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“I realize that men working together can perform miracles such as sending men to walk on the surface of the moon. There is definitely a time and a place for teamwork, but there is also a need for an individual sometime in his life to forget the world of parts and pieces and put something together on his own–complete something. He’s got to create. Man is dependent on man. I would be the last to argue that point. Babe brought me things that other men made or produced. We need each other; but nevertheless, in a jam your best friend is yourself.”

-Dick Proenneke

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Alone in the Wilderness | Dick Proenneke, 1968

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Richard Louis “Dick” Proenneke was an American naturalist, who lived alone in the high mountains of Alaska at a place called Twin Lakes

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This is the interior of Dick’s cabin. He made everything, from the bed to the bookcase, even the fireplace.

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“I have found that some of the simplest things have given me the most pleasure"⁠ said Dick Proenneke. ⁠For 30 years, Dick Proenneke lived in complete isolation in a cabin he built by hand on the shores of Alaska’s Twin Lakes. With no telephone, electricity, or even running water, he lived the sort of life that’s unimaginable in the modern world. After an eye injury that threatened to leave him blind in the late 1960s Proenneke wanted to put down roots far from civilization by building his own cabin amid the natural beauty of the Twin Lakes region. Proenneke arrived at Upper Twin Lake in 1967 at the age of 51 determined to scout out the best construction site for his cabin. A master craftsman, he used local materials, simple tools, and human ingenuity to craft a home and life in keeping with the wilderness. He harvested spruce trees that summer and in 1968 began construction on what would become his cabin and wilderness home during the next thirty years.

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"I have found that some of the simplest things have given me the most pleasure. They didn’t cost me a lot of money either. They just worked on my senses. Did you ever pick very large blueberries after a summer rain Walk through a grove of cottonwoods, open like a park, and see the blue sky beyond the shimmering gold of the leaves? Pull on dry woolen socks after you’ve peeled off the wet ones? Come in out of the subzero and shiver yourself warm in front of a wood fire? The world is full of such things."

Dick Proenneke 

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The legendary Dick Proenneke readies his canoe for a trip around Twin Lakes.

Alaska

1968

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"I have thought briefly about getting caught in rockslides, or falling from a rockface. If that happened, I would probably perish on the mountain in much that same way as many of the animals do. I would be long gone before anyone found me. My only wish would be that folks wouldn't spend a long time searching. When the times comes for a man to look his Maker in the eye, where better could the meeting be held, than in the wilderness" - Richard Proenneke.

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"I think a man has missed a very deep feeling of satisfaction, if he has never created, or at least completed something, with his own two hands" - Richard Proenneke.

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A truly remarkable moment in the film is the part when Richard shows how he makes bread. Although the recipe is simple - the effect is extraordinary. Above you can see some of the snapshots that convey the process of making and baking the bread.

[All images are taken from the documentary film "The Frozen North" available on Internet Archive].

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“Why worry about something that isn’t? Worrying about something that might happen is not a healthy pastime. A man’s a fool to live his life under a shadow like that.” Dick Proenneke.

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“My plastic water bucket dripping a bit so I mixed up a little epoxy, which is the one item more than anything else that holds ‘One Man’s Wilderness’ together.”

- Richard Proenneke, March 11, 1978, in More Readings from One Man’s Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke, 1974-1980 (p. 258)   

Landscapes of Literature: Richard Proenneke 

Richard “Dick” Proenneke built his cabin on the shore of Upper Twin Lake during the summers of 1967 and 1968. While it wasn’t the first or the largest cabin ever to be constructed in the Alaskan Bush, it stands out for its remarkable craftsmanship and for his documentation of the construction process.

Richard Proenneke at Snipe Lake filming movie clips in 1975. He and his brother Raymond flew there in the J3 Cub. (Photo courtesy of Raymond Proenneke, from NPS / Lake Clark National Park & Preserve website).

Proenneke built an elevated log cache, a combined woodshed/outhouse, and constructed the stone fireplace in the cabin by hand. His building style responded to the unique area and was intended to be both aesthetically appealing and functional for year-round living at Upper Twin Lake.

Proenneke lived in the cabin for 30 years without electricity, running water, a telephone, or other modern conveniences. Despite his remote location and fierce independence, he did not live removed from society. Proenneke maintained friendships, wrote letters, and interacted with pilots, fishermen, neighbors, and park rangers. 

He chronicled his experiences and observations at Twin Lakes through correspondence, annotated calendars and maps, films, and journals. He always tacked a pin in a map before he would set out hiking, the marker showing where he intended to go and the holes across the map’s surface telling of past destinations.

Keep reading

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Some truly inspiring snapshots of Proenneke's cabin from the documentary movie "The Frozen North". These fragments beautifully convey the the cozy and serene ambiance of his peaceful lifestyle.

[All images are taken from the documentary film "The Frozen North". In continuation to my previous post, I would like to once more recommend this film to anyone that's looking for an escape from our busy and fast paced everyday lives. The atmosphere of the films is absolutely gorgeous. It'll let your mind rest and wander off into a time and place, where man and nature coexists in one blissful balance.]

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Some beautiful snapshots of Proenneke's cabin during the winter months.

[All images are taken from the documentary film "The Frozen North" which is available on Internet Archive. If you are in the mood for a captivating watch this one is a must see.]

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Some more captivating snapshots of Proenneke's cabin.

[The image is courtesy of the YouTube Channel "My Self Rialance". The video title is: "Proenneke's Log Cabin Tour".]