The Story of Dick Proenneke - Alone in the Wilderness

[Sourdough]

If you have never enjoyed the videos and documentaries about Richard Proenneke......you have a real treat just waiting for your enjoyment.

When I built my second homestead in the Alaska wilderness, on the North shore of beautiful Lake Clark, in the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, I had the pleasure of meeting Richard Proenneke.

One of the videos about Richard Proenneke is by Jay Hammond, (then) retired Governor of Alaska. The Hammond homestead was my near neighbor several miles to the East.



There are several videos, available for viewing.

 

[Flight]

Thank you for bringing this good video to my attention, i really enjoyed it, I will have to watch them in a bit.

 

[Weedygarden]

There is more footage of him. I have watched it a few times over the years. He is an inspiration. What I learned from watching the video is how to store food in a raised building to protect it from animals.

 

[Sourdough]

Thank you for bringing this good video to my attention, i really enjoyed it, I will have to watch them in a bit.

The full length video (you may have to pay to rent) is used twice a year by PPS during their fund raising drive. That full length video is great.

Twin Lakes is very near to Lake Clark.

 

[ssonb]

I have been a fan of Dicks since the films first came out, You could see his mind was still sharp on his last visit and I could almost feel the heartache he had on that trip. His mind still full of adventure but his body was worn out. Daniel Boone lamented on this subject in his last days on the porch of his daughters home.

 

[backlash]

Alone in the Wilderness is my all time favorite.
He was such a skilled man.
He needed a spoon, so he cut a log and carved a spoon that looked like it had been made in a factory.
When he cut the wall of his new cabin to put in his fireplace every cut was absolutely perfect.
Straight and parallel and all done by hand with no power tools.

 

[SheepDog]

I think I have seen every film that was ever made about Dick. I have a brother with the same kind of mindset. My brother built his first cabin in the woods across the street that bordered the park at age 8. He now lives at our northern bugout location - alone in the wilderness. We get to see him occasionally in the winter when he comes down off the mountain and in the summer when we go up to visit. He lives a simple life with just two seasons; Winter and "getting ready for winter". He works hard and plays hard and we are going to expand his garden next year. We have to expand the walipini so he can grow more. At 5000 feet the growing season is very short but the walipini extends the growing season by a couple of months. He also wants to dig a root cellar into the hill side - there is a lot of granite in that mountain so we might use some old fashion "horse power" to break up the rock. This summer he is going to build a workshop for his new lathe and mill. He is teaching me how to make sawdust and I am teaching him how to make meal shavings. It's a good trade off of our skills.