Texas Man Coaxed By VPSOs Into Giving Up Plan To Spend Winter In Dirt Cave On Empty Road
35-Year Old Intended To Hole Up On The Winter Road To Eagle In A "Cave" He Dug At A Gravel Pit, Troopers Say Village Public Safet...
35-Year Old Intended To Hole Up On The Winter Road To Eagle In A "Cave" He Dug At A Gravel Pit, Troopers Say
Village Public Safety Officer Website |
Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs) from Eagle and Tok saved the life of a Texas man on Friday, October 18th. The 35-year old was intending to spend the winter in a small hole he had dug at a gravel pit along
the Taylor Highway, an unmaintained winter road.
The Taylor Highway is the road to Chicken and Eagle on the Yukon River. It starts on the Alcan, east of Tok.
Like many Alaskan dirt roads – including the Denali Highway – the Taylor Highway is closed in mid-October until spring, and not maintained by DOT during the winter months.
On October 18th – only 3 days after official winter maintenance of the Taylor Highway ended, the Eagle Village VPSO somehow learned about the man, according to a Trooper Report. The man had "hand dug a small cave and was planning to overwinter," the Trooper report said. He had chosen the gravel pit at Mile 96 of the Taylor – which is the approximate site of Jack Wade Junction. He had a vehicle with him.
Location of Mile 96 Taylor Highway in relation to Tok, Chicken and Eagle. (Google Maps) |
The VPSO decided to talk the man down – and succeeded. "After several hours of discussion, the individual was convinced that it was in his own best interest to rethink his plan and find a more suitable location to spend the winter," Troopers reported later.
They added: "The following day VPSOs from Eagle and Tok responded back to the location and gave the man 15 gallons of gas and performed minor vehicle repairs on the individual's SUV so that it could make the drive back to Tok. The man was escorted safely off of the Taylor Highway."
Posted on 10/19/2024 4:56:13 PM by SOA\npbecker