In the mid-19th century, Henry David Thoreau wrote his best-selling classic, Walden, after two years of living alone in a log cabin on the shores of Walden. A century later, 51-year-old Dick Pronecker quit his job and, relying on strong perseverance and faith, lived alone in the icy Alaskan wilderness for 30 years. Today, the hut he built with his bare hands is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Richard Dick Pronecker was born on May 4, 1916, in Primrose, Iowa, to a craftsman father and a gardening mother, and his love of nature was influenced by his mother. Affected by the Great Depression during his childhood, Pronecke was forced to drop out of high school after two years of high school and found a job on a farm, and it was his childhood experience that shaped his philosophy of extreme frugality.
Like most teenagers, Pronecke longed for something extraordinary, and in his spare time, he rode his Harley through the forest. In 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In 1945, the able-bodied Pronecke contracted rheumatic fever while stationed in San Francisco, and after half a year of retirement, he crawled out of the brink of death and wanted to change the status quo of his life, but he didn't know what to do.
After the war, he did many jobs, worked as a repairman, worked as a technician, and also opened a farm, rich life experience, laid the foundation for his future solitary survival, and later in a welding incident, almost blinded, completely ** after he decided to retire early.
In 1962, Pronecke came to Alaska to visit his former comrades, and in Clark Lake National Park, the pristine beauty resonated with Proneck's heart. In 1968, at the age of 52, with the help of his comrades-in-arms, he found an ideal location on the shores of the Twin Lakes. Twin Lakes is a glacial lake consisting of two large and small lakes connected to each other, surrounded by the jagged Nicola Mountains and large tracts of pristine tall broadleaf pines. Finding a place to stay, Pronecke used the surrounding primeval trees to build a 4-meter by-5-meter cabin with his bare hands as a place for him to live in his life.
Living alone in the wilderness is a test for those who are not strong enough, and the fact that the cabin is located on the southern shore of the lake, the low sun in winter does not shine on the cottage for months, and the long dark nights, the biting cold and the heavy snow are enough to make people feel depressed and anxious.
But Pronecke seems to be enjoying it very much, and for him, a new life in the wilderness is about fulfilling a childhood dream. In the 30 years he lived alone, Pronecke filled more than 250 diaries, and in one of his journals he wrote, I saw its emotions in late spring, late summer, and early fall, but what about winter? The biting cold, the ghostly silence, would I love solitude? I decided to find out. In addition to keeping a diary, Pronecke also likes to document his life with a 16mm movie camera that he carries with him, documenting the process of building his house and the daily activities of the local wildlife.
Alan Bennett, a wildlife and fisheries biologist at Lake Clark National Park, was a close friend of Proneck's when he lived alone, and after knowing Pronecke for many years, he wrote a book called "Dick Proneck, Reflections in the Wilderness," in which Pronecke spent most of his year in the Twin Lakes in the late '60s, spending most of his time alone, relying on his wit and tenacity to survive in the harsh winter environment.
Bennett also writes that "doing nothing" is not in Dick's vocabulary, and he is always busy with an activity. An obsessive observer and journalist, Pronecke was so busy with his life that he never felt lonely, and he spent most of his free time writing about the weather, the environment, and the animals, some of which became friends because of his regular visits and hospitality. He often hikes thousands of miles a year, is too familiar with the surroundings of his cabin, and to escape the loneliness of his valley home, he hikes to the top of the mountain and enjoys the breathtaking views.
He fishes from the lake, hunts porcupines that raid wooden houses, and the icy Alaska is a natural refrigerator, so he doesn't have to worry about not eating in winter, and in order to make it easier to preserve food, he also built an elevated food storage room outside. Of course, Pronecke was not a vitriol or cynical hermit. He was happy to reply to everyone who wrote to him, and occasionally traveled to the Lower 48 states (the 48 states of the contiguous United States) to visit his family.
In 1973, a friend of Proneck's compiled his diary into a book called "One Man's Wilderness: An Odyssey in Alaska." The footage of his solitary life has also been adapted into four documentaries, the first of which is titled "The Lone Ranger in the Wilderness", which records his daily life of chopping wood, hunting, and wandering the mountains while living alone. There is also a documentary called "Alaska of One Man", which shows his charismatic personality of living in isolation, overcoming difficulties, and living alone and strongly, away from modern civilization.
A long period of survival in the wilderness has developed Proneck's strong physique, and at the age of 81, he is climbing faster than most young tourists. In 1999, at the age of 83, Pronecke returned to California to live with his brother because he was too old to live alone, eventually dying in 2003. On his deathbed, he left the cabin on the shores of the Twin Lakes as a gift to the National Park Service.
Over time, the landscape of Clark Lake National Park has changed dramatically due to global warming, and now the Twin Lakes have become relatively mild in winter, and the solitary place of Pronecke has attracted many people to visit, and it has become a temporary refuge for hiking adventurers.
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