Alone in the Wilderness

youtube ^

[JoeProBono]

Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin on the shore of Twin Lakes. The first summer he scouted for the best cabin site, and cut and peeled the logs he would need for his cabin. Dick Proenneke returned the next summer to finish the cabin where he lived for over 30 years. Dick filmed his adventures

[JoeProBono]

YouTube: Alone in the Wilderness

[stompk]

chuck norris hides from dick proenekee.

Dick is a bad-ass. I’ve thought many times of going alone to alaska to do what he did, but aside from me NOT being a bad-ass, my wife and kids wouldn’t let me !

[Teflonic]

I gave Dick Proeneke’s three episodes to my Grandfather and he thinks they are the best thing since sliced bread, watches them all the time.

[JoeProBono]

[snowrip]

bump for later viewing

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

http://stagevu.com/video/mxxnivzjkjbiA

[unkus]

Really neat. Thanks.

[redpoll]

We have the students struggling with reading and writing read his book “Into the Wilderness” and watch his videos. It is good for young men to see someone using his strong will, strength, and knowledge. Dick Proenneke builds his own home, hunts and kills his own food, and creates his own tools and belongings. It is a far more powerful and uplifting message than most of the self-esteem crap fed to these kids in popular culture and modern education, and this is especially true for young men.

Well worth the read and the look.

[JoeProBono]

[Tijeras_Slim]

After 50 years he’d had enough of Jane.

[ßuddaßudd]

Good Show!

[CJ Wolf]

From one of the comments on the youtube video. "My father knew this man and told me an interesting story as a child. Once a bigfoot came down the mountain in the winter and tried to take Richards stash of food. Proenneke killed the bigfoot with his bare hands and used his scrotum for a tobacco pouch and wore his ass fur as a hat for the next thirty years. He was never again bothered by bigfoot."

[fieldmarshaldj]

"and wore his ass fur as a hat for the next thirty years"

So this was the inspiration for Joe Biden.

[RedMDer]

That is a great story and video. Thanks!

[stylin19a]

holy cripes...he mostly didn’t use gloves.

Thanks for turning me on to this.

[stylecouncilor]

You also might like The Final Frontiersman-Heimo Korth

[stickandrudder]

I like stories about this. Enjoyed the PBS shows.
Another group of these guys in Idaho
“Last of the Mountain Men” by Peterson is the story of one of them. Amazing what you can do and get by with when you have to.

[GoldenPup]

Last year, Public TV did a full length progam on this, narrated by the fellow, himself. What an extraordinary story. He is a very accomplished craftsman and the program was well worth watching. I hope they broadcast it again this year.

[Rebelbase]

Howling laughter here!

[Chuckster]

holy cripes...he mostly didn’t use gloves.

Yer hands will toughen up. Gloves will just wear out.

[Daffynition]

Filming himself...he kinda invented *youtube*!!! What a great-great adventurer! He was from another time and place. Unlike the failed [and equally engrossing story] Into the Wild the 1996 non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer about the ill-fated demise of Christopher McCandless who attempted to tame the wilderness and basically starved to death.

Look at those wild blues!!!!

[goseminoles]

“So this was the inspiration for Joe Biden. “

Biden is an asshat.

[Daffynition]

Bare handed.

[JoeProBono]

http://stagevu.com/video/mxxnivzjkjbiA

[Daffynition]

AWESOME! Thanks for this link!

[JoeProBono]

Using a hand-cranked 16mm Bolex camera, Proenneke carefully recorded the process of building the cabin and all the details that go along with it (including a stone fireplace, a thatched roof, wooden door hinges and a clever lock mechanism to keep bears out, an outhouse, a functional refrigerator in the ground, and much more). He demonstrates a truly amazing frontier craftsmanship that you don't see much of today; just as rewarding are Proenneke's beautiful shots of the flora, fauna, and spectacular scenery around him and his reverent but matter-of-fact take on it all.

[Daffynition]

Windows here were built too small b/c of fear of bears. It's a steep learning curve for flatlanders. Meh.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

BTTT

[Mike Darancette]

The next Spring they would find naught of me but a rag, a bone and a hank of hair.

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[Axeslinger]

I begin construction on my own cabin on a chunk of land in the Virginia mtns in about 2.5 months...so self ping for later viewing...

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

Dick Proenneke (1916-2003)

[Daffynition]

Have you had a chance to watch the Heimo Korth video yet?

[JoeProBono]

Yup. Got me thinking about getting some baby back ribs for the weekend.

[Daffynition]

I liked the way he skinned the rabbit. I don't know why he didn't have a cache. Even Proenneke built one.

[JoeProBono]

A cache would have meant fewer bear skin rugs.

[urtax$@work]

A real do-it-yourselfer, saw vid and was exhausted after watching all the work he did. Give that guy an axe and some trees and he will build a palace.

[MileHi]

Bought this DVD a few years ago. Mr. Proenneke was an amazing man.

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[Daffynition]

Bear proof Artic cabin

[Daffynition]

[JoeProBono]

[Publius Valerius]

marked for later.

[Daffynition]

Dick Proenneke's Twin Lakes

"Nurture vs. Nature"

[Daffynition]

DP:

Really had a time here this afternoon...here comes a brown bear up my path...He just ambled unconcerned past my big window in the direction of the rear of the cabin. No more had he gone out of sight when I heard sounds that brought me right up out of the chair. That character was trying to climb up the corner of the cabin and onto my new roof!...I slid the .357 magnum from its holster on the wall and stepped out the door...I yelled and touched off a round that exploded like a thunderclap...It didn't have the expected result. Around the corner came the bear in four-paw drive. I scrambled for the door, pulled it shut and gripped a fist down hard on the handle. The bear came slamming against the planks. I felt his weight bulging the upper door and heard the rake of his claws...Maybe it would take the heavy artillery to scare him off. I loaded the ought-six, opened the window, and rested the barrel on the sill. The I turned loose a rebel yell...He must have been a reincarnation of Jeb Stuart. He spun with unbelievable quickness and came on like the cavalry. I drove a slug into the path in front of him...He put on the brakes, whirled in retreat, then stopped...and was gone. (pp. 93 - 94)

Nature provides so many things if one has the eye to notice them. It is a pleasure to see what you can use instead of buying it all packaged and ready-made. Several stumps with just the right flare gave me my wooden hinges. Burls and peculiar branch growths afforded me bowls and wooden spoons and clothes hangers. Driftwood provided me with a curtain rod and my spruce buck horns. I found spruce cones to be as effective as Brillo pads or steel wool to scour my pots. Stones of all colors and shapes were the raw material for my fireplace. When I did resort to manufactured products such as polyethylene, nails, and cement, I felt as though I had cheated. I was not being true to the philosophy I was trying to follow...I do think a man has missed a very deep feeling of satisfaction if he has never created or at least accomplished something with his own two hands. We have grown accustomed to work on pieces of things instead of wholes...but there is also a need for an individual sometime in his life to forget the world of parts and pieces and put something together on his own - complete something. He's got to create...Man is dependent upon man. I would be the last to argue that point...but, nevertheless, in a jam the best friend you have is yourself. (pp. 211 - 212)