to Top of About an Alaskan Page

Return to Tips for Backwoods Alaska Vacations Home Page