All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S04E15.The.Thaw.River.Of.Rage.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_eng

Rocking and rolling out there.

Hell of a wakeup call.

Looks like it's just
basically moving right down
the main channel.

Let's just hope that it
doesn't turn into, "Oh shit.

Coming up fast."

That's a big wall of ice coming
this way.

Well I'm glad this didn't happen
in the middle of the night.

That's one good thing.

There's nothing worse
than waking up to putting
on your rubber boots

and running around in the dark.

I just hope it all keeps
moving. [laughs]

It's when it stops moving
that I got problems.

Breakup is a symphony of sounds
out here.

You can hear the water rushing.

The slushing of the ice.

You can hear big chunks of ice
kinda thumping and banging

and booming and popping.

First hour here is really
gonna tell the tale on what's
gonna happen here.

So right now the river level
is actually higher than I am.

It's got a big crown in it.

Keep on pushing, boy, keep on
pushing.

Yes, indeed.
She's gonna come up!

Oh, crunch!

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Andy Bassich is in
the midst of one of the
Arctic's most powerful

and fearsome events,

the spring breakup of the Yukon
River.

Massive flowing ice and rising
waters

could bring severe flooding
and destroy Andy's
livelihood in a heartbeat.

Andy has done his best to
prepare his
property and sled dogs for
disaster.

But his fate rests solely
in the hands of Mother Nature,

and for now, he can only hope
that breakup doesn't demolish
his camp.

Slippery stuff.

Keep on moving buddy,
keep on moving.

It's slowing down a little bit.

Oh, shit.

Yeah, buddy. I'm gonna get
trapped here if I don't get
outta here in a heartbeat.

Not good.

I'm feeling pretty
nervous right now, it's
coming in pretty fast.

I mean the water just came up
two-and-a-half feet in about
five minutes.

Try and gain another higher
vantage point.

It stopped.

Everything stopped.

That's a big wall of ice out
there.

Uh, my heart's starting
to beat pretty good right now.

This kinda reminds me of 2009.

Well, 2009 flood was one of
those events in life that
you just never forget.

You know, to have pretty much
everything you'd worked for,

for 20 years taken away from you
in 24 hours, it's pretty hard.

There's nothing easy
about carving a life out

in the middle of a wilderness
environment.

Throw on top of that
the possibility of losing your
life,

and it's a pretty powerful
experience.

If the ice doesn't come in,
I'll be all right.

If the ice comes in,
then it's all a big loss here

'cause there won't be anything
left of this place.

[Glenn] It's like the whole
pace of nature just picks
up in the springtime.

Everything speeds up,
gets into high gear.

Wow, what a beautiful day.
Springtime.

Things are starting to thaw out.
Look at this water.

Don't have to chisel a hole
through the ice any more.

This whole lake could
all be open water in
just a few more days.

Ooh, that water's cold. Ice
water.

Things are thawing out, warming
up.

It's up in the forties today.

Things are changing, it's
springtime.

Just a couple weeks ago,
there was snow all over this
yard.

Breakup, it's one of the
best times of the year.

I'm gonna take a walk, head over
to the outlet, see if that's
flowing yet.

And if that's flowing, it's
possible that fish are
coming back up the outlet,

and also ducks will be coming
in.

I can go over to the outlet,
walk down it
for a ways and just take a look.

See what's going on out there.

Hey, look at this.

Bald eagle sitting on its nest
over there.

She's already got eggs.

It's always good to see
the eagles come back

because these eagles,
they've been here longer than I
have.

When I first came
to this lake 16 years ago,

this same pair of bald eagles
was nesting here.

And every year they come back.

[squawks]

There she goes.

There's nothing like having
bald eagles nesting in your
back yard.

Every summer I watch
a little eagle or two grow up
right here.

The ground, it's all bare now.

The last time I was out walking
there was a lot more snow,

and I can get to all kinds
of things that were buried
under the snow before.

Look at this juniper right here.

Sometimes I like to eat
one or two of these.

They're a real strong flavour.

It's not a berry you eat like
fruit,

but I like to just suck
on one or two of them.

It's kind of a strong flavour,

but that's stuff you can't get
to in the wintertime.

You can smell the earth again.

You can't smell that in the
winter.

Everything's sterile,
it's all covered in snow and
ice up here.

Okay, so this is the outlet.

Just a couple weeks ago,
this was all covered with ice
here,

and now it's flowing out of the
lake.

Hey, I think I see a fish.

There's a species of fish,
arctic grayling,

that I don't have up
here most of the year.

I've never caught one in the
lake,

but in the springtime
they migrate up this creek.

And they come right up just
to the edge of the lake.

They're really good eating.

It's just a narrow window of
opportunity.

If I want to eat grayling,
this is the time to get one.

For grayling, just a
little spinner like this
usually does the trick.

Let me see if there's anything
in there that wants a bite.

No. Nothing.

Didn't get a bite.

I'll keep going downstream,
there's some bigger holes,
easier places to fish.

I'm gonna keep moving.

[Chip] We have ideas of
what we'd like to do,

and then we bend and shift with
them.

Because that's the best way
you can survive up here.

Wow, it looks a lot better
than it was earlier.

Soaking wet all right,
but the rain has passed.

The river's coming up
and it's gonna start to flood
pretty soon.

The river's not gonna get
us today or tomorrow or
the next day,

but it is gonna come up
eventually.

I wanna go get a few more
caribou so I don't have to
live on birds this summer.

There should be some
down here in the lagoon.

[narrator] In Kiwalik,
Chip and Agnes Hailstone

are preparing for the spring
caribou hunt,

which provides a key food source
for the family this time of
year.

But melting snow
and rising waters
in the region

have made conditions
dangerous for travelling.

We're gonna go over towards
Mud Creek so we only have to
cross the river once.

If we try to go down any
other place, we have to cross
the river at least twice.

And that hill is pretty barren
to be driving over

and especially over with a load.

We're not gonna go past Willow
Mountain,

we're gonna stay on the
lagoon Minnehaha area.

There should be lots of caribou
up there.

If you hear us coming or
something,

you make sure there's a
thermos of something hot

and take some wood in there
and I want to be able to have

a hot place to come back to
because it was not only raining,

but it's very wet, and the
likeliness of us coming back
wet and tired is a lot.

[Agnes] Oh, yeah, you got this.

Yip! Yip!

[Chip] We wanna go get caribou
bulls.

The bulls are lean from a long
winter

and the females are really wide
with babies and pregnant

and we don't want them anyway.

And we don't end up separating
cows from their calves

and then having a calf
that's gonna starve to death.

So we just let them go right
now.

There's a time to hunt a cow,
but not when her calf is
needing her.

That'll be in the spring.

Right now, it's bull season.

[Agnes exclaims]

Whoo!

[Agnes] That lead one up there
is a male.

It looks fat.

[Chip] That's a bull in front,
he's got new antlers.

One more time.

[Agnes] You try to pick out
the one you want and you try to
shoot

without a whole bunch
of animals behind them.

Gosh.

[Chip] It's not easy to get 'em
when they're running.

[Agnes] It's hard work, but we
gotta eat.

There you go, you got him!
There's one bull down.

[Agnes] Yee.

Okay, that one's down for sure.

[Chip] Yeah, Agnes did well.
She's got one bull down so far.

I'll get a few more, pick
'em up, take 'em home.

We just gotta go take care
of what we got right now.

I'm ready, willing, happy,
excited.

Ooh, we've done good already.

[Sue] If you're not
facing your fears, you're
not conquering 'em.

You're not conquering 'em,
they're conquering you.

I don't want to be somebody
else's bitch.

Warmer temperatures.

Snow melt-off means

my runway is flooded.

The water has no choice, really,
but to run over the runway,

'cause this isn't thawed out
enough.

The runway currently is flooded.

What does that mean?
That means the planes

that bring my fuel in can't
land safely.

I am the only refuelling station
on the eastern side of the
North Slope.

It's about a third of the
size of the state of
California and one gas
station.

This runway is just...

It's gonna be a lot of work.

[narrator] Kavik River Camp
will soon open its doors

to bush pilots who are
passing through the tundra.

If Sue Aikens is unable
to clear the runway of hazards

and get her fuel supply into
camp,

she will lose tens of thousands
of dollars in crucial revenue.

[Sue] You know,
I'm looking down the runway

but my eyes are picking
out the inconsistencies.

This is where everybody's
damn nose wheel is gonna hit.

And it's not flat across,

it's got a U.

That's dangerous.

Those planes, they won't
and can't safely land

when you've got a really shitty
setup.

Once all the water
stops running, I'm
gonna be left

with round rocks everywhere,
like this.

You've got gravel and dirt,
which will harden up

and become like cement, like
concrete.

But over there,
all that's being washed off.

But you can't get the plane in,
the rest of it won't matter.

I can have him cold,
I can have him hungry,

I can have him upset,
I can have him dirty.

But if I don't have him,
it doesn't matter.

[narrator] While waiting for
the water flow on the runway to
subside,

Sue's next priority is
preparing camp for
the clients that will soon be
arriving.

[Sue] It feels like the
one-millionth time
that I have turned the dining
hall

from a dining hall into a
bedroom
and then back into a dining
hall.

Sometimes I make it,
then it's all done before
clients get in.

Sometimes I don't.

But uh, it's time to get this
one done.

The goal now is just to empty
the room.

To be out here and do what I do,
I don't care where you're at.

If you want to do it
successfully
in remote Alaska,

you better learn how to leave
a lot of your emotional

super-highs and super-lows
behind.

Am I living the true
subsistence lifestyle?

What the hell does that mean?

And if you're talking
about living off the grid,

I'm off of everybody else's
grid.

I'm just on my own.

That took development.

I didn't just land on an
airstrip and go,

"Oh wow, look,
somebody's put everything
together

and I think I'm just
gonna run it and it's
gonna be great."

Once I saw the vision of
what the camp wanted to be

and I knew that I could help
achieve it,

then I can't walk away until
I've done my best to try.

[Andy] You know,
you just gotta take each day at
a time

and do the best you can,
and live through it.

Son of a bitch.

That's a whole lot of ice.

Pretty fucking scary actually,
when you look at it.

You think, boys,
you want to spend the night in
a boat?

Might have to.

I think I'm gonna go down
and start prepping the...

The ark boat a little bit more.

No rest for the wicked right
now.

It's time to go back and keep
prepping.

I realise now,
looking at the ice conditions,

having some time to assess it,
that I think I'm gonna get

flooded a lot worse
than I originally thought.

Better to do it now while
I'm in the lull than to try
and do this in a panic.

Got my water pump in my
greenhouse here.

If I flood, I'm gonna need this.

Pump out my root cellars

and all that kind of stuff.

So I think I'm pretty well set
up.

The ark has got chains in it.

If I see this river start to
move again and the water
start to come up,

I'll just throw the dogs in
the boat and ride it out.

We'll move some dog food
so it don't get wet.

Looks like my fish wheel is
just about underwater now.

The fish rack's got
water flowing right at
the base of it.

There's 2,000 fish on that
fish rack gonna go to
waste.

That's a whole summer's
worth of dog food for me.

So, I decided to take a chance
and see if I could

get that thing pulled out
with a bulldozer.

Fuck!

Damn it.

Trying to lift it,
I broke one of the skids on the
tip.

I think where I'm feeling
a lot of apprehension right now
is,

I just spent six years
cleaning up from the last one.

Managed to make the fish rack
come up the hill without

coming apart in a million
pieces.

That was time well spent.

Huge relief to me, 'cause all
morning long I was looking at
that fish rack thinking,

there's 2,000 fish on that
fish rack gonna go to waste.

I feel like I got a lot done
today.

I feel like the most
important stuff's done

and who knows what Mother
Nature's gonna
throw my way tonight or
tomorrow.

We'll just wait and see.

[Chip] The weather changes all
the time.

The weather makes the plans
and we just go with it.

We're, um, heading home and, uh,
there is quite a few more up
ahead of us,

so we're just gonna keep hunting
our way home back to Kiwalik,

until we have five and then, uh,
we'll call it a day

and then from there,
we will try to get across the
river,

which is gonna be
a whole different challenge on
its own.

[narrator] The Hailstones
are hunting caribou in Kiwalik.

Caribou are an essential
source of meat and protein for
the family.

But thawing in the region means
their window to cross the river

and intercept the animals as
they migrate
is closing rapidly.

[Chip] There's a bull.
He's the second to the back.

He's got antlers, he's just
immature that's all. You can
get him.

Got it.

Give it a second to die,
you don't need to shoot it
again.

Let it die.

That's a good one, let's go get
it.

Yeah, looks like he's totally
down.

[Agnes] This is, uh, teamwork,
a hunt we both like to do.

I just love following him,
and being with him, and hunting
together.

It just makes hunting a lot
easier

'cause I know what he's up to
and he knows what I'm up to.

And even though you see
this big red bloody mess,

it's always it's a mess of
success.

[Agnes] Yee!

[narrator] In order to get
their harvest back to camp,

Chip and Agnes must risk
breaking through a river of
thin ice.

[Agnes] In the next couple days,
we won't be able to cross the
rivers,

so, it's critical for us
to try to catch our meat
right now and bring it to
camp

and get it to the other side of
the river.

Oh, there's Ting.

[Chip] We still gotta cross
this river.

This here is our last real
obstacle.

It's overflowing, it's ice on
top

and it's water below
and then it's water in between
the layers.

So it's not a whole lot of fun,
but, um, it's gotta be done.

And my daughter's over there
as an audience.

She's gonna watch us cross
today.

[Ting] Ooh!

Bro! Bro, let's go!

Come on.

I tried to take the best
route I could and the load
behind me pushed me

over the good ice that I wanted,
and back to the water.

I tried to power through that.

The machine would only turn to
my left.

So I tried increasing power
and bringing my fronting up,

hoping I could straighten out
and that didn't even work.

And I basically had the machine
stuck.

I was glad my son and Edward
were here hunting

and that they just happened
to stop by on their way home.

[Agnes] Go!

One-two-three, go!

[Glenn] It's really just about
keeping track of the animals,

keeping track of the plants
and the change of the season.

Just looking around
and having a good time.

Hey, look.
There's an owl in that tree.

That's a hawk owl nest right
there.

Look, she's sitting on her eggs.

She's all tucked away in there,
safe and secure.

Oh look, looks like the
owl's caught a ptarmigan.

Yeah, they've been doing pretty
well.

White feathers all around,
right underneath the nest here.

You get to know the individual
animals

and I've been getting to
know these hawk owls here
for quite a while.

And I'll come over here in a
week or two,

and the little ones will
be sticking their heads out
there.

That's one of the great things
about living out here,

keeping track of all the
animals, not just the
ones I'm hunting.

Not just the ones I need to eat
myself.

But the ones I like to
keep track of, just to get
familiar with 'em.

[narrator] In the Brooks Range,

Glenn is hiking along
the edges of the creek

in search of arctic grayling
and ducks,

food sources that are
key to his survival this time
of year.

Here's my bridge.

This is a little bridge I built.

Helps me get across the creek.

I'm glad to see it
survived another breakup.

Sometimes in the spring,

this water gets real high
and chunks of ice will be
flowing down it.

But it looks like the bridge
is safe and sound here.

Beautiful. I love this bridge.

I can just walk across here now.

I won't have to take my
clothes off every time I go
across the creek.

This time of year
everything's coming back.

Everything's moving into the
area.

And everything that stayed
here dormant over the
winter is coming back
alive.

All the plants are growing
again.

The bugs are coming out.

The fish are coming up the
creek.

The birds are coming back too.

It's a time of abundance
out here compared to the
rest of the year.

I'll cast in here a few times.

Typically, in a pool like this,

the biggest dominant grayling
will have the best feeding
position.

Up at the head of the pool,
where the current comes in,

that's where the food is coming
in.

The bigger grayling will be up
there

and the smaller ones will
be further downstream.

So I'm gonna cast right up
there.

Something on there.

Okay.

Got a grayling.

This is the first grayling
I caught this spring.

Look at that beautiful fish.

Look at that, these are
really good eating, small, but
tasty.

That's a good start, but
I'd like to have a couple
more if I could.

See if maybe there's a big
one waiting over there.

There, just had another one
come at it.

Didn't hook him, though.

Caught a glimpse of it.

Okay, I'm not getting any
more action in this pool.

I'm gonna keep heading down the
creek.

There will be some other pools
down there I'll check out.

And who knows,
maybe I'll find some ducks
around too.

[Sue] I may be an island,

but I'm on the same planet
as everybody else.

I'm getting into kind of
a sticky situation this spring.

Can't get the runway prepped
to receive the large fuel plane

'cause I don't have the
large fuel plane, I've now
as of this morning

lost two major clients
that, uh, needed fuel to do
their work.

If I can't sell fuel,
my spurs are going on the wall.

[narrator]
Now that the water has
dissipated,

Sue must get her runway in
working order.

Although smaller aircraft can
still land,

it's too dangerous
for the larger fuel plane.

But with her recently acquired
loader in need of parts

and currently out of commission,

Sue is forced to use the Bobcat,
an older and smaller piece of
equipment.

It did the job for a
lot of years. It's
mighty tired.

But that's what I've got to
work with.

It currently has
the tracks on it for winter.

What I want to do is get the
tracks off.

Come on, you motherfucker.

They are heavier than a son of
a gun.

You gotta drag, push, pull
and just get it done.

Well, that's one job done.

That water just does a
number on the runway here.

It's uh, like asking a plane
to land in quicksand.

You're not gonna have a lot of
control.

This is a flat drag.

It used to be the tongue of a
trailer.

This is supposed to take
the gravel, and push and
move it, flatten it out.

That's not gonna cut it.

The water that's going across,
I mean I could even see here,

you've got almost
a three-foot elevation change.

This is not gonna do
anything to solve that.

I've got my cut-and-drag,
it's got a sharper edge,

a little bit more weight to it,
a little bit longer,

to hopefully dig in
and move some of this ground.

I'll run this up and down
a couple of times.

It takes me a little bit to do,
but I want to see, will it push
the rock.

Will it move it enough

that I can feel confident and
say,

"Land on the western side,
land on the eastern side,
the turn-in is good."

If it's not good it
doesn't matter how many
people want the fuel,

it's not safe to bring it in.

Turning down the clients
that wanted to come in today
for fuel,

they're not gonna get their job
done.

I'm here to prevent stuff
like that from happening.

And yeah, I know it's not
fate worse than death,

but you set it up
so that people can count on you,

well then you got to be counted
on.

I've exhausted, really,

how effective the Bobcat can be
with the runway right now.

I really just need to get
the loader running well

and have it do the job it's
designed for.

[Chip] Taking my wife
and going hunting when
it's a wonderful day
like this

means I have an awesome life.

Pull.

[narrator] With freezing water
and unpredictable ice beneath
their feet,

the Hailstones must act fast
to keep their vehicle

and harvest from being lost
to the deadly current.

Okay, one-two.

Watch out, Hon.
One-two-three, go.

Ah!

Oh, my God, I did it!

It's happening.
This is part of spring.

Although I hate ice and water...

This is what happens.

One-two-three, go.

[Chip] One-two-three.

[Agnes] One-two-three, go!

One-two-three, go!

One-two-three, go!

Oh! Honey!

Chip!

[Chip] I hate it when it
happens.

[Agnes] Hold onto my legs,
Edward.

[Agnes coughing]

[Agnes] Don't go too close to
the edge.

-You didn't touch?
-I didn't touch at all.

These guys came out and gave us
a hand,

and got off the shallow
and hit the deep stuff

right here so the ice broke
out from underneath me.

You know, it's one of those
things.

I was lucky there was
someone here to give
me a hand.

Got up on the ice, we started
bringing the machine up

and then I broke through,

got soaking wet all the way up
to my belly button.

[Agnes] One-two-three, pull!

[Chip] Yeah!

[Agnes] Holy cow.
A little bit more.

One-two-three, go.

[Chip] Awesome.

The machine's up and on the ice,
the sled is up and on the ice,

the caribou are okay.

I can attend the machine later.

It's time for me right
now to warm up and change
my clothes

and change my boots, and
go get rested up and get
back to working

and making sure that machine's
good.

-Thank you, Bun.
-Thanks, Bun.

Our daughter had hot coffee,
nice hot tent all ready.

The dangerous thing isn't
getting stuck,
it's getting wet.

Everybody gets stuck, everybody.

The water went through the pipe.

Went up and went inside
and stopped at the motor
thankfully.

I shut the motor off
when we were getting stuck,

I could see we weren't gonna
get out.

The muffler was full of water.
I got that taken care of.

I think I've got most
of this stuff out of here.

[Agnes]
Hopefully it'll start right up,
eh?

[Chip] Let's hope so.

Come on.

-[motor running]
-[Agnes] Whoa!

Right on.

All right, that's all good.

That makes our hunt complete,
eh?

-[Chip] It sure does.
-We could move onto other
things.

[Chip] You know, I feel like
another cup of coffee and
dinner.

[Agnes] Oh, I'm ready for
dinner too.

-Boy, am I hungry.
-[Chip] Oh, boy.

That cold water took the energy
out of me.

[Chip] Well, it's all turning
out good.

We got plenty of caribou,
we're dry and safe.

Snow machine's running fine.

Now we can go kick back.

[Agnes] Eat and get our energy
back

and come up with something new
to do.

[Chip] Yep.

[Glenn] Snow melts fast,
the ice goes out fast.

Birds come back and everything
changes.

I'd like to get across the
creek here.

It'd be better to be on the
other side

'cause there's some lakes
over there that could have
ducks in 'em.

It could be a little dicey
getting across here.

The water's going under the ice
and the ice is all caving in.

Definitely don't wanna
get swept under there.

Ice can be tricky this time of
year.

It's melting fast.

Even though it's still thick,
it's getting weak.

You gotta be careful.

If I can get across,
there's some lakes over on the
other side.

There could be ducks over there.

There. Made it across.

Right down here there's a
little lake.

I wanna check it out.

There could be some ducks down
here.

I see something over there.

Yep. Looks like a duck.

Gotta walk a long ways
to find a duck out here.

That's the way it is. It's
hungry country.

There's a little narrow moat
and the duck's swimming this
way in it.

So I'm gonna go this way,
see if I might be able to
intercept it over there.

There're some ducks here.

Problem is the wind.

Wind's blowing this way.

If I shoot a duck out there,

it's gonna blow over
there next to the ice.

I won't be able to get to it.

This water's freezing cold,
so it's really hard to go in
the water for very long.

I got to make sure I shoot a
duck where it's gonna get
blown to shore,

or where it's right in the grass
next to the shore where I can
get to it.

Hey, I got my duck.

There he is.

Just had to be patient
and wait for the right shot.

Had to wait until the duck
was in close enough to shore,

make sure I could get him.

That's a widgeon.
Couldn't ask for a better
eating duck.

I finally got a good shot at
a duck that I could recover.

That's what I wanted.

Got my duck.

Spring's a great time of year,
isn't it?

Everything's changing
and my diet's changing too.

I get different things to eat.

I haven't had a duck in months
and months.

I haven't had a grayling
for almost a year.

Mmm.

That's amazing.
Got to chew gingerly though.

Mmm.

Little B.B.

There.

Little pellet,
that's what killed that duck.

That's why I don't like
to shoot 'em more times than
necessary.

I love getting a duck in
the spring, eating the
first duck.

And I love it when those
grayling come up the creek,
getting the first one.

When you go out there
and you hunt your food yourself,

you're connected to it.
It's kind of special.

It's kind of nice to live
in this environment and be
able to go right out

and collect your food
off the land like that.

Everybody used to do
this not that long ago.

Everybody was a hunter and a
gatherer.

Things changed, and nowadays
people are disconnected from
their food.

This is connection.

It's a very different
atmosphere,
living like this.

And I like it.

[Sue] I mean, just because
I'm not the smiliest
bastard on the planet,

don't think I'm not having fun.

[narrator] With her runway out
of commission, Sue, is unable
to get fuel.

And with clients coming to
Kavik soon,

she must turn
to an outside source for help.

The USGS guys that come through,
they do the hydrology work.

They usually come and get
their fuel from me, however,
I don't have fuel.

So I referred them to 70
North Happy Valley, and
they do have fuel.

So they're delivering it here
for 'em so that they can stage

from here to get their work
done.

Be safe.

-Okay, fine, bye.
-See you later, Bob.

This should have been a sale
that I was able to do out of
here,

but I'm not ready for it.

And when you're not
ready for it, you just
do whatever it takes to

keep the customer happy.

Problem will be resolved.

It's not a lifelong issue,

it's just an issue for today.

[Andy] Just 'cause you're
hoping something doesn't happen,

doesn't mean it's not gonna
happen.

So, you gotta prep.

Some people have coffee
and a doughnut in the morning.

I have coffee and a breakup
in the morning.

So the ice is moving pretty
good.

Looking out my windows here,

I can see it's moving from bank
to bank.

Uh, it's pushed up quite a bit
more ice up onto the banks,

so that made an even higher
levee.

So that's kinda good.

That should keep big ice
from coming in here anyway.

It won't stop water,
but it'll keep the big ice from
coming in.

I'm just gonna drink a little
coffee and go up on the
porch, keep an eye on it.

Check out my water levels
from time to time.

What I know about breakup is,
everything looks like it's
going good,

and then it just comes
to a screeching halt.

Probably moving about eight,
ten miles an hour right now.

Not much I can do except
for stand here and watch

and be ready to run and get
the dogs and put 'em in boats
and run for the ark.

It's rocking and rolling, man.

Right now, speed is good.

Speed is safe.

Slow is bad.

I'm out, out about as far as I
kind of safely feel coming out.

I'm looking down here and
I can see water down about
12 feet down,

so this ice is piled up.
It's kind of supported.

I don't wanna stay out here
too long, 'cause these big
pieces sometimes drop.

But we had a good push of ice

and for the first time
I'm seeing a little bit
of open water

coming in from upstream.

I think the worst is over.

The day breakup happens
is always kind of New Year's
for me.

It's a damn good thing
I've moved my fish rack,

'cause there would be nothing
left of it right now.

I'm pretty much
locked in here now
for couple more weeks

while this ice melts out.

I'm hearing a lot
of ice dropping around me here.

I think I'm gonna come back in.

I'm through the worst of it.

I know I'm not gonna flood
at this point in time.

So happy New Year.

[laughs]

Feel like I dodged a bullet.

Thirty years along the Yukon,
I've seen a lot of different
breakups.

This probably rates as about
the second scariest one I've
seen.

The horserace is over.

I came in first place this time.

The day of breakup I like to go

and collect up a bunch of
nice Yukon River ice,

take it up, put it in my
blender,

add a little rum,
add a little coconut paste,

a little pineapple
and have myself a Yuka-lada.

All right.

It's a lot better to be standing
on the ice than being pinned
under it.

All in all, what looked
like it was gonna be quite
a disaster ended up

being a little stressful,
but not... Not destructive.

And that's a good thing.

Some people would say I'm
locked in here.

I look around here
and I just say everybody's
locked out.

First day of the New Year.

Got a beautiful sky,
watching the ice go by.

It ought to be a song.