Original subtitles

(sighs)

(dramatic music)

- I've got a hunt deer.

It's a huge caloric expenditure, but that is what I have to get.

- Whoa, a large skull.

Probably the red deer.

There are a lot of wolves in this area.

- It looks an awful lot like a leech.

Here's they've been sucking on this mouse blood.

- I'm literally starving.

I will eat anything.

- Rose.

- The Mongolian cold is definitely becoming a factor now.

- No fish.

- When?

- Just calm the (beep) down.

Calm down.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

- For the first time ever on a loan, 10 pass 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 in the punishing wilderness of Mongolia.

- We're in the middle of nowhere.

- Mongolian 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 and push.

- Tell there's nothing left.

- The last one's standing.

When?

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music) - Gotcha.

- You know what patience does?

- Ketch is the mouse with his bare hands.

- As my food source is getting smaller, they have to be prepared to eat anything.

- Tasty little morsel.

So I was already in bed, but I figured when I'd have a little mouse snack

before I got a bed, I'm not gonna let this thing sit around until morning.

At least I'm gonna clean it.

It should put his little head on the pyre for the rest of the little vermin to see.

- I should've never came into brick shelter.

Oh, that was the worst mistake I ever made.

- Never cleaned a little mouse body before.

This is very small.

It's gonna end up being like five bites of meat, maybe.

- My food acquisition is good, but it's lacking.

It's just not enough of what I need of my diet to sustain.

So I'm finding I'm going to have to do something different.

I'm hunting anything and everything I can.

- See if we can get this in color.

- I wanna try and toast it enough that I can just

crunch right through the bone and it won't be an issue.

And fire makes everything taste good.

I hope all those mouse buddies are watching.

Actually, I don't.

I know some more visitors.

So that's the best I could do without really lighting it up too much.

There it is.

30 minutes ago, this thing was running around my shelter trying to eat my scraps.

The tables have turned.

Well, I like the bone that much, but the meat tastes good.

I think I have officially crossed over to hermit status.

I'm catching the mice in my shelter and eating them.

It was small, but it still satisfying just to have the flavor of meat.

Mouse.

I was really fiddling around with that heck.

Here, just, shh.

Over in the grass over there, bunch of punks.

All right, Mousey, I'm gonna set this, and then you're gonna get trapped.

I'm gonna eat you.

I tried to catch fish out here and it wasn't working for me.

So I'm gonna do exactly what good old mother nature

kind of allows me to do.

And right now, that's trapped, little creepy crawly things.

Try, try, try, try.

If you get one little success, you know, that goes a long way.

I want to learn from this place,

but I also am out here that trap go off.

Yes, baby.

Yes, yes.

I just got a mouse in a trap.

Oh, shh, it's still alive.

But it's not running anywhere.

I want you to die, and I want to eat you, but I sure don't want you to suffer.

So that might have been a little bit brutal, but this is survival.

I'm out here to get food from the woods, and that means killing any food you get.

You know, if you're eating veggies, you're still killing animals in some way.

You know, there's life and death and they go together.

Can't have one without the other.

Just getting that one is such a big deal.

That dead mouse means for me, 'cause I'm gonna get my red meat fix,

and I'm gonna get some really, really good bait to put in my fish trap.

I wonder how many mice Larry's traps so far?

(upbeat music)

- She's a cold one this morning, boys.

- Whoo!

Gotta be a good day today, boys.

Good day.

Whoo!

Hell yeah.

I'll hit my head on the top of the shelter.

Oh, beautiful!

Forgolia!

I love you!

I love you!

Look at this!

Look!

Freaking blue out, man.

Birch trees got ice on it, even.

It's our winter wonderland.

How can you not be in a good mood waking up to that?

- And you know what the best thing about yas last night was?

There was no mouse in the house.

There was no mouse in the house.

The mice are all gone. Yeah!

- My nose is a little chil I.

Let's go look at the pyutes and see if they're down.

- Whoa!

Look, he's looking.

Look at who got hooky.

Just barely got him.

I see if he's really dead.

Pretty sure he is.

Boys.

Hey, you in there?

Sorry.

Frozen solid, man.

I gotta thine him up where I can even gut him.

Now we're talking.

The pyute dead ball works great.

Last night I did wake up.

It was just silent.

Not the absolute party frickin' zone it was two nights ago.

I mean, two nights ago it was like,

this guy must be the rock star or something.

He must be like the blues brothers or the mice world or something.

Because he was having a hell of a party.

Hey, yeah, it all sorts of bad intentions going on.

Holy [bleep]

I just heard my other pyute go off.

♪

Looks like my pyute's down.

Look how pretty that is.

[sighs]

[sighs] Ooh, bazingah!

No one, baby.

No one bites dust.

The pyute man is, baby.

I remember.

Yeah, ha, too, baby.

Too, too far.

♪

Ha ha, craziness.

I think it's time to name the pyutes.

I'm going to go put the names on there and then show you.

♪

The pyute's definitely giving me a few calories.

It's been fun making, been fun improving upon,

and learning about.

You screw with it as much as I have.

You kind of get to know the ins and the outs and the nuances of the trap.

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

They've just been waking me up

and making me nervous about getting holes in my gear.

I do not like mice.

So I named my pyutes.

This is one I've killed, five or six on, something like that.

The first one at Vancouver Island, the one that I was catching a lot of them on.

My name's Slayer.

This one's Slayer number two.

I thought that was a good name.

Slayer two.

♪

And this is the one I just made that I caught one on just today.

The death dealer.

♪

Man, I can't tell you what a nice night it was last night.

Not listening to them.

Believe me, I can sleep through, but when they're just like born into your skull,

it's just, it's so frustrating, man.

And last night, I woke up.

It was just silent.

I loved it.

♪

There comes the rain.

♪

I think it was something else like right there.

♪

How many of these people do I have to kill?

♪ ♪ Damn it.

This place.

Not f***ing enjoying myself anymore, man.

Damn it.

Yeah, f***ing little bastards.

♪

I'm not having fun anymore.

God, come on, man.

Come on.

One more day.

♪

All right, well, the rain is falling.

So, just going to hang on the cabin and kind

of work on little carving projects or whatever.

One of the things that's been on my list of things

to do now for a while is to make a little camp chair.

♪

Thoughts are really, it's just hard to stay focused,

and right now, I don't know, it's just today.

Yeah, this rain always compresses me.

♪

You know, I learn a lot about how my mind works out here.

You know, I'm such a social human being.

It's been difficult since like, you know, day one for me.

I have the skills to be able to sustain myself out here.

I can hunt, I can produce shelter, I can set up traps,

I can tan hides.

But then there's this whole other psychological part

of being out here, which it's the hardest thing for me.

It's not being out here and surviving.

It's being out here and surviving alone.

♪

♪

♪

The rain seems to have stopped right now, but the weather's gotten cold.

I'm having a very, very difficult time getting fish.

I'm not seeing grouse.

Deer is what I need to go after.

♪

I'm heading into that canyon and I'm gonna hunt.

I'm gonna camp overnight.

That'll be a good trip.

♪

It's our three deer, and they're moving across the land.

I started into the canyon, but the wind was born.

I sent it to the deer's trail, so I heard some help.

Up on that far edge.

I decided, well, I'll spook them and I'll spook everything if I go that direction.

So I started heading up this hill.

♪

I'm gonna keep going and then just try to circumnavigate it.

Just one deer, that's all I need.

♪

♪

In Patagonia, I would not move around deer as much.

I'm losing weight much quicker because I'm putting so much energy into my hunting.

♪

They know there's something here.

They're not exactly sure.

♪

That's a lot of work, a lot of calories that are going into this.

♪ Hear that?

♪

Three deer, spooked out of a bed.

♪

Follow the ridge down.

♪

I don't know if they're gonna stay down, though.

They're gonna cross.

Either way, I gotta move.

♪

I think the only chance I have is to run on the

other side of head and then try to push whack up.

I don't know if they're gonna hear me in there, but I gotta give it a go.

♪

I gotta hold hands.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Let's see those deer.

♪

♪

♪

♪

So I spooked three deer.

They hit it up Canyon.

I decided to cut across the canyon so I could run and try to catch up with them.

I lost track of them.

I just don't have the energy to run ahead of these deer and ambush them.

♪

I've never hunted this hard.

I'm hunting hard.

I don't want to starve.

I know how to starve.

I've proven that.

It's a definitive low point.

It is a depressive state of mind to not be able to feed yourself.

There's something I'm missing because I cannot figure this land out.

Soon I'm going to be fighting myself peeling bark

off of trees and eating the inner bark of trees.

♪

I'm high up on the mountain.

Search. I just take it slow.

It's real easy through this.

That's my area right there.

All in there, my shelter's probably very well there.

♪

I thought it was invincible at the beginning of this.

I have so much to learn from out here.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

I think today's my dad's last day hunting in Utah.

♪

I wonder how they did.

I hope they got an elk.

That would be awesome.

I'm feeling pretty low lacking human companionship.

Which is absolutely the hardest thing for me.

So today, I'm going to climb.

♪ That mountain.

I know that the climb is going to be probably exhausting.

But I need to jump out of this mindset, take a

step back, look at it from another perspective.

♪

Climbing to the top of that mountain is going to be good for my spirit.

And that's more important to me.

♪

I wonder what it looks like up there.

♪

What took me out last time was feeling disconnected

from my family and friends and community.

♪

This time, I know what the challenge is.

And so, I know what it's going to take in order for me to overcome that.

♪

It's pretty steep, but I don't think that she's that steep.

I'm just trying to think here what my best plan of action is going to be.

It looks like this ridge here is pretty shallow.

All right, only place to go now is up.

Let's do this.

♪

These little wanderings, they are so good for my mental state.

Out here, you can't just feed yourself physically.

You have to feed yourself in other ways.

Check all this area.

The desire for companionship still exists,

but you shift your definition of what companionship means.

Now that need is fulfilled by the land.

It's not here as a fall to almost certain death.

♪

Just be careful.

Pretty steep, but I'm strong.

I can do this.

♪

How much farther?

♪ Here I am.

Head to top.

♪

♪

I'm going to remember the climb.

I'm going to remember how good felt they get to the top.

Worth it.

Absolutely worth it.

I feel like we need it.

I think I might be able to stay out here for a couple more weeks.

I'm feeling happy.

Thank you, Mongolia.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

So, winter's coming.

That's a certainty right now.

I want to finish my wall,

so I can cut out wind and rain and all that nasty stuff that's to come.

So, that's looking good.

♪

I think if I just have a door and close this place up,

we give this place crank into like 70 degrees.

♪

So, I'm going to go over to some of these dead birch trees,

and I'm going to see if we can get any, like, pieces of birch bark.

Because I'm really looking more for a wind block than insulation.

♪

I'm thinking of home, but I'm going to good, like, headspace.

I miss them very much, but every single day that I'm out here, it's for those guys.

♪

When I left, my little baby girl could barely open her eyes.

My son, he was playing with the suitcase,

and he packed a couple of his toys, and one of his sandals.

So, I don't think he used totally convinced that he wasn't coming with me.

I love the thought of running and giving that kid a hug.

The whole rest of my family, too.

But every day away, it just makes the homecoming that much sweeter.

♪

Ooh, it looks like bad weather just blew in.

♪

Definitely seeing some snowflakes now.

Yep, first snow.

♪ First snow.

Wow. I don't think it'll accumulate or anything.

Tomorrow could be 60 degrees.

You never know out here.

♪

♪

This is my hunting area for a big game.

It's far from my regular shelter.

So, I'm building a wiki up.

A wiki up will keep me dry and warm while hunting.

There's basically a teepee that's made out of natural debris,

just a stepping stone, and a base camp that I can further travel and further hunt.

♪

Let's get in there.

A lot, a lot to go, though.

♪

It's gonna take some time.

It's gonna take some energy.

I don't know if I'm gonna be doing near what I was hoping.

♪

♪

Weather turned quick.

It's just like, oh boy, you don't know what's gonna happen.

I've been so much in the hunter's mind.

So much in the I gotta get food, I gotta get food.

It almost is stopping me from seeing things.

♪

It might not done yet wiki up.

♪

Watch and the snow come down hard.

♪

It's keep me okay for right now.

That's too bad.

Wow.

It's beautiful.

It's just nice to slam down, watch it.

♪

Well, there's a heart of just being right here and not concentrating on the hunting.

That's amazing.

What a trip.

I think I'm gonna just take a nap.

Let's see what happens with the snow.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Look at the snow coming.

That's pretty.

It's gonna get colder and snowier.

Look at this.

Let's check out the sky first.

It's totally white.

No sun today, Mongolia.

I love this first snow.

Being in it.

I wasn't in it the last time.

This is what I've been expecting for a couple of weeks.

I didn't expect to be as warm as long as I was.

I'm grateful for it, but this.

Today is the day it feels like the season started.

And I mean the season of alone.

Now it feels like it started.

♪

I just saw a fish jump over there.

Maybe I can get some action here.

I think it's about time to do some fishing.

♪

♪

I remember a week ago I was thinking fishing might be done for the season.

Not because the fish don't bite, but because of my accessibility tool.

I guess the time the season dictates what fish are going to be certain spots.

I thought they would go deeper.

It sounds a lot further, but I can't really.

I know I'm not going to chance it.

The water's really moving here.

Got one.

I found a spot in the river that the fish are active.

Okay.

I was already in a good mood.

Who's going to be the better mood?

If I ever deserved the catch the fish, it was today.

Guess what today is?

Today is day 35, which is a good solid number in

and of itself, but it's a milestone number for me.

Because in Patagonia on day 35, I was calling them to come pick me up.

I knew in the middle of the night on day 34

that I was going to be calling them on day 35.

I was not in nearly a good estate as I am right now.

I'm extremely happy about that five weeks is pretty good,

even though I didn't feel that great about it at the time.

But now I'm at five weeks, man, and I'm rolling. I'm going to groove.

And I'm not cold.

I'm not sad.

Lonely, I mean, at times, I mean, not really.

I miss my family, but I don't know if that classifies as being lonely.

You know, I'm not like selling and downtrodden and like, man.

I really want to see my family.

I really do, but I'm not like, oh no, what am I going to do?

I know they're there waiting for me.

I'm just going to be all good.

So I'm all good.

So it's all good.

Here's a water bottle that I use.

It's that cold.

Solid ice.

Gives you an idea of what it was like last night.

I woke up in a bit of a mood this morning, a bit of a poor meaty situation going on.

I just, you know, it's been going back and forth and back and forth now.

But I think today I really hit a wall.

So I'm going to go out and do some fishing and see if I can feel better.

Really snowing.

There's no fish.

They're just not there anymore.

They were there and then all of a sudden they weren't.

There's been a direct correlation between temperature and food production.

There's like something that just happened overnight.

One second there was tons of food and then the next, but it wasn't anymore.

At this point it's been about a week since I've caught any fish and no grouse.

The greens are wilted and I'm not seeing deer's scat or sign around.

So I'm absolutely feeling anxious, just not knowing where my next meal is coming from.

Five weeks I walked here.

I walked all up and down my territory.

Eating only what the land provided.

Lack of food and lack of companionship at this

point is really sort of taking its toll on me.

And in all honesty I'm struggling.

No matter where I'm at I actively search out community.

I think that that's one of the things that's been so hard

for me out here is that I have no sense of community.

With community comes a sense of place.

Without community there's a huge part of my world that's missing.

I wish that I could pull it from the environment in

some ways I have been, but that's a temporary fix.

Like putting a band-aid on a bullet hole.

I was looking forward to pushing myself past that barrier.

I want to continue going.

Just don't want to do it without anybody else.

This is Randy. I'm officially tapping out. I'm ready to go home.

What's going on?

I haven't been able to produce really any food and set

up a lot of traps and those weren't producing as well.

But there's a whole other aspect to me that's not being fed out here and

that is my lack of social interaction with people in my lack of community.

I was difficult. It's been difficult.

I've reached the end of my time here in Mongolia.

A lot of ways this place has pulled me in and made me feel at home.

It kept me warm fairly well fed for the first couple of weeks.

It kept me company. When I left Vancouver, I

felt like I didn't fully do what I wanted to do.

This feels like it's time and feels right.

Going beyond 21 days was in some way a goal for me.

I wanted to last longer than I lasted in Vancouver

and so I feel like this was a redemption for me.

Well, I've been napping.

It was a cold night last night, man.

I know it's snowing.

Son of a pitch.

I don't have to poop in the snow. I hate that.

But I'm hoping that the snow will really

decimate the population of mice around here.

It would really make me happy.

Pretty nice out here in the snow. Better than bugs in the heat.

I don't know what to do today, man.

Now's where the boredom sets in.

There's only so much stuff you can do out here.

You can only look at the mountains so many times.

Yeah, now are the dog days, man.

I forgot when it happens and I want to say it's almost exactly right now.

Sure, I don't want to be in agony anymore, man.

I don't want to kill myself anymore for this.

I don't want to push and push and push myself anymore.

But it's beautiful out that it's just beyond amazing.

Sometimes when I'm back home, just with the everyday rat race, I feel numb.

I feel kind of dead to the world.

But when I'm out here, it's just such a primal feeling.

You're like, man, it's brisk baby brisk.

I'm alive.

I'm alive, Mongolia!

I'm here!

I'm here!

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

A freaking echo.

Now, that's why I'm still here, man.

That's why I just found out that I can echo out here.

I don't know why that makes me want to cry, but it does.

It makes me so happy.

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

It's a three hooks together and I've made a lure.

Got one.

Ah, f*ck, it's less my lure.

I have extreme abdominal pain.

My vowels are still not kicking anything out.

It would suck to go home.

I'm so hungry, my stomach hurts.

I still have a fear from Patagonia.

I have to make sure that that doesn't happen again.

Wolf scout.

He's a wolf, man.

We're not that far away.

We're not going to make any noise.