Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Alone in the Wilderness





It seems that every time I fly somewhere I return to some sort of head cold, most likely from the germ pit known as an airplane. I spent the day on the couch with a box full of kleenex and moms honey, lemon and whiskey tea to soothe the cobblestone path in my throat. To my surprise PBS was running the Dick Proenneke documentary "Alone in the Wilderness". If you've never seen it and grew up with a fascination for programs like "Marty Stouffers Wild America" or "Lorne Greenes New Wilderness" then it's a must. Not to mention the fact that I don't believe there are many men left in this world that would take on such a feat out of nothing more than personal satisfaction.

Dick lived his life as a carpenter, mechanic and rancher all throughout the United States and at the ripe young age of 51 he decided to move to Alaska and build a log cabin by hand. Chisels, axes and handsaws were all he had and what he accomplished was amazing to say the least. Dick lived in his cabin until he was 82 years old and couldn't physically compete with the cold and daily duties any longer.

Dick befriended a hiker by the name of Bob Swerer in his latter years who was also a nature documentary buff. Upon Dicks passing in 2003 Bob discovered that Dick had filmed his early adventures and the entire step by step building of the cabin with a hand cranked video camera along with voice overs.

It's a really amazing documentary and inspiring to say the least. There are no rules to the game of life, it is what you make it. Leave your mark.

9 comments:

Adam Nickel said...

I love watching this

"Too many men work on parts of things, doing a job to completion satisfies me."

magua said...

Very cool doc.A very talented and spiritual dude!Have seen it a couple of time's but never from the very beginning!

the Dutch said...

ABSOLUTELY envious of that cat! That guy lived his life... and enjoyed it.

tattered said...

that is the guy i wanted to be growing up...amazing he lived in that cabin until he was 82!! Quite a resourceful and talented craftsman.

Anonymous said...

Some many ways to get off the grid, cats like this are true heros in my eyes. It's not just detaching from the modern world it is detaching from all those popular notions of what is "accepted", "trendy" or normal.
It takes real courage to be truly alone and be happy with that.

Jet City Jughead said...

Simply phenomenal.

Unknown said...

I also loved this show. Makes me just want to get away.

Anonymous said...

Saw some of this a few weeks ago. It really was awesome.

Blackberry said...

Thanks for this reference.