All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S02E11.The.Howling.720p.NF.WEB-DL

NARRATOR: On this episode
of Life Below Zero,

the path to survival
is filled with danger.

-GLENN:
There's one right there.
-(GUNSHOT)

NARRATOR:
The Hailstones embark
on a treacherous journey.

AGNES:
Miles in ice and tundra.

NARRATOR: Andy and Kate are
trapped by the frozen Yukon.

ANDY: The ice broke off, and
is just not safe right now.

NARRATOR: And a mountain of
snow threatens to bury Sue.

SUE: That thing can
cave any minute.

Ah!

(WOLF HOWLING)

GLENN: I just woke up,

and I heard wolves howling
off in the distance.

I'm gonna go outside
and see what's going on.

I'm not hunting
for a particular animal

most of the time
when I go out.

All I do is take advantage
of opportunities that come up.

(HOWLING CONTINUES)

(SOFTLY) There's a wolf.

At least one wolf not very far
from here at all right now.

If I howl,
and the wolves are out,

they'll howl back to me.

(HOWLING)

(WOLF HOWLING)

I just heard the wolf howl
just a couple 100 yards away.

I've got a trail that goes up
that direction.

He might be walking
on my trail.

(GROWLING)

I feel a kinship
with the wolves.

The wolves are out here
hunting to get food.

I'm out here hunting
to get food,

and the wolves are living

pretty basic existence.

I'm living a pretty
basic existence.

So I do feel close to them.

-(HOWLING)
-We're not really friends.

We're not buddies,
but we're not enemies either.

Seven years ago,

I come across
this track of a caribou
that had been wounded.

One wolf chasing it.

So immediately I take off
following this caribou

and this wolf up the mountain.

We head in a direction
where it's headed

right towards some cliffs,

and the tracks go right over
the top of the cliff.

The caribou got chased
right off of this cliff

down into this deep ravine.

And I get down
into that ravine,

I find the caribou, I start
butchering the caribou.

Decided to make a backpack
out of its rib cage,

and I was stuffing the legs
in there, and the head,

as much as I could fit,

everything went inside
the rib cage.

And lugging it down out
of that ravine

it was all brush
and deep snow...

(CHUCKLES) But I had
that meat,

and that was really something.

That was one of the most
memorable days

of my life I would say.

Here's something.
This is a moose track.

A moose crossed
this trail very recently.

So the wolves also could
be after the moose.

They hunt moose and caribou.

They're all excited
about the trail here.

Running up and down my trail,

turned around
right here, stopped.

It didn't keep going.

This moose chose
to follow my trail

'cause it was easier walking.

Something urinated over there,

and there's some scat in the
snow I'm gonna take a peek at.

This is where a moose
was bedded down.

It was laying right here.

That's moose scat.

In the winter
that's what it looks like.

This is a wolf track
right here.

Look here.

That's where the wolves
crossed the trail right here.

Look, they urinated right here
in the snow.

(SNIFFS)

You can smell that wolf urine.

(SNIFFS)

Wolf just peed there
this morning.

Look at this.

This wolf is walking right
in this moose's tracks.

It's following
the moose tracks.

SUE: If you want
to test yourself,

no matter
what your personality,

you can certainly find an area
of Alaska that will do it.

You never know up here from
one minute to the next
what you're gonna do.

NARRATOR: Years in the bush
have taught Sue Aikens
to tackle problems head on.

SUE: All right. This is my
freezer room.

This is where
I keep all my food,

and this is 17, 18 foot
of drift in front of it.

I have a storm system
that's coming in.

I've got several low fronts,
a few high fronts.

It's all coming together,
it's colliding,

and it's a recipe
for disaster.

It's supposed
to be 70 below tonight
and the next few days

while this storm comes in.

Brings moisture.

Moisture at those
temperatures is snow.

The wind with it, it's gonna
crush my building.

It's gonna be deeper
than my lines.

So what I've gotta do is take
a little weight off this line

so it's not drooping so much.

While I have a 17-foot drift
and I can reach this,

this is normally 22 foot
in the air.

I've got my entire business,

a $20,000 building
with $8,000 in supplies.

So I've gotta get
on my snow removal.

As the sun is getting ready
to go down,

you can feel
that temperature change.

I'm gonna be working into the
night to get this shit done.

I'm just beginning
to move that snow.

It's not just that
big 17-foot mound.

I've gotta move
the other stuff

that's been building up too.

I started to make
my little flat path

out to where
I need to dump it.

When you're doing
snow removal,

I can't just go and
fling it over my shoulder

because in a couple of months,
it's gonna melt.

It's gotta melt away
from the camp,
not flood the camp.

I have to move it
far enough away,
that's not my issue.

It's not what's out here today
that's gonna nail me
in the booty.

It's what might
happen tomorrow.

You gotta move
as much as you can,

so you have as much time
before you do it again.

Every storm that
comes through,

it doesn't even have to carry
snow with it,

because here
there's nothing to stop it.

The wind comes
barrelling through,

blows it until it hits
the first thing
taller than ground.

My little paws
are getting cold.

The temperature
is definitely dropping.

The sun is down,
the moon is out.

So I'm gonna be working this
through the dark.

I gotta protect all of,
you know, my little fingers.

Warm up.

Opposable thumbs are only good
if you have them.

ANDY: I go by my, uh,
rule of P's I call it.

Proper planning prevents
piss-poor performance.

The five P's.

Oh, my God.

God damn it.

A huge piece of ice like
several stadiums.

It looked like that kind
of a size,

has broken away from the shore

where our trail
goes right through.

NARRATOR: Breaking
river ice could destroy
Andy and Kate's path

to their nearest point
of civilisation

for weeks to come.

ANDY: Wow, that sucks.

KATE: Oh, my.
We didn't even hear that?

ANDY: Holy mackerel.

KATE: Oh, God,
can it get any worse?

ANDY: This has been
an unusual winter.

Climate change
is really affecting

the way we live out here.

All the seasons
are shifting later,

and there's not much
we can do about it

except for adapt to it

and change the timing
of the way we do things.

It looks like this whole big
piece just went out,

fanned out like this and
then jammed up there.

KATE: Yup.

-It looks like it's open water
up by the island.
-KATE: Yup.

So all we have is that sloped
ice now to get up river on.

I have quite a bit
up in Eagle

that needs to
get freighted down.

If I don't get that down,
a lot of my
springtime projects

are not going
to be able to happen.

And now I've got
a major ice floe
that has broken off

and changed where my trail

that I've been using
all winter is.

I'm going to go
get my ice chisel

and just go check out
this area here

to see whether I'm going to be
able to get up on that or not,

just checking out some
of these places around here

so I know what I'm up against.

KATE: I think you're a fool
for going out there.

I really do.

ANDY: You got to be pretty
vigilant all the time

when you're out on this ice.

It only takes a split second
to make the wrong move

or have the wrong
thing happen.

Things can get
ugly really quick.

It looks like the only option
is to come down here

and burn some calories

and try and cut a trail
out right here,

flatten this out a little bit.

(THUD)

If it's warm temperatures,
it's going to take a long time

for this to freeze up
thick enough

for me to feel
comfortable on it.

It would have been
a bad thing to be out

on that ice
when it started moving.

'Cause, uh, from
the looks of it, I would
have had open water

and no way to get
to the shoreline.

So my plan right now
is to head on back, uh,

get a shovel,
and level out that track

so that I don't go into the
water on that thin ice.

I think I'll be sticking
a little closer

to the bank from now on.

CHIP: We have to think ahead.

Folks up here for 10,000 years
have been planning ahead.

You live for the day,

but you gotta remember there's
gonna be a next year too.

This is light winter.

This is, uh, cold,
but, uh, we got long days.

And this is the time of year
when we hunt female caribou.

And along with
the female caribou

where the caribou
are gathered up,

there's usually lots of fur.

I usually get quite
a few wolves.

Wolverine if I can trap them.

Something that we usually
don't do

is leave our kids behind,

but this year we're leaving
the kids behind.

There's no real particular
reason to it.

I guess maybe my kids wanna
do something different

for their spring break,

but, um, what will be
different for me and the wife

is having some time
alone to ourselves.

AGNES: This is pretty much
our sleeping stuff.

Our tent, our food,
our cooking stove,

and our light, and our change
of clothes, and socks.

(DOGS BARKING)

CHIP: It's a long journey,

and there's a lot of things
that can happen.

We're going across the ocean.
There's thousands of dangers.

It's gonna be miles and
miles, and we could
get lost. (CHUCKLES)

But we're always
on top of the world,

so we know where
we're at all the time.

Since we're going so far away,
we take along a tent,

and we make ourselves
a base camp.

And we work out
of a base camp.

Make ourselves
about a twenty mile loop,

set traps, and hunt the loop.

There it is!

And we have what
we call our trail.

And we take this trail
and this route,

and we work it
for a couple weeks,

and we work our traps that
have been set in between,

and as we go check
the traps every day,

when we see an animal off to
one side or the other,

we take off after the animal
if we want it.

AGNES: So that's pretty much
our load,

tent, sleeping bag,
tent poles, gas.

(ENGINE STARTING)

-Looks good to me.
-Yup.

AGNES: It's gonna be pretty
much a whole day travelling

to get down there.

It's gonna be miles,
and miles and ice,

rivers, tundra.

CHIP: Between March
and the end of September
we're kind of semi-nomadic.

We kind of just live
out at the tent,

and right now for us, this is
where everything starts out.

This is the hunting,
you're just beginning,

and we're just
getting kicked in.

(ENGINE POWERING DOWN)

CHIP: There's the good
and the bad out here.

Being stuck is the bad.

We're well versed in watching
for things that happen,

but sometimes things
catch up on you.

(ENGINE REVVING)

My machine just decided
to just sit there, and
you don't see it coming.

Our best bet with dealing
with anything

is to deal with it correctly

or suffer the consequence.

We're not into suffering.

I'd say we got one, two,
three, four hours of light.

And look like about 15
more miles to go.

We're gonna keep cruising
through here and

hopefully we don't get
stuck in this jumbled-up junk.

We'll just keep probing it.

We'll go along these edges
until we find a clear spot.

It'll come. It's out there.

(ENGINE STARTING)

CHIP: At least
it's not white out.

We're not crashing
into this shit.

GLENN: People depend on
the accumulated knowledge
of generations.

If I just came out here
and tried to learn all this
on my own,

I never would've
survived out here.

Here's another track.

Right there,
that's a wolf track.

This is extremely fresh.

These wolves were just here.

I haven't seen a single
caribou track around here.

Unfortunately, I saw
lots of moose sign,

but no caribou sign.

In winter I hunt caribou,

but the legal moose season
is only in the fall.

I'm gonna walk through the
forest to the southeast

breaking a new trail.

In that forest I may encounter
small game like grouse,

porcupine, ptarmigan,
snowshoe hare.

So I'm just gonna head through
the forest,

breaking trail
to the southeast

for the first time
this winter.

Sometimes the snow
gets so deep

that you literally can't walk.

But I'm building a trail
that I can use

for the rest of the winter.

ANDY: You have to be adaptable
enough to react

to what's working
and what's not working,

and if you can do that,
you can live successfully.

If you can't adapt well, you
don't do very well out here.

(DOGS WHINING)

If I'm not back by tonight

then it just means
that the ice broke off

and I'm heading toward
the Bering Sea.

(CHUCKLES)

All right. See you.

All right. Don't be a hero.

Yeehaw!

There he goes, guys.
He's going on a mission.

I'll keep a watch out.

ANDY: Then we had
a large piece of
the river ice go away.

It broke off, it pivoted,

came down river
about a quarter mile,

and jammed into the bank.

So, it kind of screwed up
where I normally use

for a trail to go up to Eagle.

I've got some steel up in
Eagle I've gotta bring down.

I've gotta haul fuel
down here,

and I've gotta get dog food
down here.

If I miss this opportunity
I'm pretty much screwed

for all my
springtime projects.

A lot of times you wait
another year

until you can do it again.

NARRATOR: To get to town,

Andy will have
to create a path
across the unstable ice.

All I'm trying to do here

is create a little bit
of a trench.

So if the sled
starts sliding down,

it's got something to come up
against and stop right here.

I definitely don't wanna be
falling off down there.

So, I just create a trench
here to go through,

and if I can go slow enough
I should be okay here.

ANDY: I've never seen
a big piece of ice like this

break off like it did
this year.

(CHUCKLES) I'm kind of nervous
about going out there.

I mean, I don't think
it would let go,

but I didn't think this
was gonna let go either.

So, the last thing I wanna do
is come down on some ice

that's gonna break free
and start floating

when I got
a thousand pounds
of gear behind me.

It's kind of like a little
luge run right now.

So as long as I'm in that,

I'm not worried about sliding
out and onto that thin ice.

NARRATOR: With his
bypass complete,

Andy sets out for Eagle

to collect
the building supplies

needed for
his spring projects.

I was trying to get this gear,
all these supplies loaded up,

load some fuel, get some
propane, load that up.

The biggest problem is this
metal is really slippery.

It's hard to lash it down,

and keep it from sliding off
the sled,

so, I'm a little concerned
about that.

Believe that'll keep it from
sliding out the back.

Got about 800 pounds of steel
in the back sled.

Probably about 600 pounds

of fuel and propane
in the front sled.

We'll see. Every day is
an adventure on the Yukon.

I'm gonna be hauling back

probably about 1000 pounds

of material and fuel,

so it's finding a good trail
on the way home

that's gonna be
the issue today.

We're running out
of good trail.

With a load you don't have
a lot of control over it.

It starts sloughing
back and forth

and it can drag the back
of the machine around.

Ah, shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit! Ah!

These sleds don't like
going on side hills.

They'll just
slide to the bottom,
and when they do,

whatever is in the load
really shifts hard

and it wants to slide out.

It's time to get
rolling again.

When the sleds
are running sideways

after sloughing
back and forth,

if they come up
and they hit a chunk of ice,

it really slams the sled hard.

And that's when stuff breaks.

One of the last obstacles is
the side hilling

right by where the new ice is.

If I go off the edge
right there,

I'm gonna lose 800 pounds

right into a deep part
of the river.

If I drop the sleds
over there,

there's no getting them out,

and I'm gonna have
to be really cautious

going through
that last little part.

CHIP: We don't
wanna miss any shots.

We don't wanna miss
the caribou.

We don't wanna miss
any wolves.

(GUNSHOT)

We don't wanna
miss any seals.

We don't wanna miss anything
we see on the way.

We're going to a place where
we go every year.

Actually out of the Arctic,
but it's no warmer

'cause we're not going
that far out.

We're hoping to get there
before the daylight gets down.

NARRATOR: As semi-nomadic
hunters,

Chip and Agnes seek out every
opportunity to find meat.

Today they've travelled 85
miles across frozen terrain

for a chance to provide
for their family.

All right.

Look like it's gonna
get windy later, ah?

Yeah. It's supposed
to go to 45.

45 mile an hour winds are
not fun to play out in.

I'm just gonna untie.
I'm gonna get this set up.

Can you get some coffee
when you get a chance?

CHIP: It takes
about 10 minutes
to set up our camp.

We just have to
unhitch the sled,

untie the poles,
we take the tent,

we slip it over the top
of the poles.

AGNES: And come over here.

We spread the poles.

(CHIP SPEAKING)

AGNES: I'm under here.
Don't let go, Chip.

GLENN: Something I picked up

from people whose ancestors
lived out here

for thousands of years,

is not to worry too much
about the future.

You never know what the
future is gonna bring.

So why the hell spend
so much time planning for it?

I'm not looking
for a particular animal
most of the time.

I'm just looking for food.

Wolves led me up to the ridge.

There's no sign of caribou,

so what I'm hoping is that
I might get some small game.

First time through
on snowshoes
is always a lot of work.

Once I get a trail it's
no problem travelling it,

but the first time through
takes a lot of effort.

Takes a lot of patience
hunting up here in the Arctic.

It's hungry country.

I just walk through
the forest slowly

usually when I'm looking
for small game.

If you're a spruce grouse
you fly around,

you land in spruce trees,
and you eat spruce needles

and it's sprucey.

I like to know what all
of this stuff tastes like.

The willows, the aspens,
the spruce.

They all have
different flavours.

Life has meaning out here

because everything
I do every day

is somehow connected
to my survival.

That's why I don't believe
in vacations.

Like I don't need it
because it's...

It's so enjoyable,
just the actual work.

I don't differentiate

between recreation
and survival actually.

It's all the same thing.

There's a spruce grouse
right in that tree

feeding on the needles.

Where there's one spruce
grouse there are often others.

Before I start shooting
I gotta look around.

If there are more I don't want
to scare them away.

There's one right there.

There's another one on
that branch just frozen.

I'm gonna try and get
all three of those.

(GUNSHOT)

(COCKS GUN)

Yeah, well, she's still there.

(GUNSHOT)

Nice.

That's that male that was
feeding on the spruce needles.

The other one
was right over this way.

Sometimes finding them
is the hardest part.

Yeah. There it is.

I definitely hit
all three of them.

Oh, there she is over there.

There, got all three of them.

That'll make a nice meal.

Maybe even two.

I got three spruce grouse,

and I'm headed home
to cook them.

A lot of times
you don't get all of them.

They're together
when you shoot the first time,

a couple others will fly away.

But today I got all three
that were here.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

Birds are singing,
squirrels are barking,

it's just like paradise
out here today.

Wolves led me up
to, uh, the ridge.

Looked around,
I could see the moose tracks

that the wolves
were following.

One thing turned
into the next.

I come home
with three grouse.

I mean, I feel like
I'm just another hunter
like the wolves.

It's just a very basic,
primal way of getting food.

That feels good.

I mean, I feel lucky just
being able to go out there

and walk around in the woods
all day to get my food,

rather than sitting in
an office or doing something

that I wouldn't enjoy as much.

SUE: You know,
I'm just a fat chick

trying to make a business
on the tundra.

I started attacking my snow
because my meat shed,

where I had stored all of
my food and my frozen meat,

that's already under
a 17-foot drift.

So if that storm comes
in pummelling me,

it's gonna crush my building.

I warmed up my pinkies.

I put on some serious
warmer gear.

I got a long ways to go,
and now I gotta hit it again.

There's nothing that quite
prepares you

for spending a couple of weeks

alone in Kavik in the winter.

You know, any number
of things can happen.

There's always something
else I can learn.

There's always
something else I can do.

There's always room for
improvement in any lifestyle.

Mine happens to be such that

I must rely on myself
in the end.

When I'm the only one
that I count on

in the winter
to get my chores done,

you know, the only ass
that gets kicked

for not completing
the job is my own.

They're saying 50 to 70 below
for tonight.

I definitely believe it.

I'm not sure where
I'm sitting right now,

I really don't care.
All's I know is it's cold
and getting colder,

so I gotta get my job done.

Making some head way.

I'm keeping
this kind of cleared

to move it way away
from camp.

So it drains away from camp
when it melts.

I don't know exactly
when it's gonna hit.

I just know it's all coming
together for the perfect storm

and I gotta be ready.

If not, I've lost my food.

I've lost my ability
to get to the food.

I've lost the building.

I can't absorb a 40, 50
thousand dollar hit.

When you're driving
that Bobcat

you're being jammed
and slammed.

There's no suspension in it.

I gotta be careful
with the Bobcat.

Getting too close to it now.

I mean, that thing
can cave any minute.

I gotta use a gentle touch.

This is the part where
I've gotta pay attention.

I've gotta get the weight off

without pushing on that
building any more.

You put the bucket down,
and you've gotta scrape.

You know,
that piece of machinery,

if I tell it to come down,
it's gonna come down.

If I'm too close,
I'm gonna be the problem.

God damn it.

Ah!

You have got to
be fucking kidding me.

(COUGHS)

Well, I got the snow away
from the building,

but, um, I can see just the
snow from that one storm,

heavy enough, dense enough,
it bent my building.

And you can see
how it's bowed.

I'll take a look at it
from the inside,

but, uh, that's gonna be
a son of a bitch.

(COUGHS) What I got
going on here, you can
see right here, man,

it is bowed out.

I mean, it's...

'Cause this whole building
is built to shift

when the wind hits.

Shift, you know,
so if I put a two by four
down and brace it,

all's that's gonna happen

is this thing is
gonna rock and roll

in the next big windstorm,
and I'm gonna puncture this.

So, that's not an option,

but, you know, in here I got
food for Kavik,

uh, like in the business
as well as myself.

My game meat.

I've got caribou meat,
you know, bear,

and, uh, if this building
does come down,

I mean, this is my meat.
These are all freezers.

You got 10, 20 grand
wrapped up in the building.

Probably five to eight
grand in food.

Toss another few grand
on the freezers to replace,

and, uh, I don't know,
$5,000 a round trip

for every 2,000 pounds
I fly in.

I mean, this'll rack up quick.

So, this little building,

if it makes it through this
winter, I'll tear it apart.

Then that's the time
in the summer,

I'll kick on the heat on it,
re-bend those pipes

till they're the right shape.

Get it all put back together.

Probably spot-weld it
a little bit,

but get it into a home where
it doesn't have to worry

about the drifting so much.

I've done damn near all
I can do with the bucket.

I've got a hell of a lot done.

I feel real good.

I truly believe if I
hadn't gotten to it tonight,

I would not have it.

One more inch of snow
with a little bit of wind,

and I would've lost
that building.

CHIP: We're opportunists.

Hunting comes
with opportunity.

When these things
present themselves

we have a tendency of breaking
off from one idea or plan

and basically making
a whole new one.

If your eyes are wide open

and something comes out in
front of you, you go after it.

One.

We're pretty
much setting up a home
away from home.

We're gonna be staying
in this tent of ours

for the next couple
few weeks.

Ow!

Watch out!

There's another one
gonna come down on me.

Fuck, I'm gonna
have a broken lip.

CHIP: Oh, just knock it off!

AGNES: How could I?
It just hit my lip.

Full force.
See that one just missed you.

CHIP: I understand, but that
doesn't mean a second one's

-gonna get you right now.
-Oh, it just missed you.

I know. I'm sitting here

holding the stick back.

-I don't care what you say.
-You're safe.

That's all I'm trying to tell
you. You're safe. Just relax.

I know I'm safe.
It just fucking hurts.

Oh, I bet it does,

but just, there's not gonna
be another one

-coming down on you.
-(AGNES EXHALES)

I can't smile pretty no more.

-CHIP: Sure you can.
-(CHUCKLES)

You're always pretty.

That fucking hurt.

Oh, I bet it did.

Just wanted you
to know you were
safe where you stood.

I know I'm safe. I just had
to tell you it hurt.

-CHIP: Yes, I heard you.
-(AGNES CHUCKLES)

(SIGHS) Does that look
about right to you?

AGNES: Yup, it does.

I should actually put
some snow on that.

CHIP: Yeah, that would help.

AGNES: I'll go get
some willows to lay
down on the ground

before we put our stuff inside

so that all our stuff
won't get wet from the snow

on the ground, so.

CHIP: I'm cutting these down
to make a bed.

I need a mattress.

Ah, that's a resilient
little bush.

(AGNES AND CHIP SPEAKING)

CHIP: Making a way
to keep our mattress

perfectly off the ground
without being lumpy.

Important is that
we don't, uh, get wet
from the snow below.

I'm just trying
to smash it down.

Make sure I don't have
any hard spots,

or places we'll roll off of.

Don't want my feet higher
than my head,

but we got
a lot of work to do
ahead of us,

and this is just getting
it started up.

ANDY: You know, the only way
you live subsistence

is working off
of renewable resources.

So far I haven't figured out
how to get gasoline, and oil,

and all these other things
as a renewable resource.

You gotta make cash
to make it happen.

(DOGS BARKING)

Things are going for the
most part pretty good.

The sleds were sloughing
around a lot,

but I haven't lost
anything yet. Thank God.

Now this don't look
very good any more.

NARRATOR: With 800 pounds
of supplies in tow,

Andy will have
to keep careful control
of his sled,

or risk losing everything
to the river ice.

ANDY: I'm just gonna
have to go really slow

on some of these side hills.

Whoa. Don't you dare
go in there.

Oh, shit! You better not.

This could all go to hell
really quick.

Oh, fuck, fuck,
fuck, fuck, fuck. Oh!

Come on. Get in that track.

Come on, boy.
Get in that track.

Attaboy. Stay in there.

All right. Yeehaw!

Whoa!

Whoo, boy.

That was a close call.

That's a good feeling.

That's a load off
my mind right now.

I just came through that,
um, I call it the luge,

the area I shovelled out,
and it was pretty dicey.

That back sled almost
went off two times.

I got it into the area
I shovelled,

but one point
the back end of it

was overhanging the ice there.

But the ice held, so heart
was pounding a little bit,

and it was kind of like
(LAUGHS) damn.

I'm this close to home.

I don't need this
happening now.

That would be pretty ugly
to go over on. (CHUCKLES)

But there's quite another
big crack in the ice

right back here
heading upriver.

You know, after seeing this
big chunk of ice

break off the other day,

my eyes are tuned into these
cracks in the ice

a whole lot more now than
they were a week or so ago.

I now know what's possible.

I never would've thought that
a big chunk of ice like that

could've come off
and did what it had done.

Good learning lesson for me.

I really picked up a few new
clues to look at the ice

and decide whether
it's safe or not.

Every time you go out here
you learn something new.

Good or bad, that's life
on the Yukon, man.
(CHUCKLES)

CHIP: I like the
zero temperature.

It's a good
working temperature

and we can stay outside.

Zero degrees isn't too cold,
and it's not too hot.

I'm carving snow blocks
with a shovel,

and I'm making a wind break.

Not only is it a wind break,

it's also some weight

on the edge of my, uh, tent.

It was kind of warm out, and
then the wind picked up.

So I put on my leather,

and I go make sure that my
tent isn't gonna go anywhere.

Especially if my wife's here
and I'm not.

It'd be pretty tough keeping
something like that
down in the wind.

Like a big sail.

I got just a few more pieces
to put here.

When I'm done with that I'm
gonna go get some firewood.

This is an old broken
down, uh, storage rack.

We used to keep, uh, meat
and all kinds of stuff here.

But we purposely left firewood
here just in case we came back

and happened to need firewood
when we got here.

Time to take these over here
and whack 'em up.

This is the Arctic,
and heat is a big priority.

Getting wood
is the way we heat.

So this is a very constant
chore for me.

It's just
as important of a job
as keeping people fed.

Tomorrow we'll get more wood
and build a big fire.

Man, I'll tell you what,
my top half is tired.

My back is tired,
my shoulder's tired,

my elbows are tired.

But that's what coffee's for!

Just getting here was an
adventure all on its own, huh?

-It was fun.
-Yeah, it was fun.

I've done this so many times
the adventure part's gone.

But, um, you know
what it's been replaced by?

Is I'm content.

I know where I'm going
and I know what I'm doing.

And none of this is new.

This is all very comforting.

New stuff is exciting,

but doing this same stuff
over is more comforting.

And I just feel terribly
normal being here.