The Man Who Wanted To See What Nature Could Throw At Him

In the spring of 1967, a man by the name of Dick Proenneke left behind a routine life and headed for a remote wilderness in the Alaskan backcountry, an area yet unspoiled by man’s advance.

He lived in a place where no roads lead in or out, and the nearest settlement was 40 air miles away. Spending most of his life a mechanic, he was 51 years of age when he decided to fullfill his childhood dream, and to see if he was equal to the things the wild land could throw at him.

He had originally planned to spend only 1 year in the wilderness, to test his skills and endurance against all the seasons of the Alaskan wilderness, but for the next 30 years Dick lived alone in the backcountry.

Living in a cabin that he constructed himself with nothing more than an axe, a hand saw, and chisels, he journaled and recorded nearly every aspect of his experience. Dick considered the wildlife his friends and would often observe them from afar.

He shared the land with moose, bear, ram, wolves, wolverine, and much more. He caught fish to eat, and watched certain animals grow year after year. Dick left the cabin in 1999 and died of stroke in 2003 at the age of 83. His cabin can still be visited today.