Alone in the Wilderness - video

[ChainsawGrandpa]

Went to the library and checked out "Alone in the Wilderness".
A video about Dick Proenneke, who decided to homestead in
Alaska and see if he could last for one year. He stayed for
thirty five years! Shows him building his log cabin, and his
daily life. Watched it three times already. I think this video
exemplifies the true spirit of log home life. Just free to live
and enjoy life. Everytime I watch I catch myself with a big
grin on my face and thinking; "Man, whatta life! That guy
really knew how to live life to its fullest!

-Rick

[kyle]

I hear ya Rick,

I would love to live like that. I've often thought of buying some land in northern Canada or Alaska and doing a similar thing. But wanting a family of my own someday keeps me here in civilization.

[jawasan]

I haven't seen the complete video but I have watched a special on PBS a few times about his story. Dick makes it look so easy. Do a google search on him... it is quite informative and interesting. This guy even made his own windows from animal skin, etc... very resourceful man.

Leo
...almost class time!!!

[nobleknight]

01-04-07

Rick,

There is a lot more available about Dick Proenneke. The video Alaska: Silence and Solitude, and Lake Clark's release of his journals 1974-1980. The new release is named More Readings from One Man's Wilderness. It took a long time to receive it, but worth the wait.

I really enjoy his works.

Tom
nobleknight
class 01-15-05

[rreidnauer]

Dick Proenneke is my hero! :D

If you thought the video was good Rick, you have to read the book, One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey The video is like seeing the story through a keyhole, as it only shows a small portion of what the book covers. (you'll be able to pick out lines that were used in the video, some of which were used slightly out of context) I think the video covers about a half a year of his stay, while the book I think is about two years of his experiences.

After reading the book, I was left with one question though. I'm curious if anyone else who may have read it has had the same thought. Any guesses as to what my question is?

Tom, I had no idea there was another book out. I MUST get it! Maybe it will answer my question!!! :o

[nobleknight]

Rod,

WELL :?: :?: :!:

What is the question?

Tom
nobleknight
class 01-15-05

[jawasan]

Yeh Rod, do tell.
Leo

[Mark OBrien]

The question might have something to do with the Female persuasion??? :roll:

[rreidnauer]

Now, now folks. Let's not rush it. I wanna see if anyone else can come up with it first. - :wink:

Has anyone else read the book? The question won't make any sense unless you have. (of course, once you hear it, it may just peak your curiosity enough to go and read it! :lol: )

edit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oops, you got in there just before replying Mark, but yes, you are correct.

What ever became of the mission girls? :?: :lol:

[Oneshot]

if I had to guess maybe thats why he did it. They are great but they can make you wonder how life would be with hundeds of miles from everything and everybody. :twisted: :lol:

[nobleknight]

01-04-07

I think your answer is in the new book. Right in the beginning. Do you really think that? What made you think that way?

Tom
nobleknight
class 01-15-05

[rreidnauer]

01-04-07

I think your answer is in the new book. Right in the beginning. Do you really think that? What made you think that way?

LOL, OK. The only reason it came to mind was they were mentioned so many times throughout the book, and then you get to the end of the book and . . . . . . .

It's funny, when I found out that one of the tax consultants down at work had also read the book, I mentioned how I was left with one question, and before I could tell him what it was, he quoted my very thought! So I was just curious if anyone else was left with the same thoughts.

I look forward to reading Dick's next six years in the new book. 500 pages, that will take a bit of time to get through. (BTW, I read the first book during the flight to/from LHBA classes)

[jawasan]

The question might have something to do with the Female persuasion??? :roll:

That is what my wife pointed out. I fgiured he is just a loner type of guy.
:roll:

Leo

[nobleknight]

Rod, Rick,

Hey I forgot the "Frozen North" only on VHS. It is totally Proenneke. Also, in the new book they talk of a future release of his earliest journals.


Tom
nobleknight
class 01-15-05

[jeffro]

His story is always interesting, it must have been a very trying journey.

On a side note, am I the only one that sees a lot of irony in his remote wilderness cabin now being a chartered destination???

Jeff

[heidiree]

His story is always interesting, it must have been a very trying journey.

On a side note, am I the only one that sees a lot of irony in his remote wilderness cabin now being a chartered destination???

Jeff

The same could be said for Thoreau's Walden Pond. Gotta wonder if somehow we might be missing the whole point behind what they did . .

[rreidnauer]

Alone in the Wilderness, Part 2 has been released on DVD. (thanks Steve W for bringing it to my attention)

http://www.dickproenneke.com/alone_in_the_wilderness.html

[stamic55]

Awesome! I've read the book and seen multiple movies.

Another book I recommend is "Call of the Wild: My Escape to Alaska" by Guy Grieve. He's a Scottish man who had the drive to move to Alaska for a year and live on his own. Even though he had a family at home, he could not overcome the urge to leave. He built his own cabin and had to survive miles from people. I learned amazing things the Alaskins (The ones on thier own) have to deal with that you never hear about. Anybody else read it?

[emersonelk]

Part one and two gonna be on cable on the 14th on opb. for those of you in oregon.Already seen it and have the book,but now it'll be on the dvr so we can watch it any time now.

[lilbluehonda]

It's funny when I tell someone I'm building a log cabin in the woods
about half the time they ask me if I've ever seen "Alone in the Wilderness"

[FishingAddict]

Both parts been playing around here on TPT for a month or more. One can always tell when they are fund raising as the first thing they run was always part 1 - now they run both
Great vids and bet I have watched 20 times. He was a character - and for the time the video was pretty dang good too. It's been a dream of ours to get there for years. And that's where we headed next summer for a vacation - not sure if we'll fly in to Dick's or maybe try the river in? I cannot wait .... his place will be the icing on the real cake called fishin'. :D

[Blondie]

Hey Guys,

Dick is not the only one. There is a train that runs from Fairbanks down to Anchorage and back again. Folks frequently, even today, pack their stuff on to the train, pull the string where they want to get off. The train stops in the middle of no where and the folks pull the stuff off the train and pack their supplies into the wild, unmarked, wilderness. When they want to go to town they build a fire on the train tracks and wait for the next train to come by. No one has any idea how many folks are out there. They do the real subsistence living. How far they go off the train tracks, no one knows. No taxes, no power, no plumbing. The wilderness in Alaska, if you know how to live on it, is a rich and abundent place to eat and live. I have picked low bush cranberries by the bucket. I have seen moose in the center of Anchorage. You can fish for salmon even in the city of Anchorage. The natives run fish wheels to catch enough salmon to salt and smoke for the winter. Salmon are so plentiful they feed the sled dogs dried salmon instead of dog food in the winter. The cold is a big draw back. I have seen it 86 below zero for weeks at a time. When the weather finally broke and got up to 44 below, we girls all went to lunch to celebrate. The trees are very different from what we know here in the lower 48. Perma frost prevents the roots from going more than a foot or so deep. The trees are all stunted. They are short and very thin. The big trees are found where the perma frost is shallow or none existant. They are massive down on the coast where the weather has some ocean influence.

Blondie

[rreidnauer]

Blondie, you point out probably the single factor which keeps me from doing just what you've described. If it wasn't for those harsh temperatures in the winters, I'd definitely be living life, rather than slaving away here.

Glad to see you had the opportunity to say you got to do it, at least for some time.

[Tom Featherstone]

To ALASKA! You might not come back. Part of me is still there after our trip in October. I've wanted to go there, probably longer than I've wanted to build a log home. Our trip probably cost us part of our roof if we are to begin to build this next spring, No Regrets by either of us and two of our adult children that were able to make it with us.

It IS, everything you see in the travel stuff. I asked Linda several times to pinch me, to see if we were really experiencing it. We did the "Chevy Chase" RV vacation out of Anchorage, no time table, other than to end up in Homer and then to return to ANC for our flight back to Seattle. We squeezed out every minute we could while there on our short trip and we did. We went late in the season to avoid the "tourists". We knocked around in Anchorage for a couple of days, then picked up the RV from ABC Rentals and headed South into the Kenai Peninsula, ending up in Seward our first night on the road, I've could have spent a lot more time there, it was stunning!

No fishing, I can catch fish at home, besides fishing would take time away from seeing as much as possible while there. Two of the biggest Questions we got after returning home is.. "When are you moving there?" and "What did you get out of it?".. We're not moving there, we already live "Alone in the Wilderness" by our definition, and "What did.." I get out of it, that if there's something in life you've been waiting to do... Do IT! Any way you can. The experience is something you can't put a dollar amount upon. As we have All heard through our lives, "Tomorrow may never come". You have to seize the moment, for it is the only "Real" thing we have at this moment.

Yes, our life has changed again after visiting Alaska. We've adjusted our time frame as far as our build is concern, it will have to include our next trip to Alaska and what ever direction God moves us in.

Best of Wishes,
Tom
437

[spiralsands]

I like the self-sufficiency part but I don't want the COMPLETELY alone part. I like having a neighbor or two around to swap tools with, have a cake and coffee with or share a venison stew with.

My friend Paula from high school went to Alaska and came back and told me that if you ever thought of living there, you had better take up a few indoor hobbies that can totally consume you for the winter, like playing an instrument or carving knife handles or something.

Frances

[FishingAddict]

I hear you loud and clear Tom, and I feel it in my veins too. I actually worked the pipleline in late 69 thru 71. The single hardest thing I ever did was come back for good. I planned to be back for a few months and then go back. A serious medical matter ended that.
I never made it to Dick's but even then, when he was there, he was a legend in the making as he shot so much film and spools of it were around that some talked about. It's a place I just need to see and Alaska a place I need to be again too. I'm loading to fish also but planning on 3-6 months up there.
I see you are on the UP- where abouts? I have some land near Baraga and when I settle down (lol) that is where I will build at. An old defunct copper mine is on the back 40 of the parcel and holds some interesting history.


To ALASKA! You might not come back. Part of me is still there after our trip in October. I've wanted to go there, probably longer than I've wanted to build a log home. Our trip probably cost us part of our roof if we are to begin to build this next spring, No Regrets by either of us and two of our adult children that were able to make it with us.

It IS, everything you see in the travel stuff. I asked Linda several times to pinch me, to see if we were really experiencing it. We did the "Chevy Chase" RV vacation out of Anchorage, no time table, other than to end up in Homer and then to return to ANC for our flight back to Seattle. We squeezed out every minute we could while there on our short trip and we did. We went late in the season to avoid the "tourists". We knocked around in Anchorage for a couple of days, then picked up the RV from ABC Rentals and headed South into the Kenai Peninsula, ending up in Seward our first night on the road, I've could have spent a lot more time there, it was stunning!

No fishing, I can catch fish at home, besides fishing would take time away from seeing as much as possible while there. Two of the biggest Questions we got after returning home is.. "When are you moving there?" and "What did you get out of it?".. We're not moving there, we already live "Alone in the Wilderness" by our definition, and "What did.." I get out of it, that if there's something in life you've been waiting to do... Do IT! Any way you can. The experience is something you can't put a dollar amount upon. As we have All heard through our lives, "Tomorrow may never come". You have to seize the moment, for it is the only "Real" thing we have at this moment.

Yes, our life has changed again after visiting Alaska. We've adjusted our time frame as far as our build is concern, it will have to include our next trip to Alaska and what ever direction God moves us in.

Best of Wishes,
Tom
437

[Blondie]

Guys,

If "I" were going to do it. I would be 25 years younger. I would chose property below Haines down on the ocean. There the trees are massive, the perma frost does not exist and the winters are much milder. You can access the landwith a bout or pack out on foot. There are no roads and no rail roads. Hell, it sounds great right now. I can see the massive trees and the great rocks on the ocean shore from here.

Blondie

[rreidnauer]

You guys keep it up and you'll never see me on this forum again! :)

[exsailor]

I haven't seen any of the videos except short UTube stuff or read his books. It is on my to do list. Recently on another forum this link was posted http://vimeo.com/20404596 it looks like all three video's are there. I watched Alone in The Wilderness last night and he makes everything look so darned easy, and I know it is not. The man was remarkable!

[jrdavis]

I LOVE Alaska...
So I went searching for a temperature guide for the Haines area.....
you can pick the city and find avg's since the 1970's.

I'm with Rod -- about to jump at a moments notice... till reality sets back in.
if interested.
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/Climsmak.html

[Tom Featherstone]

I might be the one that moves further North looking for winter in the winter months. It's raining here currently, it hit about 38 degrees F, and it's the middle of December! We moved up here because we're crazy and like winter. We need a good winter so we can get our house logs out.

Rod, the southern coastal regions of Alaska have a very tempered winter compared to ours here. You do adjust to the cold, I don't know how anyone can adjust to heat. Summers are the worst for me, all six weeks of it in the 80's and up...not to mention the bugs.

Like Blondie, if I was 25 yrs younger... no kids....??? Winter time with no daylight I think would be the toughest over time, unless you read a lot and unlike Mr. "P's time", cell service is pretty good up there, thus internet, our Xoom worked great up there, I sent LHN stuff while there.

Fishing A! We're about an 1 1/2 hrs from Baraga, South of Negaunee. We've got a friend that has his own copper mine in Copper country. Take the class if you're looking to build a LOG HOME. These people in the LHBA are for Real. What is taught in class is unparalleled. By the time you get to your build up here, I'll have made plenty of mistakes, hopefully to save you a few! And I'd love to talk to you more about Alaska. Good Luck!

Best Wishes to All!
Tom

[Blondie]

Yes Tom,

There are drawbacks. No cell service, no internet. no land line. No snail mail, no UPS Service. No "tube" service. No cable. All those things that we now consider essential.... However, even after three years in Anchorage and literally freezing my buns off, I looked up property available south of Haines. IF I had a partner that wanted to go as well, if I had enough money to play with, if I had a good connection for supplies per water craft. "I" would be gone in a matter of seconds.

Now you all now that I am totally helpless.

Blondie

[loghousenut]

Yes Tom,

However, even after three years in Anchorage and literally freezing my buns off, I looked up property available south of Haines. IF I had a partner that wanted to go as well, if I had enough money to play with, if I had a good connection for supplies per water craft. "I" would be gone in a matter of seconds.

Now you all now that I am totally helpless.

Blondie


Blondie,

I have all those things you need to make a go of it in the Alaskan bush. I'll go ask the Wife if I can head up to the promised land with you. It might be a lot of fun if I survive asking for permission.


http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/loghousenut/crazyladyshootinggun.png















PS... She kinda said I have to stay home. She's not being very nice about it but I think I oughta stay here where I have cell service, internet, land line, snail mail, UPS service and a Wife who loves and controls me. Maybe next time HahaAHAaaaaaa.

[Blondie]

Oh, you are so NAUGHTY!

[loghousenut]

I like to think I am "imaginative". With a longer leash I would be naughty. All of you are completely safe.

[Tom Featherstone]

:DI just about spilled coffee all over myself first thing this am after reading your first response. I know who fills up my dog dish everyday, and she tells me I'm a Good Boy, and so smart because I trained well "off leash". I don't leave the yard.

Blondie, I might just know the guy for you, but I don't know if he could survive without the internet. He does have a pilot's license though.

Best Wishes,
Tom

[Blondie]

Guys,

Please reassure your ladies that I do not have a wandering eye. Fences are fences and I understand the territory. However, I have been giggling for hours.
A quiet, wishful conversation about the bitter cold of an Alaskan winter turned absolutely hilarious! Thank you. I needed that!

Blondie

[FishingAddict]

Tom-I will try to take you up on that my friend. Need to kick the last of the wanderlust I have running yet in my veins and since the years adding up fast I best hurry the pace before I walk on. Suppose my ancestors would be telling me a tepee and canoe worked fine for them and why not me but I like a bit of heat at times myself.
It would be fun to share stories. I was born outside L'anse and am Ojibway, or mostly so. When the time comes I shall seek you out and would love to see your place. Odd year - rain vs snow and everything is confused.

Blondie-you sound like a joy and a "catch". Maybe we can turn this forum in matchmaker. :) Hmmmmmmmm - best let this go eh

LHN-you are one crazy dude. I love it. And love your place. Crazy big for my needs but loads of wow factor in it. Cool place

If I don't get back on before the holidays a Merry Christmas to everyone.
Peace

[Blondie]

HI,

Thank you for the "Catch" classification....but it may not be warrented. lol I am very fair, blonde, green eyed, with freckles but I am part Iroquoi. I really like my creature comforts! Fush plumbing, hot water, cell phones, internet, microwaves, big flat screen TV's.

The wander lust never, never, ever goes away. The "Call" of the next hill, the next trip, the next adventure still calls like an addiction. I have lived here in the same house for over 30 years but still look at the ads for English speakers teaching in China. ( not so far fetched, I lived in Taiwan as a child.) How long would it take me to leave the country? Less than an hour. lol

Blondie

[loghousenut]

HI,

I really like my creature comforts! Fush plumbing, hot water, cell phones, internet, microwaves, big flat screen TV's.


Blondie


Is that a typo? Shal we assume that you meant PUSH plumbing?

Sounds kinda weird to me. Hah

[Blondie]

Flip!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't you know that i can't tpye!!!!!!!!!!!! F l u s h lol

[loghousenut]

FLUSH toilet does indeed sound more civilized than PUSH toilet.

[Blondie]

LHN,

You are of course, quite correct. Flush "sounds" so much more civilized than push. ( giggling) I am more than slightly "dislexic." But typing has never been horribly important to me, so I have never acquired the skill. That is not to say that I don't have other skills that I have endevored very hard to polish and use. None of which seem to come across the written page very well. Oh, well. (sigh) I guess I will just have to muddle on. (Giggle)

Blondie