"Alone In The Wilderness"

Brighid1971 · #1 06/14/06, 03:37 PM

I caught the tail end of this on PBS the other night--darn interesting stuff! It's a documentary about this guy who built his own homestead in Alaska. The documentary goes into detail about how the cabin itself was even built

http://www.dickproenneke.com/

michiganfarmer · #2 06/14/06, 03:42 PM

very cool link

njmama · #3 06/14/06, 03:42 PM

It is very good. We bought the dvd off of Ebay from the poducer.

Ramblin Wreck · #4 06/14/06, 03:48 PM

It is a great story/show. What that guy could do with only hand tools and a canoe was amazing. Our local PBS station seems to only present this feature when they are fund raising. It makes for a long evening if you stay through their pitches for money.

mpillow · #5 06/14/06, 03:52 PM

I found some used copies of "Braving Alaska" and "Alaska Wilderness Adventure" on VHS that are also good and more realistic for families...

Brighid1971 · #6 06/14/06, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramblin Wreck

It is a great story/show. What that guy could do with only hand tools and a canoe was amazing. Our local PBS station seems to only present this feature when they are fund raising. It makes for a long evening if you stay through their pitches for money.

LOL! When we watched the "preview" of it, that's exactly what they were doing--fundraising

Which brings up another subject (yeah, a bit OT)--one of the local radio stations that hosts NPR was fundraising and made the comments that only "highly educated and financially solvent". Does that make sense???

**Cabin Fever** · #7 06/14/06, 04:24 PM

Hello, does anyone else hear an echo in here?

Alone in the Wilderness Thread #1

Alone in the Wilderness Thread #2

Alone in the Wilderness Thread #3

Alone in the Wilderness Thread #4

Alone in the Wilderness Thread #5

Alone in the Wilderness Thread #6

We are still willing to loan out our "Alone in the Wilderness" DVD to any "long time" member of the HT forums. Just drop me or WIHH a PM.

Brighid1971 · #8 06/14/06, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

Hello, does anyone else hear an echo in here?

We are still willing to loan out our "Alone in the Wilderness" DVD to any "long time" member of the HT forums. Just drop me or WIHH a PM.

It must be my case of 'cranial rectal inversion'! I didn't know it was on here, but thanks for the links

Great show!

Jwade · #9 06/15/06, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramblin Wreck

It is a great story/show. What that guy could do with only hand tools and a canoe was amazing. Our local PBS station seems to only present this feature when they are fund raising. It makes for a long evening if you stay through their pitches for money.

That is the way our PBS does it here too. Makes me so

Have a great day...........JWade

Gideon · #10 06/15/06, 06:45 AM

PBS is such a crock. All year they have real liberal crap until fund raising time then they put on conservative stuff.

**Cabin Fever** · #11 06/15/06, 06:53 AM

What I hate about PBS is when I turn on the tube to watch my weekly "This Old House" hour, during fund raising they'll should something else during that time slot!!! Like some fancy-dandy weenie guy singing to a bunch of old ladies...whatever his name is!

Ramblin Wreck · #12 06/15/06, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

What I hate about PBS is when I turn on the tube to watch my weekly "This Old House" hour, during fund raising they'll should something else during that time slot!!! Like some fancy-dandy weenie guy singing to a bunch of old ladies...whatever his name is!

Yeah, I watch very little TV on the weekends, but I do like to watch the Britcoms on Saturday night if I don't crash after working from sunup to sundown. For the past few weeks, it's been fund raising time, and they've changed the programming to show a bunch of the "still living" rockers from the 60's-70's, mostly the one hit wonders. Oh well, I'm way behind on my reading anyway.

hisenthlay · #13 06/15/06, 07:51 AM

We loooooove that documentary, too--still deciding whether to bite the bullet and pay good money to buy it. It would eliminate the fundraising problem, but it's not a cheap solution.

I haven't noticed any increase in conservative programming during fundraisers. They just like to put it in the middle of people's favorite shows, so you won't turn it off when they cut to a pledge break. Around here, they seem to use local history documentaries a lot, because Pittsburghers love to hear about Pittsburgh in the good old days. Popular cooking shows also seem to be a common choice. And I certainly wouldn't consider "Alone in the Wilderness" to be a conservative program--I'd say it has strong bipartisan appeal.

tiogacounty · #14 06/15/06, 09:04 AM

If you liked the Proenneke story take a look at a book called "The Final Frontiersman" it is written by James Campbell. It is a true story about a guy who has been raising a family in a Cabin, hundreds of miles from any settlement in AK. He is a trapper, hunter and woodsman of the finest caliber. This guy and his family are one of the remaining few, very few who still live the authentic ways. He spent decades being 100% self-suficient in some of the roughest wilderness on the planet. Nothing against Proenneke, but the show didn't make it very clear that Dick was a snowbird. He headed to his family in the midwest for the really rough winter months. Not that I'm critical, I don't have what it takes to be isolated in near darkness for months at a time, and most of us don't. He was an amazing guy.

Sparticle · #15 06/15/06, 12:04 PM

I caught this the other night too and just loved it. This guy was amazing. I wish there was someone who could teach me that stuff. I'm reading and took a class on one thing, but classes are so expensive. I asked my mom to see if Netflicks has it so I can watch it again.

Ramblin Wreck · #16 06/15/06, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quntmphscs

I caught this the other night too and just loved it. This guy was amazing. I wish there was someone who could teach me that stuff. I'm reading and took a class on one thing, but classes are so expensive. I asked my mom to see if Netflicks has it so I can watch it again.

His skill set was impressive Quntmphscs, but being physically able to do all that work in such a short time period borders on amazing. I've seen people with his skills, maybe even a few with better, but none (at his or any age...but his age made it more impressive) that could do what he did. In a few shots you got to see his arms, and he was muscle, skin, and bone...not an ounce of flab could be seen.

mpillow · #17 06/15/06, 01:37 PM

Keep in mind that the Summer sun does wonders for your ambition levels when its out so long in AK....trust me fishing at 11pm was felt like 6pm fishing here

and he was alone....kids and a spouse create more need but also give you someone to talk to...

teresab · #18 06/15/06, 02:28 PM

Yeah!!!! My local library has a copy..it is out right now and someone else has a hold on it but I put my name on the list so I will be able to watch it sometime soon!!

boxwoods · #19 06/18/06, 12:35 PM

I just watched the movie this morning and it's cool the way this guy lived, but it wouldn't be for me. He was 51 when he did this. yeow. I think of myself as a hermit but this guy has me beat for sure. 45 and 50 below zero is not for me either. I'll take NY state for comfort.

jassytoo · #20 06/18/06, 06:34 PM

I bought the DVD from Bob Swerer Productions 'cos I couldn't afford the premium from PBS. I also got a copy of the book which is called "One Man's Wilderness". Its got a lot more in it than the DVD. I picked that up at Costco. There's some fantastic photos in it.