Alone in the Wilderness

[TNMIKE]

This is a little off topic but in the spirit of the folks on this forum I think

http://www.####proenneke.com/

IF you havent seen this video beg borrow or steal a copy from somebody. Its log cabin buidling at its finest and done all by hand. This man built the cabin in the late 60s when he was in his 50s and stayed there until his mid 80s. The National Forest made this a historic site and is preserving it as he left it.

Good stuff

 

[TNMIKE]

For some reason

The forums edit the word D I C K in the url ...its his first name

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

http://www.d ickproenneke.com

Take out the space after the "d".


.

 

[TNMIKE]

He is a tough old bird

THE man is tough and resourcefull no doubt about it

 

[Nuzzy]

Seen his documentary on PBS at least 5 times. The guy is AWESOME!

 

[TNMIKE]

I wasnt trying to sell anyone the DVD

I am not connected to the site in any way. The DVD is awesome...you think chainsaw milling is hard...#### mills his boards with a handsaw and a chalkline.
His entire cabin is built with handtools and you cannot believe the pile of chips.

A lot of Libraries have his DVD and his book...He died a few years ago and this company has the rights to his work.

They are both well worth trying to find

 

[kennertree]

The forums edit the word D I C K in the url ...its his first name

We can just call him Richard. My father-in-law read his book and told me about this guy. He described how he built his cabin by scribing each log to get a perfect fit in each layer of logs applied to the cabin. I haven't read the book yet but this guy sounds like he's the real deal. I'm gonna borrow his book and read it.

 

[wdchuck]

I taped both PBS specials, the first one is better by far, shows the building process, he used spruce logs for the cabin and ammenities, and kept his tools sharp.

Excellent program to watch, I should check the library for the book.

 

[HillRat]

Agreed. The first video, "Alone in the Wilderness," is remarkable. RLP (as he is known, since the site censor doesn't like his nickname ;-) builds his cabin and raised cache using only hand tools that he packed in.

The second video, "Alaska - Silence & Solitude" has a brief interview with him done years later. It's interesting, but the part featuring RLP is short.

The first book, "One Man's Wilderness," is good. It was compiled from RLP's journal entries and edited by RLP's aspiring-author friend Sam Keith. RLP later commented that he did not like the editing (Keith's editing was apparently too "creative" for RLP) and requested that any future publications from his journals be unedited.

In 2005, the Alaska Natural History Association published a compilation of RLP's journals covering 1974-1980. These were published with minimal editing by RLP's friend and Lake Clark National Park historian John Branson. It's titled, "More Readings From One Man's Wilderness." Find it in the bookstore at http://www.alaskanha.org/

If you're interested in how RLP lived after building his cabin (not that the cabin building isn't fascinating!) this is a good book to read. It's over 450 pages and covers his day-to-day life, his plane crash, the politics surrounding Jimmy Carter's creation of a national monument at Lake Clark, and his encounters with visitors, hunters, and wildlife.

I just finished the second reading of my copy last night.

Good stuff, all!

 

[wildbio]

excellent post HillRat. Thanx for sharing the info.

 

[00juice]

I was able to check out both the book and dvd from my local library. It is a great book and movie.

 

[HillRat]

excellent post HillRat. Thanx for sharing the info.

Thanks! I figured since it was my first post here, I'd better make it a good one. I'm a fan of RLP and have done quite a bit of research on him. The Alaska National History Association has (tentative?) plans to publish more of RLP's journals in the future. I hope they do. Also, somewhere in the NPS archives there are many hours of film and hundreds if not thousands of photos he took.

There was also a Nova special on PBS titled, "Alaska, the Closing Frontier" that feature RLP. I'm looking for a copy of that.

I've lurked here for a couple of years "unregistered," and for a few months as a registered user now. I'm heating with wood for the first time this year with a new Jotul F3 and wood I cut and split from my 4.5 acre lot here in Hunterdon County, NJ. I've learned and continue to learn lots from everyone. Thanks!

Wood heat rules.

 

[harrygrey382]

Well last Augest/September me and my girlfriend went to Alaska (first time in the US). We went to Lake Clarke national park, and I prebooked an air taxi to the Twin Lakes. After this my aunt called me up and ranted about this amazing bloke ... you obviously all know the story.

So armed with this, when we camped on the shores of Twin Lakes we made sure to go over and visit the hut. A bloke called Munroe and his wife (I forget her name) live in a nearby cabin (one RLP restored to live in while he built his) during the summer months. They are there to keep RLP's cabin well maintained for history's sake. Very nice hospital people they were.

I still haven't got my hands on the DVD this side of the pond, but seeing his legendary skills first hand is truly impressive. All the details were so inspiring, I just love the hinges. I've included some photos (bad scans - low contrast, dirty negs. Sorry). The bloke is Munroe, he gave us a good history of RLP as he knew him. You can see the wood stove RLP's brother built for him.

It really was stunning country - all of Alaska but Lake Clark in particular. Also went to the Yukon NP, very beautiful and with the added excitement of a LOT of long disused mining machinery

if you've read the books and seen the DVDs I'm sure you know more than me and know these photos anyway. But always nice to share...

 

[HillRat]

if you've read the books and seen the DVDs I'm sure you know more than me and know these photos anyway. But always nice to share...

Harrygrey- wow, great pics! Thanks for sharing them. Shots of the cabin interior are hard to find. I've only seen a few of them. Yours give a better perspective of the inside than most of the ones I've seen. Love the shot of the little stove, too. What a destination for a first trip to the States!!!

I've never seen any pics of the woodshed & privy. Is it still there? Is it located far from the cabin?

If you can PM me I might be able to help you find a copy of the DVD.

Thanks again for sharing the pics!

Ed

 

[harrygrey382]

Harrygrey- wow, great pics! Thanks for sharing them. Shots of the cabin interior are hard to find. I've only seen a few of them. Yours give a better perspective of the inside than most of the ones I've seen. Love the shot of the little stove, too. What a destination for a first trip to the States!!!

I've never seen any pics of the woodshed & privy. Is it still there? Is it located far from the cabin?

If you can PM me I might be able to help you find a copy of the DVD.

Thanks again for sharing the pics!

Ed

Thanks Ed,
well seeing as your interested, I've got a couple more. I loved the interior, really would like to spend a summer in it. Luckily I had a small tripod on me so I could take some shots (only had an ASA400 and 125 loaded):

hmm, woodshed and privvy, don't recall them. I may have seen a wood shed but sometimes my memory is a bit unreliable (I don't even have the excuse of age). In fact I think I remember Munroe saying another building (can't remember if it was a shed or privvy) was up for major repairs. But didn't see it sorry.
It sure was one hell of a good intro to the US!
Harry

 

[computeruser]

The DVD is great and inspirational. He deserves a lot of respect for having the courage and skill to go out there and live like that.

 

[TNMIKE]

Gravel floor

I always wondered why he chose a gravel floor and not a wooden plank floor. It looks like wood would have been warmer and easier to keep clean.

It worked for him for 30 plus years so who am I to say.

 

[Adkpk]

I'll be him someday if I don't start watching my finances or if I ever really get it together and decide just to bug out.

That is a really great looking cabin. Thanks for the info on this guy I never heard of him. I first discovered this site searching for this exact same thing, so I can really appreciate this stuff. Of course my gf went out and bought a fix-er-upper to give me something to do so I don't really move to the mountains. But I really like to know that I have a home if things get hairy around here (the US I mean).
Thanks TNMIKE.

 

[woodshop]

Great stuff... we taped this off of cable a while back and have watched it several times. I liked his "bear proof" door latch. This guy was very ingenious. And as was said, what he did with just a few hand tools puts me and my whole woodshop to shame. After watching the video though, you get the idea that the guy was very content to live away from other human contact for most of his life. That's where I would part company, just couldn't do that. Hey... to each his/her own.

 

[TNMIKE]

Human Contact

I think the man had more human contact than the video implies. From reading his book and watching a follow up video he left his cabin periodically by plane and traveled around Alaska. There were also other cabins on Twin Lakes and hunters were numerous at times.

Granted in the winter months while he was there he was along for long periods of time. I would have had a dog at least to have kept from climbing the walls.