All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S10E01.720p.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_[eng]

AGNES: Just put those
in the front of the Honda.

And we'll just take the Honda
as far as we could

up the road towards
the culverts.

While we're patiently trying
to wait for Chip to come home,

we've, um, decided
to go out hunting

and hopefully killing
some geese and birds.

So hopefully when my husband
finally gets home,

we can actually have something
fresh waiting for him.

I'm Agnes Hailstone.

I was born and raised
here in Noorvik, Alaska.

My Inupiat name is Qalhapak.

I'm married to my husband
Edward 'Chip' Hailstone.

We have two sons
and five daughters.

Chip is currently serving
his jail time,

and it's just the girls
and I for now.

Growing up here,
being raised here,

and living here all my life,

I've been through every river,
every slough.

It's always a cycle,
and it's always changing.

The last ten months have
been pretty long and sad

with Chip being gone.

Food didn't taste good.

Coffee didn't taste good.

But I got through it.

(gunshot)

I had my daughters with me.

They've actually gone
from walking behind me

to walking by my side
and hunting with me.

It's been really awesome
watching these girls

in the last year grow up.

He's coming home soon,

and we're looking forward to
the day he steps off that plane.

We survived.

We've improved.

And now we're just
a lot stronger.

(music)

(music)

(music)

(music)

I think if we put
our beautiful minds together,

we might catch dinner.

Today we're heading about
three miles out of Noorvik

to go do a bird hunt.

Normally we're in Kiwalik
this time of the year,

and we're doing our
bird hunting down there,

but this year we're in Noorvik,

and we're doing our hunt
around the area.

Usually Chip and the boys go out
and do the hunting,

but this year
it's me and the girls.

But the season's changing
and the birds are arriving.

It's time to go catch
a couple birds.

This looks like a good spot.

There's birds already.

This is a good place.

There's willows over there,

we could go sit right over here
along the water's edge.

Once we get over there, we have
to load our guns right away,

because there's already
birds flying.

So, we're going to really try
to go catch us fresh dinner

for you guys' dad
for when he gets home.

CAROL: Yup. Ready?

AGNES: Yup.

This is where I used to go
when I was a little kid.

(music)

(music)

All you got to do is stand
some of them up.

They don't have to be perfect.

We just need a good spot to sit.

So right now, we're just
setting up a blind,

and in my language,
it's called itchuvik.

And, ah, itchuk is to sit there
patiently and wait.

Right on, girls, we're all good.

We got this blind up in no time.

Now we could just try to fill up
our rifles and sit quietly.

We need to load them up.

We managed to make our ichovik

right before
the next flock comes.

Right on.

(music)

No matter what,
once you load your gun,

always watch which way
it's pointing, okay?

Never point at each other, ever.

We already saw a flock
when we first got here,

so that's a good sign.

The birds are going
to be attracted

to that open water over there.

For now, we just have
to sit and wait.

Come on, geese.

(music)

ANDY: I'm definitely getting
a little bit older.

I don't have quite
the energy that I had

when I was 20
when I showed up here.

The difference is I have
a lot more skills,

a lot more knowledge,
and a lot more experience.

(music)

(whimpering)

What do you think, Fog?

Fergy?

Hey, Bergy.

How's the old man doing?

Hi.

He says, 'I'm not getting
in that mud.'

Yeah.

I'm going to hang out
on my house for a while.

Alright, you guys
ready for chow?

My name's Andy Bassich.

I live here on the Yukon River
at Calico Bluff.

I canoed from Whitehorse
down to Eagle, Alaska, in 1980

and landed on the banks
right here along the Yukon River

and felt like this is the place
I need to live.

I started out as an explorer,
leaving Maryland

and coming to Alaska to explore
a different lifestyle.

But then I became a settler.

It's just been a slow
accumulation of tools,

equipments, and skills that have
gotten me where I'm at now.

One of the things
that I struggled with

for a long time was money.

I kept thinking
I had to have a job.

I had to have money.

I think the most important
lesson for me to learn out here

is that out here money doesn't
mean a damn thing to you.

(music)

Nature is both beautiful and
ruthless all at the same time.

But I love being able
to live in a place

where I can make the world
the way I want to live.

Whenever I'm gone from here,

the moment I come back,
I have the exact same feeling...

(music)

and that is, ah, I'm home.

What do you think of
all this rain, huh?

It means breakup.

Clear skies to rain
means breakup.

It's coming.

One of the things I have to do
every minute of the day

right now is to keep a really
close eye on the Yukon River.

The water's extremely low
this year for breakup.

I have never seen it
this low for a breakup.

So, I really don't have
any experience

on what that might entail.

When the river starts backing up
and starts flooding,

it happens extremely fast.

You got to be ready for it,

because there's
no time to react.

After a long winter
with everything frozen

and locked up pretty tight,

the river moving again,

kind of like the beginning
of the new year for me.

Let's go this way.

But I just noticed the river's
come up quite a bit,

so I think I'm going to
put a marker stick in

and kind of keep a close eye
on this river.

I want to be ready for
when this river breaks

so that nothing bad happens
to me or my dogs.

Ah, I'm just putting in some,
a stake into the river here.

And then marking
a couple marks on it

so I can kind of try
and keep track

of how much the river's rising.

It's really starting to move
a lot in the last hour or so.

It's starting to happen,
and I want to be ready for it.

Looks like that tree up there
might be a good one to tie to.

What I'm trying to do right now

is, ah, get a line
on my fish wheel.

So that if it floods
and it starts floating,

it doesn't go down
to Circle, Alaska,

on the Yukon River

and I have to start
from scratch.

I've got a lot of money invested
in this fish wheel,

and if I lose this,
it's a huge, huge loss.

(music)

Alright.

That fish wheel represents

probably one of the most
important tools

that I have for feeding
myself and my dogs.

I don't want to have
to lose that fish wheel.

And I certainly don't want to
have to rebuild one from scratch

if it goes away.

Alright.

I feel pretty secure
about that now.

I want to be ready for that
river when it goes out,

'cause it could come and
bite my butt really quick.

(music)

JESSIE: This is what I moved
to Alaska to live like.

The land is my teacher.
I'm out here to learn.

(music)

Springtime is a good time
to be out hunting

and camping out in the woods.

Muskrat season.

Ice is just starting to free up

on the lakes and ponds
and creeks.

It's not quite time to get out
on the river with my boat yet,

but I got a canoe now,

and working on getting
back to my roots

that brought me up here
to Alaska in the first place.

I'm Jessie Holmes.

I'm from Alabama originally.

Before I moved to Alaska, I ran
into some hard patches in life

and didn't really have
much direction.

I got in some trouble.

I went back to what I really
like doing naturally,

and that was living
out in the woods.

Got a backpack, and all
my possessions were on my back,

and I was on the road.

I was traveling, jumping trains.

Going from one place
to the next.

I moved to Alaska determined to
live a subsistence lifestyle,

and I found solace
in the wilderness,

and as I continued
to work with sled dogs,

I realized that
I had a knack for it.

I just put all my drive
and determination

into being successful
at running dogs.

That led to racing,

and once I started racing,
I knew I had something there.

(music)

Every year I try
to better my life.

Always thinking about the dogs,

trying to improve
their life as well.

We're a family.

(music)

Alright, this is it,

this is the pond
that I'm going to put into,

and this should lead me
down Fish Creek.

This trip's all about focusing
on getting some muskrats

for eating and fur,

and learning some new resources,
expanding my hunting grounds.

Muskrat are really good meat.

They're highly nutritious.

But it also has a fur that I can
use to make things out of.

I plan on using it to later make
some, some little things

that I can tie on to the bottom
of the harness

to protect the flanks
from the extreme cold.

I have no idea what I'm going
to encounter out here.

I've never been down Fish Creek.

When you put yourself
out on a creek like this,

it gets narrow, it gets fast,
something could happen.

(music)

Got to make sure
I don't tip this canoe.

There's all kinds of
little things right in here.

Like this, hit that wrong
going too fast,

tip the canoe right away.

When you get in these
tight, little creeks,

they just funnel down,
pick up the same current,

go right straight
into everything.

Hopefully I get enough power
and not get stuck.

Cut right through there.

It's hard to say what I'm going
to run into out here,

but that's exciting to me.

I'm all about expanding my
territory, exploring new places,

and seeing the resources
that are out there

and how I can better use them

to add to my life that
I'm living out here.

(music)

It's getting swift,
it's getting narrow.

The current's really
starting to pick up.

We hit where two forks combine.

Now it's going to
start getting fun.

(music)

GLENN: There's freedom
out here in nature

that you can't have
in modern society.

(music)

(music)

It's springtime.

All the snow's melted now
down in the valley.

And the ice is starting to go
out on all the little lakes

and on all the creeks.

Ducks are coming back.

They're coming back
into this open water.

I haven't seen ducks
since last fall.

So, I'm just out trying to get
my first meal of duck this year.

So, where I find open water,

there's a good chance
of finding ducks.

My name's Glenn Villeneuve.

I live up in the Brooks Range,
northern Alaska.

18 years ago
I came to the Brooks Range,

and I found my world right here.

There's a lot of
hard work out here.

If I need to go get
firewood, I go get it.

If I need to get water,
I go get it.

If I need to look for food,
I go look for it.

(gunshot)

I don't think of myself
as very competitive

against other people, but I like
to compete with myself.

I like challenges.

I like to keep life interesting.

I like to test myself.

And out here, I've got a lot
of opportunity to do that.

It's comfortable to be in
one area and to know it well.

But I want to go
beyond that now.

(music)

I want to explore.

I want to look around.

I want to go places
I've never been.

I'm never going to get to know
all this country.

But I'm going to have a lot
of fun exploring what I can.

There's a little pond
right over here.

There could be some ducks on it.

I've got to be real sneaky,

because ducks have
very good eyes.

The trick is to see the ducks
before they see me.

Ducks are right at the bottom
of the food chain.

They're getting hunted
by the falcons.

They're getting hunted
by the hawks, the foxes,

and they're getting
hunted by me.

(whispering)
Some ducks.

But they're too
far away to shoot,

and there's no more cover
for me to hide behind.

I got to try and get closer, but
the ducks are going to see me.

I don't know how this
is going to work out.

If there's nothing
to hide behind,

a lot of times the ducks
will just take off

before you get close enough
to get a shot.

(music)

(music)

(gunshot)

(music)

(gunshot)

(wings flapping)

(gunshot)

I got a little
carried away there.

There were some ducks there,

but I just couldn't
get close enough.

Just getting overanxious.

Haven't had a duck yet
this spring.

But those ducks
were too far away.

It's too long of a shot.

I just got to be patient.

Got to keep looking.

(music)

(music)

I see a duck.

Two of them.

I got to be real sneaky here.

(loads chamber)

(crunching)

(music)

(music)

(gunshot)

(music)

(gunshot)

(music)

(music)

(gunshot)

(music)

(gunshot)

(gunshot)

(music)

(gunshot)

(music)

GLENN: I got two ducks.

Hopefully the wind's going to
blow them right into shore here.

I don't want to go swimming
if I don't have to.

It's shallow water,
but it's going to be cold.

The last thing I need is to get
my feet all wet in here.

Looks like a storm's coming in.

I got to get these ducks.

It's getting windy. It's cold.

(music)

Sometimes the hardest part's
recovering them.

I don't want to
lose those ducks.

Sometimes they get lost
in the weeds here.

I got to grab that duck
before it blows away.

Ah.

(music)

(music)

Two scaups.

Those are nice eating ducks,
they're bay ducks.

So they, they dive down, but
they eat a lot of vegetation.

They're not a fish-eating duck,
so they taste really good.

It's going to be duck
for dinner tonight.

(music)

(wind whistling)

Temperature's dropping.

Wind's getting strong,

and it looks like some
rain's blowing in.

(thunder)

(music)

I'm quite a ways from home.

But I'm closer to a little wall
tent I have set up over here.

It's going to come in
real handy right now,

'cause it looks like
a storm's blowing in.

The wind's picking up.

Temperature's dropping,
it's starting to rain.

I'm going to go over to
the tent, get a fire going,

get inside out of the weather
and pluck my ducks.

Cozy little camp.

Ah.

Just wait out the storm
right here.

Head home after
it stops raining.

Ducks are being hunted
all the time.

Humans don't take many ducks.

But the foxes, the falcons,
the hawks, the owls,

they all hunt ducks.

I prefer to shoot male ducks
in the springtime,

because this time of year
they're mating and reproducing,

and if you leave the females,

they'll still have their little
ducklings growing up.

And it'll be better for
the duck population as a whole.

There.

Got that duck all plucked.

Got this one all plucked.

Two nice ducks.

Okay.

Hey, the rain's stopped.

That's nice.

I can walk home now.

I'll go home and cook up
my ducks back at camp.

(music)

(music)

What a great day duck hunting.
This worked out great.

Got a couple of ducks.

Got to hang out in
my nice, little camp down here.

Let the rain pass.

Time to head back home.

(music)

AGNES: You have a home
no matter where you are,

so you can always
go lay your head.

(music)

(music)

There's birds coming
from this direction,

and most of the birds are
coming from that direction.

It's kind of hard to figure out
which way I want to watch.

I really want a goose, so
I'm just going to keep my eyes

out here and just keep hunting.

Sit here.

NARRATOR: In Noorvik, Agnes and
her daughters are hunting birds

as they migrate
through the region.

The window for this
annual hunt is brief.

But the needed harvest
will provide the family

with their first meal together
in more than a year.

AGNES: The girls and I haven't
seen Chip for about a year,

so we've decided to go out
and go do a bird hunt

and hopefully catch
something for dinner

for when Chip gets home.

Living this style, you have to
go out and get your own food.

You can't just go to any store

with the money that
you don't have.

(music)

It's just a waiting game.

(music)

(music)

Here they come.

Watch out, girls.

Call them.

Koo!

Too far? No?

Koo!

(gunshot)

Shucks.

Koo! Koo!

(music)

Six swans just flew over.

Well, they're not coming back.

Got to keep your eyes open,

they didn't even make a sound
and they almost flew over us.

So far there's a whole bunch of
swans just came flew right over.

I took a shot alright,
but, uh, a little far.

Could've had that one,
but I wasn't prepared.

But this time I'm going
to be prepared.

(music)

So, it's about
one o'clock right now,

and the girls are
already sleeping,

and the birds stopped flying.

The sun has gone down.

It'll get bright about like
4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning.

So, we're just going to sit out
here and just call it a night.

Let these girls sleep
till in the morning.

Bright and early they're going
to definitely wake up

when the birds start flying.

They're at home out here, so
that makes me more comfortable.

Especially when we're
trying to catch dinner.

Then we'll have a story.

(music)

Koo koo koo!

(music)

The girls and I
stayed the night here.

The sun is just finally
starting to come out,

and I can hear the birds.

And hopefully I'll
catch a goose soon.

They're starting to fly.

(music)

Loo loo loo loo loo!

(geese calling)

Loo loo!

(music)

(gunshot)

AGNES: Loo loo loo!

(geese calling)

Loo! Loo!

(music)

(gunshot)

(gunshot)

Woo!

I got one!

(music)

(music)

Yes, now I do.

Yee!

I got one.

Boy, I love this.

Can't breathe, I'm excited, huh?

(sighs)

My goose. This is what
I came out here for.

I was trying to catch dinner
for my husband.

He should be here
on the next flight.

And I now just got us dinner.

I'm so happy for myself.

It took us hours and hours
of being out here.

But this is what I came for.

(music)

I caught a goose, girls.

Now we just got to go prepare
it, and he should be here soon.

So, we should get ready.

I'm sure your dad will
be happy to see us,

but I'm sure he'll be happy to
have a goose, also, for dinner.

It's been a fun hunt.

I'm glad you girls tough it out
with me out here overnight.

QUTAN: Yup, it was fun.

AGNES: Yeah.

I'll carry my guns
and this goose.

You girls about ready?

QUTAN: Yup.

AGNES: We did it, girls.

We are awesome.

We're going to have
the most perfect meal

with your girls' dad.

With Chip being gone,
it's kind of difficult.

But we set our minds to it that
we can take care of each other,

take care of ourselves,
and it will eventually pass.

So, it's almost passed,
and he's almost here.

We got our goose.

Pretty soon you girls are
going to have your dad.

It's a good day.

Let's go show off
our first goose.

(laughing)

I'm glad you girls
are hunters, too.

(music)

ANDY: Every failure
is a success,

because it teaches you
how not to do it,

and it teaches you how to do it
better in the future.

(music)

(music)

Breakup's probably going
to happen today sometime.

And this is kind of one of
my last things I need to do

to save me from losing a bunch
of work that I put into this.

NARRATOR: In Eagle, the spring
breakup of the Yukon River

is hours away.

With the ice shifting
and the water level rising,

Andy has one last chance to
secure materials around camp,

or months of planning and
hard labor will be washed away.

ANDY: Last year
I build a yurt here,

and I had to haul down

45,000 to 50,000 pounds of
building materials to this site.

So, I built a corduroy road.

Oh, man.

That's a heavy one.

I just cut down
a bunch of trees,

stripped the branches off,
lay them down,

and that becomes what's
called a corduroy road

for me to then drive my tractor,
my bulldozer on.

It's a lot of work
to build a corduroy road.

It takes hours and hours,
days and days

to cut enough trees and
lay them down into the spot.

And I don't want the ice to take
all this work away from me.

I don't want to lose my matting.

So, we'll see if my tractor
will come up

through this soft material,

and hopefully I can
save all these logs.

Hey, what are you guys
doing up there?

Come on! Get off the ice!

Come on, Jack.

You can go downriver with that.

Huh?

Don't take them out
on the ice, Jack.

That's bad.

The downside to having
heavy equipment here

in a remote place
out in the bush

is when you get really stuck,

you don't have many resources to
work with to get yourself out.

So, you got to be really careful

and think about
not getting stuck.

(music)

(music)

Come on, baby.

(music)

(music)

Well, the whole reason for
building that road last year

was so that I could come up here
and build this thing here.

The danger is if the ice
comes up this far,

then if the ice starts pushing
on this, then it's a big loss.

And this was a huge investment
in time and effort and labor

and money, and a real investment
into my future here,

and I can't afford
to have it go away.

Wishing doesn't save my property

and all my equipment
and everything else.

The only thing I can do is
prepare the best I can for it

and wish and hope that
nothing bad happens.

(music)

JESSIE: Just because
you have the skills

and the materials to survive,

doesn't mean
you're gonna survive.

I'm looking for
somewhere to hunt.

Hunting's all about timing

and putting yourself
in the right position.

NARRATOR: Jessie is scouring
a nearby creek

to hunt for muskrats,

a harvest that will provide him
with food for himself

and fur that will protect
his dogs from frostbite.

But this time of year, he must
avoid the deadly obstacles

of the still-freezing waters
at all costs.

JESSIE: There's a lot
of things in the water,

obstructions to navigate.

I got to make sure that
I navigate them correctly.

And if I'm not careful
I could flip the canoe.

And if you flip the canoe,

you're gonna lose most
of your equipment and gear,

and you could possibly
lose your life.

It's really cold in this water.

It's all coming from the melt
of the snow and the ice.

It's looking pretty jammed up
up here.

I'm gonna go over here
to the right

and pull the canoe out,
take a look.

See what I'm working with.

(music)

Just gonna have to pull out here
and push back in here.

Just the kind of things
you're gonna run into,

canoeing down
these small creeks.

But I figure if
I keep heading down,

I'm bound to run into
some good territory

for hunting this evening.

Oh, I got a bunch of sweepers
right in the way here.

Try to cut through here
on this left side.

Got to just push
your way through.

Got to be stubborn and jam
your way right through there.

Grab a paddle
on anything you can.

Holy (bleep).
There's a big, old sweeper.

I'm gonna pull out over the side
and look at this bad boy.

Don't look like there's
any way through this one.

There's this big tree.

I'm not gonna be able
to get around that.

I'm gonna have to jump
right over this.

I don't like certainty.
I don't like structure.

What's life without
a little adventure,

a little down windfall
in the way?

There've been a lot of things
in the way for me,

my whole life.

Can't end up losing my canoe.

Once it's under the water,

I'm not gonna be able
to pull it out myself.

(music)

(bleep) damn it.

JESSIE: (bleep) damn it.

(bleep)

Got myself a little
dry ground there.

Just trying to get this water
out of my canoe using my teapot.

There's stuff swimming around
in the water in here.

(music)

Just gonna push it right over
and dive right in.

(music)

On to the next adventure.

(music)

(honking)

(music)

Beautiful night.

Full moon out.

It's getting cold.

Just gonna keep drifting
around in here.

Wait for my opportunity
to present itself.

The creek's finally starting
to open up again.

Less current,
less snags in the way.

It was kind of a battle
to get through there.

It's coming on dusk,

this is when the muskrat
really start getting active.

(music)

(squeaking)

(music)

(squeaking)

(music)

(squeaking)

(music)

(music)

(gunshot)

Missed him.

Oh, I missed him.

A beaver come by,
got a little hasty.

I know I couldn't really see
real good right now.

It's getting too dark.

If you don't hit them
just right,

they'll sink before
you can get to them,

and it's definitely worth
all the trouble to get here.

I'm in the right area now.

I'm seeing some muskrat.

I'm just gonna go get some sleep

and get up early
and keep hunting.

(music)

(music)

GLENN: If things didn't change,

it would just be static
and dull and boring,

but it's the changes,
that's what keeps it exciting.

(music)

(music)

I got ducks for dinner for
the first time in many months.

I've been eating moose meat
all winter.

Tonight, I got ducks.

That's something different.

It gets you thinking,
just living this way.

Hunting for your food,

just having this environment
around you,

changing all the time.

The weather's changing.

The animals are changing.

New animals are coming around.

When I set off in the morning
to hunt these ducks,

the lake was mostly
all covered in ice,

and now, it's breaking up
right here in front of me.

This is an environment
of extremes

where there's a lot of change.

It goes from 60 below zero
in the winter

to 85 above in the summer.

And the time in between,
the spring and the fall,

that's the most interesting,

'cause that's when you get
that dramatic change,

and it happens fast.

(sizzling)

Oh, they're looking good.
Time to eat some ducks.

Mmm. First duck of the year.

There's nothing like it.

You can't buy this kind of food,
this is special.

Mmm!

It's got a taste
that's totally unique,

and when you haven't had
a duck for months,

they're extra special.

The very first ducks
of the year.

When you hunt something,
it does taste better.

This summer, what I'm gonna do,

I'm gonna take advantage
of the snow-free conditions,

the warmer temperatures,
the 24-hour daylight.

I'm gonna go out
and I'm gonna explore.

There've been times when
I've gone for an entire year

without traveling more than
five or six miles

from this camp right here.

But this summer,
I'm gonna go out and explore.

I'm gonna cover some country.

I want to go further than
I've ever been before.

Places where I've never
set foot on the ground.

This summer, I'm gonna go there.

(music)

ANDY: I don't think that the way
I live is any better

than any other way of living.

It's just right for me.

Good boy.

Come on, buddy.

Let's go see the ice.

(music)

Come on, gee.

One of the things that I really
love about dog mushing

is you get a really tight bond
with those dogs.

But one of the downfalls of that

is when you see them start to
go downhill as they get older.

Gee, atta boy.

Iceberg had a stroke
not too long ago.

He's a one-eyed dog as it is,
and now he's a zero-eyed dog,

because the one good eye
went blind after the stroke.

Gee a little, come on.

Atta boy.

Good boy, come on.

Gee, gee, gee.

Come on. Straight.

He's making the best
of the life that he's got,

and I'm trying to work with him
by giving him commands

to allow him to have
a good retirement around here.

(music)

(music)

Alright, I'm putting in
a second marker now,

'cause my first one washed away.

Eh, just give me something else,

and then this is
my 'Oh, (bleep)' marker.

When that goes away, it's,
the whole river is going out.

Right there.

NARRATOR: With breakup
of the Yukon River underway,

Andy must continually set
markers along the river banks.

Tracking the water levels is
the only way to save his camp,

his sled dogs, and his life
from the wrath of the river.

(music)

ANDY: Yeah, river's
beginning to break up.

This is like New Year's for me.

It's a very symbolic time
for me along the Yukon River.

It could mean the beginning
of a new season.

The water's really, really low
for a breakup,

and I've never seen it
this low for a breakup,

so I really don't know what's
gonna happen with this breakup.

I'm a little bit
nervous about that.

Hundreds of millions of tons
of ice go by my place.

Hopefully very, very peacefully.

(music)

(music)

(music)

Alright.

What do you think, Berg?

You're right on the edge
over there, buddy.

You're right on the edge.

Let's come away from that
edge of the river there.

There you go.

This is by far the highest
the water's been so far.

What do you think, Berg?

You think this is it, buddy?

(music)

Oh. Whoa! (bleep)

ANDY: What do you think, Berg?

You think this is it, buddy?

Oh. Whoa!

(bleep) (bleep) (bleep)

Come on.
Let's get out of here.

(music)

Come on.

(music)

Man, that was
a face plant, buddy.

Poor old Iceberg.

You know, he's gone blind.

He's having a hard time
navigating,

and the poor guy just walked
right over a ten-foot cut bank,

headlong right into
the silt and sand.

Does that feel pretty good?

Huh?

That was one heck of a fall
you took, buddy.

(laughs)

Breakup sucks sometimes,
doesn't it, huh?

He's really tuned into me
and I'm really tuned into him,

and kind of a scary moment
for both of us.

He's aptly named Iceberg,

but that's not the way
I want him to go out.

(howling)

(music)

(music)

Look at all that ice
going by, Bergy.

Huh?

Breakup is just about over,
and that's why we're gonna have

kind of a celebratory fire
down here by the river.

The worst has come.

We got quite a bit of ice
packed into the beach here.

The water's dropped way down.

And for the most part,

this breakup's been
way less stressful

than most breakups have been in
the last six years around here.

So that's a good thing.

That's a good boy.

Doesn't take much
to keep him happy.

Gee, atta boy, atta boy.

Iceberg has always been
kind of a special dog.

One of my better leaders
of all time,

and we've always had
a really close relationship,

and so it's kind of tough for me

to see him in his waning time
of his life.

Iceberg and I have gone
a lot of places together,

done a lot of things,
had a lot of triumphs

and some pretty dismal failures.

But we did it together.

I'm thankful for the time
that I have with him,

and I think he's been
pretty thankful

to have the life
that he has here.

(music)

Every day of his life, he did
what he could to make me happy.

That's what dogs do.

Their only goal in life is
to make their owners happy.

It's a feeling
that you don't get

from just about
anything else in life.

(music)

Now that the Yukon River
is broken up,

I'm looking forward
to a busy summer.

It's been a good winter,

and I'm looking forward
to another incredible year

living along the Yukon River,

the way I want to live
in the place I want to live.

Who could ask for
more than that?

(music)

JESSIE: For me,
none of this came easy,

so it means all the more to me
to have to earn it

and work hard to get it.

(music)

I'm paddling around.

I'm looking for
a nice spot to set up.

I'm gonna try to hunt
out of the canoe.

Last night I took a shot
at a muskrat.

It was pretty dark,
so I had to call it a night.

Find myself a little spot here
and I'm gonna post up

and I'm gonna try hunting
out of the canoe.

(music)

(music)

Alright, this looks like
a real nice spot.

There's three different
bodies of water

coming together here
from the lakes.

Looks like a nice,
dry spot to sit.

(music)

Now it's just a patience thing.

(music)

(squeaking)

(music)

(music)

(gunshot)

Got him.

(music)

First fresh muskrat
of the spring.

This is great.

This is gonna get eaten
tonight at camp.

To me, to get some fresh meat,
it's what I come out here for.

So, I'm really happy about that
and preserve the fur,

preserve the meat, and that'll
make a delicious meal tonight.

(music)

This is a nice recuperation
from a long, hard winter.

Training and living
on the trail.

There ain't too much complicated
about right now.

And that's nice, that's a place
where you can unwind and breathe

and hear the sounds of nature.

(music)

(music)

(gunshot)

Nice. What a cool thing.

Sitting there about to
dig into my muskrat,

and I got another muskrat.

I got dinner and I got two furs

that I can use for making things
for my dogs.

(music)

Nice and tender,
tears right off the bone.

Perfectly cooked.

Why I moved onto the river,

not just to be a dog racer
or dog musher.

Just to live a full,
wholly embodied lifestyle

that revolves around each other.

There's no place I'd rather be
right now than sitting here.

I'm a lucky man.

(music)

AGNES: Whatever season it is,
we're gonna be out here,

'cause we love to be out in
the country and out in the wild.

(music)

(music)

It's been almost a year since
you guys' dad's been home.

CAROL: I know, I sure miss Dad.

AGNES: Yay.

It's gonna be so much better
with him back here.

The plane is coming.

QUTAN: The plane's over there.

CAROL: The plane's
right there. Yes.

QUTAN: Dad's on that plane.

AGNES: I can't wait
to bring him home,

so we can actually
enjoy each other.

We have dinner waiting for him.

You see it?

It's going to land.

(music)

Ha ha! Yee!

We've been waiting quite
some time for Chip to get home,

so this is a really
exciting day.

He's finally here.

There he is, I see him.

Hey, there, oh, my God.
For reals.

CHIP: How are you? Hello.

AGNES: I'm so glad
you got off that plane.

CHIP: Hello. Kisses.

MARY: Hi, Dad.

AGNES: Good to see you.

The last 10 months
has been pretty (bleep),

but today I don't think
my smile's gonna go away.

Yay!

CAROL: Good to see you, Dad.

AGNES: Oh, man,
it's been a while.

CAROL: Missed you.
CHIP: Yeah, I missed you, too.

You girls are looking good.

Looking taller.

I'm Edward Hailstone.
My friends call me Chip.

I just got out of prison.

I got that time behind me,

and the quicker I can get to
that, the better off I'll be.

Happy to be around
my kids, my wife.

My kids missed me a lot.
My wife missed me a lot.

They had themselves
a pretty tough time.

They dealt with what
had to be done with.

So, I think this summer
ought to be kind of fun.

I want to show my kids
different channels

and where it is that we go.

And I also want them to be able
to have a place to fall back on,

which is this area around them.

That's what's important to me
with my kids

is teaching them how
to take care of themselves,

and they'll take care
of their kids.

Family's like a team.

So, if you got a good family up,

and everybody's
playing their part,

then you'll have a good team.

(music)

AGNES: We've been all waiting
for this day.

It's dinnertime.

We went and caught this, and we
have some goose soup for dinner.

Waited for you to come home,
and I'm so glad you made it.

CHIP: It's good to be home.

Thanks for the hunting.

It's a good way to go.

Goose is a good thing to catch.

Yeah, this is great, kids.

Thanks for the goose.

Tastes really good.

I miss home food.

That's an ordeal behind me.

But you know, we got a lot
of stuff ahead of us.

AGNES: We toughed it out and we
did everything we needed to do,

and we survived the winter.

And now that it's spring
and my husband's back,

I'm looking forward to this
great thaw with my whole family.

Real good dinner.

It's good to have
a good dinner with you.

CHIP: Thank you.
I sure missed you.

AGNES: Missed you, too.

Food tastes better
with you around.

CHIP: Does it?
AGNES: Yup.

(music)