Living In The Remote Wilderness. . . .

[panch0]

Wow very interesting thread. I wish my family would go for something close to that way of life. My wife needs neigbors and family close by.

[Nativedude]

Maybe we should make this thread a sticky for all of the newbies to read?

[Rick]

Done!!!!!!

[Nativedude]

Thank you Sir!!!!!!

[wildWoman]

Great post You did it the smart way, slowly over time. How far to the closest road? Chainsaw or handsaw, and how do you haul in your wood? Canning or drying, rootcellar?

I find it funny how people who flirt with the idea always immediately spell out why they can't do something like this, instead of focussing on the reasons why they can.

[Rick]

WW - I think that's pretty true with just about anything in life. Anyone can tell you why it CAN'T be done. It takes someone with some forward thinking to tell you why it CAN be done.

[crashdive123]

Like my signature line says.......

[Nativedude]

WildWoman wrote: "Great post You did it the smart way, slowly over time. How far to the closest road? Chainsaw or handsaw, and how do you haul in your wood? Canning or drying, root cellar?

I find it funny how people who flirt with the idea always immediately spell out why they can't do something like this, instead of focusing on the reasons why they can."

First, let me say thank you Wildwoman. There are no roads within 240 miles. Everything done by double bit axe and Swedish bucking saw. I cut and haul the trees close to my cabin. I let them stand for at least 6 - 10 months before cutting and splitting into firewood size.

I can fruits and veggies, smoke & dry meat, and I have a Cedar box, lined with tin, that is buried in the ground. It holds all that I need it to. It is topped with a Cedar covered piece of tin and then covered with 8" thick moss. It stays at 38 to 44 degrees in the summer and 28 - 30 in the winter. Anything I don't want to freeze I bring inside and it keeps nicely!

I got the idea when I visited Dick Proenneke in 1995.

[Rick]

ND - Do you use a regular pressure canner to can with? Do you use it on a wood stove?

[wildWoman]

Wow, cutting all the wood by hand - that is a LOT of HARD work!! You're my hero
I can do without a lot of things but I wouldn't want to do firewood without the chainsaw!

You're lucky to live that remote *sigh* we're a mere 40km from the next road. Lots cheaper when you have to fly but there's the odd bit of traffic too.

How far to your closest neighbour?

[Survival Guy 10]

he probly dosent have neighboors for about 100 miles

[wildWoman]

he probly dosent have neighboors for about 100 miles

The funny thing is that some of the remote properties used to be huge pieces of land that were subdivided over time. Or a number of acreages were sold by the government, all in the same area.
So some people live way out in the boonies but have a next-door neighbour, if only in the summer. Which can be a blessing too.

[Nativedude]

Survival Guy 10 wrote: "he probly dosent have neighboors for about 100 miles"

I have no neighbors (that I know of nor have ever seen) for about 160 miles. There is an old trappers cabin that I do stay in on my portages to and from town. It is just a little more then 1/2 way to town. I generally canoe to the cabin and than have my buddy pick me up with his plane there.

If I have a lot of supplies he flies me to the cabin, we drop off the supplies, and then he drops me back a the trappers cabin to retrieve my canoe. If it is early enough I head back and bivouac along the way, for the night and then continue on the next day. If not, I stay in the cabin over night and head back the next day.

From time-to-time there are hunters that stay in the trappers cabin during season.

Rick wrote: "ND - Do you use a regular pressure canner to can with? Do you use it on a wood stove?"

Rick - I use the boiling/sterilizing method for canning. Boiling the lids, seals & jars, which creates a vacuum seal. And yes, I do it on my wood burning stove. My 12qt. cast dutch oven works great for boiling everything.

[Rick]

Gotcha! Thank you.

[klkak]

Nativedude, What drainage do you live on?

[Gold]

Im young and i dont have a family yet and spending my entire life like that does not sound to great by myself id like to have a wife and kids there with me to help me out personally i think the psychiological effect of being alone in the wilderness for months would be too great for me and your right id have to take a long time to work my way up to living in solitude
U ROCK ND

[crashdive123]

Hey there Gold. How about prospecting your way on over to the Introduction Section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

[Mtnman Mike]

That is interesting and nice to hear about some living their dream. But Alaska surely is not for everyone. People should do much planning, learning and preparing before just going into the wild. The book and/or movie "Into the Wild" is good to show what Not to do about going into the wilds of Alaska and trying to survive.

It has taken me since 1987 to build a remote Wyoming mtn survival retreat and I might not ever be completely finished. And there is Always something to do from cooking, cutting, splitting and stacking much firewood, gardening etc. etc.

And people do get to like solitude the more they live alone. I never feel lonely in the wild but have felt lonely in the middle of a huge city. The wilderness is the opposite of cities, in about every way possible. Good or bad, I think the wilderness is much better than any city.

[Nativedude]

Mtnman Mike wrote: "That is interesting and nice to hear about some living their dream. But Alaska surely is not for everyone. People should do much planning, learning and preparing before just going into the wild. The book and/or movie "Into the Wild" is good to show what Not to do about going into the wilds of Alaska and trying to survive.

It has taken me since 1987 to build a remote Wyoming mtn survival retreat and I might not ever be completely finished. And there is Always something to do from cooking, cutting, splitting and stacking much firewood, gardening etc., etc.

And people do get to like solitude the more they live alone. I never feel lonely in the wild but have felt lonely in the middle of a huge city. The wilderness is the opposite of cities, in about every way possible. Good or bad, I think the wilderness is much better than any city."

Well put Mike. Whenever I go back to the city I feel very alone. There is absolutely nothing to do (for me anyway). I feel like a lion in a cage at the zoo, I feel "on display". So many people, all milling about like ants in an ant farm. Seeming not to have a purpose. Without wood to cut, water to haul, crops to tend, meat & fish to cure and/or smoke, etc. and most of all no wild life (the four-legged kind) to see, it surely gives me a feeling of loneliness.

While 'Into the Wild' is a good reference to show people what NOT to do when going to live in the wilds of AK, 'Alone In The Wilderness' (Dick Proennecke's life in Alaska) surely is a great reference about what to do when going to live in the wilds of AK!

[rwc1969]

I've always wanted to be living in the wild, but, seeing "Alone in the wilderness" on PBS is what got me seriously thinking about making the jump, or at least trying to find out what it would take to make that jump.

Someone on another thread asked if they discuss these topics with friends and such.

Well, Everyone I know personally thinks it is an ignorant, lazy, reclusive, antisocial and/ or foolish notion. They talk about all the hard labor involved and all the mundane tasks just to store food or get water. They bring up all the bugs, cold, dampness, disease, and any other negative thing they can think of to try and point out why it's a bad idea. They fail to see the benefits a lifestyle like Dick's would pay. "Why would anyone want to do that?" they say!

I'm afraid to even bring up survival, emergency prep, wilderness skills, and to some extent even simple hunting, fishing and gathering topics, because they all look at me like I'm an insane, anti-social, head in the clouds recluse. It's not the case! Well, at least not to the extent they make it out to be.

I just like this stuff and always have. If I weren't so oppressed by my schoolteachers, law enforcement, family and what I thought were friends growing up I would have got into this stuff much sooner, or never got out of it. Because during the first 5 years of my life we were very close to it. But, I was made to think a lifestyle like this was selfish, unrealistic and foolish. if only I would have listened to myself rather than take what they said as the gospel.

I'm sure it's no easy task, but I would surely think the hard work and learning would be worth the effort, at least for someone like me. I'd much rather spend a day chopping wood than pushing a pen. I'd much rather spend my nights fishing, hunting or resting up for the next days work rather than getting drunk in a bar and risking a DUI. I'd much rather spend my leisure time listening and seeing nature rather than talking gossip, or reviewing the latest movie. I'd rather walk 5-10 miles to gather water or check traps each day than drive 30 thru rush hour traffic. I'd rather smell a wood fire and lamp oil rather than diesel fumes or fallout from the paint line.

Most people I know think I'm just lazy or trying to escape responsibility or the dues of this modern society, but that's not it at all. I just love being out in the wilderness. And I love doing things for myself. I love making things with my own two hands. I love fresh air, and silence. I like the idea of living close with nature in a more sustainable way than we as a whole currently are.

I don't understand why people are so against this style of life. At least the people around me in my neck of the woods. I'm starting pretty late in the game, but hopefully I can get a chance to live this style of life.

I really want to hand it to all those that have and do. You've done something that I have spent my life dreaming of rather than just getting out and doing it.