Included are the directions & dates for the Rainbow gathering in Alaska's Chugach National Forest! (Whats a gathering? Check http://www.welcomehome.org) when? Seed camp: (help prepare the area & make good friendships) is August 13th - 18th Rainbow Gathering peak: Thurs August 19th - Thurs August 26th. Clean-up:(Cement lasting friendships) Aug 27th - Aug 31st.
Where?
Take the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. About 70 miles down the road you'll get to the Y or junction between the Seward Highway & Sterling Highway. Take a right onto the Sterling highway. About 10 miles down the road you'll pass through the town of Cooper Landing on the side of a BLUE long lake called Kenai lake (you're on the Kenai Peninsula). When the lake gets so narrow & forms Kenai River, the Sterling Highway passes over a bridge. Really soon after that is Snug Harbor Road on your left. Take a left & follow the road back along Kenai Lake. The bus village & welcome home info center will be seen from Snug Harbor Rd.
Alaska has had several gatherings in the past. None have attracted more than 1,000 participants. This year, on the eve of the next millennium, we hope to invite a massive Rainbow presence to come to our peaceful and spacious oasis. We wish to share what we feel is the ideal place to wait out the Y2K hoopla.
Alaska has 600,000 people in an area twice as large as Texas. Many Alaskans have traveled through the states and internationally. We are a multi-ethnic microcosm of a cosmopolitan American area with small groups representative of all social classes, cliques and styles.
I'm not the main organizing person. Those guys are backwoods non-computer people so I'm the email contact.
So far, all I know is the park service gave them permission to have it in the Chugach National Forrest & they're out right now scouting a place. The park stretches from Anchorage, where I & half of all Alaskans live, onto the Northern Kenai Peninsula & across the Prince William Sound.
There are about 10 music festivals a summer in AK. The largest and rowdiest happens in Trapper Creek on the 1st weekend in August (Wednesday 8/4 through Monday 8/9). Its $30 to get in but about 11,000 were there last year so it can be a good place to make contacts. We'll give out directions to the gatherings' exact location at the festival and they'll be posted at coffee shops, bookstores, music stores, youth hostels, & university campuses between Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula in central Alaska.
If U get into Anchorage, I'd be happy to direct U to some activities that could keep U interested until the gathering as well as inform U about how to find jobs & housing & free food etc. around here.
The peak of summer is past but it still may get to the low 70's on a mid-august afternoon. Berry's and mushrooms will just be coming into season. It may be raining, cloudy, & in the 50's but it won't accumulate too much water; more light drizzle than rain. The coldest it might get at night would be in the 40's. However, it doesn't feel too bad when you're here for a while; you acclimate.
I've never hitch hiked into Alaska but I have hitched all over Alaska and the West Coast between Seattle and San Francisco. Alaskans are used to hitchhiking. Its really easy up here cuz everyone knows there aren't many inter-city buses &, the ones that exist, aren't the inexpensive greyhound but expensive small vans. Plus, people travelling along Alaska's highways are usually going quite a distance and they enjoy a hitchhiker's company. I just met a Swiss Italian who traveled all summer around AK & had an easy time. Although, he, like I, found it takes longer to find someone willing to pick you up while its raining cuz no one wants your wet and dirty body messing up their cars' interiors. However, there is the sympathy factor.
On the West Coast it was harder cuz I saw signs that said hitching is illegal & I saw lots of cops. Not so here. Whenever I drive the highway I go at least 80 miles an hour the whole way cuz cops are rarely seen. People I've caught rides with are often drinking alcohol while they're driving. It worries me a bit but I figure that they must be used to it so they should know what they're doing.
I've never had problems at the border but, then again, I've never carried
any contraband across it. Plus, I usually look somewhat respectable... I
shave, comb my hair, wear my cleanest clothes...
I've heard that cars have been searched for hours just because a guard
smelled some marijuana. However, I've also heard people made it across with
loaded pipes in their pockets.
Do not tell the guards you are a hitchhiker. Tell the people you're getting a ride from to go along with the story unless they feel uncomfortable. Explain to them beforehand that you heard the crossing would be smoother if the guards think that all of you are together so that they don't treat you as two separate parties.
Canada wants you to have a certain amount of cash on you so that, in case your car breaks down, you won't be tempted to stay in Canada & get an illegal job. So, if you don't have much money on you, its crucial that you enter Canada with people who have some money & say that you are with them or enter Canada near a big city (Vancouver, Calgary) & say you are just gonna spend a day or two in that city & plan on returning to the states ASAP.
There is plenty of it in the fishing and tourism industries. Plus, there are several liberal ballot initiatives that pay per signature.
People who don't have permission to work in the US but want jobs in Alaska:
People work for themselves or for their ethnic kin: I have a Ukrainian friend who runs a garage where they buy cars from auctions, rebuild them, & sell them. I have Polish friend who works for the Daily News, the main paper, and hires fellow Slavs to deliver the paper, regardless of paperwork. There are ethnic restaurants which probably would help their own.
If U look like someone else's ID you can use their driver's license & Social security card as your own. When the checks come in their name you can either cash them yourself using their ID or ask them to cash it for you. If you don't have anyone you can borrow these items from you may meet someone up here that you can pay for their assistance with a portion of your checks. I could find people willing to do such a ID swap for minimal cash.
You may also apply for a student visa & get a job on campus. You would have to attend 4 classes a semester but campus jobs are easy to get & hard to loose.