Alaska Experiment

[klkak]

That could be.

[Sourdough]

Sure wish I had a TV........I feel so left out of the conversation.

[trax]

that was sarcasm right hopeak? I know I don't need to see any tv shows about people humping around in the bush making fools of themselves where I live. I can just hop in my canoe and go watch them live.

[crashdive123]

In case you get curious.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/alaska/alaska-week.html

[Sourdough]

that was sarcasm right hopeak? I know I don't need to see any TV shows about people humping around in the bush making fools of themselves where I live. I can just hop in my canoe and go watch them live.

I do not own a TV, and the only way to get reception even form Anchorage stations is by Satellite.

Oddly enough I never, ever see anyone in the Chugach National Forest, Off the Hope Road. Which is a good thing...........

[RBB]

I've conversed with Dennis Wise (father from KS with 2 daughters), a fellow canoe man, concerning the Alaska Experiment. Due to a confidentiality agreement, he's not able to say much. He did say however, that he and his daughters did well during their time spent in Alaska, and that the segments showing him and his daughters arguing are a few bad moments out of three months that were basically harmonious. The three of them building a snowman together is a much better example of the time they had there. He also said a lot of what you see on the show are attempts by the producers to introduce drama. If you have enough film to cut and splice - you can make the story say anything you like.

[Aurelius95]

RBB, no doubt there is a lot of cutting by the producers. If they have cameras 24/7, then that's a lot of "down" time. In reading One Man's Wilderness, Dick P. (can't spell last name) fills his journal with what he ate, how he prepared it, etc. Imagine watching that on TV.... BORING! It's unfortunate that their family comes off so badly. But seriously, even if under stress, if I ever spoke to my dad like that I'd have my head handed to me.

[Rick]

There are alpha males and then there are alpha males. My father was an alpha who's mere presence commanded much more respect that those gals have shown this guy. Or perhaps I was just too smart not to respect him. Or both. Either way, we had a great relationship.

[RBB]

It's unfortunate that their family comes off so badly. But seriously, even if under stress, if I ever spoke to my dad like that I'd have my head handed to me.

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Every family has its own dynamics.

My family, a bit different. I sneered at my old man once, when I was about 17. He threw me down the stairs, launched himself and landed on me. As I lay there, getting the "snot" kicked out of me, it occurred to me I better change my ways. We are now best of friends. Not sure what I was thinking of at age 17. He hasn't changed.

The one or two times any of my kids have seen fit to be disrespectful - they soon saw the error of their ways as well. But, as I say, every family is different - and these two girls are of age. Not much you can do about it then.

[Aurelius95]

I think the teaching of respect (or lack there of) occurs when the child is a toddler to young child. If you don't instill it in them at that point, I think it's pretty much a lost cause. Right now, I'm trying to correct my son from saying, "huh?", when he doesn't hear me or understand what I meant. It's now, "excuse me?", or "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said". The funny thing is, yesterday at breakfast he informed me (politely) that I responded to one of his questions with, "huh?".

You can't just tell them to do what you say, and not do it yourself. Kids pick up on hypocrisy quicker than adults.

[RBB]

Back to the show: One of the things I've enjoyed most is the move, on the part of several involved, from quasi-vegetarian to meat eaters. Something about getting down to basics involved there.

[Omid]

I love her comment. "And there's nothing Dad can do."

Spoiled Brats on that show. Alaska is no place for them

They overexaggerated about the bears

Well thats sort of true, a lot of bears are vegetarians, except during the salmon run.

[crashdive123]

Spoiled Brats on that show. Alaska is no place for them

Where should we send them?

[Aurelius95]

Where should we send them?

France would be a good place to send them.

[crashdive123]

Well...they do have some nice whines...um, er, wines there.

[RBB]

For those of you, like Hopeak, without a TV - here is a little rundown on the series that I've been doing for another forum:

Alaska Experiment, a "reality" show on Discovery channel.

While shows of this nature don't usually interest me, this one does, maybe because of some tweaks to the premise, perhaps because I'm somewhat familiar with the area.

Four groups are involved. They each have to journey from two to ten miles, carrying a fair size pack and using map and compass, to their shelter in late summer where they will have to spend three months:

#1. A married couple from Southern California, she is in great shape, an "adventure racer," and very supportive of her out of shape husband, a concrete contractor. In the first segment, they have to climb the morass of a glacier ten miles to get to their cabin.

#2. Two guys and a girl, friends (forget where they're from), the guys in some form of computer work, and the girl in real estate. They all appear to be fit, but quite ignorant of wilderness - to the point of getting lost within the first three hours and walking in a large circle. It takes them two days to go three miles - also choosing to walk across the last mile of muskeg swamp rather than take a longer route on higher ground.

#3. An out of shape father in his 50s from Kansas, a retired assembly line worker, with two adult daughters, one soon to be married, and the other in college, both out of shape. The dynamics in this family don't look good. They have the easiest trek to their cabin, down a long sandy beach yet one daughter barely makes it. The daughters spend part of the first day at the cabin consuming vital food while the father is out fishing. Later, they have a huge row over how boots should be stored, showing pettiness on the part of the daughters and the father.

#4. A guy and a girl, not married, but obviously well known to each other. He is a geologist and she is s waste water engineer. Both appear to be fit and have good attitudes. They have to kayak through ice pack to reach their shelter, a large wall tent. They are the only ones to get fish within the first show segment, and are also the only ones to have a grizzly bear encounter, though all groups see scat and tracks.

Each of the parties has a shelter, three cabins and the wall tent. There are a variety of stoves - one much better than the others. Each group has a marginal store of food, high in carbs and low in protein - and they will be expected to supplement their diet by fishing and hunting. Their shelter also has some basic tools, shovel, axe, saw, rifle, fishing rods.

I'm interested to see how this works out. This area has one of the highest concentrations of grizzly bears in the world. Off screen, all parties have a camera man and "survival expert," though where the camera man and "survival expert" are staying is not specified. They surely aren't staying in the cabins or tent, as they are all about 200 square feet. The roll of the "survival expert" is not delineated, so it is unknown how much (if any) advice is given them. Hopefully, he is armed with a shotgun against bear attacks.

Looking forward to seeing how this works out. The second segment is on in a week and it refers to "three" groups. A big part of this will be (I'm sure) mental attitude. Having done some solitary trips (in the distant past), I know it used to take me at least two weeks to toughen up my muscles to the trail and get out of my civilized mode and quit wishing for TV, outside stimulation, and conveniences.
__________________
Week 2:

Watched the second segment. All four groups are still around. Not sure if I misread "three," or what.

Group #1, Man and wife from California, Pierson: He climbs up the mountain with the show's originator and, after an abortive first try - due to weather - shoots a mountain goat. Goat drops 1000 feet after shot. Really bad climbing conditions, for no equipment and carrying rifle - with a lot of loose scree. She comes with part way for the second try and catches several salmon while she waits. Extremely concerned for the health of her husband. This girl, Bernice Pierson, is a gem! Always seems to be up. Always supportive of her husband.

I was wrong about the rifles. There is no rifle in camp. They apparently bring them in by plane as needed. I suppose they figure a cheechako with a firearm in camp is just a bit too much.

Group #2, Two guys and a girl, Wagner, Aujero, and Kung: They spend most of their time cutting (a lot of) wood. Looks like green wood to me. They break their saw. Looks to me like both ends of the log were supported - causing the saw to bind. They fix the saw, but there is tension - and a verbal confrontation - between the two male friends, Wagner and Aujero.

Group #3, Father in 50s with two adult daughters from Kansas - the Family Wise: Petty behaviour continues between the father and two daughters. They appear to accrue the most canned salmon (you have to catch it and can it).

Group #4 Boyfriend/girlfriend from east coast, Frederick and Widmeyer: Going from looking the best, in the first segment, to looking near the bottom of the heap on the second segment, they have a lot of trouble trying to cut wood and manage to have the lids too loose on their canning jars while pressure cooking them and ruin half their salmon. Some of their comments sound pretty discouraging.

I haven't checked the web-site yet. Going to check that now. Seems like these shows air every Tuesday night. Enjoying it enough that I'd hate to miss one.

Looked on the Google map and the area where they are filming is about where I thought it was, about 350 miles from where I lived (not far in AK). It is near the Malaspina Glacier which I remember having pointed out to me (one of the ferries was named the Malaspina) on the way to Anchorage.

Third Show:

One month.

Group 1, Piersons: They've cached their goat meat in a tree. They are concerned about predators, and store it in a metal cooler on the cabin porch. Temps plunge, and they are having a hard time finding water. They finally hike a long distance up the glacier and break through ice to get water. This does not appear reasonable as temps will continue to drop and they need three gallons of water a day. They are concerned about a wolf that keeps hanging around the cabin and Greg Pierson carrys a single shot .22 with him when he is out. Apparently they've been left a .22 rifle. Greg and Bernice take turns shooting so they know the gun is accurate. Bernice is not happy to be shooting, but does not want the wolf to get their meat.

Group 2, Wagner, Aujero, Kung: They are given a semi-auto .22 and shoot a rabbit and a squirrel. Kung is not happy about the cleaning process. They are all happy to eat the meat, but it is not enough. They sight in the .22, which is shooting to the left, and Aujero gets into an argument with Jasmine Kung about how to do it. He is right, but acts like a jerk about it and stomps off all pissed. They go hunting and see a buffalo and (I think) shoot at it with the .22. This, of course, is not near large enough a round to drop a buffalo. They find a buffalo carcass that is newly dead and still has meat on it. They scavange quite a bit of meat. Bet they wouldn't have done that the first week.

Group 3, Wise Family: Jennifer Wise, elder daughter (I thought she was the younger one until I read the web-site) goes hunting for moose with a guide. Four days hunting, no moose. They set up an indoor privy. Narrator hints this is not a good idea as their privy is right next to the food. When youngest daughter returns from her last day of hunting, father and other daughter are sick with some kind of gastro intestinal illness. At this point they have only the salmon to provide protein.

Group 4: Frederick and Widmeyer see another bear. Frederick and Widmeyer build crab traps, but have disagreements about how far out to set them. Jeff is afraid that if they go too far out in their hip boots, they will get stuck in the mud. They get no crab. Not sure what happened to the kayaks, but they are apparently not an option. Friction between the pair. They have been going together for five months, and he is making her feel small. Jeff Frederick seems to be dealing with a lot of fear. Elizabeth builds a storage cache, a garbage can set in the ground. She also builds an outdoor privy - under a tarp set up along side their tent. Narrator contrasts this favorably with Wise arrangement. Creek overflows and tide comes up almost to the tent. Privy pit collapses and small amount of water gets into cache. Narrator says she's reached her breaking point. Narrator comments they will be hunting moose on next segment.

[RBB]

Show Four:

Snow on the ground in higher elevations (Group 1 and Group 2). All groups are seeing significant weight loss.

Group 1, Greg and Bernice Pierson: Bernice falls sick. Narrator makes comments which question the efficacy of their meat storage, hinting, but never stating, that the meat may have become tainted causing Bernice's illness (hate the way the narrator does that). Greg is very concerned and solicitous of her health. He tells her to stay in bed though he is concerned about the amount of work he will have to do alone, but states it is time for him to "step up." He still travels to the creek area for ice. With snow on the ground and the need for a fire in the stove - seems like he could just melt snow in a kettle on the stove and save himself the trek. This would be labor intensive, but probably less so (and less dangerous) than the trek to the creek. Bernice recovers after several days and is shown assisting Greg with chores.

Group 2, Jasmine Kung, Tim Wagner, Alan Ajuro: With their protein intake insufficient, one of them must go hunting for a mountain goat with a guide. As none of them are interested in hunting, they draw cards and the hunt falls to Tim Wagner. He is reluctant. He and the guide set off in a rubber raft in cold weather conditions down a river. He is concerned about being in the small boat in cold water. It is mentioned several times that 90 seconds immersion will lead to hypothermia. This gets quite tiring - as if to say "If you fall in you will die in 90 seconds." Load of crap. He has a very successful hunt, and though he hates gutting the goat, he returns within 24 hours with 100 to 150 pounds of meat. Last scene shows the three of them cooking steaks and enjoying the meat. Kung says she'd planned to become a full time vegetarian upon her return to civilization, but now - maybe not.

Group three: Dennis, Carolyn, and Jennifer Wise: This segment starts out showing them building a drying rack and once again showing argument between the girls and Dennis over how many poles he wants cut. Further footage shows them, cooperating in good spirits, building innovative and practical beds to keep them off the cold floor (If I remember correctly, the Wises have a "boxwood" stove - one of the poorer stoves, not an airtight - and not really sufficient for Alaska winter conditions). Carolyn praises her father's ideas. It also shows a rainwater catchment Dennis has concocted to save labor and provide good water, and the three of them gathering the last berries of the season to make jelly to improve and vary their diet.

Group Four: Jeff Frederick and Elizabeth Widmeyer: Frederick and Widmeyer are shown having better relations. They set off on a four day moose hunt, and come agonizingly close to getting a moose, but are unsuccessful.

Show Five
One Month To Go:

Group 1: Greg and Bernice Pierson: I got a look at their stove. It appears to be a Jotul, or something similar - a very good type of stove to have. Otherwise, Greg and Bernice are not doing well. They are both afraid of wolves and are spending more and more time in the cabin - bringing on cabin fever. Bernice is hearing things, and Greg is having bad dreams, worried about "bad spirits" in the cabin and hallucinates an old woman standing at the foot of his bed.

A lot of people are afraid of wolves. Maybe it is just growing up with them present all the time, but I've always been aware they are more afraid of me than I am of them. A person should never take a wild animal for granted, but wolves would not be of much concern to me. Brown bears, on the other hand, would be a large concern.

Group 2: Jasmine Kung, Tim Wagner, and Alan Ajero are in the best shape at the beginning of this segment, with lots of meat and firewood. They are so confident, they decided to hike the 40 miles to Greg and Bernice's cabin. They decide it will take four days. They get into a snow storm, while in a river valley, and forge ahead instead of hunkering down. They end up going up the river valley instead of crossing it. It takes them seven days to get to Greg and Bernice's cabin. They run out of food and are 36 hours without water during the worst part of the trek - up the glacier. They hallucinate, believing they are hearing Greg and Bernice singing. As the segment ends, they find the cabin and are greeted by Greg and Bernice.

I just don't know what to think about this. I would never have considered this trek in winter over mountainous terrain I was unfamiliar with. I would have had a lot of rope for crossing the river, and I would have had a kettle to melt snow for water, instead of trying to hydrate by eating snow. Mostly, I just wouldn't have done the trek.

Group 3, Wise Family, Dennis, Carolyn, and Jennifer: Jennifer and Carolyn are fed up with salmon. Dennis loves salmon. The snow, which brings such heartache elsewhere, has Dennis and the girls out enjoying themselves - building a snowman.

Group 4, Jeff Frederick and Elizabeth Widmeyer: Jeff and Liz are in tough shape. They've had no meat for a long time, and each of them, lean to begin with, have lost 15 pounds. They decide to hike down the beach of Icey Bay to the Gulf of Alaska, hoping for a chance at better fishing. The storm hits and they have to camp overnight. The next segment shows them walking up on the Wise family who are down on the beach looking for something to use for a nose, etc, for their snowman. The Wise's greet them warmly and invite them in for something hot to drink and a good meal. Jeff and Liz are impressed with the Wise cabin, which is snug and cozy compared to their tent. Dennis is happy to show off the improvements they've made. Jeff looks askance at Dennis' indoor biffy. Dennis shares his view of the Gulf of Alaska, "Better than church." Jeff and Liz leave in higher spirits than they came.

Once again there are twists and turns, but as Dennis has pointed out - these are just a few minutes out of quite a long segment of time, and are easily manipulated to portray the story line the snow's producers have decided on. As to the indoor biff - we've sure made use of "thunder mugs" in every cabin we've had - over the years - with no ill effects.

[Aurelius95]

Very nice recap, RBB.

[crashdive123]

Here's your weekly reminder. Airs tonight.

[Alpine_Sapper]

Here's your weekly reminder. Airs tonight.

Thanks for the heads up that I should turn the tv off.