Great skies there at night.
Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
31–40 of 64 posts
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#32This immediately reminds me of a book I read a year ago about a man who walked off into the woods of Maine in 1986 and lived as a hermit for 27 years [1] [1] “Stranger in the Woods” by Michael Finkel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30687200
There is also Daniel Suelo who left everything behind and moved into the caves in and around Antelope Canyon: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/homeles...
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#33A doctor did this in Hawaii for a while https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/The-tale-of-the-doctor...
Kauai, ok
One thing that initially annoyed me about Oahu was that there were people everywhere
Remote secluded beach? People.
Woods? People.
Forbidden, secret trail after ten “no trespassing we’ll shoot you” signs? People.
I lived there for 6 months and found more solitude when I wanted it, but also became more exhibitionist
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
The craziest thing about this guy is he spent every Maine winter over those 27 years without lighting a single fire to keep him warm because he thought it would expose him. He would just stay awake all night and start walking around when he thought he was getting so cold it might be dangerous. That really to me is hell on earth. At least Petrov lived in California where it was mostly nice year-round.
I met a self-described “mountain man” in Montana once, and I asked how he stayed warm in the winter. He told me the key was to build an insulated nest, below ground, packed with snow, and then you light a single candle and close up the nest. That this was enough to stay warm even in the Montana winter. It’s hard to know if what he was saying was true or not, but I think I believe it. He also saw my VW and immediately…
That’s how snow caves are constructed. Tunnel in and up in a snowbank so that the floor of the cave is higher than the ceiling of the entry tunnel. The air in the cave will equalize to 32F once you enter thanks to body heat. As far as I can tell this works well in any temperate climate because the snowpack tends to be warm(er) at the bottom and warmer air rises.
At any rate it worked in all my snow caves, which was admittedly not a large sample but included places like Teton pass in Wyoming.
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
I met a self-described “mountain man” in Montana once, and I asked how he stayed warm in the winter. He told me the key was to build an insulated nest, below ground, packed with snow, and then you light a single candle and close up the nest. That this was enough to stay warm even in the Montana winter. It’s hard to know if what he was saying was true or not, but I think I believe it. He also saw my VW and immediately…
That’s how snow caves are constructed. Tunnel in and up in a snowbank so that the floor of the cave is higher than the ceiling of the entry tunnel. The air in the cave will equalize to 32F once you enter thanks to body heat. As far as I can tell this works well in any temperate climate because the snowpack tends to be warm(er) at the bottom and warmer air rises. At any rate it worked in all my snow caves, which was a…
You might survive 32F but you can’t possibly make it for very long if you have to be that cold night after night.
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#36There was a family in Siberia who went off-grid and lived in the Siberian forest for 42 years. They were discovered by the Soviet authorities in 1978. https://allthatsinteresting.com/lykov-family
I read about them elsewhere; one of the details I remembered is how at some point they started noticing fast-moving "stars" in the night sky and the father realized they must be man-made artificial objects (satellites).
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#37I’m always blown away by how people like this managed to eat. I suppose you could live off bottle deposits if you only ate corn and beans. Even at five dollars a day he would’ve had to collect 50 bottles in the best case scenario.
Hunting and gathering is as old as human beings. It's more difficult in the XXI century but in a large-enough forest (and a natural park that is), you can still do it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer
Hunting and gathering is fine if you have free rein of the land and live in a relatively productive area (for fruits and vegetables). From what I know of NorCal it does not naturally grow stuff you can pick and eat. Also hunting is relatively restricted around national parks and there is no mention of petrov doing it.
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s how snow caves are constructed. Tunnel in and up in a snowbank so that the floor of the cave is higher than the ceiling of the entry tunnel. The air in the cave will equalize to 32F once you enter thanks to body heat. As far as I can tell this works well in any temperate climate because the snowpack tends to be warm(er) at the bottom and warmer air rises. At any rate it worked in all my snow caves, which was a…
You might survive 32F but you can’t possibly make it for very long if you have to be that cold night after night.
Actually 32F without wind is no big deal if you have a decent sleeping bag. Plus it gets warmer as you do more stuff inside (e.g., cooking). Igloos have the same design and can get pretty warm. [0] The real problem in my experience is that it's quite humid. Since you are insulating with snow it evaporates and raises the humidity up to the dew point.
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#39 “And I was a kid, so I thought love could fix anything,” she said, recalling how she hugged him good-bye once, “and he just shook.”
Re: Petrov: A man who lived in the woods of Mendocino County (2022)
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
You might survive 32F but you can’t possibly make it for very long if you have to be that cold night after night.
Actually 32F without wind is no big deal if you have a decent sleeping bag. Plus it gets warmer as you do more stuff inside (e.g., cooking). Igloos have the same design and can get pretty warm. [0] The real problem in my experience is that it's quite humid. Since you are insulating with snow it evaporates and raises the humidity up to the dew point. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igloo
I guess it varies from individual to individual. I can be out in 110F weather all day comfortably if I have enough water and a large hat but have very low tolerance for the cold.