Alone in the Wilderness
Posted by Wayne
Last night I was hypnotized by a movie on PBS called “Alone in the Wilderness”. It’s a documentary about a crusty old guy who is builds himself a log cabin next to an extremely remote Alaskan lake. He was filmed building the cabin “by himself”, but obviously there was a person there filming too. In any case, I was extremely impressed with the guy’s craftsmanship and the ease with which he built the cabin over several months to prepare for the harsh Alaskan winter.
What made the construction of the cabin so impressive was that he owned absolutely no power tools. He only showed up with a few axes, saws, and files to keep everything sharp. He cut down all the lumber, dragged it back to the cabin, and went to work on it. In addition to the cabin he build himself a bed, chairs, tables, tools, and anything else he needed. He cut his own planks using a hand saw and they were as smooth and straight as if they came from a sawmill. The guy was just a human lumbermill/woodworking shop.
He planted a garden and hunted wild game when he needed it. Occasionally a friend would show up in a float-plane (during the Summer) or ski-plane (during the Winter) and bring him stuff like bags of cement to build his fireplace or some food supplies.
The documentary was filmed in 1968 with no sound, and the documentary showed the film with added sound effects and a voice over which read from his diary, explaining what he was doing as the film went along.
I came into the program a little bit late and my impression was that he was just building himself a vacation or hunting cabin. When I learned at the end of the film that he was building himself a permanent home in which he planned on living the rest of his life, that may have been even more impressive. I learned that the guy lived there, alone, for almost 30 years after the documentary was filmed. He eventually ended up moving back to civilization after he got too old to do the work to survive in the harsh winters. The house is now kept by the state of Alaska parks service as a historical site.
Watching this movie made me wonder if I could build myself a log cabin using only the most basic of tools. The answer is no, I would die of starvation and exposure long before the cabin was built.
You can see more about the docuemtary at the official site http://www.dickproenneke.com/ and here’s a link to a youtube clip of the documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfB6oJ55wM
4 Responses to “Alone in the Wilderness”
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May 8th, 2008 at 10:51 am
That looks really interesting. I’ll have to look for it again. Thanks for the tip.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I have this on DVD. I also have the book. Both are fantastic and worth a look.
http://www.amazon.com/Alone-Wilderness-DVD-Book-Package/dp/B0009PYE12/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1210271074&sr=8-5
May 19th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Both the film & book are fascinating, as Sean says.
He actually filmed it himself, with a tripod. (Including scenes
where he paddles away in his canoe - he would then paddle
back, turn off the camera, then go for real..)
May 19th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Vic, if I remember correctly there were shots of him working/walking/hunting where the camera moved and followed him, indicating another person behind the camera. I could be completely wrong though.