By Chad Love

For a number of years following the end of World War II, Japanese soldiers would occasionally emerge from the jungles in the Pacific theater, either unwilling to believe or unaware that the war was over. The last verified Japanese holdout came out of hiding in the Philippines and officially surrendered back in 1974. It's an incredible story, but a piece in this month's Smithsonian magazine tops it, in both longevity and in the sheer harshness of the landscape in which it occurs. In 1978, Soviet geologists discovered a family of six eking out a desperate existence in the depths of the vast Siberian taiga. They had been living there, completely cut off from all human contact, completely unaware of events like WWII, since 1936.

From this story on Smithsonianmag.com:
"...peering intently through his windscreen in search of a landing place, the pilot saw something that should not have been there. It was a clearing, 6,000 feet up a mountainside, wedged between the pine and larch and scored with what looked like long, dark furrows. The baffled helicopter crew made several passes before reluctantly concluding that this was evidence of human habitation—a garden that, from the size and shape of the clearing, must have been there for a long time. It was an astounding discovery. The mountain was more than 150 miles from the nearest settlement, in a spot that had never been explored. The Soviet authorities had no records of anyone living in the district.

According to the story, when the scientists finally reached the cabin, they discovered Karp Lykov and his family. The Lykovs were members of a Russian Orthodox sect called the Old Believers that had been persecuted for their religious beliefs since the days of Peter the Great, and had continued once the Bolsheviks seized power. In 1936, after Lykov's brother was shot by a Soviet patrol, Lykov gathered his family and fled into the vast Siberian taiga, never to be seen again. The rest of the story is an utterly fascinating account of how the Lykovs managed (barely) to stay alive for so long in one of the harshest environments on the planet.

No guns, no high-tech survival gear, no "bugout bag" and no Rambo fantasies. Just a scared, desperate family fleeing into the wilderness with nothing more than what they could carry on their backs. Think you could have survived under similar circumstances?

Comments (16)

from yamfan wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

Read the full article. Amazing!! That should stop the complaining for a day or two!! If you think you have it hard, read history books!! Bill Maher

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from Steward wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

No, I'm NOT sure I could survive that. An interesting historical note: I believe Hiroo Onoda was the Japanese soldier referred to. However, as I understand, he actually never surrendered. He wouldn't. Authorities had to bring his superior officer from the war to the Philippines, and the officer officially relieved Onoda from duty.

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from 1uglymutha wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

being born into this situation would be one thing. but to go from the modern world to 10,000 b.c.? astounding!

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from MaxPower wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

Unbelievable. Curious to know how well their language had survived after being isolated for so long.

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from bounty1 wrote 19 weeks 21 hours ago

If anyone would say "yes", I believe they'd be lying. Not with living into 2013 with all the modern technology we have these days. Not for 40 years. I've been on month long hunting trips that were tough, but not that tough, and was more then happy to get back home.

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from RockySquirrel wrote 19 weeks 21 hours ago

Oh this is a story about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed.. And then one day was shooting at some food, and up from the ground cam a bubbling crude…. How many are old enough to remember that. I know I am being flip, but it was 1978, Geez,

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from buckhunter wrote 19 weeks 16 hours ago

Incredible story. I wonder how many more are living in the forest and jungles around the world today?

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from Matthew Matzek wrote 19 weeks 7 hours ago

There are probably still whole tribes of people, most likely in dense isolated jungles, that have been cut-off for hundreds maybe even thousands of years

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from Quinton Schmelz... wrote 19 weeks 6 hours ago

RockySquirrel: Actually I am 17, and I sang that...

Matthew Matzek: Having grown up in both remote Fiji and remote Papua New Guinea, there are more than you might imagine. Three days hike south of where I am typing this right now, there are said to be tribes that have had no contact with the outside world, ever. The highlands of PNG was only discovered in the 1930's. There are guys alive today who remember when the first white men came into the area.

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from HammerGun wrote 18 weeks 5 days ago

If you can catch it, there is a great documentary called "Happy People: A year In the Taiga". It centers around a very remote village of sable trappers.

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from hhack wrote 18 weeks 4 days ago

It may seem strange to some the lengths others would go to have the freedoms we take for granted everyday. I am thankful that I have never had to make such a decision.

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from coosabass2012 wrote 17 weeks 5 days ago

The "no gun" comment is incredible. That means hunting by primitive means only. Impressive.

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from 1ojolsen wrote 16 weeks 6 days ago

Great story.

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from missedit wrote 16 weeks 2 days ago

WOW NO

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from Nyflyangler wrote 7 weeks 2 days ago

It was 1978 in the Soviet Union. You really think they'd have been stupid enough to tell anyone who asked that they had in fact had a gun hidden away somewhere?

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from MBarnett wrote 3 weeks 4 days ago

that is incredible. imagine being born into that sort of condition.

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from RockySquirrel wrote 19 weeks 21 hours ago

Oh this is a story about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed.. And then one day was shooting at some food, and up from the ground cam a bubbling crude…. How many are old enough to remember that. I know I am being flip, but it was 1978, Geez,

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from MBarnett wrote 3 weeks 4 days ago

that is incredible. imagine being born into that sort of condition.

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from yamfan wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

Read the full article. Amazing!! That should stop the complaining for a day or two!! If you think you have it hard, read history books!! Bill Maher

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Steward wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

No, I'm NOT sure I could survive that. An interesting historical note: I believe Hiroo Onoda was the Japanese soldier referred to. However, as I understand, he actually never surrendered. He wouldn't. Authorities had to bring his superior officer from the war to the Philippines, and the officer officially relieved Onoda from duty.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from 1uglymutha wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

being born into this situation would be one thing. but to go from the modern world to 10,000 b.c.? astounding!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from MaxPower wrote 19 weeks 1 day ago

Unbelievable. Curious to know how well their language had survived after being isolated for so long.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from bounty1 wrote 19 weeks 21 hours ago

If anyone would say "yes", I believe they'd be lying. Not with living into 2013 with all the modern technology we have these days. Not for 40 years. I've been on month long hunting trips that were tough, but not that tough, and was more then happy to get back home.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from buckhunter wrote 19 weeks 16 hours ago

Incredible story. I wonder how many more are living in the forest and jungles around the world today?

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Matthew Matzek wrote 19 weeks 7 hours ago

There are probably still whole tribes of people, most likely in dense isolated jungles, that have been cut-off for hundreds maybe even thousands of years

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Quinton Schmelz... wrote 19 weeks 6 hours ago

RockySquirrel: Actually I am 17, and I sang that...

Matthew Matzek: Having grown up in both remote Fiji and remote Papua New Guinea, there are more than you might imagine. Three days hike south of where I am typing this right now, there are said to be tribes that have had no contact with the outside world, ever. The highlands of PNG was only discovered in the 1930's. There are guys alive today who remember when the first white men came into the area.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from HammerGun wrote 18 weeks 5 days ago

If you can catch it, there is a great documentary called "Happy People: A year In the Taiga". It centers around a very remote village of sable trappers.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from hhack wrote 18 weeks 4 days ago

It may seem strange to some the lengths others would go to have the freedoms we take for granted everyday. I am thankful that I have never had to make such a decision.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from coosabass2012 wrote 17 weeks 5 days ago

The "no gun" comment is incredible. That means hunting by primitive means only. Impressive.

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from 1ojolsen wrote 16 weeks 6 days ago

Great story.

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from missedit wrote 16 weeks 2 days ago

WOW NO

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from Nyflyangler wrote 7 weeks 2 days ago

It was 1978 in the Soviet Union. You really think they'd have been stupid enough to tell anyone who asked that they had in fact had a gun hidden away somewhere?

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.