All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S01E12.The.Thaw.The.Meltdown.720p.NF.WEB-DL

NARRATOR: On this episode of
Life Below Zero,

the spring runoff is
creating chaos across Alaska.

GLENN VILLENEUVE:
Nature does decide for you.

ANDY BASSICH:
Something catastrophic
can happen.

SUE AIKENS:
You want to live out here?
Just deal with shit.

NARRATOR:
Sue's business is under water.

SUE: This is my runway.
100% out of commission.

NARRATOR:
Glenn's water supply
is at risk.

GLENN: I'm not too crazy
about drinking that water.

NARRATOR:
The Hailstone clan struggles

to keep
their heads above water.

CHIP: They're having
motor problems.

NARRATOR: And Andy and Kate
could see a lifelong dream

plunge into a watery grave.

ANDY: Tell me what the
fuck is going on.

'Cause I can't see
a fuckin' thing.

Hey, Roger, how's it going?

NARRATOR: Sue Aikens
is now the sole proprietor
of Kavik River Camp.

I'm no longer
somebody else's bitch.

I'm my own owner.
I run my own business.

NARRATOR: To make money,
she has to keep
her runway open

during the busy summer months

when the camp serves
as a remote outpost

for scientists, hunters
and bush pilots.

With the new pressures
of being owner,

Sue has brought on
a helping hand

to assist with the drastically
increased summer workload.

SUE: I have a family member
whose name is Rick

and I brought him up here
and he wants to help out.

I just wanted to tell you
I appreciate you coming out.

No problem, Sue.
I love it up here.

I know we're both...
We're not over the hill,

but we're looking at it
from the summit.

(RICK SPEAKING)

He's a real good guy.
I mean, he was 15 years
A&P mechanic,

a pilot and helicopter
mechanic in the Navy.

He's just got a lot of
hands on experience,
a lot of knowledge,

and that's something
I need here.

Your help is pretty valuable.
You got a lot of talent there.

I got a minion
and I'm going to use him.

If I do something
that bugs the hell out of you,

(LAUGHING) too bad.

(RICK SPEAKING)

SUE: Holy shit!
Welcome to the thaw.

NARRATOR: Sue's camp sits in
an unpredictable flood plain

since the flat tundra
does little

to hold the river at bay
during the run off.

Unfortunately,
the runway is dangerously
close to flooding waters.

SUE: It is coming up.
I see where
it's coming up over

-the bank area here.
-RICK: Yeah.

The water is stagnant,
stationary here

so it's obviously
water-logged the ground.

The river is coming up,
everything is melting.

You know,
it's 24-hour daylight,
it's 50 degrees right now.

It's gonna be 50 degrees until
the weather pattern changes.

There is no sunset.

Because it happens so late
and so much snow,

I mean, you never get to know
exactly when
it's going to hit.

Bam! Here it is.

NARRATOR:
Sue will have to keep her eye
on the rising waters,

but for now she has
other pressing matters.

(SUE SPEAKING)

NARRATOR:
Kavik River Camp
is 60 miles away

from one of Alaska's
most remote highways,
which ends in Deadhorse.

SUE:
I got two loads yesterday.
I got three to four for today.

Boom, boom, boom.
I got to get going.

NARRATOR:
Every supply must be flown in
by bush plane.

SUE: Yo, Bob-O.

I've been up here a long time
without any help
and I like it that way.

But does Rick
provide companionship?
Absolutely.

Holy shit.

Can you give me
a fuckin' hand?

-Well, I thought you...
(LAUGHS)
-Grab her.

I'm here pooping myself.

But for me the blessing is
it's a very finite,
limited engagement.

-Is that it?
-(BOB GILL SPEAKING)

You want more stuff today?

I might as well.
What do you got coming next?

-All right, buddy.
-BOB: Okay.

Good as always. Fly safe.

NARRATOR:
In the short time it took
to unload the plane,

over two feet of water
has made its way
onto the runway.

SUE: The runway is how
people get in and out.

It's how supplies
get in and out.

It's how fuel
gets in and out.

The runway is life out here.

With this warm temperature,
everything melts out so fast,

the water table comes up
and... And you're done.

(ANIMALS HOWLING)

GLENN: This whole business
about living by killing
and eating things

makes a lot of people
uncomfortable.

A lot of people
have a problem with it.

But I don't think there's
any way to really escape it.

NARRATOR: Glenn Villeneuve
lives without electricity.

He has no way
to store fresh meat.

Each day is a vital quest
for food.

Just a few days ago
I was still hunting caribou.

(WHOOPING)

(EXHALES)

(FIRING)

Both shots missed.

Things have changed
and I'm not going
after caribou any more.

It's getting too late
in the season.

There's a lot more flies out
just in the last few days

and the lake is all
covered in water

so I'm just going
to be concentrating on
getting smaller animals now

like porcupine...
Duck should be coming soon,

there's some squirrels around.

So I'm gonna be hunting
those kind of animals now.

There are flies out,
all right.

That's some scraps
I had to throw out
this morning.

(FLIES BUZZING)

When things warm up
at this time of year,
the flies start coming out.

They go all over the meat
and they lay eggs on meat.

The eggs hatch little maggots,
ruin the meat.
You can't eat it.

(BUZZING)

Hey, look!

I shoot squirrels
for one reason:

because they chew
on things around here.

They cause a lot of damage.

They'll chew up the tent
or they'll get into
my caribou hides,

but I also eat them.

There he is.

(COCKS GUN)

(FIRES GUN)

A little red squirrel.

I like to eat
all the different animals
out here.

I like to eat red squirrels
once in a while.

It's been a couple of months
since I ate one.

This one is pretty messed up
by shooting it.

You see... I'm just
going to get the legs.

Just a little variety.
Squirrel legs.

It's a lot more
than just the flavour
of the food,

although that is important.

It's a lot more
than the nutrition
of the food,

although I think
the nutrition of this food
is unsurpassed.

But it has to do
with the relationship
to the food.

I just don't feel the same
if I go in the store

and buy some food
that got grown
2,000 miles away,

processed by some company
that's got some executives

getting rich up in a penthouse
in New York City
selling it to me.

I just feel a lot better
eating this food out here.

(HOWLING)

ANDY: It's not that I don't
want to be a part of the
rest of the world.

But I gain a great deal
of satisfaction

from being able to do things
for myself and by myself.

I'm gonna try
and go get my sawmill
up in Eagle today.

NARRATOR: This spring,
Andy Bassich has big plans

to build additions
to his remote homestead

using a sawmill
he purchased in the winter.

To get it home
he had to travel
a thousand miles round trip

from Eagle to Anchorage,

160 done over treacherous
mountain roads.

You gotta be careful, if
you go too far off to one side

you'll just fall off the road.

-Kind of muddy.
-Yes, it is.

NARRATOR: The thaw
is the only time
that Andy will be able

to utilise the sawmill to
build his additions.

Once winter arrives,
it will be useless.

The sawmill probably weighs
I think around 3,700 pounds,

so approximately two tonnes.

I've configured my two boats
into a big pontoon

and I'm just creating
a much more stable platform.

We're just going
to take our time and try
and do everything right

and not get in too much
of a hurry.

There you go.
Now, turn the throttle.

More!

I'm surprised
there's still ice
on the shore.

That says a lot about
how bad break-up was,
but it's melting fast.

Twenty-four hours of sunlight
does a lot of melting
real quick on this ice.

The plan is to bring this up
into the landing.

I'll probably sling
the sawmill and set it on
those big heavy beams.

If I tried to bring
the sawmill down on one boat
it would be very tippy.

But by putting
two boats together,

then it's stable this way
and it's stable this way.

So, this is the most stable
platform I can build for
a heavy load that's long.

And it's all about stability
when you are out on the river.

The worst thing
that could happen

is that the sawmill
could go into the river

and if it does that
then it's a loss.

So I'm kind of
on pins and needles.

CHIP: It is a different way
of living.

There's so many ways
to be wealthy here
without money. It's crazy.

You know,
I chose a different life.
A whole different lifestyle.

(RATTLING)

CHIP: We are getting ready
to take kids down to
our camp fishing trap.

NARRATOR: The Hailstone clan
spends most of the summer

travelling hundreds of
miles of river
in their quest for food.

Everything they catch
will be sold, traded
or consumed

over the next several months.

(GRUNTING)

And the oldest son
is going to join us.
He's working his way home.

'Cause he's got
his own gear down there.

All right.
I'll see you guys down there.

I'm not going to ride down.
It's full.

We just saddled up our house.

We just got all of our kids
all saddled up
and ready to go.

Before you load anything,
we need to move the boat out.

Basically we've just got
a window of a few days

to get the vast majority
of the fish that are coming
out of the lakes.

I've done this
for 20-some odd years,

I'm feeling good about today.
So we'll see what happens.

NARRATOR:
Chip will pilot one boat

while eldest daughter,
Tinmiaq, navigates the other.

CHIP: Kids! Get in the boat.
We do this every year.

We do it in different places
but this is one of the most
enjoyable fishing trips

because I get to be with
the kids after a long winter
of having kids in school.

Well, motor's warm.
What do you think?

You ready for camp?

(KID SPEAKING)

GIRL: Ready!

-CHIP: They'll catch us.
-Bye.

CHIP: The kids
are going to learn a lot.
There's no doubt about that.

They'll participate a lot
and that's really what we want
more than anything else.

Just to be with the kids.

(MOTOR STALLS)

NARRATOR:
Suddenly Tinmiaq's motor dies.

Boats are the
family's lifeline.

If Tin doesn't get
the motor running,

this trip could be over
before it begins.

CHIP:
They're having motor problems!

NARRATOR: The Hailstone clan
is on one of the biggest
fishing trips of the year.

But it's off to a rough start

as a problematic motor strands
two of Chip's daughters.

-Are you overheating?
-(TINMIAQ REPLYING)

Is it just shutting off
on its own?

Pull the choke
all the way out.

I know my daughter
was having motor problems

and she's not a mechanic
so she's not understanding
what the problem is.

Turn up your throttle.
Turn up your throttle,
give it a try.

So, we don't have
a fuel problem.

I'm hoping we don't
have water in the fuel.

I don't see any water at all
inside the filter here.

So I don't really think
that's going to be
a problem either.

I just added some more
four-stroke oil in case this
one was a little low.

These things have
an electronic shut-off

so if you're low on oil
or it's overheating,
it just shuts the engine down.

Try giving it a pull.

(MOTOR STARTS)

Put it back to that rev,
leave it like that.

Let go of...
Let it go like that.
Now put your lid back on.

Just go! You're going
to have stay ahead of me.

Anytime you got motor problems
you only go as fast
as the slowest person.

Start taking things
to the cabin, babe.

Nice ride.

Had some motor problems
coming back

and that was really giving
people a bad attitude, so...

You can yell at a motor
all you want, it don't care.

It was out of the oil,
I guess. 'Cause after that,
it was perfect.

(CHUCKLES)
Single guys
are so lucky sometimes.

Today's work
is to get down further.

We're going to go
put that net in
so it's producing tonight.

And then tomorrow
we go check it.

That's all we really
have to do today,
is just get down to the net...

-Set it.
-...set the net
and then call it good.

GLENN: I think the people
in the modern world,

they try to escape
this endless cycle
of life and death.

I don't want
to escape from that.

It's a part of my life
every day.

I'm going to see if I can
go out and get some water
out of my ice hole.

Because I keep water
in these buckets in here
but they're both empty,

so I need to get
some water now.

NARRATOR: In addition
to gathering
all the food he eats,

Glenn is constantly in need
of safe drinking water.

Right at this point
where the slush
changes colour,

that's where the ice
is frozen right to the
bottom of the lake.

Not long ago I came out here
and I put in this hole

in order to get water
from the lake.

I chiselled a big hole down
through four feet of ice

and there was
really nice clean water.

You could stand here
on the ice and
it was completely dry.

Now, there's three or four
inches of water running
across the top of the ice.

It's going down that hole
as if it's a drain.

Well, all this overflow
from the snow
melting on the mountains

has been coming down
the last couple of days

and running
right into my water hole.

I'm not too crazy
about drinking that water

because there's wolf shit
all over this lake.

NARRATOR: This winter Glenn
shared the lake with a group
of aggressive carnivores.

GLENN: That is
a pack of 20 wolves

on a big animal
they just took down.

This is the biggest
pack of wolves
I have ever seen.

So I decided to run back
and forth to attract
their attention.

Last time
when I'm running back,

I see all the wolves
racing towards me.

I never had wolves come
running towards me before.
Never.

And I start shooting.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!

And I hit three wolves.

All of the other wolves,
they had run off.

So I started running
across the lake

and I'm running over
towards the kill site.

That's what I saw what it was.
They had killed a moose.
Took a look at that.

Then I decided I better get
picking up these wolves

and start skinning
some wolves.

NARRATOR: For now,
the pack is keeping
its distance

but the scat left behind
has contaminated
his water supply.

Wolves around here
have a parasite called an
Echinococcus granulosus

and the eggs of the parasite
are in the
wolves' droppings.

If you ingest those,
you can get really sick.

(WOLF HOWLING)

And I'm a little concerned
about it

because I've had
wolves defecating all over
the lake this winter.

There were 20 wolves
right here

and before this snow
started melting,

you could walk around here
and see wolf droppings
all over on top of the snow.

So I really don't
have much appetite
to drink that water.

I was planning
on using this water hole
a little bit longer.

I didn't know it was
going to fill up like this
so fast with overflow,

but that's just
the way it goes.

Out here, the environment
changes really quickly,
especially in the spring time.

Things change and
you have to adjust.

Whatever happens,
you can cope with it

if you are flexible
and you adjust
to the situation.

But you always
have to be on your toes
and make adjustments

and take advantage
of what's going on.

You can actually
use a lot of these changes
to your advantage.

Right now, for example,
I can't get water out of there
like I used to,

but because it's spring time,
there will be other things
I can do.

Like, pretty soon there will
be ducks coming in
to land in this water

and I can hunt those ducks.

You just to have
to go with the flow

and you have
to let nature decide

about how you want
to do things out here.

I mean,
nature does decide for you.

You just can't be rigid
about things.

So I gotta go look for water
someplace else.

ANDY: I've never been afraid
to just dive into something.

I've often said,
"The best way to learn
is to make a mistake."

And I've learned a lot.

NARRATOR:
Andy is attempting
to transport

a two-tonne sawmill
to his remote homestead.

He's using a sky lift
to load the machine onto
an improvised pontoon.

ANDY: This has been
about an eight-month project
in the works

as far as
tracking the mill down,
purchasing it,

getting it to Eagle
and now getting it down
to Calico.

I've got some slings
made up right here

and what I hope to do
is pick it up
with the sky lift here.

I'm going to take it down

and try and set it right
on the boats that I have
set up as a catamaran.

KATE: Getting the sawmill down
to Calico is pretty much
a delicate operation here

and it's fairly
time-sensitive.

You're getting grounded
over here!

A lot of stress
to do something...
This is a big event.

And, uh, gonna hear
a few swear words,
I can well imagine.

(KATE LAUGHING)

You're going to have
to back up.

ANDY:
Hey, don't go underneath it!
Get the hell away from it.

Don't ever walk
underneath that, Kate!
That's just not smart.

That's a big piece
of machinery to be swinging
towards your head.

NARRATOR: Two tonnes
of heavy steel must perfectly
balance on the boats.

If disaster strikes,

Andy's vision of using
the sawmill to enhance
his home will be lost.

I set this thing down on here,
I'm not liking the way
it's looking.

It's cock-eyed,
I gotta pick it up,
square it up a little bit.

That boat looks
like it's pretty low
in the water here.

KATE: He gets tunnel vision
when he needs to get
something done.

He's got it in his head
to go one way and sometimes
it's just a bit much.

This way.

A lot of stress
to do something,
this is a big event...

And, you know,
worried about it going right.

I can't do this.

You never fuckin'
listen to me.

Just be nicer
when things go smoother.

ANDY: Yeah, that looks good.

It's good
as it's going to get
right now, I think.

I need to make sure
it's tied down

and the balance is right
on the boats

so that everything is
floating equally.

If something shifts
and I'm not tied down
and balanced right,

this sawmill could
come off the beams

out in the middle
of the river,

either capsizing the boats
or crushing the boats.

I'm all done.
I've got the sawmill
the way I wanted.

It's bound down
onto the boats.

Real slow.

It's time to start
heading down to Calico Bluff

and that's where
the real work is
going to begin.

Good.

CHIP: We get what we get.
You never know with fish.

It's like any other hunting.

We're not watching
the wheat grow, buddy.

We're chasing it down
and killing it.

And they don't
always cooperate.

CHIP: Come on, kiddos,
let's go. The fish ain't
gonna wait for us.

NARRATOR: The Hailstones
spend summer as nomads

across hundreds
of miles of river.

Each day has to bring in
enough food to feed
the family.

CHIP: Fish are in the water,
fish are in your net and
then they are in your hands.

And between the water
and us having them
in our hands,

there's a lot of variables.

So we'll see what we get.
It's never predictable.

We're going to put
the net on that side
of the slough

but we're going to stake it
on this side of the slough
'cause it's so narrow.

So we're going to have
a rope that goes out and
the net will be over there.

So the fish will come out,
nailed!

AGNES: As far
as I could remember
when I was a little kid

we've always been here.

My mother's been here,
my sister's been here.

The pike are like this huge.
They come up and eat the mice.

We used to watch
the mice come down
to the water

and then a real big pike
would just come and grab it
and take it.

-Tired.
-Stay still. Get off!

CHIP:
Just let me push you hard.
How does that sound?

Oh, no, they are doing it
on girl power alone.

(GIGGLING)

Super girls.

I couldn't jump off.

AGNES: This is how
we used to put it when I was
a little girl like you girls.

I've always fished right here
in the same exact spot.

I used to spend days out here.

Then we'll come back
and go check it tomorrow.

And then
we'll spend the whole
day down here

and we'll cut our fish
and make our fish racks.

And all that stuff.

Hold on, Carol.

(CONTINUES SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY)

Wasn't that the easiest net
setting we've ever done?

CHIP: So now
my little tired children,
we'll take you back to camp

'cause you're so sleepy now.

CHIP: You got her?
MAN: Yeah.

Good morning, Qutan.

(KIDS CHATTERING)

Everybody is tired.
Everybody had a long day
of getting ready.

All the girls are real bossy.

What can I say?

You gotta take the kids,
take them home and
put them to bed.

We're looking forward
to tomorrow. Maybe
the net will be full of fish.

We're hoping for it, anyway.

SUE: Happiness is a very
brief burst of emotion.

But to be content
is to be comfortable
in a style of life.

NARRATOR: Kavik River
has suddenly flooded
Sue's runway.

If she doesn't stem the tide,

the runway could be
washed out, putting her
entire business at risk.

I'm gonna go see
where my river is.

I can hear that
it's flowing more strongly.

Holy shit!
It's too much, too fast.

It came up two feet
in an hour.

We can't control it going
this way unless we ditch it.

What he's doing now
is creating a channel

for that water to go out
across the tundra instead
of over my runway.

Yeah, I got stuff
melting out everywhere.

Yeah,
it's definitely flooding.

Oh, crap!

Damn it!
Yeah, this is what
I need to avoid.

This is all the snow melting
and running over the ramp.

This T-section,
there's my runway.

Let's check and see
how deep it is.

But I got that plane coming in
'cause I got another
3,000 pounds of goods

that I gotta get in
over all this mess.

It's a force of nature.

And the flooding
is only going to get worse

'cause you know,
its 24-hour daylight,
there is no sunset.

This is my runway
and trying to prevent it
from getting this deep.

Yeah, I gotta get this done.

It's coming up so fast

that we're actually
having to take gravel
from the runway itself

to try and cause a dam.

Where I would
normally ditch that ramp,
I can't do it...

There's too much ice.
I can't bust through it.

So, now it's damage control.

Try to build a dike
high enough to force
it over that way.

On the upswing,
I might try fishing later on.

I mean, I am so grateful that
I have a minion this year,
that Rick is here.

But if he tips that thing over
I'm going to beat him up.

You better not get stuck,
motherfucker.

I would hate to have
to beat him
first month on the job.

Occasionally, shit happens.

You are shitting me.

-How you doing on fuel?
-Good.

You're pushing it
a little too hard.

It has never stalled like that
and then started.

-Turn it off.
Let it sit for a minute.
-Yeah.

(ENGINE ROARING)

Liquid is not a normal state
for a runway.

It's not a desired state.

But it's too much, too fast.

It came up two feet
in an hour.

Planes can no longer
land in this section.

So until this is dealt with,
until that water goes down,

I'm out of business
on selling fuel.

The bummer is
I'm also out of business
on receiving fuel.

NARRATOR: No runway.
No supplies. No fuel.

The melt is putting
a massive dent
in Sue's business plan.

Nature is king out here, man.
You want to live out here,
just deal with shit.

You can't get
all bummed out about it.
It's kind of cool.

You know, the power of nature.

GLENN: I'd rather die
up on one of these mountains
if I had to.

But I'm not planning to.

This is the best way of life
for me to live

and I'm going to do it
as long as I can.

NARRATOR:
A contaminated water hole
in the lake

has Glenn on a search
for clean drinking water.

GLENN: The lake water has just
become pretty contaminated
by the overflow on the ice.

I'm getting water
from little streams
anywhere I can find it.

This water here looks
a little bit better to me
than what's over on the lake.

I'll still boil it this time
of year just because there
is so much run off and...

Sure doesn't look as nice
as the water does
in the wintertime.

It's got a brownish colour
now but it's just from
the vegetation, mostly.

It's kind of like tea.

In the spring time,
I have to get water
different places like this.

Okay, that's enough.
I don't want too much 'cause
it takes so long to boil.

That's it.
I gotta boil some more water.

ANDY: One thing
I've learned living out here,
you never fight Mother Nature.

You learn to work with her.

If you work against her
you get your butt kicked
every time.

NARRATOR: Andy Bassich
is on a 14-mile journey
with a two-tonne sawmill

on a makeshift pontoon.

I'm trying to stay
fairly close to the shore.

The wind can make this river
really choppy, really rough,
really quick

if it's blowing up
against the current.

Just keeping an eye
on the course
I want to run here.

NARRATOR:
If he doesn't
navigate skilfully,

the whole machine
could end up at the bottom
of the Yukon River.

ANDY: This is a big river
and it moves fast.
It's got a lot of power.

You don't have to be
afraid of it but you gotta
respect this river.

And if you lose respect
for it, it will bite you
in the ass real quick.

Kate! Put it into neutral
and turn it off.

Our house is just so wet
and mucky right now
and there's no bottom to it.

So there's no support
for any kind
of heavy machinery.

The biggest challenge
for me today

is going to be trying
to get that sawmill up
onto the shoreline.

-(LAUGHS) Fucking mud.
-I know.

Jesus Christ.
Pain in the ass.
Fucking river!

I gotta go get some beams.

I gotta lay them across
to make a wider deck

so that I don't have to worry
about her falling off.

Then I have to
unchain everything

and make sure the boats
aren't moving around at all
when I try and pull it off.

The most important thing
right now is these ramps,

once it starts coming
off the boat, don't break.

They still tied on somewhere?

-I think it's just pulling
the boats.
-No shit!

ANDY: If they break,
then everything is going
to fall down onto the boats

and it's going to
be a real mess.

(KATE YELLS)

You gotta talk to me
and tell me
what the hell is going on!

I can't see anything
from here!

There's nothing going on!

Would you look right here?
Is that in the fucking mud?

Tell me what the fuck
is going on!

Yeah, that's in the mud.

Jesus fucking Christ, man!

I don't know what...
You're tipped
too far this way.

You gotta fucking talk
to me about what
the fuck is going on,

'cause I can't see
a fucking thing
from on that tractor.

Please, okay?

(KATE SPEAKING)

It's not fucking
rocket science here.

I'm not an easy guy
to live with.

I'm a Type-A personality

and I'm a do-er kind of guy
and I expect her
to put up, too.

KATE: We're a normal couple.
We're not living some
kind of fairy tale here.

We do have
our issues at time to time.

But it doesn't make us
love each other any less.

Fucking bullshit,
goddamn fucking design.

Well, fuck me
in the goddamn ass.

Jesus fucking Christ!

NARRATOR: The handle strikes
Andy's foot with the force
of a sledgehammer.

(GROANING)

Fuck, that hurt, man.

I'm working by myself,
I have nobody to help me

so if suddenly
things go wrong,
I'm on my own.

And I'm going
to have to deal with it
on my own.

That makes a relatively
easy job become
very, very tough.

Can you stand on this
right here?

I'm going to go real slow.

As this comes back,
you just walk down
the board here

until that weight
is on this board.

I'm gonna go real slow.

Just, if anything, be ready
to step off of it. Okay?

(GUNNING ENGINE)

-Stop!
-Okay, get off of it!

You've gotta be proactive
out here.

And if you're not proactive,
you're either
going to get hurt

or something is going
to be so difficult for you,

you're not going to want
to stay out here.

The sawmill is obviously
here in Calico. (LAUGHS)

And it went...
For the most part,
it went really good.

I'm real happy that it's here.

I'll get it tuned up
and we'll start
making sawdust.

I've been building
for 25 years.

I mean, whether
it's been here
or someplace else.

Every single year
I'm building another
cabin and...

You know,
that's the part I love.

The sawmill
is ready to rock and roll.

It makes me
feel really good when I can

knock down a tree,
drag it here,
turn it into lumber

and turn into something
that Kate and I
can better our lives with.

Our goal here is to live
a high quality of life here.

A comfortable life here.

And the sawmill is going
to make that possible

for us to able to create
a lot of really wonderful
things for us in the future.

Kitchen cabinets,
building our decks and
porches around our cabin,

building a greenhouse...

Well, that's pretty cool!

ANDY: It's gonna be
a real plus in our life
for a long time to come.

CHIP: Well, we can use
resources around us
to enrich our lives

and to give ourselves
a steady income

and to make our bodies healthy

and to give us
a sense of culture and
responsibility and hard work.

That's where it's at.

I just like to make sure
my jerry jug is topped off
every morning.

In case we decide
to turn someplace else

and take a little
extra boat ride.

NARRATOR: This morning,
the Hailstones will learn

if the first leg
of their annual fishing trip

begins with a bang
or a whimper.

CHIP: Everybody ready?
KID: Yup.

-You guys are happy? Well fed?
-KID: Yup. Yup!

Let's go!

AGNES: We are heading down
to check our net.
CHIP: Yep!

Us girls will go
carry on doing
what we do best.

Fishing.

CHIP: The fish
is food security for us.

Something we can
get in trade,
something we can sell.

NARRATOR:
A full net today
will set the tone

for the family's
long summer of hunting.

An empty net could mean
many lean days ahead.

KID: Oh, there's a fish!
CHIP: There's lots of fish.

Look at all these pike we got.

GIRL: Can I go get a fish?
CHIP: Well, ladies,
it's your show.

That's a lot of fish.

CHIP: Looks like a whole lot
of pike, or "ceelic"
as my wife calls them.

AGNES:
The pike bite, so be careful.
GIRL: Yup, they got teeth.

They're pretty tasty.
There's a certain way
that they'll cut them.

They'll dry them up.
They'll be good.

KID: Wow.

Ceelic. Pike!

-Watch out for the...
-KID: Oh, man, that's nasty.

(SCREAMS) Look.
The fish got a fish in it.
Check it out.

CHIP: He was
eating the baby pike?
AGNES: Yup.

A fish with a fish
in its mouth.
That's cool.

I got it!
Dad, look! I got it out.

Oh, it's a baby one.

CHIP:
Pike are pretty easy to find.
They stay in the same place

and if we want pike,
we'll just go jig for pike.

They are one of the real easy
fish to catch.

AGNES: Once we have all these
hung and dried, they all
just last until the winter.

The little bugs won't be able
to lay any eggs or stuff
into the meat.

So what we are going to do
is just go on ahead
and take all the scales off.

And when they're
taking the scales off
that's called covecsya.

Then we will just
cut them all up,

wash them and put them
on the drying rack.

One day you'll be able
to teach your own daughters
how to fish.

-At this spot.
-At this same exact spot.

You'll be like me.
"When I was your age..."

(LAUGHING)

We'll leave them here
and let them dry here

and then go home
and go have
a birthday party, Carol.

(GROANING) It's so heavy.

(WHOOPS)

AGNES: Some birthday cake
for the birthday girl.

CHIP: More blue!
Tied-dyed, huh?

It's Carol's birthday.
She's 11 years old today.

We can't turn off the lights
'cause we don't have any
'cause the sun is shining.

-I want to put it on!
-I will, sweet pie.

-All you get to do
is get sung...
-Put it in the middle!

CHIP: Okay.

(ALL CHEERING)

Shall we hand you your things
one at a time

or do you want
to close your eyes
and reach into the box?

Go ahead.
Being the little girl you are,

you get your own
white fish net.

We gave you a net like this
that's not made yet

so you could finish making it.

You could add the floats
and then you could
do the leadline

and then
you could put the ties in.

-(CAROL SPEAKS)
-(AGNES ANSWERS)

CAROL: These are traps?
CHIP: Trap beavers and ducks.

Now I get to set my own traps.

-Now we can go see the beaver
dam you were talking about.
-CHIP: Yup.

I prefer to give my kids
tools and stuff instead
of giving them games.

I prefer to give them
things that they can use.

-And a mosquito net.
-Mosquito net.

-Whoa! It's going to shock me!
-CHIP: No, it's not.

The girl is famous
for taking away lighters
I give to her.

"Oh, here, have a lighter."
"Hey! You can't
have lighters."

So, (LAUGHS) she's now got
her own personal lighter.

It's important to be able
to make a fire.

(LAUGHING)

She's well-versed
in all this stuff.
She knows what it's all for.

She's an extremely
intelligent kid.

(CHIP SPEAKS)

And this is the first time
this girl has ever
had a birthday

and didn't receive a firearm.

She has many pistols,
she has shotguns,

she has .22's,
she has a mose and a gat,

she has an AK-47.

Carol is not going to be
the kind that just sits
back and takes stuff.

She's gonna be out
chasing it down
and killing it personally.

And I kind of see that
coming up in her
and I want to nurture it.

Oh, now I get to get my piece.

She got in my face!

AGNES: It's her piece.
It's her birthday!

SUE: You know,
you can't whine about
what Mother Nature does.

I mean, you can,
it just doesn't
get you anywhere.

Mother Nature wins.

NARRATOR: Sue Aikens
has lost her battle
with the spring run-off.

She's had to shut down
her runway and cancel
all incoming flights.

SUE: Even on a short trip
to go check out the runway,

doesn't matter
if you want to go take a poop,
take a weapon.

No sense pinching one off
if you can't also
fire one off.

So I had a look
at the Kavik rapids.

This part,
that can get full of water.

It's really full of water now.

Might as well have a canoe
and a couple of paddles
'cause you're upstream.

I mean, I'm done.

Without a runaway
that people can land on
I can't get guests,

I can't sell fuel.

That's how I generate income
so I'm even allowed
to be here.

I can't fix this
with machinery.

I can't fix it
with high hopes.

The only thing
that's gonna fix this
is letting it go.

Letting nature do
whatever it's going to do.

When it's done,
get the little Sue-cat and a
Bob-cat and go to work on it.

This is where
we blocked it off.

We thought we were so slick.

I was still
bringing the groceries.
Bob landed.

Done now.

What I do is
I take the cautionary cones
and I'm going to block it off,

so that the pilots
even from the air go,
"Why the hell... Oh, shit."

You know, it's kind of an
"Oh, shit" eyesight factor on,

"Don't land in the middle
of the runway, fool."

It's a destructive force
but it's also one hell of
a renewal of life out here.

As a business owner now,
it keeps my revenue
from coming in.

But all those animals
and everything else,

they're going
to thrive off of this.

King of my own castle
and my castle says,
"Stop here."