Man Missing in Alaska Wilderness Since September (Lakes, Two Rivers: how much, school)

[RedJacket]

Alaska state troopers are currently searching for a 31-year-old man who set out alone on the last leg of a three-month trip into the Alaska wilderness and has not been heard from in almost two months.

When Thomas Seibold of Three Rivers, Wis., journeyed to Alaska in June he planned to put years of survivalist training into practice in the state's frigid backcountry. A native of Germany, Seibold had spent the previous six years teaching and training at Three Rivers' Teaching Drum Outdoor School, a survivalist school that teaches American Indian values along with weather forecasting, shelter building and primitive hunting and gathering techniques. He spent much of his time under the tutelage of the school's founder, Tamarack Song, who described Seibold as a very experienced outdoorsman and a "wandering spirit."

Wisconsin Man Still Missing After Two Months in Alaska Wilderness - ABC News

Maybe he doesn't want to be heard from or maybe he's in the belly of a bear.

[Glitch]

Since he has been missing now for two months, it is unlikely that he will be walking out. They most likely are not going to find him before next Spring, if even then. Even the most experienced can find themselves in serious trouble. It only takes one mistake, or an accident, or a wild critter, or unexpected foul weather to ruin anyone's day. Hiking around Alaska is nothing like hiking around the lower-48. It is far more dangerous.

[Marty Van Diest]

Yes, I had noticed this news as well. Tough country he is in.

I don't want to sound negative, but the website for the survival school he is in seems to teach a oneness with the earth type of philosophy. That is all well and good, but Alaska Indigenous peoples also learned that nature is not forgiving at all. You only get one chance, one mistake and it's all over. Especially when it comes to the cold.

Hypothermia does not forgive. I'm not sure but it seems like it is one of the biggest killers here. Fall through the ice and lose your gear you better make a fire pronto or you will only last a short time.

[RedJacket]

Not that it matters all that much I suppose, but just for accuracy purposes the guy is from Three Lakes, WI. There is no Three Rivers in WI. There is a Two Rivers like in AK.

Seems you can't read any articles on the internets w/o finding at least one glaring error.

I think you're right Glitch, the survivalist is probably history.

[arleigh]

Made me think of that movie "the grey".
I emagine lakes and rivers are starting to freeze up right about now
My dream of going there is about burned out now , but the fantasy of planning the trip will live on and on.
Please enjoy it some for me will you.

[brokencrayola]

Goes to show you that no matter how much survival skills you have, something can still happen that is your demise (assuming he is dead). All it takes is a wrong step and you can break a leg or ankle and maybe not be able to get out. There are sooo many things that can happen out there, but it is sad this has happened.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by arleigh

Made me think of that movie "the grey".
I emagine lakes and rivers are starting to freeze up right about now
My dream of going there is about burned out now , but the fantasy of planning the trip will live on and on.
Please enjoy it some for me will you.

Lakes have been frozen for a while now in the interior of Alaska. In the nearby ponds, ice carvers are already cutting large blocks of ice and loading them on trucks.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

Goes to show you that no matter how much survival skills you have, something can still happen that is your demise (assuming he is dead). All it takes is a wrong step and you can break a leg or ankle and maybe not be able to get out. There are sooo many things that can happen out there, but it is sad this has happened.

Survival skills rely on common sense first. Then you need to know about the area you are in. Drop most of us in Alaska off in the wild here and we can do pretty well, drop us off in the swamps of the deep south and we would be out of our element unless they had lived there.

You bring a survivalist from Florida to here, and they are out of their comfort zone like being on the moon.

I have no idea of what this guy's level of survival training is, but one bear encounter, drinking water from a beaver pond, tripping down a steep embankment, pissing off a mother moose with calf and an wide assortment of other issues could nail any of us by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like someone running a stop sign and catching you broadside, not fun nor something to plan for either.

I hope this guy is holed up in a cabin somewhere and is OK, maybe just waiting for the owner to show up and rescue him... hard to say. But odds are his adventure isn't going to end well, more about him will be known as time goes on. He may be a pretty straight shooter or another McCandless who bit off more than he could chew, or even a copy cat with a diary to sell post mortam...

[1stimestar]

Yea that's the thing about here. There are so many things that can eat you or stomp you etc. It doesn't matter if you are an arctic expert even, things happen. I also read that the area he disappeared into was full of wolves.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by 1stimestar

Yea that's the thing about here. There are so many things that can eat you or stomp you etc. It doesn't matter if you are an arctic expert even, things happen. I also read that the area he disappeared into was full of wolves.

Or maybe "Full Wolves"...