Iggy
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Here's a few more pics of Alaska.
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Iggy's Adventures and Misfortunes
- Thread starter Iggy
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highdesertranger
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I spent almost a whole summer in Hope. at the time almost the whole town was for sale. the campground, bar, café, gift shop, coin operated laundry 2 houses this was pretty much the whole commercial district. the owner was a fine lady named Joyce. now you might say why did I spend a summer there, because Resurrection Creek which runs right through town is loaded with gold in fact most of the watershed carries gold. you could literally dig anywhere and get color in your pan. yep lots of great memories from Hope, lots of stories too. one day I need to scan my pics and share. highdesertranger
Queen
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rvpopeye said:
I was kinda wondering if you fellas might flinch at that. LOL The guys on my shift at the firehouse used to freak about the way I'd hold tools and hose between my legs, seems it hurt them to do the same... although I think that particular chainsaw method would hurt just about anyone.
Iggy
Well-known member
I was about 50 feet away from the moose. But quite close to the door of a building, just in case.Rugster said:I hope that $20 camera has a heck of a zoom feature, that moose looked close! I lived in Nome for six months, I had never seen snow
Almost hit a bear and a bison in Canada on the drive up. That would've made a mark! Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk
Iggy
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You can get better leverage for starting the chainsaw that way. I'm not planning on having kids anyway. (;rvpopeye said:
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Iggy
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I'll have to find that on my map. I'm always up for discovering a new place. And maybe find some gold! Lolhighdesertranger said:
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highdesertranger
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on the north side of the Kenai peninsula or the south side of Turnagain Arm. highdesertranger
rvpopeye
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My usual method was holding the saw up about chest high and hold the rope pull with one hand as I push the saw down with the other.
The weight of the saw did most of the work , and if the clutch decided to engage the thing was headed AWAY from me !
I sure wouldn't want to do anything out in the woods without someone else around to get me out just in case.............
BUT to each his own ! If it works for you , I'm cool with that !
Now about that moose , I've walked up to within 10 feet of a cow and decided it wasn't the smart thing to do and slowly backed off.
I have seen one jump 10 feet up onto a rock once , he was a bug boy too ! Have lots of pics ,will look for them.
Ya got some nice places to take pics which is more than half of getting great shots !!!
The weight of the saw did most of the work , and if the clutch decided to engage the thing was headed AWAY from me !
I sure wouldn't want to do anything out in the woods without someone else around to get me out just in case.............
BUT to each his own ! If it works for you , I'm cool with that !
Now about that moose , I've walked up to within 10 feet of a cow and decided it wasn't the smart thing to do and slowly backed off.
I have seen one jump 10 feet up onto a rock once , he was a bug boy too ! Have lots of pics ,will look for them.
Ya got some nice places to take pics which is more than half of getting great shots !!!
Iggy
Well-known member
Just so people know, that picture of me holding the chainsaw backwards was a joke. Even I'm not that dumb! Lol
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Howiet
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Iggy said:
Whew....I thought you were about to have one of your misfortunes.
wagoneer
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Looks like yer getting along OK you been here for a while still in the mobil life style?
Iggy
Well-known member
I'm still a vandweller. But needed to recharge my savings. So I took a summer job, building a house in North Pole. I did stay in the tool room of a shop while redoing the van interior, but got back to living in the van as soon as I could.wagoneer said:
So, I'm not as mobile while working this job, but will soon be back on the road full-time. No way am I staying here when it gets cold! I remember it being -60F at times when I lived here before. No thanks! Lol
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Iggy
Well-known member
It's been awhile since I posted here. No excuse, I just got busy and out of the habit. I'm still living the van life. A lot has happened since I last wrote here.
I worked as a camphost for the last three summers and plan to again this year. The job is up high in the Sierras, over an hour away from the nearest city. There is good and bad in every job, but I'm still enjoying doing this. I especially like the location, by a rushing river, with lots of mountain trails to hike. Plenty of wildlife and I've had more than a few close encounters with bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and mosquitos. There is little to spend money on up there, so I generally save over half of my income and live off the savings in the winter.
I went to a few of the RTRs but missed the last two and will likely be absent this year, too. Probably for the best. I'm not really much for big crowds. One-on-one interaction is more my cup of tea. Or one-on-none works for me also.
I did have good reason to miss the last couple times. Two winters ago, I ended up in a relationship with my best friend, in Oregon. She was 24 years younger than me, with two young boys. I helped her move from one end of the state to the other, get settled in her new apartment, and got her a good paying job. We lived together for six months, before I headed to California, to do camphosting again. Her ex-husband murdered her, after I left. That was a difficult time for me, wondering if I had stayed, would she still be alive.
After that summer of work, I returned to Oregon and started to have physical issues. Over the next year, I had 8 surgeries for elbow nerve impingement, detached retina, and cancer. I'm cancer-free now, but the elbow surgery was a failure. And after three botched eye surgeries, my vision is not very good in that eye anymore. I'm losing faith in doctors, at least some of them. Sorry about the sad stories.
I'm 58, so still have a few years before retirement. Hopefully, this camphosting gig continues each year. If not, I'll figure out something for income. I still enjoy life in my van and traveling in the Western states. It looks like single life is my destiny. 3 girlfriends have died in the last 6-7 years; the one who got murdered, one from breast cancer, and one from a drug overdose. For the safety of the female gender, I think the solitary life is best.
I remodeled the van a couple times, but want to do it again when I can afford to. There are so many ideas online that sounds good, and I have a pretty good handle on what works in a small space and what doesn't. The van seems to be working well, mechanically. I have replaced a lot of parts, over the years, and feel confident it can go at least five more, fingers crossed.
I'm still in Oregon at present, but plan to start heading south to warmer weather, in a week or two. I'll hit up my favorite locations and discover some new ones. Maybe the same with vandwelling friends.
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I worked as a camphost for the last three summers and plan to again this year. The job is up high in the Sierras, over an hour away from the nearest city. There is good and bad in every job, but I'm still enjoying doing this. I especially like the location, by a rushing river, with lots of mountain trails to hike. Plenty of wildlife and I've had more than a few close encounters with bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and mosquitos. There is little to spend money on up there, so I generally save over half of my income and live off the savings in the winter.
I went to a few of the RTRs but missed the last two and will likely be absent this year, too. Probably for the best. I'm not really much for big crowds. One-on-one interaction is more my cup of tea. Or one-on-none works for me also.
I did have good reason to miss the last couple times. Two winters ago, I ended up in a relationship with my best friend, in Oregon. She was 24 years younger than me, with two young boys. I helped her move from one end of the state to the other, get settled in her new apartment, and got her a good paying job. We lived together for six months, before I headed to California, to do camphosting again. Her ex-husband murdered her, after I left. That was a difficult time for me, wondering if I had stayed, would she still be alive.
After that summer of work, I returned to Oregon and started to have physical issues. Over the next year, I had 8 surgeries for elbow nerve impingement, detached retina, and cancer. I'm cancer-free now, but the elbow surgery was a failure. And after three botched eye surgeries, my vision is not very good in that eye anymore. I'm losing faith in doctors, at least some of them. Sorry about the sad stories.
I'm 58, so still have a few years before retirement. Hopefully, this camphosting gig continues each year. If not, I'll figure out something for income. I still enjoy life in my van and traveling in the Western states. It looks like single life is my destiny. 3 girlfriends have died in the last 6-7 years; the one who got murdered, one from breast cancer, and one from a drug overdose. For the safety of the female gender, I think the solitary life is best.
I remodeled the van a couple times, but want to do it again when I can afford to. There are so many ideas online that sounds good, and I have a pretty good handle on what works in a small space and what doesn't. The van seems to be working well, mechanically. I have replaced a lot of parts, over the years, and feel confident it can go at least five more, fingers crossed.
I'm still in Oregon at present, but plan to start heading south to warmer weather, in a week or two. I'll hit up my favorite locations and discover some new ones. Maybe the same with vandwelling friends.
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Thanks for the update Iggy. I still remember your post from your first RTR gathering - "I'm the one in the white van." :-D
So sorry about your girlfriends. That must have been hard on you.
Hope your health issues improve. Even with all of the sad news, it sounds like you're still enjoying the van dwelling life!
So sorry about your girlfriends. That must have been hard on you.
Hope your health issues improve. Even with all of the sad news, it sounds like you're still enjoying the van dwelling life!
