I think that I would suffer that situation only as long as it would take me to correct it. Its pretty obvious just reading the comments that after that many years he made a conscious effort to eschew enhancements rather not accept them as a means of providing comfort, safety or security in his life.

It didn't sound like much of a life. He sounds like some kind of a sociopath:

"No discussion of Mallard Larkins history would be complete without a mention of William Moreland, better known as the Ridgerunner. Orphaned by the age of 10, Moreland spent the next few years in and out of reform schools in the south. In the 1930s at the age of 31, he had left his native Kentucky home and was drifting around the Pacific Northwest. Eventually he ended up in Idaho and went into the mountains living alone and away from other people for many years in the North Fork Clearwater and St. Joe country. He did his best to live off the land, often in hollow cedar trees. Eventually he turned to breaking into cabins for food and shelter. He was especially active robbing the Mallard Larkins lookouts, cabins and Canyon Ranger Station. Authorities sought fruitlessly for years to catch him, but always lost the cat and mouse game.

"Moreland got the name, Ridgerunner after a series of remarkable travels and escapes that made him famous and legendary. He would break into cabins in the North Fork Clearwater and then next day break into cabins near Avery, Idaho far to the north. Making the 40 mile trip overnight over the rugged terrain was a stupendous feat, especially since done in the dead of winter with several feet of snow on the ground. He was also known to run backwards for many miles to throw the trackers off his trail. Eventually he was captured living like an animal in Skull Creek on the east edge of the Mallard Larkins. Eight months later on Oct. 4, 1945, he was given a five year suspended sentence for burglary and released.

"Moreland spend the next 18 years living the area, working for various logging companies, the Clearwater Timber Protective Association, private individuals the occasional unauthorized manning of vacant, remote Forest Service stations, declaring himself a government agent. His strangeness was tolerated but he got in trouble again after a falling out with Potlatch Corporation, which employed him for a time. He was seen sitting on a hill above a work camp eating Ritz crackers minutes before an explosion destroyed some heavy equipment. He was charged and hauled into court again. When asked about his presence eating Ritz crackers just before the explosion he admitted he was at the scene. When asked by the prosecutor what this proves, the Ridgerunner replied, “it proves I like Ritz crackers” to the thunderous laughter of the court room. He was acquitted but sent to the State Mental Hospital in Orofino where he stayed for a few years before returning to the mountains.

"He continued in his odd ways, but was generally tolerated, even liked by most people. However in the 1960s as logging increased in the area he complained to a friend that “there are too many people here for me now” and he would be leaving the area. That was on the road near Aquarius and it was the last anyone knows about the Ridgerunner. Whether he left the area or if his bones are in the Mallard Larkins country will probably never be known."

From an article on the Mallard-Larkins Pioneer Area of Idaho at http://www.summitpost.org/mallard-larkins-pioneer-area/288752