Our BOL is 110km from our door, an hour and a half drive, or a 4-5 day walk with packs. (We could probably do it in three as it's flat and paved/gravel the whole way, but food and water is budgetted for 5). Our's is mostly a way to get out of the city proper as we're the heart of farming country, with a healthy dose of cottage country on the outskirts. Our BOL is in fact, the family dairy farm, where we've explicitly been told we're welcome in emergencies, and they'll need the extra hands. That said, the only time we'll make use of it is if city problems are truly horrendous, and its impossible to shelter in location. If I can, I'd want to stay as I have the skill set and a responsibility to the power grid.

"Our BOL is 110km from our door, an hour and a half drive, or a 4-5 day walk with packs. (We could probably do it in three as it's flat and paved/gravel the whole way". Have you planned and tested alternate routes cross country? Routes with overnight locations that will provide shelter, water and security will be a Godsend. In a worst case scenario you may have to abandon the road if there are a lot of people travelling and creating a danger.

Hi Grayman,
I don't post much on this board but your situation is one that greatly interests me.
My BOL has to be accessed using Hwy. 2. Sheer volume of traffic has always concerned me. I contacted all the County and Municipal District offices around the BOL and had them mail me their maps. The same ones their workers use. They're not topo maps but do a great job of providing alternate route info. One thing I appreciate about Alberta is that for the most part our Range Roads and Township Roads are in great shape. This allows you to make decent time even on gravel.
I don't think even the most tuned in of us is going to know exactly when to Bug Out. Pick a few alternate routes. Drive your routes and find the pinch points (bridges, hairpin turns, blindspots) where an ambush or roadblock could be set.
In the initial stages of a Bug Out people will be more scared than smart and I doubt they will concentrate on your gear and goodies. I assume you're armed? A shotgun held at the ready by a competent passenger is definitely a deterrent.
I sincerely doubt the majority of preppers (or the 'quasi-preppers') are actually physically practicing much of the trade. So I urge you to get out and see what you can see.

I would suggest definitely no more than a full tank of gas away. You have to stop thinking of distance in Kms and starting thinking of it in your ability to get there. Easy to do by vehicle, but imagine going it by bike, or on foot, and see how far away you want it. It's a balance, and different for everyone. Personally, if I was looking at somewhere really far away, I would just consider moving full time. So I would say a full tank of gas max, and bring a jerry-can for the extra hours spent driving stop and go traffic, or for taking the long way round. A second home does no one any good if you can't get there.

the 110km is off highway, but on the grid roads. Off roading it would be difficult at best because if its not a farmers field it's bush that spends 90% of its time as swamp. If there's any way around it, I'd rather not trample the fields (my personal thoughts are of my hide and buckshot...) and slogging through a meter of mud and water is not on the menu if I can avoid it. The last km is a commonly used walking/atv trail across the pasture for the family up there who don't want to go around by the roads that do go through. Overnight locations for the first two days would be bivy sacks in bushes, Once we've pushed a little farther out from the city, my other half starts knowing the folks who own the land and we're banking on being able to trade on that for barn space, or its more bivy sacks in bushes.

Our BOL is 2 hours door to door. Accessible year round. We can get there on 1/4 tank of fuel (its a Jeeta diesel) Did I look for the most ideal location, NO. What I started with and most might disagree is a budget. $70K for that I wanted a house, services in, 5 acres minimum. In Alberta.
Did we find it? In a word yes. 6.5 acres, house with full basement, separate barn and baby barn (small shed) Has trees good water and we fell in love with the dump. Does it need work, you betcha, quit a bit. Cost 68K.
Did some ripping and tearing in the basement and found a door behind drywall. Guess what we now have a root cellar too!!!
Go to MLS.ca pick your prov, put in a price range. I did this for a couple years on and off.

Another thought you might want to consider is a grazing lease. There are many of these areas of Crown Land which are open as grazing leases. Yes, others are allowed on the land since you don't actually own it. However, many are located in more remote regions and few people bother with them. I don't recall how to get them but it was usually through the MD office.
You can build a temporary structure on the lease just not a permanent one. So no poured concrete footing. But I would think that a big root cellar would be okay as you can always back fill it if needed.
Just a thought.

If you became sick or injured, and needed to call for help. How long would it take the responders to arrive? 30 minutes? 2 hours? 6 hours? A day?

When you make the plunge to go out to remote, difficult to reach areas - you are also fully committing to being independent. Independence comes with big responsibilities and consequences. Illness and injuries have no hospital near by. No conveniences of society. But of course, that would all be known in advance, and planned for as much as possible.

The risk of some unexpected illness or injury, some critical health issue arising should be far less than the immediate and apparent risk of staying within a collapsed civilization. In my view, the choice to head to the mountains would basically have to be my only choice.

Hey grayman, we traveled throught the rockies this summer. I know what you mean with trafic. Its horible. Instead of going west of Calgary, try a different direction. North is populated buy what is it like going south or south west? Without looking at the map in fromt of me I would want to avoid traveling on the only few passes though the rockies.

Good suggestions and thoughts from all. I too have concerns about traversing the mountains routes during a BO situation. I've thought about east and south AB, but all I've seen is basically flat prairie, with no real concealment... at least from what I've seen on mls. I thought about buying a place like Darren suggested (great deal btw 😯 ) - but thought (in my overzealous paranoia) that a house would invite wandering souls (not all harmless) to investigate, while a concealed structure (5 or 10 man Arctic bell deep in a wooded area) shielded from roving eyes, would add a layer of security (can't hurt you if they can't see you 😎

I've given some thought to even moving my family (wife and 4 small kids ranging from 4 to 10) out to Ontario, where I can buy a huge amount of land for a smaller price. However, ever cognizant of threat, I have to add in the waves of folks exiting the cities in the GTA in large numbers as a) preventing me from getting to the BOL; or b) washing over my location in desperation...

I've thought also about moving m y family, kit-n-kaboodle, to some norther BC location away from what I'd consider the "hot-zones", but then common sense kicks in and I realize that if nothing ever happens, I am sentencing my children to group up in relative isolation, which is also not a good thing (while some aspects of that lifestyle would be positive for them).

Sometimes I sit back and think to myself... am i going crazy? Am I going over the deep end and reading too much in to the news I read daily? (I'm a news junkie and monitor it on the web from all over), can/would these scenarios actually happen? And that's when the self doubt kicks in, and I step back, thinking that I should just relax and just live like all my family and friends (all in Ontario btw), who think I'm crazy, and just drink beer, eat BBQ and swim in the pool...

Sorry for the Jack-Handy-esk "Deep-Thoughts" moment, I didn;t mean to go in a tangent... just providing some background as to why my BOL considerations seem to be all over the map (literally lol 😀 )

GM.

I have been prepping a mobile BOL. I have Different locations I could go to but to setup one may not be good . Depending on what SHTF could limit travel. Bridges could be out, road blocks etc. Traveling 100 miles after SHTF could be like traveling !000 now. I Have a good BIL that i will hold up in till things cool down. My BOV is set up to live out of and transport me to where i need to be when the time comes. If there ever was marshel law you may be grounded. I think we need to bug in for the first 6 mths and then find a place to carry on. To many possible disasters.

GM,

There are only 3 major passes through the Rockies. Hwy #3 Crowsnest Pass, Hwy #1 Roger's Pass and Hwy #16 Yellowhead Pass. There are a few more minor Hwy's into BC in North-West AB, but that maybe too far North. If any of you are aware of any logging, mining roads that cross the Rockies us PM's to share. There are only 3 ways across the rocks and all will become bottlenecks clogged with traffic from Calgary or Edmonton. Not to mention these three choke points will become natural control points for whatever government chooses to control travel - say in a martial law scenario. These 3 points will be like the East end of the Fraser Valley a scene of desperation and misery for those who try.

Yes, there is a lot of bald-ass prairie out there and no one will be running to it. Learn how to build a sod house and your home will disappear in those rolling hills and coulees to the East. Just have a way to store and move water to your BOL.

Just some thoughts,

Mountainman.

... I Have a good BIL that i will hold up in till things cool down... I think we need to bug in for the first 6 mths and then find a place to carry on.

I'm thinking all your points nighthawk are valid, and I'm also thinking this may be a necessity for us also; but the inherent weaknesses of my house would have to be addressed before it is even defendable, else it would just be a down-scaled walmart 😀

*ALL* of those *choke-points* will become a scene of desperation and misery for those who try, as you rightfully note Mountainman! You also hit the nail on the head as to my own thinking regarding government actions in and around the areas surrounding those way-points, which leads me to lean back in AB. I hadn't thought of your idea about enveloping a shelter into the coulees... and I very much LIKE that suggestion. Even thinking about taking it so far as excavating/burying/reinforcing all but the entrance into the side of a hill in one of the coulees would add all sort of benefits... Thanks Mountainman... now have to switch my mls focus 😀