All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S02E09.Breaking.Point.720p.NF.WEB-DL

NARRATOR: On this episode of
Life Below Zero,

it's make it or break it
in the Arctic.

This place will kill you
deader than dead.

NARRATOR: A final trial
could end a rookie's life
in the bush.

CODY:
I'm kind of afraid right now
that I might find out

that this is something
I don't wanna do.

NARRATOR: A Hailstone
family lesson backfires.

CHIP: Are you all right?

NARRATOR:
And Sue cuts a road home
across the icy tundra.

This is not good. Shit!

SUE: Yay.

I am so excited for today.

Obviously if you look around
this is not Kavik.

Um, I am in Deadhorse

and it's a little industrial
town, my closest town.

It's about 80 miles or so
away from me to the west.

I'm here because I've got
some new equipment.

I ordered up and had
specifically made an Argo.

It's an eight-wheeled

all-terrain vehicle
with tracks

so that I can have
a mode of transportation.

Living here,
I have a lot of
freedom of soul,

and now I want
freedom of body.

It's time to rock and roll.

The Argo really
is a unique rig

specifically designed for
these kinds of conditions.

It's an all-year-round
vehicle.

I'm gonna put it through
one of the hardest tests
it's ever gonna have.

The only way to get this
vehicle, it's too big
to fit in an aeroplane,

so the only way I can get it
is to drive it over land.

And this is the virgin run
for this piece of equipment,

so I am a little nervous
about that.

NARRATOR: To reach Kavik,
Sue will tread across nearly
80 miles of the tundra's snow,

rock, and river ice.

Losing her way in the
vast Arctic wilderness
could mean disaster.

If you go up this way then
you'll only have

three major river crossings.

Although you do cross
the Sag twice.

You got to cross
the Sag twice.

Bob is a bush pilot
friend of mine,

and he's not only watching
my dog, Ermie,

while I'm gone, but he's gonna
help me out

kinda mapping
the journey to Kavik.

Sprinkled throughout
this whole area

there's quite a few bear dens.

Yeah, that's another concern.

Especially as I make this turn

I know there's one out here.

From Deadhorse to Kavik
in winter

it's roughly 80, 85 miles
over land

and I'll be in the rig
for about two days.

There's a lot of things,
a lot of things could
go wrong.

Am I afraid of the journey?

No, but I am concerned.

ANDY: The quickest way to
learn what your needs are
is to go out,

spend a winter
out in the bush

in Alaska by yourself,

and you will learn really
quick what your needs are

or are not in your life.

I'm gonna forget something.
I know it. (EXHALES)

NARRATOR:
Cody has come to Alaska

to learn the ways
of survival in the bush.

Today, Andy will give him
his final test.

Sleep well?

Always,
I got a clear conscience.

How about you?

-It's kind of hard
not to out here.
-(CHUCKLES)

You've been here
quite a while,

you picked up a lot of skills.

You're doing a great job.

What I want you to do now

is I want you
to put together an outfit

and go spend some time out
in the bush alone.

Okay?

Cody came out to us earlier
this winter and his goal is to

learn some basic bush skills.

He's got a lot of drive.

He's showing
a lot of potential.

But a big part of living out
in this wilderness environment

is you
got to be comfortable
with yourself

'cause there's a lot
of periods of time when you're
going to be alone.

If you can't be comfortable
with yourself out here,

you're probably
not gonna stay for too long.

So what we're gonna do
is he's gonna go out into
the woods and set up a camp

and basically do it all
on his own.

Make sure
that you think about
what is it you need?

If you don't spend time alone,

you really don't understand
yourself very well

and you really don't
know what your needs are.

So this is gonna be your
opportunity to get out
into the woods,

spend some time alone,
and just see
if you like it or not.

-Survival slash meditation?
-Yeah.

We're gonna find out
real quick

how he handles
fear of the unknown.

Alrighty. (SIGHS)

ANDY: It'll be
a good experience.
It'll be fun.

CODY: Oh, yeah,
I'm looking forward to it.

(LAUGHS)

(DOGS BARKING)

ANDY: All right, come on.
Let's go.

Attaboys.

Go, go!
Little haw, little haw!

CODY: I came out here to live
what I consider my dream.

I don't ever want to go back
to a 9 to 5 job.

I don't ever wanna have to
deal with a boss

breathing down your neck.

But I actually am
kind of afraid right now that
I'm gonna go out there

and go through this
whole experience
and not be able to make it.

I try not to think about
stuff that's gonna scare me.

I try not to let fear
get a hold of me at all.

But there's this notion
in the back of my head that

I don't want to find out
that this is something

I don't want to do.

ANDY: Little haw.

Attaboy.

Good job.

Good boys!

Yay, good dogs.

We're gonna set your camp up
right here on this little
peninsula here, okay?

Things are gonna come up
that we haven't done.

Just take a minute or two,
think about it, try it.

Okay?

-So you good?
-I feel pretty comfortable.

Okay.

Tighten up. Hup-hup.

Good boy.

CODY: And there was one.

GLENN: Most of what
goes through

people's consciousness today

is a representation
of something else.

Out here, it's direct.

You're experiencing reality.

Here in the Arctic
fire is essential.

If I don't have a fire
I couldn't live long out here.

And my preferred way
to make it

is with a friction
fire set like this.

The nearest place I can get
matches is 200 miles away
from here.

I don't wanna rely on matches
because fire's so essential.

I want to be able to light
a fire with what I can get
right here in this valley.

Here is the set
that I build a fire with.

The thing is some components
of the set wear out.

This spindle, for example,

I make it about this long
to start

and each time I build a fire,
a little bit more wears off
the end.

It gets shorter and shorter.

I need to get a new spindle.

I need to get a new fireboard.

New string.

Plus I need to get material
to build a nest

that is where I cradle
the ember after
I get the ember.

And then I'm gonna
blow it into a flame.

First thing I need to do
is make the string.

This is the hide of a caribou
that I shot here
and that I ate.

And now
I'm gonna use its hide
to make a string.

I'm just gonna make
a straight cut.

Now obviously I got to get
all this hair off.

This is an example of
the type of jobs

that require patience.

Not just pulling this hair out
but to build this whole set.

You know, everything doesn't
come fast and easy out here.

You just take your time.

Be patient.

Stuff will happen.

Awesome.

I got it.

Got it de-haired, twisted.

I think it'll work.

CHIP: A lot of kids think
their parents just go out
at 8:00 in the morning

and come back at 5:00.

Not so with our kids.

They know exactly
what we're doing when we walk
out the door.

AGNES: Wow, it's going to be
an awesome day.

The sun is already shining.

I'm gonna get ready
and go out, Carol.

I just need that gutting hook.

CHIP: Carol has an extremely
intelligent personality.

She picks up on anything.

She's very creative.

And fortunately for her,
you know,

with the way that people

teach people around here
is for them to observe

and then to put hands on.

Well, she had to come to
a certain amount of strength
and a certain height.

And, you know, just a certain
physical being

before she can drive
a snow machine,

before she can compress
the spring on a trap.

And now that she's old enough
and large enough to do that,
I got her traps.

And I want to go set,
show her how to use them.

And if Carol ever has a hard
economic time,

you know, if things aren't
going so good,

she can always set a trap,

get a fox,
sew a fox into a hat,
and get 250 bucks.

Or get a hat out of the deal.

And it's gonna show her
how to provide for herself.

And we want her to thrive.

Not just live.
Not just get by.

We want her to really
enjoy living.

-Carol, come.
-Coming, Momma.

CHIP: I have traps.

These babies are going to
camp with us.

I'm gonna go put in

a whole new trap line
if there's something worth
getting down that way.

-You're good to go, Agnes?
-AGNES: Ready and willing.

NARRATOR: The Hailstones
will travel 26 miles

from their home
to Camp Kookoochaiq,

the same place Carol's family
has been trapping fur as
a way of life for generations.

CHIP: We live in the Arctic,
which is a rather
harsh environment,

and fur isn't just a luxury
here, a lot of times
it's a necessity.

Because fur has qualities
that artificial
materials don't.

But this place will kill you
deader than dead

and if you don't get them
down to basics

it's pretty tough to learn
later in life.

AGNES: Oh, boy.

We're here.

The cabin still stands.

Home sweet home.

CHIP: This is Kookoochaiq.

My wife, and her dad,
and her oldest brother Alvere

built this place about
maybe 22, 23, 24 years ago.

Well, for the next few days

we're gonna be basing
ourselves out of here

and seeing what kind of fur
animals we can come up with.

We need some fur for sewing
and to teach the children.

And we need some fur,
the same stuff will make us
some money.

And I wanna teach her
and give her experience.

Ready?

This is excellent weather
to be setting traps in.

It's clear skies.

We don't have snow falling
down on us.

It's cold enough that
the animals are out,
and they're looking for food,

but we're able to operate
right here

out of the cabin and save gas

and stay in the trapping area

without having to travel back
and forth to Noorvik so much.

I'm gonna make a really
obvious trap.

We put it out here
in the middle of the river and
let the animals come to it.

'Cause we have our fish camp
right here

and the smell of salmon
and people isn't so spooky
to the animals.

I think they'll have
no problem trying
to wrestle off

a piece of the fish
that I've got.

And they'll walk up to it,
and they'll sniff it,
and see it,

and wonder
what it's all about.

And that will be that.

Put the safety on there.

CAROL: It is.
CHIP: It won't get you.

CAROL:
Okay, a little bit more.

CHIP: You got to do
a better job than that.
Is it up?

-Okay there, it's on.
-Thank you, dear.

(GRUNTS)

It can't go any more.

Okay.

AGNES: Hopefully by the time
we wake up

there will be something here.

CHIP: This will work out good.
We just need a fox
to come along.

Let's go put one more
over here next to the bushes.

Okay, bun. Come over here.
I'm gonna need your hands.

Can I step right here?

CHIP: Yeah, you can step
anywhere you want.

'Cause you got to put the
safety on for me.

I can't do this.

I'm gonna try
one more time.

Fuck. These things are
eating my hands up.

It gets pretty tough having
the strength to compress
this fucker,

and hold it while someone's
trying to put the safety on.

God damn it.
Are you all right?

Fuck. I'm sorry, bun.

-Are you okay?
-Yeah.

You gonna be okay?

Last thing I want to do
is hurt you.

I understand. I felt it go
right out of my hand.

Look.

See my hand right there?
Same thing.

You wanna just
call this good?

Let's call it good
with that, okay?

Trapping is inherently
dangerous, you know?

I mean, you don't
want to get trapped.

But more than that

it's something that we
want to teach her

and we want her to enjoy it.

Because if you're not enjoying
what you're being taught

you generally
don't stick with it.

I want her to stick with it,

so no matter what I'm not
gonna make an issue
out of anything

that we do when it comes
to trapping with her.

I wasn't trying to whack you,
but look at me.

When it's that dangerous
and we're not in control,
we don't set the trap.

That make sense to you?

Bun, what I want you to learn
is that sometimes you can just
say you don't have to do this.

Okay?

That big trap,
we don't have to do that.

It's okay when things
don't work out.

I want my daughter to know
when it's time to walk away.

Part of living out here
is knowing when to quit
or when to stay home.

Or knowing when to stay
on shore or when to stay
off the ice.

There's a lot of things you do
that you learn that
you don't do. (CHUCKLES)

It's all good.

We'll set those
traps tomorrow.

ANDY: Being self-reliant
gives you a sense of security
that you can't buy.

Very few people ever really
experience that,

and I kind of feel sorry
for people

if they don't experience that.

CODY:
Andy gave me a little bit of
a surprise this morning

and told me I'd be going
on a little survival trip.

With all the information
Andy's given me, he's using
it as a final test here.

Put me out in the middle of
nowhere and see how I do.

It's a little bit freaky.
A little bit scary.

But anybody who's not
a little bit scared is a fool.

There goes our sunlight.

I got a lot of shit to do.

Main thing right now
is to get this sucker up
in a tent,

get myself some shelter
before it gets dark.

And there goes that.

There's some things I heard
about Andy before
I came out here

and after getting to know him
and learning from him,

when he yells
there's no mistaking
what he said.

There ain't no asking
"Huh?" or "What?" with him.

He gets the message across
straight and clear.

And when it comes to him
teaching

he really doesn't leave
too many questions.

Like there's
a lot of things I do

where, you know,
I'm questioning myself,
questioning what I need to do.

How to do this,
how to do that.

But he's been out here
so long and

he's so passionate about
what he does,

he wants it to come across

to whoever he's
teaching it to.

And anytime he's taught me
a lesson

it stuck pretty damn well,
I'll say that.

And it's done.

SUE: You must live in the here
and now to do what I'm doing.

If you got one foot in
yesterday and one foot
in tomorrow

the only place
you don't have a foot

and a grasp on is today.

(ENGINE STARTING)

Last little check.

Everything's on.
Everything's good.

NARRATOR: Sue's voyage home
will take her across nearly
80 miles of brutal tundra.

She hopes to reach
Kavik in 48 hours.

All right.

Here we go.

My version of going to town,
that was all fun,
that was really cool,

you know,
I got to have a hot shower.

But I don't get bushy
in the wild,
but I do get town flu.

I need to...
I need to get home.

Yeah. So this is it.

Bye-bye, Deadhorse.
Hello, Kavik.

There's about 70 to 100 miles
of wilderness between me
and there.

The map is head towards
that sundog out there.

About 70 miles later
I should be in Kavik.

You know, this journey,

it's kind of like if anybody's
ever been curious

about what would it be like
to be on the moon.

This would probably be
pretty freaking close.

Everything's white.
Everything.

Your sky is white,
your snow is white,
your hills are white.

It's all variations on white.

Your depth perception
is difficult,

because I just physically
can't tell where
the hills are,

it's all the same colour.

You know, we're...
I'm just starting to go

from my ambient light
back to darkness.

It's about 3:00
in the afternoon.

It is very difficult to tell
where's your horizon at?

Where's the sky?

Where is the land?

So my visibility is starting
to become an issue

and I'm just gonna have
to slow it down a little bit.

Um... I am headed towards
a 1951 helicopter wreck.

It's sort of a halfway
point for my journey.

Got the coordinates,

so I'm trying to make it there

and then I'll just camp out
for the night.

Check the pressure
on the tyres,

get some fuel in,

and make a little tent camp,
make a little dinner,

and get some rest.

Then finish up the journey
tomorrow.

What was that?
What was that?

Uh-oh.
Good God, what was that?

Ruh-roh.
We got a problem, Scooby.

Yeah, I've got squealing.

Fuck.

(SQUEALING)

Something's squealing.
That's for damn sure.

NARRATOR: A troubling noise
forces Sue to stop

and inspect her new vehicle.

With temperatures plummeting
and darkness looming,
time is crucial.

It's cold out here.

My guess with the temperature,
clear skies,
it's dropping like a stone.

I've probably got at least 35,
40 below zero right now
on my skin.

I've got a problem with
the rig and I've still
got 35, 40 miles to go.

I'm a lot of miles
from anything.

The satellite service
doesn't even work.

I can't call for help.

I've got to get out
and fix it.

With the wind chill right now
it's a nasty mother

to try and fix something,
tear it apart.

Moving this belt, I mean,
it looks like it's in
the right groove.

Nothing looks off track.

It is one of these two
that's doing it.

Start it up, see what happens.

There was a bunch of ice
on there.

If I keep going forward
maybe that will help.

With something
going wrong here,
I don't want to risk it.

My life, I've got kids
and grandkids
and I need to be in one piece.

So if I shut it down,

I'm not so positive
if it's gonna start up again.

I'm gonna give it a whirl.

I'm gonna see if it'll...
I'm gonna see if it'll hold.

Come on, little red.

-Stop your whining,
you're a Kavik girl now.
-(SQUEALING CONTINUES)

You know, you're this lone
little light in the middle
of the tundra.

Yeah, it's not like
I can call AAA.

CHIP: If you can't thrive
in the environment
you live in

and you become dependent
on other people,

you're dependent and that's
the wrong way to be.

These are brand new.

When they are brand new
they are tough.

(CLICKS)

-AGNES: Whoo!
Are you all right?
-I did that on purpose.

No, I flipped it on top of it.

Okay.

NARRATOR:
The Hailstones are teaching
their daughter Carol

how to trap fur
in the Arctic.

But despite a close call
last night, the lesson
must continue today.

I'm just trying to show Carol

what it is activities
on a trap line are.

Now she's got her own traps
and she's also large enough

and old enough to participate.

She's got to be careful
when setting traps.

God damn it!
Are you all right?

I wouldn't say
she got bucked off the horse.

You get
bucked off the horse

when your hand's
stuck in the trap.

That's getting knocked off
the horse.

But she found out the horse
can kick.

Let's stop at that first
slough across from those
cabins and set one there.

CAROL: Yup.

There's a fox or something.
No, over there.

CHIP: This is pretty good.

I'm gonna set something here.

Maybe we just get a fox.

Watch how he does that.

-Dad.
-CHIP: I'm gonna
set this trap.

Carol, I'm gonna show you
something really important.

So I want you to really
pay attention.

-You gotta have respect
for the traps.
-CAROL: Mmm-hmm.

-You see how the safeties
are faced down?
-Yep.

So they don't unhook
accidental like.

-Okay?
-Mmm-hmm.

AGNES: Carol's pretty tough.
She's tougher than most
I'd say.

I'm glad she didn't chicken
out or be afraid of the traps

seeing how she hurt herself
last night trying to set them.

She's a good one.

CAROL: This is interesting.

This is a hollow space
underneath here.

I could see that.

And I'm gonna place that trap,
'cause you have a nice crust.

I could hollow this out
real nice

and nothing's gonna interfere
with the trap at all.

Then something comes along
and steps on this.

And here's
the dangerous part again.

You got to pay attention.

The safeties are on now
'cause they're under tension,

but once we spread them
and the tension comes off

they're dangerous
all over again.

I want her to see that death
is occurring.

These animals are being
caught, and trapped, killed,

and then where that
comes from.

And it's a more complete
education for the child.

Not only that,
it ties her in

with her greater
Inupiaq values

and her greater Eskimo family,

because everybody here
is one big, huge family.

Pretty hard to beat
that in school.

GLENN: Time, numbers,
measurement, temperature.

I mean,
who gives a fuck really?

It's how it feels.

It's not the number
that matters.

I got my string all built.

What I need now
is some dry grass

and the right piece of poplar.

And with that I should be able
to build a fire

entirely with materials that
I gather right here,

within a mile of my home.

NARRATOR: Living a primitive
life in the Brooks Range,

Glenn cannot
survive without fire.

GLENN: I need to look around
for some grass that I can
use for tinder for the nest.

And that takes a lot of work
to find in these conditions

'cause everything's
covered in snow.

I'll probably end up walking
a couple of miles.

I don't really know where
I'm gonna find it exactly.

That's what I'm looking for.

Nice, big grass leaves.

I have to be really careful
not to get the grass wet.

It's pretty warm out,
12 degrees above zero.

So if I get any snow

on my hands
or in my pocket,

it starts melting right away
and the grass will get wet.

And that is bad.

Almost all the trees in this
valley are white spruce.

But the type I'm looking for,
a balsam poplar,
is a very different tree.

And I know an area where
there's a little grove of
poplar trees.

Having spent a lot
of my time out here for
the last 10 years,

I'm pretty familiar with
the forest all around
the valley.

So I keep special spots
like this in mind.

Anywhere there's a resource
that I might need
in the future.

I lock that away when I see it
and then I can get back to
what I need when I want it.

Rather than cutting a standing
tree I might be able to find

a good piece of wood

on the ground from a tree
that fell over.

I can see
where some poplar trees
here have died

and fallen over underneath
the snow.

(THUD)

There, that's a piece of wood
right there.

This is the piece I want.

This section in here.

'Cause inside this piece of
wood there's a fireboard
and a spindle.

I just haven't found it yet.

There.

I just split off a piece
that I think will work pretty
good for the board.

You know how I feel out here?

Meditative. (CHUCKLES)

It's just a meditation
working on all these things.

Whether it's taking that hair
out of that caribou, or just
whittling away at this.

It's just a very
meditative activity.

So, I've got my spindle.

I'm gonna try and build a fire
and cook some dinner
right here.

I'm just taking some of the
grass and breaking it up.

Go right in the middle where
the ember's gonna go.

I'm getting hungry.

(EXHALES) I've got an ember.

It's just so beautiful to see
that first ember when I'm
drilling away like that.

It's all dark, and then you
see this little orange glow,

but you don't want to stop
too soon.

You just keep going until you
can't hold your breath
any more

'cause all the smoke's
rolling up.

You have to stop breathing
at some point, and
you just keep on trucking.

There's just something special
about these tools.

They just feel great.

I mean, just to think that
you can just take a tree
that's laying under the snow,

and you can make
a fire out of it.

For a second, I almost thought
it was gonna go out
once I had the ember.

I even had some flame
and then it started to go out.

It's really fragile
in the beginning.

You just have to coax it
into life.

Now, it's going strong.

Here's some moose meat
I brought.

I'm just gonna boil it
right in this pot.

For thousands and thousands
of years, people have been
building fires this way.

They just stopped
doing that recently.

Most of the time people
have been on earth,

this is how they've been
building fires, you know.

I live this way
because I enjoy it.

I could be laying in a hammock
on the beach in Thailand
if I wanted to be,

but, no, I just have
a lot of fun up here.

CHIP: If you don't know
what the ice is like,

if you don't know
when to stay home,

if you don't know, you know,
what's the appropriate time
to go do things,

you're not gonna do well
at all.

A lot of people up here
just disappear.

NARRATOR: After setting
a number of traps
in the wilderness

that surrounds camp,

it's time for the next phase
of Carol Hailstone's

trapping lesson.

Checking for fur.

(CHIP SPEAKING)

CAROL: Yeah.

(CHIP SPEAKING)

Let's go.

CAROL: You could.

CHIP: Nothing in this
trap here.

I hope you're not frustrated
over not catching anything
in this,

but just setting the traps
overnight doesn't usually

produce on the very
first night.

What happens is the animals
go around for like
three days

before they come back to
where they started.

We'll leave this one
right here, and I can
come back and set it again.

CAROL: Those were
the last ones, huh?

CHIP: One more to go.

(ENGINE STARTING)

I want her not only to
be able to make it out living.

I also want her to know
how to make a living.

I want her to see and know
how to process the animal
from beginning to end.

Because it doesn't just appear
like out of the store,

we bought this
and then put it together.

They've got to know
the origins of everything
that they're putting together.

Where they get them,
how to get them.

And it's a more
complete education.

Oh, look, Dad!

(CHIP LAUGHS)

CHIP: Excellent.

AGNES: Right on!

Last trap even.

Wow, is there something in it?

CHIP: Yeah.
Tell me what it is though.

(CAROL SPEAKING)

CHIP: Yup. Sure is.

Looks like he got the
piece of salmon off,
and did himself in.

Well, we were towards the end
of our line here,

and, you know,
we got lucky with a lynx.

What can I say?

But this guy was just
in the wrong place
at the wrong time for himself.

For us, it was the right place
at the right time.

CAROL: Oh, it's a lynx.
CHIP: You see what I mean
by killer trap?

Look at that.
He didn't have a chance.

That broke his neck
right away.

Since this is your first one,
maybe you'll clean
the skin up

and give it away
to somebody
who will sew it.

(CAROL SPEAKING)

CHIP: To Stephanie?
There you go.

Being my daughter's first
catch of a lynx,

traditionally among
themselves,

these Inupiaq learn to be
providers, and the best way
to teach them to be providing

is to teach them
to give it away.

So, one of the best lessons
here is that my daughter's
gonna take the skin

from the trap that
she helped me set,

and she's gonna
give it away.

She'll learn that something
so valuable shall be passed on
to someone else.

-Well, it's getting late.
Let's get this home, huh?
-AGNES: Yeah.

CHIP: We'll go
show your sisters.

We'll thaw it out in the front
room for a day or two,

and you can tell them
all about it.

AGNES: I'm so happy
for you, Carol. Yee!

CHIP: We've been working
on this for years,
and as she's growing up,

we keep showing her
the next step, and the next
step, and the next step.

And right now
she's accomplished catching
an animal in the trap.

We've got a little more
to go to, but I would say this
has been an excellent lesson

with an excellent reward
for that lesson.

-You guys are ready?
-AGNES: Yup. We're ready.

Yee!

ANDY: It's your philosophy
of living.

A lot of it depends on
what your skills are.

If you have a lot of
skill sets,

you can live with less

of the outside world
in your world.

CODY: I'd say today I woke up
in one of those moods where

I really didn't feel
like getting out of bed.

A little bit beat down today.

I guess I just don't feel

the same way I would
back home.

I mean, I want to share
this experience.

I want to share everything
about this, and not having
somebody there to talk to,

not having that right now...

It's hard.

Time to go get some water
for the dogs.

I got a list of
important things out here.

Water, fire, shelter.
Pretty damn important to me.

Without water, I can't make
my own food, soup,

anything I want
to make in there.

Without water, I can't feed
my dogs, can't give them the
proper nutrition they need,

and they ain't gonna do
too good out here
in that case.

There's two good options
for water out here,

and I can either go and take
10 trips scooping out snow
out of the ground

where you're getting
about half a bucket.

Every 22 inches of snow
equals one inch of water.

So you can imagine the work
you gotta put in for that.

Or if I just spend
five minutes cutting hard
with an axe,

get a bunch of chunks of ice,
I can get a full bucket
of water

out of a full bucket of ice
for the most part.

Since we've had this crazy
wind going on, all the snow on
the lake got blown off,

and it made it real nice
and easy for me to come out
here and take a good crack

to take some chunks off of it.

I haven't had one good thing
come of this wind until
this morning,

and coming out and
seeing this lake uncovered.

So, you know, for every down
there's an up.
For every up there's a down.

You just gotta try and make
the best of it, and do what
you can do

to keep on keeping on
out here.

Anybody thirsty?

Main thing I gotta do is
come out and care for
these dogs.

You know, it gets lonely
out in the lake by yourself,
and knowing they're there

kind of perks the spirits up
a little bit when you're
getting down.

Having to feed them,
water them,

it definitely takes a lot of
work but in the long run, it's
well worth it to have them.

SUE: I like challenge.

I like the unknown.

What's gonna come at me?
What's the next challenge
gonna be?

I don't know.

I don't know what I can
or can't do.

Oh, my God.
What a beautiful day.

I ran all night last night
and got a little cold.

I mean, I got my little
sleepy cover, but...

Man, that squealing on the
belt, that wasn't good, but
it's not doing it any more.

So whatever it is,
is beyond me
and behind me.

I've got my bearings. Um...

Home is there.

(ENGINE STARTING)

Well, I'm coming up to one of
my last major river crossings,

and been trying to find a way
around it, and there is none.

I've got open water up ahead.

Lots of it.

And it's just overflow,

meaning the pressure

of the running
water underneath

all the ice is a lot,

you just have water
on top of ice.

But there could be a hole,

and I don't see
a way around it.

I just gotta go through.
I mean, that's all.

I live on the other side.

I don't have a choice.
I gotta do it.

Oh, man. Shit.

Yeah. I mean, I'm seeing...

I mean, I'm seeing channels
of shiny water.

The sun's angled.
I can't tell if there's holes.

Getting stuck would just
wreak havoc on my plan.

So, getting stuck is
not an option.

A little nerve wracking
here, guys.

This is not cool.
Wet is dead out here.

Whoa. Son of a gun!

I just gotta keep going,
and hang onto my panties.

(CHUCKLES) Shit! I got water.

This is not good.

What I'm afraid of
is my tracks spinning
on the ice in the water.

There was a hole there, man.

This is not cool.

Oh, shit!
It's getting deep there.

Shit! Oh, shit.

I sunk through,
there was a hole there, man.

This is not cool.

The edge is in sight.

Oh, I'm almost there.

Shit!

I think I messed my panties.

(SIGHS)

A lot of relief right now.
Um...

It's... It's scary.

You know, I mean,
I'm big, bad Sue,
but you know,

I do want to make it
to my next adventure, so...

I faced my fear.

I was acting like a little
girl about it a while ago
in case I ran into it.

I ran into it, thankfully
in the daytime, not the night.

Upward and onward.
Back to exploring.

Good job, little red.

Coming in for a landing
on my own runway.

Made it home. Yay!

Hey, buddy!

Are you here to see Mom?

(LIPS SMACKING) What is it?

Has I gots a new vehicle?
Come on!

It's me!

Yeah. It's Momma.

What is this?

Is that our new rig?
Come on.

(LIPS SMACKING)

(WHISTLES) Nice to have
a welcoming committee
when you get home.

It's been two days
of travelling.
Five hours today.

Oh. The odometer says
a little over 80 miles,

and lights are on,
foxes are happy, I'm home.

You know, the whole point
of this journey,

two days, doesn't matter
what I went through.

I got here, and for me,
that was the whole point.

So, that's like the one
small step for mankind,

one giant freaking leap
for Suzy.

I mean, that was
a one two-day trip,
but it's the first.

Many more to follow.

Home sweet home.

ANDY:
Big part of living out here
is your mental aptitude.

If you're the kind of person
that thrives on being alone,

being alone
can be a real blessing.

(BARKING)

CODY: You're ready to go home,
aren't you?

Today, I decided it's time to
pack it up and head back.

Right now I feel like I got
a good amount of energy
to get back safely.

I'm pretty happy
with how I did.

I was able to make it through
on my own out here.

Got a lot of time to myself,
and kind of proved
to myself that

if I can do this out here
somewhat comfortably,
I could probably go

a damn good amount of time
on my own out here.

I'm gonna pack it up,
get out of this wind,
and get back to Kate and Andy,

and hopefully,
they'll be proud.

-(BARKING)
-You guys ready?
Let's go home!

Gee! Gee!

Gee! Gee!

Yay, Topaz!

All right! Come here, Tope.
Come here.

I'll help you unharness here,

and then we can chat about
how everything went.

Okay.

Did you have any moments,

like, there has
to be something.

Nobody goes out into the
wilderness for the first time,

and not have
even a bad day.

Well, it was I think
yesterday morning where

I didn't wanna get out of bed.
I didn't really want
to do anything.

Just feeling the utter
vastness of the country,
and having no one around.

I almost packed it up and
called it quits, but started
putting that lonely feeling

towards the back of my head.

Kind of perked up
a little bit, and was able
to keep on going.

You've been learning
a lot of different skills.

Setting up the camp,
building fire,

how to set up a trap line,
how to find water,
make water out here,

how to take care of your dogs.

Those are all the fundamentals
and the basics
for living out here.

I think you did a pretty
darn good job of it.

You should feel proud of
yourself, and I see some

confidence in your walk
and your step, and
that's the key to all this.

You gotta build
that confidence.

The more you do,
the better you get at it.

So, hey, good job, man.

Is that the Calico seal
of approval?

(KATE AND ANDY LAUGH)

I may not be your mom,
but I think she'd want me
to give you this.

Oh.

That meant a whole lot
to me right there.

Andy's kind of a man
of few words,

and for him to basically give
me a handshake and say
"Good job".

I feel alive, and damn proud
to be where I am right now.

ANDY: Cody came into our
world about the same age

that I came into
the wilderness in Alaska here.

I think what he's done for me
is kind of help me remember
a lot of the excitement,

the newness,
some of the fears.

I hope he at least spends
a year or two out doing this.

'Cause I think he'll really
learn a lot personally
from it.

All right, buddy.
There's your plane.

(LAUGHS)

I think that was one of the
greatest adventure/educational
times of my life right there.

Alaska's a very, very
rough place,

but I've gained so much
respect for myself out here

that I didn't know I had,
and gained so much
confidence in myself out here.

I've been touched in many ways
by the dogs,

and the landscape,
and the beauty,

and having to
leave this place

is one of the hardest things
I've ever done.

But I'm leaving with the
mindset that I will be back.

With the amount of information
and knowledge Andy's given me,

I feel it's time for me to go
find my own piece of heaven.