What one man learned living alone in the wilderness for 40 years

June 2, 2024 8:14 AM

In his memoir, “The Way of the Hermit,” Ken Smith dispels myths about the solitary life off the grid. Review by Laurie Hertzel The first half of this book is a rip-roaring read, filled with death-defying adventures — fighting off grizzly bears; avoiding a charging bull moose; nearly freezing in an ice-encrusted tent. Smith falls into a raging river, loses his supply pack and nearly drowns. Still, he loved it all: “It was intoxicating, invigorating, and utterly liberating.”
posted by bq (12 comments total)

I will be reading this.
posted by Czjewel at 9:02 AM on June 2

I absolutely loved My Side of the Mountain as a kid, even though I was the antithesis of outdoorsy, for the fantasy of all that alone time.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:34 AM on June 2 [12 favorites]

I was exposed to the Hōjōki (方丈記) in my Japanese culture class via this book. (this being pre-internet / wikipedia, college offered a lot of learning opportunities not otherwise so easily available outside of trying your luck with the Dewey Decimal System at the local library).

my plan for next decade after retirement is to do this life on the down-low, part-time. I have zero fixed attachments to this world other than my 9 to 5, and I live next to world-class Sierra wilderness that hasn't yet all burned down.

East Asian Buddhism apparently gets pretty complicated at this point, but the Hōjōki was influenced by the feeling of Mappō 末法 (ending of law / 'dharma'), the terminal era that proceeded through Shōbō 正法 (True Dharma), Zōbō 像法 (Semblance Dharma) into Mappō.
posted by torokunai at 10:17 AM on June 2 [3 favorites]

Horace Rumpole, my immediate thought was, "Oooh, is this going to be like an adult My Side Of The Mountain? I'm in!"
posted by queensissy at 10:55 AM on June 2 [5 favorites]

I loved it too! And then I thought back to it after I had kids and was all 😳 omg his poor family. Had the same experience with Big.
posted by bq at 11:48 AM on June 2 [3 favorites]

I assume he learned to wait for an aurora to power up a computer so he could send in his manuscript.
posted by Naberius at 12:50 PM on June 2 [1 favorite]

A TEN SQUARE foot hut??? That is 2/3 the size of a single mattress. Remarkable to consider.
posted by jcworth at 4:43 PM on June 2

10 foot square, or ~100⏍
posted by torokunai at 6:17 PM on June 2

"I assume he learned to wait for an aurora to power up a computer so he could send in his manuscript."

It's written in collaboration with a professional writer. Also paper still exists, you can make permanent marks on it and carry it to other places.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 6:19 PM on June 2 [3 favorites]

Don’t worry, Naberius, I got that reference.
posted by Iteki at 10:03 PM on June 2 [1 favorite]

In that case I apologise.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:23 PM on June 2 [1 favorite]

Dick Proennke came to mind for me
posted by y2karl at 10:35 PM on June 2 [2 favorites]