All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S03E12.Aftermath.720p.NF.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_eng

SUE: So my goal for the day,

I want to keep my eye out
for overflow

or pressure ridges in an area
that may, you know,

that I might be able
to harvest some water.

This might be not a bad little
section for getting water.

You know, there's always
some water flowing in a river,

no matter how much
ice is on it.

Warmer temperatures come,
more water flows,

it has to go somewhere.

So it finds the weakest link
and that's where it flows.

Sometimes there's
a big pressure ridge,

you see a bubble up here,
seeping out.

For me, this is
a little too dangerous,

I don't, I don't wanna
cross here.

What I wanna do
is just kind of follow along,

see if there's a safe area
for me to go across,

maybe I'll bust open
a water lead.

It doesn't have to be deep.
It just has to be active.

This, potentially deep
and active,

there's just too much
danger involved.

But if I can take the machine
and skate, skate,

I might bust open
a little hole

and then I'll go back,
get my little black sled,

my totes,
and get some fresh water.

That's a heck of a prize.

(ENGINE REVVING)

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

SUE: I tried to come across
this little section

of the overflow.

I thought that I could
just gun it and get through

and break through the water.

Unfortunately,
this intersection is much more
solid than I thought.

Once the full snow machine
got on the ice

and didn't break through,
then it went into a, you know,
just side spin.

There's no recovery from that,
given the velocity.

When I did hit, I remember
hitting the shoulder hard.

It's not an opportune time

to have made
such a stupid mistake.

Now I need to get home
and get,

just get warm and then take
another look at what's going
on with my body.

Such a stupid mistake.

I acted like a pork chop.

I might be a pork chop.

CHIP: Maybe the fish
will eat me
off the bottom of the river

or the ravens will clear
my bones off on the tundra.

We're part of the system.
We're part of all this.

We just happen
to be lucky enough
to be the top predators.

CHIP: I'm gonna go
check the traps. I'll be back.

AGNES: Love you.
CHIP: Love you, too.

NARRATOR: In Kiwalik,

warming temperatures signal
the end of the Hailstones'
winter harvest.

Before they return to Noorvik,

they have one last chance
at trapping fur

and hunting meat
for the spring.

The weather is so bad
up on top of the mountains,
lately,

that we've been forced
to stay down low.

And down low here,
there's usually a lot of lynx.

So we set lynx traps.

(CHIP SHOUTING)

(CHIP SPEAKING)

Fuck!

Eh, I think it's
fucking locked up.

My clutch don't want to move.

It's either the rings
or the crank.

Either the crank
is out of sync

or I've got no piston pieces
that are holding it together.

I'll tell you what could
really be worse,

is that I could have been up
in the mountains

or I could have been
ten miles.

I'm just
around the corner.
(CHUCKLES)

I'll just call it lucky today,
whatever luck this is.

What I really don't want to do
is be broken down
when the caribou get here.

Because that's when
all the fur arrives,

that's when
all the meat is here.

It's one of our most
productive times
in the spring.

And if we lose out on that,

then we have to buy food
at the store

for an exorbitant amount
of money.

CHIP: What's up?

AGNES: What did you do?
Gee whiz!

Did you crash like me?

CHIP: No!

AGNES: How come
you're walking?

CHIP: I think it's my crank.
Maybe a piston skirt.

Maybe the rings.
Maybe another crank.

Man, that sucks.

-Well...
-I'm gonna make two into one.

That's my plan.

NARRATOR:
After a recent crash...

Minor field repairs were made
to Agnes' snow machine.

But with one machine down,

they must now get the other
in full working condition.

CHIP: So what's
the shorter cut?

My gas tank on your ride,
or your engine in my ride?

-Which one would be easier?
-Your gas tank.

Exactly. So...

I've been thinking about
this since I've been walking.

I got nothing else
to think about.

Since my machine's burned up
and hers has a good engine

and will run,

I'm gonna go straighten
out her handlebar

and I'm gonna take her machine
and go drag my machine
back here.

One or the other, I'm gonna
end up with a working ride.

You know, this is how we live.

We've been doing this
for 25 years.

When things break down,
we try to keep
the ball rolling.

We know our alternatives
and we try to switch
those alternatives.

-So this is where it stopped?
-Yep.

This is junk at the moment,
cause it doesn't run.

It makes yours look beautiful.

Okay.

(AGNES SPEAKING)

Yep.

Are you ready?

AGNES: Yay!

GLENN: I just feel really well
living out in nature.

And this is a place
where I can do it.

There aren't that many places
left in the world

where you can still live
this way.

There's a connection out here
that I don't feel elsewhere.

GLENN: This time of year,
here in the Brooks Range,

it's late winter, early spring
and it starts getting warmer.

Pretty soon the meat
that I have frozen

will have to be dried in order
to preserve it.

There's very limited space
in this cabin,

so I need to make
a better system for drying
a larger quantity of meat.

I can build a large rack
right out here in front
of the window.

That way I can keep
an eye on it.

You can get a lot
of the things you need
to live right here.

You just have to use
a little imagination.

NARRATOR: Due
to rising temperatures,

Glenn must process
his winter meat supply
from his cache.

But first, he will need
to build a new system

that will allow the meat
to dry, or risk losing it
to spoilage.

I'm gonna find four really
sturdy trees

that I'm gonna cut logs from.

As I'm walking
through the forest,

I'm taking a good look
at the trees,
looking up at the tops.

I'm looking
for just the right tree.

Most of the trees here
are alive, they're healthy,

I wouldn't want to cut those.

That's what I'm looking for,
right there.

Here it goes.

I'm gonna cut down
another tree.

There it goes!

I got four now.

Four logs for four legs
of the meat rack.

Plus I got a few other poles
that I'll incorporate into it.

I'm just gonna get these
back to camp.

It's about 400 yards
from where I'm gonna
build this rack.

I got a nice patch of ice
uncovered here,

I'm gonna chisel some holes,

and I'm gonna put the poles
in that are gonna be the legs
on this meat drying rack.

I'm chiselling a hole here.

The idea is to
secure this pole

so that it makes one leg
for this meat drying rack.

I wanna be able to put four
or five caribou up on here.

I want it nice and sturdy.

That should be
about deep enough.

Beautiful.

Now I'm gonna grab some water
out of my water hole here,

dump it around that post,

and freeze it into place.

That water's gonna freeze
this pole in place.

It'll be good and solid.

It won't move an inch
once it freezes up.

This rack will stand
right here

until much later in the year
when the lake breaks up.

Two up. Two to go.

It's looking good.

It's important that I can keep
an eye one this.

Once I get the meat
out here on the rack,

there are wolverines around,
there are wolves around.

The bears are gonna
be coming out of hibernation.

Oh, beautiful.

Just fill it in
with ice chips, pour
water in it, let it freeze.

I got the four legs
to my meat rack right here.

In place.

Leave them overnight,
they'll freeze tight,

and tomorrow I'm gonna build
the framework to hang
the meat off

and to protect the meat.

GLENN: You know,
happiness is a odd thing.

And it's,
it's not a tangible thing.

It's very difficult to,
to know exactly how

to measure happiness
and how to find happiness.

I'm loading up the sled

and we're gonna head up to

see if we can't make it out
to Notellum Lake today

and do a little bit
of ice fishing.

ERIK: We're here right
at the end of winter,
the beginning of spring,

so the Notellum River

is really known
for having open water.

So it's, it's kind of a place
you gotta, you gotta
watch out for.

ERIK: The things that kills
you in Alaska is water,
bad ice, stuff like that.

It's the quiet, subtle deaths
that aren't glorified
that really get people.

It's about a 30-mile ride.
Shouldn't be too hard.

The only thing we got
to worry about, really,

is the condition of the ice
on the river
that we're taking.

Hopefully we'll make it there
and come back
with a trash bag full of fish.

We'll see.

(ENGINE REVVING)

Let's do it.

ERIK: This time
of year the caribou
are migrating through,

the birds are coming back,
the light's back,

bitter temperatures are gone,
and it's also the end

of the opportunity
to travel with snow.

This time of year
with some warmer temperatures,

it's a little bit of touch
and go travelling
to get there.

The Notellum River is known
for a lot of overflow
and open water,

you don't want to end up
drowning the sled.

-MARTHA: Stop!
-Oh, shit.

Look at all that overflow.

MARTHA: Dangerous.

ERIK: That's when
accidents happen.

So we come up
on the Notellum River here

on the way to go fishing

and there's a little bit
of overflow.

It's a condition where there's
water on top of the ice.

In the springtime,
there's just open water places

and it's flowing over
onto the ice.

When you go into that,
you gotta be ready,

you gotta be holding on,
and you gotta be ready
to throttle through it.

These machines that have
a little bit more power,

you can actually hydroplane
across most of it.

But if you let up,
you're in big trouble.

Are we gonna rally
through this?

Yeah, just stand up with me
and hold on.

(ENGINE REVVING)

ERIK: Woo!

All right!

What do you think, honey?
You want to give it a go here?

Is this a good spot?
I guess we'll find out.

Let's start digging holes.

(MOTOR STARTS)

(WHIRRING)

(WHIRRING CONTINUES)

MARTHA: Is it good?

Four holes.

I'm just rigging up
my tip ups here.

Take this bait,
put it on the hook,

and I'm gonna go place
my first tip ups.

NARRATOR: With spring
on the horizon,

softer ice affords
Erik and Martha

the opportunity to catch fish
under the frozen river.

Flag, bend it over,

and just hook it on that.

That way when the fish
starts taking the bait,

the flag goes up.

That means fish on.

MARTHA: Since I wasn't raised
around tip ups,

it's something totally
foreign to me.

I'd rather fish with
sight or feel,

than just watching
a flag go up.

I grew up
in a fishing community.

We were always fishing.

Winter, summer,
whenever you could.

This is what I love to do.

This is my favourite
place to be.

ERIK: It's hard to be patient
out here in the cold
and sit still.

I hope there's some fish
to catch after all of this.

It's either a slam-dunk
or nothing.

We'll either do
really well fishing

or for whatever reason
we'll strike out.

See what the fishing gods
have in store for us.

CHIP: You gotta
think it through.

You gotta give it a try.

And if you screw it up
or if you do it right,

either way you ought to
learn something.

NARRATOR: It is crucial
that the Hailstones

get one snow machine
in safe working order,

not only to hunt caribou,
but also to return home
to Noorvik safely.

CHIP: It could be that crank
was in half.

It could be a ring
that's stuck.

Let's have a look.

Yeah, it's got metal
all over it.

Look at it glisten.
There you go.

I got metal on my spark plug.
It's toasted.

So it's not gonna do me
any good.

But I'll use it
for spare parts for right now.

As long as we're diligent,
and we get with it,

and we get our stuff on,
my wife will have a good ride.

I'll scrap mine till summer

and then figure
something else out.

We really can't live
for tomorrow,

we gotta think of today,
cause today's happening.

The cruel irony of it all,

the best weather
has just suddenly arrived
within the last few hours.

The weather
we've been waiting for.

The weather that's kept us low
in the river

and looking for lynx
now has cleared up

and we'll certainly be able
to get to the caribou,

and the wolves,
and the wolverines.

Lucky woman got
a quarter tank of gas now.

Mechanicals up here
can be a long time fixing.

When one machine is down,
we can continue on
while we fix the other one.

That's how we've always
done it

and that's the way
we want it to always be.

My wife decided it was time
to cook some dinner.

She gets a little frustrated
with things like crashes
and repairs.

And we're right on the verge
of like excellent hunting

and look what's
happened to us.

AGNES: Snow machines
are very important
to us up here.

They're just
an all-around tool.

We use them to haul stuff,
move things, gather things,

pretty much everything.

CHIP: You have no choice.
You have no control
over mechanical things.

We're not the kind of people
that want broken machines,
believe me.

We're the kind of people
that want this shit
working now.

Well, we're getting closer
and the gas tank is going on.

We'll get all this stuff
bolted back together,

and fire her up,
and get the wife happy again.

There.

Okay.

I took two machines
and made one.

There you go!
Tested and proved.

We are back on the road

and now we have a pile
of parts to choose from.

CHIP: You like it?

(AGNES SPEAKING)

CHIP: Now at least we got
a machine going.

And we got no problems,
no worries.

We'll sleep good tonight
and tomorrow we hunt.

-This will work.
-Yes, it will.

We're back in action.

(CHUCKLES) Yes, that's how
it ought to be.

CHIP: Oh, nothing we can't
always work through, huh?

SUE: It's a domino effect.

One part of the system
goes down...

Boom, boom, boom, boom!
So does the rest.

(CRYING)

Ah!

NARRATOR: With the pain in her
shoulder worsening...

MAN: (ON COMPUTER) Yes?

NARRATOR:
Sue called upon her friend
and pilot, Bob Gill,

to fly her to Deadhorse
for medical attention.

SUE: I can't see if my foot's
gonna come off the stool.

BOB: You're doing it.
You're good.

You finally touched my ass
after how many years, Bob?

And I have to be in pain
and I can't enjoy it.

SUE: I'm really grateful
that Bob is here right now.

I can't relax my arm.
I can't move.

I can't have any kind of force
or torque on it

without feeling like
I'm having a heart attack
or something.

SUE: My life is absolutely
dependent on my ability
to get my chores done.

And done by myself.

If I can't maintain my body

and I can't get
my body to work,

then the whole thing,
the whole structure of my life

is gonna fall apart
at the seams.

Where to now?

-It's over here.
-Okay.

SUE: So here I am
in Deadhorse.

I just got done seeing,
getting seen at the clinic.

And the x-rays show that

what I've done is,
you have a bone
called the clavicle

or the collarbone.

And under
the right circumstances,
you can break that.

What apparently happened
when I hit,

the pressure broke it
and then drove it
all the way up.

SUE:
They are thinking possibly
surgical intervention,

so they are now referring me
to go down to Fairbanks

and I have to see
the emergency room there,
an orthopaedic surgeon.

I need to know the extent
of the injuries.

I need to know
what the resolution is.

I've got to find some way
to handle camp

and shut it down
if I can't be there.

Any one of these things
takes too long,
and I've lost my camp.

And I don't even know
what to say about that.

Getting better
has to be a priority

but if I take all the time
necessary to get better,

I won't have anything
to get better for.

Yay!

Day two comes to a close.

GLENN: I'm just a person
that doesn't really like

to have the future
all planned out
and nailed down.

I like the way nature goes.

There's certain cycles
and rhythms,
but it's different every year.

NARRATOR: To preserve
his food supply,

Glenn is building
a drying rack

that will protect
the caribou meat from spoilage

as temperatures rise
in the Brooks Range.

GLENN: I've got the four legs
to the meat rack here

frozen into the ice.

Now I need to build
a framework

between them on the top
in order to support the roof.

I've got enough caribou meat
to last me right through
the summer this year.

Just a matter
of preserving it.

And the only way I have
to preserve it is to dry it.

It's nice and sturdy.

I should be able to hang four
or five caribou on this
if I want to.

No problem at all.

GLENN: Now I'm gonna put
a couple more horizontal poles

perpendicular
to these first two.

That's all to put
the roof on top of.

I'm gonna cover it with a tarp
just to keep precipitation
off of it.

Snow, I don't want snow
all over the meat.

I've got this square now
built on top of the four legs

and the next step
is to put a ridge pole

across the middle of it
that's gonna support the ridge
of the roof.

I've got this log
that would work beautifully.

But it's heavy.

The question is whether or not
I can lift it up there.

I'm not sure If I can
just lift it into place
or not,

it's a heavy log.

Not where I want it.

There.

Next I'm gonna
lash the ridge pole

to the horizontal poles
it's sitting on

so it doesn't
roll out of place.

When you're building
things simply,

like just working out here
in the bush in general,

tying things up is a skill
that comes in handy.

I froze the poles in place
with ice.

Just notched them together
and tied them up
with a little bit of rope.

It's simple technology,
but it's very functional.

GLENN: Of course
you can accomplish more.

You can build things bigger
and faster,

if you use power tools.

But then I'd have to have
fuel out here.

I'd have to have
everything on a larger scale.

A considerable amount of work
goes into making
the meat drying rack,

but I'll be able
to use this again.

After this year I'll be able
to take it down,
save the parts,

and put it back up
another year.

The sun just set
so I'm gonna call it a day.

I'm gonna go in,
have a bite to eat,
go to sleep, get up tomorrow,

and finish building this rack
and get some meat
hanging up on it.

Looks pretty good.

AGNES: We have a very
different way of life here.

We have a very different way
of doing things.

We're cache and carry people.

We like to do
things ourselves.

We like to carry
our own loads.

CHIP: You got some spare ammo
in your pockets?

My wife toasted her machine.
My machine burned up.

We made two into one.
And we can hunt some more.

NARRATOR: For the Hailstones,

weeks of fog
and low visibility

have prevented caribou hunting
in Kiwalik.

But a break in the weather
has given them one last chance

at harvesting red meat
before the trip home.

AGNES: Caribou, they can see
the snow machine coming
from a long ways.

In the wide open country
like this

it's a little hard
to get close to them.

They're walking that way
so we're just gonna go
this direction.

It's gonna be closer.

CHIP: It's not easy,
it's never easy
to shoot in the wind.

And then of course caribou
don't hang around,
they're usually moving.

So when you have
a moving target

and you have a wind
moving with it
or wind moving against it,

the variables can stack up.

And thinking through that shot
can be quite a challenge.

CHIP: Go ahead.

Aim at the nose
and pull the trigger.

(GUN FIRES)

CHIP: They're coming to us
right here.

Stand up!

There you go!
Right there!

Keep the barrel swinging.

There you go!
Right there!

AGNES: Come on, Mr Caribou.

(GUN FIRES)

(AGNES CHEERS)

Good shot, Agnes.

Sometimes the weather,
sometimes the wind,

sometimes just...

You don't know
why they're not connecting.

But just gotta keep trying.

Hey! There it is!

Ah!

CHIP: I'm gonna
work this animal.

Agnes will walk up
and go get the snow machine.

(CHUCKLES) Fat!

-Really?
-Chubby!

That makes
my whole day better.

Success generally does.

AGNES: Nothing like
fat caribou.

My wife shot this caribou
and I'm pretty freaking happy.

I mean, we had a few
set ups today

and where we live,
the ranges are far, and wide,
and long.

You know, we don't have
trees filling in here.

So, so we have
to be persistent.

Just keep after it
and keep after it.

This is the game of life
and death.

We have to catch caribou
if we wanna live.

To us, the efficiency
of getting the food
and doing more with less

has got a lot to do
with respecting the animals,

using them to their fullest,
and not depleting them.

So if you go out
and you catch them

and you honour the animal,

and I don't mean
the individual animal,

but the animal itself,
such as a caribou.

And you treat them
with respect in the way that
you go about using them,

and the way that you go
about treating them,

and the way you go
about hunting them,

and not in a wasteful manner,

then you've treated them
with respect

and everything is good.

AGNES: I'm happy
with today's outcome.

It took a lot of time.

We walked a few miles,
we stood there

and waited patiently,
and we were successful.

-(AGNES SPEAKING)
-Yeah, it is.

CHIP: Look at that,
even got menses fat.

(AGNES SPEAKING)

Yeah. You picked
a good one to shoot.

When you're shooting
straight downhill,

you take out all that range
and all that ballistic curve.

It becomes very straight.

And once she had
that figured out,

she was zeroed in
and we had caribou.

AGNES: Wait, wait.
CHIP: Okay.

(AGNES SPEAKING)

-One, two, three.
-Two, three, go!

Even though I had
to keep reloading

and keep shooting,
the effort turned out
wonderful.

We have good, fat meat
and a choice cow.

You have to try to pick,

especially when you go
the long distances you go,

you don't want to just get
any old caribou, a sick one
or a skinny one.

You wanna try to pick one
that's fat and gonna be
worth all the effort.

So we're happy today.

CHIP: All right!

CHIP: To me,
the meat is the trophy.
The health is the trophy.

The adventure is the trophy.

SUE: As I get older,
I'm finding that I break
instead of bend.

As we get older, we fracture.

At 50 there's
only so many times I can break

before I can't,
I can't spring back up.

NARRATOR:
Sue has travelled to Fairbanks
to consult with a surgeon.

And the future
of her way of life in Kavik
depends on the diagnosis.

I did notice today
that the tingling went down

into my fingers
on the right hand side.

And it feels very,
it's just nerve stuff.

I'm not feeling happy
about it.

I'm finally getting in to see
the orthopaedic surgeon.

My goal today is hopefully
find out if and when
we're gonna do the surgery.

In the back of my mind,
camp is still sitting there.

This injury definitely
is going to impact my future
at Kavik.

I just simply don't know
how much.

There is no doubt
that it will.

And I had said, I get hurt
one more good time,
I may be done.

And here we go.

Today is gonna prepare me
for the rest of my life.

The biggest thing
is your collarbone
took the brunt.

Yeah, the shoulder
and collarbone,

it hurts like for me
to sit here

you're gonna notice
in a minute or two I gotta
get up and walk around.

-You gotta stand.
-Yeah.

Here's the thing,
there is some findings
on that X-Ray

that are a little bit
concerning.

Your clavicle is overlapped
almost five centimetres.

Uh-huh.

So what I gotta do
is get these to kind of
key back in.

The risks of the surgery
are minimal

compared to the benefits
in this particular case.

Any questions?

Nope. When do we do it?

-Tomorrow.
-When?

-It will be in the afternoon.
-Okay.

I don't know exactly the time.

So can I eat or drink
water today?

Yes, up until midnight.

How long do you think
I am going to be in Fairbanks?

For me I definitely want you
here for at least two weeks.

Because if you're gonna
have any postoperative
complications

it usually happens
within the first 14 days.

-I'll see you tomorrow.
-All right. Thank you.

Oh, careful. (GROANS)

SUE: If I don't get surgery
I can't use my right arm.

If I have the surgery,
again, I don't know.

They said minimum
six weeks recovery time.

I am not quite sure
what that does for my future.

But if I have to
shut Kavik down
will I be able to open?

If I can't open,
I have to sell.

GLENN: It's not all adventure
and excitement,

it's, a lot of times,
really quiet out here.

That's what I really enjoy
about it,

is the peace and quiet
and meditative aspect of it.

This is the last
group of poles I am gonna need
for the meat drying rack.

These are the poles
that the meat's actually
going to hang off of.

NARRATOR: Using only his
surrounding resources,

Glenn is in the final stages
of building a drying rack,

which will preserve
his meat supply
for the months ahead.

GLENN: Since the meat's going
to be hanging off of these,

I am going to clean them up
a little bit.

Otherwise, the part
of the meat touching the poles
is going to be all dirty.

I've built things
with power tools in the past,
of course.

But I really prefer working
with hand tools.

It's a slower pace
and just allows me
to take my time,

listen to what's
going on around me.

It's very meditative
working with hand tools

and doing most of the jobs
out here are very meditative
for me.

I got a dozen poles,
plenty of space
to dry meat here.

Just need to throw
a tarp over it

and start hanging some meat
on this rack.

GLENN: Dried meat
is very light
and very portable.

It's good food
when you're travelling.
It's a staple of my diet.

It takes time.

I'll leave the meat out here
for weeks.

But then it will be completely
dry and well preserved.

I'll be able to keep it
as long as I want.

It will last for years.

I got my roof on.

Got my rack here.

It's looking nice.

All I need is my meat.

This is a back leg
of a caribou

with the hide on it,
just to protect the meat.

I'm going to skin it now
and I am going to cut it up

and hang it on my drying rack.

And then that meat,

which wouldn't have lasted
more than a few more weeks,

can last me well into summer.

In order to dry it, it has
to be cut into thin pieces.

The trick is to cut it
pretty thin,

but you want it still
to be strong.

I don't want it falling off
my meat rack.

So I just took that
one thick muscle,

and I just cut it
into a thinner piece
that'll freeze-dry.

First piece of meat
on the rack.

Nice.

Sun's back now.

Special time of the year,
a lot of birds are gonna
be coming back soon.

It's been a really good time
out here this year.

Got a moose in the fall.

I really enjoy interacting
with all the animals,

the wildlife,
being part of the cycles,
the cycle of the seasons.

You just get more and more
in tune to what's happening,

what's going on,
understanding the way
nature works.

And understanding
how to live in it.

I live out here
because I really enjoy
this lifestyle.

I enjoy the autonomy
it affords,

I enjoy the competence
it demands.

I like the connection
to nature I feel

when I live the way I do here.

It's one of the most
special places

that I've ever been to
in the world,

and it's the place
I consider home.

ERIK: I don't know really
all the answers in life.

I'm only 31.

I'm learning not knowing,
as they say,

but there's a lot to be said

for kinda kicking back
on the porch

and drinking a cup coffee
and looking at the hills.

There's all kinds of critters
running around here
in the springtime.

You never know
what you're going to see,

always good to
keep a look out
and be aware.

MARTHA: No sign of fish yet.

Erik got anxious
to do something
and he wandered off,

I don't know if he
spotted something or what.

NARRATOR: The Salitans have
set bait under the river ice
in hopes of catching fish.

While they wait,
Erik scours the area

for any alternative food
sources that cross his path.

Martha is over there
by the holes

and doing some jiggin',

I've just seen some ptarmigan
over here

and got my .22
trapping pistol.

Let's see if we can't get
a ptarmigan for supper.

We've been here
a couple hours,

and haven't caught
any fish yet,
but still trying.

Still got hooks in the water.

ERIK: The flag goes up,
I can run over there
and attend to my line.

It's kind of like killing
two birds with one stone.

Ha-ha.

There's a couple of ptarmigan
right along these willows
right here,

let's see if I can't shoot one
or two of them.

(GUN FIRES)

I got one ptarmigan
and I just shot another one
over here.

That's one for Martha,
one for me.

The fish may
or may not be biting,

but no matter what,
we're gonna have
a good supper.

ERIK: Did you catch dinner?

MARTHA: No,
I didn't catch dinner.
What do you got there?

I caught dinner.

-Looks like some ptarmigan.
-Yeah.

Let's go back to the house
and eat some ptarmigan.

Yeah, we'll try another day,
we'll come fish another day.

Went on a little hike.

Caught a couple of ptarmigan.

And we're gonna
call it a day, and head back,

and clean up these ptarmigan,
and eat some supper.

ERIK: You know,
that's just kinda
how it goes out in the bush.

Sometimes you head out,
try to catch some fish,

and you end up coming home
with some ptarmigan.

Sometimes you head out,
and try to get some ptarmigan

and you come home
with some fish.

You never know
what's going to happen.

It's all fun, it's all food,
it's all just good living.

Open up the chest cavity.

That's where
the good stuff is.

The heart and the gizzard.

The heart, the liver,

and the best of all,
the gizzard.

MARTHA: This is why we live
where we do.

You know, we can go out,
we can go for something

like a lake trout or burbot,

and come back
with something else.

We're pretty happy
and with full bellies.

Despite this being kind
of a poor fishing day,
it turned out all right.

It was awful nice weather,

and we got some ptarmigan
and...

We sure kept ourselves busy
this winter.

MARTHA: Erik and I
went on a fox hunt
this season,

hauled in a nice fox,
a good little red fox.

We had some fun out
in the woods
getting some firewood.

The lynx trapping was
probably one of my favourite
moments this winter.

We were lucky enough
to come home with a nice lynx.

The smoke house build
was definitely something
different.

We were able to scrounge up
some wood and put together
a nice smoke house.

We were able to harvest
three caribou,

which will set us good
on the meat situation
for a while.

As the winters go on,
the seasons change,

things come
a little bit easier.

All in all,
it was a good winter.

I like getting out
and travelling around
this time of year.

It's a good, a good thing.

We're very blessed to live
where we live

and to get to do the things
that we do.

CHIP: It's not
perfect days up here.
Nothing is perfect.

You know, you take every
little trick out of the book
you can do.

This isn't a simple life.
This is a slower life.

AGNES: You want the travel bag
up here or...

Yeah, travel bag
on my machine, please.

CHIP: We got
all the bedding hung up.

We got the tepees
squared away.

We got wood
cut for our return.

We got some ice
already chopped
for our return.

Last night we basically
prepared ourselves entirely

for going home this morning

'cause we wanted
to beat the sun.

We didn't want to have
the sun in our eyes.

All these cut up caribou
that was skinned,

these can go right
in the cache.

The one that has
the skin on it,

we can save it for a while.

And the animals
can't chew on it at home.

We had the intentions
of going into the mountains

to go caribou hunting
and go set wolverine traps,

but the weather
just won't let us up there.

It's foggy, it's blowing,
can't see a thing to hunt,

so we just did it
all down here low.

And we lucked out
because the caribou came to us
this year.

CHIP: In the end,
this is worth the adventure,
ain't it?

Yep.

Every day we went out there.
We tried our best.

CHIP: Winter started out,
of course,
with some good white fishing.

We had a heck
of a great caribou hunt
to start off our winter with.

I built a cache
to store things in.

Who knows? Maybe the girls
will use it when they're
that age, or when I'm 100.

We built the girls a tepee
and we made them a stove.

We made them a caribou skin
sleeping bag.

And the thing
is that later in life,

they have all the choices
they want.

For now, they should see
what we're doing.

So they don't think we leave
and just magically come back

with a bunch of meat
and stuff.

They also should be part
of the adventure.

They should be part
of the work.

They should be
part of all this,

so that when they
do it themselves,

it'll be easy, natural,
and it won't be a problem.

I want them
to experience this.

And that's pretty
important to me, and my wife,
and part of raising our kids.

SUE: This ecosystem,
this part of the world,

things can happen
in the blink of an eye.

It's controlled chaos
out here.

NARRATOR: For Sue,

surgery on her collarbone
means she must remain in town.

Every day she's away
from Kavik,

her livelihood is at risk.

My next step is just
getting back to my cubby,

having something to eat,
taking my medicine,
and relaxing.

Two weeks, I go see
the doctor again

and they're going to
check the incision,
make sure it's good.

Even though it hurts,

there's not the damage,

random damage being done
by things being
in the wrong place,

or unattached,
or floating around,
and grinding.

So, every move prior was,
it would jostle,
it would move.

The bones would grind.

Um, that part
is taken care of.

That part is one unit again.

But I thrive on the challenge,

I thrive on,
"This is an obstacle, Sue,

"how the hell are you
going to get around it?"

Part of the enjoyment
is the times you get
knocked down,

the times where
you scrape your knees
and you make mistakes.

Because you learn from it.

This has been a whole season
of joys, disappointments,

and looking forward
to learning the next.

You don't know what depths
your strengths go to
if they're never tested.

I'm a bull
in a china shop.

I will get to the other side.

I don't know when.

Life's a circle,
it's not a box.

It's a circular kind of thing,
you just keep going.

I'm making plans
for the future,

I just, you know,
I can't get carried away
with it.

I can't put the cart
before the horse

and worry about what
might happen,

worrying about what
I have to do currently.

And that's just who I am.