KALEB: In Alaska, nature is a tough beast to contend with.
I keep a constant awareness through this valley
because the darkness of what's lurking deep in the wilderness
is not pretend.
It is real.
♪ ♪
Ellie, what is this?
What in the world?
This is so strange.
It looks like we got some moose tracks here.
If that's moose that dropped that turd right there,
that is the strangest-looking moose turd
I think I've ever seen.
He started pooping there
and leaked all the way to here
and blew up a big pile,
then leaked some more as he got up and went down the trail.
You think he's sick?
ELOVIE: Maybe, maybe not.
KALEB: I don't see moose droppings like this in the wild.
Here's some more tracks.
It's not normal, it's not right.
To me, there's something wrong here, and I need to investigate.
ELOVIE: Ick.
KALEB: Yeah, that is nasty.
Never seen a moose do that, Ellie, ever.
Let's keep tracking him and see if we can find him.
I want to make sure that moose is all right,
and if he's not, we need to do something about it.
♪ ♪
Really strange-looking moose turd. Little bit of pee.
ELOVIE: Yeah, what in the world?
KALEB: This is where the moose stepped off the trail,
and it, and it was chewing on snow.
ELOVIE: Interesting.
KALEB: Which is really bad to do if you're a sick moose.
ELOVIE: How?
KALEB: 'Cause it takes more energy to metabolize snow
than it, than it actually puts into your body,
and so that's a good way for a sick moose to get even sicker.
He was standing here eating for a little bit.
That's pretty neat seeing the evidence of it.
But that is weird, moose don't eat dead branches.
ELOVIE: Why?
KALEB: 'Cause they don't get any sort of nutrition from that.
So now, we found the moose eating dead branches
and eating snow.
That's a death sentence.
As Elovie and I track this moose,
it is becoming very apparent to me
that something is horribly wrong.
This moose could be a threat to my homestead.
Good way to attract bears,
attract wolves into our neighborhood,
and it makes this place really, really unsafe,
because everything wants to eat a sick moose.
ELOVIE: We don't want it in our neighborhood.
Want it somewhere else!
KALEB: So, should we track it through the woods?
ELOVIE: Yeah!
JESSI: Out here, consequences are real.
And you have to have reliable tools out here,
because at 45 below, it's no joke,
and at this point it's, it's a survival issue.
[gunshot]
I'm gonna try again. Pulling the hammer.
[gunshot]
That was a Magnum.
Holy smokes!
Chris is leaving to get a new snow machine out here,
so I'm a little bit uneasy about being out here alone,
and after not shooting this gun for like a year,
I just feel really rusty.
[gunshot]
Practice makes perfect.
CHRIS: Bring it in just a little left.
Get ready to shoot at a bear.
[gunshot]
Do the last three, quick 'em!
[gunshot]
Again!
[gunshot]
Again!
[gunshot]
Nice. Good shooting.
JESSI: Let's go check it out.
CHRIS: Well.
JESSI: Either here...
or here.
CHRIS: You grouped 'em well. You put your three here,
you put your three here, and you put your two here.
It's enough into a bear, I mean, those all are hitting on target.
Good shooting.
JESSI: I feel better.
CHRIS: I feel better leaving you here behind.
JESSI: Yeah.
[engine cranking]
CHRIS: I don't know.
I figure if I can get it to run one more time,
get us up to this airstrip,
I can get home and get the new SnoGo.
I don't have to [bleep] with this anymore.
JESSI: It's a lot to get this thing to run.
CHRIS: Today, I'm catching a little bush plane to town
to get a new snow machine, but, in the meantime,
we got to keep this old snow machine running.
JESSI: Does it look like it's flooded or anything?
CHRIS: There's a little bit of gas in the carburetor.
Can you reach over and hand me that starting fluid?
I've been really working this old SnoGo hard.
It's brought a lot of firewood home...
...pulled its weight around the cabin,
but, man, I just don't think it's got much life left in her.
You feeling pretty comfortable
about being here at the house while I'm gone?
JESSI: I mean, I guess as comfortable as I'm gonna be.
I've never been here without you,
at least not for more than a few hours.
CHRIS: Let me just adjust the throttle real quick.
[engine starts]
Jess is a really strong woman. She's confident.
But I'm really worried about leaving Jess out here
all by herself.
I'm gonna be leaving her for four days.
We've been married for 15 years,
and four days is about as long as we've been apart.
The hot rod lives!
It should be a pretty quick trip up there to the landing strip.
Got all your stuff?
JESSI: I think so.
I got everything I need in my backpack.
CHRIS: Give it the old shimmy sham of love.
JESSI: Yeah.
CHRIS: Come on, one more trip, girl.
[engine starts]
Oh, yeah.
♪ ♪
ALEX: When I was younger, my challenges were simpler.
Climb a mountain,
run a big race, win a fight.
But this is the higher challenge.
This is a challenge that requires not just,
you know, tenacity but also, you know, wisdom.
That one's too thin.
[tapping]
So, I come down to the local hardware store.
I'm looking for a fishing pole.
Far apart, but that could be useful.
I want a certain configuration of branches coming out of it.
I want one that has a rod and a reel on it.
And, uh, so I can see, you know, here's a handle,
here's a rod,
and then two sticks like that can make a reel,
so that will work.
That's a pretty nice reel right there,
and the price is just right, too.
]So, I came out here to Deadman Lake
in hopes that it would be a place
that gives me more opportunities to get food,
but so far around my camp,
I don't see any signs of small game at all.
There's not even very many squirrels.
So, I hope that fish is gonna take over
as my consistent source for calories.
Out here, it can be the difference
between life and death.
Got a little spot cleared out here,
but the whole lake's covered in five feet of ice,
so I'm gonna drill my hole with the auger.
♪ ♪
Okay, yeah, I got it cut now.
I'm bottomed out.
This is hitting the ice. I can't go any deeper,
so I'm gonna have to cut some of this out of the way with my ax.
Okay, that will give me an extra foot or so.
♪ ♪
Is that water?
[slosh]
Yeah, that's water.
That wasn't too bad. That wasn't too bad.
Let's see how deep it is here.
♪ ♪
Well, it's at least 15 feet.
I'm gonna focus on fishing pike.
Yeah, that should be fine.
These pike, they're not nice guys.
These are apex predators, so I'll use bait to catch 'em.
Okay, let's lower that down.
Oh, yeah, it's sinking right on in there.
When it's predator versus predator, it's kind of like,
"Ah, well, you're a killer like me,
so I'm gonna give it to you pretty good."
Treat 'em with some respect, you know.
I'm gonna eat 'em, though.
♪ ♪
I swear I just felt something tug it.
It might just be ice, though.
Oh, no, no, that's not ice.
This is what I like most about fishing,
is that it's like a surprise.
It gives me a little adrenaline rush.
When a fish starts messing around with the hook,
it just gets my heart going a little bit.
[chuckles]
Okay, I think I need, oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
We got a [bleep].
Damn. Oh, yeah, come on.
Please be hooked, please be hooked.
Yeah, he's still on. He's still on.
Oh, yeah. Okay, there we go. I see him, I see him.
[laughing]
He's big.
That's a big fish.
No problem pulling him through the hole.
♪ ♪
That's a big, beautiful pike. Look at that.
That's the biggest fish I've ever caught in my entire life.
I want to try and get one more fish
just because I'm on a good thing
and I want to keep it going.
So, I'm gonna reset this on the hook.
I'll tie it off to my big pole across here.
Lower it down in, I might get one during the night.
Pull it up in the morning, you know, that's just gonna be
starting the day off awesome.
Now I just need to insulate it.
So, what I'll do is
throw a bunch of snow over the top of it,
and that'll insulate it so that the ice won't become as thick.
All righty, day one, big success.
A big, beautiful pike.
I got enough food for two or three days.
KALEB: We as humans just cannot comprehend
just how rough it is to live in the woods,
just how rough it is to live as a food source
for a huge group of predators.
All the time being afraid that I'm gonna get eaten today.
I think this is where it jumps off the road.
Look at that.
Let's see if I can walk through his tracks.
My number-one priority while tracking this moose
is making sure that Elovie is safe,
also that she has her wits about her,
that she's paying attention.
Ellie, come here, stay behind me.
ELOVIE: Why?
KALEB: We could be getting really close to that moose.
♪ ♪
Ooh, ooh. What's under the tree right there?
Do you see it?
ELOVIE: Yeah.
KALEB: We better be really, really careful.
♪ ♪
Hey, moose!
♪ ♪
You stay right next to me, girl.
A very big animal, and I don't want it to hurt you.
♪ ♪
KALEB: Ooh!
Yeah, it's frozen.
It's safe to come up here now.
Look at how skinny it is.
I can feel every single rib here.
This moose was not doing well at all.
ELOVIE: The moose is dead!
KALEB: Gotta wonder if it's got a wound right here.
It's all pus-y and, yuck.
And look at his head, Ellie. It's all mangy.
Half the fur is missing. This poor moose.
That's pus leaking out the side of the moose.
ELOVIE: What pus?
KALEB: From a great big hole in his side.
Originally, I was thinking this moose was sick,
but seeing this great big wound right here,
I think this moose got stabbed by another one's antlers.
These moose just, they just get into a tizzy,
and they just go at each other, and every once in a while,
you get one with a big ol' tine
just stuck up his ribs right here,
and it kills 'em.
ELOVIE: Maybe that what happened.
KALEB: That is what happened.
I have determined that this is not a sick moose.
This moose died of natural causes,
so I'm not as worried about disease now.
ELOVIE: Dad, are we bringing this to our house?
KALEB: No.
We are not going to process this moose for meat,
and it's because of the wound on its side.
This moose rotted from the inside out,
and a moose like that sends out a scent.
It says come and eat me,
and everything within a ten-mile radius
will want to come and eat this moose,
which includes bears, wolves, coyotes,
anything that eats red meat.
Our house is 300 yards that way,
so we're gonna load him up in our sled
and haul him a long, long, long, long ways away from people.
I think we should leave this moose overnight,
it's getting kind of late in the day,
and we'll come back tomorrow to pick him up out of the snow
and haul it away.
ELOVIE: Yeah! Daddy, want to know something?
KALEB: What?
ELOVIE: I wish that we had a pet moose.
KALEB: Yeah, we could be riding it.
Giddy up, moose!
ELOVIE: Giddy up, moose!
JESSI: Out here, it's always been Chris and Jessi
on the Cosna,
but with Chris leaving, this is a big deal.
I'm trying to figure it out.
I have to prove to myself that I am so strong
and that I can make it out here.
♪ ♪
All right, let's go check out the lake.
CHRIS: Better than I anticipated.
JESSI: Way better, right?
CHRIS: Looks really good.
You can still see our tracks that come through here.
All that wind has just been keeping the snow off the lake.
Take the SnoGo out and just run down the airstrip
back and forth a couple times, see what it looks like?
JESSI: Okay, I will get some spruce boughs.
CHRIS: The most important thing is have a very straight runway
so when the pilot comes in,
it's a very smooth landing and takeoff.
It's time. I'm gonna get one more trip
out of this old snow machine.
I'm catching a little bush plane out of here,
and I'm headed to town.
I'm bringing out a SnoGo that's worth a [bleep].
I am done working on this thing.
♪ ♪
JESSI: Hey.
CHRIS: Looking good out there.
I didn't run into any overflow.
I stayed on our old trail, though.
So, where our old trail is is holding up.
There's no overflow at all.
I'm gonna text the pilot here in a minute
and let him know that we're putting spruce branches out
and see if he can get here in the next hour or so.
♪ ♪
[engine starts]
♪ ♪
JESSI: Like out here on a frozen lake, everything is white.
I'm going to put the spruce boughs
on either side of the runway
so the pilot, when he comes close,
he'll be able to see the contrast where the ground is
and he'll be able to know when he's gonna touch down.
♪ ♪
[engine stops]
All right!
CHRIS: Looks pretty good, huh?
All we gotta do is wait for the pilot to show up now.
♪ ♪
Is that him?
I hear something.
He's coming in.
JESSI: Wow, look at him coming right over those trees.
Touchdown.
CHRIS: Perfect.
At this point, it's kind of all or nothing.
With spring around the corner,
this our last chance to get off the Cosna.
I just want to get on this plane, get out to town,
get a trustworthy snow machine,
and get back to my wife as quick as I can.
[engine starts]
♪ ♪
JESSI: Right now, Chris has the texting device,
so that means I won't have one out here.
If something happens, I can't even tell him what happened
because he won't have any contact with me.
♪ ♪
And there he goes.
With all these years of living a subsistent lifestyle,
I'm ready to be out here alone.
And right now, I only have a couple hours of daylight
to go out and get wood.
I know you can do it.
One,
two,
three.
[pulling starter cord]
[bleep]
JESSI: Come on, Bravo.
I know you can do it.
[pulling starter cord]
[engine starts]
Don't die!
♪ ♪
So, if Chris is gone a lot longer than expected,
then I'm going to run out of wood,
100 percent guaranteed,
so I'd like to go out and get
at least two or three days' worth.
That means I'm gonna have to go farther
than where Chris and I have been cutting in the past,
up to this really large dry burned forest.
But I know what I'm capable of,
and I know that I can do impossible things.
[screeching]
I gotta take off my jacket, man.
Whew!
♪ ♪
[chainsaw starts]
Many years ago, a fire came through here
and just kinda scorched all of these trees,
and it burned off the outer crust,
but the inside of that wood is bone-dry.
♪ ♪
This is just primo.
Perfect baking, heating,
cooking, shower wood, yeah!
I want to get eight trees.
Get eight trees to fill my sled and bring it home.
♪ ♪
That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Every year, I come upon new challenges
and I grow a little bit more,
and I've never been out here by myself.
Okay, yep, here we go.
This is an opportunity that I didn't expect.
I'm gonna take it for all it's worth.
♪ ♪
I got a lot of trees cut down,
and I think my eyes were a little bit bigger
than my sled could handle.
As I'm stacking, it's getting higher and heavier and bigger.
♪ ♪
And I think this is gonna be two different loads.
Booyah!
Just won't be able to get it all this trip.
That's it, dude.
This is my place.
This is my wild, and I'm getting stronger both physically
and mentally and emotionally.
This is it, I am all in.
♪ ♪
KALEB: Living in Alaska, and especially bush Alaska,
it's always important to keep your wits about you.
Situational awareness is key to this life,
because without this knowledge,
you're not gonna survive in the wilderness.
♪ ♪
BRITTANY: We made it.
How's it going over here?
KALEB: We're getting this moose shoveled out.
BRITTANY: Oh, that's a big one.
ELOVIE: Yeah.
KALEB: He got tined right here during the rut.
If we had just shot this in the prime of his life,
this would be a great eating moose,
but this thing basically rotted to death.
And this is just too close to our house
to have bears feeding on a moose,
especially since if a big old grizzly bear gets on this,
they get really, really territorial.
BRITTANY: So, what are you going to do with it?
KALEB: We are gonna load it in my big sled
and haul it far, far away from here.
BRITTANY: Do you want me to shovel?
KALEB: Just shovel all around this moose,
dig a little bit under his neck
so I can shove a strap underneath there,
and I'll start shimmying up these trees with my chains.
BRITTANY: Gil and Ellie, do you want to go climb some trees
while Mom and Dad work?
ELOVIE: Yeah.
KALEB: It's gonna require a little bit of thinking,
a little bit of planning,
in order to get this moose in a sled
that I can then haul away whole,
so it's a bit of a challenge.
BRITTANY: Oh, yeah.
KALEB: If you'll hand me the first chain,
so you'll have to untangle 'em.
My plan to lift this moose and get it into my sled
is to stretch a chain from two trees
and use that as basically a lifting pole,
and then hang ratchet straps down to lift the moose with.
BRITTANY: So, how does that work?
KALEB: You just pull the handle, and it tightens things up.
And then we'll have a crosstie between these two trees.
Then we'll just flip our straps over the top.
BRITTANY: Nice.
KALEB: I can't really get any tighter than this,
so this is just what it's gonna have to be.
Oof!
You guys ready to see a strap go up over the top?
ALL: Yeah.
KALEB: It's going over.
BRITTANY: There you go.
KALEB: Now I have to reach it.
[laughter]
BRITTANY: Yes.
KALEB: I gotta throw three of them.
Watch out, there we go!
That's a lot of weight, we gotta be really careful.
Make sure our chains are rigged right,
our straps are done properly.
This is kind of a poor man's chain hoist.
Not a very good way of lifting,
but when you don't have a come-along, this is what you do.
We got a moose coming up.
BRITTANY: Yeah.
♪ ♪
There it goes.
KALEB: Slowly but surely.
Clickity clickity.
Oh, this a workout.
Well, onward and upward.
Just gotta keep cranking.
This moose probably in his prime weighed 1,000 pounds or more,
but in his sickened and emaciated condition,
he's maybe 800 pounds,
which is still a monumental task to get this moose into my sled.
BRITTANY: Or at least try to get the sled under it.
KALEB: Yeah.
Well done.
BRITTANY: Coming down.
KALEB: Oh, that's a long ways down.
BRITTANY: That is...
KALEB: I have a moose in the air.
Now let's get this thing in the sled
before one of these straps breaks.
All right, Gilbert.
BRITTANY: Let go.
KALEB: All right.
BRITTANY: I'll pull it while you're letting it down?
KALEB: Yeah, just center it up in there.
I'll climb back up there
and start popping those ratchet straps loose.
I have a feeling he's gonna go down easier than he went up.
All right, guys, let's lower this thing down.
One strap at a time.
Careful not to be too far underneath it.
Ratchet straps are not the ideal tool for doing this,
that is for sure.
I'm gonna push on the strap to move it over.
Watch out!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
KALEB: Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Well, that's one way to do it.
BRITTANY: Down it went.
KALEB: Now his fat haunch is in the air.
[kids laugh]
BRITTANY: There it goes. Watch your hand, Ellie.
There you go!
KALEB: There he is, in the sled.
BRITTANY: We have a moose just hanging out in our sled.
KALEB: Yeah, 800 pounds' worth of dead moose.
This is a full-blown bull that six months ago
was in the prime of his life.
And then bang, just like that,
he gets a tine up his side, and, and his life is over.
BRITTANY: Yikes. KALEB: This poor moose.
BRITTANY: I would not want to be this moose.
KALEB: But, hey, we got it in the sled.
We're gonna be able to get it away from our homestead,
get it out on the river bar where the...
ELOVIE: Coyotes?
KALEB: ...wolves can eat on it safely
without interference from us,
and we don't get interfered by them.
Now hopefully my snow machine can pull it,
'cause I have like ten miles to go.
ELOVIE: Haul it very far away.
BRITTANY: Good luck with that.
KALEB: Should we try pushing it out?
BRITTANY: Yep.
KALEB: This is the way I want to raise my kids.
BRITTANY: You got this!
KALEB: I want them to understand the circle of life.
I want them to understand what death is...
BRITTANY: Whoo-hoo!
KALEB: ...and how hard that can be,
and I want them to understand and cherish the concept of life
even that much more because they know just how rough it is
outside the walls of our homestead.
CHRIS: All right.
This is the first time I'm pulling double sleds here.
I'm really hopeful this works.
A couple days ago, I took a little bush plane
to get to town and get a new snow machine.
I bought one of the biggest snow machines on the market.
I've got two huge sleds, and I'm bringing out some gear.
I've got plywood stacked underneath here.
I've got a bunch of sheets of tin.
I've got a welder packed in here.
It's close to 1,500 pounds of gear.
It's a 90-mile river ride from the Tanana to my cabin.
I mean, it's just outrageous how far it is.
If I don't get back out to the Cosna in the next few days,
we'll start running into spring weather
and the overflow's gonna take out the river.
I got a hell of a journey
getting back to my wife as quick as I can.
♪ ♪
Hell, I got a lot riding on this today.
Get 40 below this time of the year,
but we might run halfway down the Tanana,
run into a big open section of river, and that's it.
If I get my machine stuck here and I can't get to the cabin,
there's no way for my wife to come down to help me.
I'm a long ways away from town. I can't be messing around.
I'm just super hopeful everything goes smooth.
♪ ♪
This is exactly what I did not want to see.
Oh!
This is what I was worried about was running into overflow.
I don't want to deal with this.
Overflow can really stop up a trip.
This is pretty bad.
This is the stuff you got to watch out for, right?
Oh, yep.
Luckily, I missed it with the snow machine here.
If I was to run through this and get stuck,
my machine could actually freeze into this overnight,
um, and then that's it.
Your machine's stuck there till springtime.
I'm gonna keep my eyes out.
I don't want to run into any more of this.
It's gonna be safe as long as I follow the trail.
Stick to the trail and keep moving.
Gonna get out to the Cosna cabin, one way or another.
♪ ♪
All right, it feels good to get off the river
and onto the land.
Looks like a pretty good camp spot.
[chainsaw roaring]
If you build a fire on top of the snow,
it's just all gonna sink in,
so I may as well dig it down so it doesn't put my fire out.
Just got to get a little bit of warmth.
I can feel the temperature dropping.
That feels great.
Smells like home.
My hands are cold.
I'm expecting it to get down to 15 to 20 below,
but I just got to get those warm feelings
and thinking about my wife, and I'll be home to her before long.
I bet my wife's sitting at home, stoking up the woodstove,
cooking dinner, kind of doing the same thing I am.
We're kind of two birds of a feather.
We always seem to be doing the same stuff.
Got a long day tomorrow.
If I can get some sleep.
♪ ♪
ALEX: When I first came out here,
the lake didn't really receive me with open arms.
It was brutally cold, but I toughed it out,
and now this lake is providing for me big-time.
Fish, beware.
♪ ♪
What I realized yesterday is I don't actually
need the rod portion of my fishing pole.
I wasn't using it. I was mostly just using my hand.
That way I can really feel if I get a bite on it, you know?
I like to feel it.
So, once I get a bite, then I can just wrap it around here,
so pretty much, it's just a reel,
and that's all, that's all I'm using.
I did get one fish this way, so I'll continue trying this.
I got the right gear. Let's go do some fishing.
But if I can catch more than one fish in a day,
that would be even better.
So, I'm gonna fish again today.
I'm gonna see if I can do better than I did yesterday,
because if I don't catch any fish,
I won't be able to survive.
I left a baited hook out last night.
Once I dig up my hole,
I'm gonna see if there's a fish on the hook.
Uh-oh, that's a bad thing right there.
The line, I think, froze to the ice on the side,
and I pulled it a little too hard and I broke it,
so I lost, I lost my line
and the, um, and the hook down there.
Hopefully there wasn't a fish on it.
It must have been, you know,
resting up against the side of the ice last night
and then it froze to it,
but I think I can reach it.
Okay, let's try this.
Now, if I lose pliers, that is the end of the world,
so I'm gonna tie them off.
Okay, can I break it free?
But also not cut the line.
[bleep] I broke it.
ALEX: [bleep] I broke it.
The good thing is, I haven't lost it yet.
The line is still frozen to the ice,
so I might be able to recover it.
Let's see if I can kinda chip at that ice with my tooth here.
Kind of a difficult maneuver.
Can I break it free?
It might just break again.
Seems to be more free.
I think I got it.
Okay, so I got the line out of the water now.
There's no fish, but at least I get my hook back.
♪ ♪
Something just nibbed on it.
Okay, something was just biting at it that's--
It sat there all night, nothing messed with it,
but something was just biting at it,
so I'm just gonna put a hook in there and wait.
I've learned now to be patient.
You know, wait for it. Wait for 'em to get it.
♪ ♪
Okay, he feels bigger now. He's fighting now.
There he is. There he is.
Nope, he's not small.
♪ ♪
So, yeah, they say fishing, you know,
is a sport that takes a lot of patience,
but, um, I'm not having to use any patience at all, really.
They're just biting.
♪ ♪
Oh, another one.
Gonna hook you [bleep].
I got him.
Yeah, that's a big, strong pull.
Here he is, here he is.
He's in the hole.
Whoo hoo hoo hoo!
Whoo!
Look at you big, ugly...
I think that one's bigger.
That's beautiful. I'm gonna whack him.
When I first came to Alaska and I wanted to move off-grid,
like, at Bear Creek I had to work my butt off
to get food, you know, like food from the land.
But here, I'm not having to bust my butt doing, uh,
you know, intense physical labor,
and I'm just getting, like, big chunks of food at a time.
Yeah, I think short of moose hunting,
this is gonna be my most productive means
of getting food here.
I don't know why they called it Deadman Lake.
Whoever died here was a fool.
Look at that. I'm rich.
JESSI: I can't let fear hold me back.
I'm out here for the growth, for the opportunities,
for the challenges,
and being out here alone is the ultimate test.
I'm surviving out here.
♪ ♪
This is a good-size load of wood.
I mean, I am proud of it.
It's not perfect. Nothing out on the Cosna is.
This is good.
This is my second load of wood,
and I am so satisfied and fulfilled.
I mean, this is what it's about being out here.
Dude, going out here and getting a real...
good load of firewood.
But, uh, the sled of wood is heavier than my entire machine.
We can do it. We can make it home.
We can do this.
[engine starts]
So, I'm really far from the cabin.
If the Bravo breaks down today and if it's down for the count,
then I'm walking home,
and I'm not gonna have enough firewood until Chris gets home.
I was feeling really great just moments ago,
but right now, I'm feeling a lot more uneasy.
♪ ♪
[engine stops]
Dang it.
Goodness' sakes. This can't happen.
Looks like it just came right off the hitch, huh?
All right, I can pull this thing. Ah, jeez.
♪ ♪
Nope, I'm gonna have to turn this thing around.
I thought I could pull it, but I can't,
so I got to get the machine turned around.
My sled's way back there.
My SnoGo's way up here.
This old snow machine can go straight,
but it cannot back up.
We got this.
God, but then I'm gonna have to turn it around
when I skate back down there.
♪ ♪
Who needs reverse? Am I right? Huh?
♪ ♪
Okay, here we go, push it aside.
I just need to get this like ten feet.
Oh, my God!
JESSI: Oh, my God!
♪ ♪
Got myself into a little bit of a predicament, didn't I?
I literally have ten feet between my machine
and the sled.
Remember ten seconds ago when I said, "Who needs reverse?"
I guess worst-case scenario, I can just unload
a couple of the pieces off the sled and pull it.
I think that's what I'm gonna have to do.
Have to lighten the load.
This.
♪ ♪
I did it.
Whoo!
Yeah!
No log left behind.
I set out today to get this
and bring this entire thing home,
and that is what I'm determined to do.
It's so close.
Whoo! There it is.
Come on, SnoGo, we can do this.
We got this!
[engine starts]
Let's get this wood home.
♪ ♪
ALEX: It's a big fish. I want to cook the whole fish.
Put him right on the coals there.
I don't we got to worry about burning him.
Yeah, you know, there's something that feels
kinda celebratory about cooking outside on a fire like this,
and this fish is cause for celebration.
It's perfect.
This fish is the first big success out here.
I definitely say coming out to Deadman Lake was worth it,
and, and this is why.
You know, this is the, this is the wealth I was seeking.
You think what I'm doing is difficult;
this fish had it much tougher, you know?
And he made it, until I got him.
The rules of Mother Nature's game have never changed,
and they never will.
Having, you know, rich experiences hunting,
chasing game, fighting the neighbors,
you know, throwing your spears at 'em. Ah!
♪ ♪
CHRIS: We're off the river. We're up on the overland trail.
Got a few more miles, and then I'm gonna run into Deep Creek.
I hardly slept last night thinking about Deep Creek.
It sure looks really steep.
Basically, 30-foot vertical embankments.
All right, this is just a bunch of trees here.
That feels pretty solid, just want to make sure it looks good.
Hopefully, I can make it up with both sleds.
This is really steep.
I do not want to bojangle it up here.
If one of my skis hits this ramp just wrong
and it starts to slide off to the side,
it's game over.
Everything's gonna roll off upside down,
come crashing down backwards, fall off sideways,
and I'm gonna spend the rest of the day
digging my 700-pound machine out.
Grab that throttle, lift them skis, and make this hill.
I just gotta get over.
♪ ♪
Skis pointed to the sky.
♪ ♪
I didn't know if I was gonna make it.
Homebound!
See if I can keep moving.
I've made it right into my backyard.
Everywhere I look, there's not a soul out here.
All these tracks are my tracks.
♪ ♪
KALEB: This is a really safe place to drop a moose.
It's down below the confluence
of the Kennicott and Nizina Rivers,
about ten miles away,
far away from human properties,
where all the predators can eat it,
and I don't have to worry about running into a bear or a wolf
that's territorial over a moose kill.
♪ ♪
I'm just getting set here to flip this sled over.
[drill whirring]
I've got my side off.
I'm getting my strap nice and long here,
and then I've gotta undermine this whole sled underneath here,
so when I yank with the snow machine,
it's just gonna tip over.
Hopefully it catches and then rolls.
[beeping]
♪ ♪
I got to make sure everything's perfect,
'cause I only get one shot at this.
No mistakes, no screwups.
Give her the big ol' yank.
Just turn it over like a dump truck.
Whoo!
What a day.
Ooh!
Just like that, the moose is out!
The moose is in its final resting spot,
and now the wolves and the bears can come and eat it
and return it back to dirt.
I want to be a good steward of the environment
so that nature can do what it does naturally,
and that is how it should be.
That keeps my homestead safe,
and to me, that is the number-one priority.
JESSI: Nature is everything.
It is the force of life out here,
and it's stronger than I will ever be,
but it is what feeds me, through my own work.
Everything is a constant circle of life out here,
and I'm gonna respect it, and I'm gonna be so grateful for it.
KALEB: Unfortunately, some people or animals
just don't make it, and that is part of life.
That is part of how this world works.
ALEX: Everything in nature's going in cycles.
A lot of people would say,
"Well, that's just surviving, I want to thrive."
But I think surviving is thriving.
♪ ♪
[snow machine approaching]
JESSI: It's Chris! Toze!
Come on! Who is that?
Who is that, Toze?
CHRIS: Hey, Toze, come here!
Hi!
JESSI: Yeah! Hey!
CHRIS: Hey. Oh, man, I'm whooped.
Check this out, huh?
JESSI: This is the nicest, newest thing
that's ever arrived.
We're gonna have to do something special with that thing.
CHRIS: Wow, what a trip. I'm happy to be home.
Let's get inside.
JESSI: I missed you.
Welcome home.
We are happy to see you.
Captioned by Side Door Media Services