Dick Proenneke

[Chantilly Lace]

In September 2006 I visited Twin Lakes. I was flown in and kayaked and camped along its shores. It was stunningly beautiful! When I watch Dick's video I recognize the places he went and the views. While there I saw moose and bears every day. Bears everywhere! Black and brown. The last day there a bear destroyed some of our tents while we were out hiking. In September there are NO MOSQUITOES! Not a single bug! The blueberries are ripe and plentiful, the mountains are loaded with them. The bears are seen eating them all day long. Kayaking, hiking and camping. What a trip! The visit to Dick's cabin was indeed a highlight. There are caretakers there who give tours and knew Dick personally. The cabin is so, so small. I wondered how Dick managed to live there through the winters without losing his mind. All of his belongings are still there. He was quite a character. One can take a flight in there from Anchorage and visit and fly out a few hours later. Of course it costs alot, at that time it was about $400. I recommend going on a trip of a lifetime with Alaska Alpine Adventures and go visit Twin Lakes in Lake Clark National Park. Or any place else in Alaska!

[Tipi Walter]

I do not think he he was married or had children.




Panzer

This is the secret to living like Dick.

[BlackCloud]

He was not like you or me. He was a real loner.

Panzer

How did you find all that out? Your email was about as intersting as the entire book!

[drastic_quench]

How did you find all that out? Your email was about as intersting as the entire book!

Most of that is all here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke

[Ewker]

In September 2006 I visited Twin Lakes. I was flown in and kayaked and camped along its shores. It was stunningly beautiful! When I watch Dick's video I recognize the places he went and the views. While there I saw moose and bears every day. Bears everywhere! Black and brown. The last day there a bear destroyed some of our tents while we were out hiking. In September there are NO MOSQUITOES! Not a single bug! The blueberries are ripe and plentiful, the mountains are loaded with them. The bears are seen eating them all day long. Kayaking, hiking and camping. What a trip! The visit to Dick's cabin was indeed a highlight. There are caretakers there who give tours and knew Dick personally. The cabin is so, so small. I wondered how Dick managed to live there through the winters without losing his mind. All of his belongings are still there. He was quite a character. One can take a flight in there from Anchorage and visit and fly out a few hours later. Of course it costs alot, at that time it was about $400. I recommend going on a trip of a lifetime with Alaska Alpine Adventures and go visit Twin Lakes in Lake Clark National Park. Or any place else in Alaska!

added to my list of things I want to do

[atraildreamer]

I think that it was hand carved door hinges. His windows were store bought.

Panzer

He also used some plastic or rubber sheeting on top of his roof, installed below the moss layer that he put on top for insulation. He acknowledged this in the video. He only bought what he could not obtain from the local enviroment, and only if he thought he could not do without it.

[Panzer1]

He also used some plastic or rubber sheeting on top of his roof, installed below the moss layer that he put on top for insulation. He acknowledged this in the video. He only bought what he could not obtain from the local enviroment, and only if he thought he could not do without it.

I think it was standard roofing tar paper that he used. He said it kind of bothered him to use that because it was not natural, but thought that it would work better than just moss all by itself.

The only other thing that he did not obtain from the environment was his store bought windows as he could not make those himself.

Panzer

[BlackCloud]

The only other thing that he did not obtain from the environment was his store bought windows as he could not make those himself.

Panzer

...and his rifle, bullets, sugar, flour, medical supplies, spices, and everything else the plane brought him. Didn't he have a wheelbarrow?

It was a stationary 30 year supported thru hike through time.

Let's call it "plane magic"

[buckwheat]

Store Bought windows ???? What a Poser!!!!
Seriously, I think you can always tell it is NPR Handout time when they start running AITW... Love the video - even forked out the $35 to get it for my parents about 5 years ago. That shoulda kept NPR running for a few minutes

yea, no kidding ... anybody that isn't blowing their own glass doesn't deserve his own national park monument.

Signed,
Tipi

[buckwheat]

Both the film and the book left me with a littany of questions.

What did Dick do before the 30 years in Alaska to afford his resupplies?

Where did he learn the skills he exhibited?

Why did he do it? Was it loneliness engendered by his wife's death? Did he have kids?

What happened to him upon his return to society? What was the time warp like?

Although the film & book were fascinating, I was very upset not having any clues as to these issues. 30 years in the woods? Imagine the psyche required for that!

I know some of these answers from studying this guy to see if it could still be done:

Dick was a gifted artisan and craftsman and had obtained all of his woodworking skills long before entering the woods. He lived on a pension (maybe even two pensions). While just about anyone can build a square log cabin given enough time, his was, obviously very well-designed and constructed owing to his skill.

He wasn't a hermit stuck in time, unaware of society. He used every technological advantage he could possibly lug to his cabin through the use of an airplane, up to and including enough technology to film a documentary back in the 1960s. So, I doubt he experienced a time warp. He left occasionally to visit his family. A lot of his tools he had someone make for him to his design specifications. So, he probably kept up with the amazing gadgets of the day same as we do.

He had a friend with an airplane to help out. You have a friend with an airplane willing to resupply you at your remote cabin on free land, right? Doesn't everyone have a friend with a plane and with lots of time to do your shopping?

I think later on, he even bought his own airplane, so, he probably had a lot of dancing bananas squirreled away somewhere. I guess if someone gave me my own frickin' National Park, I could probably figure a way to make ends meet. I'm just sayin'.

All joking aside, living there for 30 years took incredible fortitude and skill. Documenting it made it all the more special. I don't care who you are or how much firewood you chopped all summer long ... minus 50 degrees is frickin' cold buddy.

Could it be done today? I think there's probably plenty of places in Alaska where you could get deep enough into the bush where the "authorities" wouldn't bother trying to arrest you for trespassing. Heck the Governor might even come visit you and shoot a moose for you.

And show you what you been missin'. If'n you see what I mean!

I think the key to the whole adventure was the documentary, combined with the hubris of the whole idea, and the fact that virtually every man at one time has dreamt of such a life. He probably got away with a lot by telling people he was making a documentary of life in Alaska and writing his book. If a person was to try to do it today, the way to do it would be to get PBS in at the get freakin' go, paying for everything.

They probably even have a plane laying around somewhere.

[Tipi Walter]

Could it be done today? I think there's probably plenty of places in Alaska where you could get deep enough into the bush where the "authorities" wouldn't bother trying to arrest you for trespassing. Heck the Governor might even come visit you and shoot a moose for you.

Could it be done today? It is being done today and was done yesterday and will continue to be done tomorrow. And it doesn't have to be done in Alaska with a full blown permanent cabin. It can be down in Alabama or North Carolina or Virginia, wherever there is a national forest where a person uses a mobile shelter instead of a permanent cabin and sets up for two weeks at one spot and moves someplace else for another two weeks. (And the mobile shelter could be a big-arsed 12x12 cabin tent for that matter, or even a canvas tipi with woodstove--all hauled by foot in the middle of a forest or "wilderness area" and away from cars). And instead of needing money to build a cabin or hire a plane like Dick, the southeast version of Dick could use that money to cache beans and rice/other foods and never come out of the woods. Or rarely. Even stay out in the winter. He may not be hunting moose and keeping his food away from grizzly bears, but so what?

The opportunity to live exactly like Dick may not be possible on guvmint land, as nowadays a permanent cabin would be seized by the Tent Police government agents and probably torn down, but there are plenty of places a person could purchase an acre of land in the middle of nowhere and set up a cabin off the grid with no running water. But such a solution imprisons a person to a small area, I like better the idea of moving a basecamp periodically and thereby exploring more wilderness.

I think alot of people say to themselves, "Well, it can't be done like Dick!" and so they immediately discount any lesser attempt(like living in a national forest for 2 weeks and moving for another 2 weeks, etc), thereby easing their consciences and accepting the inevitable home/house life with running water, flush toilets, electricity, 30 year mortages or high rents, etc. The Indoor Life. Such reasoning justifies not exploring Dick's example or variations thereof.

[buckwheat]

I think alot of people say to themselves, "Well, it can't be done like Dick!" and so they immediately discount any lesser attempt (like living in a national forest for 2 weeks and moving for another 2 weeks, etc), thereby easing their consciences and accepting the inevitable home/house life with running water, flush toilets, electricity, 30 year mortages or high rents, etc. The Indoor Life. Such reasoning justifies not exploring Dick's example or variations thereof.

I don't think that's a reasonable interpretation really. Fact is, it probably could be done like Dick. It's just very expensive to do it like Dick did. That's what a lot of people don't take the time to investigate. They think it was free for Dick. In reality, it was every expensive to do what he did.

Dick retired from a long career of working before setting out to attempt what he did. He survived on the money he saved and made while doing it, getting constant resupply from the outside world. He desired to live off the land, but couldn't. He was frequently visited with supplies from elsewhere by others helping him live out the fantasy. Doesn't take anything away from what the man did ... but reminds us of the hardships he endured and the help he had along the way. He certainly didn't do it alone.

Are there cheaper ways to do it? Sure there are. Tipi is a good example. If you're willing to be mobile and carry a 90-pound pack, you can pretty much go anywhere on the planet that you like. Almost all of the United States west of Oklahoma is federally-owned land that can be camped.

But, I don't know many people who have dreamt of being a nomad. On the other hand, I know many who've dreamt of finding their idyllic place and building their cabin by hand like Dick did. That's the dream most have. It's also why it's today a national landmark - because so few could even attempt it.

[Panzer1]

He could not have done what he did without air resupply. The airplane was the essential tool that enabled people to live that far out.

Panzer

[buzzamania]

I own the video. Amazing that he did this for so many years. He did it in a time without all the modern conveniences that we now enjoy. Truly amazing.

[double d]

I like what Tipi Walter, Panzer1 and Buckwheat wrote, one could live in the wilderness if they so desire full time. Also, I read Dick's book (yes, your happy for me!), it is s wonderful book, but Dick's motivation wasn't to live away from society, his desire was to live in the wilderness everyday (he lived in his cabin for over 30 years). Sure Dick got mail and re-supplied on a regular basis and Dick "vacationed" back to Iowa to see his sister when he could. It was a nice life, although those winters were tough.

[Panzer1]

I'm guessing that at the age of 65 he became eligible for social security. That may not be much money to someone living in a regular house but to someone like him living in the wilderness the money probably stretched pretty far.

Panzer

[double d]

Good point Panzer1 because Dick lived in his cabin until he was about 80 years old! I don't believe he had kids either, so he didn't have that expense as well.

[yappy]

it is still being done in Ak...plenty of land there. freaking cold though.. really freaking cold. It takes a certain person to cope with that all the time.

[atraildreamer]

It was a nice life, although those winters were tough.

I remember a line from the DVD after he built his fireplace (a marvel of construction in itself) that when it was fifty below outside, it was a balmy 40 degrees inside the cabin.

[Colter]

I remember a line from the DVD after he built his fireplace (a marvel of construction in itself) that when it was fifty below outside, it was a balmy 40 degrees inside the cabin.

I don't doubt that his cabin was cold while he was using his fireplace, but he later had a wood stove with which he could undoubtedly heat his little cabin as warm as he liked it, even at 50 below. Might have cooled off a bit at night, though!.

Right now I'm in a log cabin in Alaska and it's 25 below. It was 49 degrees when I woke up and 70 degrees now, and this cabin wasn't built by a master craftsman like Dick was. His hand carved hinges are probably what impressed me the most.