Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Just watched Alone in the Wilderness about Dick Proenneke

I just watched Alone in the Wilderness, the story of Dick Proeneke's life in Alaska. Public television showed parts I and II back to back.
That man was an amazing carpenter and builder. He was actually quite philosophical too. Having been to Alaska about 10 years ago bear hunting, I had an even greater appreciation for his labor and beautiful film making. My 15 year old daughter watched it with me and it made her want to go to Alaska even more. She thought he was amazing and awesome and that kids today should see what self-reliance is all about. I�m planning on buying the book One Man's Wilderness, An Alaskan Odyssey. Has anyone read this book and what are your thoughts about it?
For all you outdoorsmen that haven�t seen this story you really should watch it. You�ll spend a couple hours in awe of his skills and the rest of your time in wistful thought of what could have been in your younger days.

People have been talking about this fellow for years, lots of posts over time here about him, he was quite the fellow, lived a life a lot would envy, have not ready any books on it, just seen the video.
He would have been interesting to meet.

I have my entire Alaska studies class watch it. Proeneke's book is good his extended journey is even better. If you like that then you should get James Campbell's Final Frontiersman about Heimo Korth and also work to get This Is My Alaska by Leroy Buster Sherbal.

Sincerely,
Thomas

I read the book and it was fantastic. What he did is at the core of any outdoor enthusiast. His craftmanship was out of this world.

His enormous capabilities with simple hand tools is what amazed me. He could have hacked out a living anywhere in the world.

Thanks for the book suggestions kaboku68. I must admit that I�m quite smitten with Alaska and love reading the older hunting and fishing stories. I enjoy the older Alaskan magazines when I can find them. I will certainly check out the books you recommended.
And I agree with you Jocko Slugshot. His skill with an axe and chisel was amazing. I was blown away by the boards he ripped and how exacting his cuts were. My son wants to make bunk beds, so I think we are going to use Dick�s methods and make them this summer.

I knew Dick. I used to hunt in the Twin Lake area. That's where his cabin is. He was a good guy.
Her kept a daily journal. A historian for the Nat. Park Service has the journals. He is transcribing the journals and putting them in book form. The last time I talked to him, he was working on the second book. I've got the first one around somewhere. It's a good read and gives a bit more insight to Dick. If your interested, I can try to find the book and give you the info.

BrnBear I appreciate the offer and would appreciate the information. I plan on watching the series again because they will show it a few times in the next week or so on my public television station. My boys want to watch it since they heard me and my daughter going on about how amazing Dick Proenneke was with building his cabin and other items.

You would probably enjoy "Alaska's Wolf Man" about Frank Glaser.

http://www.amazon.com/Alaskas-Wolf-Man-Wilderness-Adventures/dp/1575100479

hi Thomas, I really appreciate the book references as well.

really interested in getting the book about Heimo since I know him a bit after working for the same outfit one season.

he's quite a character and a great guy

he's a big fan of Kirk Sweetsir, claims Kirk saved his wife's life by flying her to the clinic during a hard child birth. Heimo had made a sign out of rocks on the beach and was beside himself. really looking forward to reading both tomes

and yes Dick was a renaissance man, not only his skills to build, but his skills to record the process.

Amazing individual. It would have taken a very strong personality to survive that isolation though. Not for me.

I watch it every time it comes on PBS (hey PBS oughta do SOMEthing right now and then, and this is it). His skills with the tools were amazing.

I DO recall him sitting beside his fireplace during a winter spell, and it was a "toasty" 40 degrees in his cabin. That's a bit cool for me...............

I watched it no less than a dozen times and it never ceases to amze me.

His craftsmanship was amazing. I wonder how many people 150 years ago would have compared to his same level of ability and ingenuity. I fear we are probably going downhill in many ways.

I heartily agree with all the posts here, Dick had skills that were well put to use during his years in Alaska, and the shows on PBS never fail to amaze me. I too have watched them probably 6-8 times and each time I marvel at his talent and tenaciousness.

He was a salty guy with more spunk than 99% of Americans today.

It was also required reading in my son's 11th grade lit class.

I found his journal somewhere online a few years back and read it. A couple points that stick in my mind are:

he was talking about going for a hike in the snow. He said after hiking several miles, it's good to take your shoes off and put your feet in the snow to cool them off. It was 20 degrees.

Another was a night when it dropped to a record -50 or so. He said the logs in his cabin were cracking.

another was when he flew to a friends to work on a tractor. They offered to fly him back home and he said he'd rather walk. It was 15-20 miles.

And a last one, it was something like -20 and he said it was getting a little nippy out.

That's one dude I'd like to have met

I knew Dick as my Dad and I flew in the Twin Lakes area quite a bit. We stopped many times at his place. Dick was an amazing person but one thing about him I disliked was his attitude towards others in 'his wilderness'. He had a very poor attitude towards anybody sport hunting or especially guiding hunters in the twin lakes area. Other cabin owners especially disliked him esp. after their hunting cabins misteriously burned down. He was squatting on 'his homestead' then worked tirelessy to propmote the area for LCNP, which it eventually became. No more hunting. He made a sweet deal to be allowed to squat there until he decided to leave. He was no friend of sport hunting, but he was a hell of a craftsman. One other thing about that Twin Lakes country I remember is how fricking COLD it would get thre in the winter! It would be 15 degrees at Lake Clark and 35 below at Twin Lakes. The temperature diferential was unreal! there was a mineral lick that we used to visit and watch the sheep and caribou. I've always wanted to go back and see that again. Theres one hell of a lot of gold in that country too.

I've watched it many times and his ingenuity and craftsmanship is amazing. Another good read is The Final Frontiersman, it's a book about Heimo Korth who moved from Wisconsin to ANWAR and raised a family up there. It's not the feel good story that Alone in the Wilderness is, but it's a real story of what it's like truly living in the wilderness and off the land. A lot of people think it would be fun to do - read this book and see how much fun it would be!