Dick Proenneke - Alone in the Wilderness at Twin Lakes

Tuesday, 11 November 2008 21:44

Dick Proenneke (1916-2003) was a truly amazing man. An inspiration and a character to be remembered. This man lived what many of us only dream about; living in the wild building your own log-cabin home in the beauty of Alaska, being self-reliant and able to live happily with nature.

There are three films about his life (in order):
- Alone in the Wilderness
- Silence and Solitude
- The Frozen North

There is also a book titled: One Man's Wilderness, An Alaskan Odyssey. These can be purchased from the USA at www.aloneinthewilderness.com

I would highly recommend watching Alone in the wilderness its a brilliant documentary about Dick Proenneke and provides a detailed insight into the building of his log-cabin (on his own), the preparation, tools, techniques and process, gathering all that he needs from nature, whilst also observing and appreciating the animals and world around him. A true man at one with nature. Alone in the Wilderness can be downloaded on the internet.

I have discovered that the National Park Service have released part of Dick's Journals to the public domain: More Readings From One Man's Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke which avaliable online as a eBook/PDF Format, its 500 pages and nearly 50MB, you can freely download it here.

Dick spent nearly 30 years of his life living in the log-cabin he made at Twin-Lakes Alaska. Had his health not failed him, Dick intended to spend the rest of his life in Twin Lakes.

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Wikipedia Article on Dick Proenneke
Richard "Dick" Proenneke (May 4, 1916–April 28, 2003) was a naturalist and survivalist who lived alone in the high mountains of Alaska at a place called Twin Lakes. Living in a log cabin he constructed by hand, Proenneke made valuable recordings of bothmeteorological and natural data while enjoying his retirement.

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Above: Dick Proenneke building is log-cabin as show in Alone in the Wilderness

Dick Trivia: During a visit from Bob Swerer for a documentary, Dick performed 70 chin-ups on his 70th birthday.

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Comments (4)

I am deeply impressed by Dick`s achievments as a craftsman and his personal attitude vis a vis the wonderful nature which he was fortunate to live in during his last 30 years. I am six years younger than he was and always whished to have experienced what he has, not only in our Alps but also at Twin Lakes!

hi bob ive got complete collection wiil give you silence and solitude

Hi Survival Bob, I've seen it! What would you like to know? It was great and enjoyable, although not as good as the first (bloody hard to top that!). :)

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