North Country Homesteader

Book excerpt: Imagine packing everything up and heading off into the wilderness with your spouse and two little girls to live an off-the-grid life—not just for a year or two but for decades. That’s exactly what Darlene M. Reierson and her husband, Brien, did with their two young daughters back in 1975. For the next several decades, they eked out a living in the wilderness of northern British Columbia, Canada, logging, trapping, and generally living off the land all the way from Prince George to the headwaters of the Skeena River. This is the first volume of Darlene’s journals, in which she captures the highs and lows of their frontier life, from the pleasures of a sunny day and a good home-cooked meal to the perils of battling the elements and the dangerous wildlife that surrounded them. In addition to Darlene’s record of their daily life and adventures, this book also contains numerous recipes and other how-to tips that relate to homesteader living. Anyone who has ever dreamed of such an existence will be fascinated by this firsthand glimpse into the mind of the sort of person who would embark on such an adventure. And who knows? It may also inspire some readers to set out on a similar journey of their own.