Of Grizzly Bears and Right English Gentlemen

Oh man, I have thought about living in the Alaskan wilderness many a time. I live in a wooden room filled with wooden pictures of wolves, deer, fish, all things pastoral. One of my favorite things is the PBS show Alone In The Wilderness. For those who aren't familiar, this is a mini-series about Dick Proenekke, who, at the age of 52, went to live alone in a remote area of Alaska. He built himself a log cabin using only hand tools, many of which he made himself. He hunted. He gathered. He planted a small garden. He was totally self-sustained. He spent most of the next thirty years in that cabin. And, fortunately for the rest of us, he filmed it all. Well, at least all of the first sixteen months.

One of my favorite books (non-fiction) is How To Stay Alive In The Woods by Bradford Angier. It reads as if it were written by a right English gentleman from the 19th century taking a camping trip, although it was written in the fifties. It probably wouldn't keep anyone alive in the woods for too long, but the idea of it is what gets me. Living off of a few tools and your knowledge. I am not one for the modern conveniences. I don't own a phone. I don't own a TV. I only own a computer for school. Leaving this life behind seems fairly easy for me.

So, in short, I would love to try. I don't know if I would last, but neither did Chris McCandless. Obviously, he did not. But if that were ever a great enough deterrent, mankind would still be relegated to Africa. McCandless set out to test his mettle, to find out the limits of what he could withstand. I am all about that. Give me some warm clothes, a map, a compass, and a shotgun and I'm there. It would be tough, but all great things are. Or they should be.

Although, most of them don't involve bears.

p.s. This guy lasted about 2 hours before he was mauled by this bear.