Original subtitles

Contemplate this.

You live by a time bomb.

Perhaps you dig under it.

Somehow fly through its core.

Or even scale its snowy peaks.

Now, ascend from plain...

To peak...

And beyond.

And discover extraordinary life

within the most explosive mountain range in america.

(music)

(playing america the beautiful)

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if you're a pristine mountain range,

like the cascades of the pacific northwest,

a volcanic eruption can really mess things up.

(music)

but out here, the land is used to destruction.

Healing is just a matter of time...

And the right recipe.

First ingredient, a very large cup of water.

(music)

good snowmelt can ensure a year-round supply.

Then, to bake any lava cake, you need a little flower.

Blow in some seeds, and eventually a few flowers

find just enough nutrients to take hold.

It's not much, but it's a start.

What can happen to them next is where things get weird.

(music)

out here, flowers don't get uprooted.

They get down-rooted.

Shrinking violets have nothing on disappearing daisies.

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the mysterious force behind this phenomenon?

These blooms are getting bagged from below

by a plucky little pocket gopher.

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this rodent is strictly vegetarian.

To cope with all the chewing, his chompers grow fast.

If he wasn't grinding them down with gritty eating,

the pocket gopher's teeth would lengthen

about one inch every month.

His favorite salads are made of roots, flowers and bulbs.

All of which he can grab

from the safety of his extensive burrows.

(music)

being a gopher is a dirty job.

He excavates about a ton of soil every year.

His ears and eyes are able to shut tight

while he digs tunnels for foraging and protection.

He makes new emergency exits as he goes.

And then seals the entrances.

It's this underground specialty

that protects many gophers from eruptions.

And they are among the first to venture

into the ashen remains above.

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their diggings aerate the soil.

Like good gardeners preparing a garden bed.

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despite their appetite for destruction,

gophers provide one of the final ingredients

needed for this land to heal.

Their services have been most useful in the cascades,

america's most volatile mountain range.

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the u.S. Cascades stretch from

northern california to canada.

Among its peaks lay

13 major volcanoes.

Of these, seven have erupted

in the past 300 years.

All of the recent eruptions in the lower 48

have been from cascade volcanoes.

Life doesn't always return so easily.

California's lava beds national monument

sits in the southern end of the cascade range,

inactive for nearly a thousand years

and still barren.

But there is a belly to this beast.

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as streams of lava subsided,

their outer layers cooled and solidified.

As the lava that remained liquid continued to drain...

A network of massive, underground tunnels formed.

More than 700 twisting, turning caves in this one area alone.

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they average 55 degrees year-round

with reliable pools of freshwater.

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that makes these lava tubes the perfect pit stop

for thirsty mammals who relish the darkness.

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when night falls, in they come.

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this is a townsend's big-eared bat.

He's left his daytime roost...

...To drop in for a quick drink.

And he has plenty of friends that follow.

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infrared cameras allow us to see this action.

But these bats are flying in complete darkness.

They navigate with echolocation that works like radar.

Their signals are too high-pitched

for a human to hear.

But for the bats, they are so loud that they close their ears

just before chirping,

only opening them again to detect the return signal.

It's so accurate it allows them to home in on a moth in midair.

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tonight some of these bats

will eat their own body weight in insects.

It's thirsty work.

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the lava tubes are a quiet retreat for parched visitors.

They are also reminders of how volatile the cascades can be.

Today, these smoldering giants still hold devastating power

within their jagged peaks.

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look no further

than washington's famous fire-breather.

Mount saint helens is best remembered

for its massive eruption in 1980.

That's when she blew her top clean off;

1,300 feet of height, gone.

The blast reached speeds of more than 600 miles per hour,

leveling 230 square miles of lush forest.

It took out 185 miles of highway,

47 bridges, and killed 57 people.

Mount saint helens' slopes were scarred by molten rock

and gases from deep within the earth.

But she's had help recovering, cultivated by pocket gophers

and pollinated by returning birds and insects.

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now, some four decades after

the mount saint helens eruption,

there's regrowth on an epic scale.

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and where wildflowers bloom, more critters come a-knockin'.

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this is the cascade golden mantled ground squirrel.

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it's not bothered by a lack of trees.

They're happy to live their entire lives on the downlow.

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their fun in the sun only lasts the summer.

The rest of the year,

they'll hunker down in the dens they're furnishing.

For as long as eight months, they won't eat at all.

And only stir for a bathroom break.

The cascade golden-mantled ground squirrel

lives solely in the northern cascades.

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from its lookout on mount saint helens,

it has a clear view up to this simmering giant...

Mount rainier.

About 50 miles to the north.

Think the saint helens eruption was big?

You ain't seen nothing yet.

At 14,410 feet,

washington's mount rainier stands out in the crowd.

It's the highest mountain of the cascades;

the fifth tallest peak in the lower 48.

Ice-cold streams course down her sides.

These cascading waterfalls gave the range its name.

Some of this water comes

straight from the melting glaciers.

It's a chilly place for a swim.

But one skinny little creature takes the plunge.

Fast-moving mountain streams

are an unlikely place for a frog.

Most prefer a nice, still pond.

But the tailed frog can handle the pace.

(music)

there are few amphibians like him;

he's uniquely designed not to get washed away.

His lungs are small to help him sink to the bottom.

Where he clings to rocks with special hard-tipped fingers.

They grip like claws.

He can stay underwater for days.

He gets most of his air from the water,

absorbing its oxygen through his skin.

But the coolest part about this frog

is the tail that gives him his name.

It helps him overcome his biggest hurdle:

Mating.

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first, he has to find a female.

Easy to spot.

They're bigger, and the girls don't have tails.

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when you find a gal like this, you don't want to let her go.

Better to be a bit clingy than to risk her being swept away.

Other female frogs lay their eggs in the water

for males to fertilize.

But in a stream like this,

all those future frogs would be washed away.

That's where the tail comes in.

Surprise!

It's not a tail.

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this is one of the only species of frogs

that fertilizes internally.

It's a silent ritual.

They can't croak or even hear.

But they'll have plenty of time to get to know each other.

They'll stay locked together like this for up to three days.

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the only thing more unique in the frog world

than a tailed frog

is a tailed frog tadpole.

They also have to be careful not to get washed downstream.

Instead of the usual tadpole mouth,

junior here has one big suction cup.

He clings hard to rocks

and inches his way along

looking for algae to eat.

(music)

the best of these little suckers

can travel up waterfalls.

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the weaker ones,

they'll have to hope for better luck farther downstream.

(birds chirping)

other creatures take advantage of these fast-flowing waters.

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every time the rapids dip and bubble,

these icy streams are filled with more oxygen.

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and that suits the pacific giant salamander just fine.

This adolescent isn't giant yet.

But he'll get there.

Thanks in part to that freshwater

rushing through his bushy red gills.

It's like taking a big, deep breath.

With a steady diet of seafood,

he'll grow up to six and a half inches.

Then he must make the most extraordinary decision

of his life.

Deep in the cascade mountains,

a pacific giant salamander preps for his next move.

And it's like something out of a sci-fi screenplay.

It has a 'matrix'-style

red pill/blue pill kind of a choice.

This one takes the blue pill option.

He'll keep his gills

and forever remain in the aquatic larval stage.

Blue pill salamanders keep growing,

go on to dine on fish and crayfish,

even have a family.

But they will forever be tied to life within these waters.

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this guy, he takes the red pill option.

He heads for dry land and undergoes a metamorphosis.

He loses his gills and leaves his underwater life behind.

(music)

he still needs to keep his skin damp,

but after a good rain,

this young pioneer will explore

the farthest reaches of his habitat.

He may grow up to a foot in length

and hunt mice, shrews, even snakes.

But at this early stage of his transformation,

he'll take what he can get.

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here, on the cascades' west side,

the snowmelt that pours into streams and lakes

keeps the rich volcanic soil moist.

This area would also be brimming with prairie grass

and wild flowers, except for one thing...

Rabbits...

By the thousands.

European rabbits were brought here in the 1800s

and have turned the land underfoot into swiss cheese.

(music)

in this one area alone,

they've dug more than 300 feet of tunnels

with more than 50 separate entrances.

They'd be even more out of control

if it weren't for their native nemesis...

The fox.

(barking)

these are called red foxes,

but they can be any color from orange to black.

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what unifies them is a white tip on the end of their tails,

and their taste for rabbit.

The foxes take some tunnels for their own,

and look out for easy meals.

The living is good here under the high cascades,

and that means kits.

(music)

(mewing)

it's early spring, and this one is less than two months old.

He still needs mom for milk and fun.

It's a game every mother knows.

It's called nag.

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you win when mom starts paying attention.

(whining)

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of course there's no winning for mom.

She has more than one kit to keep happy.

Including a one-eyed runt.

She'll baby him for now, but just like the others,

he still has to learn to get by.

And that starts with play-fighting;

not just with mom, but with each other.

(music)

(squealing)

the skills they learn here

will soon help them make their first kill.

All the rabbits can do is look on.

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while the kits practice,

mom ventures out for the real thing.

Bunnies beware.

Death in the cascades is just a burrow away.

This red fox mom has got a knack for hunting

beneath washington's cascade mountains.

Specialized ears allow her to home in

on the low-frequency sounds of underground scurrying.

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with a little concentration,

she can pinpoint just the right spot.

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she has just a couple of weeks left

until her kits will accompany her on the hunts.

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until then, she brings home

as many as rabbits as she can catch.

The kits grow on the flesh, and play with the rest.

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smelling, pouncing, tracking.

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by the time summer ends,

they'll be hunting for themselves.

Some foxes venture farther up the slopes

of the mighty cascades.

But that's only for

the strongest and hardiest of creatures.

More than a mile above sea level,

freezing slopes mix with subalpine meadows.

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overlooking it all, hoary marmots.

They soak up the sun and contemplate the season.

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they've survived winter by sleeping underground

for eight straight months.

Now they must make up for lost time.

Make hay while the sun shines.

And eat it, too.

High up on mount rainier's western slope,

there's a colony of about a dozen spread over 20 acres.

Young, up to two to three years of age.

And the old.

The largest weighs about 20 pounds,

and 20% of that is pure fat.

And this time of year,

a third of his weight will be the contents of his stomach.

As they work to put on the padding,

they also watch out for each other.

This one senses trouble.

And makes a single whistle.

This says to the group, 'don't panic, but pay attention.'

(music)

then the threat shows itself.

It's the red fox's highland cousin,

the cascade red fox,

found solely in these mountains.

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he catches the scent of the marmots and creeps in.

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he only needs one not to heed the alarm.

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he spots young marmots by the main burrow;

maybe he'll be able to catch one off guard.

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the marmots spread the alarm throughout the whole clan.

(chirping)

more frequent whistles means more danger.

(chirping)

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they disperse into burrows,

some six or more feet deep and with multiple entrances.

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the craftiest of critters has been outfoxed.

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he'll have to look elsewhere for his calories.

And fast.

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there's deep trouble coming,

deeper than anyone can imagine.

The cascade range may have fire within,

but up top, it's one of america's greatest snowmakers.

The volcanic mountains run close and parallel

to the pacific ocean.

And its towering peaks trap

most of the pacific's incoming moisture.

Up high, that water turns to snow, with astonishing results.

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mount shasta holds the united states record

for the most amount of snow from a single storm:

189 inches fell here in a single week in 1959.

That's nearly 16 feet.

In 1999, mount baker recorded the world's highest snowfall

in a single season: An incredible 95 feet.

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volcanoes caked in snow.

Just because you're hot stuff underneath

doesn't mean you can't have a chilly exterior.

And that's just the way one elusive mammal likes it.

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the american pine marten may look a little foxy,

but it's more like a mini wolverine.

And snow makes their day.

In it, they're fast, agile.

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these winter weasels freely hop around their range,

which may be as big as 12 square miles.

This female is her own lookout,

totally comfortable standing on two legs.

Her long, thin body is not the best at holding heat.

So if bounding above the snow gets too much,

she has shelter below.

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tunnels: An out-of-sight labyrinth.

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and a hollowed log to call home.

The marten is impressive on the ground.

But that's the least of it.

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the volcanoes of washington support thick forests.

Most of the life here is above ground.

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the marten has adapted.

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she's a tree-climbing specialist.

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her semi-retractable claws extend for grip.

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the canopy is her hunting ground.

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birds, eggs, insects, and other mammals.

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no squirrel is safe.

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(chirping)

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she has it cornered.

A dead tree, stripped of bark, and slippery,

is barely an obstacle.

Not even a squirrel can hide for long.

All it takes is a little patience.

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you'd think winter would be a good time

to escape the mountains,

head south for some sun.

But the marten has a stealthy companion up here.

There's a phantom in these woods.

For him this is a warmer area.

Washington's cascade mountains are the southern part

of the range for the canadian lynx.

He crosses the border whenever he likes.

No visa required.

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he's completely at home in the deep snow.

His wide, furry paws act like snowshoes.

They quietly distribute his weight

to keep him on top of the deep white powder.

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many believe those ear tufts

amplify the sound of potential prey.

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it's patient work.

His main prey is hard to find.

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snowshoe hares also have oversized feet

for managing snow.

And an all-white winter coat.

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it's the rabbit's perfect camouflage for this season.

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but no season lasts forever.

Spring warms the northwest's cascade mountains.

It brings a burst of green.

(birds chirping)

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but not only the landscape changes color.

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the snowshoe hare is getting a new outfit for the season,

trading in his white coat for brown.

The full transition can take up to 12 weeks.

Until it's complete, he stands out in the shadows.

And for him, that's a problem.

The lynx is still here.

He's not heading back to canada anytime soon.

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(squeal)

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it's a good spring to be a lynx.

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he dines on the eastern slopes, at the top of the cascades.

He steers clear of the eastern foothills below,

and for good reason.

The cascade's lower east side is like another world.

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the range's high peaks block moisture.

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vertical pillars of ancient lava tower above barren plains.

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dry, open, and lifeless.

You gotta love sagebrush to hang out here.

But among these woody shrubs is a wonder of its own.

(warbling)

(warbling)

these early birds aren't looking for worms;

they're looking for love.

Greater sage grouse lie low

and dine on the brush for most of the year.

But come spring, as many as 70 or more males meet up,

to perform one of the most extraordinary mating rituals

in all of north america.

(warbling)

(warbling)

the more experienced males grab prized spots

in the middle of the group.

Then, a wiggle in their walk,

and a jiggle in their giblets,

and it's game on.

They gulp a gallon of air into pouches on their chest.

(music)

breathe in.

(warbling)

breathe out.

(warbling)

breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in; breathe out.

Up to 10 times a minute.

(warbling)

(warbling)

those that can't make the cut quickly get the boot.

(chirping)

(chirping)

after all that, it's still up to the females

to choose their man.

Most will pick the same lucky guy

and will make it clear when they're ready.

(music)

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and that's it.

All that work for a fleeting moment of fancy.

(warbling)

he'll have no further contact with her or their young.

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the future for him, his family, and any creature here,

is only as secure as the cascades themselves.

(music)

a single eruption could inflict unthinkable destruction.

(music)

and in a heartbeat, reboot the entire ecosystem.

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whether on the eastern slopes, or the western...

Up high...

Down low...

Or even underneath...

This mountain range looms as a constant reminder

of our volcanic past

and an uncertain future.