Original subtitles

ERIK: Today's a beautiful spring day

in the Brooks Range.

This is the time of year I live for.

The light's back.

It's calm, it's beautiful.

We're going to go up one of my favourite creeks,

check some traps.

I supplement my income as a hunting guide with trapping in the winter.

It's really nice to get out there

and see what critters are around.

(ENGINE ROARING)

I have quite a few wolverine traps up this creek.

A wolverine's fur is very valuable.

I sold one earlier this winter for $500.

The snow is kind of like a canvas here

and I can see everything that's come through

and what's happened and we just go through

and read the writing in the snow.

I recently baited one of my wolverine cubby sets

with part of a caribou head.

I'm going to head back up the creek

and see if I had any luck.

You see that?

I just rolled up on my wolverine cubby here

and saw the bait was gone.

I realised it wasn't a wolverine that took it,

it was a wolf!

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

D'you see that?

We just came up on this wolverine cubby here

and there's been a wolf all around here.

I had a caribou head as bait in the cubby

and he craftily stole that.

Brought it out here onto the river and chewed it up.

Wolves generally, they won't take chances like that.

It'd be a good thing if I could get him,

he's causing me a bit of trouble.

To have an opportunity at a wolf like this, it's kind of a unique chance.

A highly skilled trapper may only get a few a year.

So the wolverines will have to wait.

The wolf actually stepped on this trap

but the trap was damaged

and unfortunately it didn't go off.

I'm resetting the trap the best I can

and obscuring it with snow.

Let's see if we can't outsmart him.

Some wolves are nomadic,

so I got to work hard here

and keep going and make, uh, make plenty of sets

so when he comes through the next time,

hopefully we'll get lucky

and he'll slip up and make a mistake.

(ENGINE ROARING)

CHIP: The way the folks have done things here for thousands of years works

because they were born that way,

they grew up that way, they made their life that way,

and they died that way.

Probably with a gun in their hand.

We're not going to shoot today guys,

we're just going to drive rabbits towards the net.

That's all we're going to do.

Winter hunting season was pretty thin this year,

so rabbits and small game are really important up here

because if big game eating the country

it's something else we can rely on.

-This one, Mom? -Yep, that one!

CHIP: We like to put up a well-used salmon net,

one that's not in the best repair,

and we like to see if we can push

a bunch of bunnies into it and club 'em.

And it makes a good change in diet.

We like to eat them rabbits.

I used to have to dress them individually one at a time,

starting from the oldest one going down to the youngest

and kick 'em out the door as they dress up.

But now they just dress up on their own.

Carol, she's usually the braver one,

so I choose her to be the one who's wearing the mukluks

because she'll be lighter

and she'll be able to run up to them and club them

and help all the other girls who need help.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

AGNES: You have to put it on first.

CHIP: Well, we're getting our nets set up here

and sled set up and we're going to go set up a wide net

and we're going to find a nice strand of willows

where there's a lot of rabbits

and hopefully we can get quite a few.

You never know, some days it's one, some days it's 100.

I got it, Carol.

-Right here. -Gotta be fast.

All of the kids are going to ride in the sled

because there's not enough room on the snow-go's.

We're going to go catch rabbits and club 'em.

SUE: I live in a really large tent on the tundra.

It's really, really a harsh environment.

If I can't get more fuel, my life's on the line.

People came in and used my fuel

when I was out having my surgery

and I'm still in the process

of trying to replace that fuel and get more.

So I've got a company coming in.

They're going to be bringing in a C-46,

an old war plane,

and bring me several thousand gallons of fuel tomorrow.

So today, the most important thing I need to get done

is I need to get rid of the soft spots on the runway.

It's a World War II aircraft.

Fifty-foot wide is their minimum on the runway.

If I make it 40 feet, they need 50,

and that plane crashes and hurts those people.

Those people have kids, grandkids.

So I need to do my personal best

to make sure it is as safe as possible.

I like snow, obviously I'm into the Arctic weather.

But it can feel like it never ends.

I mean, it's just the gift that keeps on giving.

I got a storm coming in.

Typically, the storm's going to undo

everything I've just done.

Five minutes ago I went over this.

You see how the wind

is just making talcum powder out of it?

And it's going all the way across the runway.

This is in five minutes,

this is about five inches.

Three foot across, 30 foot long

and it's filling in every pebble.

Right now, there's no point putting all my efforts

out to watch them get erased.

So put the Bobcat to bed, save the fuel for the morning

when the wind might be gone.

ANDY: I couldn't imagine living in the bush without dogs.

They're the best alarm system you can have.

No bear ever comes near our property

without the dogs letting us know.

(DOGS BARKING)

KATE: The way we earn our money is by running

dog sled tours in the wintertime.

We teach people how to mush their own teams,

we don't have people ride in the sled.

They actually learn about the dogs,

the dog care,

how to run a team

and do small short expeditions with the dogs.

ANDY: Dogs are probably the most important part

of our lifestyle out here.

They provide us with our transportation,

we use them for freight.

For me probably one of the most important things is

that they are my companions.

Want to go to the lake?

Let's go to the lake.

Well, this afternoon's going to be a really big day

for our puppy, Jack,

he's five months, almost six months old now.

So we're going to try and get him trained

to run along with the team.

Puppy Jack, come!

Attaboy. Attaboy.

We keep the harness on him

even though he's not going to use it

'cause he'll know when the harness is on,

that means he's going to run with the team.

ANDY: One of the more important things about dog mushing

is always planning for the future.

The last thing you want to have happen

is have your entire dog team get old

and then have to start from scratch.

-Oh, man, old Remington. -(DOG WHINNING)

This is old Remington.

Remington's 15, almost 16 years old now.

He was my main lead dog for many, many years.

I'm at a point with my dog lot,

my kennel, where I've got a couple of old dogs

that I'm going to be retiring.

Get some new dogs trained up.

Jack is being trained up as a new lead dog.

And hopefully Jack will be able to take Remington's place in the kennel.

If you don't train these dogs up ahead of time,

you can find yourself in a pretty bad situation

with no leaders and no trained dogs.

KATE: I'm going to take puppy Jack out,

then Andy will hook up a small team of dogs

so it won't be too intimidating or fast for him.

And what we're going to do, is I'll get in the sled

and we'll get puppy Jack to follow.

I'll have treats so he'll go anywhere I go. (LAUGHS)

ANDY: Get going', Jack! Across the lake.

KATE: Who is that, Jack? Is that Andy?

ANDY: For Jack, today is about getting familiar with running in and around the team

and also starting to build confidence.

KATE: Run, Jack! Yay!

ANDY: If we don't ease Jack into the training

he will freak out and neckline,

throwing the rest of the team out of sync.

One bad experience at a young age

would seriously scar him for life.

KATE: Ouch!

All the dogs on the team have different roles to play.

And you don't just have one lead dog,

you have to have several dogs that can do many things.

We only have one leader,

and that leader gets an injured shoulder,

you don't have a leader.

So, more dogs that can be put into a leadership position

and on a sled, the better.

ANDY: Gee, gee, gee.

KATE: How's Jack doing back there?

ANDY: He's doing good. He's right... No!

Jack! Jack, gee!

Now he's going to run up front.

Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Man, okay, that was close.

Jack, you can't stop like that buddy. Okay, let's go!

He almost got run over there.

He's was running up in with the leader and then just stopped.

But, uh, he didn't get hit, so...

You know, it was a little bit challenging.

I don't want to see that again. (LAUGHS)

KATE: Oh, he scared the life out of me.

I think it's "whoa" time.

Sometimes when they get in the team

and if they get scared,

they cower and lay down

and then, of course, the other dogs are moving

and they get pulled along and...

Boy, sometimes when that happens,

those dogs never forget that

and they kind of get skittish with starting out in a team.

You know, they don't like to be harnessed up because they...

Some of them never forget.

Yay, Jack-man!

Yay, Jack-man!

He's a sled dog.

Did around, around, around the lake

and he was right on my tail the whole time.

So that was a really good sign.

You can see he's not afraid to be up in the mix right now,

that's another really good sign. I like that.

Come on, Jack! Come on, buddy!

KATE: Woo-hoo, Jack! Come on! ANDY: Woo-hoo! Come on, Jack! Come on, Jack! Attaboys.

ANDY: In a few more days I could put him in just

a small little team on the way home,

give him a little run in the harness

and see how he does.

(DOGS BARKING)

KATE: Whoa! Way to go!

ERIK: It's trapping season here.

I love trapping, I love hunting fur,

and I got the fur fever.

A wolf has come

and robbed a wolverine cubby I have.

Wolves are very particular about scent.

They're a very suspicious animal.

I'm gonna boil some of these snares

and we're going to eliminate

any kind of scent that may be on these.

I'm also going to throw in this spruce bough here.

That might cover up any kind of, uh, human scent

that might somehow survive through the boiling process.

Okay.

Now I just need to wait for them to get

to a good steady boil

and hopefully we'll be in business.

I've always naturally been a night owl

so I do a lot of work at night.

I guess it's one of the advantages of living out here,

I don't have to adhere to any kind of schedule.

If it's dark, I put on my headlamp.

If it's light, I take my headlamp with me

'cause it's going to get dark pretty soon.

Time really has no meaning out here.

These have been boiling for a good while.

I'm going to go ahead

and see if I can't get them out of here

without touching them, using a stick.

We don't want to drop these or touch these or anything

or we've defeated the entire purpose in boiling them.

I'm just going to go ahead and hang them right up on this tree here.

Just natural spruce scent.

Tomorrow we'll go out and set a couple snares

and maybe get lucky and catch a wolf or two.

(HOWLING IN THE DISTANCE)

SUE: To be successful at living out here,

you have to accept

shit doesn't always go down on your schedule.

Just life throwing you a curveball,

you better learn how to swing.

(PHONE DIALING)

TREVOR: Everts Air, it's Trevor.

SUE: Hey, Trevor, how you doing? This is Susan.

I'm getting really low on fuel,

I got to call and see and make sure that the plane can even come in today.

I've got four days of fuel left and then I have to worry.

Just wanted to check and see where we were at for the delivery today.

When I get the green light, then I'll redo the runway.

If I do it now and we get bad weather tomorrow,

I do not have the fuel to do it again.

It's just one of those one shot deals.

TREVOR: We're not looking good.

SUE: Okay.

Have you seen that huge low front coming in?

'Cause that's gonna be hitting us right around Tuesday, Wednesday.

SUE: If my load continues to get pushed off,

it's going to end up waiting until my conditions degrade.

They're scheduled to be 40 below.

50, 60, 70 mile an hour winds.

My runway is now covered in snow again.

It's, it's... I can't get the fuel

if they wait that long.

And, and just so you know,

I am 100%

out of fuel

by probably Tuesday, Wednesday.

I have four days of fuel left.

They're pushing the drop-off to Tuesday.

But there's a shit storm coming in on Tuesday or Wednesday.

So it means I may have to ride out this next storm

with no heat.

I only have four days of fuel left.

At this point I'm simply scavenging fuel from wherever I can.

Why can't you just stay put for me, you bitch?

Without the fuel to run the generator

I don't have electricity,

so I have to use the hand pump.

You know, that's a pain in the ass

but that's what I got to do.

The Kavik weight-loss plan.

Better than the Thighmaster.

(CHUCKLES)

I've got a couple gallons maybe in here

for my last dribble of fuel.

I made a decision to take the last few gallons of fuel

and put it into the Bobcat so I could fix this runway,

get it smooth, hopefully get my fuel in.

If it doesn't come in and I get another storm,

I do not have another 15 gallons

anywhere in camp to pull it from.

This is my one shot.

To make it on the fuel that I have now,

I have to compromise.

The generator, that's gonna get cut down.

I'll pump the fuel out of that tank,

pump it into the heat tank.

Heat is more important than the comfort of lights and electricity.

The heat's gonna let me survive.

Once I cut this lever,

all power is down in camp.

Shuts off the power from the gen anywhere else.

(ENGINE DIES DOWN)

And viola , no power.

AGNES: I'm going to make sure my daughters know how to do this.

Something every native woman

has to know in order to survive.

Hopefully they'll teach their kids how to do it.

CHIP: Today we're probably going to try and get a couple of dozen rabbits.

We use them for fur, and we like to eat them.

AGNES: You see any rabbits yet, princess? Try and look for rabbits.

CHIP: When you're a kid, you learn all the important things

that it takes to be able to be,

not only surviving out here in the cold

but to live and enjoy what you're doing.

CAROL: Oh! Tracks!

CHIP: Help her with the pole, Mary.

You guys are going to go down the trail.

There we go. Keep going girls. Right on down the trail.

We got one of the best traps ever set up.

It's a net. You can net rabbits, you can net fish,

you can net birds.

Today, we're out getting rabbits.

We're going to go back about 300 yards back here

and drive any rabbits we can into this net.

AGNES: The rabbits are gonna come this way. We're gonna go scare 'em, okay, girls?

And since you girls have the sticks,

you girls have to club 'em as many times as you could until they're dead, okay, princess?

You guys good down there, Mom?

-AGNES: Yup! -CAROL: Dad?

-CHIP: Yup, rabbit time! -(CAROL YOWLING)

CHIP: La, la, la, la.

Just talk, make some noise, let 'em know we're coming.

Give them the chance to get ahead of us.

AGNES: Lots of tracks right here!

CHIP: Well, I'm trying my best to drive the rabbits

towards the women over there with the net.

CHIP: Nothing cookin'?

The thing to do would be to leave the net up

and then come back here early in the morning

and make an early morning drive.

We'll just do it again.

We'll get successful.

There's going to be something out here.

ERIK: It's a physical challenge.

It's a psychological challenge.

It's a game of wits

and there's really no limit how far I'll go to get a wolf.

Kill or be killed.

(PANTING)

I'm digging up my little spot in the yard

I have where I've pieces of hide, bones, hooves, heads.

Things that I've taken from animals that I butcher to eat.

Most people would just waste this, throw it away.

But what I do is I save it

and I use it for bait for trapping.

We're going to head up a drainage

that's not too far from my house here.

I've seen some wolf signs up there.

And, uh, hopefully we'll get these sets in

and have some luck.

The cover here isn't very thick.

It makes it hard to snare these wolves.

I'm gonna do the best I can.

I really have a lot of respect for wolves,

they're kind of a cool creature.

But they need to be managed

just like any other species out there.

If all the humans just want to take moose and sheep and caribou

and they aren't willing to put the effort in

to manage predators as well,

it creates an unequal balance and the environment's going to get all out of whack.

So I try to harvest some predator animals

in the ecosystem as well.

All right, we're going to set another snare here.

The idea is, the wolf's going to come through here,

get his head through here

and it's going to tighten up on him.

The lone-wolf track that I saw, I believe,

is a wolf that's travelling by himself.

He's following a pack,

maybe a week or two behind them.

He's in pure survival mode

and he's taking chances that normally a wolf wouldn't take.

We're going to try and exploit that behaviour.

I put a few scraps of hide and bone

throughout this thicket where I've snares spread out.

That'll put some scent

and some visual attraction in here for these wolves

and maybe make them curious enough to make a mistake.

Bait almost never would work on a healthy wolf.

They'd be far too suspicious of it.

But this particular wolf,

because he's already taking extreme chances,

I think that he'll react positively to the bait.

So, hopefully, I'll come back in a day or two and we'll have him.

ERIK: Yesterday, I went up to the creek

and I went to set some snares.

Unfortunately, I didn't see any fresh sign of the wolf.

He hadn't been there since I was there last.

Out here on the trap line

it's not just one day of effort.

It's day after day but at the same time,

hopefully, I'll have something today.

That's it. That's where it's all beat down there.

We're back here where we first spotted the wolf's tracks.

Wolf signs have been gone

for a couple of days and now he's back.

I going to make a little bit of an unconventional set here.

I'm going to place one trap in the entrance of the cubby

and another trail set

and maybe he'll be focused on that cubby

and catch himself in the trail set.

I'm using this moose femur as bait.

The spruce branch is to create a cubby,

and it makes the animal approach from one direction.

But I think there's an outside chance that this wolf will actually go into the cubby.

Wolves normally are too smart for cubbies.

But this wolf, he's kind of scavenging around

and I think he may make a big mistake.

We're going for gold here.

I'm going to sweeten the pot

and throw a little bit of extra bait in here.

I smell success. Success is coming.

Got my sets made, gonna head back to the house,

wait a while and come back out and see what we have.

ANDY: The dogs are our buddies but they're also a tool.

They're a piece of machinery.

Once I hook them up and go

I know I'm going to make it to wherever I'm going.

Hey, hey. There she is.

Good come. Come here, Sol.

That was a good come, good girl.

Big project of the day is building

a house for Jack.

He's at that age

where he's learning how to be a member of the kennel now.

He's transitioning from being a puppy

into an active member of the team.

And so we're going to build him a brand new house.

Put his name on it

and that will be his house for the rest of his life.

So, get a piece of half-inch plywood

and you can make one dog house out of each sheet.

Ever since I've been with Kate,

she's seen every puppy born.

Kate has a really strong tie to these puppies

and I think it's a little bit hard for her sometimes

to watch the young puppies

go from being a puppy and being in her world,

to being a sled dog and being in my world.

I've been raising dogs for 30 years now.

I've had a lot come and go

and it's really hard when they go.

That's probably harder on me

than thinking that Jack's the last puppy I think.

Every dog I own means more work for me,

getting fish and keeping them in shape and training, and...

It's a lot of work goes into keeping a kennel of dogs.

I'm not a young buck any more either

so I've got to start thinking about how I want to do things in the future.

KATE: This is Jack's nameplate.

Andy's mother was here a couple of years ago

in the summertime

and she brought all the dog's nameplates that she made herself.

So we're carrying on the "Gloria tradition"

of making nameplates for their houses.

I always feel sad when they get put on a chain and...

Putting them in their house and put them on a chain

is almost like kids leaving home.

And it's very difficult.

I've been really, really impressed with Jack

and kind of hoping that he'll take Remington's place.

This is going to be my last nameplate

because Jack is our last puppy.

We have 25 dogs now,

so I'm not getting any younger

and, uh, don't want a huge kennel when I'm 70.

This doesn't have to be real pristine.

They tend to eat the ends off of their nameplates.

Some of them have no first or last letters to their names. (CHUCKLES)

There we go.

Too bad there was no room for Super Jack.

(CHUCKLES)

Puppy Jack! Whatcha doing?

Hey! Look at this.

Look at this house. Come here.

Jack, Jack, Jack! Come here. Come here. Come here, buddy.

Come here. Hi! It's going to be your house.

Yea, look at that! Nice and fresh smelling.

He's growing up. Moving out.

SUE: If you live out in the bush,

you've got to have a back-up plan to your back-up plan,

to your back-up plan.

Think of the worst-case scenario,

and get ready for it, it may happen!

When I first got here and found out my fuel

had been used by, by people, uh,

I had to get a few drums of fuel from Bob,

you know, in the ski plane.

I've been trying to get a big fuel drop.

I let 'em know I was to the point of running out of fuel,

and, ah, it got delayed again.

Supposed to be here today, they did not make it,

so I'm in conservation mode.

You know, it's what happens. I mean, you gotta be hardy,

you gotta figure out how you're going to make it.

(PHONE DIALING)

TREVOR: Hi, this is Trevor with Everts Air Fuel.

Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

-(ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS) -Hey, buddy, this is Sue at Kavik.

Um, calling you by lantern light. (CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)

Trying to see if we're a "go" or a "no go"

on the fuel tomorrow.

I got one tank of fuel for my Bobcat to get that runway ready so I...

(AUTOMATED MESSAGE ON MACHINE)

So I don't want to actually give you a full message.

AUTOMATED MESSAGE ON MACHINE: To mark your message urgent...

(CALL ENDS)

Well, I mean, that's that.

Alls I can do now is wait and see.

There's another storm expected on the north slope, totally.

I mean, that's the way it is in the winter. One storm after the other.

Wait and see, hope and pray. It is what it is.

Better hope it goes my way.

(PHONE DIALING)

(TREVOR ON PHONE)

Hey, buddy, how are you doing?

Not very good, why? What's going on?

What's the, uh, the honest picture here for me?

Okay. What can you tell me?

Are we down to not even this week?

You know I got the gen shut down

and I got one shot of fuel

for the Bobcat to get that runway done

so I do not want to do it prematurely.

Well, I appreciate it, buddy,

and you have a pleasant evening.

All right, bye.

Okay. Well, it, uh... Today, no joy.

Um, tomorrow, no joy.

Because this one day, one day, one day

you put enough of those together

you can have a month.

So...

Try again calling tomorrow. That's all you can do.

CHIP: We've come a ways out of town here

where the rabbits are

and we got some pretty good bands here,

different swabs of willows that we want to hunt

and some have lots,

and some have few and some have none.

This time of year we like to come out here

and get some rabbits for a change of meals, you know?

We like to eat a little something different all the time,

and this is a good way of getting enough

to feed everybody at the house in one shot.

AGNES: I just don't see the bunny.

CHIP: There's going to be something out here.

I think we're gonna try from this side 'cause the net can work both ways.

We drove them from this way, now we can drive them from this way.

CHIP: You girls got your clubs? You need clubs.

Now, girls, you gotta keep quiet

and you gotta keep still.

And when you see the rabbit hit the line

you run over to it and beat it quietly,

don't scream and yell, okay?

CAROL: Yup, lots of rabbit tracks over here.

CHIP: Slow up, we're not with you yet.

Lots of tracks right here.

AGNES: Better get out of the open.

AGNES: There's a set of rabbit tracks over here.

Like, a couple now.

CHIP: I'm running out of willows to make noise with,

so I'm getting over here...

Letting them know I'm coming

and they can stay ahead of me

and hopefully I'll push them into the net. Hopefully.

AGNES: Okay? CAROL: Nothing, Mom.

Not one rabbit, eh?

CHIP: Nothing cooking?

It's kind of tiring.

You got to be in shape to walk through deep snow

and in good health.

Just got to get the timing right.

Better luck next time.

CHIP: Every hunter goes home with nothing sometimes.

Even the best hunters go home with nothing sometimes.

Just the way it is.

SUE: You have to be proactive about your own survival.

You can't cheer from the sidelines on your own life.

You've got to be an active participant.

I am tentatively excited about

today being the day for fuel.

I'm getting dangerously low on fuel.

At this point I have less than two days of fuel left.

Any more delays and I'm done.

All right.

TREVOR: (ON PHONE) Everts Air Fuel, this is Trevor.

Hey, buddy, how's it going?

Boo-yah!

Okay. Well, awesome sauce.

Thanks a lot, I'll give you a call around noon.

All right, bye-bye.

Knock on something.

Sounds like it's going to happen.

Well, now I got my work absolutely cut out for me.

I've had a couple of days now

of 20, 30-mile-an-hour winds, blowing snow.

Three, four, five-foot drifts everywhere.

And very few gallons of fuel to get the runway done.

Time for me to get my butt off of the pavement

and in the air where it belongs.

I have got three hours

to get my runway done

and seven gallons of fuel to do it in.

That plane's a big bird. Lots of power.

Thousand gallons of boom

and landing wrong will ruin anybody's day.

Is he wheels up?

Did he go more than 10 miles out?

'Cause the last time he supposedly was headed up the slope,

he had a problem, turned around and went back.

If I waste those last couple of gallons of fuel

and don't get it and it drifts in again,

I have no recourse.

I cannot do the runway again.

ERIK: I got a lot of respect for these animals.

It's not a game to them, they got to just keep moving .

Keep killing.

The minute they stop,

the minute they get lazy, they're dead.

Been a couple of days here since I checked traps,

I'm going to check these traps again

and hopefully we have something.

Always get excited when you see wolf tracks

coming up towards a set you have.

But they weren't going to have anything to do

with my nonsense here.

Go up the way and see if we caught our wolf.

Catching, ah, wolves, it's not easy business.

I mean, just little things, like the water level changed.

The ice obscured the traps.

It happened to obscure the traps

just before the wolves came. Um...

Hopefully I'll get lucky

and have something in my last trap up the trail here.

Oh, I caught something.

Got one more set to check.

Tracks everywhere on the trail.

All excited coming up on it.

I just got entirely outsmarted.

Trap's still even set.

(SNIFFS)

Didn't catch shit!

Last time I had the trap here,

by this tree where I had the bait,

the little cubby, he came around the back door.

Left his scat there.

Did he do that 'cause he got his belly full eating my bait

or is that like a... Like a ominous warning?

You know, "Shit on you, trapper."

Catching wolves, it's not easy business.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a killer, I'm a trapper,

I'm a subsistence hunter.

But they're a lot tougher than I'll ever be.

They're lot better hunters then I'll ever be.

SUE: This is what Alaska is to me.

It's every day a challenge.

Every moment a challenge.

Everything about it's a challenge.

All right, still in the air.

Should have landed in Kaktovik about 10 minutes ago.

I got the word that the plane is going to try and get that fuel to me.

It's really going to happen this time.

As long as he does a fly over

and agrees that I've maintained it safely.

Um, I mean, this is the Hail Mary pass.

It's the winning touchdown or not.

This is Kavik, how you doing buddy?

(PILOT ON RADIO)

Seven to ten out of the south, south-west.

Please do, if you can,

uh, fly over on the runway.

You'll see where I've been maintaining it.

Fly safe.

I can go down there and park.

Flat light, it's a condition

where the sky is the same colour as the snow,

which is the same colour as the hills,

which means everything's white.

So it's like flying around inside of a glass of milk.

You cannot pick things out.

Fuck!

They had it so close.

If they can't pick it out and feel safe,

they will not deliver.

I will be monumentally let down

if it's this close and doesn't happen.

What's your opinion?

I'll do whatever it takes to get out there

and, and make it good for you.

I've got some cones, but I mean,

everything's just flat light today.

I'm not the most textbook religious woman in the world.

If there is a power higher than myself

to keep these dudes safe.

Please bring my fuel in.

Safe.

We got snow coming in, we got fog coming in,

we've got just bullshit conditions

that are setting up.

There he is. See him lining up?

You're not lining up on it, dude.

Get to the north. Get to the north.

Get to the fucking north.

You going to land in my field, dude.

There he goes.

Down, down, down.

He's down.

Now that the fuel is in,

I mean I can breath a hell of a lot easier.

I mean, it all comes down to fuel out here.

When you have it, I mean, you got the luxuries,

life is good.

Without it, you're pretty pooched.

Hey, buddies! Oh, man, it's good to see you.

Thank you so much!

Oh, yeah?

It's not for everybody, actually is just for one-body. (CHUCKLES)

Hey, buddy, how you doing?

-Good, you? -SUE: Good.

Thank you for bringing me fuel. (CHUCKLES)

ANDY: I am the alpha male,

and Kate's the alpha female

and whatever you do,

never want to get between a man and his dog.

So why don't you take care of Jack

and do your thing with him

and I'll feed the rest of the dogs.

KATE: Okay.

Come here, puppy Jack.

Oh, you know that new house you got today?

Well, guess what?

You're going to sleep in it.

Your first day on the chain. Let's see what happens, huh?

You're going to be a good boy with this, I can tell.

We'll put him on the chain with his new house

and that's a rough day

for mommy's to put their babies on a string.

You're going to be a "Jack in the box" tonight.

You're going to go in this house tonight?

Huh?

I think the fish has got him totally preoccupied.

ANDY: Well, that's it.

Between the fish and...

I think it's probably going to be 25, 30 below tonight.

He'll crawl right in there and that'll be that.

KATE: All right, give me a kiss goodnight.

A big ol' fish kiss.

(KISSING) I love you, puppy Jack.

(KISSING)

It's just a stage of growing up.

It's hard to take.

(SIGHS) All right, Jack. Have a good night.

When they're young, I'm the one that feeds them

and takes care of them

and I play with them, I hold them.

I'm usually the first hands they feel.

And that means a lot to me.

And it makes me want to cry

to see Jack grow

'cause it's our last puppy.

And so this is it, when this is done, it's done.

I'm not raising any more puppies.