By GREG SARBER
This fall, my daughter drew a sheep hunting permit in the Tok Management Area (TMA), an area reserved for trophy sheep hunting. In preparation for the trip, we discovered that the sheep population had declined due to a recent harsh winter; however, we decided to go anyway. My daughter said that at least it would be a fun camping trip, and if nothing else, climbing hills would be good training for her legs, as she had an audition coming up for the Homer Nutcracker Ballet.
On the second day of the trip, while busting through a hillside of alder bushes to reach the high country, I had some time to contemplate what a peculiar group we residents of Alaska are in how we choose to live and recreate, and that extends to our kids.
Except for those in the military who are posted here, every resident chooses to live here. We have the freedom to move somewhere else, but for some reason, the residents of this state decide to live in Alaska. Our reasons might be for the fishing and hunting, the scenery, a job opportunity, or just to have a little elbow room, but all of us give up easier living outside the state to make our homes here.
However, to do so, we pay a price. Alaska challenges you. Tasks that should be relatively routine become difficult when you add in the Alaska factor. Even residents in our large urban cities face challenges that their counterparts in the lower 48 never have to consider. If you are a gardener, you’d better build a fence that is moose high and porcupine tight before you plant the first seed. Even getting the kids off to school or going to the grocery store can be a challenge with deep snow in the driveway, frost-covered car windows, slippery winter driving conditions, and the potential of encountering a moose in the street or parking lots.
Rural residents face even greater challenges due to the high cost of fuel and groceries. Things that the lower 48 Americans consider essential, become expensive luxuries in much of our state. Throw in long, dark, and cold winters, and you can understand why living here isn’t for the faint of heart. Yet we all choose this place to live.
As I mentioned, I was having these thoughts while walking up through an alder thicket on a steep hillside. If you have never had the opportunity to enjoy that particular pleasure, it isn’t possible for me to adequately put it into words. Let’s put it this way: if alder thicket walking were a potential criminal sentence, the ACLU would sue to have it declared cruel and unusual punishment. It wouldn’t be allowed for even our worst criminals.
It was when we finally got through the alders and above the last of the willow and berry bushes, arriving at the high country, that I remembered why I chose to live in Alaska and wanted to share it with my child. The beauty and solemnity of parts of this state are beyond description. In the high valleys of the Alaska mountains, it feels like you are in one of the magnificent cathedrals of Europe and are standing in the presence of God. My words are inadequate to express the feeling. I wish I were a poet so I could do a better job of describing what it is like.
Reflecting on my trip helped me answer the question of why some of us choose to live here. To do so, we face brutal challenges, like my fight with the Alders. However, the rewards go far beyond the struggle.
Greg Sarber is a lifelong Alaskan. He is a petroleum engineer who spent his career working on Alaska’s North Slope. Now retired, he lives with his family in Homer, Alaska. Greg serves as a board member of Alaska Gold Communications, Inc., the publisher of Must Read Alaska.
No offense sir, but we log into Must Read to learn something we don’t already know. If this is the future of your publication, it does not bode well for you.
Geez Dave, give the guy a chance.
Yes. Give him chance.
Seriously? 😂. Must Read has always had a myriad of different articles and some are just simply heart warming. Greg Sarber writes excellent articles on current issues as well. Good grief.
I’m w/ Hanna. I’m trying to cut back on pap.
For all of us the dichotomy of Alaska is a treasure. To climb a ridge or anchor in a fjord most times we can look around and have the chance to view it alone as if all of it were just ours. Then at the end of the day we return home, to communities small or large, yet a communities where each of us is an important part. Where we know and support one another. Where everyone you meet is a neighbor. The largest of the states with the fewest of people who are all united in the love of our land.
The author is given the title of “Senior Contributor”. In reality he is a Board member of Alaska Gold Communications, the company owned by Faulkner, who tried to force Suzanne to pull a story she had written about Alaska’s Atty General and his attempts to not have to make a complete disclosure of income required by those who run for public office in Alaska.
Senior contributor! Ha! Just another of Faulkner’s lackeys following his marching orders.
The only thing Faulkner has done right so far is keep his mouth shut hoping this event will soon be forgotten. However, he will forever be remembered for his attempt to compromise a journalist with underlying and unspoken threats.
The question now, is how long will it be before MRAK, now being run by an inexperienced owner will stay in business. Probably not very long if the first couple days under Faulkner’s guidance is any indication.
Well done Greg. Dave you’re a moron.
Greg, I thoroughly enjoyed this. My family moved to Alaska in the 1960’s. I am like a lot of people who have moved to this great state long ago. I have had a great life here and have had lots of adventures throughout the years like hiking, fishing, dog mushing and so much more. Alaska challenges me. I hope to see more of your adventures on MRA. Thanks for sharing.
I feel blessed to live here every time I am outdoors, summer or winter (our two seasons 😅).
Company man Greg ? I miss you man
Hey Termite! Glad to see your comments. Yep, it’s me. I hope things are going well for you.
Alders can be compared to sage brush. There is an old lament from those who dwell in the desert southwest, that applies to alders: “Too thick to walk through, too low for shade, and too high to see over.”
I have suffered alder walks in trying to reach ptarmigan country, and prefer to wade through devil’s club.
MRAK has done a great job mixing its content, and whatever permanent loss it is going to suffer from the absence of Suzanne, this article is NOT one of them. Thanks, Greg!
I really enjoyed this story. In the early 80’s, I attended UAF with a great guy named Greg Sarber in Lathrop Hall. We all graduated, well most of us, and scattered to the Four Winds. Time flies.