Book Miles Martin 'Gone Wild'

Gone Wild

Miles Martin book 2 Gone Wild sequel to book 1 Going Wild Alaska true biography wilderness survival story

This is the second in the series. In book one 'Going Wild' I arrive in Alaska a greenhorn at age 20 in 1972. I make a lot of mistakes - have a lot of adventures- get rescued- learn to hunt trap build a cabin and build a houseboat. The first book ends where I am taking off in the houseboat. Now book 2 starts called 'Gone Wild' (the next will be 'Beyond Wild')
In 'Gone Wild' I am less green- a little more accepted by local woodsman. It looks like I might survive. I take off for trip from Fairbanks to Galena on the Yukon and spend my first winter trapping from the boat. I meet villagers and am introduced to a new lifestyle. I leave and head for Lake Minchunina but have to stop in Manley Hot springs along the way for a year. As in the first book there are a lot of bear encounters- getting lost - dealing with the elements- the new life. I trap- and live a mountainman life. I acquire a dog team and learn how to mush and settle into more of a routine and am not so green now.

Left--hanging moose meat for the winter under the cache where it will stay frozen for 7months

Right-- me with my black powder rifle I built and hunted with. Hat I made from my first fox--as well as knife pants jacket I made in my life of self sufficiency

Excerpts from the book

This picture taken from the houseboat up the Kantishna river on the backside of Denali Park

I listen intently with a frown, distinguishing the various sounds. There is the gurgle of
the river, the call of a jay, the chatter of a squirrel. Something isn't right in the world
outside, but I'm unsure in the morning fog of wakefulness, just what isn't right. A
scratching sound on the front of the boat has me thinking. "Is this the branches of the
birch I'm parked under, scrapping the front of the boat, as it sways in the current?" But
the current isn't moving the boat, as I look out the window. "Maybe a grouse is on the
front of the boat, scratching for the gravel it needs, as they do early in the morning".
Yes, that is what it must be. I wonder if there is a way to get this grouse for breakfast.
The scraping sound again. The sound of little grouse claws on the boat deck.
I push on the door to open it enough to see the grouse. "If it flies to a tree as it
should, I will see which tree, and be able to go out and get my breakfast". The door
slams back in my face. This astonishes me! "What the hell?" I slowly push on the door
again. It slams back in my face again! As my astonishment turns to questions, the boat
rocks back and forth, and black hairs come through the crack of the door.
I know it is a bear. He is scratching his back on the doorknob, just a foot away on
the other side. The boat rocks gently back and forth. The hairs go up and down the door
through the crack. There is a pause and I think the bear must have turned around. I think
if I move, I am so close the bear will hear me, and know someone is in here.
There is a sniffing at the crack, then claws come through the crack as if the bear
has smelled something, and wants in. I know a bears strength enough to know that it
wouldn't take much to pull the door off, and I'd be right here on the other side. There is
another pause, as the bear must be debating if he wishes to pull the door off or not.
I keep the 357 on a nail by the door, and within easy reach from the bed, for just
such an event, "a need to shoot something from the front of the boat." My hand slowly
works it's way toward the gun, hoping not to make even the slightest sound, which the
bear would hear. After what seems an hour, I manage to get hold of the gun, as the bear
keeps running his back on the knob, and his claws on the door. I have no idea what the
bear has on his mind. "When we don't know what is on a bears mind, we kill him." I am
unwilling to take a chance that the bear will not, in one swipe, tear the door off, and if he
does this, I could not stop him and it is not predictable, what he might do, if suddenly
confronted with the unexpected. Neither can I let him know I am in here, or he may
intentionally rip the door off. With conscious choice I pull the hammer back, muffled by
my pillow. I do not want to blow my eardrums out in this confined space, or blow my
door up shooting through it, or not know where I'm hitting the bear . "I should never
shoot anything without being absolutely sure what it is anyway." But in this case, I've
seen the claws come through the cracks of the door.
I slowly push on the door so I can get it open enough to stick the gun out.

                
                  If you are not familiar with the books or what they are about -- the series is based on the diary of my life. It is close to a biography but wanted the liberty to move events around and change people's name's and write it a historical novel adventure form. I rely on my memory- but have letters and the diary to refer to. the project took on a form of it's own once started. I think it reaches a lot of levels--from the high adventure mountain story to a psychological study in human character and an interesting view on society- it's rules- why we have them etc. Mostly I want it to be 'the truth' as I see it- about life in the wilderness. Some feel the answer is obvious-- after seeing Walt Disney movies and reading Thoreau books and seeing post card pictures. Others see the opposite and see vicious animals- disease everywhere and nothing but hard work. The truth encompasses both views perhaps but I travel from the dream to the reality in the writings. The second book is expected to be more pages but about the same price size quality as the first with some new improved stuff I learned along the way-- a map- better margins maybe an index..

Book 2, 'Gone Wild' is done!