Dick Proenneke in Alaska Silence and Solitude

[Music] a Zodiac wrath will provide us with easy access in this valley that would probably be otherwise impossible by foot [Music] our 12 foot raft is equipped with a hopefully dependable 10 horse motor the first couple of days the weather is calm and beautiful and the water is an icy turquoise blue the color is caused by glacial rivers feeding the lake as we head up the lake the first 10 minutes out we spot two handsome caribou bulls and they don't seem to be too concerned by our presence there is only one person that lives in this vast remote country dick Brennan he's 75 years old and fit as a fiddle in fact he's never been sick not even a cold [Applause] dick what's this nigga did the tree here that's Ryan gear so Martin wolf wolf caught him on Lincoln uh hoodies I know oh really yeah Mon why are you guys he came up here 24 years ago and built his little cabin and he's been here ever since come on he seems to be a completely contented man and I don't think he wants for anything more than he already has on friend and I don't know how many years have guys been here one especially yes there are the crow family you know go worthy you live long there was back in 1965 when dick first came to Twin Lakes following an accident that nearly cost him his eyesight while working as a diesel mechanic on Kodiak Island I undecided that I would quit this racket of porn bad at paddle and that sort of thing and working with dirt falling in your eyes from under heavy equipment and that and I were to go to twin lakes and build me a cabin and enjoy my eyesight little bit if I had any left [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my vlogs were well-seasoned and I would say about 1/3 lighter than they was when I stacked him to dry I worked 12 hours a day six days a week and in ten days time I had the heavy logs huh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I I think there's a lot of satisfaction in having everything that you made yourself [Music] you know even your door hinges and everything cut her out by hand with with the tools you got [Music] [Applause] [Music] I moved in August the first it was still work to be done but it was livable few of us pass even a day without seeing another person but to dick the isolation would often last six weeks or more we wonder what would it be like to live so alone I can't say that I was ever ever lonely I was always a busy always had something going to observations to make or wood to cut or letters to write or something has seemed that the time was was short to get everything done [Applause] the canoe was dicks only transportation during the summer providing the wind wasn't blowing then he was forced to walk the shoreline the canoe enabled dick to travel greater distances and carry heavy loads which would be much more difficult on foot for the Alaskan bush can be tough going in all the years that dick has travel in lakes by canoe he has avoided a tragic mishap by just being cautious [Applause] I've never had any trouble with the canoe on the lake but if I did it would probably be the last time because this water is very cold and I doubt that if I was 200 yards I'm sure that I would make it to shore I find that a person alone is much more cautious than when you have someone with you because you know that if you mess up why that's it always with his camera gear dick hiked hundreds of miles in search of wildlife that it would capture on film using his trusty 16 millimeter Bullock's movie camera the abundance of Grizzlies in the surrounding mountains above dicks cabin were always good subject matter for the camera and he would often recognize individual animals year after year during the winter months it was not uncommon for the temperature to drop to 52 degrees below zero but this didn't keep dick inside he would then resort to snowshoes to cope with the deep snow often times dicks friends would depend on his handouts to survive the long cold winter months I knew this ermine was in the woodpile and so I went for the scrapper me to tack two wood log there and see if I could get him out for pictures but the meat on the wood log and then went for my camera again when I came back sure enough he was there and an ermine when he gets to taste the blood he becomes very bold and it was no problem to get good footage winter frozen beauty at 50-below why would dick stay here perhaps curiosity or maybe just for the silence and solitude the ice breakup is a great event in the wilderness because it means the end of a long winter after about seven months you are really happy to see the ice growl and here you have pretty much all the game you have sheep yeah bear and caribou and moose and many places have more of each but not all of them so that makes Twin Lakes a little bit special in summer I I fished quite a bit I lived on trout to a great extent for meat and and berries but I didn't kill any big game because for one man it's too much too much meat too much would go to waste when dick was not out filming our fishing for dinner he kept busy writing keeping daily journals of everyday life at Twin Lakes and now over 30 years later dick brenneke is still here it's home it's one man's wilderness dick keeps his food high up in this little cache so the animals won't get to it his diet consists mostly of simple foods fuel he calls it like oatmeal mixed with raisins and honey some meat and sourdough biscuits and gravy and spuds and of course fish and there's always a kettle of beans on the stove Dick's only neighbors are the animals and he knows many of them individually grizzly bears moose and sheep and even this little duck a blue-winged teal who stops over and rests at Dick's Cove on his yearly migration he says the same little duck has been stopping over for the past few years Dick's an intelligent well-read man with so many exciting experiences and it's not that he doesn't like people he does but he just chooses this peaceful solitude dick brenneke is himself an accomplished photographer writers have written stories about his lifestyle and experiences although he's not always in complete agreement with what is written you must remember there's another guy writer involved in that and sometimes he would change things he thought it sounded better and I don't recognize sound better than him writers are that way I think it gotta have the own weight yeah much bigger body to art that you can yeah you know real chunky they're laying about are only 20 feet apart so you think they'd let you approach him pretty close no I think they would yeah who's your below yeah within good range with your rig in Italy yeah I see him messing around and and wanted stop and then go ahead and both of them just turned suddenly and run down the mountain then just make it right and come together like that yeah yeah yeah that's crazy when they came running down the mountain and then turn and then come together but after they hit then they were all buddies yes he'll no grudge huh don't double any time that's like they don't hold a grudge they'll feed together and while they're fighting some minor Ram he'll be making time with the girl yeah [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we spend each day hiking miles over the soft Tundra and through the thick little brush and the camera gear does get heavy even though we know there are a good number of animals and a variety of wildlife in the area the thick brush and timber make it easy for them to be elusive we stop frequently to glass now we have surprised a magnificent bull caribou and he seems reluctant to leave his territory at this time of year we don't see large herds of caribou only lone Bulls or maybe small groups of just two or three [Music] to order a copy of this program please call this toll-free number or visit our website at www.nsiindustries.com

Channel: swererbob

Views: 992,755

Rating: 4.8947825 out of 5

Keywords: Dick Proenneke, Alaska, Lake Clark, Cabin Building, Alone in the Wilderness, PBS video

Id: wTT9IIVxonc

Length: 16min 46sec (1006 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 13 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/polishgravy]

This man is my hero.

[u/lmsokewllawl]

Envious

[u/codearoni]

Incredible man.

I love his diet explanation @ 10:42 to ~11:00. The ultimate pragmatist and the ultimate conservationist. What we should all strive for.

[u/HothHanSolo]

Thanks for posting this. I’d only ever seen his self-shot film, so it’s great to see this footage from later in his life.

[u/[deleted]]

To live like this would be bliss!

[u/atomicmoth]

Some people build shitty skyscrapers and others, a rocking wood cabin. I know what I would choose.. Just as long as there isn’t any Evil Dead stuff involved.