Dick Proenneke - Alone in the Wilderness

[kiwi_2005]

I watched this last night just blew me away what this man aged 51 did while living in the wilderness. Retired at 51 went to the bush & built a log cabin and lived their for 30 years on his own. At 81 he decided to go back to his home town cause of the weather conditions and age was catching up on him. If you can get your hands on this video i recommend every man watch it young and old. The documentary shows him building his log home step by step using his tools no chainsaw just a man with his axe and pick. Tough as an ox.

Wonder if hes still alive if he is he would be hitting 100 and are their more documentaries of him living the rest of the years in the wilderness. I think he only made one as far as i can tell.

This is what i want to do one day go back to the bush and live off the land. Except i will have electricity and the internet

Here's a 10 min Youtube vid of the documentary

Documentary tells the story of Dick Proenneke who, in the late 1960s, built his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park. Using color footage he shot himself, Proenneke traces how he came to this remote area, selected a homestead site and built his log cabin completely by himself. The documentary covers his first year in-country, showing his day-to-day activities and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living alone in the wilderness.

Edit: found his website: http://www.dickproenneke.com/

And he did make a couple more of his living in the wilderness

[August]

I have that documentary on DVD. That man can do more work before breakfast than I can all day. And his skill with hand tools is amazing. Remember him cutting that log into boards? 4-5 simultaneous cuts running the length of a 8ft log with a 4ft hand saw. Wow!


Richard Louis "Dick" Proenneke
(May 4, 1916–April 28, 2003)

[kiwi_2005]

Yea or the way he makes those door hinges and the door lock and that fireplace or the fridge underground with a moss lid i would of never thought of that.

I learn't more about wood from that one video than all the years i did at wood-work classes at school!

R.I.P Dick your an inspiration mate!

Surviving arctic winters food-wise is the big question. Pretty much everything else can be fixed. Not easy and definitely not for everyone. Even if you have all supplies like we had in the military it's going to be a real test. Going completely self-sufficient will definitely separate the ones who can from the ones who can't.

[CaptainHaplo]

I have gone "survival" camping for a week at a time - and to do it long term - aka years - is truly a huge accomplishment. The daily struggle to do what must be done is hard enough, but to do so with no thought of when or if you will walk "back to civilization.... wow. My hats of to the man and his memory.

[August]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

I have gone "survival" camping for a week at a time - and to do it long term - aka years - is truly a huge accomplishment.

It gets a lot easier as time goes on though Hap. The biggest hurdle is building a shelter sufficient to survive the winter in (no mean feat up there) but once you have that, and a decent meat cache, you have a lot more time to concentrate on obtaining food and everything else.

[CaptainHaplo]

Physically it does become easier- but humans are generally social animals by nature - the solitude and mental struggles that go with long term isolation are not easily adapted to for most people. I can tell you - after a week out - I start looking forward to seeing people again - though alot of that goes to seeing those I care about - which may not have been an issue for the man in question.