Original subtitles

(dramatic orchestral music)

In the state of Alaska

the people, the wildlife, and even the ice

are always on the move.

Predicting their movements is pretty much impossible.

It's a best guess scenario.

The annual ebb and flow

of long summer days and harsh winter nights

creates a pattern of seasonal migration.

We spent quite a bit of time on our four-wheelers

getting back into these remote areas.

It hurts, you've gotta earn it.

You can't just have it given to you.

These epic migrations

are part of an amazing annual cycle

on display in Alaska, as life feeds upon life.

These animals do not live in this area.

They're constantly moving through.

Yay, I caught a fish!

The very landscape of Alaska itself

is the creation of a great migration.

Massive glaciers carve through the landscape

over millions of years.

There's a lot that could go wrong ice climbing.

You have to know what you're doing.

(woman screams)

And many Alaskans find themselves

migrating as well, for seasonal jobs and vacations,

as their livelihood also fluctuates

with the same seasonal cycle.

It's amazing how just a day or two off the rock

will make you wanna be right back here.

(wind howling)

(western banjo melody)

Alaska, the land of the midnight sun.

The northernmost regions of this state

see 65 days a year without a sunrise.

And 65 days without a sunset.

The constant cycle of freezing and thawing

fuels the state's rushing rivers

and abundant habitat for wildlife.

The wild animals of Alaska have adapted

to this ebb and flow through different means.

While Alaska's most famous residents

choose to sleep through the winter,

many species travel across hundreds

or even thousands of kilometers

to find suitable habitat for nourishment and reproduction.

Every year the caribou of Alaska

migrate thousands of kilometers, from the arctic coast

to the protected mountains to the south

The longest migration of any terrestrial animal on Earth.

(dramatic orchestral music)

North of the arctic circle, hundreds of kilometers

from the nearest form of pavement,

barren-ground caribou are on the move.

Outdoors-men fly far North into the Alaskan tundra

to intercept these caribou

as they migrate in front of their camp.

Mark and Scott Beyung came in today

and we're going to have an epic trip.

Intercepting a herd of thousands of caribou

is a more challenging task than it sounds,

as their migration meanders across the Alaskan tundra.

Yeah, he's really tall.

Some nice bulls in there.

It's a herd of about 62 to 64 thousand animals.

Predicting their movements is pretty much impossible.

It's a best guess scenario because they'll wander,

they'll go east today and west tomorrow.

They have a pretty tough life.

They're the bottom of the food chain.

Everything out here is trying to get them.

The migration is really on up here.

We've seen some from the air coming in,

and I think things are looking really good.

You know, I'm always telling people

to break the piggy bank or rob the kids college fund.

I'd hate to say it again,

but boy, this is a trip that you've gotta do.

Life is really short, and not to come up

to the arctic and see this fabulous land

would be a travesty in my opinion.

Every year, the population

of caribou herds fluctuate, as approximately 50% of calves

and 10% of adult caribou do not survive through the winter.

And predators will pick through these carcasses

leaving only it's unique antlers behind.

This is a dead caribou

that probably didn't make it through the winter.

What you got here is a shovel, this is called a shovel.

Now on good, good, good bulls,

you're looking for a double-shovel.

And these are called bez points right here.

This is the bez on a caribou.

You've got your main bean, and then you've got your tops.

Now some of them are U-shaped

and some of them are V-shaped.

Right.

The herds down on the peninsula have that big U shape.

Most of these caribou up here have that V-shape.

Watching the caribou

as they travel across the Alaskan tundra

require a journey all in itself.

It'll be about five hours

by the time we get to the trail head.

Okay, and then offload the ATVs,

and then we're four-wheeling it up

32 miles back up in there.

Following these herds on foot is impossible.

These men will use four-wheeled horsepower

to get into the caribou habitat.

We spent quite a bit of time on our four-wheelers

getting back into these remote areas.

(upbeat country guitar)

We're like modern mountain men out there.

Our horses are these four-wheelers.

I love being muddy, I love being wet.

You know, when it sucks, I'm having the most fun.

They aren't the only ones

following this migration.

Caribou country is also bear country.

So what we're dealing with is a black bear.

I think he's about six feet.

And these experienced outdoors-men

are always on the lookout for dangerous predators.

(dramatic orchestra music)

Word on the street is they're here, so.

It's amazing that they survive off this terrain.

There's another one over here, skyline.

Well, let's go see some more.

Well, sitting up here, looking around.

Looks like about a two and a half year old bull

from the area we just came through

came in about maybe 100 meters or so.

By tomorrow he could be 15 miles away, right?

At least, that's if he sleeps at night.

You have to be optimistic about what's happening.

We have had two flat tires.

We've had stuck in the mud, we had to winch each other out.

You get out here and you realize

that you kind of depend on other folks.

It's not just one person doing the job.

Living with the caribou for days

is an unforgettable experience.

But traveling for seven days straight on an ATV

can be a painful journey.

We actually made two or three moves

around the Alaskan wilderness areas

to go find out where the migration

might be starting to happen,

where they're starting to kind of herd together.

But we finally ended up making a decision.

Scott did, he says look guys,

nothing is happening, we gotta do something.

And so we made that move.

(ATV engine roars)

Modern day mountain men on those four-wheelers

back through those bogs and swamps and the creeks.

And you think that doesn't take a toll on you

after 10 days of that, I gotta tell you

I'm sore, every muscle in my body right now.

It hurts, you've gotta earn it.

You can't just have it given to you.

It was such a hell of an adventure here in Alaska.

A hell of an adventure.

I'm coming to Alaska for my first time

so very happy that Scott was persistent

and got us here to Alaska for this Alaskan adventure.

While the caribou migration

takes place annually, the migration

of Alaska's great glaciers

has been ongoing for millions of years.

Look how beautiful it is out there.

Isn't it gorgeous?

This is crazy.

There are over 100 thousand glaciers in Alaska,

each formed my melting snow compacting into ice

then slowly traveling down it's path

at a rate of one meter per day.

To see a glacier in person is thrilling.

To climb one, unforgettable.

When are you looking at doing an ice climbing adventure?

So I just got a call from three ice climbers,

they wanna go out to Knik Glacier.

I'm gonna set them up with Josiah

because he is the perfect pilot

to take them out ice climbing,

cause he's an avid ice climber

and outdoors-man himself.

Hey guys.

Hey, how's it going?

Ready to go ice climbing?

Yeah.

Alright.

High-five.

The sport of ice climbing

began in the Italian alps, and is similar to rock climbing.

To ascend the slope of a glacier

climbers use sharp pickaxes and crampons.

So it's your first time in a helicopter?

Yeah, super excited.

Oh, it's gonna be the best.

Cool.

What could go wrong?

Yeah, well hopefully nothing.

(all laugh)

Let's go.

Okay, everybody ready.

Yeah.

Let's go flying.

This group is flying

north of Anchorage to the Knik glacier,

40 kilometers long and eight kilometers wide,

the Knik is one of the largest glaciers

in south-central Alaska.

It's a great valley up there.

It'll be grand.

Oh, yeah.

Flying around up here is just, it's incredible.

The wilderness is so big here.

The beauty, a lot of times I'm kinda in church up here.

We're in Alaska, this is dangerous, it's scary.

But if we get to go

to some of the most amazing places on earth.

(upbeat guitar)

So normally when we head out to Knik Glacier

we'll start climbing right away

and go up and over the mountain.

But today we got high winds

and some cloud cover up in the mountains.

So we're kinda having to go around a little bit.

Flight plans in Alaska can change quickly

as pilots constantly adjust to fluctuating conditions

as they cross over high mountain passes.

This is usually the worst spot.

It is more dangerous to fly in Alaska than other places.

It's the unknowns.

It's the weather, and the wind, and the mountains

and all the things you encounter that you can't predict.

We'll get a few bumps here driving this ridge line

and then we'll drop down out of the wind.

Cause this looks nasty.

Finding the glacier is easy.

Finding a safe place to land is the hard part.

It's pretty windy out here today, pretty bumpy.

So I'll just take it nice and easy.

I think being a bush pilot in Alaska

kinda covers a lot of areas.

It's everything you have to deal with.

The weather, the mountain flying, the wind.

So flying in Alaska brings unique challenges.

Actually it looks a little better here.

Let's go see if we can check out equipment.

Alright.

The glacier is always changing

so we don't have a specific spot we always go to.

Sometimes you'll see a spot that looks good

from up high and you'll get down low

and it's not as good as it looked from up high.

Hey, there's some ice.

Yeah I don't know guys,

I don't think I wanna land on this ice.

I don't trust it, it's just been so warm

The ice could be rotten, we just don't know.

If you land on the glacier in the wrong spot

it can be a million dollar mistake.

The worst thing that could happen is you land on the ice

and break through and go in the water.

I'm looking for a spot right now.

There's a place on top of this thing to land.

Oh look at this, okay guys I think I got a good spot here.

Nice and level, looks like some good climbing nearby.

We'll have to land and look at the ice

to see if it's okay to walk around on.

The glacier in the winter can be pretty tricky.

The snow will mask crevasses and holes on the glacier,

and you could end up falling right through the snow

into a crevasse.

Glacial ice is far denser than regular ice.

Air bubbles are squeezed out of the crystals

over hundreds of years, giving glacier ice

it's distinctive blue color.

Yeah, this looks good here.

Like most of Alaska,

the Knik glacier is on land

designated for public access and recreational use.

If you can get here, you can play here.

How about just this whole wall.

That looks pretty steep, but.

It's steeper than you'll get on most any waterfall.

When we're climbing, watch out for ice breaking off.

What we don't want is to get underneath

one of these overhanging blocks of ice.

While they appear static,

glaciers are constantly in motion,

and large chunks of heavy ice can break away at any moment.

It's going to be hard

keeping your feet on the wall.

Alright, climbing.

Climb on.

(Gillian screams)

It's alright, you got it.

Keep your toes pointed straight.

There you go, don't turn your heels in.

This glacier ice is really hard right now.

It makes it tough.

It's a lot harder than it looks.

(Gillian screams)

This is not.

(screams)

Oh, boy, nice.

There's a lot that could go wrong ice climbing.

Anchors could pull out, gear can fail.

You have to know what you're doing.

Be careful.

(Gillian gasps)

Nice.

These holds are not--

It's steep, it's really steep.

(Gillian gasps)

Ice climbing can be tough.

The ice we had on this climb was really hard

so you're picks aren't going in very deep

your crampons aren't sticking into the ice very deep.

Oh, man.

(screams)

Oh!

Oh, man.

It's really hard.

Yeah, I hate it.

Uh, oh, watch the anchor.

Watch the rope.

(Gillian screams)

I think the parts where you are falling

you're pulling the butt of the ax away from the wall.

You just allow it to be straight pull,

and you don't pull out.

There you go.

Yeah, just like that.

Watch the anchor.

Unless you're totally comfortable.

Man she's cruising.

Nice.

(Gillian cheers)

Nice work!

How do your forearms feel?

I can't feel them.

I'll let you know when I can feel them.

Totally worth it!

Gillian are you ready to come down?

Yes, please.

I like doing tours

because I get to show off the state, and we get to

go to some of the most amazing places on earth.

Glaciers melt into streams,

and then flow into the great rivers of Alaska,

which every year play host

to one of the amazing miracles on Earth,

the annual runs of millions upon millions of salmon.

Alaska's Bristol Bay has been called America's fish basket,

and is the most productive fishery in the world.

The salmon industry in Bristol Bay

earns up to 1.5 billion dollars a year

providing up to 20 thousand jobs

throughout the United States, as every year

up to 50 million sockeye return to this pristine habitat.

The reason that Bristol Bay is so spectacular

is the salmon ecosystem.

It's a couple of factors, one is it was all glaciated,

and so it's just full of spawning gravel.

It's one basic sheet of water

with a thin layer of land on top of it.

The whole basin is just underlaid

with cold clear water that appears

and goes in and out of the gravel matrix.

The second thing that happened

is the glaciers created these alluvial dams

which created a series of lakes.

Now sockeye are a lake species.

They rear in lakes, and then they go out to the ocean.

So it has this incredible number of streams

and spring creeks, and it has all these lakes.

And then, you drive all the salmon nutrients

up into it in the form of massive migrations

of sockeye, silvers, or coho, pink,

and these amazing lake run rainbows.

And all those nutrients come in

and create this perfect soup of biological productivity

that drives the salmon ecosystem

and makes it the most productive in the world.

Don't be shy, show yourself to us.

Whoa!

There we go.

The salmon with their miraculous

movement of nutrients into these rivers

support caddisflies, and trout,

and bald eagles, and brown bears, and wolves,

and over 100 species depend upon these wild salmon runs.

And commercial fisheries that are providing

much needed healthy sources of wild protein for humankind.

It's a miracle, it's one of the great miracles on Earth.

What the hell do you do with that?

You still got him!

Lotta fight in that beast.

An amazing thing happens in the rivers that flow

into the giant post glacial moraine lakes of Bristol Bay.

A race of rainbows has evolved to live in these lakes

almost like a steelhead in the ocean

or a salmon, and feed on the juvenile sockeyes in the lakes.

And then in the fall,

when the salmon are spawning in the rivers,

these big silvery lake run rainbows

sneak up into those rivers

and start feeding on the salmon eggs.

And it's a chance for a fisherman

to catch a fish of a lifetime.

Alaska sells 300 thousand

non resident fishing licenses every year.

And these angling tourists all come to the last frontier

hoping to land their own fish of a lifetime

including country music singer, Kristy Lee Cook.

Everybody that comes to Alaska

wants to do a little fishing.

She didn't realize we were on the Deshka River,

one of the finest salmon rivers in south central Alaska.

With a little nudging on her part,

it didn't take long for Kristy to get out on the water.

From the very beginning she was telling me

she wasn't any good at fishing.

I said Kristy, let's go out and give it a shot.

I think we have a very good chance

for you to catch your first Alaskan king salmon.

We went out there, kind of a one-on-one, tutoring her.

Alright, a little faster, lemme show you that spinner.

When that spinner goes through the water, you can see it.

Right off the bat we hooked a king.

I can't believe you already hooked

your first king salmon, what was that, two casts?

Take your time, now, take your time.

Is it, oh.

Okay, it came off.

It got off, caught a couple grayling,

beautiful Alaskan arctic grayling.

Course, every time she landed another fish

she's got bigger expectation.

It was funny because Kristy would sit there and tell me,

I want this yellow Vibrax.

She said I gotta have that spinner,

since she saw it sitting in my tackle box.

So I went and put the spinner on,

and it didn't take long before I heard, fish on.

Lemme get over here now, I got one.

You got your first Alaskan king salmon, Kristy.

Well don't say that, yet.

I think positive.

Kristy was so excited

that King was running all over the place.

Okay, bring him right over here.

Point him this way, no.

Don't horse him, don't horse him.

You're good.

Yay, I caught one!

Kristy, you suck at fishing.

Congratulations.

Yay, I caught a fish.

Boy you should've seen the smile.

I mean, it's as big as the last frontier on that girl.

Should we let him go?

No way!

Crazy.

She hooked the fish, she landed the fish.

It was her first Alaskan king salmon,

and throughout the day we were talking

and I found out that she had never been to Alaska before.

I'm so excited, this is my first king salmon in Alaska.

Tourists aren't the only ones

in pursuit of Alaskan salmon.

Every year, the coastal brown bear of Alaska

migrate down to the rivers to gorge themselves

on the seemingly endless supply of calories.

And they grow so massive

that they are considered a separate species

from their grizzly cousins of the interior.

Here's an interior bear, here's a coastal brown bear.

They're the same genetic bear,

except one lives off of ground squirrels and berries,

carrying whatever it can find,

the other spends his summers and falls feasting on salmon.

This is a nice grizzly,

this is what they classify as an aphid grizzly.

But he doesn't have the same diet as King Kong here.

Now this is a 10 foot six bear, lived off of salmon.

You can see the difference.

Carrying his rifle in case of a bear attack,

artist Steve LeBlanc travels into the Alaskan bush

to study his favorite subject.

Two miles away we saw a little tiny band of caribou

and I said well let's just climb a couple ridges

and see if we can get close.

While I started glassing the caribou,

Jason turned around and said,

"Look behind us on that far ridge, there's a grizzly."

Right on top of the ridge line.

Looks like a nice fat one too, big grizzly.

It was a really nice grizzly up there.

You could see the blonde hair on him glistening,

the black legs on him, you could see the wave of the hair

going as the wind was blowing.

And Steve said, "Hey that is a really nice grizzly."

The salmon runs can be predicted

with remarkable consistency.

The fish not only return to the same location,

but do so on the same days of the year.

And the local bears know this schedule by heart.

They're all here because of the salmon.

The trout are here because of the salmon.

The bears are here, the eagles are here, the gulls are here,

the wolves are coming down here, as we've heard,

I mean without the salmon, what are these rivers?

How big do you think she is?

She's 900 plus.

There's the full picture.

You know, about 75 sockeye, a handful of monster rainbows,

and a great big giant brown bear.

There you go.

And a bunch of nervous gringos.

(Chris laughs)

You ready?

I'm ready.

Alright.

These animals do not live in this area

they are constantly moving through

and walking and traveling,

so there's no way we can try to look for one,

go somewhere where we think there might be one.

We just have to wait, and let them come to us.

We can see much further than we can walk.

Their physical attributes are incredible.

I mean, you get these big male grizzly bears

that can weigh 800 pounds or more,

and their claws can be four to six inches long,

their teeth, three to four inches long,

and they're just incredibly powerful, they're also so quick.

It's incredible to watch how quickly they can move.

As the apex predator in North America,

the brown bear demand respect.

They're just an awesome animal, all the way around.

And every year,

Alaska also sees a great migration of people.

12% of the jobs in this state are in tourism,

an industry that shuts down for most of the Alaskan winter.

For some Alaskans, they either migrate south

or hibernate indoors during the darkest months of the year.

January, February, March it slows way down.

You know, the whole heartbeat of the island is very slow.

The Alaskans working seasonal jobs,

this off season is their chance to have fun.

I get longer naps in the afternoon, that's what I get.

We had a real busy summer, and now we're working

on getting some more planes on the line.

And we're already looking forward to next summer.

We'll have bonfires at the beach,

or go to visit the local brewery.

We have good times.

Now's the time of year

where people are gonna start taking vacations

and going and warming up and thawing out.

It's amazing how just a day or two off the rock

will make you wanna be right back here.

So I've got a big trip planned in March,

I'm gonna try to fly the Iditarod with a couple of friends

and go hang out and see what that's like.

After our summer schedule,

we all need some kind of a rest.

I just tell people that it's our time to hibernate.

Al Kilo's about a mile short of Left Cape.

I don't think my bucket will ever be full.

There's always something new.

But as I get older, my list of items, they change.

If you can survive this long enough

you get a little different perspective.

It's a lot wider angle lens, so.

Only plane in the world, you can

hang out elbow out the window.

When I get to the old folks home,

there'll be plenty of stories.

That's what this job has given me.

That's been the beauty of it.

Every day is different, still is.