All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.HDTV.720.S02.E13

NARRATOR: As winter
fades across the Arctic,

Mother Nature
comes in for the kill.

With predators waking
and unpredictable weather,
the battle begins.

ANDY: Every day counts
out here in the summertime.

NARRATOR: On this episode of
Life Below Zero.

-CHIP: Aim at their heads.
-(GUNSHOT)

NARRATOR: It's a struggle
against rising waters

as the thaw
threatens Sue's livelihood.

SUE: I can't have
a white landscape

turning to green without
some more water coming in.

NARRATOR: Glenn is forced
to carve out a new path.

GLENN: Look out!
It's going. It's going!

NARRATOR: Andy and Kate create
a shelter from the storm.

ANDY: Do or die, babe.

NARRATOR: And the Hailstones
brave new ground

-for a summer harvest.
-(GUNSHOT)

CHIP: Caribou!
AGNES: There!

-Lots of caribou.
-Caribou, caribou.

-Ooh, ooh, ooh. Stay still!
-Stay still.

CHIP: Gunners up front.
You got to stay still.

AGNES: Stay still.

CHIP: We have a bunch
of caribou in front of us.

This is why
we like this place.

It brings the animals
to this point.

This is a natural trap.

Everything from caribou,
to fish, to seals, to birds.

Let your mum up.
You got the hot brass.

You got to go to the back.
Carol. Carol.

Okay, you need to get ready.
Hit them now!

AGNES: Ting, start shooting!

(GUNSHOTS)

CHIP: Again. Again!

CHIP: Get out of my way.
AGNES: It's deep, Chip.

I got a knife.

It's not that deep.

Handful of ammo. I'm going.

NARRATOR: Chip and Agnes
Hailstone are travelling
the Kiwalik River

85 miles from their
native village of Noorvik.

They will spend a summer
teaching their five daughters

to hunt, gather
and live off the land.

I'm looking for a blood trail
or for caribou tracks.

It's gonna take us a little
manoeuvring to get to them.

(SIGHS)

A shot from a moving boat,
any moving boat,
is not very easy.

We haven't even
set up our camp yet.
We just saw camp meat.

We took the opportunity,
didn't work out so good.
Sometimes that happens.

That's hunting.

We're confident in ourselves
that it was a clean miss,

and we're on our way
to camp now.

Finish this up, go get
ourselves taken care of,
and go make a new home.

We'll be here
for a few months.

Frustrating when
an animal get away.

That just takes time
to go chase after it.

SUE: I think hand in hand with
living here, you have to be
brutally honest with yourself

about what your strengths
and weaknesses are.

My name is Susan Aikens,
and I'm the owner
of the Kavik River Camp.

I live here year round.
I'm the sole resident
out here.

It's not a town.
It's not a city.

It's just me
and a GPS coordinate
on the North Slope of Alaska.

Kavik River Camp is...
It's sort of like a unique
and twisted bed and breakfast.

I am the only
refuelling station

but one for the entire eastern
half of the North Slope.

So, it's really the only
place of its kind

for these planes to land,
and get fuel,
or a room, or help.

You know, as owner
of the camp now,
I'm not anybody's employee.

I own it.

If the generator breaks down,

um, I get flooded,
anything happens,
I go to myself to fix it.

I don't call an owner and say,
"Boo-hoo, send the stuff up."

I have to wake myself up
and get it done.

If things broke down
and I lost everything,
I'd just have to lose it all.

There's no guarantees
on any level here.
It's all challenge.

Winter is on the way out.
Spring is on the way in.

The snow and the ice
goes to liquid.

The river is here,
camp is here,
the hills are here.

It's... You know,
shit runs downhill, man.

And I, you know...
I'm the cesspool
in the middle of it.

I'm up in the high Arctic.

I shouldn't have to
be telling my clients,

"Don't forget the snorkel
and fins when you want
to go use the outhouse."

The more of this
that stands around camp,

it cannot drain
into the ground,
it's frozen down there.

So, this has to go bye-bye.

I need to help it live
where it wants to live.

NARRATOR: Sue relies on income
from the summer months
to keep her business alive.

Flooding in camp could
wash away her profits before
the season even begins.

It's up to the bottoms of
the palettes on the generator.

This is not what you want
to see by your electricity
or your motors.

But I've got things that
are on the floor that are now
soaking in water.

That's the highest
I've ever seen it get in here.
I gotta get it gone.

Electricity and water?
A Sue-B-cue is not
what I wanna be.

So, yeah. First things first,
I gotta get a pump
and start pumping.

You know, this time of year
here at Kavik,

um, you're really at the flux
of winter going into spring.

I'm trying to run a business,
but the business
has to turn a profit.

It doesn't matter
how cool the place is.

I don't have
a profitable business,
then I can't stay.

You know, there's just
things I've gotta do.

My world opens up,
and I have two and a half,
three months

to do whatever
construction I'm gonna do,

improvements,
people in and out,

make the money,
pay the money that
I need to pay to be here.

You know, and then
winter comes in again.

I got pumps working,
and it's gonna be continual.

This is now daily
until it's gone.

I need to keep it going
towards the river
and not towards camp.

Next on the list,
gotta get in the bobcat
so I can attack the snow.

I need to get
all the snow off of this.

It's got a lot
of ice underneath it.

I need to get it down
as far as I can,

and let the sun
start melting it so that

the water can go
from camp to the river
where it wants to live.

It'll take the path
of least resistance
if it can find it.

And as you can see,
yup, it's finding it.

This is the beginning.

I mean, you can
take a look around you,
and I am thawing.

I am not thawed.

ANDY:
This is the land of extremes.

Everything out here
is extreme.
We go from light to dark.

We go from cold
to warm, very, very quickly.

It's constantly changing here,
and I think that's why
I love living out here.

Let's go check out
the river, Jack.

Let's go see
what break-up's doing.

My name is Andy Bassich.
I'm at Calico Bluff
along the Yukon River.

I live here
with my partner, Kate.

For us living out here,
break-up is
the first of the year.

Our life revolves completely
around the Yukon River,

and what it throws at us
or what it provides for us.

KATE: We really appreciate
what we have down here,

and we know that
it can go anytime.
Any year.

NARRATOR: Every spring,
the Yukon River breaks up,

threatening the safety
and stability of the area.

In 2009, Andy and Kate's
property was flooded,

and they nearly
lost everything,
including their lives.

KATE: Every April, every May,
it's a bit of a worry that...

Is this gonna be
our last year here?

ANDY: This is probably
one of the lowest
water break-ups we've seen,

and I like this one
a lot better. (LAUGHS)

Well, this... This is like
a merry-go-round compared
to a Ferris wheel last year.

ANDY: The potential danger
of flooding is past,

and I'm feeling like it's time
to get going on my projects.

Last year, I built what
I called the doomsday raft

because I was
expecting to be flooded.

And it was basically
just a set of logs with
barrels underneath of it,

and a platform that I put
a lot of my tools,
and snow machines,

and important equipment
on so that it wouldn't get
damaged if we did flood.

The idea is to turn it
into a workable space,

and that means
putting a roof on it.

The system that I want
to use for building this roof

is called post and beam
timber framing.

All right,
40 and a half inches.

Most important thing
on any building
with your foundation

is getting it levelled up
to begin with.

36 and 7/16ths.

So, we're within an eighth of
an inch all the way around.

I'd call it good.

Well, that went easy enough.

ANDY:
Bottom line is, we've got
a lot of work ahead of us.

It's gonna be
very challenging, but
that's why we live out here.

We like that.

GLENN: I'm not out here
for the isolation, but it goes
with the territory.

I'm here for nature
and wilderness,

and where there's much
wilderness left, there aren't
a whole lot of people.

GLENN:
My name is Glenn Villeneuve.

I have a camp in
the Brooks Range where
I live a subsistence lifestyle

hunting and gathering,
living close to the land.

I live simple,
and I love nature.
I love the wilderness.

This is the last place
in the world where there's
this kind of wilderness.

Where I could come
and live this way.

There's something over there.

There's an animal
in the woods right there.

He's behind some spruce trees,
but he's gonna come
into an opening right now.

Hey, bear! He probably
smells this fish I'm eating.

Go away.

How to deal with a bear
is to talk to the bear.

Because then they
know you're a human,

and bears aren't interested in
messing around with humans.

Nothing for you over here.

When I first moved here,

it was very common
for bears to walk
right down the beach here.

After I was here
for one or two summers,

they stopped walking
by the front of
the cabin very often.

They didn't want
to come into the yard.

The bear went that way.
I'm going over this way
to build a bridge today.

Hopefully, I won't see
any more of him today.

NARRATOR: Living 60 miles
from the nearest road,

finding food is a constant
challenge for Glenn.

Having access to
his hunting grounds
is key to his survival.

GLENN: Just about a quarter
mile from here there's
a creek that I cross often,

and I've been
crossing on a tree

that had naturally fallen
across the creek years ago.

But it washed out recently,

so I can't get across
there any more without
getting my feet wet.

It'd be nice to make
some type of a bridge

so I can go across the creek
without getting wet.

I need to make some
new kind of bridge.

Imagine this here
is the creek.

What I'm doing, I'm laying
a log here, and a log here,

and where a tree
is growing here,

I'm gonna try and fell it
right across those two logs.

Then I'll be able to
walk across the creek,

right there,
without getting my feet wet.

This would be a great spot
for me to cross
for years to come.

Now I just have
to go through there.

The creek's not very
wide here, but it's deep.

I'm taking my boots off,
and I'm taking my pants off

so I can cross without
getting them all wet.

And I'd have to go
through this every time

when I'm moose hunting
every day.

Sometimes I walk
across here twice a day.

So, this is just gonna
make life so much faster

and more efficient when I get
to this creek in the future.

The water is ice cold.

Oh!

That's cold water.

Out here you don't have
to try to stay in shape.

There are jobs
that have to be done
that take physical work.

The way I live without
machinery, there's no choice.

Over on the other
side of the creek,

it's a good place
to hunt moose.

And it'd be really nice
if I could just go across
a log over there

rather than
go through the water.

The water out here is cold.
This isn't the tropics.
This is the Arctic.

Even in the summer
when it gets really warm,

the water doesn't
ever get warm.
It's still cold.

And if you get wet,
and you get cold,
you can get hypothermic.

In the wintertime I've never
felt in danger of hypothermia,

but in the summer I have.

If I get wet,
and then I get cold,

and I can't build a fire,
I got big problems.

So, I like to stay
dry when I can.

CHIP: I'm the hunter.
My wife is a hunter.
My kids are hunters.

I have enough respect
for this land to be aware
that it can eat me too.

And it probably will someday.

AGNES: Hold on, girls!
CHIP: Hold on.
I'm gonna ramp it.

AGNES: Whoo! Yeah. Yep.

We've got to unload the boat.

We'll take our things
to high ground.

We'll make sure the boat
is safe where it is.

I'm gonna tie it off,
and then we're gonna
go put up our stuff. Okay?

We got it here dry,
let's keep it dry.

NARRATOR: For the Hailstones,

setting up camp
along the Kiwalik River
is a summer tradition

and a way to build up
their supply of food to
survive the months ahead.

Everything over here, girls.

AGNES:
Our children go to school,

but there's also time
where we teach them
subsistence lifestyle.

CHIP: The goal for summer
here is to
spend time with my kids

and my family, teaching them.

It's absolutely necessary
that we teach our kids
these survival skills

and these living skills.

You're making them
self-sufficient.

You know, you give
them exercise,
you give them adventure.

AGNES: They need
to learn to survive

and, you know,
to pass down to their kids

and try to keep it in our
Inupiat traditional manner.

It's something that you
have to be involved in.

I'm just undoing the tent,
and the first thing to do
is put up some shelter

so we can get out
of this cold, cold, cold wind.

Make everybody happy with
a little bit of fire and heat.

The kids grew up here
for quite some time.

The older kids grew up here.
This is actually
Ting's first home.

It's a good feeling to
be able to come out here,
live out here,

and happy to have
my sisters hunting with me.

So that they could know
and learn it too.

CHIP: You know,
your best friends are
the ones that you work with.

And I like to work
with my kids and show
them what I'm doing.

And we like to go to sleep
tired at the end of each day,

and have something to
look forward to and something
to show for our efforts.

CHIP: We got a fire going.

Gonna warm this place up.
We're gonna dry everybody out.

For the first night tonight
we're all gonna crowd
into the tent here,

into the tepee.
And we're gonna crash out.

At the end of the day,
when you're tired
and you're hungry,

basically most people
wanna get dry, get warm,
and go to bed.

And, uh, that's why
we do shelter first.

ANDY:
Every day is a workday here.

Can't afford to sit around
and not do anything out here.

You gotta get moving
every single day.

Springtime is here.
For me that means
building mode.

And so, I'm gonna be doing
some timber framing.

Learning a new skill,

and applying that skill
to putting a roof over
my doomsday raft,

and turning that into
a workshop for me.

Not enough.

The ends need to be tapered
so that it fits properly.

You know, when you live
out like this you've really
got to figure out,

you know, the best ways
to divide the labour.

I've cut a lot of the material
right now, but I need, uh,

five more of these 6 x 6s.

The most important thing
for me right now

is not to make
any major mistakes,

because this is all I have
left for building material.

NARRATOR: Living remotely,
resources are hard earned.

One mistake could cost
Andy days of work
and thousands of dollars.

On my second cut when
I went to cut it for length,

I had that sticking up,
so it raised this end up.

So, I went from
six inches to five inches,

and that sucks, because
that was a really good log.

These aren't easy to come by.

(LAUGHS) I gotta go out,
cut them a couple miles
away from home,

limb them, drag them in
with a snow machine,

stack them up,
roll them onto the mill.

It's not easy to
come by this material,

so when I screw up a good one,
it kind of pisses me off.

KATE: It's a new... A new
thing for him to do this post
and beam construction,

and sometimes he gets hurried.

And if you don't have
the patience to slow down

and just think about
what you're doing, and...

Or getting overconfident
with what you're doing,
things go wrong.

Okay, see. So, this is
where... Where it becomes
kind of tricky,

trying to get
everything to go together.

ANDY: We're at
a really critical point.

I've gotta make sure that
these centre post pegs

are gonna fall into the notch
as I raise this up.

I'd rather have my peg
just be slightly loose,

than have problems with it
splitting out the wood.

That one's perfect.

Ooh, Kate. God damn it.

Fuck!

I'm gonna drive
the pegs, okay?
That's really fucking bad.

God damn it.

The problem that
I'm having right now is that
my holes are off centre

just a little bit more than
the dowels are tapered for.

And so as the dowel starts to
come through the other side,

it wants to split the wood
out on the backside.

And that's not good,

'cause that's gonna
take a lot of the strength
out of the joint.

KATE:
This is all about precision,

so I guess when something
is off just a wee bit,
it can backfire in a hurry.

What I'm doing right now
is getting ready
to build a gin pole rig,

so I can lift this thing.

Getting that first part up
is gonna be the hard part.

That's the job
of the gin pole.

As it comes up,
the second thing
I have to worry about

is it going too far,
falling over.

And then the third thing
is as it comes up,

getting my little pegs to go
into the holes right there.

Once they're started,
I think we're all good.

I'm gonna get it up probably
about like this degree.

Try and get
those pegs lined up,

and then it's that last bit
when it comes up that
you're gonna have to

have a little bit of tension,
and then just,
I'll go a little bit,

and you let out a little bit.

Can we do a little practise?

Nope, there is no practise.

Okay.

Do or die, babe.

Every day counts
out here in the summertime.

So, every morning I wake up,
and I gotta be on task.

I gotta get humping,
get these jobs done,
and stay on schedule.

I'm gonna just push it
forward manually
and get those notches in.

Okay. Stop it there.

All right. We're in.

-You got fingers left?
-Yup.

All my bracing here
looks nice and tight.

These joints
are tight right here.

So, that's important,

'cause this is what
keeps it from racking
one way or the other.

It's time to start cutting
and measuring for round two.

Looks like a new house.

GLENN:
This is a very free lifestyle

because out here
nature dictates what I do,
but other people don't.

This is the tree
I'd like to use.

NARRATOR:
With limited food sources,

building a bridge will
allow Glenn better access
to hunting grounds.

It's in a good place.

Back a little ways from
the bank, and I think
it's just long enough.

Problem is...

It looks like it's
leaning back just a little.

Naturally, it would
wanna fall that way,

but I want it
to fall this way.

I think it's close enough
that I can make it fall over
this way with a wedge.

I'm gonna give it a try.

Yeah!

Now that I've got
the tree down,
I'm gonna limb it,

and I'm gonna cut
through it a couple more times
in order to make

bases for my bridge.

I'm almost through.

It's a big tree
to cut with an axe.

Got it.

Now, I've got two logs
for the foundation
of my bridge.

I just have to figure out how
to move them into place.

This is a heavy log.

About there.

Just making a little notch,
so the bridge
will be more stable.

There. That keeps it
from rolling.

I got a log here I need to
move to the other side.
I've got a rope tied on it.

Now I just need to cross
this creek one more time
and pull this log across.

Ow! I wanna get everything
in position on that side.

Gotta make one more crossing.
Cut this tree down.

It's gonna fall
perfectly across there
if everything goes right.

If everything goes wrong
it could fall
in the opposite direction.

Let's hope not.

I made it.

SUE: Spring wants to happen.

Winter is giving him
a run for its money.

You know, you've got
two of your main seasons
just going head to head.

Boom. Who's gonna win?

What I'm seeing
next to the dining hall,

unfortunately,
is back down to square one.

It's water.
You gonna come for a swim?

Went to bed,
and a bunch of rain came in.

Spring is rapidly approaching,

but somebody...
Somebody invited old man
winter to the spring party

without me realising it,

and I got
several inches of snow.

I don't know how much
water I've got
in the shop right now.

I can guarantee if I'm seeing
it here, it's there too.

In my shop I have
my generators.

They're up on palettes,
but it's possible
that it goes higher.

So, if it's getting close to
the battery and the electrics,

I've gotta get that water out.

My gosh.

I got more water in here.

Last night, I had this whole
area down to gravel.

And now it's water up to here.

So, I've definitely gotten
a lot of water
that's melted and run in.

I'm gonna have to
be Suzie on the spot,

and get in there
with both feet, both pumps,

and instead of letting those
pumps rest as much over
the... Over the evening,

I may just have to keep it
on a round the clock thing.

Burning up a pump
is a $5,000 mistake.

Letting camp flood is
a couple $100,000 mistake.

ANDY: It's gonna be
a challenging summer for us.

I don't run from that.
I embrace that.

I embrace the challenge,
and I embrace the physicality
of living out here.

All right. Gonna go together.

I'm kind of racing against
what looks like a rainstorm.

I'm really hoping
I can get this last bent up
before it starts raining.

It's time to kind of
beat the clock,

and try and beat this storm.

NARRATOR: With Alaska's
unpredictable weather,

Andy is creating a structure
that will allow him
to work in any condition.

Okay. Moment of truth.

KATE: There's so much
to be done this summer.

It's mind boggling,
and I don't...
I don't know

if these two old bodies
can handle it,
but we're sure gonna...

We're sure gonna try.

Ooh, that's not good.

One of those things that
happens at the end of the day

when you're tired,
and you wanna finish up,

and you're fighting,
trying to beat a storm coming,
taking shortcuts.

Shortcuts are never shortcuts.

I should know that by now.

I see what I did.
I measured wrong.

That was supposed to be one
inch, not an inch and a half.

So, that put the
hole too close
to the end of the tenon.

Ouch. Fuck. (LAUGHS)

Getting tired.

Yay.

All right.
Well, I got her done.

And I'm pooped out, (LAUGHS)

but it feels really sturdy,
and it looks good.

And it'll look really good
once I get some metal on it.

GLENN:
Really hard physical work,

and a very intellectually
challenging lifestyle

don't often go together
in the modern world
the way they do out here.

I'm just looking at the trees,

and what might happen
when I fell that tree that's
gonna make my bridge.

I got the base on this side.
I got the base
on the other side.

I just have to cut that tree,

and get it to fall
straight across here,
and I'll be all set.

This tree right here wants to
fall the opposite direction

from where I want it to go.

But it's a slight enough lean
that I'm hoping I can push it
over the other way.

I'm gonna try.

This notch has
to be perpendicular

to the direction
I want the tree to fall.

And it's a very narrow space
that I'm trying
to get it to fall into.

As I'm cutting in there,
the tree is gonna
wanna fall that way.

I'm gonna cut just
a little higher up than
the base of my notch.

Just a couple inches
up higher.

And I gotta be
really careful not to drop it
on myself obviously.

I have to get it,
get it back to about here

before I can really wedge it.

And the problem is,
I can't seem to get this saw
to go in any further now.

'Cause it's getting
a little bit pinched.

The wedge is too thin.

It's getting pushed
down into the wood.

See if I put
this axe right here,

it's much broader.

I really have to get
something pretty darn heavy
to pound on that with.

I've gotta think about this.

All I have is this axe.
Nothing to pound it.

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

Yes! Right in the right place.

Look at that. (CHEERING)
Look at this.

Awesome! All I gotta do
is limb it, and I got
a bridge right here.

Look at that. (LAUGHS)

Mother Nature
helped me out again.

I just had to wait for
a little breeze to come.

Look at that. Beautiful.

The notch went in here
and down like this.

And then I cut in from here,
and this was the hinge.

The problem was the blade
started getting pinched,

and I couldn't
saw any further.

And I pounded in this wedge.

The wedge is too narrow,
and it squashed into the wood.

But then the breeze came up,

and just that breeze
is what pushed it over.

Put the tree
right where I wanted it.
It couldn't be better.

This is perfect.

All I gotta do now is
cut the limbs off the top.

This is just gonna make
an awesome bridge.

Fortunes can change
pretty fast out here.

One minute I was worried
I wasn't gonna get that tree
to fall in the right spot,

and then the wind
blew it down exactly
where I wanted it.

Beautiful. I love this bridge.

This is a beautiful bridge.

I can just walk
across here now.

When I'm out
moose hunting in the fall,

I won't have to take
my clothes off every time
I go across the creek.

My bridge is done.

That's a beautiful bridge.

SUE: There's this pattern
that you must follow

to be a productive person
within the society.

Being able to do
what I want, when I want,

and how I want is why
I live out here alone.

You know, right now,
it's a waiting game.

NARRATOR: While the pumps work
around the clock, Sue tackles
another spring task.

SUE: So, while I've got time,
I'm going to do some laundry
and just wait it out.

270 to 300 days
is my average for being
totally alone out here,

dealing with
my solitary lifestyle.

Over the course of my
50 years, I've picked up
a lot of habits,

traits that culminate
in me being successful
at being very isolated.

You ready to jump in
afterwards, Erms? Huh?

This is not a lifestyle that
you wander into blindly,

and go "Oh, I think
I'll do this. It's cool!"

To do it here
is a conscious choice

that you're going to work
and earn whatever
money you can,

however you can to afford
a lifestyle that you care for.

I did not choose
to leave society.

I am just living my own life.

My own life is very content.

I find myself
incredibly entertaining.

I don't care where you live
or what you do for a living.

The only person
you're guaranteed

you're born with
and you die with
is the one in the mirror.

The only skin that is
not going to leave you
until you pass away

is the one you're born with,
your birthday suit.

Better make sure
that's somebody that
you enjoy being around.

CHIP: I've got my gunners,
and I'm the driver.

And we're all
a crew or a team.

And we'll be
teaching our children.

If we catch something,
they'll see the process
from beginning to end.

From death, till it feeds us
and gives us life.

We spent the first night in
a... All together kind of
clustered up in the tent,

but that's because
we got here so late,

and spent a lot of time
chasing caribou
that we didn't catch.

First thing you have to do
is have a place to store your
things out of the weather.

And being dry in
the Arctic is the big thing.

It can be 40 below,
you get wet, you're gonna die.

It can be 40 above,

if you get wet
you're gonna get chilled
and you'll be miserable.

We're not into that at all.

We're into living,
not just surviving,
so, no misery here.

(WHISTLES)

Um, we're just finishing
up a place to work.

This is a place where

if it's really bad weather,

and these women want
to cut fish, or cut meat,

or the kids wanna play,
just hang out,

we build a hut like this,
and this is kind of like
a waterproof shelter place

where everybody can work
and do their things.

-It needs to go over this way.
-It's already made
to be tied down, babe.

If you just keep pulling
it this way, it'll be good.

We separate our cooking
and meat cutting facility

from our sleeping facility,
from our kids'
little bedrooms.

There's a lot of good,
good family time out here.

We're usually
working together.

It's just like bonding.
It makes you closer.

We got the shelter
taken care of, which is
a really good thing.

'Cause we need to be
able to shelter ourselves,
and keep our stuff dry,

and then now
we're gonna work on food.

Agnes, I'm gonna take off.

Okay. I'm just gonna keep
fixing this, and arranging
it the way I want it.

-I'll be back with firewood.
-Okay.

Be safe!

Yup, yup. See you guys later.

It's a very diverse place.

You know, you've got
the trees upriver. You've
got the ocean downriver.

We got the mountains
all around us,

so we have chances
of seeing almost anything
and everything.

If we go get firewood,
we have a possibility
of getting geese,

getting swans,
getting any kind of birds.

There's caribou
running around.

Caribou, caribou, caribou!
There's lots of
caribou crossing.

-Get your gun. Ting! Caribou!
-Where?

Come on. Shh!
Bunch of caribou coming over.

I love caribou.

Oh, wow.
There's a ton of them.

You know, animals don't
tell you when they're
gonna show up.

You gotta be ready
basically anytime.

You gotta have
a gun for every occasion.

You gotta have your eyes open,
and you have to pay attention.

(WHISPERING)
Okay, here they come.

They're still just
getting to the water.

All right, they're
just about to cross.

Now.
Sit down and shoot.

There it goes, Ting. Now.

(GUNSHOTS) Yee, too high.

Again.

(GUNSHOTS)

-Jeez.
-(GUNSHOTS)

(GUNSHOTS)

It's not going anywhere.
He's... They're dying.

(GUNSHOTS)

-Oh, your mum got it.
-Like that.

Those are the two.
That's it.

No more.
No other caribou. Those two.

One wounded,
and it's standing there,
but it ain't going anywheres.

We have one right here,
and it's just down, but it's
trying to get back up.

I'm gonna go get the boat.

We're gonna cross the river
and get the two caribou that
the women were shooting.

We try to get all of our kids
into the caribou game.

That's what we call it,
it's the game.

-The game of getting game.
-Come on.

We gotta go fast
'cause we have a wounded one
across there,

and we don't want
him to get away.

We don't wanna track him.
We don't wanna
carry him forever.

Follow me, Ag.

He's right there.

(GUNSHOTS)

There you go. Now he's down.

AGNES: This is the place
where we like to sit and stay,

and just wait for all
the animals to come to us.

So, we're blessed to
have this real great spot.

-That's a good-sized one.
-He's done.

Yesterday we had the same...
The same thing come to us.

Except for we were in a boat.

We were in
a heavily loaded boat,
and we had no speed,

and shooting from a tippy boat
like this is kind of crazy.

But today they were here just
shooting at moving animals,

and the animals
lurch and move,
and you know how it goes.

You can't just connect
every time, but today,
they've connected.

It's a bit better
than yesterday,

and this rounds out
our getting camp ready

because now
we have fresh meat.

We'll be eating good tonight,
and tomorrow, and the next day
and the next week.

We have no worries.

Yeah. We have food security.

-Yup.
-And one caribou will last
us for about a week.

My oldest daughter
and my wife,

they set a really good
example for the younger ones.

And the younger ones
will probably follow.

I just got myself
a gun for my birthday,

so I was testing out my
new gun with the scope,
and I got one of them.

Two, three, go...

AGNES: Now that
we have food security,

we can easily just
go about our business.

We have wood to go get.

We have some travelling to do,
and check out
the whole entire area.

For now, we're set
for the next couple weeks.

Yum.

For us this is like
going to work
and getting the job done,

and it's a job well done.

ANDY: Life is good out here.

It's what you make of it,
and for me, everything
is made with my hands.

And that's important to me.

So, a month ago

I was out in the woods
cutting trees

with this project in mind.

The project's done,
and it turned out about
the way I'd hoped it would.

This technique is not
the technique to use
if you're in a hurry.

But I guarantee this building
will be here long after

anything that I built
with stick framing.

Probably took me
about eight days to do this,
including cutting the trees.

So, you know, a little over
a week's worth of my time
to build a 16 x 16 cabin.

Started really being
fascinated with

timber frame when
I was about 16 years old,

and I didn't even know
I would be a carpenter at
that point in time in my life,

but here it is 40 years later.
I'm finally doing it. (LAUGHS)

It's a great way to build.

It's definitely slower.

It's definitely a lot more
meticulous type of work,

but it'll be around
for a long time.

All right.

Man, I'll be glad when
I don't have to climb
any more ladders for a while.

I feel good.
It was a good
early spring project.

I've got a pretty full
summer of making sawdust.

Having this is gonna
make a big difference in
the bad weather days for sure.

SUE: I'm the only one
that I count on in the winter
to get my chores done.

You know, the only ass that
gets kicked for not completing
the job is my own.

Well, I definitely
got some new snow.
Winds got pretty wild.

So, I'm interested.
I'm gonna check
the generator out.

See if all the proactive
stuff I did

making channels, pumping,
you know, did it do
what I wanted it to do?

Yeah, look at that.

All my hard work has paid off.

You know,
I took the opportunity

before everything happened
to get ahead of the flood.

Last year, 22 foot of snow,

then 110 degrees,
and it was a wall of water.

This year I was able
to get ahead of the game,
direct it, and it worked.

So, the water was up to here.

Well, you can see,
and now it's down to there.

Am I gonna have more flooding?

Yeah, I can't have
a white landscape,

turn it to green without
some more water coming in.

But getting ahead of the game,

giving it a path
to get where it actually
wants to live, that's good.

I'm really pleased
at having the ability

to stay ahead of
the game on the flooding.

So, I've got more coming,
but it's manageable.

Being able to channel,
utilising the road,

the slope of
the tundra itself,

you know, saved the bacon
on camp this year.

The river is down
from what it was,

but when you freeze,
it slows everything down.

You don't have that
free flow of water.

There's a little bit of sun
going to be coming out.

(IMITATES RUSHING WATER)
It's going to flow again.
It's going to happen.

Your basic push
to the beginning
of the thaw is over.

It's done.
The river is broken.
It's free flowing.

The river's breaking
is a huge deal emotionally

because for
all of us it's like,

(GASPS) "Winter is over,
the end is in sight."

I can handle
the tundra flowing.

The river and how
that backs up,

and how the water coming off
the tundra is impeded

getting to it is what causes
you your problems.

The thaw is going to be
a continual thing this year.

I'll just handle it
as it comes,
'cause that's what I do.

Kavik's going to be
open for business.