Another story about a young guy in the wilds of Alaska

[GoNorth]

Worth reading:

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/wild-another-young-man-journeys-alaska-hinterland-survives?page=full&print=yes

[erikhalfacre]

You may see this same post from me on a Facebook group but here goes:

One thing that is never clearly established in this piece, is whether or not this young man even knew who Chris was. The Alaska media has a real tendency to try and associate anything they can with Chris, because it makes for more interesting headlines.

That said, this guy's story sounds like it's got some big holes. There are a lot of nut-jobs running around up here, and they're not always 100% honest. If this guy was out there to try and make a name for himself, and he just ended up failing hard, of his own actions, he might have felt it necessary to concoct a more action packed story.

It is interesting though to see that there are still unprepared people crazy enough to try it, and we can also be glad this one was carrying a SPOT.

[pezar]

Costales is 22. Most high school students today have heard of ITW, it's pretty much replaced The Catcher In The Rye as the go-to narrative of alienated, idealistic youth. When I was in HS, early 90s, my 11th grade English class spent a couple months on Catcher In The Rye. My understanding is that ITW is now what schools use, because it's easier for the kids to relate to (Catcher was published in 1951).

So most American youth have heard of ITW, and inevitably some think it's a swell idea to do what Chris did. Costales seems to have been raised in a conservative environment, what with all the "sir" and "praise the Lord" talk, that's how people from very conservative upbringings talk. I personally suspect he accidentally consumed vole droppings, since he said there was a "rat" (vole) in the can, and that it made him really sick. Did the mystery poisoner exist? Who knows? Is he mentally ill, or just spinning white lies to make his story sound better? Again, only he knows.

Also, I don't believe that GPS trackers existed for general sale in the early 90s, GPS was originally a military system and it wasn't until the late 90s that it was opened up for civilian use. There were beacons that transmitted on shortwave emergency frequencies, but 1) there's gotta be somebody listening who can DF your location and 2) the signal is subject to the vagaries of SW, if it goes dead or there's a big sunspot event you're screwed. Before GPS, it was normal to pick up "ghost beacons" that didn't last long enough to DF. I suspect that many died because they relied on those beacon devices. If Chris had one of those old beacons, he MIGHT have lived, IF everything worked right. Such problems is why we now use GPS.

[Husky]

This same fellow, Andrew Costales, was later arrested for burning down a cabin that he had been using out east of Healy. Local trappers knew he was living in the cabin and reported it was burned down. Costales claims it was an accident. He is also charged with hunting violations which he posted himself on his Facebook page. http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/18013704/article-Squatter-arrested-after-cabin-burns-near-Healy?

In his earlier exploits he put out a distress call with a SPOT locator and was rescued by State troopers. These SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger devices seem to work pretty well and only cost $99 bucks plus a yearly fee of $99. There was some question of why he hadn't activated the SPOT sooner and avoided freezing his feet. Maybe he wanted to get himself out of trouble without involving the authorities because he knew he had violated several laws and didn't want to get caught. Sound familiar?

The SPOT device has several interesting options now. Like an antenna that hooks up to a Smartphone and gives it satellite access. These type of devices weren't available when Chris was out at the bus but miniature aircraft locator beacons were available then and were very reliable. Chris would have been rescued within 12 hours if he had one of those Epirb devices with him. They weren't really intended for hikers because the alert they sent out would indicate a downed aircraft. But Alaskan SandR authorities were pretty tolerant of their usage by climbers and boaters at the time.