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1
00:00:27,238 --> 00:00:32,138
It was good to be back in the wilderness again,
where everything seems at peace.
2
00:00:33,841 --> 00:00:36,641
I was alone, just me and the animals.
3
00:00:38,156 --> 00:00:42,156
It was a great feeling, free once more
to plan and do as I pleased.
4
00:00:43,881 --> 00:00:45,681
Beyond was all around me.
5
00:00:46,377 --> 00:00:49,497
My dream was a dream no longer.
6
00:00:50,112 --> 00:00:53,612
I suppose I was here because
this was something I had to do.
7
00:00:53,231 --> 00:00:56,551
Not just dream about it, but do it.
8
00:00:56,215 --> 00:01:00,035
I suppose, too, I was here to test myself.
9
00:01:00,598 --> 00:01:02,298
Not that I had never done it before,
10
00:01:02,352 --> 00:01:06,152
but this time, it was to be a more thorough
and lasting examination.
11
00:01:08,179 --> 00:01:10,979
What was I capable of that I didn't know yet?
12
00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,340
Could I truly enjoy my own company for an entire year?
13
00:01:16,373 --> 00:01:19,873
And was I equal to everything
this wild land could throw at me?
14
00:01:21,735 --> 00:01:24,935
I had seen its moods in late spring, summer and early fall
15
00:01:25,751 --> 00:01:35,751
but what about the winter? Would I love the isolation then,
with its bone-stabbing cold, its ghostly silence?
16
00:01:37,325 --> 00:01:42,125
At age fifty-one, I intended to find out.
17
00:01:43,533 --> 00:01:47,033
Another hundred yards, and I broke out of the brush
18
00:01:46,976 --> 00:01:49,776
to my pile of cabin logs I had cut last July.
19
00:01:51,419 --> 00:01:53,519
I sat down and leaned against them
20
00:01:53,890 --> 00:01:56,690
and while I chewed on a chunk of smoked salmon
21
00:01:56,979 --> 00:01:59,779
my eyes wandered over the peeled logs.
22
00:02:02,898 --> 00:02:05,698
That had been a big job last summer!
23
00:02:05,765 --> 00:02:07,865
Hard work, but I enjoyed it.
24
00:02:08,978 --> 00:02:12,478
It was cool at the timber, and there were
mornings I could see my breath.
25
00:02:14,264 --> 00:02:19,164
I had harvested the logs from a stand of spruce
less than 300 yards from where they were now piled.
26
00:02:41,416 --> 00:02:44,916
The logs were a great deal lighter now than they were then,
27
00:02:44,827 --> 00:02:46,927
and could be handled easy enough.
28
00:02:52,689 --> 00:02:59,389
It was in the late spring of 1968, that Dick Proenneke
decided to leave civilization behind
29
00:02:59,821 --> 00:03:02,621
to live in a pristine land yet unchanged by man.
30
00:03:03,625 --> 00:03:07,125
and to roam a wilderness through
which few other humans have passed.
31
00:03:08,498 --> 00:03:15,098
While carving out his new life in this remote valley known as
Twin Lakes, Dick would not only keep daily journals,
32
00:03:16,424 --> 00:03:21,924
but would film his Alaskan autosy with
the help of a tripod-mounted camera.
33
00:03:24,742 --> 00:03:26,842
It was time to be moving on.
34
00:03:27,350 --> 00:03:32,450
I was anxious to get to Spike's cabin
to see if it was the way I had left it last September.
35
00:03:38,963 --> 00:03:43,863
About 500 yards more through the spruce and willowbrush,
and there it was.
36
00:03:45,491 --> 00:03:49,691
its weather-grayed moose antlers spreading just below
the peak of the roof.
37
00:03:50,128 --> 00:03:52,228
A tin can on its stove pipe,
38
00:03:52,787 --> 00:03:54,887
and its windows were boarded up.
39
00:03:59,059 --> 00:04:04,059
The cabin had everything needed to set up housekeeping
until my own cabin was completed.
40
00:04:05,356 --> 00:04:09,256
A good stove, two bunks and a roof that didn't leak.
41
00:04:14,843 --> 00:04:16,243
It's May 22nd.
42
00:04:16,604 --> 00:04:21,304
Up with the sun at four o clock to watch the sun rise
and the sight of the awakening land.
43
00:04:22,701 --> 00:04:27,001
It seems a shame for eyes to be shut
when such things are going on.
44
00:04:28,024 --> 00:04:32,724
Especially in this big country.
I don't want to miss anything.
45
00:04:44,330 --> 00:04:49,230
Today I would hike the five miles down to the lower lake
to pack my third and last load of gear.
46
00:04:49,018 --> 00:04:51,818
My tools, with which to build my cabin!
47
00:04:55,339 --> 00:05:02,039
This time, with the binoculars along, I would have an excuse
to stop now and then and watch the slopes for game.
48
00:05:08,526 --> 00:05:13,926
From this high vantage point, the hill seemed to come
alive with animals.
49
00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,200
I suddenly didn't feel so alone anymore.
50
00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,560
Almost noon before I got back to the cabin.
51
00:05:35,123 --> 00:05:37,923
The rest of the day, I devoted to my tools.
52
00:05:40,420 --> 00:05:43,220
I carved a mallet-head out of a spruce chunk,
53
00:05:43,546 --> 00:05:47,366
augered a hole in it and fitted a handle to it.
54
00:05:46,819 --> 00:05:49,619
This would be a useful pounding tool.
55
00:05:49,493 --> 00:05:52,293
And I hadn't had to pack it in either.
56
00:05:56,914 --> 00:06:00,414
The same with the handles I made for the wood augers,
57
00:05:59,848 --> 00:06:01,948
the wide-bladed chizel and the files.
58
00:06:03,558 --> 00:06:07,058
Much easier to pack without the handles already fitted to them.
59
00:06:14,442 --> 00:06:17,942
Hope Creek had cut a big opening into the lake ice.
60
00:06:18,376 --> 00:06:20,476
Was it too early to catch a fish?
61
00:06:21,288 --> 00:06:24,088
I took the casting rod along to find out.
62
00:06:28,576 --> 00:06:33,476
It didn't take long, after several casts it happened
with the suddenness of a broken shoelace.
63
00:06:35,536 --> 00:06:38,336
I slid the 19-inch trout onto the stones.
64
00:06:39,111 --> 00:06:41,211
Fish with my beans tonight!
65
00:06:47,710 --> 00:06:52,410
It's May 25. Break-up is not the spectacular
sight it was last year.
66
00:06:53,665 --> 00:06:57,165
A big wind would have cleared the thin ice out yesterday.
67
00:06:58,028 --> 00:07:01,528
As I loaded tools onto the packboard this morning,
68
00:07:01,075 --> 00:07:03,875
the rotted ice began to flow past its exit.
69
00:07:38,370 --> 00:07:42,570
When you have miles and miles of lake-front
and pictured views to consider,
70
00:07:43,129 --> 00:07:45,929
it's difficult to select a building site.
71
00:07:46,326 --> 00:07:49,126
The more a man looks, the fuzzier he gets.
72
00:07:50,489 --> 00:07:53,289
I cleared the brush, and poured out beach gravel,
73
00:07:53,241 --> 00:07:58,161
and spread it to a depth of several inches over an area
roughly 20x20 feet.
74
00:07:59,335 --> 00:08:02,135
I felt I had made the best possible choice.
75
00:08:03,849 --> 00:08:08,849
It would be 11x15 feet.
Its front-door would face northwest.
76
00:08:09,782 --> 00:08:12,582
And the big window would look down to the lake.
77
00:08:14,558 --> 00:08:18,558
A pile of logs. Which ones to start with?
78
00:08:19,391 --> 00:08:22,191
To make a notch fit properly you can't rush it.
79
00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,880
Make several saw cuts an inch or two apart
almost down to the pencil line,
80
00:08:27,531 --> 00:08:32,331
and whack out the chunks with an axe,
until the notch is roughly formed.
81
00:08:32,716 --> 00:08:40,016
Then comes the finish work. A careful custom fit.
I have just the tool for the job.
82
00:09:45,449 --> 00:09:48,949
One log in particular required considerable
hewing to straighten it.
83
00:09:49,435 --> 00:09:54,935
I must say white spruce works up nicely with an ax
and a draw-knife.
84
00:10:01,007 --> 00:10:03,807
Enough for this evening. The job had begun.
85
00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,980
Tomorrow should see more working and less figuring.
86
00:10:13,730 --> 00:10:17,230
It's May 29. Only a few chunks of ice
floating in the lake this morning.
87
00:10:19,403 --> 00:10:22,203
By noon there was no ice to be seen.
88
00:10:22,796 --> 00:10:27,696
It was good to see the lake in motion again
and it was even better to slip the canoe into the water...
89
00:10:28,456 --> 00:10:31,256
...and paddle to work for a change!
90
00:10:41,020 --> 00:10:43,820
I glided silently along over a different pathway.
91
00:10:55,444 --> 00:11:00,944
The cabin is growing. 28 logs are in place.
44 should do it.
92
00:11:01,581 --> 00:11:04,381
except for the gable ends and roof logs.
93
00:11:05,286 --> 00:11:12,186
It really looks a mess to see the butts extending beyond
the corners, but I will trim them off later.
94
00:11:12,899 --> 00:11:20,799
You can't rush it. I don't want these logs looking as if
a boy scout was turned loose on them with a dull hatchet.
95
00:11:36,685 --> 00:11:42,485
I was making good progress today when I heard a plane.
It was Babe Alsworth.
96
00:11:42,943 --> 00:11:47,043
I watched the plane glide in for a perfect landing
on the calm lake.
97
00:11:53,186 --> 00:11:56,686
Plenty of groceries this time, and among the supplies,
rhubarb plants!
98
00:11:58,748 --> 00:12:01,548
They should be put in the ground right away.
99
00:12:02,999 --> 00:12:05,799
I found the frost about four or five inches down.
100
00:12:11,353 --> 00:12:14,853
I planted fifteen hills of potatoes, tucked in some onion sets.
101
00:12:16,221 --> 00:12:21,221
and put in a few rows of peas, carrots, beets and rutabagas.
102
00:12:21,657 --> 00:12:27,857
Not much of a garden by Iowa standards, but it would tell me
what I wanted to find out.
103
00:12:30,034 --> 00:12:36,034
Finally back to the cabin building.
I am a better builder than I am a farmer, anyway.
104
00:12:36,397 --> 00:12:39,897
38 logs are in place and i'm almost ready for the eave logs.
105
00:12:41,561 --> 00:12:46,461
I cut the opening for the big window, for the two smaller ones
and the opening for the door.
106
00:12:54,709 --> 00:12:59,209
Five logs were very special. These were the 20-footers,
107
00:12:59,307 --> 00:13:02,807
which along with the gable ends would make the backbone
of my roof.
108
00:13:03,709 --> 00:13:10,609
Two would be eave logs, two would be purlin logs
and the last and straightest one would be the ridge log.
109
00:13:12,890 --> 00:13:17,790
As it stands now, the cabin looks like as logs are sticking out
all over it.
110
00:13:32,057 --> 00:13:39,957
I have made good progress today. My cabin logs have
changed form in the ten days since I cut the first notch.
111
00:13:44,170 --> 00:13:49,670
It's June 7, and I believe the growing season is at hand.
112
00:13:50,114 --> 00:13:55,014
The buckbrush and willows are leafing out fast now,
the rhubarb is growing,
113
00:13:55,439 --> 00:13:58,939
and I noticed my onion sets are spiking up through the earth.
114
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:05,360
Those windowframes have been on my mind.
Decided to do something about it.
115
00:14:05,981 --> 00:14:08,781
First I build a sawhorse workbench.
116
00:14:08,844 --> 00:14:13,344
Then selected straight grain sections of logs
cut from the windows.
117
00:14:13,732 --> 00:14:17,832
With a thin blade of wide chizel,
I cut deep along the line on each side.
118
00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:24,060
Worked fine. I smoothed the split side with a draw knife.
119
00:14:24,726 --> 00:14:28,226
The result was a real nice board, so I continued to
fashion others.
120
00:14:29,119 --> 00:14:31,219
Put 'em in place and nail 'em in.
121
00:14:43,658 --> 00:14:50,858
I finished today cleaning the litter of woodchips.
I mounted them in front of the door, beaver-lodge style.
122
00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:56,980
Quite a pile for eleven day's work.
Enough to impress that beaver.
123
00:15:08,825 --> 00:15:13,825
It's June 9.Today would be a day away from the job of building.
124
00:15:14,058 --> 00:15:17,558
I'd look for the pole timber for the roof up lake.
125
00:15:47,239 --> 00:15:50,739
After beaching the canoe, I walked through the timber,
126
00:15:51,164 --> 00:15:55,364
crossing and recrossing the creek that had its beginnings
in the far off snows.
127
00:16:01,829 --> 00:16:04,829
Good pines were not as plentiful as I had figured,
128
00:16:05,238 --> 00:16:08,738
and I worked steadily to get 48 out and packed at the
beach by noon.
129
00:16:10,172 --> 00:16:12,272
The mosquitoes were out in force.
130
00:16:13,045 --> 00:16:20,045
To peel the poles, I made a tripod of short sticks on which
to rest one end, and put the draw-knife to work.
131
00:16:21,355 --> 00:16:25,355
I rafted them up, and moved them down the lake to my beach.
132
00:16:26,547 --> 00:16:29,347
A good pile, but I doubted there would be enough.
133
00:16:35,117 --> 00:16:38,617
Today I would secure the roof poles over the gables.
134
00:16:40,107 --> 00:16:41,927
A cabin roof takes time.
135
00:16:49,295 --> 00:16:53,495
Soon I would be ready to saw the ends and fill the slots
between the pole butts.
136
00:17:01,170 --> 00:17:06,170
It's June 18. Everything looks as though it had a
bath last night.
137
00:17:06,553 --> 00:17:10,053
Must have been a good shower, and I never even heard it.
138
00:17:11,292 --> 00:17:15,492
A check on the livestock this morning before
going down to the roof job---
139
00:17:15,859 --> 00:17:23,759
---a few caribou cows and their calves just up country
from Low Pass Creek. Nothing else in sight.
140
00:17:24,126 --> 00:17:27,626
Should be a bear passing through one of these days!
141
00:17:46,402 --> 00:17:54,302
These should be called squirrel frustrators.
Give those characters an entrance end they can ruin a cabin.
142
00:17:54,868 --> 00:17:59,068
I finished filling the slots between the roof poles
and cocked joints with oakum.
143
00:18:03,131 --> 00:18:06,631
Any place I could get a table knife blade in, got oakum.
144
00:18:12,418 --> 00:18:18,418
Next was a job I had been thinking about. A countertop,
some window ledges and some shelves.
145
00:18:20,296 --> 00:18:23,796
I decided ripping them with the ripsaw was the answer.
146
00:18:24,335 --> 00:18:33,235
I could go down the middle of a log five 5" in diameter
and 42" long in fifteen minutes. Couldn't complain about that.
147
00:18:35,983 --> 00:18:41,883
I think I have sawed nearly everything I need.
Now, to trim the edges and start building.
148
00:19:11,137 --> 00:19:16,237
I need a fish for supper. So I took the fly rod down
to Hope Creek.
149
00:19:17,001 --> 00:19:22,201
The grayling were feeding greedily. Fins and tails swirling
all over the surface.
150
00:19:23,417 --> 00:19:28,917
A fish snapped the fly on the very first cast.
A handsome grayling.
151
00:19:29,773 --> 00:19:34,573
17 1/4 inches long. Enough for my needs.
152
00:19:35,571 --> 00:19:41,771
It's July 2. After a peaceful trip down lake i located
ten spruce tops.
153
00:19:42,112 --> 00:19:44,912
I was anxious to try making hinges for the door.
154
00:20:00,812 --> 00:20:03,812
I worked the wood to shape with an axe and a draw knife.
155
00:20:04,243 --> 00:20:06,343
Now to saw the fork and butt end.
156
00:20:11,460 --> 00:20:14,960
45 minutes and I had my hinge made. Not bad.
157
00:20:34,505 --> 00:20:38,005
I put some finishing touch on the door planks I made Sunday.
158
00:20:38,953 --> 00:20:41,753
Now the door is ready to put together.
159
00:20:42,508 --> 00:20:48,708
Too many men work on parts of things.
Doing a job to completion, satisfies me.
160
00:20:55,992 --> 00:21:02,192
My roof poles are still too wet for the tarpaper,
so I will work on my double-deck bunk.
161
00:21:02,701 --> 00:21:05,501
Four posts with two rails on each side-
162
00:21:05,547 --> 00:21:08,347
-and two small and two large on each end.
163
00:21:09,131 --> 00:21:13,931
I augered 1 1/2" holes and trim the rail poles to fit.
164
00:21:27,187 --> 00:21:31,687
Now when I get some glue, I'll knock it apart
and glue it back together.
165
00:21:33,025 --> 00:21:37,525
With a few leftover poles, I built myself a chair and a bench.
166
00:21:40,616 --> 00:21:46,816
It's June 27. A good rain it was last night.
Today would be a pole-hunting day.
167
00:21:47,667 --> 00:21:51,167
I need about thirty to make the slats for my bunks.
168
00:21:51,411 --> 00:21:58,211
After peeling the poles the wind came up strong.
It brought rain and furrowed the lake rough as a cob.
169
00:21:59,179 --> 00:22:03,179
This lake can really change its personality in a hurry.
Like a woman!
170
00:22:04,373 --> 00:22:08,373
All smiles one minute, and dancing in temper-tantrum the next.
171
00:22:11,401 --> 00:22:14,201
Tomorrow is Sunday. I will go someplace.
172
00:22:18,129 --> 00:22:22,329
Next morning I loaded up my camera gear,
and started walking up the trail to the hump.
173
00:22:23,522 --> 00:22:26,322
It was good to take a break away from the cabin.
174
00:22:29,669 --> 00:22:35,869
As I topped the ridge along a dry wash,
a wolf came up from the other side, 30 or 40 paces away.
175
00:22:36,594 --> 00:22:38,694
Then in a wink, she was gone.
176
00:22:39,701 --> 00:22:41,801
The wolves had made a kill.
177
00:22:42,850 --> 00:22:46,350
All that was left of the young caribou
was the backbone and rib cage.
178
00:22:47,975 --> 00:22:54,475
The skin was badly torn and pulled down over the front legs.
As you would peel back a rubber glove.
179
00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:02,800
It looks like the wolves aren't the only problem
the caribous have.
180
00:23:03,651 --> 00:23:07,851
What was a bull caribou doing down there,
where not a breath of air was stirring?
181
00:23:08,988 --> 00:23:12,488
Insects were whirling around me like sawdust
blown from a power saw.
182
00:23:14,256 --> 00:23:17,056
The bull also was having a battle with the tinies.
183
00:23:18,709 --> 00:23:23,509
shaking, twisting and shivering his hide.
184
00:23:40,389 --> 00:23:45,889
He would lie down and get back up again.
No rest at all.
185
00:23:46,470 --> 00:23:53,370
Why doesn't he climb to a breeze or take a swim?
Anything but stand and fight something he can't hope to kill.
186
00:23:58,514 --> 00:24:01,314
With a yell and a waving of arms, I spooked him.
187
00:24:02,406 --> 00:24:06,906
He threw his antlers back and off he clattered
over the stones and up the creek.
188
00:24:07,452 --> 00:24:09,552
Good luck to you, old boy!
189
00:24:32,657 --> 00:24:37,157
It's July 3. A cool, damp morning with fog
coming off the slopes
190
00:24:37,895 --> 00:24:40,695
like the smoke from many campfires.
191
00:24:41,341 --> 00:24:44,841
No wind now, so it's a perfect day for the tarpaper job.
192
00:24:46,416 --> 00:24:50,216
I ... the felt paper four to five inches.
193
00:24:50,394 --> 00:24:53,194
I need just one more strip, twenty feet long.
194
00:24:53,775 --> 00:24:58,275
I must admit the cabin looks better already
with the start of a roof.
195
00:25:02,093 --> 00:25:06,993
Next I unrolled the polyethylene and tucked the edges together
to get at least four thicknesses to tack through.
196
00:25:08,296 --> 00:25:10,396
and I fastnened her down.
197
00:25:15,807 --> 00:25:18,607
Next I built a carrying rack for the moss.
198
00:25:18,902 --> 00:25:23,802
I filed a blade from my round-point shovel,
then I was ready for the moss-cutting detail.
199
00:25:25,290 --> 00:25:32,090
I cut out rectangles about 18"x36" and 8" thick.
200
00:25:32,905 --> 00:25:36,405
Two chunks double-decked on the rack made a good load.
201
00:25:41,408 --> 00:25:45,908
I put it around the edges of the roof, and the cabin
took on a new look.
202
00:25:48,605 --> 00:25:54,505
I feel guilty about the tarpaper and the polyethylene,
because they are not true wilderness cabin materials!
203
00:25:55,638 --> 00:26:02,138
But I am convinced they will do a better job at keeping
the weather out.
204
00:26:06,055 --> 00:26:11,255
It seems I have cleared two acres of moss,
and the roof still isn't covered.
205
00:26:12,954 --> 00:26:19,154
A beautiful still evening. The cabin is starting to look as
though it belongs.
206
00:26:20,939 --> 00:26:24,439
This morning I cut, hauled and peeled eleven logs by noon.
207
00:26:25,781 --> 00:26:29,281
I would spend today on the construction of the john.
208
00:26:29,751 --> 00:26:32,551
An important consideration in any new home!
209
00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:41,000
Materials to finish the front required lots of time,
ripping boards from the last of my cabin logs.
210
00:26:46,098 --> 00:26:49,598
It was twelve 'o clock when I finished the last cut.
211
00:26:49,987 --> 00:26:55,487
Four boards would make the door, and the fifth would
to hold it together.
212
00:27:01,334 --> 00:27:06,834
I made the hinges from a gas-can, and they looked almost
store-bought.
213
00:27:07,624 --> 00:27:12,124
And then the final touch. Saw out a crescent.
And the john was done.
214
00:27:14,806 --> 00:27:17,906
July 23. A day to hang the door.
215
00:27:19,236 --> 00:27:22,736
I put the door into the opening and fastened
the top and bottom hinges.
216
00:27:24,023 --> 00:27:27,523
I checked and re-checked my hinges
to see that they were in line.
217
00:27:28,654 --> 00:27:33,554
I pulled the hinge pins, set the door on an edge and
sawed it nearly through for a dutch door,
218
00:27:34,267 --> 00:27:36,367
which I intended it to be.
219
00:27:37,232 --> 00:27:42,052
I put on some glue and nailed it fast.
220
00:27:45,100 --> 00:27:52,600
Door works quiet and easy, with all four hinges secured.
Not perfect, but plenty close for rural work.
221
00:27:55,263 --> 00:28:00,763
I must devise a latch for it.
Not just hooks like a barn door.
222
00:28:15,512 --> 00:28:21,712
All I needed was a lock.
I'd like to see a bear try and figure this thing out.
223
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:27,020
But I suppose he would just solve the problem
by wiping the door clean from the wooden hinges.
224
00:28:30,382 --> 00:28:34,882
After finishing the latch, I went blueberring up on
the Cowgill Bench.
225
00:28:35,309 --> 00:28:37,129
I found a good patch.
226
00:28:38,068 --> 00:28:43,568
I fear the blueberries really took a nipping from the
heavy frost not so long ago.
227
00:28:44,186 --> 00:28:49,686
I found some berries big and healthy.
But many are small and shriveled.
228
00:28:51,518 --> 00:28:55,018
When my can was nearly full I noticed a movement
across the creek.
229
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,260
Something yellow and brown.
230
00:28:58,630 --> 00:29:04,830
A big bear, not fifty yards away!
I think I have picked the wrong blueberry patch.
231
00:29:11,350 --> 00:29:15,150
Lucky for me, and him, he didn't like my smell.
232
00:29:24,331 --> 00:29:28,431
July 31. A tin-bending day.
233
00:29:28,759 --> 00:29:34,259
Made a water bucket. A wash pan. A dish pan.
A flower pan, and storage cans.
234
00:29:34,686 --> 00:29:36,786
My cabin kitchen is shaping up.
235
00:29:42,561 --> 00:29:46,061
I needed a big wooden spoon to dip hotcake batter
onto the griddle.
236
00:29:47,315 --> 00:29:49,415
One spoonful = one hotcake.
237
00:29:51,965 --> 00:29:55,465
In the woodpile I found scraps of stump wood
that looked suitable.
238
00:29:56,599 --> 00:30:00,099
It took me no more than an hour
to turn out a good looking spoon.
239
00:30:01,810 --> 00:30:04,610
I must make a wooden bowl too later on.
240
00:30:19,559 --> 00:30:27,459
Today is the big day. I will load all of my remaining gear into
the canoe, and paddle down to my new home.
241
00:30:31,521 --> 00:30:37,321
The lake is dead calm. A perfect day for moving.
242
00:30:47,347 --> 00:30:54,247
Everything found its place, and there was lots of room
for everything. Not a cluttered look at all.
243
00:30:56,943 --> 00:31:01,443
Five inches of foam rubber on my new bunk
will make it just about right.
244
00:31:02,034 --> 00:31:08,134
I can hear Hope Creek real plain. That will be
a pleasant sound to go to sleep by.
245
00:31:09,429 --> 00:31:12,929
And the view from my window isn't too bad, either.
246
00:31:15,718 --> 00:31:19,918
Best sleep in a long time. The sound of the waves
lapping the gravel beach--
247
00:31:20,281 --> 00:31:25,781
--and the never ending rustle of Hope Creek.
No better sleeping pill!
248
00:31:26,844 --> 00:31:28,944
The woodpile needs attention.
249
00:31:29,261 --> 00:31:33,081
I must drop a few spruce nags
and buck them into the sections.
250
00:31:33,819 --> 00:31:36,619
Dry standing timber makes the best firewood.
251
00:31:46,929 --> 00:31:51,929
There is a rhythm to the saw as its teeth eat back
and forth into the deepening cut.
252
00:31:52,535 --> 00:31:55,335
But I must admit, I enjoy the splitting more.
253
00:32:00,672 --> 00:32:04,672
I heard a plane. It was Babe at last with supplies.
254
00:32:05,410 --> 00:32:08,910
He had brought in some fresh groceries
that needed refrigeration.
255
00:32:10,363 --> 00:32:17,863
I had dug down a foot into the moss just yesterday,
and found frost, and lined the hole with a gas-can box.
256
00:32:18,556 --> 00:32:26,456
The thermometer in the cooler box under the moss reads 40�,
and here it is close to 80� today.
257
00:32:30,340 --> 00:32:34,540
While cultivating the garden, I rolled out a few potatoes
that looked like walnuts.
258
00:32:36,143 --> 00:32:39,643
Not record breakers for size, but they had real smooth skins!
259
00:32:40,878 --> 00:32:49,998
The crops to grow at Twin Lakes are potatoes, rhubarb, lettuce,
onions and radishes.My green onions looked pretty respectable.
260
00:32:51,375 --> 00:32:53,475
I am getting hungry for a fish.
261
00:32:54,539 --> 00:32:59,359
After many casts at the mouth of Hope Creek,
I was onto one.
262
00:32:59,833 --> 00:33:06,033
I worked him in easy, for I was fish hungry
and didn't want to lose this lake trout.
263
00:33:14,700 --> 00:33:20,600
I could see him browning in the pan as I dressed him out,
and I left his entrails for the birds.
264
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:27,500
Fried potatoes, onions and fish. You can't beat that!
265
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:35,260
Time to take a break away from the cabin.
I would go up high today.
266
00:33:38,106 --> 00:33:41,606
There were many sheep and ram
scattered here and there
267
00:33:42,894 --> 00:33:46,694
I spotted six big rams on Black Mountain.
268
00:33:46,887 --> 00:33:48,987
Two had better than a full curl.
269
00:33:53,218 --> 00:34:01,118
A man could lose himself up here.
One bad step and I would keep on going right down the mountain.
270
00:34:01,247 --> 00:34:04,047
But risk now and then is good for a man.
271
00:34:04,210 --> 00:34:12,110
One mis-step here, and a man would have to settle
with the Lord, right here on the mountain.
272
00:34:51,351 --> 00:34:55,351
Close at hand, the mosses and grasses
were full of tiny flowers.
273
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,100
It is another world of beauty.
274
00:34:59,219 --> 00:35:06,119
The more I see as I sit here among the rocks,
the more I wonder about what I am not seeing.
275
00:35:14,458 --> 00:35:21,658
A flickering movement to my left. The stone seemed to move,
and turned into a mother ptarmigan and a brood.
276
00:35:22,159 --> 00:35:25,959
The young was just as camouflaged as the mother.
277
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:31,820
They were feeding. Huddled like chickens as they
walked along the slope.
278
00:35:38,237 --> 00:35:41,737
Not too far away I spotted a mother brown bear with two cubs.
279
00:35:43,255 --> 00:35:47,455
It was probably the same family I had seen at different
times during the spring.
280
00:35:48,591 --> 00:35:53,691
She was rounded out like a cask.
Must be lots of vitamins along those slopes.
281
00:36:03,233 --> 00:36:07,733
It was getting late and a little chilly,
and it was time to leave.
282
00:36:08,152 --> 00:36:11,652
I had taken a long look into the heart of the high places.
283
00:36:16,548 --> 00:36:22,048
It's September 6. This would be the morning
to start the fireplace.
284
00:36:22,272 --> 00:36:27,272
I had been packing flat stones from the bed of Hope Creek
for the past few days.
285
00:36:27,852 --> 00:36:33,052
The sound of geese heading north made me even more anxious
to get the project underway.
286
00:36:35,265 --> 00:36:41,465
The lake was moon-still. A good morning to haul some sand.
Four loads of sand.
287
00:36:46,617 --> 00:36:53,517
I won't cut the hole on the back of the cabin too high
until I find out how this rock laying is gonna go.
288
00:36:58,663 --> 00:37:04,863
Today is spent on the outside. The chimney is a good 12" high
and 9" thick.
289
00:37:07,293 --> 00:37:13,493
I hated cutting into those logs I had fit with such care,
but it had to be done.
290
00:37:21,889 --> 00:37:28,389
It's September 8. I roughed out my arch today with my ax,
and then finished it off with the jack-plane.
291
00:37:30,217 --> 00:37:33,017
I set it in place and spiked it to the post.
292
00:37:35,468 --> 00:37:40,968
All my stones in front of the the fireplace have been collected
in my travels up and down both lakes,
293
00:37:41,862 --> 00:37:48,062
the high country and the low.
So they are representative of the entire area.
294
00:37:52,809 --> 00:37:59,709
Today, while it was still frosty, I cut a notch
in the rear overhang of the roof to let the chimney through.
295
00:38:01,220 --> 00:38:06,420
My collapsable form couldn't have worked better.
I'm glad I took the time to make it.
296
00:38:07,127 --> 00:38:12,327
By tomorrow evening I had better be done,
since the last cement sack will be empty.
297
00:38:14,156 --> 00:38:20,356
After two weeks, with fingertips worn thin and tender,
I am ready for the cold weather.
298
00:38:28,507 --> 00:38:32,307
This new day is clear, calm and 28 degrees.
299
00:38:33,093 --> 00:38:37,593
There is white frost on the brush,
and on the gravel of the beach.
300
00:38:37,824 --> 00:38:45,324
The lake is like a huge puddle, grinning with the reflections
of the fall colors well along on the mountains.
301
00:38:45,877 --> 00:38:51,077
Today was meant for canoe travel.
I would go to the lower end of the lower lake-
302
00:38:51,491 --> 00:38:56,991
where the Chilikadrotna River begins its long swift journey
to merge with the Molchotna and Chuchigak.
303
00:38:59,115 --> 00:39:03,215
It would be a paddle of 8.5 miles, one way.
304
00:39:14,705 --> 00:39:17,505
It was a joy to travel the flat lake.
305
00:39:17,956 --> 00:39:23,456
I dug the paddle deep and the canoe slid along easily,
throwing ripples to either side.
306
00:39:25,030 --> 00:39:28,530
Near the lower end of the lake, I spotted a fine caribou bull.
307
00:39:29,420 --> 00:39:37,320
He was acting strangely. When I saw him wade into the lake,
it dawned on me. He wanted to cross to the other side!
308
00:39:38,133 --> 00:39:42,633
The race was on. He would show me how fast
a bull caribou could swim!
309
00:39:43,747 --> 00:39:50,647
I didn't wanna get to close in case he'd turn on me.
He could overturn my canoe with no trouble.
310
00:39:51,370 --> 00:39:57,570
Maybe he figured he couldn't get rid of me on land,
so he did what he would have done with a wolf in pursuit.
311
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,720
Take to the lake, swim, and lose the enemy!
312
00:40:12,776 --> 00:40:15,576
The caribou is an animal of the open country.
313
00:40:16,048 --> 00:40:21,948
It seems like he likes to get up on the high ridges,
where the breeze blows to keep the insects away.
314
00:40:34,903 --> 00:40:39,103
The bull moose, which I haven't seen much of
all summer long,
315
00:40:39,104 --> 00:40:42,604
doesn't seem to fear me, or much of anything, now.
316
00:40:43,562 --> 00:40:48,062
After several hours of thrashing and destroying
a patch of willow bushes,
317
00:40:49,347 --> 00:40:52,847
the bull was free from the blood covered, velvet-like material.
318
00:40:56,227 --> 00:41:04,127
It seems this time of year, the bulls lose all good sense
and come right out in the open.
319
00:41:04,510 --> 00:41:08,010
Afraid of nobody, and that's when hunting season opens.
320
00:41:08,620 --> 00:41:10,720
And that's the end of the hill.
321
00:41:15,886 --> 00:41:20,086
I woke up this morning surprised to see four inches
of snow on the ground.
322
00:41:21,005 --> 00:41:23,805
Looks like I finished my fireplace just in time.
323
00:41:25,942 --> 00:41:31,442
It's a frosty morning at 23�.
35� in my cooler box.
324
00:41:31,771 --> 00:41:33,871
And the lake water at 42�.
325
00:41:34,432 --> 00:41:37,232
But the pressure is off.
The fireplace is built,
326
00:41:38,305 --> 00:41:42,805
and what little there is yet to do
can be done regardless of the weather.
327
00:42:13,528 --> 00:42:19,428
It's the end of September now, and if I was
gonna stay the winter I would need more meat.
328
00:42:20,982 --> 00:42:23,782
Today was the last day of sheep season.
329
00:42:23,919 --> 00:42:27,419
And the sight of four good rams in a bunch
convinced me.
330
00:42:30,415 --> 00:42:36,315
Although this handsome bull makes it tempting,
lucky for him I like sheep meat better than caribou.
331
00:42:45,894 --> 00:42:51,094
I open and close the hunting season with one shot.
The search for meat is over.
332
00:42:51,979 --> 00:42:58,879
I hated to see the big ram end like this, but I suppose
he could have died a lot harder than he did.
333
00:43:01,109 --> 00:43:05,309
The pelt must have weighed a hundred pounds
when I dragged it from the water.
334
00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:09,220
Nearly all blood was soaked out of the beautiful white hide.
335
00:43:10,345 --> 00:43:14,845
I put my smoker into operation, and I kept it going
all day.
336
00:43:22,696 --> 00:43:28,196
Sheep liver and onions for supper.
A satisfying day.
337
00:43:31,313 --> 00:43:35,813
September 23. Clear, calm and a frosty 20 degrees.
338
00:43:36,627 --> 00:43:43,527
Hope Creek is beginning to ice up. I put the thermometer
into the creek mouth. 31 degrees.
339
00:43:43,881 --> 00:43:47,381
If the creek stopped moving it would freeze up in no time.
340
00:43:56,970 --> 00:44:00,470
Today I would cut up wood to build up my supplies.
341
00:44:00,757 --> 00:44:07,657
This business of taking wood out of the savings bank and
putting none back has been bothering me to no end.
342
00:44:10,677 --> 00:44:16,877
Plenty of meat hanging from the meat tree. Plenty of wood.
My cabin tight and warm.
343
00:44:17,256 --> 00:44:19,356
I looked forward to freeze-up.
344
00:44:53,034 --> 00:44:58,234
It is November now, and in preparing for freeze-up,
I made a sled out of spruce poles.
345
00:44:58,921 --> 00:45:01,721
Using the spruce runners, I had put in traction.
346
00:45:02,575 --> 00:45:07,675
The frame was held together with pegs,
and short pole bracings.
347
00:45:08,128 --> 00:45:13,228
I plained the runner smooth and painted them
with a film of woodglue.
348
00:45:27,539 --> 00:45:30,339
With its deck poles, handles and crossbars,
349
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:34,780
it would be a vehicle in which I could push
a good-sized load.
350
00:45:35,868 --> 00:45:38,668
Too bad I didn't have a caribou to pull it.
351
00:46:32,767 --> 00:46:39,267
Dead calm and zero degrees.
The wind and snow died during the night.
352
00:46:42,556 --> 00:46:46,056
It's important that I keep my pathway to the lake open.
353
00:46:51,595 --> 00:46:55,095
I chipped through three inches of ice to fill my water bucket.
354
00:46:55,878 --> 00:47:00,378
In a short time I will have a safe highway for miles
in each direction.
355
00:47:00,747 --> 00:47:02,567
Freeze-up has arrived.
356
00:47:04,681 --> 00:47:09,181
It's warm inside my cabin. A toasty forty degrees.
357
00:47:10,188 --> 00:47:18,088
Peppery ram stew for supper. Just the way I like it.
It's got everything in it but the kitchen sponge.
358
00:48:02,043 --> 00:48:08,243
Dead calm and zero degrees.
The lake ice has increased one inch in 24 hours.
359
00:48:09,573 --> 00:48:13,073
It took one hour to the gravel bank of
the connecting stream.
360
00:48:13,563 --> 00:48:15,663
Not quite as fast as paddling.
361
00:48:17,157 --> 00:48:22,657
I saw big wolf tracks in the drifted snow.
Then I saw many more wolf tracks.
362
00:48:23,169 --> 00:48:24,569
A bad sign.
363
00:48:32,902 --> 00:48:37,402
About a hundred yards further on,
a dead calf, on the bank.
364
00:48:37,940 --> 00:48:40,740
They had not fed on the carcass at all.
365
00:48:42,641 --> 00:48:48,141
I butchered it up into sections.
There was frozen blood on his hind legs.
366
00:48:54,306 --> 00:49:00,506
Had they done it just for sport?
Suddenly the wolves lost a few points with me.
367
00:49:01,158 --> 00:49:03,958
I loaded up the sled and headed for home.
368
00:49:07,831 --> 00:49:12,331
I chopped off a chunk of moose hindquarter.
The meat shattered like ice.
369
00:49:13,213 --> 00:49:18,713
The magpie soon took command.
But there would be plenty for all.
370
00:49:28,371 --> 00:49:33,871
December 31. 32 degrees below zero during
the heat of the day.
371
00:49:34,858 --> 00:49:42,758
Today I hiked a couple miles down the lake.
I do believe winter at Twin Lakes is better than summer.
372
00:49:43,739 --> 00:49:47,239
I crossed a wolverine track that was headed
for Low Pass Creek.
373
00:49:48,650 --> 00:49:51,450
I must be on the lookout for that character.
374
00:50:00,005 --> 00:50:02,805
On such a trip, snowshoes are a must.
375
00:50:03,923 --> 00:50:09,423
With no wind I could travel all day in -45�F,
and be comfortable.
376
00:50:11,925 --> 00:50:15,425
It is warmer on top of the pass than it is
along the lake.
377
00:50:16,086 --> 00:50:18,186
Moisture must make the difference.
378
00:50:18,927 --> 00:50:24,127
My face and fingers felt the bite and the cold
as soon as I reached lake level.
379
00:50:27,415 --> 00:50:30,215
It was good to be back at the cabin.
380
00:50:45,250 --> 00:50:51,050
January 2. 45 below zero. A land without motion.
381
00:50:51,841 --> 00:50:57,041
In the dead of winter, nothing seems to move.
Not even a twig on the willows.
382
00:50:58,151 --> 00:51:01,651
The thickness of the ice is now a strong 28 inches.
383
00:51:06,061 --> 00:51:13,961
In this cold weather, the hole gradually closes in from the
sides, until it is a hole no longer.
384
00:51:29,179 --> 00:51:34,679
January 9. What do you know?
Here comes Babe in the T-craft on skis!
385
00:51:35,221 --> 00:51:41,721
He brought a burlap sack half full of beans,
50 pounds of sugar, and a big box of dried apples.
386
00:51:42,607 --> 00:51:44,427
Also, some mail.
387
00:51:46,554 --> 00:51:51,754
He also brought me two pairs of heavy socks
that his wife Mary had knitted for me.
388
00:51:52,146 --> 00:51:54,246
It was just like Christmas.
389
00:52:00,197 --> 00:52:06,697
February 21. Plus 26 degrees.
Snowing and blowing.
390
00:52:07,054 --> 00:52:09,154
27 inches of snow on the ground.
391
00:52:11,488 --> 00:52:18,388
My snowshovel works well. My paths are beginning to look like
small canyons with steep white walls.
392
00:52:20,403 --> 00:52:25,203
I wish brother Jake could be up here to see this.
393
00:52:27,079 --> 00:52:35,979
February is almost gone, and that didn't take long.
Snow depth still stays at 27 inches at my checking station.
394
00:52:37,273 --> 00:52:39,373
It settles between snows.
395
00:52:44,484 --> 00:52:47,984
On the way back to the cabin, I cut across
the wolverine track.
396
00:52:48,873 --> 00:52:51,673
The one that's been eluding me for so long.
397
00:52:53,371 --> 00:52:58,871
And then, there he was. The one with the
ferocious reputation.
398
00:53:02,782 --> 00:53:05,882
He didn't look so ferocious to me.
399
00:53:16,191 --> 00:53:22,391
It was very warm in the sun, but cool in the shadow
of the mountain as I snowshoed back to the cabin.
400
00:53:26,285 --> 00:53:29,785
The end of march. The sun was warm and the eave dripped.
401
00:53:31,012 --> 00:53:34,512
I do believe the days of snow and ice are numbered.
402
00:53:37,724 --> 00:53:42,524
On one of my trips I had noticed a huge burrow
on a dead spruce tree.
403
00:53:42,881 --> 00:53:44,981
Today I would go back and salvage it.
404
00:53:45,293 --> 00:53:48,293
I slapped it with a four-inch cut next to the tree.
405
00:53:48,662 --> 00:53:54,462
The cap would be about 7 inches deep, and
perhaps from that I'd carve a bowl.
406
00:53:55,579 --> 00:54:03,379
Two slabs on the packboard, and in for lunch.
The slabs will make interesting table tops.
407
00:54:03,743 --> 00:54:11,563
After lunch I dumped the two-pound coffee can of cranberries
I had picked, into a pan to cook them in their own juice.
408
00:54:11,809 --> 00:54:16,609
A fistful of sugar was next, followed with a shot of
corn syrup.
409
00:54:17,878 --> 00:54:21,378
When the mixture cooled, I poured it off into empty bottles.
410
00:54:22,096 --> 00:54:26,596
Now those sourdough pancakes would have an elegant topping
in the morning.
411
00:54:34,903 --> 00:54:39,403
April 22. It is good to see bears on the mountain again-
412
00:54:40,528 --> 00:54:46,528
-a mother and two fine looking cubs.
Good company for a man out here.
413
00:54:46,973 --> 00:54:49,973
Most people would think of bear den to be a smelly place.
414
00:54:50,436 --> 00:55:01,936
On the contrary, I have found them to be clean and fresh.
As if the bear walked in, laid down, got up, and walked out.
415
00:55:05,898 --> 00:55:11,098
With the receding snow, the caribou are starting
to show themselves again.
416
00:55:11,589 --> 00:55:14,389
And I'm sure the wolves are not too far behind.
417
00:55:15,954 --> 00:55:18,754
There are many ptarmigan in the willowflats.
418
00:55:19,054 --> 00:55:23,854
The roosters are full of cackle, and they are
fast coming out of their winter plumage.
419
00:55:35,504 --> 00:55:38,504
I have made it through my first winter at Twin Lakes.
420
00:55:39,176 --> 00:55:44,976
With the arrival of spring, it feels good to get back to work
on the projects that have been on hold.
421
00:55:46,358 --> 00:55:50,858
And the new cache will keep bears and other critters
out of my food supplies.
422
00:55:53,699 --> 00:55:58,199
Dick Proenneke would spend the next 35 years alone
in the wilderness-
423
00:55:59,016 --> 00:56:04,116
-carefully documenting life at Twin Lakes until 1998.
424
00:56:05,169 --> 00:56:12,069
At the age of 82, Dick decided that the minus fifty below
winters were becoming too much of a chore---
425
00:56:12,562 --> 00:56:16,062
---and it was time to leave this One Man's Wilderness.
426
00:56:16,672 --> 00:56:22,672
Dick has since formally entrusted his homestead
to the Park Service of Lake Clark National Park.
427
00:56:23,612 --> 00:56:27,112
His cabin will be maintained as a historic site.
428
00:56:27,786 --> 00:56:31,886
And he may return to stay in it at any time he wishes.
429
00:56:32,165 --> 00:56:34,765
And while he may not make the trip physically again---
430
00:56:35,213 --> 00:56:42,713
---his spirit will always linger
in the perfect notches of his logs.44781
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