All language subtitles for Life Below Zero S11E02 End of the Rope_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: For
remote Alaskans,

backbreaking labor
is just a part of life.

ANDY: Oh, yeah that's heavy.

NARRATOR: Miles from
the nearest hardware
or grocery store,

they must do
everything themselves.

JESSIE: It takes a
lot for these dogs to
give you 100% every day.

Who's ready to go, huh?

NARRATOR: And each
project takes a physical toll.

ANDY:
This finger's
really hurting today.

NARRATOR: But when faced
with a challenge in the bush,
there's only one thing to do.

JESSIE: I'm gonna head out and
do a walkabout and see if we
can't drum something up here.

Oh, (bleep)!

NARRATOR: Roll up your
sleeves, and go to work.

ANDY: I'm not gonna let
a little thing like losing
part of a pinky slow me down.

On three, one, two, three!

(theme music plays)

NARRATOR: In Eagle,

Andy Bassich uses the
resources around him to
tackle crucial projects.

ANDY: Yeah, we're
gonna go downriver
and go get some logs.

You wanna go?

Yup.

Boat ride, you
like boat rides.

I discovered a
place downriver, where
there's a bunch of trees down

from a landslide.

And I need about 18 or
20-foot poles for the elevator
derrick that I'm building.

I've got a big
project ahead of me,

working on building
what I'm gonna call an elevator.

And the main purpose of
this is to try and get a
wood stove to the second story

of my artist-in-residence yurt.

I've got to get some way to
get this big heavy stove up
to the level of the yurt.

So, it occurred to me
that I might as well make
something that's permanent,

that I can use for wood,
water, and other heavy items.

Getting this entire
project together is
gonna take some time.

A lot of physical work.

A lot of different
kinds of challenges.

And, um, a lot of
potential for danger.

I'm gonna go do a
reconnaissance of the,
uh, of all the wood on

the shoreline here.

And I wanna try and
get some logs that are
relatively close to the shore.

I'd love to be able to get
right into there, if I can.

I just don't know.

I remember there are a lot
of stumps back in here.

Oh, that's perfect.

Beautiful.

Lot of good trees right here.

Lots and lots of good trees.

All these trees I'm going
after were the trees that were
up on the side of the hill.

They came down,
they got uprooted.

The land provides
for you out here.

You just got to go get
it when you need it.

And it's the go getting
it when you need it
that's the hard work.

Okay, let's find
some more, Tope.

This is a pretty heavy
log, but if I could shoot
this log out over here,

I might be able to
corral it with the boat,
save me a lot of work.

I think that's
gonna work, though.

Come on, Tope.
Come on, Naty.
In the boat.

This was just such a
sweet spot to come to.

The amount of time that
I would have had to take to
find trees out in the woods,

winch them to the shore,
drag them out into the river.

I'm way ahead.

When I come here, and
I can get this job
done in a few hours,

as oppose to a full day.

All right, Tope.
Let's see if we can get
this beast in the water.

A little stump or
something under there.

(whimpering).

Son of a bitch.

This landslide basically
created a tremendous eddy,
there's a lot of stumps,

a lot of debris
under the water.

It's a little
bit of a problem.

Dammit.

Anytime I'm working along the
Yukon River, in fast currents,
I'm always extremely nervous.

The one thing I do not wanna
do is fall in the water.

One mistake out here
and it's all over.

Alright.
So that's four.

That's really all I need.

All right, let's go on, Tope.

Let's see if we can
tow this upriver, huh?

Woo-hoo!
There's some force on there.

I think the most important
thing to me out here is that
this place provides me with

all the raw materials I need
to live pretty comfortably.

It's just a
function of getting out there,
recognizing the raw materials,

going and getting them.

And then, putting them to use.

And I think I'll, uh,
get my tractor and see if I
can't get this thing drag out

of the river.

And then get going on
building the tower.

Got to build a tower.

JESSIE: Whenever you're
dealing with four hours of
daylight and extremely cold

temperatures, tasks
tend to slow down.

The time up here
is everything.

Just getting ready here.

I'm gonna redo my whole
dog yard, so got a lot of
stuff that needs to get moved

out of the way, dogs
that need to get moved.

Something that really needs
to happen so I can get
focused on training here.

NARRATOR: Jessie
Holmes devotes all
of his time, money,

and resources to his
team of sled dogs.

Winter racing season
will begin soon, and
getting his dog lot in

working order is a priority.

JESSIE: This is gonna
be one clean open area
with everything in rows.

It's time to step this up.

The weather has
completely changed.

We're heading
into early winter.

The ground is freezing.

Can't take this top layer of
this ground off with these
stumps out in the frozen ground,

so timing's everything
as with anything up here.

What up?

FRIEND: Hey, Jess.

JESSIE: Hey, how
you doing, man?

You ready?

My friend is willing
to help me right now.

That's huge, because
this job that he's doing
for me is not something that

I can do myself.

I don't own a
piece of machinery.

I've got way too many dogs.

I just have dogs strewn
all over the place in the
woods, tripping in holes.

I mean I'm liable to break my
leg out here in one of these
holes this winter and end my

whole mushing career.

This has got to become
professional, organized, so I
can deal with it efficiently.

To actually be able to see all
my main dogs that I'm gonna be
racing this year in one spot

is gonna be an exciting thing.

Everything in rows.

It's gonna look amazing,
and it's gonna make my
life ten times easier.

ANDY: My motto is a little
bit of work right now,
saves a lot of work later.

Now that's the stove that's
got to come out, and the
new one's got to come in.

Think I'll see how tall
this deck is and get
going on this project.

I wanna build an elevator,
a little over 20-feet
tall, for my artist's yurt.

And it's gonna be used,
initially, to lift up a new
stove and take out the old

stove, and get them down.

But in the long run,
this should make it easy
to bring firewood up to

this upper deck, or water.

Both are two things
that you need every day.

And two things that are
very heavy to lug up
two flights of stairs.

Building a tall elevator shaft
is kind of a fun, challenging,
and a little bit of a zany

project to be doing.

This project is definitely
a, maybe a one of a
kind for out in the bush.

I tend to, uh, be
quite an experimenter.

I like to do things a
little bit different.

Sometimes I have
great successes.

Other times, I have
great failures.

But every time I do something,
I learn something new.

It's gonna be heavy.

It's gonna be a challenge
to lift it, but, uh, once
it's up, it'll all be good.

There was a lot of
chainsaw work in this.

A lot of cutting,
notching and nailing.

I'm trying to do a good job
with all my joinery work on it
so it's a good strong tower.

So, when I stand it up, I
don't have to worry about
it collapsing and it will

hopefully last for many years.

All right.

I think I need to get
a gin pole on there.

Yeah, this one might
be long enough.

Don't break.

The toughest thing about
this entire project is
the standing up process.

It's a lot of work to go get
the logs, it's a lot of work
to do all the chainsaw work.

But the real challenge is how
do you take something that's
6x6 and 20-foot-long and

try and stand it up vertical
from a horizontal position.

All this gin pole is doing
is giving me leverage and
mechanical advantage on

getting it started to come up.

Yeah, the key is this pole.

If this pole snaps,
then, uh, the whole
thing's not gonna work.

I have no idea whether
the gin pole I have is gonna
be able to withstand the

pressures and
the forces on it.

But if I tie everything
upright and really pay
attention to where ropes are

attached and how they're
attached, I'm hoping
I can get it to go up.

Uh, I think I'm ready
to give it a shot.

It's either gonna be damn good
or damn bad, one or the other.

If that pole doesn't
break, I'm in good shape.

If these posts don't
slide, I'm in good shape.

If these posts don't
buckle, I'm in good shape.

And if any one of those
things goes wrong, I'm in
really, really bad shape.

I'm really unsure about
this elevator shaft going
from horizontal to vertical.

When I start lifting, if I
don't hear anything popping
or cracking, I'll be okay.

But I could get it halfway
up and the whole thing fails
and comes crashing down.

I'm just gonna have to go
slow and hope like heck
I can get it vertical.

Posts are bending.

It's leaning quite a bit too.

It's bending those
posts right over.

Whoa, whoa!

Whoa, whoa!

Well, that bracket
just failed.

I got to get it on the ground
before I do anything else.

Yeah.

Well, it's up.

I think I had some
failures, but it's up.

These brackets
definitely failed.

But it's success,
it's up in the air.

That feels pretty good.

It looks a lot taller
up in the air than
it did on the ground.

I'm pretty happy with
it, it's nice to see
it standing vertical.

That gin pole worked good.

Anytime you're doing
something new, there's
always the unforeseen.

And today was no
exception for that.

Just a lot of
little things trying to
figure out how to do it when

you're working by yourself.

And that's what it
boils down to for me.

You know, two people, a lot
of these jobs go pretty easy.

One person, you really
got to think it through.

But, uh, with a little bit
of perseverance and, uh,
a few oh (bleep) moments,

the job got done.

Oh, yeah, look
at that elevator.

This looks good.

Good project, good day.

It's beer thirty.

Maybe two beer
thirties after that.

JESSIE: I sometimes feel
like this is relentless
after working my butt off,

but then I wake up
again in the morning and
I'm just ready to go.

It's looking amazing out here.

NARRATOR: With the
ground leveled out,
Jessie's new dog lot

is beginning to take shape.

JESSIE: This is
like a 180 change.

It was a lot of work getting
this ground all prepped,
you know, took some time.

Totally worth it.

Now I got 50-some-odd
posts to pound for these
dogs, and I got to do it now

because ground is freezing.

All right. That's post
number one, right there.

That's the height
I'm looking for.

They're seven-foot posts, and
I'm gonna put them three feet
into the ground with four feet

sticking out, and off of
that will come a swivel that
they can just run in circles.

Then all the dogs can
associate and I can fit
all these dogs into this area

that I couldn't before.

One down, 49 to go.

Good way to get the blood
flowing in the morning.

End of the day, I'll have
posts for all my dogs.

And I'll definitely have
more muscle in my arms.

Bam.

No way to warm up out here
other than a little hard work.

Layers coming off quick.

This is a long time coming,
you know, like I've imagined
setting my dog yard up like

this for years.

So to see it transpire after
being in Alaska for 10 years,
for me it's like a long steep

climb, and like, I feel like
I'm about to plateau here.

Age group of the dogs is
coming together, the dog
yard's coming together,

I have a place that I
can be permanent at and
focused on my dreams.

This is gonna be my last post.

One last spot.

Whoo! Yeah!

Now I can get my
dogs all in here and
their bowls all out,

and get them set
up for the night.

Yeah, puppies.
Yeah. I am happy.

ANDY: One of the unique
things about this lifestyle
is you have to be very creative

and very inventive.

You don't always have the
resources to work with.

NARRATOR: Andy has
spent several days building
an elevator shaft using

harvested materials
along the Yukon River.

The elevator will
help him raise a 300-pound
custom-built stove to the

second floor of his yurt.

ANDY: Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR: After raising the
shaft, and attaching cables
and a winch to power the

elevator, Andy is now
ready for the final test.

ANDY: I've made
a, a new stove.

I'm pretty excited about this.

It's gonna make this yurt
very comfortable year-round.

Right now, it's a three-season
structure, and this stove
is gonna allow me to have this

become a four-season
structure.

Whoa, that ain't gonna happen.

Holy mackerel.

ANDY: Come on, baby.

Yeah.

It's on!

And not on my foot,
that's a good thing.

Thank God I have a tractor.

It's on the elevator,
I didn't tip it over, I
didn't break the glass door.

And I didn't break my back.

Here we go.

Let's hope it clears.

Come on up, baby.

I'm home.

I don't think I'm gonna
be able to tip this, but
if I can get it to roll.

Oh yeah, that's heavy.

Come on, fit.

It's gonna be tight.

Holy mackerel.

Man.

Come on.

Dammit.

Come on, (bleep).

I don't think I'm
gonna make it.

Not without taking
the damn door off.

Are you (bleep) kidding me?

Sixteenth of an inch.

That's how much I need.

Come on.

There we go.

Boy, if I had made it an
eighth of an inch bigger,
it wouldn't have gone

through that door.

I didn't even think about
that when I was building it.

But somehow it made it.

It's a lot of work to
move a whole bunch of
steel like that and it was

a bit of a struggle.

It was pretty much at the
limits of what I could
carry and move by myself,

but mission accomplished.

Whew.

The elevator worked.

And, uh, the yurt's gonna stay
warm now at 50 below zero.

It's gonna be very
comfortable in here.

This whole yurt and everything
in it is produced in Alaska,

or from the land
around Calico Bluff.

All the lumber,
all the materials.

Right on.

Oh, man.
That was a back breaker.

Whew.

All the work that's gone
into building this yurt,
building this tower,

building this stove, today was
kind of a big payoff for that.

It's one thing that I
have worked hard for
up here, and that is to

live comfortably here.

And sometimes you got
to work your butt
off to make it to .

Hmm, that's a good beer.

JESSIE: You only got so
much energy in a day; you
got to use it correctly.

Time is a priceless
commodity in Alaska.

NARRATOR: Unexpected
snowfall makes Jessie's dog
lot project even more urgent.

JESSIE: Well, it snowed
pretty good last night.

More than I thought
was gonna happen.

I got to get the dog
houses set up because it's
snowing and dogs don't need to

be out in wet snow.

They need shelter, and
that's my priority right now.

Copper.

Your house.

This is amazing, you know.

All the posts are in,
you know, I'm getting
the dog houses out.

It's snowing,
it's time to mush.

Got my dog houses set up
now, so now I can walk
through my rows freely.

I'm gonna get
my swivels set up, that
way as it snows deeper,

I don't have to dig the chains
out and raise them, or the
dog will never be restricted.

Hey, buddy, I
don't want no help.

No.

One of these all
assembled would probably
cost about 50 bucks.

For me, like, putting it
together myself it comes
out to be more like 20.

So I got these done.

Time to dish them
out to the dogs here.

Something to get
excited about, guys.

Yeah.

Yeah, this is, like, putting
the finishing touches on a
giant project here that I've

been waiting a long time for.

This is a better system for
the dogs, that way they can
run in circles and exercise.

Takes a lot for these dogs
to give you a 100% every
day throughout the winter,

so you got to ask for
the same out of yourself.

This is what it's all about.

ANDY: When you live out
in the bush, you learn
to just trust your gut.

You learn through
experiences just to do a lot
of different things and that

gives you a confidence.

NARRATOR: When winter
hits, Andy must brave
frigid temperatures to

collect vital resources.

ANDY: I'm looking for a
pole because I need to
make an ice chisel for chopping

ice out on Ford Lake.

I'm gonna go muskrat trapping,
so I've got a lot of holes
and a lot of ice to chop.

And I've decided I wanna
make a nice new, good,
efficient ice chisel.

I'm going back
to the old fashioned
wood, tried and true.

One of the nice things
about where I live right
here is I have the Yukon on

one side of me,
but I've also got a
really nice big lake.

I have a really
good population of
muskrats out there.

And my hope is that I'm
gonna be able to put a trap
there and capture them.

I can turn those into
mittens, or a hat, or
whatever I want for fur.

And also, I really
like the food.

That's feeling pretty good.

I kind of had a major
accident this year and cut off
the end of my pinky finger.

Working with my sawmill,
turning a heavy log, I
pinched a finger really bad.

I basically severed the
tip of the finger off.

It was a real awakening to
how quick things can happen
and what an impact they have.

One moment of an accident
impacts me for the
rest of the winter now.

When I cut my finger off, I
tried to get to Fairbanks.

I had a buddy of mine fly me
up to Eagle, couldn't get into
Fairbanks because of weather,

so I decided to come
back down to Calico Bluff
and deal with it myself.

I'm beginning to realize how
important the pinky finger is
to the types of things I do,

which is holding hammers, and
a lot of building projects.

This was a pretty
good evening project.

I got a good heavy
duty, hopefully, ice
chisel that's gonna cut that

ice pretty good.

And I'm ready to go
muskrat trapping tomorrow.

My finger's healing up really
well and everything's going
good except for when I put it

back together, the quick or
the root of the nail died
because there was no flesh

covering it.

That's where the
initial break was.

And it's slowly getting
to the point where there's
not much left attached.

Just a little bit
back down in here.

And what I'm afraid of is,
I'm gonna pull a glove off
and I'm gonna snag this nail,

and I'm gonna rip it off
in an uncontrolled manner.

So, what I really need
to do is I need to soak
this for a little bit,

get everything nice and soft,
and then I need to just peel
that nail off and

get rid of this nail.

It's gonna hurt, but it's
something I got to do.

Any dirt, any bacteria
you get down in there,
that could get infected,

and then I could be in real
trouble if I get an infection.

Hopefully, it'll
come off nicely.

I can tell right now
that's gonna hurt.

Ah. Breathe deep.

Okay, I'm just gonna
do a quick one.

On three.

One, two, three.

Yowza.

Oh, yeah, well, that did it.

It's off.

Hmm, okay, how about
a little alcohol?

That ought to give it a wince.

Whew.
I think I'm gonna be okay.

A bit of a sting, but
small price to pay for
still having a finger.

Time to get kind of setup
for muskrat trapping.

It's gonna be kind
of an interesting time
out on the lake today,

trying to deal with this.

It's pretty sensitive
to the touch, but I'm
feeling really good.

I'm starting to get color and
a little bit of feeling back
to the end of that finger.

It really complicates
everything.

It slows you down,
not to mention it's
pretty uncomfortable.

But it's just something you
got to deal with, you know,
if you're out in the bush,

you're on your own,
you deal with it.

Oh, yeah. That'll work.

Okay, let's go, guys.

I think I'm ready to
go muskrat trapping.

Whoa.

Good boys.

That was good, Bergy.

Ooh, look at how
thick that ice is.

Holy crap.

It looks like there's
a good 10 inches of ice
on the lake right now.

That's not a good sign.

The temperature's just started
getting really cold, and
the lake ice is getting thick.

And once those muskrats
can no longer keep their
hole open, then trapping for

muskrats is over.

The main goal of this
is to catch fur to make
mittens for my hand,

and it's also some
pretty darn good food.

That's how thick the ice is.

Not good.

I probably have a pretty
narrow window of time.

Can't imagine
I'm gonna get too many
more days of trapping,

so I'm gonna try and maximize
it pretty good in the next day
or two because I think my days

are numbered with this
particular resource.

Last trap of the day.

So my gloves are frozen solid.

The fingers inside are
starting to get that way.

All right.
Let's go home.

Attaboys.

I'm counting on these muskrats
to be active and hungry.

JESSIE: Dog team is not
like a snow machine.

Snow machine, you never take
it further than you can walk
back out because it's probably

gonna break down on you.

NARRATOR: In dark winter,

Jessie's dog team
is crucial for travel
along the Nenana River.

JESSIE: Another beautiful
morning here in paradise.

I'm packing up my sled.

I'm getting ready to head
out for three days to a
lake in the Alaska Range.

Temperatures are dropping.

It's getting cold.

This is a good time
to get out there.

I'm gonna try to do
some ptarmigan hunting and
some camping with my five

best dogs here.

NARRATOR: To survive the
deep freeze, Jessie and
the dogs must constantly scout

new territory and hone
their skills in the wild.

JESSIE: It's gonna be
cold, so I got to, like, have
everything that I'm gonna need

in my sled to survive
for a few days.

I feel that surviving in
the cold is like a knife.

It gets dull sometimes,
you gotta take it out and
you gotta keep it sharp.

You gotta keep your skills
polished here, so when I go
out there for three nights and

I just got me and my dogs
and what I got in this sled,
I have to survive out of that.

Who's ready to go? Huh?
Who's ready to go camping?

All right.

This isn't your
average camping trip.

Most people don't
go out camping when
it's 30, 40 below.

When I'm in dog races,
I could be out there
for up to 10 days,

in extreme temperatures
of 50 below zero.

So it's essential that I
am able to survive in
those kinds of conditions and

keep that skillset up.

This just adds to my
confidence that I can always
go and push through the storm.

All right Flash, straight
ahead, straight ahead.

Straight on in up in there.

Straight on up in there, good.

All right, whoa, stay.

Right here under this
big spruce tree looks
like a good spot to camp.

My next priority is to get
my dogs set up comfortably.

Being a dog man, my number
one priority is my dogs.

They're my transportation.

They're how I got in here,
they're how I'm gonna get out.

You guys like
camping, don't you?

Yeah. Isn't that nice?

It's gonna be cold
tonight, want you guys
to be nice and warm.

Well, I already feel warm.

When I got here, I was cold,
but this beautiful scenery
and my dogs warms my heart.

I don't feel alone
when I'm out here.

Feel like I got my
best friends with me
and tomorrow we can put our

focus on doing some hunting.

NARRATOR: The next day,
Jessie and his dogs head out
in hopes of catching a meal.

JESSIE: I'm gonna
go out on the tundra and
look for some ptarmigan.

All right, guys.

Straight ahead.

I've got my eyes peeled wide
open for some ptarmigan.

I didn't bring a lot of food
out here in hopes of keeping
myself hungry and motivated to

get some fresh food.

Haw.

Haw, straight ahead.

Whoa. Easy. Whoa.

Oh, man, I got to check this
out before I go across that.

I don't wanna get soaking
wet in these temperatures.

Gonna make sure this stuff's
solid before I go across it.

Whoa. Too deep.

I'm gonna reroute a
trail around this.

Gee, gee.

Hey, gee, straight ahead.

Straight ahead, good.

Straight ahead.

All right, all right.

Easy, easy. Easy.

Come on now, straight up.
There we go.

We're across, we're
keeping on moving, looking
for some ptarmigan.

Ain't gonna teach these dogs
nothing by turning around on
a little something like that.

Let's go get that dinner.

Let's check this trail out,
boys, see what's up there.

There you go.

Up that, up that, up that.

Pretty steep stuff.

Whoa, boys, stay.

It's like we're running out
of good trail here, guys.

Wow, it's beautiful up here.

Hi, Flash.

Yeah, we run right out of
trail didn't we, buddy?

Boy, we got to figure
out how we're gonna get
turned around out here.

I don't wanna keep
going up that.

It's gonna be a little bit
of a tricky turnaround.

You guys just
listen to me, okay?

Come on.

Let's go back, easy, easy.

Oh, easy. Easy now.

Easy, easy.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Easy! Ooh! Whoa, whoa.
Whoa. Oh!

JESSIE: Easy! Ooh! Whoa, whoa.
Whoa! Oh.

Whoa, whoa. Whoa.

Well, got the dogs
turned around.

That was a little
bit more excitement
than I was expecting,

but didn't lose the team.

Number one thing we learned
when we start mushing is
never let go of the sled,

because there goes your team.

Still a little steep
negotiating out of here.

Whoa, easy, easy, whoa.

Easy.

Oh!

Easy, whoa.

Haw, haw, haw.

Easy, whoa.

All right.

Whoa. Good, dogs. Stay.

Gonna head out.

We'll walk about and see if I
can't drum something up here.

In one last effort, try
to get some ptarmigan.

Doing everything that I can.

Oh.

I got some fresh fox tracks
heading up this creek.

This fox is, uh, in the
business of getting ptarmigan
and that's how he gets by,

so think I'm gonna head up
this creek and check it out.

Oh (bleep)!

Broke through the ice there.

I was standing off to the
side here and just, kind
of, giving it a check,

and it was so thin that
my boot went right through
it, almost up to my knee.

I was trying to follow
these fox tracks.

They're a better hunter
than me, but they're also
ten pounds and I'm 160.

Oh.

There's the bottom.

It's like I could've
went deeper.

I pulled myself
out just in time.

If I got waist-deep wet, all
I'd be able to do is go and
look for some dry wood and

build a fire as quick
as possible with these
subzero temperatures.

These are the kind of things
that can happen out here, when
you're out here by yourself,

you have to be careful.

The sun's going
down right now.

It's getting cold out again.

Certain point, you
got to call it quits.

I've covered a lot of ground.

I haven't found anything.

Would've liked to got some
ptarmigan but being 30 below,
things don't always go the way

you want it to.

You boys ready?

All right. Come alive, Flash.

I need to get back to
camp and wrap things up.

It's gonna be a long run
tomorrow to make it all
the way back to Nenana.

So tomorrow is gonna
be a day that we're all
gonna need our rest for.

Fire out here is
your lifeline.

Without fire, you ain't
got much out here.

This is cold country.

That's what this trip's all
about is, uh, coming out here
and enjoying a nice couple

nights camping and hunting in
some great country with some
great company for my dogs.

Yeah, good boys.

This is as good as
it gets out here.

It's still cold and tough
out here, but this is, uh,
as comfortable as we can be.

Getting out of this
comfort zone, testing
my survival skills,

is keeping my knife
sharp, so when things
do go wrong, I'm ready.

It's good knowing that
I put a good effort in
at the end of the day.

This is what I love doing
and I'm happy to be out here.

I wouldn't wanna be
anywhere else right now
than under this tree.

ANDY: It's a never-ending
learning process and a
never-ending quest to use the

resources around here to be
self-sufficient, and that's
why I like living out here.

Today, I'm just gonna
take my puppies back to the
lake to check muskrat sets.

I've got about six muskrat
sets already made yesterday.

Couple of 'em looked
really promising, the
holes were still open.

I'm really hoping
I'm gonna pull a few
muskrats out of the ice.

Come here, Krug.

I'm gonna go harness
up Kruggerand.

I'm gonna gather
up the puppies.

I'm gonna go back to
the lake, check the
traps, and hopefully,

come home with some
muskrat for muskrat stew
and muskrat mittens.

Yeah.

Look.

Attaboy, good boy.

My dog kennel's down to
10 working dogs right now.

Couple of 'em are getting old
and will retire soon, so I
just added two new puppies to

the mix this year.

Yeah. Good job.

This year is kind of unique
in that I don't have much
snow for training the dogs.

It's really throwing
a monkey wrench into
my training efforts,

so what I'm doing is I'm
cutting my dogs loose and I'm
just going for walks along the

river, out on the
lake, and it's pretty
much just playtime.

Look at them puppers.

They say, "Oh, there
is a muskrat in there.

There's a muskrat in there."

All right. Let's see if
we got a muskrat in here.

Uh-oh, I don't know.

ANDY: All right. Let's see
if we got a muskra

Uh-oh, I don't know.

Whoa, it got snapped,
but nothing got caught.

That's a cool sign.

I like the fact that
something set that trap off.

Means they're hungry
and they're out.

That trap, it was quite a ways
down, so I think I'm gonna
move it up to where it's right

at the bottom of the ice,
and then they have to go
through the trap to come out

of the hole.

All right. I Like that.
Onto the next one.

Give me some
muskrat love here.

It feels pretty light.

Nope, that one
didn't get set off.

Oh, did it?

Yeah, it did.

That one got set off, too.

Two traps checked, two
traps set off, no fur.

So, I'm gonna go
onto the next ones.

Nothing.

Got set off again though.

Definitely coming
into these sets.

I think I might switch
this one up with a
leg-hold trap this time.

Same idea as the conibears,

only the traps will
be set pretty close to
the top of the water.

It's humbling to be outsmarted
by a muskrat, that's for sure.

But everything about living
out here is humbling.

Close this one up.

See if I can outsmart
'em tomorrow.

So far, it's muskrats
three, and Andy zip.

Nothing.

Lots of debris coming up
through, but no muskrats.

So it's kind of frustrating
that I'm getting
outsmarted by a muskrat,

but the fact that I'm getting
outsmarted by a muskrat
means that they're there.

It means sooner or later,
I'm gonna connect here.

I think I might
double set this one.

I think I might put the
conibear down at the bottom
and then I'll put the foothold

trap up near the top.

Double my chances here.

Sure wish I could curl up
on a cold lake like that.

Oh, you guys look pretty
comfortable there.

Everybody's piled
up on each other.

Let's pile up and go home.

We got skunked.

Straight ahead, let's go.

Haw, haw.

NARRATOR: The next
day, Andy is back out
to check his traps.

It's his last chance
to harvest muskrat
fur for the season.

ANDY: So I think it's
probably the last day of
muskrat trapping out here.

Temperatures are about ten,

15 below zero, and
it's gonna be hard to
keep these holes open.

Hopefully, I got a little bit
of fur in one of these holes.

These holes froze up
a lot last night, which
gonna make it hard to keep

these traps working.

This finger's really
hurting though today.

Oh, I got a muskrat.

Look at that.

He's just a little guy.

So Andy one, rats zero.

We just had the seventh inning
stretch last night, now we're
in the top of the seventh.

See if we got another one.

Oh, yeah.
Two for two.

Yee-haw. I got food.

In this case, one of the big
benefits of muskrat trapping
is getting some fur to make

some mittens and I'm a person
that just loves to get out and
do new things and experiment

and I'm not gonna let a little
thing like losing part of a
pinkie slow me down

from doing the kinds of
things I love to do out here.

Let's see.

Oh, yeah.

Three for three, got
him with the leg-hold.

Yeah, buddy.

We're at the bottom
of the eighth.

It's Andy three, muskrats zip.

I got two more to go,
let's see what happens.

Well, got beat on one.

So now it's Andy
three, muskrats one.

We're at the bottom
of the ninth with
one more hole to go.

There's two traps in
this one so they could
tie it up right now.

And it is, a bust.

Nothing in the last one.

So I'm feeling like this was
worth the time and the effort.

Not only did I catch some
muskrat but I got the puppies
out on the ice and they're

feeling pretty
comfortable with it.

Picked up some food for
a nice muskrat stew and
some fur for some mittens

for my damn finger.

And so, all in all, I'm
feeling like all the time I
spent over the last day or two

on this is time well spent.

All right, buddy.
Come on, Krug.

Atta-boy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Good boy.

NARRATOR: Residents of
the arctic pay a heavy price
for their chosen lifestyle.

JESSIE: This is
what it's all about.

NARRATOR: Defying pain
and fatigue is a daily battle.

ANDY: So my gloves
are frozen solid.

NARRATOR: But with
rewards this sweet...

JESSIE: Out here's
there's adventure,
adversity and challenge.

NARRATOR: They're in
it for the long haul.

JESSIE: And those
are the kind of things
that make us a team.

Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.