I was watching my PBS station late last night, and they're having a pledge drive. They were showing this documentary about a man who decided to chuck it all and go live in the Alaska wilderness. He lived off of the land, and built his own log cabin. Now this guy's a woodworker! It was fascinating, and I was totally mesmerized by watching this. He built the cabin by himself, and he even did his own milling. The video showed him marking some lines on the end of the log, and then, just with a hand saw, he milled lumber for the door. The hinges were made from spruce roots. He milled the trunk down to the beginnings of the roots. This formed a sort of "p" shape, with the hump part forming the point of the joint. He made an interlocking piece to match, and instant hinge! This documentary was one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and I think I'm going to buy it. For anyone interested in seeing how one man (or woman) could build a cabin by themselves, this would give you a pretty good idea.
The guy was resourceful--made a refrigerator in the ground. Since he was in Alaska, there was apparently permafrost in the ground. He dug just a couple of feet in the ground, made a wooden box with a lid covered by moss, and in the middle of summer, it kept any perishables at around 40 degrees.
He was a gardener, hunter and fisherman. Lived off of smoked meat in the winter, and fresh fish in the summer. He occasionally would have visitors who would bring him supplies, but for the most part, he was completely self sustaining. He lived in the wilderness until he was 82 years old, for a total of 35 years in a cabin I think that was just 12 x 15 feet Not too bad a life, I'm thinking!
Very cool!
http://www.alaskanha.org/_details.cfm?ProdID=715
"Alone in the Wilderness" by Dick Proenneke.
I've seen it a couple of times. It is amazing what he does. He was fast and skilled! Very humbling. I felt like you do, Paschale. :)
That would make a good story and I'd like to see the show.
There have been many times in my life when I've considered "dropping out" like that. It's never manifested itself into much of an action, especially one that would take me to such a non-civilized place as that. My dropping out usually has turned into a long motorcycle ride. Buying this acreage I'm on may have been another instance.
To look at the other side of the coin, think of what he missed by turning himself into a hermit. We've fought wars, been to the moon, driving Automobiles near to the sound barrier, flown planes to the reaches of space, sent divers to the bowels of the earth to follow underground rivers, had the world news delivered to our front door and television delivering instant information to our living rooms. We feed ourselves from a corner grocery store and clothe ourselves from the Mall.
All of those wonderful things, he missed.
That's not trying to say that he wasn't happy. Each to his own. But, it gives me second thoughts when I look at the other side of these kinds of stories.
I would love to live like that. It would have to be under my rules though. I'd have to have a big estate with a fenced in back yard where I could live in a cave, hunt bear, eat rabbit, wear skins, bath in a waterfall using sand for soap and still leave when I wanted. There is so much in this world to see. Just changing jobs and getting myself out of the bowels of a computer room in the basement of a building where my office was 10x10 and getting into an office that had fresh air, sunshine and was 120 miles square, with no walls and all windows; where people were friendly and visitors frequent; where I found few boundaries or artificial rules, was my release from the world.
If only our self-appointed governing bodies would quit imposing themselves on our private lives and let us learn how to live again, we could build doors with hinges made from roots too. :) :) :P
Good points Tom. I'm pretty sure this guy didn't have a high speed internet connection and no ForestryForum!!!! :-[
I only got to watch a peice of it where he is cutting a burl off a tree with an old one man bucksaw.
Tammy ordered me the DVD as I could never get to watch the whole thing. Wish it would get here!
http://www.dickproenneke.com/
"There have been many times in my life when I've considered "dropping out" like that"
tom i consider it most days :)
iain
If you've not read it yet, get a copy of Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island". It will make you want to drop out and awaken you to the fact that it might be harder than you suppose, all at once. :D
One of my favorite boyhood books. :P :)
Oh yeah! Nothing like they interpreted for the movie. >:(
After a month with NO TV :( , I know that I couldn't drop out like that.
But I'll tell you this, the FF has the greatest news coverage of the last few weeks in Florida. Thanks.
I'm bidding on Tom's recommendation of Mysterious Island on ebay. Please don't bid against me! I need to get my :Ping in.
Look what I found !
It's a translation of Mysterious Island on the Internet. If you don't have the book or can't get to a copy and want to read it, Here it is.
There are three parts. Each part is composed of chapters that you can click on to get to the story. Here's something to read when TV is boring. :D
I'm so excited to read it again. 8)
http://jv.gilead.org.il/kravitz/
8) 8) 8)
Thanks Tom!!!
Yep, saw most of the show a while back, was waiting for it to come on again, but I missed it! Maybe next time! ;)
My uncle saw the show too. He's always talking about building a camp to live in back on the hill. :D :D He's built 3 camps and about a year or two goes by and the novelty is short lived. He's never lived in these camps, just used them for summer retreats and boiling down maple syrup. They've all rotted and fell down over the years. Just a big kid that never grew up. :D :D With all the groans I here from his aching gout and veracose veins I doubt he'll ever get further than the old kitchen beside the wood stove. :D :D Also, he couldn't miss all those evening dances with his widow friends. :D :D This must be his mid-life crisis because when he was younger he never did no partying and dancing no time. Grandmother made sure he was home cause there was work to be done, starting before daylight. :D :D
I got my DVD on Saturday, and Tammy and I sat down and watched the show last night. Awesome!
I've seen the show, all I can say is he's more of a man than I!!!
Can you imagine coming out of the woods after 35 years, it must have looked like buck rogers was here to him
The original was great, I was disappointed with the 2nd video though. They mostly showed footage of big game. I wanted to see the details. >:(
I musta read Mysterious Island dozens of times. In fact I read all of Julies Vern's books. I reckon I always was a sci. fi. fan. Another one I liked was Battlefield Earth, the book, not the movie which was awful.
There was another good book, which I can't remember the name of about a kid who ran off and learned to live in the woods by himself.
Another good book, 'Hie to the Hunter', about a city kid who kept getting beat up and ran off to live with mountain people who adopted him for a spell. He learned to trap, coon hunt, shuck corn, got him a girlfriend, and take care of himself. The fight at the barn dance when a bunch of city folks came to steal him back was hilarious. The mountain folk were outnumbered, but they held their own, especially when their women joined in the fight. In the end he did make peace with his parents and go home.
My side of the mountain....Awsome bood CK 8)
Buzz-sawyer, that's it! Thanks :) 8) 8)
Been wanting to read it again for years. :P
Have to agree with you CK about Battlefield Earth. The movie stopped at the first half of the book, they left out the best part, the ending.
While we are talking about books, there was a sci-fi book I read a long time ago that I would like to read again but have no idea of the name or the author. >:(
It was about a colony on some far off planet that got attacked by these native komono dragon type beasts that moved like they were on cocaine. The colonists didn't know but the fish in the river matured into these beasts like a frog coming from a tadpole. Anyone know the name of the book? ::)
Gilman, when I heard they were making a movie about Battlefield Earth, I just knew. NO WAY. ???
The only thing that I can think of, or comes to mind concerning your other book would be a part in the the book sequal to 2001, A Space Oddessy. I 'think' one of the moons underwent a transformation and the oceans had the beginnings of life in them, as you describe. Not sure if that's the same thing you're talking about. In the end earth was warned that they could explore all planets, except this moon, which was off limits.
Gilman,
I think the book you want is Beowulf's Children by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes. I have read several books by these three authors that collaborate and like the style.
This talk about dropping out reminds me of an old fellow named Elmo that used to sell saws for my Grandad.
Elmo was raised in a remote cabin and spent the first part of his youth hunting and fishing and just enjoying life. One day he went to town and came across an old buddy that had moved to Kansas City and was back visiting in his shiny new auto. He told Elmo about all the exciting things there were in KC and about how much money he was making as a carpenter's helper.
Elmo accompanied the guy on his return to Kansas City and got a job as a carpenters helper.
Ond day on their lunch break the carpenters were talking about how they wish they had enough money to retire in the country. They agreed that a little house out in the woods where they could hunt and fish and do as they pleased would be heaven on earth.
Elmo went back home ;D He spent his life trading guns and pocket knives, hunting and fishing , and shooting pool and telling stories. He's still at it in his 90's
Thanks CK and Minnesota Boy,
I think Minnesota might of got it, that title and Larry Niven sounds familiar. Gotta go visit Amazon 8)
Looked on Amazon and it turns out you were correct Minnesota. The one I read was the first (LEGACY OF HEOROT
) of this two part series.
Thanks again.
I saw this show again tonight on our PBS pledge drive...this time it worked, and I gave enough money to get the book. ;) The video is AWESOME! It's really impressive what this guy did, and I picked up new things this time around that I didn't see last time. I think I'll buy the DVD pretty soon. I think I could watch this show a couple of times a year and never grow tired of it. 8)
Tammy bought me the dvd the first time around. LOVE IT! found some bloopers in the video editing though. ;)
I've seen that show a coupde times now, that man impresses me to no end, !!!
And who would have guessed we had SciFi fans on here!! I'm not alone!! 8) 8) 8)
As a result of this thread I got that DVD for Christmas and have shared it with several people in the church. We all love it. ;)
Check your local listings.I think it's coming on tonight,3-16,or the next night.Seems like 10:30 at night up in my neck of the woods and they're all done begging for money here.Been a hot topic at work.
I must be too cheap and too political, I wouldn't send PBS one dime of my
money. I taped the show on my VCR (remember them). They didn't go
into what he did the other 34 years up there. After he built his cabin and
other stuff what did he do all day? As far as missing TV goes, what are
you going to miss, a reality show? What he was doing was better then
any reality show they've come up with.
Is the show on PBS the same as the dvd or is the dvd longer????
Well, I made a pledge to the local PBS station, and just received the book about this guy. Looks like it's going to be great reading, especially since it goes into much greater depth than the DVD. I'll post a full review when I'm done. 8)
Saw the video and read the book. Great book and great video and a fascinating man. However, he only lived in the cabin year around for one year. The rest of the time he was flown in after the ice broke up and flown out before freeze up. He also didn't live off the land but was re-supplied by plane every 2 weeks while he was there.
If you liked Proenneke's story try "Nuk Tessli" and "Diary of a Wilderness Deller" by Chris Czajkowski, woman who homesteaded only in northwestern Canada. Another good one is "Silence of the North" by Olive Fredrickson. Truely a story you will find it hard to believe.
Here are a couple well known Canadian Authors who wrote about life in the north.
Farley Mowat (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&ArticleId=A0005502)
Pierre Berton (http://pierre-berton.biography.ms/)
From around 1875 to 1925 there lived a father and son pair of outdoorsmen in northern Pike County Indiana. The father was Steve Watkins, a Civil war veteran. His son, Johnny, was born in 1875. I do not know anything about a Mrs. Watkins, other than she does not appear to be buried with them.
Steve and Johnny lived in the woods along the White River. By all accounts I have heard, they camped outside year around, sleeping beside a log, or as I imagine, inside hollow trees. Apparently they made their living fishing, hunting, and trapping. This would have been fairly difficult, I imagine, because there were no deer at that time in Indiana, likely no turkeys, and few beaver. Rabbits and foxes were very plentiful, though.
A Mr. Sorgius, who would have been some relation to me, pulled a small building down to their camp one winter. The men thanked him profusely, and Sorgius was very happy the men would have shelter through the bad weather. He again visited the men the morning after the first snow, and found them sleeping beside a log, as usual, and a mule happily installed in the shed. Sorgius's comments on the situation are not recorded, but my Grandpa indicated he was not thrilled by the arrangement.
Grandpa said neighborhood boys sometimes looked up the pair to invite Johnny to go coon hunting with them. Steve's answer sometimes was "No, I don't want Johnny out in the night air!" And so Johnny would stay home, and sleep beside his log. The men did not approve of having their pictures taken, but a few were taken. I may have one I can download later.
Steve died in 1925, and Johnny was taken in by some families in the Iva community. He died in 1933. Steve would have had to be about eighty when he died. It amazes me he lived that long living like that.
Y'all ever read "Rolf in the Woods" by Ernest Thomas Seaton? Kid takes to the north woods with an Indian and his dog. One of favorites 55 years ago.
Quote from: florida on April 29, 2005, 06:50:56 PM
If you liked Proenneke's story try "Nuk Tessli" and "Diary of a Wilderness Deller" by Chris Czajkowski, woman who homesteaded only in northwestern Canada.
Her latest book is "Snowshoes and Spotted Dick: Letters from a Wilderness Dweller". Not what y'all are thinking, either :D. Chris does fly out of her wilderness camp every winter for a couple of months, to tour around Western Canada and give a slide presentation of her most recent adventures. She's built 3 (or is it 4 now?) cabins using an Alaskan mill. Saws the logs in the snow and then drags them over the snow (with some "help" from her dogs) to her building site. Kinda puts our debates about the merits of hydraulic bandmills into a new perspective ;D.
SwampDonkey
Farley Mowat is one of my favorites. I must have 7 or 8 of his books.
Have you ever read any of R.M. Patterson's books? He was on the opposite side of Canada from you but lived a true outdoor life. His first book,
"Dangerous River" about living and trapping in the far north makes me cold just reading it.
Florida,
Unfortunately I have neither read Mowat nor Patterson's books. I haven't even read Berton's books. I have been eyeing one of Burton books called 'Flames Across the Border'. There are some untold tidbits of the War of 1812 in there. At least I've never heard of them in the school systems or TV docudramas.
We have the book, just ordered the DVD. My wife saw it on PBS and tried to order it for me but got the wrong thing. This time hopefully it will be right. I really enjoy that sort of show and DVD's