He also carried a camera and tripod with him, which he used to record some of his daily activities, in case anyone would ever be interested to see how he lived.Īlong with a biography composed by his friend Sam Keith, Proenneke’s notepads and camera footage were later turned into a documentary, Alone in the Wilderness, which shows Proenneke’s simple lifestyle in all its glory. “But what about the winter? Would I love the isolation then? With its bone-stabbing cold, its ghostly silence? At age 51, I decided to find out.”ĭuring the 30 years he stayed at Twin Lakes, Proenneke filled up more than 250 notepads with his diary entries. “I had seen its moods in late spring, summer and early fall,” that same entry continues. “Was I equal to everything this wild land could throw at me?” he wrote in his diary. But he also wanted to prove something to himself. Wikimedia Commons Proenneke’s built meat storage on stilts to keep off wild animals.įor Proenneke, starting a new life out in the wilderness was about fulfilling a childhood dream. How Proenneke Built His Dream Home From Scratch After making a complete recovery, he decided to retire early and move somewhere where he could cherish the eyesight that might have otherwise been taken from him. Before long, tales of his skills as a handyman that could fix anything spread across the state.Ī welding accident that nearly cost Proenneke his eyesight proved the last straw. Based out of the island city of Kodiak, he worked as a repairman, technician, and fisherman. First to Oregon, where he ranched sheep, and then to Alaska. But he didn’t yet know how.įor the time being, he decided to move north, where the forests were. Reminded of his own mortality, he knew he wanted to change his life. Six months later, he was discharged from both the hospital and the army. Proenneke, who had never caught as much as a cold, contracted rheumatic fever while stationed in San Francisco. Wikimedia Commons Proenneke spent several years in the Alaskan city of Kodiak before moving up to Twin Lakes. Dick Proenneke Loved To Venture Off The Beaten Path Though he’s long dead, his cabin has since become a monument for survivalists and conservationists alike to this day. To the park rangers that would occasionally check in on him, he was as wise and content as an old monk.Įqual parts Henry David Thoreau and trapper Hugh Glass, Dick Proenneke is widely remembered for both his practical survival skills and his written musings about man’s relationship with nature. Sheltered by the elements inside a cabin he built from scratch with his own two hands, he lived out the remainder of his life with a smile on his face. If he ever fell out of the canoe he used for fishing, he would instantly freeze to death in the icy water.īut Proenneke didn’t just survive in this harsh environment - he thrived. For example, if Dick Proenneke were to ever run out of food supplies, it would take him several days to reach civilization. The Alaskan wilderness is as beautiful as it is dangerous, especially if you’re traversing it or inhabiting it alone. There, surrounded by mighty glaciers and solemn pine trees, he would remain for the next 30 years. He set up camp on the shores of Twin Lakes. Richard Proenneke did what most nature buffs can only dream of: At age 51, he quit his job as a mechanic and moved to the Alaskan wilderness to become one with nature. Robinson’s book, “The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke,” documents his work alongside photos and journals of a man Robinson says he feels a great responsibility and joy to share with us.Wikimedia Commons Dick Proenneke’s cabin sheltered him from the elements during cold Alaskan winters. For 19 summers he repaired all of Dick’s handcraft, painstakingly reproducing everything Dick made, down to the patina on Dick’s ax. The 75-year-old Robinson is a master craftsman known for not only for his fine furniture as well as wood construction. It was incredibly isolated and incredibly cold, but he became a kind of living legend for the lifestyle he carved out for himself, thanks in part to the video record he made of his life in the woods, which was eventually edited into the 2004 PBS documentary "Alone in the Wilderness." After his death, the National Park Service decided to preserve the cabin and everything in it – which was a challenge, because nothing lasts long in the Alaskan wilderness.Įnter Monroe Robinson. He built a tiny, impeccably crafted log cabin by hand, and he lived there alone for the next 30 years. Dick Proenneke moved to Twin Lakes, Alaska in 1968.
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