All language subtitles for Homestead.Rescue.S12E01.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY[EZTVx.to]_[English] (SUBRIP)

[dramatic music playing]

Hear that river?

I just noticed
that two big trees

blew down in a windstorm,
creating a log jam.

I got a call from a homestead
that needs some help,

but these logs will
destroy that footbridge,

denying us access
onto this homestead.

We're gonna take it out
of there.

[dramatic music playing]

[Marty] It doesn't matter what
homestead we're working on.

Every day you're faced
with a challenge,

so you better come up
with an answer

or nothing's gonna get done.

[chainsaw whirring]

[Marty] For those
that can do it and succeed...

the price of freedom
is worth it.

[dramatic music playing]

I am in desperate need
for help.

[Marty] Garrett Wolf has not
been home in almost a year.

A plane hit his tram cable.

He needs to get back to his
homestead across the river.

-[man] Grab me.
-[Marty] We're hung up, guys.

We're hung up. Get...
Somebody get out!

We're hung up!

[Misty] We only have like
a little window from The 40.

We're heading
into winter time.

You can feel the pressure.

[Matt] Time's running out.

We leave for rescues
in seven days

and everything has to be done
before the snow hits

and the ground freezes.

[Marty] Guess what?

This bear has to leave.

You're not even gonna
be here this week?

Where are you going?

-[groans]
-Keep going, Marty!

[Marty] We're all in this
together, no matter what.

[man] Whoa.

[Marty] He's in the water!

Safety!

[dramatic music playing]

[birds chirping]

[Marty] I just saw my first
leaves falling this morning.

[Misty] I saw them a week ago.

-[Marty] Did you really?
-Yeah.

[Marty] And, by the way,
it's much colder today.

-Have you noticed?
-[Misty] Yes.

-[mule neighs]
-[Marty] Sammy, Wayland.

[narrator]
It's fall in Alaska.

In the heart of
the Talkeetna Mountain range,

the Raney family
scrambles to complete

last-minute projects
on their 40-acre homestead.

[grunts] That thing is heavy.

[narrator] Carved out of
a rugged Alaskan wilderness,

The 40 is split
into upper and lower halves

with a rustic cabin set along
the Little Susitna River.

[indistinct chatter]

[Marty] If I could
sum up this 40 acres

in just one word,
it would be family.

[Marty speaking]

[explosion]

[narrator] But three years
ago, tragedy struck

when a fire destroyed Marty
and wife Mollee's home.

[narrator] The family banded
together to build a new cabin

at the top of their mountain
and an access road to it.

The cliffside cornerstone
stands with livestock pens,

a greenhouse,
a footbridge, tram...

[man] Woo!

[narrator] and, most recently,

a 36-by-48-foot barn

for their new hunting mules.

But in a matter of days,
the Raneys must leave

to rescue others in need,
and snowstorms

and subzero temperatures
will bring

every critical project
to a literal freeze.

We're just a few weeks
from the next winter.

Seven months long, snow,
wind, ice every day.

It's the land of extremes.

It's not for everyone,

but I love it.

[narrator] For father, Marty,
daughter, Misty,

and son, Matt,
every day is critical.

And this week brings
a challenging twist

that will force them

to accomplish their tasks
a man down.

-[Misty] Hey, Dad.
-[Marty] What's up, guys?

[Misty]
How's Samuel and Wayland?

[Marty] They're not happy.

I gotta be able to get these
mules out of the wind,

and this barn
is just open, right?

-[Misty] Mmm-hmm.
-So, yeah,

you know what's happening.
You got seven days

to get all this stuff figured
out because we're leaving.

What's different this winter

is that we have mules

that we've brought on
to this property.

They till the land

and can handle the steep
mountain terrain,

but we have to get that
barn prepared with walls

to make it windproof.

I have to protect the mules

from what's coming
this winter.

[Misty] The current state
of my cabin is it's livable,

but we have
to figure out water

and to figure out
a bathroom situation.

First of all,
thank you for letting us

use your restroom
and take showers,

but me and Maciah
wanna change that

and we wanna change it today.

It's gonna be winter
and it's not safe

to travel that road
in the dark

with a kid every single day

to use the restroom,
take a shower, whatever.

Me and Maciah have a little
homestead on Kauai.

That's where
my husband's from.

But, currently,
we're shifting focus

to living in Alaska
with my parents.

But it's just really crazy

to get from our house
to their house.

It can be super slippery.

The snow can be really deep.

And when it comes to water,
it is not ideal.

If you have the notion

to get independence down
there, that's pretty cool.

Something I've always wanted
to do is build a A-frame.

I've talked about it forever.

It's always been like a dream.

-Yeah.
-Love it.

I have a short window
to do a lot of work

and make our dream a reality.

Three years ago,
my wife Katie and I decided

we wanted to move on
to this 40-acre property,

but life kept getting
in the way.

Since that cabin burned down,

there's just a pile
of rubble and ash.

I think it'd be really
amazing if me and Katie

scratched out
a footprint in the footprint

of where your cabin
used to be.

Wow. That's amazing.

The fire was a tough day.

That was the very first
building on this 40 acres

and it was a footprint
for generations.

And in one hour,
it all disappeared.

It's a thorn in the side
of the 40 acres.

So if he wants to turn
that bad memory

into a good memory,
that would be amazing.

We've gotta get busy
and get some things done here.

And they don't know this

but I'm about
to make things worse.

So we've got about a week left

to get this homestead
ready for winter.

That said, guess what?

You guys are gonna have
to work a little bit harder

than the average bear
'cause this bear has to leave.

Do you remember
that accident up there

with that cable that ran
across the Matanuska River?

It was last winter.

It basically stopped
Garrett Wolf

from accessing his 8-acre
homestead across the river.

He has not been home since,
I think, December.

-Wow.
-We have this little window

to tidy up our homestead
for winter,

but I can't leave him
without access.

Wait. Are you telling me
that you're not even

gonna be here this week?

I'm gonna try to get it
done as fast as I can.

I'm gonna go look at it.

I'm gonna figure out
what we need.

And then I'll be headed
straight back here

and try to make the most use

of the little time
I have left.

Finding out my dad
is leaving the homestead

to go help a neighbor out
is like, "I'm not surprised.

That's great." Like it's
something he has to do,

but, man, that's really
gonna hurt this week.

-Fair enough?
-[Misty] That's pretty wild.

-[Matt] All right.
-It's wild.

Let's hit it.

[narrator] 50 miles east,

in the shadow
of King Mountain,

a rookie homesteader sent
an SOS to Marty Raney.

Seated at the base of
the Nelchina national forest,

access to the land is cut off

by the raging 75-mile-long
Matanuska River,

which is fed by meltwater
from an active glacier.

Without a way of reaching
his property,

the homesteader's hope

of a life off grid
will drown.

My name is Garrett Wolf.

My homestead is right across
from the Matanuska River.

I purchased the property
three years ago.

[narrator]
After traveling the world

as a circus performer
for most of his adult life,

Garrett returned
to his native state of Alaska

to achieve
his homesteading dream.

[Garrett] There's a log cabin

but there's no
direct road access.

Because of the fluctuation
of the river,

a boat, even motorized,
is not sustainable.

The only way to get to
the 8 acres on the other side

of this 300-foot river
is by hand tram.

[narrator] But 10 months ago,

a tragic turn of events
changed everything.

A low-flying single-engine
airplane

struck the property's
tram cable

before crashing
into the river,

killing the pilot

and leaving Garrett
without a home.

[Garrett] I was greeted by
ambulances and fire engines.

The line was
completely destroyed.

Anything I had to the property
was completely severed

and I haven't been able
to get back

to the property since.

I was in this position
of wanting to mourn someone

for your community,
but then at the same time,

being unable
to get to my home.

[narrator] If Garrett
is unable to regain access

before winter, he'll be
forced to sell the property

and give up
his homesteading dream.

[Garrett] Homesteading
here with a working tram

is difficult, but without it,

it is impossible.

I am in desperate
need for help.

[dramatic music playing]

Wow.

I can't believe that.

-How you doing?
-[Garrett] Good to see you.

Nice seeing you again.

Well, uh...

you haven't been home
in 10 months.

No. No.

-[sighs]
-And that's why you're here.

I mean, didn't you reach out
to other people?

I didn't trust
any other people.

My childhood was here
in Alaska.

My mom moved up here when
I was three years old.

It was just me and her.

Any Alaska kid
growing up here

has this element
of homesteading.

You're just engulfed

in mountains and forests
and the river.

It gave me an amazing
appreciation

for the land that we have
underneath our feet.

And then at 23 years old,

I moved out of Alaska
to join the circus.

Being on the road,
it's lovely to see

different cultures,
but there was always this

desire to get back
into the nature of Alaska.

After my mom passed away,
I found myself needing

to come back to Alaska
to really grieve my mom

and I wanted
to live back on the land.

[narrator] He purchased a
cabin on an 8-acre homestead

next to the Matanuska River
and began his off-grid dream.

[Garrett] My homestead
keeps me connected

to my mom in
a really strong way.

The dream for the property
is being off-grid

and being able to source
food that's on my land

with skills I received
from my mom.

I think she...
That's all she would
really want as a mother.

[narrator]
But with a raging river

standing between him
and his property,

Garrett's homesteading
legacy is on the line.

[Garrett]
Now, being the lone wolf
without his mom,

without now property,
I am lost.

Where do I go?

That is a lot of weight
to carry. [sobs]

This is the lifeline
and the only way to and fro.

The whole thing got lifted up

and shifted closer
to the river,

pulling the line out
of its anchor points.

[Marty]
So this is a unique build.

It looks to me like this just

goes back into that casing
inside, right?

It just drops in
and then the pressure

of the cable keeps it fast.

-Yeah.
-We'll need to figure out

what that distance

is from anchor point
to anchor point.

We'll figure out
the length of the cable

we need to replace.

We'll need some pulleys.
We'll need a rope.

And then the big elephant
in the homestead is

how do we get a 500-pound
cable across the river?

Great questions.

[Marty]
Garrett was fully immersed

in embracing
the homesteader life

across a pretty crazy
river just like me.

His only access is a cable.

That was our
only access for years.

I can relate to this man.

So I need to make a hard
list of what we need.

And right now, I'm...
I feel like I'm wasting time.

I gotta get crackin'.

[narrator] Marty will
reattach and stabilize

the tram platform.

Then he must find a way
to transport

a new 500-foot-long
steel cable

across the Matanuska River,
anchor it

and build a new hand
tram system,

which will allow Garrett
to prepare and supply

for the long winter ahead.

There's no margin for error.

-Let's do it, Marty.
-Okay.

-Come on.
-We are gonna do it.

-Come on, buddy.
-[Garrett] Okay.

There's an old expression,
"If you need something done,

call the busiest
person you know,

and he might just drop
what he's doing

and give you a hand."

There's a lot to get done
on The 40,

but I do know this,

Garrett Wolf is in need

and everything will get done.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] On the Raney's
40-acre homestead,

a pressing rescue at the Wolf
homestead weighs heavily

and the family
has less than a week

to prepare The 40 for winter.

[Matt] Is this like the last
feed before winter?

[Katie] Yeah.
This is their food basically

because all the flowers
are done for the year.

[narrator] But Marty's
attention will be split.

[Marty]
There's a lot to get done.

I've got to go
help Garrett Wolf.

He has no access
to his homestead.

But, first, I have to protect

my own little homestead
in Alaska.

[Marty] These mules have
1 million acres to graze.

They like these
watermelon berries.

They love it all.

But they didn't come home
the other night.

We found ourselves
searching for two mules,

pitch black, in a rainstorm
somewhere out there.

That can't become a habit,

for obvious reasons,
where we live, right?

Alaska, predators,
and just safety
for the animals.

I want the mules all
to run free

within the bounds of safety.

I don't have time to put up
8-foot-tall game fence

around the whole 40 acres,
so I have an idea.

Go 1,000 feet that way

and just put up a rope.

-[Mollee] Okay.
-They're good smart mules.

They might just respect a rope

instead of
a million-dollar fence.

So let's get this thing in.

We'll let them go
and see what happens.

Okay.

We'll keep it
on this side of the trees

because they might...
Most likely,

they're gonna push
on this rope.

Pin it when you're ready.

We dig tree to tree to bush
to bush to stump to snag.

Could I interest you
in some cranberries?

[Mollee laughs]

What are you, a mule?

[Marty] Okay.
Cranberry, here we go.

Screwed the rope,
pulled it tight,

pulled it tight,
screwed the rope to a tree,

made a single-strand fence.

Last one, sunshine.

[Mollee]
Having Marty traveling

to help out
at other homesteads,

it's hard
'cause I'm by myself.

But he tries
to make it easier on me

with having
everything prepared

and he always does
a good job on it.

[Marty] You open the fence

-and I'll stay here
and see what happens.
-[Mollee] Okay.

Are you ready?

Okay. You're ready to go?

You guys wanna go?

Come on.

Let's do it.

If you've got good animals,
they might respect

"one single strand
of rope" fence.

[Mollee] Come on.
Come on. Come on, guys.

[whistles]

There's the whistle.

Oh, here they come.

Okay. They've stopped.

[Mollee] Marty, it worked.

Wow.

[Marty] Thank goodness.

[Mollee] Oh, it's amazing.

[laughing]

They see it and they
didn't even cross it.

That old cowboy knew
what he was talking about.

That's all I gotta say.

That's pretty awesome.

Hey.

I don't high five.

Yeah, you do.

[laughs] Jeez.

That was the best thing ever.

Got work to do.

Copy that.

Let's hit it.

[Katie] It's definitely time

to start cleaning
this place up.

[Matt] Here we go.
Let's do it.

[narrator] On the lower 20,

Matt and Katie turn the page

on a new chapter
of Raney family history

at the site of Marty

and Mollee's
burned down cabin.

All right.
Let's fill this truck up.

Nice.

[narrator] Matt and Katie

will remove
the remaining rubble

and overgrowth
from the old cabin site.

Then they'll grade
a 40 by 40 footprint

in hopes of completing
the foundation

of their brand new
A-frame cabin.

-[Katie] It's looking
really good.
-[Matt] Right.

[Katie] But I wanna clean up
with the excavator.

Okay. You wanna drive?

-Here we go.
-[Katie] Sure.

[Matt] When me
and Katie got together,

she was completely green

to this whole
homesteading thing.

So right from the get-go,

you know, our lifestyle

has just been getting
rubbed off on Katie.

-[Katie] I feel like I'm gonna
need to adjust the seat.
-[Matt] Oh, yeah.

[Katie] It's not made for...

-[Matt] Yeah.
For beautiful women.
-I need the...

I need the...
I need the women's small.

You need a size zero
excavator.

[Matt laughs]

[Katie] It's really imperative

that I know all the things
that Matt knows,

because there's
a huge part of the year

where he is out
helping other people
on other homesteads

and somebody's gotta
keep the farm running.

This is the lock
for all your hydraulics.

Right now, it's all locked up.

-So when you push
this forward...
-Okay.

you got all the controls.

Whenever I work,
Katie works with me.

And I would be comfortable
having her do any project

because she learns
everything she can.

-It's like the claw machine.
-[Katie] There we go.

[Matt] Okay.

Now, lift up.

Nice.

Just swing all the way
over to the truck

and then dump it in there.

Perfect.

Now, just swivel.

All right.
You got two more big objects.

[Katie] Learning
to use the excavator

is really empowering.

I think it's pretty cool that

most all the women
in this family

can run an ex.

Okay.

[Katie] It's Alaska,
where men are men

and women drive excavators.

[Matt chuckles]

[Marty] Let's build
the barn door.

[narrator]
While materials and equipment

are en route
to the Wolf homestead

50 miles away,

Marty utilizes
every spare moment

to make an important upgrade
for his newest asset.

[Marty] In the winter,
the mules on this homestead

are completely
exposed to the wind.

That can do damage
and kill the animal.

These are done.

Start nailing please.

We are running out of time,

so we have to get
that barn enclosed

and out of the wind.

One, two, three!

Okay.

[upbeat music playing]

[Misty] I wanna run
something by you.

[Maciah] Okay. I'm all ears.

[narrator] On the other side
of the homestead...

[Misty] Come on up.

[narrator]
Misty and Maciah begin work

on a vital off-grid bathhouse

to ensure they can live
on The 40 through winter.

Okay. So we have
a week to build this thing.

We know this entire structure
needs walls.

We know this entire structure
needs a roof.

[Maciah] We got logs
on the ground.

We could get up
a little gazebo of logs

and then just fill it in
with walls later, right?

-You wanna do that?
-[Misty] Let's do that.

There's a spring on The 40

that used to feed
my parents' cabin.

It's always been
this work in progress.

Look at this!

I think we just
found our source.

It's right there.

Okay. Drop in
the electric submersible pump.

-[Maciah] Yeah.
-[Misty] It will pump water

from this holding tank

up to the cabin's
holding tank.

It's time for us
to finally connect the dots,

revisit that spring
for our bathhouse,

resurrect it,

and stop struggling
through it.

[narrator] Misty and Maciah
will construct

an 8-by-12-foot bathhouse

with a shower and toilet

located only 10 feet
from their cabin.

Then if they're able
to connect

a 300-foot-long waterline

to the nearby spring,

they'll have a constant
source of fresh water

and the last essential piece

to their home on The 40.

Okay.

[Misty] The Raney homestead
is such a special place

because it gives you
everything that you need.

There's water, there's food,

and there's like
a never-ending supply

of lumber
with all these trees.

[Maciah] Just crank it.

There you go. Straight in.
Straight in.

-[Misty] Okay. That was...
-[Maciah] You got it.

[Misty] really, really
good driving on my part.

[Maciah] Oh, that was
actually amazing.

-[Misty] It's raining.
-Impressive.

[chuckling]

[Misty] Me and Maciah work
really well together.

Maciah and I
have been married 23 years

and we basically
grew up together.

What I've learned
throughout the years

is the difference between

having one homesteader work
versus two.

It makes all the difference.

We usually know
exactly what we're doing.

I've learned a lot
from him along the way.

We go into like job mode

and then we don't stop
until the work is done.

[chainsaw whirring]

I thought you were gonna need
the Finnish carving saw.

[laughter]

[Misty]
I'm Marty Raney's daughter.

If I don't know how to use
a chainsaw, he disowns you.

-No doubt, you are.
-[chuckles]

[Maciah]
Just put a mustache on her

and you got
another Marty Raney.

[chuckles]

Watch yourself.

Yeah.

-Look like it's lining up.
-Yeah.

I mean, I'm sorry,

but that's a good notch,
folks.

Wow. That's the first try?
Right on.

You are Marty Raney's
daughter.

Oh, yeah.
That's nice and tight.

-[Maciah] First post up.
-The first post.

-All right.
All right. Let's go.
-Okay.

Three more to go. Let's do it.

[Marty] The number one killer
of Alaskans is drowning.

We're gonna try
to get the rope across.

[Marty] We're hung up.

[groans]

Oh. He's in the water!

Where's safety?

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] 50 miles
southeast of The 40,

Marty arrives back
to the banks
of the Matanuska River,

along with building materials

for Garrett Wolf's
treacherous cable tram system

that is required
to cross the raging rapids.

-[Marty] Oh.
-[Garrett] Hey, Marty.

[Marty] We're back.

I think the first order
of business

is to put a strap on this

and see if we could
just simply

pull this back in that hole.

We got the same problem
over here.

But it could be that simple.

Just get it back
into its receiver

and then get busy.

Clint!

Garrett hasn't been home

across that river
since almost a year ago,

but he's been
patiently waiting for me.

When that plane
hit that cable,

the platform of this tram

became compromised.

It's been pulled out
of its location.

It's unsafe.

It's really tight!

We're not putting
any cable across that river

until we fix this foundation.

You gotta pull right here.

Let's tighten it.

Swing mark.

[dramatic music playing]

It's gotta be
a millionth of an inch.

[whistles]

[Garrett] It's close.

[Marty] I think
I can pound it in.

[whistles] You got a sledge?

We need it.

-When it goes in,
it might just slam down.
-[Garrett] Yeah.

So we gotta be
prepared for that.

In!

Take it off
and do the other side.

[whistles]

You might be able
to fumble with the bucket.

You gotta be straight out.

You see it?

Woo!

You did it.

Money!

-You all right?
-[Garrett] Yes.

-It's in there.
-Oh, my God.

-You all right?
-[chuckles]

It synced in. I...

I'm a little lost for words.

And you just finally see it

just kind of settle
was a big relief.

Big relief.
Nothing got splintered.

Everything seems to be intact.

[Marty] It's a unique design
but it's tight.

It... That's tight.
You know, 8...

That's gonna be 8,000 pounds
of pressure.

[Garrett] It's a step closer.

I see myself
getting back on my homestead.

This is really exciting.

[upbeat music playing]

[Matt] We're really close

to getting
all this stuff out of here.

[narrator] Back on The 40...

-I'm almost done.
-[Katie] Okay.

[narrator] Matt makes
the final touches

on transforming the ruins
of his parents' old cabin

into a build site
for his family's future home.

[Matt] Actually,
dug down like 4 feet.

Have a nice pad here
that we can build on

and we are done
with this entire cleanup.

[Misty] This thing is huge.

You wanna try
and get them up?

[Maciah] I like a little
heavy lifting in the morning.

It's good, isn't it?
[chuckles]

[narrator] And on their
corner of The 40...

[Misty] How much
do you think it weighs?

Way too much.

[narrator] Misty and Maciah
continue structural work

on their new bathhouse.

[Maciah] We got a nice solid
piece of wood here,

but it's hard to get even up
on the deck with our...

-You know, by hand. So...
-Yeah.

we're gonna have
to come up with a plan

for getting it 10 feet up
onto these posts here.

And I don't know about you,
but I can't reach that high.

[Misty] No. We could set up
a gin pole system

and try to, you know,
lift this weight up

onto the top of these posts.

[narrator] A gin pole
is a lifting boom or mast,

built to be taller

than the highest point
of a structure,

used together with a hoist
for pulling up material.

Gin poles are widely used

in the telecommunications
industry

for antenna construction
and tower extensions.

[Maciah]
You can't really get
a crane in here.

We can't get heavy equipment.

The landscape
is so beautiful,

you don't wanna tear it up,

so gin pole
has a really good advantage

in tight areas like this.

[Misty] We created
an off-grid crane.

You have a massive pole,

you've got some pulleys,
you've got eyebolts,

shackles, ratchet straps,
and a chain fall.

And, you're just using
that mechanical advantage

of being able to lift
a lot of weight,

and hopefully,
nothing goes wrong.

Okay. Here we go. Ready?

-It's taking off, folks.
-[Maciah] Get started lifting.

It's taking off.

Okay.

We're going up.

All right. It's working.

It's going good so far.

I'm gonna go up a few clicks.

[Misty] Whoa. Okay.

-[Maciah] Good?
-Whoo.

[both laugh]

-Okay. So--
-[Maciah] All right.

-I'm gonna get that ladder...
-Yeah. Yeah.

[Maciah] and get
your hands on it.

[Misty] I've used pulleys,

I've used leverage
my whole life,

but I've never
used a gin pole.

[Maciah] Oh, almost there.

[Misty]
There's a lot of hardware.

There's... You know,
what if you miss something?

What if the foot kicks out?
Or just...

There's some room for error.

-Yes! Whoo!
-Oh, we're up.

We're on top.

[Misty] But it worked so well.

I'm very impressed,
it was the first for me,

but it's definitely
not gonna be

the last time I use one.

[Maciah] Gin pole worked.

[Misty] All right.
It's time to put up
the rafters.

Whoo-hoo!

In Alaska, we get
an incredible amount of snow,

and every time
you build something

and you want it to make it
through the winter,

you have to over-build.

So we have these massive
double-sized rafters

as big as you can go,
2 by 12s.

And with those
two things combined,

it's not gonna collapse
in the next snow storm.

How much snow do you think
this roof can hold?

It's probably a--

[Misty]
At least 4 to 5 feet, I hope.

Oh, man,
that is tight as can be.

-[Misty] All right.
-Right on the money.

[Misty] First one up,
a million to go.

It's rafters,
and then roofing,

and then that's it.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] It is early morning
on The 40,

with only four days left

and Marty away
on the Wolf rescue.

The Raneys
must finish essential

winter preparation projects.

[Matt] We got
to take out the trash,

-once and for all.
-[Katie] Literally.

[Matt laughs]

Here we go. Let's do it.

[narrator] While Matt
and Katie remove debris

from the old cabin site...

Okay. So, the trick is to,
obviously, cover these nails.

-What do you think?
-[Maciah] That's perfect
right there.

-[Misty] You like it?
-[Maciah] Love it.

[narrator] Misty and Maciah

button up the shell
of a bathhouse

that will allow them
to live on The 40 year-round.

[Misty] We've made incredible
progress on the bathhouse.

We've used the entire
scrap pile at the mill

that has like
all of these live edges

as siding, so that way
we don't have to use plywood.

It's here, it's free,
and it looks so beautiful.

All right. It looks good.
So let's move inside.

[Maciah] Beauty.

[upbeat music playing]

[eagle screeches]

[Marty] This is 500 feet.

[grunts]

Look out.

[narrator] Marty and Garrett
prepare the replacement cable

for the new tramline,

while they await the arrival
of local rafting guides

who will assist in
getting a tow rope

across the raging river.

[Marty] So the width
of the cable is five-eighths.

Each one of those strands,
and there's six of them,

has 26 individual strands.

The breaking strength
of this cable
is 41,000 pounds.

The last five-eighths cable
took down an airplane, sadly.

I don't think
we're gonna experience

that kind of trauma here
with body weight.

That said,
we're gonna get ready

and take this line
off of this spool.

We gotta get it all out,
500 feet of cable,

hundreds of pounds
to access that eye

that's already been
pressed into the line,

and then just start pulling.

All easier said than done.

Okay.

After a whole year

to have it not be all
on my shoulders

and have a neighbor
like Marty

that has the knowledge
of a hand tram,

it's a big deal.

[Marty]
We got to cut this off,

put that through that eye.

Right through there.

[Garrett]
And just to have that support

feeling, like, "Okay.

We are doing this together
versus just me."

It's a good feeling.

I'm gonna take off.
You're gonna spin this.

[dramatic music playing]

[Marty]
We're all in this together,

whatever the job is.

Don't let it free spool.

Don't let it free spool,
please.

And on this job, let's
let Garrett participate.

Maybe learn something.

Five hundred pounds
getting drag on the ground.

This is a good test.

If one guy can drag this,

then two or three
should be able

to pull it across the river.

Getting heavy.

Keep going, Marty.

[Marty grunts]

Every man and woman, perhaps,

is prideful
of their athletic prowess.

[grunts]

I might be
of that frame of mind.

[grunting]

There he is.

That's it.

[panting]

That said, I'm not
as good as I once was,

but I'm as good
once as I always was.

Okay.

That's a lot of cable.

Let's look at this anchor.

Holy moly.

It broke a turnbuckle.

That probably is rated
at 40,000 to 50,000 pounds.

-[Garrett] Yup.
-[Marty] I'm looking
at four cables

going into the ground.

This cables looks
in really, really good shape.

So we're gonna hook
right into it.

But, because there's
an excavator here,

we're gonna dig
a big hole in the ground

and we're gonna put
something steel down there

and wrap the cable around it.

And we'll just clamp it
to the main line,

and it'll be a safety.

Basically an insurance policy,

so if anything did fail here,

boom, we got you.

It's all good. Fair enough?

-I think so.
-[Marty] Okay.

So, I'll have to figure out
something to use as an anchor.

I did see a bunch
of junk vehicles

and stuff over here.

[Garrett] Yeah.

If you can go through
all those junk cars

and find us something
that we can use as an anchor.

-Yeah.
-[Marty] A piece of steel,
a bumper,

anything round
is gonna be cool.

If we just put a piece
of pipe down there

or something like this,

the line is going around this
and it really...

It's a stronger,

lasting longer
bend on the cable.

-I'm on it.
-Okay.

[soft music playing]

[Garrett]
We'll see this bumper,

those abandoned cars were put
there as a barrier for water.

This river back in the day
had a lot of rise.

And that'll just help
just prevent any of that

water flow then move
pass that border.

That's all underneath
the Earth.

Um...

So I had an idea
what I was looking for,

you know, a bumper, tire.

Shoot.

But all that overgrowth

make it really kind of hard
to find.

All right. Close.

Oh, hey.

[grunts]

[laughs] Oh, that's gonna be,

I think, what we want.

All right.

You know, I don't wanna buy
more stuff if I don't have to.

To be able to look at the land
and be able to pull from that,

I thought that was a really
good call on Marty.

[Marty] That's money.

Good job.

Come on. Come on. Come on.
We got stuff to do.

[guitar music playing]

[Misty] This thing
needs some work.

[narrator] With Misty
and Maciah's bath house

structure rounding
into shape,

the next important step
is water to feed it.

So they turned
their attention

towards reinvigorating
what was once

a key water source on The 40.

[Misty] Wow.
Is this how we left it?

Man, I think back
to me and you,

got the barrel, the pump.

-And it was kind of just
make it work, right?
-Right.

This wasn't like a project
that ever was really finished,

and then the house
burned down.

And then it was just
totally abandoned.

[Maciah]
But it's fresh water, right?

[Misty] Crystal clear.

It's amazing.

Also, this spring
never freezes.

So there's a year-round
water source literally,

within a stone's throw
of our cabin.

-It's just
we gotta connect the dots.
-[Maciah] Yeah.

[Misty] The most important
thing you can have

on a homestead is
to a reliable water source.

To have that at our
fingertips is like gold.

So for me to not use
it is a crying shame

and we're changing that today.

[narrator] Misty will dig out
the old well hardware,

remove dirt sand silt,

and build a new retaining
wall around the spring

to prevent nature
from reclaiming the area.

Then, she'll install a new
water line and pump system

that will transfer
clean spring water

300 feet uphill
into the new bathhouse.

[Misty] Yeah.

It's so scary when
you start to mess

with any spring
because you can, like,

stop the eye
of the spring from flowing.

We know where the eye is.

It's right out of the bottom
of that little spruce tree.

So hopefully
by the end of today,

the spring still flows.

We didn't stop anything.

And we can better it
for our cabin.

Oh, yeah.

You hit the mother lode.

Wow. This is so cool.

So the fact that we're
finding all of this rock,

we can set them
as retaining walls.

Retain all of these banks
and keep the spring clean.

Keep the spring crystal clear.

Good job.

It already look
so much better.

[upbeat music playing]

[Matt] Are you ready to work?

Heck yeah.

[narrator] On the upper 20,

Matt and Katie
shift their focus

away from their future plans

onto a project in need
of their immediate attention.

[Matt] So my dad basically
just broke a news to me

that he cannot
finish this project.

We're gonna have to put
our stuff on the back burner

once again and step up
and help my parents out.

And mainly help these
mules so that they'll have

-a nice place for the winter.
-Yeah.

My dad started
a very big project,

winterizing the barn
for the mules,

but he's at the Wolf
homestead.

And getting across that
Matanuska River is no joke.

I was really excited to,
you know, build a cabin.

But we're just gonna try
attack this thing

and get it finished

before we have to go visit
another homestead.

Unfortunately,
winterizing the barn

is just more important
than me starting

a foundation
for our future cabin.

We got to have a place where
the mules can live and thrive.

Winter's about to hit,

and that's where
the priorities lie.

So do you know how
to pull a layout?

Yes.

-Do you?
-[Katie speaking]

First thing is it all
has to land on a seam,

so that when the two
sheets land together,

they'll be right smack-dab
in the center of a stud.

-[Katie] Okay. Yeah.
-You get it?

[Matt] There's a ton of work
to be down on this barn,

and getting Katie up to speed

on how to mark layout

and what to do
as far as framing goes

is really because I can do
a lot of the heavy duty stuff,

and Katie can be getting
all the walls ready

so that we can
frame it up quick.

-Ready?
-[Katie] Yup.

[Matt] Hopefully you
can pass the test.

Here we go.

[Katie] Okay.

I feel like I definitely
learn something new

every day here on The 40.

Whether it's experience

or legitimately a new skill.

[chuckles]

Never trust the nail gun.

Everybody needs to be able
to know how to do every job.

These area necessary skills
of being a homesteader.

-[Matt] All right.
Looks really good.
-[Katie] Thanks.

[Matt] Let's get into place.

All right. Good job.

[machine whirring]

[Matt]
It's a good-looking wall.

Let's do another one.

[country music playing]

[Marty] All right.

Brand new day.

[narrator] 50 miles away
at the Wolf homestead,

Marty sets a plan to pull
Garrett's new tram cable

500 feet across
the Matanuska river.

So, we've got your amazing

gracious neighbor
and his crew.

A couple of rafts.

The idea is get a rope
across this river,

so that I can hook it
to the cable.

Then we'll get
the cable across.

Hopefully that goes smoothly.

-With that said...
-[Garrett] All right.

-let's grab a raft.
-[Garrett] Let's do it.

Alaska has 580,000,

590,000 square miles.

But it's actually
small when it comes

to the community of people.

-All right.
-[Garrett] Nice drop
right here.

-Good? Good.
-[Marty] There it is.

[Marty] Thirty, forty
years ago, I meet a man

half a mile from here.

His name was Chuck Spaulding.

He started a rafting
business right here,

very successful.

Unfortunately, he passed away,

but his son has taken
over that business.

And he volunteered
to get us across the river.

[Travis] That looks great.
Perfect.

I don't expect
any swimmers today

but we got to talk about
some of the what ifs

that can happen on the river.

The big thing here,

is you wanna be
kind of aggressive
when we're in the boat

to where we just
ready for whatever.

If we're kind of
lackadaisical,

we hit a bump, you go Scuba
Steve and swim real quick.

The Matanuska river
is 33 degrees Fahrenheit.

Uh, if you go in there...

If you don't aspirate and go
unconscious immediately,

you've probably got about
five minutes of strength

before you are
so sapped of energy

that you can't swim,
it's bad news.

[Marty] Alaska's got
12,000 rivers.

It's got three million lakes.

It's got about 35,000 miles
of shoreline out on the ocean.

And the number one killer
of Alaskans is drowning.

[Travis] All right.
Is everybody ready to go?

-[Garrett] I am ready.
-Yup.

Here we go.

[Marty] So here we are.
The raft guide will carry

Clint and Garrett over.
Their job?

To inspect the anchor
on the other side.

Did it break? Is it
compromised? Is it frayed?

[Travis] We're on the river.

-Yee-haw.
-Whoo.

If it's good,
we're good to go,

but we're not
hooking up anything

until we check off that anchor

on the other side
of the river.

So guys, a little wave
coming up up here.

-Whoo.
-[Travis] Couple of waves.

Here we go. A little splash.

-Nice. In the middle. Uh-oh.
-[Travis] Oh, yeah.

All right guys,
we're on our left shore.

We're gonna kind of beach
the whale and just kind of

find our way into
the shallows to stop the boat.

[Marty] Copy that, sir.

-Okay.
-[Garrett] So guys.

Welcome to my humble abode.

-[Marty] We made it.
-[laughs]

-[Marty] You happy?
-[Garrett] Very.

It's a real
special magical spot.

My mom's mission when
I was a kid was making sure

that I even look at the land
as more as a companion.

So my homestead dream
is to really be able

to live off the land
in a really healthy way.

How does it feel?

[Garrett] It feels unreal.

Before this accident,
I was in the process

of moving my mom's
ashes here.

And if we're successful,
she's gonna be coming back

over here with me.

And being on this land
and being on this rock
right now,

that's, I feel, like another
great step forward.

I'm excited.

[Marty] Clint and Garrett are
going to check the anchor.

No one's been here
since November.

Whenever that crash was,
they're gonna look and see

if that anchor
has been traumatized.

While they're doing that,

I'm going with Coffey
and Travis across the river.

We're gonna try
to get the rope across.

Man, you're strong.
I'm impressed.

[Travis] All right.
Little bump coming into shore.

[Marty] That was incredible.
I'm...

I am impressed.

-Whoo. I am truly impressed.
-Yeah. Woo.

-It's another day
in the office, you know.
-Whoo.

-Whoo.
-[Marty] All right.

We need to get all this
rope out on the shore.

[Travis] Yeah. We're gonna run
all the line on shore.

-[Marty] Copy that.
-[Garrett] Um, but we're gonna
go up to the platform first.

[suspenseful music playing]

-All the way around?
-[Coffey] All the way around.

Copy that.

[Marty] Pulling a rope
across the river,

you think it would be easy
to go from this side

to that side, wrong.

The current is so swift.

The river is so wide.

The energy pushing
on that rope makes it

for a dangerous situation.

You cannot tie that
rope to anything.

You have to just hold
onto it with your hands

and feel that tension.

If it hangs up
and you can't hold it,

you gotta let go.

Or you flip the raft.

Basically
as we get in the boat,

you're just gonna hold onto it
manually so we can let go

in case something happens,
we don't wanna secure it.

As soon as we kind
of get our angle

and we're ferrying across.

We're just gonna have it
kind of feed out

and we're gonna kind of work
our angle and pendulum out.

Coffey up top is gonna
be on comms radio

and he's gonna
kind of work that tension.

[Marty] Copy.

Once this ropes across,
party's over.

Cable should, uh,

get pulled by this
without any problems.

Famous last words.

[Travis] Here we go.

Okay. Watch that line.

Almost halfway.
Almost halfway.

Come up.

We're good. We're good.
Hit it. Hit it.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Marty] Three quarters
of the way.

-You gonna make it?
-Get ready for a little bump.

-[Marty whistles] Stretch
it hard, we're going up.
-[Travis] Grab me, grab me.

-Grab me, Garrett. Grab me.
-[Marty] We're hung up, guys.

We're hung up, guys.
Let me get out.

We're going out.

-[Marty] We're going down.
-[Travis] Grab me.

-Grab me.
-[Marty] We're hanging.
Somebody grab me.

-Quick, grab me.
-[Travis] Let go. You gotta
let go or you're gonna flip.

[Marty] I'm not gonna
let it go. Grab me. Grab me.

Grab me.

[screams] Are you...
Are you guys, okay?

[Travis] Guys,
you're gonna have to let go.

[Marty] Are you sure?

[grunts]

We got a snag up there.

I'm sorry about that.
You okay?

-[coughs]
-You all right?

[Travis] Sorry.

[Marty] We were about 10 feet
away from the shore,

but the rope was pulling
me into the river.

I had to let go otherwise
I would've been pulled in.

Travis had rowed so hard now
he's coughing and hacking.

He overexerted.

So the first attempt
to get the rope across,

convinced us all of this.

This job isn't gonna be easy.

You gotta mark that bank where
that snag is, please.

Mark it.

You're gonna pull
the rope out of there

and We won't know
where the snag is.

-[Coffey] Okay.
-Thank you. Okay.

Um, they're gonna
pull it back up, sir.

When you're ready,
I guess we redo it. Yes?

[Misty] Whoo.

[narrator] While Marty,
Garrett and the rafters

figure out a way to get
the rope across the river...

Right. I've got some
random tools.

[narrator] Back on The 40,
Misty makes crucial upgrades

to convert a neglected
spring into a year-round

water source for her
and Maciah's new bathhouse

before the winter freeze
hits the homestead.

[Misty]
The spring looks amazing.

It's all clean.

I just need to hang
the electrical box,

put in the pump,

run some water lines
and I'm done.

Maybe by the end of today,

have a restroom down here
is a really big deal.

All right.
It's not gonna be fancy.

This is a little bird
house control box.

We're gonna mount it
on the tree.

It'll be nice and covered

and then we're ready
to set the pump,

run some water lines, done.

I'm feeling
pretty optimistic,

but I'm also like,

"Man, who knows
what can happen."

I think things are gonna
come together like this,

like at the last second.

-I hope so.
-And here we go.

[tool grinding]

[Misty] I'm just full
steam ahead

trying to figure out
the spring and eventually

run some water lines
up to the bathhouse.

I kind of took the wires up
and out to set the pump.

Everything seems like
it's gonna work.

It's just a matter
of running some lines.

Turning on the power
and seeing

if we could get the old
spring to fire up.

Okay.

We're gonna run this
up to the cabin.

Turn it on, see if it works.

Hello.

-Hey, what's going on?
-How's it going?

[Maciah] Good.
Oh, you've been busy.

I cleaned up this spring,
but I have a gift for you.

-Ta-da.
-This looks like water.

-Isn't that exciting?
-Yeah.

I feel like we should
see if we can get water

-to the bathhouse right now.
-Yes.

-Let's go. Yes.
-You want it? Okay.
Let's do it.

All the times in life where
you didn't have a restroom

and you were using a bucket,
it's like a really big deal.

This is the exciting part,
right?

This is what we're here to do.

-The moment of truth.
-[Maciah] Awesome.

Do we have water
at the bathhouse?

Okay. Yeah.
Really good job, Misty.

-[laughs]
-Oh.

Do we have pressure?

That's good pressure
right there.

That's gonna work for us.
All right.

-We got water at the cabin.
-[Misty] Oh, my gosh.

-Right on.
-This is so cool. Okay.

Eventually we can
bury the water lines

-and kind of figure
it out with the excavator.
-Yeah.

But for now, water's here.

-So now what?
-Let's try to hook
this thing up, man.

-Get it in there.
-Okay. Oh, my gosh.

[guitar music playing]

Hey, did you guys
look at the anchor?

-We did.
-And?

Right now it's in the ground.

The whole line has moved.

You can follow it along
the pathway right here.

[Marty] Okay. This is where
it got ripped out?

[Garrett] Yup.

[narrator]
On the Wolf Homestead.

While the rafters
prep for another

rope crossing attempt,

Marty and Garrett assess

the damage done to the tram
on this side of the river

to see what components,
if any, were salvageable.

You saw the wreckage
after the fact?

-I did.
-What did you see right here?

When I came,
it was probably just

not even an hour
after the crash.

Where was the plane?

[Garrett] The body
of it was over there.

One of the wings
was over here.

-Here?
-[Garrett] Yeah.
On this beach.

Probably right around here.

As I'm seeing it tangled
is where that wing landed.

[Marty] Is that what's
happening here with all this?

[Garrett] Yup.

But that's the pulley

from the tram

ripped off.

But it is a clean cut
from that other side.

[Marty] What that tells you
is the cable did not break.

What broke was the one-inch
steel turnbuckle.

When the plane hit the cable

at Garrett's homestead,
it broke.

Not the cable,
not the anchors,

but the turnbuckle.

We inspected everything else
and decided that we would

just replace new turnbuckles,
a new cable, be good to go.

-[Marty] What's this?
-[Garrett] That looks like
the plane.

Huh.

-[Garrett] Yeah.
-[Marty] The plane wrapped
right around this?

[Garrett] Yup. Wow.

Wow.

[Marty] Sad.

[Garrett] To wrap around
that wire, that's crazy.

I guess a moment of silence
for that, but let's go.

Shame.

Where is that anchor, please?

Right on the ground.
Right here, my friend.

So you can see how
from the other side,

how it was kinda'
resting here on this

really kind of
makeshift platform.

Did a little bit of a lift,
but it didn't break

like on the other side.

[Marty] Understood.
Well that's all a good sign.

Coffey, you wanna get
that kayak ready?

[Coffey] Uh, yeah.

[Travis] We're going
to a kayak instead of a raft.

It's just a smaller boat,
smaller craft.

Be a lot easier to get
back and forth and, uh,

it's just more agile,
more nimble.

You know, the raft
is just a lot of work,

especially with all
that weight and stuff.

And the kayak requires
more skill though.

Uh, Coffey's an excellent
kayaker.

So he is comfortable
with this whole situation

and he's gonna get us across.

Hey, you wanna hold me
so I can get in?

Just so I can start
with a good angle.

The dangers of the river
are escalated

by what we're doing.

'Cause normally
when you're in a kayak,

it's like
you have ultimate control

and freedom in the water.

But with the rope,

it's like a big
lead weight connected to me.

I'm gonna be doing
the initial hook

to his live bait
release tether.

Uh, if anything happens
and he catches or anything,

he's gonna just release it
so he's free of it.

All right, brother.

All right.

[suspenseful music playing]

Okay. I'm pushing off.

Look, look, look, look, look.

Give him slack.

I'm getting smacked.

I'm getting smacked.

[Marty] No.

[Coffey grunts]

[Travis] Release, Coffey.
Release.

Whoa. He hit the water.

He's in the water!

Where's safety?

We got a man in the water.

[suspenseful music playing]

I'm getting smacked.

I'm getting smacked.

[Travis] Release, Coffey.
Release.

[Marty whistles] Hey!

We got a man on the water!

One person got killed
in here already.

Not gonna be two.

[Garrett] Head's above water.

[Travis]
Keep swimming, Coffey.

[Garrett] And that safety
is going to get him.

[Travis] Coffey got it.

[Garrett] He's out.

[Coffey sighs]

[Garrett] Well, okay.

That was a long time
to be underwater,

so I was really
quite concerned,

but by the time
I got second eyes on him,

he was out hands on the rack.

Head above water and, yeah,
my heart came back down.

[Coffey] Oh, my God.

Ugh.

The rope is really heavy

and the second it gets
in that water,

it starts
to penduluming me back.

And it was so intense.

I didn't...
Couldn't even go for my roll.

So I just pulled this,

got out of the system
of live bait

and pulled my skirt
and then swam to the shore.

This is the kind of stuff
I don't like.

He's a professional.

Um, he'll be fine.

He's alive,

but there's no cable
across the river.

So we've gotta come up
with a plan.

[country music playing]

Let's talk about
our bathroom situation.

You know, we live off grid,

we're not gonna have
a septic,

so I wanna do something
real crazy.

I wanna build
an incinerating toilet.

[narrator] Incinerator toilets
are an off grid solution

of disposing waste
without the aid of septic
or plumbing systems.

The waste is disposed of
into a receptacle

attached to a heating device
and reduced to ashes

while its gasses are removed
with a ventilation pipe.

This allows
for water-free disposal.

And unlike
a traditional outhouse,

it won't leave behind
any unpleasant smells.

[Maciah] Obviously,
there's some technical stuff

that we gotta figure out here,

but I think I might have
something for this.

There's been something
sitting around in the yard.

Check this out.
Let's go check it out.

[Misty] It's a pretty
simple concept.

You just gotta cook,
you know, waste to ash.

And I think we can do that.

-Ta-da.
-[laughter]

Look at this thing. Okay.

You remember, of course,
field stove.

This is a stove
that can handle a lot of heat.

-[Misty] Yeah.
-[Maciah] So you put
some heat in it,

maybe cut a hole in the top,

turn it into
a toilet-looking apparatus,

and we're gonna be
onto something.

I really like
where your head's at.

How hard could it be, folks?

I'm not leaving The 40
until the toilet works

because I'm not going up
the mountainside anymore.

I'm going to the bathroom
down here.

I will make this toilet work
no matter what.

Step one, cut a hole in it.

Step two, figure out
what the heat source is.

-[Maciah] Camp stove.
-[Misty] Okay.

Let's put it in there
and see what we come up with.

All right.

[Misty] So we're running it
off propane.

I got this tank. Let's see.

[Maciah] That's cool.
That's good.

I'll reach my lighter up.

[Misty]
This is so exciting, Maciah.

There's a flame.

We need some kind of chamber

where the waste goes into
and it's cooked.

-Nice.
-[Misty] Nice. Ooh.

We need some venting,
put the stove pipe in,

get it fire safe,

and start this thing up
and see if it works.

-[chuckles]
-[Maciah] Hotdog.

-[Misty] Okay.
-[Maciah chuckles]

It's kind of gross and kinda--

Is this weird?
Let's see if this works.

I know... I think we're way
past weird at this point.

I think this is a good
thing to use.

-I like it.
-Okay.

Hopefully this works
or that number two

might take us
back to square one.

[Misty] Oh, God.

Number two might take us
back to square one.

-No. I don't like that at all.
-[laughter]

[Maciah] Oh, ooh.

[Misty] Yo-ho!

[Maciah] There's something
brewing over here.

[laughter]

[Misty] All right.
We got lid on.

-Yeah.
-Moment of truth.

-Yeah, I'm stoked, too.
-Okay.

-Woo.
-All right.

[Misty] All right.

You wanna check in
on the toilet
and see where we're at?

-Yeah, let's go.
-Okay. Let's go.

[Maciah] It's drying
really good, huh?

[Misty] It's red hot

and it's totally done.

For number one, it boils,
it evaporates really quickly.

For number two,
it actually cooks it

in about an hour to ash, done,

which is amazing
because that's what

the $5,000
incinerator toilet do

that you buy at the store.

-It's working.
-Killer, man.

-All right.
-Okay. Kill the heat.

-Kill the heat.
-All right.

Woo!

It's kind of hard
to create your off grid

dream bathroom,
but I think we've done it.

And I just love the idea
of not going
up the mountainside

every time you need to shower
or use the restroom.

So this is the dream bathroom.

It doesn't matter
what it looks like.

We just made
an incinerator toilet

-out of a woodstove.
-Yeah, man. Good job.

I mean, it doesn't get
more homesteady than that.

-Good job. Good job.
-Woo-hoo!

[chuckles]

[country music playing]

Around three.

[narrator]
Over at the Wolf homestead,

Marty and the river team
redoubled their efforts

to transport
a 500-foot long steel cable

across the Matanuska River,

a crucial step in rebuilding
Garrett's tram system.

Well, right now,
we're gonna coil up this rope,

we'll try to sit in front
of the boat and then,

we're gonna kinda do
a similar thing we did
at the first attempt.

We'll go across about halfway,

we'll then feed in this rope.

And then, once I get
a little bit farther,

then we'll deploy a throw bag
to get it on shore.

And then, with this,
we'll have a coil

so we'll be able to throw it
and get it away from the raft.

Let's do it.

-You guys ready? Ready?
-[Coffey] Yeah.

I'm ready.

You know,
third time's a charm.

There we go.

[Marty] It's gonna be
way down there,
start running quick.

[Coffey] Oh, my God.
[indistinct]

Okay. Keep going.

That's it.
That's it, that's it.

[Marty] Over the [indistinct]
good job.

Keep going.

We're going in, Coffey.

All right, guys.
Grab this bag, hold it.

On it. On it.

Touchdown. Touchdown.

Whoa. Whoa.

There's a lot of pull
on there.

Pull quick. Not good.

A lot of drag, everyone.

No. That's not it.

We'll have to let go
if it goes, guys.

Start pulling, everybody.
Get a hold of it, everybody.

Everybody! Everybody!

[Marty] Whoa, whoa. Careful.

Here we go. Pull.

[Coffey] Pay attention.

That's it.

Stop.

[Marty] Holy crap.
That was a lot.

That river was swift
and we came that close

to losing it again.

Good job.

Woo!

Pick like a chicken
and pull it.

[Garrett] Already knowing
the difficulties
of this property,

I knew that it was gonna be
a difficult task.

Up the hill?

Yup. We're going right
to the anchor, please.

[Garrett] Right to the anchor.

I am so appreciative
of all the rafters

and to volunteer time
and really put your life

on that edge
for somebody else.

-Here we go. Pull.
-Pull.

[Garrett] As an Alaskan
and as a community member,

I am more than grateful.

-It'll hold.
-[Marty] Amen.

That'll hold. Thank you.

Okay.

We're anchored.

I never dreamed
it would be this difficult

to get a rope across a river.

Now, we're thinking
we're gonna hook that rope

to a cable,
hundreds of pounds

and pull it
across the Matanuska by hand.

It's big, it's long,
it's powerful, it's swift.

To assume that the Matanuska

is gonna let you
do anything easy,

I've learned my lesson.

Phew. Hold on.

All it's gonna take
is manpower
and a good connection

between the rope
and the cable.

[Kaj] We're gonna get
this cable across this river.

We got about 20 people
over there

that are gonna try pulling it.

[Cody] A lot of force
is gonna go into that cable

the second it hits the water,

that's what I'm mostly
worried about.

When ropes and cables
start running very quickly,

they start whipping
all over the place

and that could be
pretty unpredictable.

I mean, it could chop somebody
in half.

Everybody's gotta
get a hand on it.

We're gonna go straight
back into the woods.

Are you guys
ready to render it?

[Kaj] Yup.
Start pulling right now.

Thank you.

Here we go. Pull.

We're pulling.

There you go.

[man 1] That's enough,
all right.

-Coming off, guys.
-[man 2] That's good.
That's good, Marty.

[Marty] Pull.

Keep it out of the water.

We're getting to the cable,

able is coming over the top.

We got the cable right now.

[Cody] Getting close.

It's gonna go in the water.

It's almost ready
to touch the water.

Pull!

Pull!

It hit the water.

[dramatic music playing]

It's almost ready
to touch the water.

[Cody] Pull!

It's getting close.

Pull!

[dramatic music playing]

[Cody] All right.
It's in the water.

It's in the water.

[Marty] Okay. Hold fast.

Everybody get on.

All mules in position, please.

[Cody] Pull!

They need to pull it
another 50 feet.

[Marty] Okay. Ready?

We're gonna head
for that tree back there.

One, two, three.

[dramatic music playing]

[Marty] Work together.
Very good job. Very good job.

Could not have done it
without you.

Stop. You made it.

The cable's here.

As we tighten the turnbuckle,

the cable across the river
gets tighter and tighter.

We're really close
in getting Garrett Wolf

from the civilization side
of the Matanuska River

to the wild side
where his homestead it.

Let's get it on here.

Call it good.

All right.

[Garrett] When I saw that line
go up above the water,

that was really a huge relief.

I looked down that shaft

and knowing I was gonna
get back on that line again.

I'm very excited and should be
sleeping very well tonight.

Took longer than I thought,
but it's there.

It's here.

[Marty] You're not gonna like
this statement,

but this doesn't mean
we're done.

[country music playing]

[narrator] With less
than two days remaining

before the Raneys must leave
to help other homesteaders...

Hello.

[narrator]
Marty returns to The 40...

What'd I miss?

[narrator]
to recruit some help

to finish
Garret's cable tram.

[Marty] Holy moly.

[Katie]
Welcome to your new barn.

What do you think?

A barn? Woo!

Well, the other half
of a barn.

-That's amazing.
-I mean, you did build

most of this thing
but we got it closed in.

Oh, listen.

Look at this finish.

This is exactly what I wanted.

While I was helping
someone else,

my family helped me
by completing that barn.

So we have a tack room.

I love it.

In my absence, a safe,

protected refuge
for the mules was built.

What's going on in here?

-This is a stall.
-That's amazing.

I love that everything's
Dutch doors.

Let Mother Nature
do her thing.

Let her get angry
because we have a barn

that'll keep
our animals safe.

[narrator] One week ago,

the Raneys had
a half-finished barn

that left their mules
exposed to the elements

as subzero temperatures
were only weeks away.

Now, the mules have
a fully enclosed,

weather-proof living space
where they can safely live

throughout the harsh
Alaskan winter.

[Matt] Did we come through
on the barn?

You have no idea

how happy I am
to see that thing

ready for mules
and ready for winter.

[Matt]
But that's not all we did.

I wanna show you something
down below.

Holy smokes.

-Does it look different?
-Yes, it does.

-Yeah.
-Wow, you guys.

Am I glad
that this got cleaned up?

I wouldn't even let
myself look this direction

when I went up the cliff.

I couldn't even look
over here.

-That's how crazy it was.
-[Katie] Yeah.

You haven't spent much time
over here, huh?

-[Mollee] I don't come here.
-Yeah.

For me, I was, you know,
hoping that this is like

a healing thing, you know.

[Mollee] I agree.

I'm tearing up.

[laughter]

This is a totally brand new
place.

It is. This is literally
a clean slate.

[laughs] This is amazing.

[narrator] Seven days ago,

the charred remains of Marty
and Mollee's old cabins

sat on an overgrown
patch of the Lower 20.

A constant reminder
of a painful day.

Now, the ruins are gone

and the land has been
grated ahead of winter

allowing a new chapter
of Raney Family history

to be written
with the first sun of spring.

I have no idea what's happened
over at Misty's place...

-[Marty] Let's go.
-[Matt] so let's go

-check it out.
-[Mollee] I love it.

-[Katie] Okay.
-Hmm.

[acoustic music playing]

-Hey, come on in.
-That's a local call.

-Hello.
-[Matt] Hey.

Hey you guys.

-It looks totally different.
-What is...

What is that thing?

[Misty]
Welcome to the bathhouse.

[Marty] First of all, it looks
amazing on the outside.

[woman]
My God, it's beautiful.

[Marty] It's so Alaskan.

And then on Matt note,

-can we open the door?
-[Misty] On that note... Yes.

-All right.
-[Marty] Oh, my Lord. Oh.

-Oh, yeah. Nice.
-[Misty] Oh, yeah.

[Marty] Nice.

[Misty laughs]

What?

This is our wood stove
incinerator toilet.

What Misty
and Maciah did is amazing.

I love when they build things,
it's always natural,

it's always creative.

It's amazing.

But this is really cool.

-Look at this.
-Oh, what?

Oh, yeah. Shower.

[Misty] This warm water

from the spring we re-vent

that the old cabin
used to use.

We now have a solar generator

and we have power for the...
On the main water heater

and we're running water
from the spring to here.

That's cool.

[narrator] One week ago,

Misty, Maciah engaged had
to make a long uphill trek

to their parents' cabin

to use the bathroom
or shower,

making it impossible to live
on The 40 through winter.

Now, they have their own
bathhouse with running water

and an incinerator toilet
10 feet away

from their cabin
making it easier than ever

to do their essential off
grid business.

[Misty] We do have just a tiny
little thing for you,

we actually found something
that was really cool

-in the fire.
-[Mollee] Oh. Oh.

-The broad axe.
-[Misty] The broad axe.

-[Marty] Oh.
-[Mollee] Oh.

[Misty laughs]

[Marty]
That is really special.

The handle didn't make it

so we put a new handle on it
and then Katie was sweet

-enough to wood burn.
-Oh, what was nice gift.

-I mean, look at the art work.
-[Mollee] Yeah.

[Misty] It's wild roses.
[laughs]

[Marty] Look at that thing.

The second Matt and Katie
showed Mollee and I

that they cleaned up
the footprint

of the house that burned down,
I was thinking,

"I wonder
if they found anything."

So, it was kind of cool to get
that broad axe from the kids.

We made a little time
to make you a nice little gift

and I think it was worth it.

[narrator]
With Raney homestead secure

and ready to face
the challenging winter ahead,

the focus turns
to the final piece

of the Wolf Homestead Rescue.

We do have the cable
back in place

and we're ready to get him
across the river,

how we gonna do it?

Hope you guys don't mind

but I think
we're going to gift him

our tram that got us
across our river.

-That's really nice.
-So, but I won't do it

unless you guys
sign off on it.

-Of course.
-[Marty] Okay.

Misty and Matt come with me.

We will see if we can
get it off our cable

and see if we can
get it on his cable.

-[Matt] Fair enough.
-Yeah. Let's go.

-Let's go.
-All right.

[rock music playing]

[Misty]
That is one high window

and there's no
safety precautions

when it comes to fire.

Got any ideas?

-Fireman pole.
-[Misty] A fireman pole?

-[laughs]
-[Gauge] Yeah.

[Misty] We've done a lot
of work on our cabin,

the next step for me
especially as a mom

is to create
fire safety for Gauge.

Something quick that that's
good enough for firemen,

that's good enough for us.

We have some old drill pipe,

if we sand it down,
polish it up,

and get it in place...

[Gauge] Three, two, one.

[Misty] it's not gonna take
that much time

and I think it has
12-year-old boy written
all over it.

All right.
It's time to test it.

-[Guage] Yeah.
-Here we go.

Yeah. [laughs]

Creating something from
scratch together with Gauge

is just really fun
and really rewarding.

Fire safety,
it's just very important to me

and very much needed.

[Gauge] That was so fun.

[narrator]
With only a few hours

before the Raneys
begin traveling the country

to help homesteaders in need,

Marty enlists Matt and Misty

to aide him
in one final project.

Getting Garrett Wolf
across the Matanuska River

and back onto his homestead

50 miles southeast of The 40.

Marty, hi.

Whoa.

I brought the best hope
in Alaska. Misty.

-Hi, Garrett.
-Hey. Hi.

Now, if that doesn't look like
a homesteader helper person?

-Hi, love.
-I dressed up
for the occasion.

-How's it going?
-And Matt.

-Good to meet you finally.
-Misty and Matt.

-Hi.
-What's your name again?

Garrett.

[Marty] These kids brought you
a gift, follow me.

Come on, kids.

-This is exciting.
-[Misty laughs]

[Marty] All right.

So, let's cut to the chase,

in the middle of all this
craziness

between our homestead
and yours,

it's kind of hard to find
the time to weld

a very custom strong,
lightweight cart like that,

so we thought, well,
we'll just give you ours.

It's your tram car.

[dramatic music playing]

That's very, very
kind of you, all of you.

Thank you.

Well, that thing right there

was a life-changer
for our family, yeah?

-Mmm-hmm.
-Yeah.

Yeah. Hopefully,
it gets put to use.

We're, like, sad to see it go

but happy it's going here.

Yeah, this is gonna be

a game changer
for the property.

Okay.
Well, let's load this thing,

-let's test this thing.
-Meet you up there.

-Here we go, kids.
-All right.

[Garrett] The hand tram
is something
really quite special

and the Raneys know that,

and to have this gift

from their property

is a true, true testimony
of how I feel like Alaskans

really want to be a part
of each other's lives

and be able to give
what they can.

That's good.

[dramatic music playing]

Coming in, pick this up.

It's one thing to go help
another homesteader

with your skill,
your knowledge,

and a few tools.

It's another thing
to gift a homesteader

something that means
a lot to you,

but Garrett Wolf hasn't been
home since November

and I think Garrett Wolf
is deserving.

[Matt] Let's see
if this is gonna work.

Feel free to get in, Garrett.

[Garrett]
Pardon me, everybody.

[Misty] I'm gonna unhook you
guys down?

Not yet, we've already
had one accident here,
let's not have two.

So everybody, double-check
everything I've said,

everything we've done.

See if this is gonna work.

-Ready?
-[Misty] Ready.

-Are you ready?
-I'm ready.

-All right.
-Hit it.

-Here we go.
-[Garrett] Go.

Woo.

Oh. Yee-haw.

-[Garrett] Very awesome.
-[Marty] Oh, yeah.

All the way across.

[Garrett] Woo. All right.

[Marty] Gravity took us
all the way across

the Matanuska River

and then...

as every tram car owner knows,

it takes work
to get to the other side.

-Is it hard?
-[Garrett] No.

You got to know what it takes
to pull a load.

He's pulling dad up.

[Marty] Let me help you
get into the platform,

let's go.

Oh, it feels pretty easy
with two people.

Yeah.

Woo.

[Marty]
So, I'm gonna tie that up.

Here we are.

Wow.

My gosh, this is paradise.

I'm getting the exact
same feeling

that I had the first day
I made it across our river.

You said once,
"I'm Garrett Wolf,

I'm all alone,
I'm the lone wolf."

And I don't want you to feel
like that anymore.

A lot of people wanted to help

so don't feel
like a lone wolf, please.

Thank you.

I'm gonna get right back
to the other side.

I've got
to get back to work but...

[Garrett] I know you do.

I know you've been away
from this place

for almost a year.

-Yeah.
-So, welcome home.

[Garrett] Couldn't have
done it without you,

-and the team, truly.
-Yeah.

Well, that's kind of you
to say.

-All right. Absolutely.
-Thank you. See you later.

Until next time.

I'll see you, Marty.

See you.

I wanna believe that
from now on,

Garrett Wolf won't feel
like a lone wolf.

I wanna believe that
he appreciates

all of the people that came
together to his rescue.

-Yay, yay.
-[Misty laughs]

[Marty] From this point on,

maybe Garrett Wolf
isn't a lone wolf

but in fact maybe he's a part
of a wolf pack.

[upbeat music playing]

[Garrett] To actually
walk into my home,

it was a huge relief.

And the future
is looking very busy.

To get ready for the winter,
what I'm gonna have to do

is insulate the bottom
of the house

because of the snow fall
being so much

and there's some holes
in the roof

that I have to take care of.

There's also a garden space

so therefore, in the spring,
we're gonna be planting

and definitely
getting a garden up.

So mom's ashes
are on the property,

they're currently on the hatch
that her grandfather,

my great grandfather made,
he was a bit of a carpenter,

so she is there,

simply just taking care
of the house.

Marty, my friend,
thank you so much.

You're a true Alaskan neighbor
and I hope to see you soon.