Original subtitles

(sighs)

(dramatic music) - Whoa.

That was a pretty intense head rush.

That sounded like a bear.

- I got the cabin looking pretty good.

When extremely cold temperatures come,

I know that I'm gonna be warm inside of my cabin.

(sighs)

- Just really bad adult cramps.

- Oh, okay.

(sighs)

- It's Jesse, I have to tap out.

I know I am living my family down.

- For the first time ever on a loan, 10 past participants return.

They've come back with one goal, redemption.

- I've deserved to be here, and I'm back.

- I want to learn more this time than I did last time.

- Now we fresh hell awaits.

The cold is an incredibly strong punch in the

face and the punishing wilderness of Mongolia.

- We're in the middle of nowhere.

- Mongolia is a very unforgiving land.

- They must survive in complete isolation.

And during as long as they can,

I'm just gonna push and push till there's nothing left.

- The last one's standing with... (dramatic music)

- You have furry little (beep)

(dramatic music)

- I have quite a few mice living in my shelter.

- It's slowly getting worse and slowly getting worse.

(beep)

- I'm just scared to death that the mice are gonna get into my gear.

There's all this grass and brush and stuff in my shelter that you can hide under it.

I don't know where he is.

(dramatic music)

- Today I think I'm gonna tear my bed apart.

I'm going to lay out all the grass.

Just to see if there's any mouse nests in there.

(dramatic music)

Man, Cooper Island had a little bit of a mouse problem too.

But when I left, they had quite a bit less of a mouse problem.

- The mouse is completely destroying my gear.

It's like me against him now.

And it's now personal.

- I'm so freaking pumped right now, I'm shaking.

I finally, finally caught the effing mouse

in my piute dead form.

- Just freaking squished like a damn pancake, baby.

Pizzing!

(laughing)

- Oh, this seemed like a good idea at the time.

(dramatic music)

(beep) - I do this.

(dramatic music)

- Well, potentially that wasn't exactly the spars thing I've ever done.

- That was a lot of work.

I'm not sure the benefits.

There was no mouse nest.

- I am very surprised that this time is this similar

to Vancouver Island where the mice are coming out to haunt me again.

- My name is Larry Roberts, and I do not like rodents.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

- What if all of my footage was just close?

(applause)

(laughing)

- Oh, that hurt my stomach, I started laughing so hard.

(laughing)

(dramatic music)

Like every single scene.

(laughing)

(dramatic music) Was this close?

(dramatic music) Oh, oh my God.

(dramatic music)

- Oh, I got the camera.

- Oh, crap.

Okay, calm it down.

That was a moment of insanity.

- So, where that said, it's time to get up.

- I think Larry would be good to do the fishing.

- I feel it.

The water's at a good level today.

There we go.

It's a good one.

It's got my bait.

We can't wait to take Campbell's fishing.

We'll rent a canoe and go out.

- I know he's gonna love it.

There we go.

Time with my son is what I look forward to more than anything else.

He not just my son, he's my friend.

Can't wait to watch all of the amazing things

he's going to do and to be front and center for all of them.

There we go.

So, there's a little bigger.

- See, you catch one more and then you want to keep fishing.

- I got one more grasshopper in my pocket.

How about I give you a few moments?

- My strategy is working basically exactly as I thought it would.

I am pleasantly surprised with the amount of

fish I've been able to pull out of the water.

- I wonder if anybody's doing as well as me with the fish.

'Cause I would define what I'm doing is killing the fish.

Good haul.

This one is a big belly right here.

Otherwise, it's a small fish and a big belly.

Just had a really full stomach.

- Wow.

- I'm not gonna cut that open and see what that is.

Thing has been eating.

There's the grasshopper that was there and this is what else is that was in there.

Are you kidding me?

Look at that.

That looks like a mouse.

Then we get it all the way down.

That's incredible.

- I want to be limited to how many fish I can hold.

All right, now I am.

I need to try smoking my fish.

So, I'll take a whole line of fish,

stringing for one raft or the other,

and then just keep a good, smoky fire going all day.

Now, after a while, they'll firm up and they'll find

their groove and they won't slide off, so it'll be fine.

- Everything is perfect right now.

It's really smoking that stuff up.

Big plumes of direct smoke, operation of smokehouse.

(exhales)

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Eight fish halves, so that's pretty good.

Let me show you my smoking setup here.

So, I've just been smoking these.

Right on my chimney.

Then I go ahead and take this guy.

Stick that boy on top of there.

Just to help keep the smoke trapped inside.

Hopefully, by tomorrow, I should have some well-smoked fish.

My body's taken to this lifestyle, I feel good.

I feel like I've leveled out in some ways.

The fish are biting, the grouse are singing,

the grouse is just a great sort of change of diet, which is really, really nice.

I haven't gotten any in a couple of days, so let's see if I can get some grouse.

I've been hearing one kind of thing a little bit to the east of me, east of my camp.

I think out here, it's important to just walk slow, always be scanning the area.

I don't want to hurt myself while I'm here.

Stepping on a rattlesnake or a pit flaper is going to throw you out of the game.

There's a grouse right there.

All right, I'm going to try to sneak by again.

(dramatic music)

(beep) I missed it.

I could hear the hit.

There's a sound.

There's feathers all over the place.

Just not a kill shot.

Just got off by a feather, you know?

(beep)

Here he is again.

(dramatic music)

(beep)

Here he is again.

(dramatic music)

(beep) (beep) Got him.

It was a successful stalk and kill.

About a 20 yard shot.

There's some brush.

Dinner tonight is not a bad full grouse here.

Pretty happy about that.

Smokers certainly doing a good job, like that out.

It's amazing to know that the way that I've lived my life

for the last 10 years is culminating to such abundance out here.

One of the best parts of doing alone season

two was this guy comes up to me and he goes,

my kids go outside all the time and they play alone.

And you've been a huge inspiration to them.

That one experience was probably the best compliment I could have got.

And those kids are gonna grow up a little bit more connected to the land.

That motivates me if to stay out here.

(dramatic music)

(breathing heavily)

(dramatic music)

All right, so welcome to the green glow.

Psych ward.

I'd rather be just about anywhere but inside this shelter right now.

Strange days are brutal.

It's cold.

I don't wanna go outside.

I don't wanna be in here.

And it's just a monotonous day.

It's gonna be tough.

Clean my blue sky for my mental health.

How in the world did I survive Vancouver Island?

I don't know.

At a white tarp, one thing.

Huge difference.

White tarp.

Not this green psych ward shelter I'm living in.

Not good.

Not good to the mind.

Just sitting there staring at the fire.

Open the rain, flows down our stops today at some point.

So I can get outside.

I'm pretty sick of myself.

Yup, had all about enough of me as I can stand.

Woo, it's a party.

Party of one, that's me.

I don't think it's the rain is lightening up at all.

I don't think the sky is either.

It's my wishful imagination.

I'm not sure how much more I can handle today.

(dramatic music)

Sound is relaxing sitting here.

Washing fly sex.

And thinking about setting the trap.

This diet of constant fish is making me feel pretty good,

pretty clean because it's so fresh and such a drastic change from my normal diet.

But I'm also finding that it's not providing me

with the energy I need, the fat source I need.

It's not giving me the calories I need.

So I'm not feeling as high energy as I normally would.

I know that there are all types of weasels and badgers

and Wolverine scavengers that run around here.

But I don't have to go way up to make a trap.

I can make a trap 20 feet from my door.

Flies are crazy, the flies are crazy.

If I were to catch something a million a night and it's out there howling,

I've gotta go out in the dark and dispatch it.

Hopefully it'll be something that will not have a pack of some things with it.

(dramatic music)

I wanna set a free standing trap,

not one that's attached to a tree that's rooted.

The coolest little something like a Wolverine

or a Badger, something unique like that.

Not really hoping it's a bear.

It would be out here angry as hell with a tree attached to its limb.

The first one of these I've ever made, so I just wanted to work.

There's the loop right here I use silver.

See our blends in so well.

And then there's the fish head hanging inside the loop.

The loop is attached on the lower notch,

fish head on the second notch and the engine on the third

and all that ripe smelling bait is back there.

And you know how the system works?

It tugs, that releases, this lifts, that pulls.

Maybe it'll completely up in something

and we'll go, bam, slam it on the ground over there.

Look at that.

The concept of handling something in the pitch blackness does not totally throw me.

I'm not a butcher, I'm not, I'm not a butcher.

There's some serious wildlife that's on my side.

There's something for the large one that's having us fit.

Wow.

It's very crazy to hear the extremely large animals.

Just to feed from you.

I didn't know what I don't want to call the side.

Tired this morning because of all the animal traffic outside.

I'm going to check out my trap.

And I might just, whoa, dangerous part.

Damn, look at that.

Now that right there is a moose track.

Look at the size of that hoarse.

That is one impressively large animal.

Oh, tell you when they come running around my camp, you know, I just need a joke.

Do you start hearing these animals all the time

and in and around you, the evidence they're leaving, the sounds they're making?

This is a lot different from Ohio.

I mean, we don't have animals that could possibly do so much damage.

We're in the situation that if something

horrible should happen to us, it's scary to think

that I could be stuck here in the woods for hours if nobody's coming to help me.

It looks like I was correct.

Something came up here.

Trying to see if the bait is still in there.

It's not.

My anchor stick came out of the ground.

So I need to create another one of these and I'll make it like this long

and I'll pound it way down in there and I'll reset this trap tonight

and try and land some game, get some valuable meat.

Like to sharpen my knife.

Let's see if we can figure this out.

So usually what I do is I keep working it until I get a burr.

Wow, it's got a burr already.

Holy cow.

Extra, of course it looks like that.

And then I just flip the side and go to a finer.

There, it's something running.

Oh, it stuff's over there.

What the f*ck is she?

It still sounds like it's over there.

How much that?

I hit a cormorant.

It's a big bird.

I think I hit it.

I'm going to go after it.

I hit it.

I don't know how bad I hit it.

Oh, dang.

It got away.

I needed that.

I heard something else out here.

I don't like that.

I don't want to hurt things.

I have no result.

Damn it.

I'm so thankful.

I see blotches of sunshine coming through my tarp.

I can get out of here today.

I want to climb that range over there.

Way to the top.

So I can see over the other side.

Be nice to get up a little higher and just kind of survey the country a little.

You can take a basket.

See if I can find some birch bark, some berries, some chaga, maybe.

Stuff ain't going to be around much longer.

It's really dying off.

I'm just hoping to weather holes.

Feel like there's weather once again.

I don't know if I'm making the right choice.

Definitely wouldn't want to get stuck out far from camp and bad weather.

All right, thanks to the ridge.

Now I can climb.

I just feel so lonely.

These clouds is darkness.

I feel like an abandoned child out here.

They left me behind.

I can't wait to go.

The ridge is so long.

Oh, it looks like it's coming.

Keep going or do I turn around now?

I don't know.

I'd hate to have to come back and try this again.

That two rosips.

There's another one there.

Very right.

I'm basically just soak the hope right off the seeds.

Hope the weather holds.

Coming up on this birch tree.

That looks like a chaga.

That is chaga.

Finally.

Look how high it is.

I'm going to get a stick.

See if I'm not getting off.

Chaga likes these big mature first trees.

Success.

I got all kinds of pieces.

Really nice big chunks too.

That's awesome.

Yay.

All right.

Good score.

You know, there's going to be people who say,

"What a waste of calories and energy to climb this ridge.

" Now I've got to say is, I'm only going to be here one time for my whole life.

I've got one chance to climb this ridge.

Look at this view and take it all in.

You think I'm going to sit and tweet in my thumbs conserving energy?

No way, man.

I'm going to go out and live it.

There's an end inside.

See what I see up there?

That looks like a top of something.

Oh, sir.

I wonder what it looks like on the other side.

Oh, wow.

Wow.

Look at that.

I made it.

Yeah.

I see my river.

I think that's my camp.

It's next right around a big loop.

I'm going to pick it up.

I like this huge front just pushed through.

I don't want to linger here and get stuck in a storm.

Holy cow.

It's threatening.

Oh, no.

I don't want to be anywhere but here.

Just anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to be anywhere.

I don't want to get down off this mountain.

Definitely don't want to be wet.

Oh, I don't like that.

Cheer in that coming.

Scary.

It's kind of whether it doesn't bring out the best of me.

Not at all.

It doesn't bring out the warrior or the tough girl.

Not of that.

Home.

The weather has moved in.

I got to move out.

I didn't want to be stuck up there.

I was up there a lot farther than I thought.

I'm almost there.

Oh, I just-- I can't bear much of that shelter.

Crawling back into the green smoky tarp.

And what if the storm lasts two days?

With no windows.

No friend.

No family.

No cat, no dog.

Just loneliness.

And darkness.

Yeah, it's easy to get in your head.

Just talk yourself right out of being here.

Easy to do.

So many reasons to go.

You're hungry.

Your shower would be amazing.

It's just a loneliness.

There is just a loneliness here that sinks in after a while.

You're just overwhelming.

You just want to be with people.

That's what was cool about doing the season board with Dave.

Life's meant to be shared.

This time, it's just me.

It's too quiet.

You know, it's hard to think about.

All you have to do is make a phone call.

And you can be in a bed tonight.

You can have food tonight.

Like once you start getting into that headspace, it's really hard to come out of it.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Well, I'm up.

It is 0 dark 30.

And the mice are just frickin' going to town, man.

Just shh, shh, shh, shh.

Just all over the place, man.

They are just driving me fat [BLEEP] so crazy.

Boom.

God, they're just insane.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, a little bastard.

I wish I could stomp their little guts in.

Oh, I was ready just-- I had to get up, man.

I was ready to destroy my shelter.

I mean, just to destroy it.

I was going to go off.

Oh, little bastard mice.

Run me out of my own bed.

I'm going to make a fire.

Get my hands warm.

I'm just frustrated.

I'm tired.

I'm hungry.

And I'm hungry.

And I'm hungry.

I'm hangry.

Little bastards.

God.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Yesterday has messed with my head on many levels, but mostly emotional.

It's been these highs and lows.

Like real high and real low as a mouse coming up.

I hope he goes for my trap.

And I'll have killed him.

If you don't want to die, then I will suggest you leave.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

If you don't want to die, then I will suggest you leave.

Killed him.

All right.

Not to mind the head.

God, just outside of the trap.

I could have cleaned you in the morning, buddy.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I got three mice off of that one trap.

They just kept coming, and I kept setting.

They kept coming, and I kept setting.

Even more came around afterwards.

I'll accept any meat that I can get.

So I plan on eating those guys today.

Definitely working on the emotional thing.

I want to learn the land.

Killing is just something that is part of this earth,

and it's got to be done.

But it hurts, and it's not easy for me.

I don't remember that's much so much in Patagonia,

but I think now I'm going to have to face it.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I have been dealing with the mice for up to a month now,

of them waking me up and pitter pattering around my shelter.

But now they're sleeping, because I like to party all night and sleep all day.

You know, it's these little things they don't tell you about.

They don't tell you about the mice when you go to survival school.

They just say, just survive, man.

Just survive.

They didn't tell me about the mice.

All right, I'm pulling out all the stuff today, boys.

Wake up, mice!

Wakey, wakey!

Wakey, wakey, mice!

You wake me up.

I'm waking you up.

You want a little bear spray?

I hope that it just filled their little lungs with toxic fumes.

There, that's it.

That's all of it you freaking-- things I should airhorn them, too.

[PHONE RINGING] That's fun.

Smells kind of peppery and refreshing in my shelter.

Little peppery-- is it a little peppery in there for you, folks?

I don't know what I'm going to do.

The trauma that I experienced on Vancouver Island

is suddenly coming back like it was yesterday.

I absolutely can't deal with a green glow in there.

It is a mental roadblock for me.

I can't be in that shelter and be happy about life.

The killings hit me a bit, definitely.

Right now, I just-- I mean, I feel raw and a little overpowered by it.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, guys.

It turns out I'm pretty sick of hanging out with myself.

And I'm pretty lonely.

It gets to you after a while.

You just-- the quiet of not sharing the experience, it just kind of eats away at you.

And starving socks.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It has been so incredibly humbling to go through this twice.

I feel like this time, because I was alone,

instead of with Dave, it's a bit of a redemption.

It's a bit of a chance to prove on my own the skills that I have.

But there is this recollection of Vancouver Island.

I don't want to go there again.

I don't want to get that hungry again.

This is enough hungry.

This is enough cold.

This is enough loneliness.

It's enough for the green monster.

It's like, OK, this is over.

Leave all the smile on my face.

And that's what I choose.

Whoa.

Check it out.

There are a lot of predators in this area.

Just hope that if I stay away from them, they're going to stay away from me.

Literally starving.

I will eat anything.

Rose.

Yikes.

I've got a hunt deer.

And I'm going to put every last ounce of energy I have into that deer.

I just heard something.

Let's go check it out.

In the grass, I'm still over there.