Alone in the Wilderness

Richard Louis "Dick" Proenneke

Forget Man Vs Wild or the rest of the garbage they try to pass of as wilderness survival on T.V. When it comes true, real-world survival nothing can beat Alone in the Wilderness.

The story of Richard Louis “Dick” Proenneke

Alone in the Wilderness is probably one of the best outdoor survivalist documentaries ever made. The movie tells the story of Richard Louis “Dick” Proenneke, a naturalist and survivalist who lived alone high in the mountains of Alaska, at a place called Twin Lakes.

Richard Louis "Dick" Proenneke

Inspired by self-reliant minds like Walden and Thoreau, on May 21, 1968, Proenneke started building his infamous Twin Lakes cabin.

While Thoreau inspired millions, and helped people understand the value of self-reliance, wilderness living, and survival through his writings in Walden, Proenneke inspired us by example. For over 30 years he took Thoreau’s philosophies and lived them, inspiring a countless number of people through his practical application of those writings.

Dick Proenneke in His Cabin

Proenneke built his cabin utilizing, almost exclusively, local materials that he found on or near his land and his own ingenuity and grit. He truly was a shining example of the independent wilderness man, living a lifestyle of self-reliance and independence.

By himself, he built the entire log cabin. But even more impressive, he did it with homemade hand tools — most of which he built using materials he found on his own land.

Richard Louis "Dick" Proenneke's Twin Lakes Cabin

For over 30 years he lived a solitary life, surviving off the land and recording his experience. Those recordings were eventually used in his documentary, Alone in the Wilderness, which has aired on PBS numerous times over the years.

The video documentary highlights his adventure, and shows him living and surviving in the harsh Alaskan Wilderness. If you haven’t seen this movie, and you dream of living a self-reliant lifestyle, you absolutely need to buy it and watch the whole thing.

Here is a brief clip from Alone in the Wilderness:

This video is only a small part of the documentary. I highly recommend the entire two-part series of Alone in the Wilderness.

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21 Comments

  1. I’ve seen the movie on PBS, and I’ve read the book. Either one is sufficient to reduce me to tears of lost opportunity. Augh.

    • Bear Grlls knows a lot of things that you don’t. Morons are those who think they can survive in the wild only after watching some TV or browsing the internet. This reminds me of someone who didn’t do that, but he thought he was prepared and died.

  2. This was very interesting to watch, would love to get out and do this myself one day. Would like to see a list of all his gear he took with him. Richard I admire you for getting out there and showing the world how hard this really is to do with so liitle avalable to you. It show that just being in one place does not make it a good place to be at any one time. And it also shows how much the waether and seasons will affect anyone. Highly recommend anyone to watch the movie.

  3. I forgot to mention. This poor boy. I’m talking about Christopher McCandless. He prepared for what he thought would help him survive and he was wrong. Preparedness is not just getting some information from TV or the internet or reading a book or two. It involves a lot more information and practice, preferably. As it’s said, knowledge is the power, but not partial knowledge

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless

  4. I have the books and the movies. Greatest story of off grid survival living ever. This is what really got me thinking of changing my life from the meat grinder of modern living to a more simple off the land and grid style of life. No more mortgage payments, electric or other utility strangle holds etc.

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