05 February 2015

Man Unharmed After Walking Nearly 50 miles in -30° Weather

How is he? The Alaska Dispatch News reports:


A man was found unharmed after walking nearly 50 miles from the Interior Alaska community of Birch Creek to Fort Yukon overnight Monday in sub-zero temperatures.
 
Lawrence James, 52, was located Tuesday morning just four miles from Fort Yukon. James had been walking for 16 hours. He had made it roughly 46 miles in temperatures lingering around -30 degrees.

The reason?

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, so I just made up my mind and did it,” James said from Fort Yukon Wednesday. One of his cousins had made the trek a few years back, and since then, James had wanted to try it.

“It was a good walk,” James said. “It was good exercise.”
[snip] When the search party met up with him, “He was still going,” Fort Yukon police officer Michael Ivie said. “He was still coherent and walking. He was fine.”

Not terribly surprising; as I've said before, it's all about what a person is accustomed to.

Just an Alaskan taking a little hike. Nothing to see here; move along.  :)

9 comments:

PioneerPreppy said...

I can't even imagine....brrrrrr...

Did he have like some super snow suit thing on?

Cathy said...

"A little hike",
Whoa. At 10 degrees I race to the mailbox and back.
OK. You Alaskans are made of very different stuff.

Rev. Paul said...

Preppy - the article says he was wearing a parka, snow bibs, gloves, and a hat. Typical cold-weather gear for us.

Cathy - we're just used to cooler weather, that's all. It works both ways, too: at 80, we all collapse & pant until the temps drop again.

PioneerPreppy said...

I spent one June in the upper part of lower Michigan once and the locals were walking around panting when it was 75 degrees out. I thought it was rather cool myself having just come from Missouri where it was 90+. Also had the same thing happen to me in Santa Fe but not from the temps so much as the drier air making me cold all the time.

Rev. Paul said...

Preppy, that sounds about right.

Old NFO said...

WOW!!! That is NOT a little walk in the park...

Rev. Paul said...

NFO, it's a healthy hike, no?

Jenny said...

y'all grow 'em tough up there. :)

Rev. Paul said...

I guess we do, Jenny. It's probably a mark of that condition when we don't think it's all that unusual.