Breakaway

In his memoirs, Walter "Yukon" Yates tells a lifetime of adventure and survival stories as an Alaskan explorer, bush pilot, gold miner, airplane and airport builder, helicopter crash survivor, World War II veteran, documentary filmmaker, grizzly bear hostage, and all-around adventurer. Breakaway offers incredible stories of survival, from the Battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific during World War II, to a year spent living off the land in isolation in the harsh Alaskan wilderness, to a helicopter crash in British Columbia in which Yates spent fourteen days injured, hungry, and waiting for rescue.

Born in 1924, Walter Yates spent his early years on Burny Mountain (now called Yates Mountain) in Arkansas, living in a log house built by his father. At age ten his family moved off the mountain and later moved to Texas. Walter loved to read adventure stories and dreamed of the day he would live some of his own. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps at age 17, one week before Pearl Harbor thrust the U.S. into World War II. He served in the South Pacific and was wounded on the island of Guadalcanal. After learning to fly, Walter's adventures led him all over the world. His love of the wilderness drew him to the North Country where he built a log cabin 100 miles from the nearest neighbor and lived off the land while filming the documentary Breakaway. Tragedy nearly ended his adventurous life when his helicopter crashed and burned in British Columbia. Badly injured, he lay there for 14 days before his rescue by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The story made international news. After his recovery, Walter spent several years gold mining in the Yukon Territory. Most notable is the season he spent exploring ghost towns and deserted gold mines with his helicopter. Walter Yates has built several boats, two helicopters, and an airplane. As a real estate developer he established many residential neighborhoods, including the fly-in subdivision called Breakaway Park in Cedar Park, Texas where residents keep their planes in their backyards. He lives there today with his wife Tracy.