10 Here's another great read... (Read 17461 times)
The_Beaver
Inukshuk
Offline



Posts: 1131
Location: Middleton, WI
Joined: Jan 10th, 2005
Here's another great read...
Jan 21st, 2005 at 9:05pm
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
The Final Frontiersman : Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness
by James Campbell

Heimo is from Appleton, WI and one day in the 1970's he headed north to Alaska and never looked back.

The author (who just happens to be Heimo's cousin) claims Heimo lives more remotely than any other person in Alaska.  He is one of only seven hunter-trappers with a permit to live in the 19.5-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Korth lives with his wife and two daughters 130 miles above the Arctic Circle, the only settlers for more than 500 miles (250 miles from the nearest road).

This is a real page turner.  I always dreamed of giving it all up and moving North. Heimo did it and has a great story to share.

The Beav
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Kingfisher
Voyageur
Inukshuk
Offline



Posts: 1814
Joined: Mar 8th, 2004
Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #1 - Feb 25th, 2005 at 5:17am
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
Beav, just finished reading about Heimo and family. Definately a great read. I really felt bad when it didn't work out for Rhonda in Wisconsin.
Thanks for the suggestion, KF
  
Back to top
IP Logged
 
The_Beaver
Inukshuk
Offline



Posts: 1131
Location: Middleton, WI
Joined: Jan 10th, 2005
Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #2 - Feb 25th, 2005 at 12:58pm
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
Glad you liked it. I was/am surprised no one else responded to this thread...this book should be of interest to any paddler/outdoorsman.

I want to followup with James Campbell to see what Heimo is up to these days.

Yeah, it's a great book...Heimo is a bit older than me but a contemporary...growing up in Wisconsin....he had the 'nads to go up to Alaska and make a life...sometimes I wonder...

Beav
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
dwight
Full Member
Offline



Posts: 237
Joined: Apr 17th, 2003
Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #3 - Mar 7th, 2005 at 12:14am
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
Heimo is probably taking his royalty money and buying a satellite TV and drilling a hole into that giant pool of untapped oil for heating his soon-to-be castle.  With his royalty wealth he can afford to pay some Inuits to do his trapping for him, while he is hot tubbing with a few artic bunnies trying to find the inspiration for his next paycheck/'true' life adventure story. 
I haven't read it but it sounds interesting.
Ever read 'North with the Cree'?  About those 2 teenagers who set out for the arctic from St.Paul.  Written by that newsguy Erik Severide...I think.  Short, but interesting.  Last year I was in the Ely Ice Cream Parlor, and the woman who manages the place said that she and her husband did the same trip the past year....it sounded like quite an adventure, but how much can you really hear over a large chocolate malt ?  She looked as though she made it all in one piece, but I didn't see a wedding ring....so maybe there was more to the story than she was willing to tell a tourist on a just-out-of-woods sugar high.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
The_Beaver
Inukshuk
Offline



Posts: 1131
Location: Middleton, WI
Joined: Jan 10th, 2005
Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #4 - Mar 7th, 2005 at 12:45pm
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
If you read the book I think you'd realize that Korth is not the kind of man to cash in....or drill for oil. Plus, I doubt he made much money...since he didn't write the book and it was not a bestseller.

The other book you reference is Canoeing with the Cree. Yes, one of the men was Eric Severeid. Another good read.

Beav
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Catherine
Guest


Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #5 - Mar 10th, 2005 at 4:56pm
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
One of the greatest things about this book is the detail that Mr Campbell includes in his book about trapping, hunting and all the other necessary skills needed to survive the wilderness.  Heimo's last concern is money and his love for the Alaska wilderness is awesome.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
paddle-n-fish
Ex Member


Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #6 - Sep 25th, 2007 at 11:57am
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
I found the book to be a great read.  Full of adventure.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
wally
Inukshuk
Offline



Posts: 1987
Location: Minni-soda
Joined: Apr 3rd, 2003
Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #7 - Sep 25th, 2007 at 6:27pm
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
dwight---->"Canoeing With the Cree", by Erik Sevareid.

Erik and Walter Port did the trip in approx 1930.  I believe they've both passed on to yonder.  The accomplishment given their age, their gear (or lack of), and the "times" was truely remarkable.

I think similar routes to York Factory have become quite popular (Grand Portage to York, Lake of Woods to York).  Check out this site for an overview, of a recent repeat of the exact Sevareid trip.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
solotripper
Inukshuk
Offline



Posts: 8104
Location: clarkston MI
Joined: Mar 14th, 2005
Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #8 - Sep 25th, 2007 at 11:11pm
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
Just ordered the book : The Final Frontiersman
from Amazon!
It sounds like just the kind of adventure I enjoy Grin
Beaver,  I know what you mean by "sometimes I wonder" Undecided

In the late sixties I was living in Florida with a buddy, right out of high school and before he got drafted and I enlisted.
We met a British guy who had served in the Royal Navy, American Navy and finally the Australian Navy.
He had bought and was refurbishing a 50 ft sail boat and planned to sail it to Australia and homestead.
He was a certified diver and expert seaman. He wanted my buddy and I to be his crew but WE kind of thought he was a little to effeminate as he dressed like a 60's version of Rod Stewart Grin
We passed on the trip, using being "homesick" as are excuse Huh
He decided to go in a "different" direction and placed a ad in Miami Herald for an all WOMEN crew to sail with him!!!
He got 3 GORGEOUS women to be his crew!!
A marine biologist, a writer and MD Grin
He had a going away party and when we saw his crew, we could of died Embarrassed
We lost touch with him after he sailed and always wondered IF he made it to Australia??
But like my buddy said, " With that crew, who cares" Grin
He probably ended up on a island somewhere with his crew of Mary Ann's and/or Ginger's Wink
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
solotripper
Inukshuk
Offline



Posts: 8104
Location: clarkston MI
Joined: Mar 14th, 2005
Re: Here's another great read...
Reply #9 - Oct 29th, 2007 at 11:21pm
Quote Quote Print Post Print Post  
Finally finished reading " The Final Frontiersman" Grin
What a great read and real life adventure!
After reading what Heimo Korth and his family go thru on a daily basis just to survive and live in that wild desolate place it makes me realize that man AND woman can survive and prosper in the toughest of conditions when they have the "Right Stuff" Wink
I would say they have that and a love for all that's wild and remote!
To read about his young daughter running her own trap line in the dead of winter is to realize just how soft we've become and how much easier we have it.
I know I won't look at MI winter's in the same way again that's for sure Wink
 Unless your from MN or someplace close to the Canadian border the winter temps they deal with on a daily basis is just unbelievable!
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 

 
  « The Put-In ‹ Board  ^Top