All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S03E07.Alone.In.The.Dark.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_eng

NARRATOR: On this episode
of Life Below Zero,

Alaskans must adapt to
overcome new challenges.

SUE: I like to say
I'm the king of Kavik.

But Mother Nature took me
down a peg this year.

Fuck!

NARRATOR: Andy faces
dark winter alone.

ANDY: There's literally nobody
now to help me here.

Here he comes, here he comes.

NARRATOR: Erik and Martha
hunt the Arctic
for a cunning predator.

The Hailstones
build a shelter
from winter's rage.

The wind is bullshit.

NARRATOR: And Sue Aikens
is forced to wait out
the darkness.

SUE: The pistol has
to be close by.

ANDY: This year,
winter's a lot
different for me.

After about 10 years
of living together,

Kate and I have split up.

That's just the way it is
out in the bush.

Sometimes people
spend time together

and then they find they want
different things
in their life.

And so everybody's
got to follow their dream.

I'm following mine here.

So, I'm here
at Calico Bluff alone now,

which means a lot
of adaptation

to going back to doing
things on my own completely.

And a lot more work for me
on the day-to-day chores.

Getting wood, getting
water, taking care of the
dogs especially.

But that's part of just
living out in the bush
when you're alone.

Who wants to go for a run?

Anybody wanna go for a run?

-(BARKING)
-Huh?

You want to go
for a run, buddy?

One of the things that I try
and do all year long

is to mark the trails
when I run them

and pack the trail down.

On the Yukon here,
it blows really hard.

Any time I have a trail in,
if it blows for 10 minutes,

my trail is
completely invisible.

Stakes go in about every
quarter of a mile or so.

That way if I lose a trail,
I only have to break trail for
about a quarter of a mile

to find the trail again.

There's been times I've
had to come back from
Eagle late at night

and it was blowing so hard
I couldn't hardly even
see my lead dog.

Putting these stakes out
really helped me
find the trail

and probably saved my bacon

from going into an
open lead at night.

(DOGS HOWLING)

Hup hup.

Easy, easy, easy.

Since we've had a little
bit of snow,

I can break new trail with
the snow machine later
and mark it.

But I wanna get out and see
what it's like to run
a dog team

over the existing trails
I have

and then I'll modify that
if I need to.

Easy, easy, easy. Easy. Easy.

Whoa! Easy, easy you guys.

Whoa. Everybody stay.

Good boys. Everybody stay.

Okay? Everybody stay.

Stay, stay. Stay, stay.

Good boy, Jack.

So what I like to do is,
I usually put these stakes in.

We've had snow and wind,

so I don't have
to chainsaw these in.

When you pile snow like
this on it, it disturbs this,

the crystalline structure
of the snow.

Once you disturb that snow,
it packs in and tightens up.

By tomorrow morning,

this is gonna be
hard as a rock.

And this will stay good like
this until the spring thaw.

Good boys.

Okay, let's go!

I've got another crossing
I want to put in farther up.

I don't have a snow
machine trail there,

so I think I'll just go check
it out with the dogs,
see what it's like.

See if I can do it
with the dogs.

If not, then I'll have to come
back with a snow machine later

and put that trail
in real good.

'Cause these are trails
that I'm gonna be using a
lot the rest of the winter.

Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa! Whoa!

Good, everybody stay.

Trying to put a trail in
across the river,

there's some rough ice in here
but I can avoid it.

So, it's a pretty good
place to cross.

One of the better areas to
cross around here.

The rest of the river,
upriver and downriver
is pretty jumbled up.

So, erm...

This will make a really
good crossing once I get
a snow machine on it.

But I think I'm gonna go back,
get the snow machine,

get a really good trail in.

Straighten some of these...
These big S turns out.

Stake it real good.

And then I got myself
a good crossing

for the rest of
the winter here.

(WHISTLES) Hup.

SUE: The older I get,
the more I slow down.

Everybody does. Age happens.

Show me the expiration date
and then I know how to live.

I don't know what it is.
It could be tomorrow,
it could be 10 years from now.

It could be 100 years
from now.

But I have to be as close
to 100% as a body can get.

You know, this is the
dark part of the winter.

I only have a few hours
of ambient light.

My main generator is down

and, I mean, I can't express
the importance of getting it
back up and running.

Besides, obviously, the
comfort of power and lights,

it gives me
spotlights outside.

If I have to go
work on something

and if a rabid
or dangerous animal
is out there,

I can't protect myself.

That's unacceptable to me.

I'm losing my light,

it's getting colder,
I'm getting the storm in.

I need to get that thing
dug out so that
I can get it running.

Are you friggin' serious?

As you can see,

I got... I got drifts
building up inside.

Any crack in the tent,
any anything

and Mother Nature finds a way.

Fifty, sixty below weather,

it's nothing to mess with
and that oil is frozen.

You know, a big old chunk
of ice doesn't lubricate.

Engines, you just don't just
cold-start things.

You know, I've gotta
get it over here,
warm it up.

What I am doing is

trying to cover the generator

so that when I get this
heater close,

I am actually
heating the generator

and not trying
to heat the whole shop.

If it's 30 below here,
that's 30 below.

I've got to take that little,
bitty heater

and try to heat it up
to about 50 above.

So I'm asking for an
80-degree temperature change.

(MOTOR STARTING)

Cover it up, there we go.

What that's gonna do now,

that heat's gonna run,
hopefully start heating
up the generator.

As soon as
I think it's heated up enough,

we'll go ahead and
try and crank her over.

It's not a quick fix
and it's done.

Here on the north slope,

the most minute of problems
can take a long time.

CHIP: What we try to do
is we give our kids as much

of the most useful knowledge
as we can find up here.

And it gives them an option.

Because any of
these kids could go get a
job in a city, and pay bills,

and live that way.
But not anybody
can come up here

and make a living
the way we do.

Go get yourself a neck warmer.
Go get yourself a ski mask.

We're gonna be on
a fast-moving snow machine,

-so you're gonna need it.
-Okay.

I've got so many kids,
so many daughters,

what if my grandkids
start following?

I don't want them all in
the same place I'm at.

I want some privacy.

So I'd rather put out
a little bit of effort
and make a second one.

NARRATOR: The Hailstones
require a mobile shelter

as they hunt the Arctic
for food in dark winter.

Building a teepee is a
vital Inupiat custom

that has been passed down the
family line for generations.

We're about ready
to go, ladies.

Well, Carol here likes to
follow me a lot.

And I could use
her help anyway,
she'll give me a hand.

Poles are really important
around here

cos we use them for
all kinds of things. Handles.

We use them to build stuff.

It's really handy to
know what a good pole is.

(ENGINE STARTING)

Okay, we're good?

See this little dense
stand of trees?

What that makes them do is
grow thin, and tall,
and straight.

When they're individual trees
like these, these guys are
twisted by the wind,

they lean to one side,

they do all kinds of stuff.
They also get really thick

and then taper to
a real quick narrow.

These right here
don't taper so sharply

and these are more along
the lines of the poles
I want to get.

I'm not using a chainsaw
because it's so cold,

it would take longer to get
the saw started.

When Carol was born,
we lived in a camp.

And she was born
into this whole thing.

This girl here's got
a lot of knowledge.

I would really trust
myself to be with her

if I were injured and out here
and needing things done.

CAROL: I like to go get logs
and poles for our teepee.

I'm happy to have
the land around us

because this is
our playground.

CHIP: This is
process number one.

Process number two
will be making these
things cleaned up.

Process number three
is up to the women.

A lot of sewing to be done.

That's pretty much it when it
comes to a teepee tent.

People do everything the
way they want to.

Some people buy out
of a catalogue. Some people
build their own things.

This is the way we like
to do them.

It just depends on the person.
This is what we go with.

ERIK: Alaska is the land of
economic opportunity.

There's unbelievable
opportunity here.

I'm... I'm nobody and I've
been able to run a number
of different businesses here

and I've been able to live
a very comfortable life.

So what do you think? You want
to go find a bluff somewhere?

Yeah, let's fire up the sled
and cruise out of here.

My name's Erik Salitan.

I'm married to my wife,
Martha Mae.

We run two lodges in Alaska.

You know, a lot of people
view living in the bush

as very physically demanding,
which it can be at times,

but I wouldn't live
any other way.

For me, I enjoy living here

and living the lifestyle I do,

guiding and living a
subsistence lifestyle.

I'm Martha Mae Salitan.

I'm originally from
Iliamna, Alaska.

Currently I live up here
in Wiseman with Erik,

sixty-seven miles north
of the Arctic circle.

We're totally off the grid

and we do
everything for ourselves.

I would not want to come
out my back door

and see a huge skyscraper,
or a neighbour.

It's a good feeling to be
able to provide for yourself.

NARRATOR: In between
guiding seasons,

Erik and Martha
supplement their income

by harvesting and selling the
hides from Arctic predators.

Martha and I are gonna ride
just a couple miles down-river

to a little bluff I know.

It overlooks a
large willow bar.

That willow bar's just
chock full of rabbits.

And big willow bars like that
that hold rabbits

are places that
hold predators.

MARTHA: I'm gonna be doing
the shooting today,

which is a little bit
different, but fun.

Fun for the both of us.

You've always got
to change it up.

You can't become redundant
out here in the bush,

otherwise you get bored.

That's not cool.

ERIK: The whole slough
had been shelf ice.

There's about 24 inches of ice

and then there's about
36 inches of air
above the ground.

Just suspended ice,

just where the whole
river collapsed right here.

Do you wanna crawl up
on that bank

and I'll try to rally
the snow machine
to get around it or...

Yeah, that sounds good.
I'm probably gonna go
over on this side.

This is what happens when
you go and you motor
around in Alaska.

The wild just presents
challenges for you and
you've got to overcome.

About a three-foot piece
of shelf ice

and then this part
all collapsed.

You know what?

I think I can
just jump off that.

It's all good, baby!

I was thinking about
beating my machine up
through the brush,

but I got down on the
fallen ice

and I'd seen it was
pretty solid so I just
jumped the son of a bitch.

You got to stay aware.

You got to, stay on point
all the time.

As soon as
you're lackadaisical

or you're not
paying attention,
that's when you can get hurt.

Got it.

We're just gonna continue
safely along here,

have Martha get back
on the sled,

and go set up and
do some calling.

NARRATOR: Erik and Martha
are hunting the Arctic

for fur-bearing predators,

as their hides will provide
income during dark winter.

I don't know. I...
I think we should go a little
bit further, actually.

This isn't...

It's not thick enough in here.

There's obviously a lot
of science that goes into
a good set-up to call,

but when it comes down to it,
you need a little bit of luck.

The vibe isn't quite
right for me here.

But down the river a
little further

I know where there's
a nice little bluff.

It's about the same
height as this

but there's
a lot more willows.

It's holding a lot
of rabbits in there.

-That's where the predators
are gonna be.
-Okay.

Plus the wind is coming
right down this creek here,

blowing out on the river.

-So anything that comes
is gonna smell us.
-Smell us, yeah.

Let's roll down another mile

to the spot I know.
It'll be way better.

Right here, we're at about
noon right now.

It's just getting light.
It's gonna get a
little bit lighter,

so we have maybe another
hour of daylight.

ANDY: If you're not adaptable,
you're not gonna
do well out here.

You've gotta be quick
on your feet to think
and problem solve.

And if you're a little
bit creative in your
problem-solving,

you do just fine out here.

So I just ran the dogs.

I got a few more hours
left of sunlight.

I think I'll go in and try
and get a base down
with my snow machine.

It's hard-packed
underneath the soft snow.

(SNOW MACHINE BEEPING)

(ENGINE STUTTERING)

Uh-oh.

That doesn't sound right.

(ENGINE SPUTTERING)

I got nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Son of a bitch.

What's going on?

Nothing.

Well,

that means that

I've got problems
with my battery, so...

I think I'm just gonna go
ahead and order
another battery.

I'll be able to run
tomorrow to go get it.

The good thing about what's
happening right now

is it's happening in my yard.

If this happened
out in the field,
I'd be walking right now.

So my day of
breaking trail is
put on hold now.

But I still got a lot of
work ahead of me.

Who needs a little straw?

Huh? I know
Cougaran does.

A lot of adaptation

to going back to doing
things on my own, completely.

And, you know, a big part of
what's changing for me

is the size of my kennel.

I decided to get down to
about 12 working dogs.

Twelve is manageable

when you're alone

and, er,

so I've gotten down to that.
I've given some dogs away

I've sold a few dogs.

And, erm,

I'll just take this
winter to reassess

what I want to do in
the future with my dogs.

That's gonna be a nice bed.

Yeah. Oh, boy.

Oh, you like that, huh?

I guess one of the big changes

for me is that I am spending
more time with my dogs.

They just bring a smile
to my face and all in all,

every day I go out and
do something with my dogs,

I feel like it's...
That's the payoff for all
the work I put in.

(LAUGHS) Deckle!

We're all pretty
tied to each other.

It's a really
symbiotic relationship.

They depend on me
to feed them, and clean
their dog lot,

and take care of them,
and make sure they got
straw in their house

when it's cold.

And I depend on them
to get me from
point A to point B,

haul wood, haul water.

So it's... It's a good life.

SUE: I don't know the first
thing about some of
the things that I fix.

But when I get it done
or I figure it out,

I'm pretty freakin'
proud of myself.

Fat, 50, and fabulous.
That's me.

Well, welcome to
the world of Sue,

the non-electrical version.

Basically, you know, the
generator is not running.

And for me to have power,

I do have an option.

I have a small, 2,000-watt
portable generator,

but it's heating up
the main generator

so I can try to
get it started.

So here I sit in the dark.

For me, while I'm out of
power, the pistol,

you know, has to be close by.

This year, both the states
and the feds

have gotten a hold of me
and said, "Hey, there's a
severe outbreak of rabies

"and distemper out there.
Don't take a chance."

I've got to limit my
exterior activities
during the dark.

For me, without power,

you can look out my window
and you're not gonna
see very far.

So you know, I mean,
I've said it a million times,
nature's king.

You know, I'm just a visitor.

I'm not, you know,
I like to say I'm
the king of Kavik

but Mother Nature took me
down a peg this year.

Time for me to check on
the generator,

to see if it's warm enough.

Maybe it'll kick over.

Well, let's see.

I put my hand under.

It's fairly warm in there.

Okay.

It's warmed up.

So, I mean, here goes...
Here goes nothing.

(MOTOR RUNNING)

(MOTOR DYING)

Oh, shit.

All right, well, it started.

It didn't want
to stay started.

So, when it cuts out like that
it's not getting enough
fuel or something.

All right. I wanna take
this, the little bleeder bolt.

You loosen it when
you're trying to
bleed the system,

which means air
is in the system.

Air will not
combust by itself.

So, you have to
bleed that out,

hence you have a bleeder bolt.

I should probably loosen it

so that any remaining air
can bleed out.

So, I loosened it just a...
Just a smidge.

(MOTOR STARTING AND STOPPING)

Come on. Come on.

What the fuck is that?

Ah! Fuck!

What I discovered is the
bleeder bolt is no good.

Erm, I... What do I notice?

When this is loose it will
allow that fuel to seep.

As you can see,
there's no fuel.

There should be fuel
puking out and there's not.

So, you know, I really need
to get on the horn and call
Bob to fly out.

I mean, it's just so silly.
It's a tiny little bolt.

But it doesn't matter if it's
one stupid bolt.

If it keeps it from running,
you know, I've got to fix it.

CHIP: If you think
about yourself,

then you've got, like,
10 people thinking
of 10 people.

But if we all think of each
other, we've got one mind.

We all work together.
It's a common goal.

Here, check out these stakes.

I got all these scraped
up real good.

-Right on.
-Every burr gone.

They won't even make a
hole in our tarps,

-yeah, or our canvas.
-Nothing will make a hole
in the tarps. Nope.

That takes a lot of work.
Thank you.

CHIP: Yep. No problem.

NARRATOR: Chip and Agnes
are teaching their daughters

to construct a teepee,

a native tradition that
will provide shelter

from the Arctic's wrath
as they hunt for food.

Right now we are measuring
the cloth for our teepee.

We stay in teepees a lot.

I'm, of course, gonna be
following them out
to go camping,

so I want my own teepee
to stay in with my sisters

cos we've already got one
for my parents made.

Notice how he's making it
into a circle, Qutan?

And then when we put
all the poles up,

all the two ends
will meet together
and form into a teepee.

Working together makes
things a lot easier

rather than me and Chip
trying to do this
all by ourselves.

Working together makes
everything a lot easier.

Well, let's pile the poles,

let's wrap the canvas,
and I'll take care of these...

-The tarps?
-I'll take care of the tarps.

(INDISTINCT TALKING)

AGNES: Okay, girls,
let's go in now and go
get this sewed up.

Now that we're done out here,

the girls will be doing
the inside job with sewing

the canvas together with
a sewing machine.

Me, myself, I'm not a
sewing machine person.

I usually sew stuff by hand.

Maybe I'll get to
learn something today.

That looks so simple.

And way faster.

AGNES: We get to use the
sewing machine today

and sew up this canvas and
we can be done in
a matter of minutes

and yet it's still
a traditional use for us.

-All done, Mom.
-Yay, all done?

-Right on.
-Yeah.

Wow, you did a real good job.

Usually I'm hands-on
and helping,

but everything all changes.

Like, I get older and the
kids start to,

you know, get things done.

And the younger kids
start to bring...

Like Carol helped
with the poles and stuff.

And we just work together
that way

and it just makes life
so much simpler.

And one person don't have to
do all the work

and we just share the load,
and that's

pretty much how we
work together

and make a happy life here.

Right on. Thank you.

ERIK: If you'll work hard,
you can have anything here.

There are no limits
of any kind.

It's all just
being self-motivated

and getting done whatever
needs to get done.

This is our first hunt
of the winter.

See if we can't call in a fox

to really kick off the fur
season and get a hide on
the stretching board.

What do you think?

This looks like a pretty
good place with all
that brush over there.

Let's just set up along
these willows here

and see what
we can make happen.

MARTHA: In the beginning,
I was a little scared,

but Erik's been
a really good instructor.

He's helped me
a lot with shooting,

so I'm not scared any more .

I always like to just
sit here for a minute

before we start the call
and set up and just

kind of let things calm down
a little bit

after the snow machine,
the animals can hear that.

Kind of look out over my area,

memorise the
little black spots.

Over there, across the river,

is where I really see
them coming from.

Keep a sharp eye.

(WHISTLE BLOWING)

This reed call imitates a
rabbit in distress.

To a hungry predator,
it sounds like
something good to eat.

-There's a fox. There's a fox.
-MARTHA: I see.

-He just moved.
-Yeah.

-He's behind the brush there.
-Yeah, a red fox.

ERIK: Here he comes.
He's looking right at us.

Here he comes, here he comes,
here he comes, here he comes.

(GUN FIRING)

-Well, that worked out good.
-Cool.

Should we go get him?

-Yeah, let's go get him.
-Let's go.

So we came up to this bluff
where Erik knows there's
a bunch of good willows

and some rabbit
action in there.

We were hoping to find
a fox and we did.

He came out,
he told me where it was,

I got my sights on him,
and I blasted him.

I told you the tail was
cool, isn't it?

We just got this really
nice red fox.

-First fur of the season.
-First fur of the season.

You wanna head back?
I'm pretty cold.

-Yeah, my eyelashes are
starting to freeze.
-Let's get out of here.

Fairly long shot for
an open-sighted rifle,

and she took advantage of it.

One shot, one kill.

Boom, right in the head.
Fox down.

So, we got the first
fur of the year on the ground.

I got to have a kick-ass day
with my wife out in the woods

and my life is cherry.

SUE: I guess it's not fear,

but there's a healthy
respect of what's out
there that I can't see.

You know, what I can see
I can deal with.

What I can't see,
I can be surprised by.

Sunshine!

Right here is the break
in the storm I needed.

NARRATOR: In order to get
supplies flown into Kavik,

a flight from Deadhorse
costs $1,000.

A high price for a
small generator part.

SUE: But as soon as I can get
those parts in my hands,

gotta get on it.

Sooner I get a fix done,
power is restored,

spotlights are up, I can move
on to the next issue.

Super Sue's back in business.

Fixes are done. Life is good.

Hey, Bob! Hey!

Susie!

My parts came in?
My parts came in?

I think so.

-It's a little box, right?
-Yep.

Awesome.

I appreciate it. I know
you've got a lot
of stuff to do, but...

-That's you.
-Yeah.

-Yeah.
-Well, cool.

-Okay. Good luck with that.
-Awesome.

If you have any problems,
give me a call.

-Okay. Yeah.
-I'll talk you through
putting it on.

Yeah, I... You know,
I might need it.

I've never had to
replace that before.

-Alright, it's cold.
-Okay, yeah.

I don't wanna keep you
down on the ground.

-Alright.
-But...

(PLANE ENGINE ROARING)

All righty.

I'm gonna have to do some
of this with my bare fingers.

And it's pretty cold.

There's no heat.
There's no anything in here.

Bummer that, hell.

But I've gotta be able to...

These are little parts.

This is the good bleeder bolt.

And if you look at
the old one,

it's a little shorter.

This one is broken.

And you would think,
"Oh, well here's a new bolt,
drop it in."

Well, the other half of that
bolt is sitting in here.

I can't just drop it in.
I've got to remove it.

Oh, this is gonna be bad, man.

See if I can nudge it.
Do not drop parts, Sue.

Do not drop parts.

I don't know the first thing
about some of the
things that I fix.

I have to remind myself
to stay calm,

cos that generator,

it's just not
running right now.

And it's my job
to figure it out.

Pretty goddamn frustrating.

But if I have to do it,
I have to do it.

Okay.

You don't want to be on there.

You want to be replaced.

And you know this.

Okay.

And the new bolt goes on.

So snug, not psycho.

Fuel!

Yep, I got some fuel.

It's flowing good now.

Okay, that tells me that
I've bled the air out.

So now that I've...

Now that I see fuel coming
out this, you know,

coming out this area.
I snugged it down.
That means

I have fuel up to this point
going towards the injectors.

So, the next thing for me
to do

is, you know,
try to kick it over.
See if it'll run.

I hope this works.

(ENGINE TURNING ON)

Looks like we got power, baby!

I can hear it's running
on all the cylinders.

Now, I'm gonna
push down the lever,
send it through camp.

Okay.

If the light is on the
Twinkie, we're in business.

Okay.

Come on!

Close my eyes.

Yay!

Foxy, we did it! Come on!

(IMITATES GUNFIRE)

Yay foxy, I've got lights!

Yay!

I feel like a
ton of bricks has

lifted off my shoulders.

You know, I say that

when I got here

the only thing I knew
about diesel mechanics was
how to bake bread...

Bam!

That was brioche, buddy.

Whoo!

Yay!

ANDY: The only thing
you can really rely on
out here is yourself,

and your skills,

and your creativity
with those skills.

I just couldn't imagine
my life in any other place.

Come on. Come on. Come on.

He says, "It's cold
and windy out.
I don't want to go."

Come on. You're coming.

I gotta make a run into Eagle
with the dogs.

I'm gonna take a
pretty big team in
so I can make good time

and get as many dogs
exercised as I possibly can.

The main purpose is to go in
and get a battery for
my snow machine.

NARRATOR: To access
resources along the
Yukon River in dark winter,

it is crucial for Andy
to carve trails
through the icy terrain

with his snow machine
and dog sled.

Hup!

You guys gotta settle
down a little bit. Easy.

Settle down.

Whoa! Easy, easy.

I'm living alone.

I can't afford to hurt myself.
There's nobody to pick up
the slack

if I'm hurt.

It's real easy to flip a sled.

It's real easy to get
thrown off

and slam into the ice.

Caution is the number one
word for me.

There's literally nobody now
to help me here.

All right, up and over.

Thatta boys. Straight ahead.
Up and over. Let's go.

You guys are smoking!
All right!

Yeehaw!

Atta boys.

Easy, easy, easy, easy.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa!

Everybody stay!

Everybody stay!

Stay!

All right, let's go.
Good boys.

It's a little hairy
running 12 dogs.

In fact, it's not
a little hairy.
It's scary as shit

to hook up twelve 80-pound
to 90-pound dogs

and take off with them.

Okay, good. Let's go now.

Good boys. Straight ahead!

Yeah, good boys...

Now, Gee!

Now Gee!

Gee!

Gee, come!

Whoa! Whoa!

It's a long way to go for
me right now

just to go pick up a battery.

But it's something
that's really essential
to what I'm gonna be doing

and needing to do in
the next couple of days.

And so it's
worth the trip here.

Kind of a rough trip in,
in a few places

and running a big dog team
like this in Eagle

is always a
little bit nervous.

But I got what I needed

and get the heck
out of Dodge,
head home,

and see if we can get
that machine running.

Okay, let's go home.

Gee! Gee! Gee!

ERIK: I'm a registered
guide outfitter.

I'm a fishing guide.

I do a wide variety of things
year round,
all out in the woods.

Alaska's the land
of economic opportunity.

There's unbelievable
opportunity here.

If I skin it
will you flesh it?

-I'll flesh it and
sew it, yeah.
-I hate fleshing.

ERIK: Obviously had
a good day.

Called in this fox for Martha.

She cracked it one shot
with the AR.

We skin everything we get
taxidermy quality.

We try to get
the most out of everything.

So, taxidermy quality, meaning
that you keep the whole thing.

Keep the face.
You keep the feet.

You have everything
so it's top-notch.

I don't know why you
don't like to skin foxes

but you like to fool with
caribou and...

You like only animals
you can eat.

I'll do the sewing
and the fleshing.

That I enjoy.

The taking the skin off
the actual body,

for some reason that
gives me the heebie jeebies.

Just like how anything
is out here,

it requires a lot of teamwork.

So I went out, I shot it,

Erik's gonna skin it,
and I'm gonna sew it
back together

and it will be fine.

Were you excited when
the fox was coming in?

-Yeah, I was really excited.
-Yeah?

-Yeah.
-Were you scared you'd miss?

I was nervous.
I wasn't scared to miss.

You did good. You dropped it.

Okay, we got the back
legs freed up

and now we're gonna free up
the front legs here

so that when we skin down
past them

we're able to just pull them
right through.

What do you think?
We'll get a buck
and a quarter for this?

-Yeah, it will be valuable.
-At worst, 100 bucks.

It's a lot of fun to get
out in the wintertime

and just go do stuff,
especially for Martha and I.

You know, we're
slammin' busy all...

All year 'round.

This is our time and we just
get to go out, and hunt,

and trap, and just
do our own thing,

and just get our own time.
Hang out together.

Went out, got the first fur
of the year.

Got a fur on a
stretching board.

A little bit of cash on

a red fox here

and a good start
to the trapping season.

CHIP: There's really
a lot of things you can
do for yourself.

If it's not working in one
way, then it's gonna work
in a different way.

And you just keep going
until you find that way.

This right here is what
I'm gonna use to make

a stove for the inside
of my teepee.

It will be a good
little wood stove.

I'll get the top off and I'll
probably transfer the top.

I'll cut it and make it
a little bit shorter

and use the other woods from
the top to make the doors

and hammer this sucker out.

(METALLIC WHIRRING)

There's nothing really
hard or technical about
this kind of living.

What it is, is long
and it's cold.

But once you're
used to the work,
it's not a problem.

It's actually kind of a fun
way to go.

And we're in control
of our own destinies.

We... We're our own bosses.

This will be the part where

the pieces of wood get put in.

It's kind of a big deal here,

but it also makes it
for an easier start, too.

That is one tough cookie.

The cold weather is
pissing me off.

(MOTOR SPUTTERING)

It don't wanna!

(HIGH-PITCHED GRATING SOUND)

(SIGHS)

This is just adapting things.
This is...

A lot of things come up here
to the Arctic and they
don't work out so very well.

It's just our temperatures,
and our conditions,

and just the way the world
is up here, I guess.

So, cold weather has a hell of
an effect on a lot of things.

There. Now we got a hinge in.

So, that will be the door.

It's getting windy, kids.

-You guys fly it up and over.
-TING: That's no problem,
there you go.

CHIP: The wind is bullshit.

(GRUNTS)

You got it?

Okay, Qutan!
You'll pull it until
it comes over.

-Okay.
-Pull it, Qutan.

There, you got it!
She got it!

Pull it over, now the
other side. Mary, pull yours.

Yup. There you go.

Yours, Ting,
you got to pull it.

-Now, Qutan!
-Oh, wow!

(AGNES CHEERING)

-CHIP: Whoa, we're
looking hot.
-TING: Nice.

Check, check, check it out.

Now look, it's just perfect.

Awesome.

All this extra time,
and effort, and frustration

turns out pretty good.

And this is just the
perfect teepee

for all of us to fit in,

and keep warm,
and still be out,

and just be comfortable.

-You got it?
-CHIP: I got it.

Well, this is a good
replacement for your
girls' tent, huh?

This is a much sturdier deal

and it's much more like
what me and your mom
are using.

I think this will
work out just fine.

-AGNES: Yeah.
-Nice, good space for
everyone

to have small little tents.

AGNES: Yeah.
CHIP: Yeah.

We could just kick back
and relax and tell some
stories and...

-TING: (LAUGHS) Be warm.
-And be warm.

It's real good that we
all get to participate

in doing something
like this together.

The girls, they know how to
make their own home now.

That's a good way
all the way around.

It's your house.
This belongs to you, ladies.

You girls got it made.

-TING: It's mine.
-CHIP: Well, someday you'll
have your own family

and then we'll make
another tent, I'm sure.

(AGNES AND CHIP LAUGHING)

ANDY: Being self-sufficient,
being solitary.

Some people think
it's a lonely life.

It's never been a lonely life
for me.

It's exhilarating.

Being your own boss is
the only way to live.

All right, I got my battery.

Quick trip to town
with the dogs.

Stick it in.

Hopefully it's ready to go,
otherwise I'll have to
charge this one.

Patience, patience, patience.

Everything takes time
out here in the winter.

This is a good day to go
put some trail in.

It wouldn't matter if it was
a good day or a bad day,

I'd still be going out
and doing this

because I got to get this done

if I wanna run my dogs
some more

on some of these other trails.

It doesn't matter if it's
40 below or 40 above.

You just go do it.
That's just part of
living out here.

Come on, baby.

(ENGINE SPUTTERS)

All right. One more time.

-(ENGINE STARTING)
-Yeah!

Machine's running.

Sounds good. Everything
sounds like it should.

I think I'll go
hook up my sled

for pulling behind
the machine.

That puts down a
really good trail for me.

Go turn some
dogs loose for recess

and go have some fun
putting trail in.

Haw, haw.
There you go, Deckle.

Let's go buddy!
Good boy, Carby!

Good boy, Briggus!

Haw, haw.

All right!

I spent my first 15 years

pretty much living alone
in the bush.

And I'm kind of feeling like
I'm back to where I was

when I first came to Alaska,

but I'm a whole lot older.

All right.

Good boys.

I often wonder how long
I'm gonna be
able to do this.

You know, I'm 56,
almost 57 years old

and you know,
I know my body's
gonna give out eventually

and I know just the amount
of work I have to do

is gonna have to diminish
over time

but I can't ever think of
a time I won't live out
in the bush without dogs.

I'm glad I listened
to my heart

and decided to come out here

and make a life
for myself out here.