“In the fall of 1978 I packed everything I thought would be useful into my Toyota Land Cruiser and drove north to Alaska. I came to a land I had never seen to find something I wasn’t even sure existed: a wilderness cabin to use for a year or more to live, think, relax, read, and write.”AlaskanWeb

So begins the best book I’ve read so far this year, “The Alaskan Retreater’s Notebook: One Man’s Journey Into the Alaskan Wilderness” by my old friend Ray Ordorica.  If that name rings a bell it’s because you’ve read his meticulously-researched work in Gun Tests, American Rifleman, Gun Digest and many other venues.

Ray found a tiny old cabin that had been built and then abandoned by the US Army, fixed it up, and for three years lived there on game meat, the bounty of his trapline, and the proceeds of his superb articles and photography.  He found peace and happiness. He makes you feel his love for the wild things, like Cookie, the fox that becomes more his friend than his pet.

The book is a treasure trove of helpful hints and “life hacks” for wilderness existence.  The gun advice, of course, is worth the price of the book by itself, but it’s really only a small part of this particular reading experience.

My favorite parts were the excerpts from the journal he kept during those years.  When he talks about surviving in deep cold (read: colder than fifty below zero Fahrenheit), you can just about feel it. Halfway through that segment I felt an urge to huddle under some blankets while I read the rest of it.

Simply a great read.  “Five stars!”

16 COMMENTS

  1. “But Mas we are more concerned about Periscoping our private parts on the new iPhone”

    I grew up reading Robert Service. How Col Whelen lived on his own up in Alaska at the turn of the 20th century before joining the horse Army. Todays generation is doomed my friend.

  2. Mas, I truly think living in extreme cold, with Grizzlies, Moose and all of God’s creatures and heavenly scenery beats the current garbage in the big cities.

    Just need to convince the wife and I know such would be impossible.

    Thanks for sharing the book and I’ll for sure get a copy.

  3. I would not go near Alaska unless I could bring along my Freedom Arms .475 Linebaugh and Kimber .375 H&H in case any Sasquatch or Yeti decides to drop by for a visit. Or I could simply bring Janet Reno to introduce me to her large hairy cousins up north, who are the actual reason polar bears are mysteriously disappearing, not due to global warming as many believe.

  4. Hey, this looks quite interesting… I may well have not found it without your help. Definitely one to check out.

    Thanks, Mas!

  6. A similar story is that of Richard Proenneke. In 1968, at the age of 52, he built a cabin in Alaska and lived there for most of the rest of his life. Wikipedia has his biography. Amazon has a book, One Man’s Wilderness, and there are a couple of a videos, Alone in the Wilderness and Alone in the Wilderness Part II. The videos are rather expensive to buy but you can borrow them from your local library or through interlibrary loan.

  7. Mas, sorry to go off thread, but the worst news possible for gun owners, Justice Anthony Scalia has died. My greatest fear while waiting out the Obama presidency has been a trusted conservative Supreme Court Justice die, leaving Obama the chance to nominate another super-liberal to the high court. This country is still fighting the aftermath of the Warren court of the 70’s, whose decisions/activism divided us as a nation. If Mitch McConnell allows a liberal replacement to be confirmed by a GOP controlled Senate, I truly believe the Republican Party will die a well deserved death.

    Again, apologies for the interruption.

  9. I just woke up and tuned into the Republican debate I had recorded from last night. The first questions concerned Scalia’s death and I about fell into my morning coffee.
    God help us all.

  10. Already the conspiracy machine has gone into production: The Clinton Outfit had Scalia whacked, no, it was Obama who done it.

    What is certain is that the White House is abuzz with flunkies trying to find a way for Obozo to circumvent the nomination process and appoint a replacement by executive order.

    We are in deep trouble here. Will our elected representatives stand and fight (for once) or will they roll over as they have done so many times in the past?

    Personally, I have no faith they will finally grow a pair and do the right thing.

  11. But back on topic, here is a quote from some of the reading I did as a kid:

    “I have clenched and closed with the naked north,
    I have learned to defy and defend.
    Shoulder to shoulder we have fought it out,
    Yet the wild must win in the end.”

    “To Build a fire” was another story of my youth, as was the story of “White Fang”, and “The Call of the Wild”.

    This book sounds like it’s right up my alley. Going to Amazon this morning and check it out.

    For every Ray Ordorica who managed to survive and thrive in his self imposed exile to the wilderness of Alaska, there are dozens who failed and perished.
    I am reminded of the news story of a young man who went to wilderness Alaska and found an abandoned school bus out in the middle of nowhere. He moved in and made it his home for a while. I believe a brown bear put an end to his adventure, if memory serves.

  15. I’ve nearly finished Ray’s book. A great read! If you’ve never been really cold, (I have ) you need to read this book before life just passes you by!!

  16. Good book. Very good. I’m 2/3 of the way through it. I’ve done some ML hunting in northern Mn (Koochiching Co). -34 is the coldest I’ve felt. You can’t stop moving for very long. You could actually feel the cold coming through the stitching on your gloves. Pretty desolate up there after the regular deer seasons are over. Nothing like Alaska. Not even close. But -70??
    Mas: Thank-you for your writing.

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