All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.HDTV.720.S03.E06

NARRATOR: On this episode
of Life Below Zero...

Alaskans prepare to battle
the darkness.

GLENN: The darkest, coldest
part of the winter
is just ahead.

NARRATOR: Glenn's quest for
heat leads him down a
treacherous path.

Whoa!

NARRATOR: A wandering cub puts
Andy and Kate on high alert.

No sign of mother or
anything.

NARRATOR: The bitter cold
threatens
the Hailstone's survival.

With cold days like this,
things break.

NARRATOR: And a winter
punch knocks
Sue's lights out.

SUE: My generator just
went down.

Other than the light on
my head, there's no
lights in camp.

Gee! Good girl.

Straight ahead.
Whoa.

Good.
Good girl, Topaz.

Hello. Have I got a
surprise for you.

-What's up?
-There's a bear in the
fish rack.

I don't think it's very big,
but I saw the tail end of it.

So we might want to
go check it...

Is the, is the fish rack
ripped apart anywhere?

-No. I don't think
it's big.
-Okay.

I think it's quite small.

So I think we should just
go take a look.

All right, let's get these
dogs put up and then
I'll, I'll go check it out.

NARRATOR: As a predator
of the arctic,

a bear in camp poses a
threat not only to
the dog team,

but to their vital
supply of fish.

Kate told me there's a
little bear hanging out
under our fish rack.

So I'm gonna go down
and assess the situation.

Oh, there he is.

What are you doing?

You look way too young to be
hanging out by yourself.

I've never heard of bears
being out this time of year

except for maybe
a grizzly bear.

Black bears, they're usually
well in their dens by now.

So this is a first for Calico.

But a young bear like this
would never survive a
winter on his own.

There's no way he can hunt
anything on his own.

That's why he's under
the fish rack.

His nose picked up the scent
of all this warm weather fish.

I think if mom was around,
she'd already have been
around here.

And there's no tracks
around here.

If he was worried about mom,
he'd be bawling like a baby.

They sound like a lamb
bawling when they're
distressed.

I don't want him under
the rack.

I have to get in and
out of this rack
to get dog food.

I don't want dogs coming in
and trying to kill him.

Or, worse yet, getting bit up
or chewed up by him.

If I can get a tranquiliser
into him,

we can put him into a
secured box and feed him,

and he'll be just as content
in that as he is
under the fish rack.

All right, thank you.
Bye-bye.

I was calling the Department
of Fish and Game

to see if we can get a rescue
for this little critter.

CHIP: We don't like doing
things at last minute.

We don't like having a last
chance at anything.

We're pretty well prepared for
this time of year.

We know when to utilise our
time and take the best
advantage of it.

We make a living at this.

We do it at
the appropriate time.

Yee! Deep enough?

The took weighs as heavy
as I do probably.

It's like 40 pounds.

I'm getting tired enough.

Before it starts storming
this winter, we need to
make a shop.

So I got a shop
planned out here

I left before the snow came.

I got wood right here.

I got holes I've been
working on for digging.

And now I've
got some more time.

NARRATOR: Chip and Agnes
Hailstone are using their
harvested wood supply

to construct a tented
workshop,

which will shield them
as they toil in the harsh
conditions of dark winter.

The time to do outside
work is now.

So that's what we do this
time of the year.

CHIP: Now I'm up to needing a
shop for the winter.

I need a place to work
and I need a place
out of the weather.

And we're about to go into
darkness anyway.

Wood is a really
excellent material.

It's a renewable resource,
it grows all around us
around here,

and you can make almost
anything out of wood.

And if I can't make it,
then I probably don't need it.

We're about half done.

We've got some more
tarps to put up.

You got the front,
front cut up?

It's looking like it's going
to work out.

It turned out really well.

-You like it?
-I like it.

This is awesome.

Yep.

Perfect size.

I think we could drive a snow
machine right in there.

Yeah, you can drive right
in here, we can service
our rides right here.

This will be a good place
to hang out. We can put
the fireplace right here.

So as my woodpile is
getting a little smaller

and I've got my scraps
to burn here,

I probably have about
a week's worth
of wood sitting around.

I'll probably first
go out and get me
a load of wood.

Keeping up ahead
of myself that way.

GLENN: I didn't just read a
couple books and then say,

"Oh, I'm just gonna walk out
in the middle of the

"wilderness and figure
out how to live."

I took the time to learn what
I needed to learn
and it took years.

I took my time about it.
That's why I survived.

There's the sun just barely
over the horizon.

It won't be there tomorrow.

The sun is just about to set
for the last time

here at my camp for
over 100 days.

It will shine on the highest
mountains for a while longer.

Eventually, in the deepest,
darkest part of winter,

it will disappear even from
the highest peak.

This is a time when things
start to change

and it goes into dark winter
and it gets very cold.

So the darkest, coldest part
of the winter is just ahead.

More than 100 days from now

the sun will rise right there.

Until then, I won't see it
down here in the valley.

This time of year,
one of the most important
things for me

is to keep my camp heated.

And to have enough
wood to do that,

I have to work at
it almost continuously.

I go through a cord of wood
in one month during this dark

period of the winter
that's coming up.

So I have to be cutting wood,
bringing it home,
splitting it all the time.

This is a pile of wood
that I stacked up here
before it snowed.

At that time of year,
it's harder to move
the wood around.

So I left it here,

came back for it
now with my sled.

It's easier to drag
it in the snow.

This is the last pile of wood
that I have stacked
up out here.

Firewood is my only
fuel out here.

I don't have any other source
of fuel than this wood.

This is what I heat
my cabin with.

It's what I cook
all my food on.

It's how I heat hot water
if I want to take a bath

or do some laundry.

Without firewood,
I couldn't live out here.

Firewood also warms me
up just processing it.

It's cold out,
but doing this kind of work,

I really can't even
wear that parka.

In really cold weather,

I could burn up this whole
sled load in just 24 hours.

There. I got a load of wood.

I'm gonna head home.

Whoa!

Yeah, you've got to be careful
going down hills.

This is a heavy pile of wood.

It can get out of control
and it goes fast.

One last hill and then
I'm home free.

Once I get to the lake,
it gets a lot easier.

I really enjoy firewood
because firewood
gets me out,

I get a lot of exercise.

I always have fun working
on firewood.

Got it back to camp.

I've gotta go cut some more
wood so I have plenty of wood.

It's a long, cold,
dark winter out here

and I do go through
a lot of firewood.

SUE: There's life lessons in
every single waking moment
of the day

if you pay attention.

If I don't risk my beak today,
I'll be here tomorrow.

I was only expecting to be
gone under a week.

But I ended up being gone
15, 16 days.

NARRATOR: After undergoing
a crucial foot procedure
in Fairbanks

and struggling to return home
due to a massive blizzard,

Sue Aikens has just
reached Kavik.

SUE: Getting home,
finding out that, you know,

I'm just that far enough off
the coast, I didn't get hit
with the storm.

I got some drifts.
I got some stuff going on.

But that's a huge
relief to me.

I feel just waves of relief.

I just wanna relax,
drink my tea,
and get some sleep.

Sleep where for the first time

in over two weeks I'm not
worried and stressing
about camp.

Now that I'm back, I do have
a lot of snow places

that just shouldn't be for
camp to be effective.

I've got to move that.
I need to do a search
around camp.

I saw, flying in,
I saw some bigger tracks.

Saw an animal.
Looked to me like
maybe wolf-ish,

but you know, curled up out
about a mile, half a mile off
the end of the runway.

Are you kidding me?
That's not good.

All right.
That's not good.

That means my generator
just went down.

So the first thing I've got to
do is just get out there.

Other than the light on
my head, there's no
lights in camp.

And I can't hear the sound of
the generator.

Shit.

Okay.

That's my switch.
It's in the down position,
so it was delivering.

This didn't get slapped up.

I don't see anything
real obvious.

I need to check the fuel.

Fucking oil change.

Fucking A.

It takes almost a full gallon
for an oil change.

Got the new oil filter in.
I know I have fuel.

What does a gen need?

Fuel, oil, air, spark.

(ENGINE RUNNING)

The generator runs.

It's sending power here.

It's being created,

but is it being delivered?

Please say it's fucking on.

Ah! My kitchen
lights aren't on.

Fuck.

I'm gonna go
to the dining hall,

look at the breakers,
try and figure it out.

So goes the calm evening.

No rhyme. No reason.

I didn't add to the load,
take away from the load,
it just quit working.

Aha!

I do have it now
in the kitchen.

If I have it in the kitchen,
I have it in the dining hall,

which means I have
it on my spotlights.

If people are in trouble and
they need to land,

that means they're gonna
see that spotlight and land.

Bam. Lights on.
Bam, lights on.

Bam, Susie did good.

Not what you plan on when
it's real cold and real dark,

but you know, when do you
even plan a disaster?

AGNES: Once you leave here,
the plan changes.

You just have to take
it as it comes.

There's all kinds of
difficulties and stuff.

You never know
what can happen.

For the last couple
weeks it's been real cold.

Last week it was minus 40
for a week straight.

And everybody's been
burning double the amount
of stove oil,

double the amount of wood.

And usually we have a stack
of wood

and we don't have
to worry about heating,

but this is getting kind
of critical.

-Are you ready?
-Yep.

This is subsistence.

This is going out and getting
what's at hand and using
it here to make a living.

And what we have at hand
along these rivers here,
in the arctic, is trees.

So we've got lots of firewood.

Firewood's a really, really
important commodity up here.

It's energy. And the more
firewood I can burn,

the less stove oil I have to
buy. It's just economy.

I'd rather buy ten gallons of
gas, and go out,

and go get a whole bunch of
firewood than I'd want

to spend for just two days of
heat in my house.

They ask people,
especially if they have
snow machines,

to go at least five miles out.

We go ten about miles,
cause we know some really
good wooded spots.

In any direction that you
go around here where
there's the delta and

where there's the river,
there's definitely trees.

And they just don't want
to over impact the area.

AGNES: Not too far away, huh?

CHIP: No.

Gathering firewood is
a continuous and a
thankless job.

It takes a lot of
physical stamina.

It takes a lot of work
outside in the
cold weather.

It doesn't take eight bucks a
gallon like it does
for stove oil.

So it's better to get
gasoline to spend the gas
with the chainsaw.

I can heat this house with
an axe,

but then it's just a constant
chore that I'm not up to that.

I'd rather have a mechanical
advantage and
I like my chainsaw.

(GRUNTING)

Okay, let's just leave it
there for five minutes, have a
cup of coffee.

It should start after that.

Yeah, let's hope so.

ANDY: It's a very physical
life, living out here.

I don't do a 9 to 5.

It doesn't mean that we're
not working.

If you like getting out,
and working,

and doing things for yourself
it's a great lifestyle.

Kate found a little baby
cub in our fish rack.

I don't see any
big bear prints.

I don't see any mama prints
around or anything like that.

It's time to do a little
construction,

a little modification
of a dog box.

And we'll try and tranquilise
him or whatever,

get him into that box.

And then at least everything's
under control.

Hopefully have a happy
ending for the little guy.

NARRATOR: After discovering
the bear cub,

Kate immediately contacted
the Department of Fish
and Game

for guidance in handling
orphaned wildlife.

While waiting on a
possible rescue,

getting the bear out from
under the fish rack is
their priority.

That looks like a good
size for him.

Every day is inventing
something new out here.

It's a land of extremes

that every day you have
to adapt.

Well, I didn't think
I'd be doing this when
I woke up this morning.

I like inventing stuff.

That's a big part of my
life out here.

I like the challenge of
waking up everyday,
and creating new things,

and seeing if ideas work.

If you look around,
everything I have
is modified.

You know what
you could do?

Go over by the guest cabin
and get that long,

aluminium pole so I can
set up a syringe.

Well, the idea is just to
mount the syringe with the
sedative on a pole,

then reach in from a distance
and poke him.

I don't think he's gonna let
me get close to him without
freaking out

and wanting to run.
So if I can get

eight feet away from
him and just take the syringe

and poke him with it and get
the sedative,

it goes into the muscle.

It doesn't have
to go into a vein.

This is just tranquiliser
that we use for our dogs
when we get porcupine

quills in the dogs.

It's a half a millimetre for
about a 60-pound dog.

I'm just gonna put just a
small amount.

Hi little guy.
We're not gonna hurt you.

We're gonna just help
you a little bit okay?

It's okay, you smell that.
It's okay.

Don't eat it.

It's okay.

Yep, bent the needle.

Yeah, well, I don't think
anything went in him.

I think the syringe
is broke.

Sometimes you gotta be a
little bit cruel to be kind.

So we'll get him relaxed
and then we can pick him up,

put him in the box,
and feed him,

and water him,
and make sure he's really
warm and comfortable,

and wait for the Department
of Fish and Game

to get someone
in to rescue it.

He's coming back this way.

There you go.
Why don't you just settle
down there?

Let's try again.

Got a little bit in
him, I think.

You know where I keep
my skis and everything?

I have a wooden pole there
that has a snare wire on it

that I use when I trap things
that are alive.

If you go grab that I can
maybe just grab him
around the body with that,

then we can get him.

Here he is,
this is where
I want him.

Good boy.
Good boy.

Gotta get it done before

the last little bit of
sunlight goes.

Hard enough job in the
daylight, let alone the dark.

It looks like he's
starting to go down
right now.

Got it, Andy.

Got you. Got you,
got you, got you. Good boy.

It's okay. It's okay.
It's okay. It's okay.
It's okay.

Here we go.

It's okay.

It's coming off.
It's coming off.
It's coming off.

There you go.
Where's the lid?

I've got the lid.

Flip that thing, man.
All right.

We kill things to eat it and
we don't have a problem

with killing things
that we're gonna eat.

But I'm not gonna kill
a ten-pound cub for five
pounds of meat.

But we can certainly take care
of him until someone can
come and pick him up.

AGNES: Even though it's day,
after day, after day,

after day of extreme hard
work, bad weather,
rough conditions,

we still love it.

We're proud of what we do.

I'll try. I'll just have
to use my foot.

I think it's just
extremely cold.

Good summer saw.
It's another
good winter saw.

Cold days like this,
things break.

Things don't start.
We have trouble.

You have to just keep trying
and eventually it will either
start or you have

to run home,
get a new chainsaw,

or a different chainsaw,
or just start chopping wood.

Let's check it out
one more time.

Throttle or no throttle?

No throttle.

Oh, yay!

CHIP: You don't count on
things until you've got them
in your hands.

And even then,
it's still maybe.

There's a lot of things
that can happen out there.

Your chainsaw could quit.

But we stuck with it.

We kept pulling on that
thing and it finally
fired up for us.

Pretty much he cuts them
down and I limb them.

CHIP: Firewood is fuel.
And you need it to stay warm,

and being the arctic,
and seeing how we're
at 30 below zero,

it's a pretty important
commodity to have.

Probably a sled load.

Daylight's burning.
I'm almost done.

(SIGHING)

That's all
for this sled.

Yep.
That's all it can carry.

CHIP: We've got about 15
minutes of daylight left,
so for us right now,

it's time to tie down and get
ourselves on the trail.

When darkness comes,
we just, this isn't the job,
work to do.

-Wanna go home?
-Go home.

By then it should be
dark, yeah?

It will be dark by then.

There's more logs to be
had, all right.

But time's ticking and the
sun's going down.

We have like 15,
20 minutes left.

We need to have a couple
week's worth of wood
because we have children

and they all need heat.
And it's the warmest
heat,

it's probably the one where
it could be 40 below and
people in the house

are complaining that
it's too hot. So,

that's all right
with me too.

SUE: I've learned to give the
weather in Alaska the
highest form of respect.

It will kill you if it
has a chance.

You don't know, but you better
be checking for it.

I'm about ready to go
through the worst three
months of my season.

Conditions can
be quite brutal.

It's just constant upkeep.

Keep the paths clear.

Check the buildings
as you go.

Keep an eye out and see
if something's coming at you.

And you never know.
Opportunity knocks on
your door sometimes.

You're doing one thing
and then all of a sudden,
you know,

some freaking lost caribou
runs across your vision
and if you need the meat,

you have an opportunity.

My meat supply is a little bit
low. I wanna fill it up.

Hold on. Hold on.

I got ptarmigan.

Awesome. Find my .22.

This time of year, you know,

fresh meat is
good for me to get.

They're around
here somewhere.

Where are they at?

There they are.

And they're really
hard to see.

They just look like
little white balls,

but they're on a white
background.

Oh, oh, oh.
There he goes,
he's flying to the branch.

(SHOT FIRED)

Nailed that one.
Don't you get my bird!

That's my bird!
No, that's mine!

You naughty fox.

Whenever I'm shooting
I've got to be careful.

A, I gotta know where
my foxies are.

But B, I've got to get to
it before they do.

It's their food source too.

Well, looks like I got one,

but little Slinky
made off with one too.

I got two, but you've
gotta be faster than
your hunting partner.

There's the gizzard.
A little bit of liver.

What is he eating?
Willows.

Willow buds, willow
branches.

So by looking at that,
what does it tell me?

It tells me where to keep
looking if I wanna find
the birdies.

I get a couple more like
this and I'll have a
nice, little meal.

Thank you, little birdie.

It was a nice little
diversion,

nice little snack for me,
but I've got to get
back to work.

GLENN: This lifestyle,
it's just basic,

fundamental processes
of nature.

It's direct contact
with reality.
It's unmediated.

That's what I like.

I've got enough wood
here for four or five days
of really cold weather.

That's not very long.

Time to go cut some
more wood.

That's the last of the wood
that I've already got cut.

These are the sized trees
that I'm normally cutting
for my firewood now.

And the reason I'm cutting
those sized trees,

in part, is because
I'm using an axe

and cutting larger trees
is inefficient with that axe.

What I want to do is try this
saw out and see

if this is efficient to
cut larger wood.

This is a new tool
I picked up the last time
I was down in Fairbanks.

It's a crosscut timber saw.

And I've never used it.

I'm gonna try it out and see
if this might make it
a little bit easier for me

to get my firewood.

There's a lot of time
spent handling small
pieces of wood.

So I'm looking for a big tree.

With this saw that I've got,

I can process possibly
a bigger tree than I used
to more efficiently.

Wow, there is a tree
right there.

That is a big tree with
a lot of firewood in it.

Way bigger than
I'd normally cut.

But with this saw,
it might be feasible.

There's a pretty dense
forest here.

It's a big tree.
If it gets hung up,

I won't be able to use
it. I won't be able to
get it down out of these

trees with the tools I
have on hand.

So I'm gonna have
to be very careful

and see if I can
get it to fall

straight down that way.

I used to pass trees this
size up because they were
too much to handle.

But with that big saw maybe
I can process a tree this
size.

Think of the firewood!
Just in that little section
that's a whole day's firewood

in real cold weather.

I'm used to having to cut a
few trees to get a day's
firewood in cold weather.

This is a whole different
ball game here.

(HOLLOW THUNK)

Ooh, that doesn't
sound very good.

This tree is very
hollow sounding.

I'll see what's in there
when I cut into it.

Okay, this is all rotten.
This is not good.

Hopefully the rot doesn't
go up very far,

so it's still worth cutting
down to get the firewood
out of the upper part.

But it makes it a lot more
dangerous cutting it.

Because that's not strong
wood in the middle.

So it might break in an
unpredictable way.

Okay, I'm gonna put in a
wedge now.

Try to get the tree to tip
over the way I want it to.

Okay.

Look out! It's going!
It's going!

Yeah!

All right!

Right where I wanted it.

Perfect.

Couldn't have
been better. That was
a little scary. Woo!

That's a big one.

Oh, that feels good.

Look at that thing cut
through there.

That's frozen wood,
18 below zero,
cutting right through it.

Yes! Made it through!

That is one awesome
saw right there.

Look at that.
The rot doesn't go
too far, that's great.

I was afraid that the whole
tree might have rot up
through it.

I never tackled trees
this big before.

I just didn't have the tool
for the job.

Four, six.
That tree's about 160
years old.

That tree lived longer
than I will.

I just got to get it home.

I got my work cut out for me
getting it back up
to the top here.

CHIP: There's trading and then
there's selling stuff and
there's giving.

You don't do it with an
expectation of return.

But such a small society here,

it comes back at you.
It's a big karma thing.

I think we got
a lot of wood.

Yeah, I think we have
enough too.

We probably could give
away a couple.

-A few sticks?
-Yeah.

I was gonna
go see Erika pretty soon.

-There you go.
-She's pregnant and her
honey's at work

so I was thinking since she's
moving over to the house
where I grew up in,

I figured I'd just go help
out and go throw them
a few logs.

-Oh, yeah.
-We managed to bring a
couple loads home

and since we have
enough wood,

I'm just gonna go give
a load to my friend, Erika.

You know, it's good
to share the wealth,

maybe I'll take Ting to
help me, yeah?

Oh, good idea.

When I can give stuff away,
I freely give.

My neighbours give to me.

My wife's family gives to us.

I give back. And there's
no charity involved.
It's just sharing.

It's a big circle,
it will come around.

You know, it's not like
they need it, or they're
begging for it,

or they even asked for it.
It's just

like maybe we can
just go fork over

a couple logs and
help them out.

And they should like that.
I'm sure they will.

They've done it for me
in other ways.

Yee!

Hi!

How are you doing?

How's baby?

We notice somebody needs
help somewhere,

we try to help and then
later on if I need help,

somebody will notice that I
probably need firewood

or a little short of
something and they'll say,

"Hey, I got this, I got that."

Yeah. There's lots more
out there.

We found a good pile where
there's lots of dead wood.

Yeah. Around here,
it's a real good thing
to give what you can

and share with other people
and friends and they'll help
you out in the long run.

It's good karma.

Yeah.

-Yeah.
-Thank you again.

Yeah, right on.

-We'll see you again.
-Okay.

Later!

SUE: My Honey Do List is more
like a Honey Sue List.

Sue's the only one
working on it.

I'm not on anybody's
time clock.

I just chip away at it.

I'm just keeping on
doing my chores.

You know,
real limited daylight.

And one of the things that I
wanna check out

is some
of my ice on the river

is not as thick as it
usually is.

And any chance I have
to resupply
myself with fresh water

is a good opportunity to take.

Yeah, I go through about 310
days without running
water here.

And I give myself a little
under a gallon a day for all
of my needs.

If I can bump it up,
I have a little bit of extra
to play with.

To me it's not just 30
gallons of water,

it's a month of life
giving water.

I'm looking at this spot
right here,

you've got the river and
you've got the ice.

You've got a four
to six foot drop.

That might not be too cool.

A bunch of this river is
gonna be a little unsafe
for travel for me for a bit.

I don't wanna drop
this thing that far
down a hole,

but I am willing to walk out
there maybe and see if
I can't poke a little hole.

I know the river pretty well.

I just can't see.

It's all covered in snow.
I don't know where the
rotten spots are.

Trying to see if I can get
past this chunky layer.

Where's my water?

Yeah. I mean,
I'm getting rock

and I'm not getting any water.

Going out a bit further,
see what I find.

Hopefully I don't find a
hole that I fall into.

The ice is a little on
the thin side.

If I hit a really deep spot,
Little Red's just gonna sink
to the bottom

and I'll fish it out in
the spring if I can.

I see liquid water.

I have no idea what's
going on with
my crazy river.

I don't know why there's
so little water running
underneath,

but I'll take what I can get.

You know, it's like liquid
gold to me.

Right there.
Liquid water.

You can see,
just from me pouring,
it's already freezing.

This time of year, this
is a pretty good find.

Had to go a little
further away from camp
than I'd intended.

But now I wanna get it home
before it freezes.

I don't have running water
for 300 to 310 days a year.

You gotta ration the water
that you do have,

but when you have a little
bit of excess,

maybe I'll get clean socks
out of the bargain.

Getting cold fast.
Easy breezy.

I won't lose my water,

but I've got to get it
home as quick as I can.

Right now to get fresh
river water

that I can
drink, drink, drink,

that's a big find.

Instead of rationing it
down this tight,

I can ration it down
that tight.

A couple of hours' worth
of roaming around,

having fun, checking out
the sights,

there's a couple of months'
worth of good product for me.

Hi there. You were no help.

You were no help at all there,
little Slinks.

I know.
You wanna say hi?

Did mom go and get water?

Yeah. Yeah.

(LAUGHING)

KATE: You can't live in the
wilderness without having
a connection to these animals,

and a love for them,
and a respect for them.

I've never been
afraid of them,

and I've come pretty damn
close to a lot of them.

Hi, Baba.
Hi, Baba.

Today's day is all about
saying goodbye.

Fish and Game is bringing
out an aeroplane,
landing on our lake,

and he's flying to Fairbanks
where he'll be

under their care
from this point on.

I am totally in love with
this little guy.

Hoping we can save this
bear, but at this point
in time we have to turn

it over because of state
law we're not allowed to
hold onto the bear.

Still a lot of work to do
before this becomes
a happy ending.

But we've done our part

to try and save him.

And now it's gonna be up to
the Department
of Fish and Game

to help us place this bear.

-How's it going, Jeff?
-How's it going, Andy?

-How are you?
-I'm doing good!

-Good flight in?
-Good to see you.

My name is Jeff Gross. I'm the

area wildlife
biologist and I've come
up today to retrieve

a bear cub that wandered
into Andy Bassich's
smoke house

and bring him back up
to Fairbanks.

I'm thinking what we
ought to do is we'll just
bring the kennel inside

there so it's close by.

Get it all set up, get
some straw in it,

see if he'll come out on
his own.

If he does,
I think it's gonna be pretty
easy to just put him in.

I'm gonna do my best to
keep him happy

-and comfortable
while I have him. So...
-Well...

I'll just have him for
a little bit.

There's so many of them
that die in the wild.

-Mmm-hmm.
-And

there's nothing you
can do about it.

But this little guy
came to us.

You know, he had the
strength, courage,

and fortitude to find a place
that was suitable.

So he's a smart little bear.

It's not incredibly rare
that a cub would be
abandoned,

or have a mother killed,
or die from other natural
causes.

Mortality of cubs is pretty
high in the first
year of life.

Good boy. You're a good,
cooperative little guy.

When we get the cub back
to Fairbanks,

it'll be placed into
a permitted holding
facility to see

if we can find a place to
permanently house
the bear.

Hopefully it will work out
really well and
fairly quickly.

-Take care.
-Fly safe.

Keep my Baba safe.

I think he's a survivor.

I think he's got some
good instincts and I
think both of us

feel like he did his part,

now we humans need to do
our part to try and give him
a chance

and to find this bear the
best opportunity
for a long life.

GLENN: I really like all the
natural sounds around here.

-I like to listen to
the wolves howling.
-(HOWLING)

I listen to the music the
loons make.

-(LOON CALLING)
-I like to listen to the bull
moose grunting.

That's the music for
me out here.

22 below Fahrenheit right
now. That's pretty cold.

That just helps stabilise it.

Hold it in place.

Ah. Look at this chunk
of firewood.

Cut it one more time.

I'm out here because I
like the peace and quiet.

I'm out here because
I like the fresh air.

I don't want to have
the noise.

I don't want to have
the exhaust of a
modern chainsaw

running out here
if I can avoid it.

I enjoy this experience.

Yeah!

Okay. Time to split them.

This is a big piece
of wood to split,

but I've got the temperature
on my side.

It's about 20 below zero.

The wood just becomes easier
to split the colder it gets.

Look at that. It went.

Beautiful.

This saw really paid off.

I got all this wood.

A few days just in
one sled load there.

I couldn't be happier.
This is awesome.

Time to go stoke the fire.

I've been wearing the same
clothes for more than a week.

It's time to do some laundry.

That's gonna heat up my water
right here.

Boy, is it ever gonna be
nice to clean these
clothes up.

Okay.

I watched that sun
disappear over the mountain

for the last time
this morning.

It will be more than 100 days
before it comes back

and shines on this camp again.

The moon's coming up now.

And in the wintertime,
that's what I depend on.

I cycle a lot of my
activities around the moon.

You can do a lot more outside
in the cold weather
than people realise.

The sun's gone now, but I got
the moon up all winter long.

And that moonlight's
what I rely on.

There.

It's all set. Good thing,

cause my hands
are getting cold.