All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S14E01.Brink.of.Winter.720p.WEB-HD.x264-Pahe.ph

[slow gentle music]

[boat engine purring]

Today, my son Skyler,
my daughter Skarlett,

we're gonna head up to my cabin.

I'm hoping to get
up to the cabin,

insulate it a little
bit before winter hits.

Bringing some of my kids
out just so they can learn

and watch what I'm doing,

and that's how they get
knowledge to survive out here,

and thinking ahead
and preparing ahead.

[boat engine purring]

I'm working against
time right now.

Winter's coming up fast.

The nights get real
cold right now,

so as river starts running ice,

that can be a big problem.

You can see there's
snow along the banks,

there's snow on the mountains,

so just a matter of time

before there's ice
covering everything.

[slow suspenseful music]

[boat engine purring]

I'm about to land
at the cabin here,

and this cabin still
stands where I grew up.

Part of my childhood,

and for me to be able
to come out here,

and have my kids with me,
that's a beautiful thing.

-[canoe rattling ]
-[water splashing]

[Skarlett] Is it safe?

[Ricko] I think so.

Oh, look at that.

Wolf tracks. This was today.

[Skyler] Is it adult
or is it a baby?

[Ricko] It's a full-grown wolf.

Okay, you guys
stick close to me.

[lively upbeat music]

My name is Ricko DeWilde,

I'm from the north fork
of the Huslia River.

The land out here provides,
but it's very unforgiving.

There's open water,
there's deep snow.

40, 50, 60 below temperatures.

If you make a mistake
when you're out here,

it's a long ways from any help.

[bright upbeat music]

This year is gonna
be a little different

because I'm gonna
expand my country,

and I'm gonna bring my
kids out here a lot more.

And I tell them the stories,

but now that the older ones

are getting old
enough to follow me,

I'm able to show
them where I'm at,

and put some life

behind these stories
I've been telling them.

They take it all in, and
they're excited to learn.

'Cause I want them to carry
that torch of survival.

That's part of the
cycle of life out here.

At least there's snow, we
can see what came around, eh?

See all these bear marks?

[Skyler] Is that new?

[Ricko] Eh, some
of them are new.

[Skarlett] Hey, look it!

-Scraping.
-Still trying to get in,

but the windows are
solid this time.

[Narrator] Ricko
DeWilde is no stranger

to the predators that
stalk the Alaskan interior.

Last year, Ricko found his
family's cabin ransacked

by a grizzly bear,

which forced him to
secure the structure

from another unwanted entry.

We had boards over the window,

and that didn't
work out too well,

so we had to adapt
to the environment.

I got metal screens so we're
able to keep the bear out.

Let's go get a fire
going, you kids look cold.

[gentle music]

Tomorrow, we have a
lot of work to do.

We're gonna work on the cabin,

we're gonna seal
off the windows.

We're gonna seal off the holes
where the squirrels came in,

we're gonna put more insulation
in there, close it off.

But if the ice starts running
tomorrow, we'll look at it.

And if it's running, we got
to get the hell out of here.

Okay.

Unless you guys wanna
spend the winter here.

-Nope.
-No.

'Kay, we're gonna
have hot cocoa,

and then we're
gonna get some rest.

And tomorrow, we're
gonna get busy.

The only thing that
stops creativity is you.

[gentle serene music]

I'm going over here
to the gen shed.

Looking for one of the barrels

that I had saved from
when I made the culvert.

I want to take it over to
where I have my windsock.

I wanna make a more secure,

heavier base so the wind
doesn't push it around as much.

I'm concerned all
the projections are
quite a windy winter,

and so I wanna just make
something a little heavier,

a little bit more stout.

Lot of my winter chores
are already done,

but I've got a chance to
get some final chores done.

I want to secure the
windsock, I need to fuel camp.

It's all the million
little things you do

to get ready for the onslaught.

[serene gentle music]

My name is Susan Aikens.

I live at Kavik River
Camp, at the top of Alaska.

I'm about 500 miles from
the closest big city.

About 15 miles from
the Arctic Ocean.

I am the only refuelling station

on the eastern side
of the North Slope.

That's the size of a third

-of the State of California.
-[plane engine roaring]

Those of us that
live this remotely,

we're not particularly good
about following the rules

that everybody else feels
compelled to live by.

I live in an
ever-changing environment,

but it's changing rapidly.

As an ecosystem goes
through radical change,

you have to adapt.

[air whooshing]

The windsock is the number
one visual that pilots need

to see where the
wind is coming from.

Right now, it's
held, but barely.

So I've got to get it
in a stronger base.

I'm here by myself, and
I have to get it handled,

or I'm gonna get caught
with my pants down.

[rocks clacking]

I'm gonna have to move all
these stabilising rocks.

The seasons come in with a roar.

They don't ask for permission.

They arrive, and you need to
thrive, or you get run over.

So I've got to get
on the chores, I've
got to get them done,

and get my ass inside.

Winter's coming.

Look at that, the wind
is picking up that sock.

I got to get this
thing tied down.

With high winds predicted, I
need to weigh it down better.

I need to add more
weight to that tie-down.

Bulk that base out,
filling it with rock.

Really beefing it out, and
it's gonna be more stout.

Perfect. Exactly.
Exactly what I wanted.

For me, I mean this
is damn sturdy base.

And you got a little jostle,

but it is nothing like it was.

It's a damn, damn sturdy
base. I'm pleased.

Well done task, but
a task well done.

[suspenseful music]

[Agnes] There's lot of
uncertainty around here.

Everything here, it's beautiful,

but it's pretty deadly also.

[suspenseful music continues]

[Chip] I'm just gonna go upside,

this side of the mountain.

I've got my binocs, I'm
just gonna go have a look.

Yeah, I hear there's caribou

and stuff passing
through up there.

That's what I'm hoping for.

I'm Edward Hailstone,
my friends call me Chip.

I'm married to Agnes Hailstone.

We got seven kids together.

Right now I live
in Noorvik, Alaska,

but I split my time between
here and the Kiwalik.

We don't have an industry here,

we don't have a job I can go
to nine to five every day.

What we do is we hunt
the renewable resources.

Animal migration
patterns are changing,

fish migration
patterns are changing.

But the need to
eat hasn't changed.

It's part of the culture here.

These folks up here have been
around for 10, 12,000 years.

[Agnes] I've always
lived up here in Alaska.

I've always been
close to my home.

Now that the family's
growing and growing,

and watching my girls
grow into mothers

and caring for
their own families,

and being happy is
really joyful for me.

Well, it's freezing
pretty nicely.

It's gonna be real
firm ground up there,

it's not gonna be no marsh.

As soon as the river thickens,
we can get back out on it.

-It'll be fine.
-Yeah.

'Kay, love you lots.

-Be safe.
-I love you, too.

Have fun. Whatever you do.

Yup. See you later.

[dramatic upbeat music]

[bike engine roaring]

I'm gonna go up to the mountain

behind our village
here at Noorvik.

It's called Ashvanik.

We have places where we
like to go constantly.

And that's because
they generally turn out

to have caribou
funnelled through them.

My chances of actually
scoring something

aren't as high as
they usually would be,

and that's because
the bulls are in rut.

And want our caribou
herd to flourish,

so they don't shoot
the cows or calves.

So the one thing we can find
right now, which are fat,

because they haven't been
milked on all summer,

are the cows that
don't have a baby.

So quite often it's a good
thing to go up mountains,

sit around and then spot 'em.

And then be able
to anticipate 'em,

and beat them to a certain
spot so when they come up,

then I can get a
good, close shot.

Yup, there's all kinds
of possibilities,

but we don't know
if we don't go.

My competition, they're out
there training hard right now.

I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna
train harder, better, smarter.

[dramatic music]

[dogs barking]

I'm hooking up two tandem teams

right on each side of
the bumper of my truck.

-Comanche, Comanche.
-[dogs barking]

Come on.

And I'm just gonna
be using this truck

to set the speed of the team,

to where they don't go too fast,

but I'll be using the motor

to where they don't have
to pull the whole truck.

[dogs barking]

[Narrator] After spending
several years in Nenana,

Jessie Holmes has relocated
120 miles to Brushkana,

a region with better training
grounds for his sled dogs.

Today, Jessie will
haul materials 60 miles

to set up a remote training
camp for racing season.

But he must complete the trek

before conditions make
the roads impassable.

-[dogs barking]
-Hoo! A bunch of psychos.

They're raging to get out there,

that's where I breed 'em for.

All right, straight.

-[Jessie whistling]
-[dogs barking]

Go, go, go.

My name's Jessie Holmes,

and I live in the Alaska
range on the Brushkana River.

I'm a professional dog musher.

Let's go! Hike!

10 years ago, when I
first come to Alaska,

I was just a hard-working grunt

for everybody making
everybody else money.

With this, give me a
taste of being successful,

being competitive,
being a champion.

And it's totally
changed my whole path.

Right now, this is a
new chapter in my life.

New place. Everything
is new to me out here.

Lots of challenging conditions,

and you don't know what's
gonna happen out there.

I could have just been
comfortable with where I was,

but I don't want to ever
get too comfortable.

I wanna keep working
hard, stay in shape.

I mean, there's a lot
of hard work to do,

but it's all out in the
most beautiful environment.

All right!

But most importantly,

I'm gonna be training harder
than I've ever trained.

We're out here giving
it everything we have.

We've sacrificed
everything for this.

[gentle music]

[laughs]

[truck hooting]

Moving out here, I have a
month and a half more of snow

in the beginning of the season,

and towards the
end of the season.

Opens up some incredible
possibilities.

I mean, if we didn't have
this early-season snow,

we'd be back in Nenana,

training on gravel
and mud and stuff.

And sled dogs are
designed to be on snow.

They're really getting into
a real nice, set rhythm,

which is exactly
what I wanna see.

This is a product of
building all summer.

I'm sure they're fully
capable of making it

to where I'm trying to go.

I'll just let the
dogs do their job.

Going 60 miles, I'm just
ready to get out there

and spend some quality
time with these dogs,

and get this camp set up.

[bell tolling]

[suspenseful music]

[Andy] Well, winter
can kill you.

It can be your best friend

or it can kill you really quick
if you make a big mistake.

That's just nature
doing its thing.

[boat engine purring]

Wasn't many months ago
all that ice was in here.

Pretty rare to get this much
open water this time of year.

That's why I figure we
better take advantage

of this right now.

'Cause we could wake up tomorrow

and there's no more boating.

I woke up this
morning and I noticed

that the river had no ice in it.

So, Denise and I are
gonna head up to Eagle

and do a last run while it's
ice-free, to go get mail.

Most people just walk
outside their door,

open up a little mailbox,

pull their mail out
and walk back inside.

For us, it's about 12 miles.

It's a cold boat ride.

And this might be the last day

that we can use a
boat on the river.

My name's Andy Bassich,

I live on the Yukon
River at Calico Bluff,

the homestead that I've
been building for 30 years.

There are a lot of
risks involved in
living this lifestyle.

Every year brings changes.

Every year you get
a little older.

I basically lost a year
of my life to an injury

that will probably affect
me the rest of my life.

And having a partner like Denise

really makes a big difference.

[Denise] My name's
Denise Becker.

There is no preparing
for life at Calico Bluff.

Where I've come from,

living in Florida,
it's drastically,
drastically different.

And a lot of the skills
that I'm learning here,

they're new to me,
they're awkward to me.

They're essential to learn.

It really makes you appreciate
how much we are capable of.

[upbeat music]

[Andy] For me, living out here

is just what's inside of me.

I don't wanna ever leave here.

[boat engine purring]

-Look up there, off the bow.
-[Denise] Yeah.

[Andy] That looks
like some animals.

Maybe it's driftwood.

No, it's moving.

Holy crap. That's caribou.

Couple more dead ahead.
There's a couple right there.

Oh, yeah. I see those. Wow!

You feel like
driving for a minute?

-[Denise chuckles]
-You want me to?

I think we should
take one of those.

One of the really cool things

about living along
the Yukon River

is you never know
what you're gonna see.

And if there's one
thing I've learned,

you never turn up
an opportunity.

[Denise] You wanna go in closer?

No. This distance is fine.
Just stay this distance off.

Just don't come any
closer than this.

-It's shallow, okay?
-[Denise] Okay.

[bright upbeat music]

[Denise laughs]

That's a missed opportunity.

We weren't able to get up to
'em in time to get a shot off.

But I'm thinking where there's
one small band of caribou,

there's probably gonna be more.

So, we'll just see if we
see some more caribou.

It's extremely
unusual to see caribou

this time of the year here,
so it might be a gift.

If we can get it.

Things happen really
quick on the Yukon River.

It was really, really
unexpected to see caribou.

We planned on going up to
Eagle and getting the mail,

but seeing caribou trumped that.

Meat always trumps mail.

[gentle music]

I just wanna walk this
slough in this fresh snow,

and see if there's any
fresh tracks, okay?

[Denise] Yeah, that'd
be, that's a good idea.

There's a bunch of
old tracks here, see?

-This fresh snow.
-Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay.

So I'm thinking if
we just even walk,

and just check, and see
where this valley comes out,

if we see caribou tracks
heading down there,

then we know they're down there.

It could be 20 or 30
or it could be 500.

-You don't know.
-Wow, 500.

Let's just walk up this slough.

Okay. Okay.

[slow suspenseful music]

[Andy] Here's a place where

they're coming
down big time here.

[Denise] Wow. Look at that.

[Andy] It looks like
there's a lot of them

that came out into here.

[Denise] It does, look it.

This hilarious trample, so
this isn't just a band of 20.

This is a big migration
coming through.

So I think the best
thing for us to do

is not be standing
out in the open here,

so we either need to
go back to the boat

and go down to the far
end of this island,

and just sit and wait.

And the chances are,
they might come right out

and walk right up to us.

[Denise] Sounds good.

[dramatic music]

[Ricko] The weather
and the animals,

all that stuff speaks to you.

If you're living in the
city your whole life,

you're not gonna even
pay attention to that.

You're blind to it.

[slow gentle music]

-You guys ready?
-[Skyler] Yeah.

'Kay, you see all
these cracks here?

That's what we've got to stop
is all that draught coming in.

I wanna chink up the
cracks in this cabin,

and get this cabin
sealed off real warm.

The kids are gonna
have fun doing it,

and hopefully have a real warm
winter this coming winter.

Okay, ready? There you go.
You can go a little more.

Little more, push it in there.

Here, Skar, you can push this.

So this will make a world
of difference in here.

It's a good thing to have my
kids out here, helping me,

not only to have help,

but it also gets them to put a
stamp on this home of theirs.

Just by me telling the kids

that this is their cabin
too, that's not enough.

When they put work, sweat
and energy into this cabin

to make it better,

that's when it hits home

that it's their
cabin, and it's home.

'Kay, you guys
wash all that off.

What we did do the
windows and the cracks,

that'll keep all
that cold air out.

It's gonna make a
huge difference.

Even tonight, when you
sleep, it'll hold the heat.

You rest better,
you feel better.

Awesome job. You
guys are amazing.

-Skarlett, you're so tough.
-[Skarlett chuckles]

When we seal it off like that,

we sleep so much better in here.

These dogs are
what keep me here,

giving me a taste of
being successful in life.

That's why I'm in Alaska.

[dogs barking]

Awesome run so far. Dogs
are really doing great.

I'm gonna definitely make
it to where I'm headed.

Just a little break like
this is gonna reset them,

and give them some energy

to make it to where
we're gonna camp tonight.

I'll be able to give the
dogs a nice snack, and then,

keep moving down the trail.

[Narrator] Along
the Denali highway,

Jessie has taken 24 sled
dogs on a 60-mile trek

to set up a remote training camp

that he will use all winter.

But it's their first venture

into the Brushkana
wilderness this time of year,

and they must be wary of
their unfamiliar surroundings.

[slow suspenseful music]

So far, the dogs
are looking great.

This is one of the places

that my dogs were always
the most excited to come

after fall training in Nenana.

I'd get out here
as soon as I could,

and the dogs always look
forward to coming out here,

they really like it.

There's a lot of animals
around, and they can smell it.

I'm seeing a lot of caribou
scat all over the road,

you can see a tonne of caribou
have been through here.

[lively upbeat music]

[dogs barking]

Ho! Shit!

Look at these caribou right here

crossing the road
in front of us.

That's so cool, the dogs
are so jazzed up now.

That's one of the things the
dogs love about being out here.

They smell these animals.

They get excited,

they feel like they're back
to their primitive roots.

I mean, these dogs derive
from pack of wolves.

They work together
like a pack of wolves.

It makes me so happy seeing
the dogs have this much fun.

I keep moving on down the
highway get to our destination.

-[gentle music]
-I live alone.

But I enjoy the hell out of
it. It doesn't make me lonely.

[gentle music]

[air whooshing]

I have these fuel tanks
sprinkled around camp.

And you can even hear,

it needs to be filled.

So that's one of the things
I'm gonna be doing today.

Fueling camp, it's something
that I do quite routinely,

but I've got a storm coming in,
and I've got to get it done.

That jet fuel, it's
what I use to heat.

I don't rely on electricity.

If I don't do it,

if I try to skate and make
it last a little too long,

then I'm doing it under
the worst of conditions.

And I'm not gonna have heat.

[Narrator] Sue Aikens is
completing a series of tasks

that will ready her camp

for the long and
brutal winter ahead.

With only a short window
before a storm arrives,

she must secure
heat for herself,

and for the pilots
who rely on Kavik

as a refuelling station,
and safety outpost.

[gentle upbeat music]

The heat tanks,
when it's just me,

I can probably go the
better part of a month

without worrying about it.

But you really
wanna keep up on it

when the weather's decent.

If you don't have
some backup handy,

and you let yourself get
low, you're gonna get cold.

Get your jobs done
while the weather's good

because it will be getting bad.

[suspenseful music]

When I'm done
fueling everything,

you always bring it back full.

You don't know when the
big storms are gonna hit,

so you top everything off.

All full. Second of
the chores is done.

And again, you may
look at it and go,

"Big deal. That was not much."

Well, when you're
out here alone,

500 miles from help,

could mean the difference
between life and death.

[Agnes] Nothing
is ever difficult

when you're the apex predator.

[bike engine roaring]

Made it to the top
of the mountain

and a little over the top.

I wanna look along the edges.

We're probably not the
only ones up here hunting.

Wolves and bears,
they come up here too.

There's some caribou about
three miles away. [laughs]

Like four of 'em.

Two moms, two babies.
That's all I see.

Not much up here today.

But since the caribou,
when they cross over here,

aim towards these mountains,

this is naturally the place
where they're inclined to go.

So, we'll just keep looking.

One of the tougher parts

of caribou hunting
this time of year

is just even seeing
them moving right now.

Any dots I stared at
went, "Huh, what's that?"

If I miss and they're still
there, they're probably a bush.

[laughs] Or a rock.

But if they're moving,
it's a different deal.

It's a tree. [laughs]

Never know, 'til you look.

Caribou at 1:05 will not be
where they were at one o'clock.

They're known as
the great wanderer.

All they do is walk.

They eat and walk and eat
and walk and eat and walk.

No animals in sight. Best
thing to do is move on.

I don't see any good,
take-able animals.

The only ones I've seen were
two cows with two calves.

And they're really far away.

And since there's
nothing over here,

it just makes logical sense

to see what's on the other
side of the mountain.

Seasons change quick
here in Alaska.

You can't just wait for
something to happen,

and react to it.

You got to be ready
when it comes.

[slow tense music]

We got a lot of work done
out here at the cabin,

but it got cold last night.

Clear and cold. That's not
a good thing for the boats.

The lake is real froze over.

Oh, shit. This fuckin'
river is freezing up.

I should have went
home yesterday.

Damn, I'm all froze in.

I can get out of here,

but I don't know how
my boat's gonna act.

It's cold out.

Get my motor started.
My steering is good.

My throttle feels frozen.

Yeah, it's fuckin' froze.

I don't know what's
going on with that.

I can't go anywhere
with it like that.

What I'm gonna do is
start that generator,

plug in the heaters, and
just thaw this whole cab out,

and see if that
makes a difference.

[bright upbeat music]

I took an extra day

to get everything sealed
up in the cabin for winter,

and I came out here late.

Temperature dropped about
20 degrees overnight,

and that's not a good sign.

I'm worried.

I don't know what's gonna
happen with my throttle.

I'm hoping it's not mechanical,

'cause I'm not trying to
stay out here for the fall.

Especially with the kids,

we don't really
have that much food.

Okay, I'm gonna try that
throttle one more time

and see what happens.

Try it again.

Fuckin' locked up.

Oh, there we go. Okay.

It's tight, but it's working.

It's really frozen,

but it's just gonna have to
idle for a while and thaw out

and I think I got it.

It doesn't feel good,

but I think after I use it for
a while, it will loosen up.

It's real tight but, [exhales]

damn, I swear to God, I feel
religious in times like this.

[bright upbeat music]

Now that the motor is running,
the throttle is running,

I need to capitalise on
the opportunity right now

to get back to the village
and get home safely.

So I'm just gonna
pack up in the cabin,

pull the canoes inside
and head back to Huslia.

You guys, come on. We got to
get out of here. Let's go.

A last minute check,
last second check.

The grizzlies aren't
in their den right now.

So I got to board
up my cabin good,

'cause if a bear comes
into this property

and sees a open door,

it's gonna raise hell
with my cabin again.

Okay. You guys ready?

-[Skyler] Yeah.
-[Skarlett] Yeah.

[Ricko] We're cutting it close.

Let's get the heck out of here.

[gentle music]

When you walk into
where you're at,

you accept the
challenges or you don't.

You can count on one hand the
amount of days I have left

before the sun disappears
for several months.

I've gotta keep my butt
moving on the chores.

Or I'm gonna be doing it just
with the light on my forehead.

I've got a couple of elbows.

I heat with the diesel fuel,

and the additives they put in it

so it doesn't gel during
the winter, very corrosive.

And it just corrodes
those pipes.

Once to twice a year,
I have to replace 'em.

The leading edge of winter
is when you do that.

You don't wait for it to
crumble in the middle of winter.

You have a
60-mile-an-hour storm,

there's no way you're
getting up there

to replace 22 feet of pipe.

It used to be, I would get
eight inches of precip a year,

no matter what form it takes.

But I'm getting 10 to 15, 22
feet of snow, of rain a year.

It's not your grandma's Arctic.

[wires rattling]

All right.

Fuckin' fuck fuck.

Well, it is down.

Ah. I don't think I'd
be happy, come on,

living a lifestyle where
it was all too easy.

Where would be the fun in that?

Where would be the challenge?

Where would be the
risk and reward?

Okay. There's that.

Hopefully, it doesn't fall.

Tighten it. But I can't
risk a half-ass pipe.

If it comes apart during
a 60-mile-an-hour storm,

I'm not gonna have heat.

You're putting your
life right on the line

because you were lazy.

And that's not in my nature
and it's not the way I roll.

I've got to get the job done.

I'm gonna call this
project handled.

-[exhales]
-Woo. My hands are cold.

[gentle music]

Okay. Turn this on.

Drop it in.

And you can see,
you've got flame.

So, the stove is cleared,

it'll keep this place warm in
the winter when I need it to.

And hold tough for the
storms coming through.

I'm ready for winter.

It's a hell of a way
to end the season

and start the new one.

[Andy] Nature always
reclaims everything.

I'm always in awe of the power

and the wilderness around
here and what it does,

what it can do.

[dramatic music]

[boat engine purring]

This is definitely the place

they've been
crossing right here.

It's all within this
one mile here, you know?

It's a very tight spot,
like a very specific trail.

[Narrator] After discovering
a caribou migration

along the Yukon River,

Andy and Denise are
scouting the area

in hopes of locating
the rest of the herd.

It's a rare opportunity
for meat this time of year.

And if they are to succeed,

they'll need to work
together as a unit.

[Andy] There's a whole
bunch of them coming across.

-Look at that.
-[Denise] Oh, look at them!

Switch over, you take that.

-Little bit more, to the left!
-[Denise] Okay!

[Andy] Try and land
pretty quick here!

Okay!

[Andy] Straight ahead,
right through that ice.

[gun firing]

[sombre music]

[Denise] Holy, man,

I just can't even believe
that all happened.

It's all opportunity, you know.

When it comes, you better
take advantage of it

'cause if you don't
take advantage of it,

you don't get it for
the rest of the year.

Wow, that's some mail delivery.

[Andy laughs]

Holy, man.

You know, we saw the
first couple of caribou

swimming the river
and jumping out.

But once we got to shore,

I started seeing
a lot more tracks.

So there was easily
five or 600 animals

that have been crossing
there in the last day or two.

We happened to connect
with two of those,

so we're fortunate.

It's not something
I do for sport.

It's something I do
so that I can survive

and live along the Yukon River,

and actually thrive
along the Yukon River.

This is a little guy here.

We can get him in
the boat pretty easy.

This was a really great
experience for Denise.

I've only seen 'em swimming
the river like this

a couple of times
in my 30 years,

so it was really cool for her
to be able to experience that

and kind of brings back
that excitement to me.

And I don't ever wanna
lose that enthusiasm

over what this life
gives to you here.

[Denise chuckles] I
got blood in my boat.

[Denise laughs]

Yeah, but look what
comes with that blood.

[Andy] We got meat.

[slow gentle music]

[Chip] These folks are
10,000 years intact

of living off these areas.

This is a culture around here.

They know where things are

and how to use them
at their fullest.

Can't see 100 yards now.

Looks like it's
getting kind of dark.

There are thicker clouds
in the way of the sun,

and there, there's a big
snow squall over there,

and snow's coming right to us.

That should be here
in about 10 minutes.

I better get out of here.

[gentle upbeat music]

The weather is closing in on us.

Look at that shit
coming towards us.

It takes me about an hour to
come down from that mountain

to get back to town.

Down low, it'll be a lot better

but, you got to go with
what the weather does.

And when the weather
comes along and says,

"You can't see 50 yards,"

then I guess it's its way

of telling you to
quit hunting too.

I saw a caribou,
just didn't get any.

And you just have to
be used to those days.

Now you can't have too
many of those go in a row.

That'll really screw a fella up.

Sometimes, the best hunter
comes home with nothing.

One thing leads to another
and those accidents

or mistakes starts
piling up on each other

and that's when you get into
a lot of trouble out here.

Starting to see some
ice on the river now.

It's starting to form.

You see it out there?

-[Skyler] Yeah.
-[Skarlett] Yeah.

Woo. I hear the ice hitting
the bottom of my boat,

so I'm just gonna take my time,

I got this whole
day ahead of me.

Maybe about four
hours of daylight left

to get me and the
kids back to Huslia.

Ice is hitting.

Boating season is
officially about over.

[Narrator] With Huslia's
waterways already freezing,

Ricko must race against time
to safely transport himself

and his children
back to the village,

or risk being trapped in the
wild when winter arrives.

If I didn't get that motor
running on this boat,

we would have been froze
in up there at the cabin.

The sun really has no
effect this time of year.

Maybe jump up 20 degrees
for about two hours,

then it's back to
sub-zero temperatures

and with that happening,

you go from summer
to winter overnight.

I wanna say, that's real smart
of me to read the weather

and cut it that close,

but in reality, it's
kind of stupid too

because I'm taking a chance.

If those rivers and
lakes freeze in,

that basically mean my
kids freeze in out here.

So I'm just trying to
get back to the village

before I freeze in.

Holy shit. There's some
ice in front of us.

Both of you put life jackets on.

There's some ice right here.
I'm trying to dodge it.

[bright upbeat music]

Sharp turn there.

Come on, baby.

[Skyler] Dad, you're gonna
get in close to that thing!

Oh, shit. Hold on.

That was crazy, huh? A
lot of ice on the river.

[Skyler] Yeah.

[Ricko] This was our
last day to get back,

so I'm glad we got out of there.

If we stayed one more
day, we'd be stuck?

That's it. We would
have been wintered.

Huh, you'd be going to school
like I was when I was a kid.

Correspondents. [laughs]

I'd be your mean
teacher. [laughs]

[water splashing]

We're home.

We made it, we survived.

[Skarlett] We finally
survived from that ice!

I didn't let you kids down.

[gentle upbeat music]

Consider myself real
lucky to get home safely,

and not get froze in.

My boat's out the water.

My kids are safe.
My cabin is secure.

I'm ready for winter, I couldn't
ask for anything better.

Winter is definitely here.

It's one of those sides

of Jessie Holmes people
don't know about.

For I become the
alpha of the pack,

and everybody looks to me.

[dramatic music]

[dogs barking]

Chee!

Chee! Chee! Chee! Chee!

All right, guys. Whoa.

We're gonna be staying
here for a little while.

[dogs whining]

Good run!

Good run, let's have some fun.

While they play,

I'm gonna focus on
getting this camp set up.

This camp ups our
mushing game big time.

We're putting 110% in every
aspect of the sport right now.

This is the product of it.

This shows, these dogs love me.

They surround me,
they wanna protect me.

It's a comforting feeling

to see the bond
this team has to me,

and I know that the people
I'm gonna compete against,

I got to beat all of 'em.

It doesn't mean because
dogs love me this much

that we're gonna win,

but it ain't looking bad,
I'll tell you that much.

[gentle music]

All right, I got my
camp nice and set up.

This is awesome right here is,

not only is this tent
set up here for me,

like I'll be coming
here with a 12-dog team.

And nice thing is,

there's room for me
and twelve dogs in here

to recover from the
cold and the run.

Today was an awesome day.

We got everything we need here.

We're gonna sleep good tonight.

[Denise] You have to fall down.

And when you fall down,

you have to get up and
learn how to walk again.

If you can't learn
from your mistakes,

you're not gonna grow.

So how many pounds of meat do
you think we got off of that?

Eh, it's enough
for a month or two.

I mean, we're gonna definitely
want more meat this winter.

We just have to see where
they're at, if they're around.

It looks like that river
is making a fair amount

of ice now too, huh.

Pretty much timed
this just about right

-for last boat trip
-[laughs] Yeah.

And the last of
everything, really.

With winter coming, for me,
there's some apprehension.

I see people like Andy.

They do things instinctively.
For me, it's not instinctive.

I'm gonna do it wrong, but
that's part of learning.

So, to be able to take
on a new challenge

and to succeed at it.

That's huge.

For me, Denise is a great
partner to share things with

because she's so upbeat
and she's so positive.

She's got the desire
to learn the skills,

and that allows us to accomplish

way more than I would have
been able to do on my own.

We're gonna have a lot
of work ahead of us.

Winter is here.

As we're eating it,
I think about how

when we first saw
them in the river,

it's etched in my mind
how beautiful they are.

Yeah, I think what
really amazed me is that,

we can fish for
salmon all summer long

and the river gives us that.

And then the very last
boat ride of the year,

we can go out and bring
home a couple 100 pounds

of super-delicious meat.

That's unique and special.

Cheers. Good job
with the caribou.

Yay.

[gentle music]