Author Topic: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??  (Read 11860 times)

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Offline nosnamc

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so heres the deal. i wanna escape society for like 5 years. i'm trying to find a place where no one will find me. i'll take some supplies with me. some food, though i might have to go into the city for resupplies of food every week or so. some fresh water like a river or creek nearby. i'll have my tent, tarp. build myself a camp. and if i could hunt and fish too i'll do that too. right now i'm in southern california. alot of people here 20 million so i think doing it here is impossible with all the people and rangers in the forests around here. so you guys have any ideas where?

Offline Graybeard

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My brother did that for 12 years in the swamps of Florida. These days deep in a swamp strikes me as about the only place you might go to totally get away from other people unless you want the frigid conditions in Alaska.


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Offline Hodr

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Move to the Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado junction area.  Learn to tend cattle or sheep, learn to speak Navajo. Remember to be polite to the people who live there.

blindhari
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Offline teamnelson

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Move to the Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado junction area.  Learn to tend cattle or sheep, learn to speak Navajo. Remember to be polite to the people who live there.

blindhari

+1 on that. Or hop on I8 and head east til it hits I10. Go east until 191, go north. Along the Arizona/NM border north of I-10, south of I-40 in the Apache forest is some pretty country. The white river res is to your west between you and big civilization. Water, trees, fish, game. When I was pastoring in Tombstone had a fella drop in who was intentionally domestically mobile, and he'd made his way down from Vegas across the northern part of AZ, down the NM border, and all around. Went for days without seeing anybody, staying off the road.

Of course, from where you are, it might be fun to take the Pacfic Crest Trail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail for a few months up to BC. Probably find more than a couple places along the way worth staying.
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Offline Swampman

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"Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book?" Sogoyewapha, "Red Jacket" - Senaca

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"Manus haec inimica tyrannis / Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" ~Algernon Sidney~

Offline schoolmaster

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Alaska +1 It is so big you can get lost easily.

Offline Hodr

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TeamNelson
The White Mountains are drop dead gorgeous.  The Native American police there are polite and firm, very very firm.  We were at the side of the road once watching wild turkeys when one stopped behind us.  He asked if we had problems and then to see ID.  He saw a shotgun in the back of our jeep and inquired about that.  I had cut down and cammoed a handi 20 guage for taking along offroad.  After taking a look at the sling I braided we talked for quite awhile about what I had done to the handi.  He had a 12 guage single and was going to do the same to it.  The Apache officer was one of the most polite people we have ever met.

blindhari
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Offline vacek

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I guess I am a little confused with "wanting to escape society"  but then "going to town every week or so".  Are you escaping with a vehicle so you can go back and forth from a long distance, therefore needing gas and money... or close by to walk in.  Not sure of your logic.

Regardless, the Colorado / Utah border has some high desert / canyon areas that are pretty much clean of human beings.  Look on the Colorado map and find the highway between Rangely and Douglass Pass/Loma.  About half way between head south to the state border area.  You should be able to find enough water and hunting.  Not much fishing that i know of.

If you really want to escape, think Amazon.

Offline Swampman

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Very few people can go for long periods of time without human interaction.  That's why solitare is a very effective punishment.
"Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book?" Sogoyewapha, "Red Jacket" - Senaca

1st Special Operations Wing 1975-1983
919th Special Operations Wing  1983-1985 1993-1994

"Manus haec inimica tyrannis / Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" ~Algernon Sidney~

Offline teamnelson

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Very few people can go for long periods of time without human interaction.  That's why solitare is a very effective punishment.

That's so true ... when we were in Georgia we volunteered at Amicolola Falls at the base of the Appalachian Trail and talked with some through hikers. Most of them were okay going a couple days without seeing a face, but then they kinda needed interaction of some sort. Kinda like the campfires of the old west - cup of coffee and a little polite conversation broke up the monotony.
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Offline BBF

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2010, 07:11:14 AM »
Is the Law or an Ex after you? ;) o
What is the point of Life if you can't have fun.

Offline nosnamc

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2010, 07:15:23 AM »
I guess I am a little confused with "wanting to escape society"  but then "going to town every week or so".  Are you escaping with a vehicle so you can go back and forth from a long distance, therefore needing gas and money... or close by to walk in.  Not sure of your logic.



Close by to walk in

Offline Siskiyou

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2010, 07:58:30 AM »
If you are a reliable person a job on a Western fire lookout or volunteering as a fire lookout is a good test.  It gives you a base with a roof over your head.

In 1962 I was offered a job on an isolated lookout that was a hike in proposition.  They were having problems keeping people on it because supplies were carried in on the lookouts back or pack train.  Lookouts that have a road to them are a little easier but many people cannot deal with it.

I made a wise decision and took a fire crew job.

I have spent some time hunting and fighting fire in this area.  It is still isolated but there is the risk of being shot my Mexican or local dope growers.

http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Policy/Fire/Lookouts/Daggett.pdf

I first meet this outstanding lady in 1962.  I and FF foreman hauled a replacement gas refrigerator to the lookout.  One chore I did not like was getting on the roof of the lookout to make repairs.


https://www.hcn.org/issues/40.16/fifty-summers-and-360-degrees/print_view

Over the years I have visited with Nancy at Dry Lake, Deadwood, and Collins Baldy Lookouts.

http://www.firelookout.org/LookoutJobs.htm

Most of the old lookouts are gone.  Like old trees in the forest, rot and termites take over.

My mother was a lookout back in the 1960’s.  It was a very isolated location with a nasty road to the tower.  When she went to the spring for water or to the outhouse she took my Jungle Carbine with her because of the bears.  It was one of those lookouts that got very few visitors because of its isolated location.  The tower is now gone.  It was located at:  Check it out in google earth.

41° 36.742'N 123° 34.111'W

The area is isolated and Indian country.  In fact that maybe the reason the lookout no longer exists.  The lookout is on the edge or in Indian medicine country and the rumor the Indians burned it down.  By that time my mother had moved to a lookout a 100 miles south because it received more visitors.
The smoke she enjoyed reporting was at another lookout.  The lookout went out of service for fifteen minutes.  The lookout did not come back on the radio in 15 and she took a look in that direction and spotted smoke coming from the lookout.  The guy had left pancakes on the stove while he went down to the outhouse.  It put up a bunch of smoke but no damage to the tower.

My hunting partner and I watch this distant forest fire from the base of the old Blue Ridge Lookout on the Klamath N.F. 


The fire is burning on the edge of the wilderness.  Living in the wilderness is tough, because 10-12 foot snow packs are common.  When the storms hit in late October and early November the bears go in to hibernation, the deer and the elk migrate down in the valley.  They know that living off the land is difficult in the winter.  They move down slope where they can manage in less snow. 

Over the years I have notice that many of the guys that go into the bush for isolation, come out in the winter and draw welfare, taking comfort in the bottle.
There is a learning process to effectively using a gps.  Do not throw your compass and map away!

Boycott: San Francisco, L.A., Oakland, and City of Sacramento, CA.

Offline spooked

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2010, 02:22:48 PM »
back about 10 or so years ago there was a young fella who was terminally ill :(...he came from out of state and set up camp at a creek access about 10 mi. by rd. from a local town..Camped out for almost a yr.(right through winter) biked to town when he needed anything..Told us he was going to spend as many of his last days as possible enjoying the out of doors...And he did.
Lost between sunrise and sunset yesterday-one golden hour...never to be found or reclaimed:-(

Offline Lloyd Smale

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #14 on: September 12, 2010, 02:45:47 AM »
you could probably do it up here in Upper michigan but bring a shovel, warm clothes and a good chain saw! Middle of winter is very cold and your up to your ### in snow.
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Offline Swampman

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #15 on: September 12, 2010, 02:58:31 AM »
Nothern Maine also comes to mind.
"Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book?" Sogoyewapha, "Red Jacket" - Senaca

1st Special Operations Wing 1975-1983
919th Special Operations Wing  1983-1985 1993-1994

"Manus haec inimica tyrannis / Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" ~Algernon Sidney~

Offline bilmac

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #16 on: September 12, 2010, 06:53:45 AM »
Another vote for the four corners area where Az. Nm., Ut., and Co., meet. Winter is mild, largely unsettled, and if you can locate a spot along a creek that flows all year the living should be easy.

Offline kid_couteau

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #17 on: September 12, 2010, 03:23:37 PM »
Nothern Maine also comes to mind.

I live in Northern Maine

If you want to go to the big woods you might be able to disappear.  But lots of logging so you most likely will be found

Kid

Offline mannyrock

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #18 on: September 14, 2010, 10:25:15 AM »

  Ted Kazinsky, aka the unibomber, lived alone and undetected in the "wilderness" for 4 years, by living in a small cabin on a five acre subdivided resort lot, in Michigan (?) I think.   He rode to town on his bicycle once a week to buy supplies.  He let the brush and scrub trees grow head high on the entire lot.  Apparently, nobody knew he was there or ever came to see him.  There were a few cabins on the surrounding lots, but folks only lived in them a few weeks each summer, and nobody ever bothered him.  The title to the property was in the name of his parents or brother, and he had electricity run to the cabin under a fake name.

   The concept that you are going to hunt big game for food, and remain undetected in the lower 48 States, is pure fantasy.  There are more than 300 million people in America now.

Offline Siskiyou

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #19 on: September 14, 2010, 01:04:26 PM »
Ted was from Michigan, but the cabin was in Montana.  And people were aware of him, they just did not know what he did until caught.
There is a learning process to effectively using a gps.  Do not throw your compass and map away!

Boycott: San Francisco, L.A., Oakland, and City of Sacramento, CA.

Offline Swampman

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #20 on: September 14, 2010, 01:14:29 PM »
The 1996 Olympic Bomber made it maybe 7 years........

"According to (Eric Robert) Rudolph's own writings, he survived during his years as a fugitive by camping in the woods, gathering acorns and salamanders, pilfering vegetable gardens, stealing grain from a grain silo, and raiding dumpsters in a nearby town."
"Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book?" Sogoyewapha, "Red Jacket" - Senaca

1st Special Operations Wing 1975-1983
919th Special Operations Wing  1983-1985 1993-1994

"Manus haec inimica tyrannis / Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" ~Algernon Sidney~

Offline nosnamc

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #21 on: September 14, 2010, 04:40:17 PM »
The 1996 Olympic Bomber made it maybe 7 years........

"According to (Eric Robert) Rudolph's own writings, he survived during his years as a fugitive by camping in the woods, gathering acorns and salamanders, pilfering vegetable gardens, stealing grain from a grain silo, and raiding dumpsters in a nearby town."


Yeah....what Eric Rudolph did was pretty remarkable


http://outsideonline.com/outside/features/200309/200309_rudolph_1.html

http://www.armyofgod.com/EricRudolphTil.html

http://www.armyofgod.com/EricRudolphLickFloor.html

Offline BBF

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #22 on: September 15, 2010, 02:10:02 AM »
The Everglades on some sort of floating device.
What is the point of Life if you can't have fun.

Offline teamnelson

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #23 on: September 15, 2010, 11:38:26 AM »
A smart guy could probably hide in any national forest if he lived minimally, hunted silently, stayed away from recreationalists, and played nice with the rangers.
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Offline Pat/Rick

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Re: The best place in the USA to live alone in the wilderness alone for 5 years??
« Reply #24 on: September 15, 2010, 11:43:32 AM »
I would say the northern pacific coast of Washington, Olympic national Park. Remote, food from the sea when you can't hunt or find game. The problem is the USCG helicopter patrol, daily. Activities would have to be timed around that.

Alaska, by sheer numbers of miles to persons. Best be good at gathering firewood in the winter.Again coastel would be more appealing to me.Tide pools can be like a cupboard.

Four corners area would be good as stated.

If I were to take that route I would start now by depositing several caches of food items in out of the way areas.

A couple years ago a man and his daughter were living in a park in a tent in Portland,OR. IIRC they had lived there for more than a year before they were located.

Offline BeanMan

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If you can find some private ground to hunker down on then have at it.  Personally, I don't want you poaching and making a mess on public land in western Colorado.

Offline Duke0313

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I hope you have some experience at this sort of thing! Remember, this ain't "camping." Your experience in different environments should be a HUGE factor in deciding where you want to go. Try it for 3 or 4 days before you just pack up and head for the boonies!
"Republic:  I like the sound of the word -- means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, however they choose.  Some words give you a deep feeling.  Republic is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat. -John Wayne- The Alamo

Offline glock fan

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I think climate would have to be one of your first considerations in selecting a place to hideout for 5 years unless you planned to be moving with the seasons.  Personally I can withstand heat better than cold.  When I lived up north, I would get sick every winter and stay sick.  Since I moved south, I haven't been sick any winter.  Your mileage may vary but being sick and living on your own in a wilderness environment could prove to be a shortlived experience.  Most folks, especially young folks, don't envision themselves sick or injured when they put themselves in a wilderness scenario.  I don't mean to be a downer here but nothing would ruin your adventure faster than the forementioned issue.  Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.  Regardless, good luck with your adventure.  If you're able to pull it off you will have memories & experiences that will serve you well the rest of your life.  Nothing better in life than living your dreams. 

Offline Winter Hawk

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If it was me, I would look for a 27' to 32' sailboat, used, in the Pacific NorthWest.  Do some research on what works for living aboard.  (I recommend the books by Lin & Larry Pardey - they have been there & done it!)  Then head up to Southeast Alaska.  Just be sure to get your passport!

I say a sailboat because they seem to be less expensive than the power boats, and with their slippery hulls, they don't need a ton of horsepower to move.  My wife and I took a 27' Catalina from Seattle to Ketchikan, powered with a 10 hp Honda outboard.  It took us 14 days but we saw some gorgeous scenery and had the time of our lives.  And that includes a day where we were stuck in a hidey-hole to wait out a storm.  Figure the motor will use a gallon for every ten horsepower, and that size boat will go around 5 knots through the water.

Once you are in Alaska, you can hide in secluded coves, and if you get tired of where you are you up anchor and head somewhere else.  Okay, you aren't going to grow a garden (although making bean sprouts is easy and provides good nutirition).  Fishing is good though, and the deer season is long.  You don't need a freezer, get a canner and put up your meat that way.

Just some thoughts on the subject....

-Winter Hawk-
"All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse and a good wife." - D. Boone

Offline pastorp

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Say Hawk, do you know how to sail? Or did you just use the outboard?

I've thought about a sailboat for retirement but I never learned to sail. Always just used bower boats. Some of my best memories are the 2week trips I took here in southeast Alaska. Alone most of the time, I would just anchor up in a seclude bay and enjoy Gods creation. It's true the old saying "tides out, the tables set" you really can live on a southeast Alaska beach.

Regards,
Byron

Christian by choice, American by the grace of God.

NRA LIFE