Original subtitles

Yeah! Another mile closer to dawson.

Being on the water Is dangerous.

Out here, One wrong move,

And you're a dead man.

I don't really like What I'm seeing.

Do you guys want to try to Pull in just past this part?

Yeah, there's a spot Right up there.

- This is not good. - This ice is sketchy.

You get sucked under the ice, They never find your body.

It's right... right here. Got it?

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Watch your step.

We're getting kind Of pulled upstream.

Whoa, parker! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

My.

In march 2016,

Parker's grandpa, John schnabel, passed away.

He came to alaska with nothing.

He had 100 bucks in his pocket.

And bought a steamship ticket Up to haines.

Goodbye.

I miss him.

He taught me a huge amount.

I'm proud of you, Parker.

What I have gone through Is nothing.

Compared to what he went through To be successful.

This is a tribute to him.

To honor His gold-mining grandfather,

Parker is attempting to retrace The legendary klondike trail.

Just 40 years Before john schnabel.

Came to the gold fields,

100,000 people Risked their lives.

Racing north On the last great gold rush.

70,000 never made it.

Now, parker and three friends Want to see.

If they can measure up To the pioneers.

We might get By this stuff.

But because parker was Gold mining into the fall,

They're going at The worst possible time.

That ice is bad.

Lack of food is bad. It's not good.

The big freeze threatens.

To slam shut The route north.

And the struggle With food and cold...

No, we are not going anywhere Near that bank, dude.

No way.

Will test their friendship To the breaking point.

You know me well enough to know I'm not going to relax.

That's one thing I don't do.

It's going to be damn tough, And we have a long ways to go.

Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com.

Captions paid for by Discovery communications.

Push hard, boys.

Parker and his friends.

Are 20 days into Their grueling trek north.

They're attempting To cross a wilderness.

Full of hostile predators,

Where temperatures drop As low as minus-81 degrees.

That wind Is so cold.

Yep. How are your feet?

Cold as So are mine.

Yep. I should've worn more socks.

We need to shoot some beavers And wrap our feet In their pelts.

Sounds good.

What do you think Of our chances, karla?

James, put down Your camera and paddle.

We got to make Some miles, big-time.

It'll get colder Pretty quick here.

So it's time to put The paddles in the water.

Twenty days ago, they set out.

From parker's home In haines, alaska.

They've survived 225 miles Of mountains, lakes, and rivers.

And made it as far north As lake laberge.

Their goal... Another 375 miles north.

Is dawson city In the klondike,

Where they plan to find gold And stake a claim.

But the temperature Is dropping fast,

And the winter freeze Could stop them at any time.

We just got To keep paddling.

Yep. Paddle hard. Paddle hard.

To have any chance Of reaching dawson city,

They need to make a solid 40 miles each and every day.

It turns up to the right A wee bit, guys.

We can head that way,

But it doesn't really Save you anything.

Have you spent much time Rowing on rivers?

I've spent a lot of time On rivers, yeah.

Yeah, rowing and actually Relying on the current?

It's just that Sticking in the current,

Long-term, is faster.

Yeah, I understand that.

But what I'm saying is that It's going straight this way,

So by us heading that way,

It doesn't really Get us anywhere.

Yeah, so we've actually got Ourselves out of the current,

Whereas we want to stay In the current the whole time.

But you just said, "Current is over there."

Yeah, because We're not in it.

We need to be trying to Stay in it all the time.

For sake. It makes sense.

No, it doesn't.

Why do you feel You have to contradict me.

Or ridicule Everything I say?

Wow, you're such An interesting character.

Shut the up, james.

I'm cold. I'm tired. I'm hungry.

And I don't need this

Parker reminds me of me When I was 20.

That's what's terrifying.

Very quick to react And aggressive.

Is it just me, Or is it getting colder?

It's just you, I think.

Nope, it's not just me.

Ice.

Holy I don't like it.

Look at the size Of those ice sheets.

Yeah, I mean, This is the first time.

We've really seen Serious ice on the yukon,

And there's a lot of it.

That's not good.

The temperature has dropped 2 degrees in four hours,

And today, they've only Traveled 13 miles,

But the light Is fading fast.

We've got to camp Somewhere tonight.

Yeah, I mean, we have to find A place before dark.

Yeah. That's for damn sure.

Okay, boys, Let's pick a good spot.

Let's head to shore.

As well as needing To make camp before nightfall,

It's been 24 hours.

Since they've had A proper meal.

Their available protein sources.

Include grayling, rabbits, Ducks, and grouse.

I don't like the look Of that ice at all.

Well, I just want To get to the shore,

So let's do it.

Okay, we're going to need Some momentum.

Let's try to charge through this And see how it goes.

Ooh.

Whoa.

Get in the thicker stuff, And...

Whoa!

How solid is it?

I don't know.

I'm not real comfortable In this.

- This is mental. - No way, dude.

- Careful. - That's dangerous.

Just be careful, mate.

- Parker! - I'm fine.

If you fall in this water, You're screwed.

Yeah watch it.

It's pretty thick.

James, maybe if you ice ax On your left side,

And we could kind of Pull the boat along?

Yeah.

This is horse.

Got it?

Yeah.

My.

That hurt.

Just come over here, James.

Watch those ice axes.

Yeah.

Me.

That's a lot of ice Built up on shore...

A lot, a lot of ice.

What do they call that, Shelf ice?

Shelf ice, yeah.

That ain't good. No.

That's dangerous.

We need some food, Though.

So we're going hunting Or what?

Yeah. Okay. Good luck.

At this temperature,

They each need 4,000 calories A day to sustain paddling.

We're in some serious.

This ice is bad,

We're hungry all the time,

And we're nowhere Near as far north.

As we need to be.

Any luck?

No. Couldn't find anything.

This is really Bad news, man.

Yeah, this is bad.

Lack of food is bad.

But...

I don't like that, The amount of ice around here.

If the ice is this bad here, The hell are we...

- Yeah, yeah. I know. - It's going to get worse.

We might get By this stuff.

Relax. You know me well enough.

To know I'm not going To relax.

Okay, well let's... That's one thing I don't do.

All right. Why are you getting so angry?

I'm fed up, actually. I'm really fed up.

You know, parker brought me Along to film this thing,

And all he ever does Is give me.

And I don't know If I can take it much more.

We're headed towards the ice, That's for sure.

I mean, we learned that today.

We make a mistake on that, And you're dead pretty quick.

That's the Nightmares are made of,

And I don't want anything To do with it.

That shelf ice Is pretty sketchy.

If you fall through that, You're a dead man.

I don't want to die out here, So, I don't know.

It's just getting Colder and colder,

And I'm tired and hungry.

I think I really Underestimated the challenge.

That we've got here Trying to find gold.

If this weather keeps Getting colder like this,

It really jeopardizes Everything.

We're bucking the odds here.

We got to find a spot Where we can get out.

Up ahead...

No, we are not going anywhere Near that bank, dude.

No way.

How about the other bank, then?

That's a bunch Of shelf ice.

Then what about the other bank? No, dude.

The current is ripping Under the shelf ice.

We're not going near Any of the bank.

Parker, get up. We've got to Pull this tent down, dude.

Working on it.

I need my beauty sleep.

Parker, get up.

Parker just sucks At getting up on time.

It's cold out here.

Parker schnabel And his friends.

Are honoring his grandpa.

By attempting the Legendary klondike trail.

The bottom of our tent Is pretty stiff.

Poles are frozen.

Yeah, they've been Freezing up at night.

Definitely getting cold.

We still got a lot Of miles to make.

Because the mining season Only ended a few weeks ago,

They're having to Attempt the journey.

At the most dangerous time Of year.

Food is scarce,

And temperatures Are dropping fast.

Last night, they hit shelf ice,

And the yukon river Is about to freeze over.

All right. Guys, I'm changing the plan.

I'm really worried We're not going to make it.

To dawson before the freeze,

So we're going to start Prospecting ahead of schedule.

This is something I know a little bit about...

Finding gold.

Boom. Let's do it.

Parker and his crew are already Approaching gold country.

So this is where We're hoping to get today.

Yeah. So where that creek comes In, that's called cape horn.

That might be a good first spot To stop and check out.

I mean, when we get there, Obviously,

This ground is all frozen.

So trying to sample it Is going to be tough.

Yeah.

Yeah, we're going to have to Get a little more creative.

Over the last 20 days,

They've covered A total of 238 miles.

On the klondike trail.

Their next destination...

An area known as cape horn.

From this point on, There are gold-bearing creeks.

Feeding into the yukon river.

Parker, paddle harder.

Cape horn, here we come. Some cape horn gold!

Is this it?

I don't know. I think that is cape horn.

We're in gold country. We're renewed.

Yeah. Whoo!

What I'd really like To find is a feeder creek.

That we can stake, you know,

But the first step.

Is to find a pan Full of gold somewhere.

Yeah, I mean, this looks like An old river channel.

We could try it out. Really?

This might be a good Fishing spot, too, actually.

I'm gold mining now, Not fishing.

Let's try a first pan of dirt.

Really? Right there?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Pull in on that Beach right there.

Are we doing it? We got to paddle hard, then.

Hard into that beach, please.

What's that? Hard into that beach.

Why don't you pick up A paddle, then?

Because I'm filming about What's going to happen, parker.

You know how it works.

For sake.

Wow.

Time to use this for something Other than.

Holding grouse meat and trash.

Let's see if we can Find some dirt.

That's a good low spot You're standing in, rick.

Finding an unstaked gold claim.

Is a key part Of parker's mission.

To relive the pioneers' trail.

So, we sink the first pick.

That looked badass.

There's some Nice-sized boulders.

That's a good sign.

This is definitely An old creek channel.

There's some Good dirt down there.

Okay.

All right.

I like this spot.

Rick, want to stay here And fish with me?

I'm going to stay and fish. I'm starving.

Me too.

You think parker seems Quite stressed out?

Yeah.

Parker has a tough time Dealing with people.

James is definitely Getting under his skin a bit.

Yeah! Hello!

First cast?

Yeah.

What is that, A grayling?

Grayling. Yes!

Fresh fish tonight, boy!

Sorry, bud. You're dinner.

That's a nice-sized one.

I'm usually not very careful When I'm panning,

But I'm being A little more careful now.

Got another one! Boys!

Get it on the beach!

Good work, karla!

How many we got now?

I don't know, six or seven. Be eating good tonight.

Those are big graylings.

Any gold yet?

No.

Working on it.

The crew will finally eat,

But parker needs to find gold And stake a claim.

Holy

what?

There's a flake of gold. You're kidding me.

Nope. Right there.

Holy.

Whoa!

First pan right here.

What?! Are you sure?

I've got to go show rick.

What are you Smiling about?

Dude, we've got gold.

Shut the up.

No way.

It's not very much.

But first pan Right off the top.

Where's that little.

There it is. There it is. Yep.

Yep, that's him.

No.

My.

Wow.

Gold.

There you go.

That's awesome.

Okay, so I have to Think about this.

I want to do A better sample.

I think we should build A little sluice box.

Maybe even make it A bit of a rocker.

Like, that way, You need less water.

Like the old-style rocker boxes. They have a handle.

And you're good At this kind of stuff.

120 years ago,

The rocker box was the pioneers' High-tech solution.

To separating gold From pay dirt.

It's a sluice box with a series Of riffles or ridges.

Water washes the pay dirt Over the riffles.

The mud washes out As it's rocked,

And any gold should settle In the fabric at the bottom.

It's the beginnings Of a sluice box.

I've never built a sluice box. How hard could it be?

I'll let rick do this.

I can't cut straight To save my life.

So, it's going To be our base.

That's going to be our base? Yeah.

Cut in half, And that way, it can rock.

Got to start off slow.

We got our bases.

Could be the bottom Of our sluice box.

This is our spare paddle.

I was thinking we could Cut this into four sections.

For legs for this,

And then we could even Make riffles, probably.

Yeah.

Measure once. Cut three times.

So, here's all I got For nails.

We don't have a lot To work with here.

The rocker is going To look ridiculous,

But hopefully, it works.

That's our matting For our sluice box.

This poor shirt.

We all make sacrifices.

100 years ago, They were building sluice boxes.

Just like this with scraps,

And, you know,

They didn't have A saw this nice.

So, if they could do it.

And make their fortunes, We can slap one together.

And find at least Some college gold.

One rocking sluice box.

First scoop.

Let it rock.

She's holding together.

Do you feel like An old-timer yet?

I feel ancient.

This reminds me Of big nugget,

Before my grandpa stopped Running the place so much.

He had a part of the wash plant That you had to, like,

Do it all by hand. Really?

Yeah, that's what They did every day.

Well, what did your grandpa Used to say?

"Nothing ventured, Nothing gained."

I'm pretty confident In our little box here, though.

If there's gold here, We'll find it.

Yeah.

What are we hoping for?

I mean, I'd really like to see, You know, 10 colors out of this.

The 10 flakes Is worth claiming?

I would say so.

All right. I'm going to go pan this.

God.

I'm going to be right here bricks.

I hope there's some gold In this thing.

It's been a long trip To get here.

I can't tell you how Nervous I am right now.

Parker and his friends Are honoring his grandpa.

By retracing the original 600-mile gold rush trail.

Like the pioneers That came before them,

Their goal is To arrive in dawson.

And to stake a claim.

After 5 hours prospecting, They're about to find out.

If they've struck Gold-rich ground.

We've fought a long battle Just to get here.

You know what I mean?

And it'd be nice To see this work out.

Well, we didn't improve much.

Three flakes.

Wow.

There's one, two, three.

Bummer.

Actually, there's quite a bit More in here than I thought.

There's the four.

Yeah.

There's another one. Yes!

There's one right there, And there's one right up there.

And there's two Right there.

See them? Yeah.

There might be 10 colors in here yet.

Are you serious? Yeah.

And there's a couple more.

There's probably A dozen colors in there.

No.

You're impressed, Rick, clearly.

I mean, you've seen What we just did.

We threw some shovelfuls Of dirt.

Through a load of twigs And a sweater.

And a paddle. And a paddle!

Yeah. An old cut-up paddle.

And there's a pan full of gold.

Yeah, I mean, this isn't The mother lode,

But we found it just like The old-timers.

Dude. Let's find some posts.

And stake our claim. All right.

Let's do it.

The rules For staking a claim in the yukon.

Are the same As they were in 1897.

It needs a name And a pair of boundary posts.

So other prospectors know It's off-limits.

There was no posts around, So let's do it.

My grandpa would've been Right here,

Had he been my age with us.

Yeah. You know?

He would've loved This.

Yeah, he would've loved this.

What are we naming the claim?

I don't know. Let's not overthink this.

What is your grandpa john's Boat's name?

The excuse me. Excuse me.

No.

Perseverance?

Perseverance.

That was the name Of your grandpa's boat, right?

Yeah.

That'd be cool.

Yeah, let's do it.

- Took a lot of that to get here. - He'd be honored.

I'm honored. Let's do that.

You have it tattooed On your hand, don't you?

You're damn right, I do.

There's the spelling.

I'll let you write it. Sweet.

Perseverance.

That's pretty cool.

Just months after John schnabel passed,

Rick also lost a grandfather.

Do you think he'd be proud Of what you've achieved so far?

I think He'd be proud.

Yeah?

I mean, this was One hell of a journey.

My grandpa had a lot of great Feats in his life.

That was the name of his Last boat, was the perseverance.

It was a 50-foot troller.

He built it in his 70s... Really?

Because he couldn't find A boat that he liked,

So it's named The perseverance.

Because that's what it took him To get there, really.

That's what I remember About him.

Beautiful.

This is the first claim I've ever staked.

It's pretty cool that you can Still do this, you know?

This is the same exact way They did it 120 years ago.

My grandpa would've loved it. Yeah.

Too bad he's not Around to see us do it.

We staked claim, boys. Whoo!

Yeah.

Piece of paradise Here in the yukon.

Now we've got to get To dawson and record it.

But tonight, they celebrate.

With the seven grayling Karla caught.

What's for dinner, rick? Fish.

Welcome to karla's Outdoor cooking show.

Hello, everyone.

Wow, does that fish Look good.

I think we need the fat To power up for our future.

Thank you for not Letting us starve.

You're welcome.

So, we found gold today,

And that's the uplift That we all really needed.

I'm really glad That we named the claim.

After rick's grandpa's boat.

You know, he's lost a grandpa Just like me,

So that's tough for both of us.

And I think that this trip And this day.

And everything That we've gone through.

And everything that We've gone through together.

Means a lot to both of us.

The part of today that kind of Really stuck out for me was,

You know, I threw out the name "Perseverance" for the claim.

And parker kind of jumped At that and agreed to it.

And he knows what That means to me.

That's my grandpa, basically.

It really actually meant A lot more than I let on,

And I think everybody wants To make their family proud,

And I do, as well.

And I hope carrying that out Here on this journey with me,

You know, makes him proud,

Because I'm proud To carry it with me.

Anyways, love you, family.

And from the middle of Effing nowhere in the yukon,

I know you think I'm crazy.

Love you guys. Good night.

How far Do we have to paddle?

Far. -Yeah, we've got Some miles to make.

It's getting Cold out here.

Can't wait to do this All day.

This snow is bumming me out, Man.

Not quite how I imagined it.

To reach dawson On schedule...

Damn, we're hauling ass Through this current.

Parker and his crew still Need to average 40 miles a day.

What's the story Right now?

Well, I'm a little worried About getting to dawson.

Staking a claim Doesn't mean anything.

Unless you get To the mining recorder office.

And record it.

The crew's paddled 150 miles.

In the last 4 days,

Taking them almost As far as minto.

But they still have Another 200 miles of yukon river.

Before they reach Their destination,

Dawson city.

And the temperature Is dropping daily.

Boy. Whoa.

I don't really like What I'm seeing.

This is ugly.

This is, like, Freezing up proper.

Just keep moving is the most, Probably, important thing.

Well, I'll try, But my paddle is hitting ice.

Karla, have you ever been In anything like this before?

This is crazy. No, I don't travel.

During this time of the year In the river.

I don't think anybody does. No one does.

It's like trying To paddle through concrete.

We're pretty Jammed up in it, now.

We're not making miles in this, That's for sure.

All you can do is drift with it.

We sure as ain't Floating to dawson like this.

And it's only going To get worse.

I mean, my big concern Is we can't be In the darkness.

And there's only, what, Six hours of daylight now?

Yeah. Yeah.

That's when this starts getting Really dangerous.

All right. Well, we've got to find a spot.

Where we can get out Because this is bull.

No, we are not going anywhere Near that bank, dude.

No way.

How about the other bank, then?

That's a bunch Of shelf ice.

We're not going there. Then what about the other bank?

No, dude.

The current is ripping Under the shelf ice.

We're not going anywhere Near any of the banks.

Well, we need to get out Of this one way or another.

Yeah, dude, I get that.

But we're going to Find a better spot.

When you're freaking Out, stupid decisions get made.

Yeah, and if we're on that When that breaks off,

You're going in the Drink with a concussion.

Yeah.

That's some serious Hypothermia.

This is how you die And they never find your body.

Yeah.

All right, well, Then we got to continue on.

Until we find a spot Because this is bull

I don't like it.

Just as they always feared,

The river is freezing Around them.

A big chunk of ice Coming up.

They're forced to drift With the current.

Until they can find A safe place to land.

Do you guys want to try to Pull in just past this part?

Yeah, there's a spot Right up there.

That'll work. All right.

Easy, james.

Yeah, that's.

It's pretty solid, So we could probably do it.

You think so? Yeah, just here.

I'll bring her around.

I don't know.

Get your paddle.

Just right here. You got her?

Yeah, yeah. My god.

We're kind of getting Pulled downstream.

Parker, whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

You got her? Yeah. Yeah.

We're kind of getting Pulled downstream.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Dude, get to shore! Get to shore.

Parker, get to shore. Hold on!

Guys, get up there.

Holy

James, get him up there.

The freezing water Is cold enough.

To cause fatal hypothermia.

Rick, get on that side. Yeah, I'm working it.

They have just 15 minutes To get parker warm.

Can you at least Get your clothes off? Ditch your gear, dude.

I don't want to take My clothes off.

Yeah, you have to.

We're getting you in warm, Dry clothes.

In his wet clothes,

He's losing heat five times Faster than normal.

Rick, fire asap, Hot water.

This wood Is.

Ditch all your gear.

Can you feel your hands? Not really.

I can't get this thing off.

Lack of coordination And confusion.

Are signs that his core body Temperature is plummeting.

I can't feel my feet at all.

Yeah, dude, got to Get those pants off.

Rick, fire. You guys, We've got like 5 minutes.

This wood Is garbage.

Shoes off. Do you guys have extra shoes?

They're right in the canoe. Yeah, I'll go grab them.

It's so cold, My lighter won't work.

James, I need some Different fire starter.

- Coming. - Your camera,

Just grab some Fire starter.

Fire is crucial right now.

Grab this. You take care of that.

I'll go get some more dry stuff. All right?

I can't feel my feet Or my ankles.

- Here. - It's cold.

Get into that.

Yep, do her up.

Okay. That's taking off now.

Okay. Feed him That warm water.

Do you feel warmer?

My feet Are still icicles,

But the rest of me Is warming up.

You sure? Yeah.

I'm sorry That happened.

That was dumb.

Pretty damn close call.

When you popped up Out of that water,

You looked like you Didn't know what happened.

I didn't know what happened. I was looking at your paddle.

Because I saw your paddle In the water.

It must've fell out the boat. It was in the water for sure.

So we only have Three paddles.

I don't know, It's just getting sketchy.

Do you guys Not think that?

We've been floating Down the river.

With chunks of ice For a while now,

And I think today,

We got a free warning, All right?

Because that could've been A lot worse.

120 years ago, We wouldn't have had any choice.

But to push off Back in the water,

And a lot of The old-timers died.

Yeah.

Yeah. Huge number of them died.

So, whatever there is left To prove ain't worth dying for.

All right?

This.

Who's got the sat phone?

Parker calls for help.

On the production's Emergency phone.

Yeah.

We're having to Pull out of the river.

Yeah, I know it's a bummer.

All right. Thanks. Bye.

We have to deal with These canoes, though, too.

Basically, today is the end Of our river trip.

Yeah, it's a tough decision,

Not really one That came easily for me.

I'm definitely Pretty goal-oriented,

And so it's a bit of a bummer.

Yeah. Let's just get her apart.

But, you know, We're still getting to dawson.

We're still going To make it there.

Just not on the river anymore.

Because we can't have Somebody getting hurt.

Watch out! Could've been worse.

You know, I'm pretty thankful.

That parker made the call To pull out.

It's getting unsafe. That's kind of the bottom line.

And that's how You winterize a canoe.

Perfect. We'll pick them up In the spring.

On our way to work, rick.

Yeah, buddy.

Goodbye, yukon river.

I mean, there's a little bit Of sadness there.

You know, we're not going To make it all the way to Dawson in the canoes,

But I'm not going to Let that bum me out.

About what we actually Did get done,

Which is something, "A," I never thought that I would do.

And, "B,".

Something that I never Thought I could do.

It's a 2-mile hike To a small airstrip.

Where parker's called in A ski-plane.

Well, it's just got to Be up here somewhere.

Well, I'm no pilot,

But this looks like An airstrip to me.

The weather looks good.

Hopefully, it'll be Able to drop in here.

Light the flares.

Plane!

That is sweet.

Whoo-hoo!

Yeah!

There's our ride!

Hell yeah.

After nearly a month On the original gold rush trail,

Parker and his friends Have been forced.

To abandon The frozen yukon river.

All I'm seeing down there Is a ton of ice, man.

It's nasty.

I'm sure as hell glad we're not Down there in boats right now.

No, we got out At a good time.

We're in dawson city.

We're alive. Yeah.

Whoo!

Parker and his crew have Finally arrived in dawson city,

The heart of the klondike.

Of the 100,000 old-timers Who risked their lives.

In the legendary gold rush,

Only one in three made it.

For them, dawson city Was a millionaire's playground.

At its height, A piece of prime real estate.

Cost up to $16 million In today's money.

And a bottle of champagne, $1,600.

Claim recorder office Is across from this building.

That is past this steam wheeler.

But getting to dawson Wasn't the end.

For the lucky few Who found gold-rich ground.

It meant nothing until They'd registered their claim.

At the dawson city Recorder's office.

Any last-minute Concerns, mate?

Yeah, the only concern I have Is if it's already been staked,

But there was no posts around.

But you never know.

Posts can rot away.

Okay, good luck.

Howdy. Hello.

Good.

Can I record a claim, Please?

Do you think It's been staked?

It is.

It's just above Hootalinqua.

Yeah, time will tell.

There we are.

So, it's just Below cape horn,

Which is in the top right There.

Yeah.

It doesn't look like There's any claims in there.

Perfect.

That's good news! Yeah, sounds like it's open.

All right. Thank you for the help.

All right. Perfect.

Thank you.

Really? Got it!

Who were you On the phone with?

Yeah.

Got ourselves a yukon claim. Nice!

All right. Let's go drink a beer.

Hells yeah. To the beer!

Parker, rick, Karla, and james.

Have tested themselves Against the old-timers of 1897.

The freezing river forced them.

To complete the journey By plane,

But otherwise, They've achieved their ambition.

We've got a claim.

There's nothing left But to celebrate.

- Thanks for the journey, boys. - That was a blast.

No, thank you guys for coming Along with this crazy ride.

For us. Cheers.

Cheers. Cheers!

Yeah, I mean, this has been A real adventure.

And that's what I was Looking for, you know?

When we left at the end Of our mining season,

The yukon river Was already freezing up.

Whether we like it Or not, here we go.

We knew we were in For one hell of a ride.

And one hell of a race Against the winter.

How long until We get to the car?

It was brutal.

- Yeah. - This is madness.

- Watch out! - Holy.

Dudes, we are not moving.

And we got a very small taste.

Of what the old-timers Went through.

They were some Damned-tough old guys.

We're sailing!

Whoo!

The gold rush trail Goes through.

Some of the most untouched Wilderness in the world.

It's truly some Beautiful country.

I've had some of The best times of my life.

With some very good friends Of mine.

Whoo! Yeah!

Whoo-hoo!

It's just cool.

My grandpa would be damn proud Of what we've achieved.

He was a real pioneer of alaska, One of the originals.

It was a taste of what all Our grandparents went through,

And so let's cheers To them.

Cheers. Whoo!

To our heritage. To the old-timers.

Whoo! To the old-timers.

It was a great trip.

A lot of good memories.

I just wish my grandpa Could've been here with us.

Thought about him Every step of the way.

We're not here to be polite. We're here for the truth.

After the toughest Journey of their lives,

Parker and three Best friends share.

What really happened On the trail.

It's all coming back to me. I have ptsd right now.

They reveal The pain...

you, nature.

The struggle...

That's when it finally hit me, Like...

"Something bad Is going to happen here."

I can't feel my feet at all.

Rick, fire, you guys, We got, like, 5 minutes.

And the conflict...

That nearly Tore them apart...

I was in control.

You just going to leave us over There, sitting on the beach?

How the Was I supposed to know it?

Found out pretty quickly That I didn't like that.

He's a.

And how close They came to disaster.

- We're getting kind of... - -whoa!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

All of a sudden, "A nice hike in the yukon,".

Turns into best friend dying.

In never-before-seen Footage...

Their secrets are exposed.

- That was being taped? - Yeah.

Don't tell my mom.

That's parker, isn't it?

He's just kind of...

Yeah. I'm sorry.

And for the first time,

Parker confronts his grief.

For his beloved grandpa john.

For me, this trip was An important part of dealing.

With my grandfather's death.

The sensible thing for this trip.

Would've been to leave,

You know, 2 months Before we did.

But the last 2 weeks Of our mining season,

We made almost a million bucks.

So we couldn't leave That behind,

And we had to leave When we had to leave.

Rick hasn't had breakfast.

Well, we need to feed rick. Want some scrambled eggs?

- Sure. - Rick and I talked.

To a lot of people about Doing this trek on the phone.

When we first got To haines.

Hi. I'm looking for jeff.

Hey, jeff. My name's rick ness.

I was hoping to talk To you a little bit.

About the chilkoot trail.

And we're trying To take off next week.

Yeah.

There was not a single person.

That could tell us It was a good idea.

To go on the trip This time of year.

It was just like, "No," you know,

"You're going to die."

All right. Well, man, I appreciate your insight.

Bye.

He was telling me someone did The trip this time of year,

And they made it to Within 20 miles of dawson,

Then got locked up in the ice, And they never made it.

Did they die? Yeah.

Nobody.

Of course, I'm always listening.

This was, like, 1,000 years ago.

When people Weren't so tough.

Parker is a goal-oriented guy, And that's great.

And I'm happy for that.

But this is something That's not in his control.

You cannot Buck the weather.

You know, it was just Nonsense to even think.

About trying to do it At that time,

But we didn't really Have another option.

I mean, being prepared Is all relative, right?

We had a lot more preparations Than most of the people.

That went on this trek 120 years ago.

They had, like, sheepskin And a dead fox on their head.

This is madness.

Look out.

Yeah, those guys.

We spoke to were right.

This is, like, Freezing up proper.

- But you know what? - Careful.

We're getting kind of...

whoa! Whoa, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Parker!

I don't regret a thing.

Everybody rolling? Sync clap.

One, two, three...

Boom.

If that won't do it, James says that'll do it.

This adventure is like Nothing parker's done before.

Filmmaker james forces The four friends.

To become camera operators.

You're each going to have One of these mini cameras.

Rolling all the time, Nothing missed ever.

All right. First test.

I do not know How to use a camera.

I've spent the last 6 years Of my life in front of a camera,

For the most part.

But I'm not a filmmaker.

Gopro rig.

I swear to I'm going to shoot somebody.

How the Do I get this thing on.

What the? So that goes...

This piece of.

And then you have To pack this thing.

Like, what do They expect us to do,

Get lost for 2 months?

What the Am I going to do with this?

Not my idea of fun.

I hated the minicams.

Chuck this gopro battery At somebody's head.

Mine's just Dragging my pants off.

I find it hilarious that I have A gopro pointed at me,

And I have a gopro pointed At the gopro.

I think we could have had Some more cameras.

I think we needed some more. Yeah.

There wasn't quite enough.

And we broke a lot of them.

That was not intentional.

Rick, we discovered Quite early on in the trip,

Had a remarkable Knack of breaking.

Almost everything That he touched.

I don't know. Yeah. Day... not even day one.

Day before day one, I broke one, I think.

So what happened, rick?

That's not supposed To be separate?

- No. - Our first breakage.

Good job, richard.

Yeah. I'm big and clumsy, End of story.

Quite a few cameras went down.

At sort of the destructive Touch of mr. Ness.

Woops. I did not break one Of them intentionally.

Didn't, I didn't.

We had a chase crew.

They kept their distance.

They left us very much To ourselves.

- How's it going? - Good, what's up?

The only time They meet.

Is to resupply Camera batteries and cards.

We were facing Lack of food.

We needed some good snacks That you happen to have.

Yeah.

- Oi, oi, oi, oi! - Get them, get them.

- Yeah, yeah! - My god.

- Yeah, boy. - Whoo!

Yeah, buddy.

I did.

It was like three cookies.

So excited.

Gypsies, tramps And thieves, boys.

One week before They set off,

Parker and rick were Still busy mining for gold.

And that total is Forty-three eleven.

So that's just over 5 million bucks worth of gold.

But parker was pushing.

For an even tougher challenge.

In our 4 years up here,

We've found a Ton of gold.

Like, that's a lot of gold.

And it always makes me Wonder if, a hundred years ago,

We could've made it up here From down south.

So the last month or so,

Rick and I have been planning A trip up the chilkoot trail.

To go from scagway All the way to dawson,

The exact same trek That they did 118 years ago.

We're going to do it With no assistance.

As long as rick's still in.

You guys know me, right? That's right in my wheelhouse.

I didn't want to make This trip at all.

I didn't.

All I wanted to do Is go home, man.

I was tired.

It's like your boss Asking you.

To go to the company dinner,

Except this company dinner Is a month in the woods,

And you might die.

Well, the best of luck To you guys, really.

- You guys can do it. - Yeah.

- Cheers. - Thanks.

How's the training going, Rick?

Just killing it.

I wouldn't say I was Taking it seriously.

Until getting checked out By a doctor.

I was like, "Holy."

This isn't going away."

before they set out On this extreme physical test,

The production crew Insists parker.

And rick have a full Physical with a doctor.

I'm pretty sure that I'm in pretty good health.

I'm 22 years old, Don't drink a drop.

The reason they're Sending this doctor.

Out here is for rick ness.

Hey, rick. The doctor's here to see you.

Give me 2 minutes. I'm smoking.

Rick's not a very healthy guy.

He drinks a lot, Smokes a lot.

There's only so long You can keep that up.

I'll be all right.

I'm not the ideal candidate For this trip.

I know that.

Is this pocket meat?

This is a pocket steak.

That's a leftover Steak from last night.

That's usually my lunch.

I don't know. I like meat.

I eat big slabs of meat. I'm a dude.

Just barrels and barrels of Empty beer cans in my trailer.

That ought to impress him.

But I got a pocket steak.

I just don't want him To look in there.

That's just from last night.

Obviously, I don't want To be not truthful to a doctor.

You know, I fully Disclosed to him,

You know, my habits.

Went through everything, And he said, "Hey, you're good."

And I was kind of like, "I am?"

What kind of doctor are you?"

so you're all signed off. You can go.

I can go. Unfortunately.

Unfortunately, I can go.

I really, in my opinion, I thought that,

Of the four of us,

Rick would be The potential heart attack guy.

I did end up getting a call Back from the doctor.

Who wanted to discuss A little further.

He was a little worried, He said, you know,

"There's a chance that you could Go into a detox out in the woods.

And, you know, Die or something."

up ahead...

For me, this trip Was an important part of dealing.

With my grandfather's death.

Ooh. Boy. I'm proud of you, parker.

Parker, you know, He's got youth on his side.

James is fit.

And, you know, Karla does it for a damn living.

They'd have to be Fools not to know.

That I was the weak link.

You know, that was probably.

My most miserable day Of the whole trip.

I mean, it was brutal.

Day one On the 600-mile trail,

And rick's already struggling.

I should've called you, like, A month ago and been like,

"Start pumping."

Yeah.

How you feeling, Rick?

I don't know. My right quad in my leg.

Is just wanting To ball up into a knot.

It's not good.

Rick probably started losing Weight right away.

He probably just started Dropping pounds right away.

I'm soaked head To toe with sweat.

Like, that's not good once you Get up in that colder weather.

How did anybody Allow me to do this?

If we don't hustle, We're going to be.

Setting up camp In the dark.

And it was just like,

"This is my life For the next month."

I can't get out of this.

Is this it now? Is this the next 30 days?

"Because if it is, I'm going To lose my mind."

The golden stairs is the Toughest test on the trail,

A 45-degree ascent up A mountain pass.

With 8-foot boulders, Snow and ice.

The golden stairs Is what I was absolutely.

The most scared of Of the whole trip.

Deep down, I was just like, "There's no way."

I was dreading it.

The golden stairs.

I don't see any stairs.

I don't see any gold.

I could sure use a Golden escalator right now.

I had no idea that the whole Side of the mountain.

Was just a big boulder field And everything leading up to it.

That's when it finally Hit me, like,

"something bad Is going to happen here."

Boy. Let's do it.

It's slippery.

Can't see the holes.

Very steep.

This is sketchy.

This is dangerous, man. It's just snow-covered boulders.

Whoa.

Watch the out.

In a normal circumstance,

Like, how bad can you get hurt, You know, doing that?

And then add Another 75 pounds.

In a backpack on top of that,

And, you know, Breaking your leg.

Turns into Snapping it in half.

Be careful in here, Richard.

Okay. God.

This is madness.

- You all right? - You all right, rick?

I'm done right now.

I had heard from a lot Of people that said.

That I wasn't going to make it.

And then I saw todd hoffman At a mine expo in vegas,

And he was just like," You're not going to make it."

And I'm just like, "you, man."

Todd has provided a huge amount Of motivation for us.

And now he's pulled it With rick on this trek.

He's a.

I absolutely had something To prove, you know what I mean?

I had to prove it to myself Because I had doubts.

And I damn sure was going To prove it to todd.

And I didn't have the skills, So I just kept pushing.

We go up the mountain.

I didn't look up too much.

It was just like, "Just keep going.

Just keep going."

It literally seemed, In that moment,

To be life or death to me.

And I'd convinced myself That that was life or death.

Life was at the top Of the mountain,

And death was Anywhere not there.

So I just stayed stubborn And bullied my way through it.

You, nature.

You okay?

The summit.

This is so cool.

I was like, "Holy."

What did I just do?"

- whoo! - Yeah.

I didn't think I could do that. But I can.

You're damn right I can. You know, I am strong.

You know, and it gave me A huge boost in confidence.

And, you know, that day,

We were still in the beginning Of the whole trip,

But I felt like I'd already beat it.

I never said I was brilliant.

I probably did.

Parker got his first Gun at the age of 7.

Parker is an exceptional hunter.

Looks like four or five ducks Right below him.

Growing up in alaska, that has Been a priority of mine,

To make sure that my boys Are able to deal.

With the elements.

You.

Okay, good.

Sake.

They've got to be able To live off the land.

I mean, this thing may as well Be a stick.

They've got to be Able to hunt.

They've got to be Able to fish.

Handle just fell In the water.

Well, I Hate fishing.

He had a good foundation In that regard.

The fish Are laughing at us.

Parker had some old gun That was totally beat up.

Where's my gun?

There is a system To take care of your rifle.

And to take care of it, And it needs to respected.

Gun's In the water, mate.

Yeah. I see that.

You need to make sure That they're not full of grit,

And they're not full of dirt and Their movable parts are greased,

And they're oiled, And they're cleaned.

My gun!

My gun is frozen.

Hope we don't run Into any bears.

He knows the proper way To take care of things.

Because he has had Good training by me.

Rick, my gun's A little frozen.

Yeah, I can see that.

Warrants cooking over A fire?

I guess so.

Geez.

That was a travesty.

You have to have a lot Of respect for a firearm.

Because you're causing An explosion.

Right next to your face,

And you want that explosion To go that way.

There's a bunch Of plastic parts in there.

That you burned?

Probably.

Hope I don't blow My hands up.

And that was the last We saw of parker's hands.

Really?

They didn't say a thing To me on the trip.

How can you not change Your socks for that many days?

He had other socks.

Sharing a tent For 4 weeks,

The crew gets pretty intimate.

You going to put Fresh socks on?

Nope.

Twelve days, Same pairs of socks.

- Yes. - They going stank.

That's parker, isn't it?

He's just kind of, Yeah, I'm sorry.

A little stinky sock Consideration goes a long way.

Well, you're not going To get that from me.

I tried. I did a lot of laundry.

When they were growing up.

They had clean clothes.

You've got, You know, left foot,

Right foot, Then you can swap that.

Then inside out. Then swap them again.

You know, you've got a lot Of options just like underwear.

Don't put that On tv please.

You know,.

There's nobody out here To smell me that I care about.

I got asked, actually, Who smelled the worst.

Like.

And I didn't have an answer, So I knew it was myself.

We were just our own Little tribe of stink.

I'm disgusting.

So how musty do you feel On a scale of one to 10?

Ten.

It's been almost 2 weeks Since I've showered.

But you're using Wet wipes, right?

Hell no.

How am I supposed to use Ice-cold wet wipes at night?

Rick, do you brush Your teeth?

Yeah.

You want to know A secret?

What?

I wasn't going To say anything, but...

what?

I forgot my toothbrush And my toothpaste.

Have you told anybody?

No, I was trying not to.

Thanks for busting me, Karla.

Off, karla.

You're such a.

One of the upsides Of being in the wilderness.

Is the peace and tranquility.

Just shut up.

I need my Beauty sleep.

Rick's snoring.

Rick was the noisiest snorer

I think I've ever heard.

It's like we had a dying Whale in our tent.

I slept great.

That was probably some Of the best sleep

I've ever had was on this trip.

There's a little bit of a nerve You're touching right now.

It's all coming back to me. I have ptsd right now.

I mean, I can talk a ton Of about james,

And I probably will.

I'm a filmmaker and have Spent most of my career.

Working in extreme Environments,

Whether it be investigating Illegal logging.

In southeast asia.

Or living with nomadic Reindeer herders in siberia.

- Morning. - I think he's got.

A higher opinion about himself.

About certain things Than he should.

My experience of working In extreme locations.

Was one of the reasons.

Why I was a good fit For this expedition.

Snow.

James is a city boy.

I thought that I knew James pretty well.

I had worked with him From the beginning,

My first couple years On "Gold rush."

That was a lot different Than having to spend.

A whole month, 24 hours a day with him.

Hello.

Shut up, james.

Up, up, up. Let's go.

Get the camera off.

I hated it.

I hated being in front Of that canoe.

Because it was james behind me.

Let's go. Spin it around.

We don't go sideways In the trough.

Well, I'm going to Spin us around quick.

You motor. No.

Let's just go Straight that way.

No, we can't do that. We'll unbalance.

You have To do that to turn?

- No. - Holy.

Right. We're heading there.

James has an interesting Way of talking.

Um,

He probably had a good 200, 300 words.

That were Just nonsense,

That didn't mean anything. All right.

Piggy piggy.

Okeydokey.

I was looking At those piggies.

Bonkers.

Doodah, whatsit, Thingamadoo.

Like, a second is No longer a second.

It's a sec-a-roony.

Fiddly-diddly. I don't think I said fiddly-diddly.

Dins instead of dinner.

It takes the same amount Of effort to say dinner.

As it does To say din-din.

Look at that Chunky monkey.

What? What are you Talking about, james?

What chunky monkey?

There is nothing that we had That you should've described.

As a chunky monkey.

I...

What does that mean?

Monkey is the thing.

And chunky is the adjective.

You know, I really actually hate.

All your stupid Little phrases, right?

Well, you know, you just Can't listen to the haters.

And I talk funny. I'm sorry.

We started kind of Calling it a disease.

We called it the brits.

Did rick sit here And sing a song?

No.

If we wouldn't have Had karla, we probably.

Wouldn't have made it out Of the parking lot in haines.

Watch out. Watch out.

Can we just keep it mellow.

For a bit so we can cook?

Karla's got yukon Wilderness in her dna.

My great grandfather Was a gold miner.

Who came over in The original batch of pioneers.

He was just one of Those fierce characters.

That charged his way Straight up to dawson.

However he could,

On foot, with dogsleds, On bicycle.

And on one of his journeys,

It was like a minus-40, Minus-60 super cold spell.

And he was drying His gear over the fire,

And he fell asleep, And his shoes fell in the fire,

And he had no more footwear.

And so he did, like, 400 miles in a burlap bag.

And he eventually Staked his own claim.

So when I think Of those stories, I'm like,

"Man, we're not as tough As the old-timers."

Like, we've been, like, Babied by technology,

And it's so sad.

The thing I admire Most about karla.

Is she has a very Infectious energy.

And just she's a joy To be around.

Hoo, hoo, hoo, Hoo, hoo, hoo.

The first time I realized.

Karla was a real badass Was when she came.

And drove the rock truck for us.

At the mine site, she'd run The haul truck for 12 hours,

And then she'd climb up The hill behind our camp.

Right after getting done Doing that.

And then go eat dinner, You know what I mean?

And then work out After dinner.

Karla's the toughest out Of all four of us, big-time.

How you feeling?

Pretty tired, Hot and sweaty.

You?

I feel all right.

That doesn't make any sense.

I'm completely lost.

Rick, how you doing?

It's inside out.

That's... It's just...

Inside out.

It's just upside down, Inside out.

The first night, I think parker was like,

"Can I borrow some toothpaste?" And I was like,

"I don't have to babysit These punk boys."

I feel like every time I looked around,

Something was going on That made me kind of feel.

A bit ill, you know,

Whether it was like parker Almost shooting a loon...

Should we shoot that loon?

- Mnh-mnh. - Why not?

It's just a given. You don't shoot loons or swans.

Or rick cutting His toes off...

In one.

Almost took My foot off.

Yeah, that was...

I really did it This time.

When you're on an expedition Like this, it's tough.

People are tired. People are hungry.

You're welcome.

Boys.

- Holy moley. - Boys.

We had a fishing competition, And karla won it hands down.

Good stuff. You've got another one.

Yeah. Karla is on fire.

More proof of her Superior skill set.

Fresh fish tonight, boy.

How many we got now?

I don't know. Six or seven.

Perfect. That's a wicked meal.

Got almost two fish Per people, man.

Going to be Eating good tonight.

Thank you for not Letting us starve.

You're welcome.

Without her knowledge,

Her energy, Her attitude,

I think we would've Been destined to fail.

I was hoping that this trip Was not going to be like mining.

You know, I was hoping there was Going to be different attitudes.

Parker and rick Are firm friends,

But parker never Lets rick forget who's boss.

No fixing that one.

Do I look like A belt fairy?

There's a lot of times Where, you know,

When we're at the mine, working,

Where it's just like parker.

Would push things way farther Than they need to go.

What the?

And look, you don't want To waste your time?

It's my Time to waste.

You are making An enemy out of me.

So leave.

Early in the trip, Parker falls into old habits.

You just going to leave us over There, sitting on the beach?

What the?

Get the Back here.

- Are you okay then? - Yeah.

Yeah? Promise?

Yeah. Well, until parker Comes over here.

And starts giving me lip.

Just tell him To off.

This is a slap in the face.

I'm seeing what I call Typical parker popping up,

And I've been dealing With it for 5 years,

And dealing with it For 600 miles on this river.

Is not something That I'm willing to do.

Parker and I had a talk, You know, where it was like,

"You know, this is Not the mine site."

This is different. You know what I mean?

This is not a, you know, 'who's the boss' kind of thing.

"This is just some Friends on a trip."

and parker Begins to change.

I'm sorry For yelling at you.

Don't worry about it.

All right. We'll figure this out.

- All right. - It's just a situation.

We'll get out of it.

Then, when it comes To staking the claim,

Parker makes a point Of honoring their friendship.

You know, rick and I Have both been.

Through a rough couple of years.

And we've both lost A couple grandparents.

I know that rick's grandpa Meant a lot to him.

What are we naming the claim?

Perseverance?

That was the name Of your grandpa's boat, right?

Yeah.

That'd be cool.

Yeah, let's do it.

Took a lot of that To get here.

- Exactly. - He'd be honored.

- I'm honored. - Let's do that.

You have it tattooed On your hand, don't you?

You're damn right I do.

There's the spelling.

To be able to attach Something from my family.

To that whole trip Was really an honor.

You think he'd be proud Of what you've achieved so far?

I think he'd be proud.

Yeah?

I mean, this was One hell of a journey.

I think that my family.

Will really enjoy seeing That on the show,

And that's going to mean A lot, you know?

Beautiful.

I'm not all just rage.

There's a soul Down there somewhere.

That's nuts.

Where's the axe?

I'll go grab the axe.

Yeah, buddy.

Who's fault was whitehorse?

Um...

I think karla took charge Of a lot of it.

I didn't want to go To whitehorse.

James did.

Rick.

Is it...

Was it me?

Rick cut his toe Just 12 miles.

From the only city On the trail, whitehorse.

And the production team Insists he visits the hospital.

If it were me, I'd just wrap it in duct tape.

And go, But I'm being forced.

With an unscheduled Stop thrust on the team...

We got to get Pork and beans. Let's go.

The rule book Goes right out the window.

As soon as that First beer hit my lips,

I knew I needed to have At least 12 more.

Rick got really drunk In whitehorse.

I remember rick talking About erections.

For like 30 minutes.

None of it was Taped though.

Really? Yeah.

Where?

That was being taped? Yeah.

I'm getting a boner.

Like every day?

Like every hour?

It could be the cold.

No, no.

He's on the cleanse.

Yeah. It was a very Mature thing to do.

Hi.

Drunk? Yeah.

Stinks in there.

Next morning, Series producer simon.

Catches up with the team.

My god. Simon's here. My god.

My god. Hi, simon.

You two disgust me.

You disgust me. You just...

It's just pitiful Looking at you.

You've cheated.

Shut up, simon.

You know, Historical accuracy,

We would've been Staying in a whorehouse.

Was it worth it?

So worth it.

I don't look at the night That we spent in whitehorse.

As cheating or anything Like that.

If anything, Back in the day,

All the amenities Were on the trail.

There was booze. There was meals.

There was whorehouses ran By donald trump's grandfather.

There were hotels.

Am I doing a good job At justifying it?

Not really.

Bringing the mullet back.

You didn't like that haircut?

It was the best. It was so canadian.

During the mining season,

Parker never has time For haircuts.

But on day one of the trail,

Karla and her scissors Come to his rescue.

This is carlos' cuts, 5 minutes, 5 bucks.

Having karla cut my hair.

In the dark next to the fire Was my way of going feral.

We were predators now.

Can't have my hair In your eyes.

We're going For functionality here.

Tell me the truth. Is it terrible?

It's not terrible. I mean, you can pull it off.

And I'm like, "Look at that nerd."

That's country chic. All right.

Right on. I can see!

Yeah-ho-ho! Yes!

Like it?

Don't ask me To do that again.

Every parent looks and hopes.

And prays for signs of maturity In their children.

The last meal Before they took off.

That we all had together, Parker was antsy.

Parker just wanted To get on with it.

He didn't want to keep Talking about it.

He just wanted to go.

We make it, Or we die trying.

So you're going to Put yourself in danger?

I am determined to do What I said I'm going to do.

If we're 100 miles to go,

And it would be 3 days On the river.

Or 10 days hiking,

I'm going to go do A 10-day hike.

And you're going to drag Your crew with you?

Yeah, I'd do it anyway.

Yeah. Come on.

For me, it's about Getting to dawson.

It will Be completely unsafe.

Teenage boys Into young manhood,

That's a dicey time When, you know,

There's a lot of bravado, And there's a lot of...

You're just invincible.

I was very concerned.

During the 4-week trip...

Parker leads his crew Through.

A number of life-threatening Situations.

Whoa, whoa. Brace yourselves.

- Whoa, whoa. - We're going to die.

Whoa!

Whoa, whoa. James, look out.

- Watch out! - -holy.

But the real test comes.

When the yukon river starts.

To freeze around them.

It's pretty solid, So we could probably do it.

Think so?

I don't know.

Just right here. You got it?

Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Your paddle.

Whoa!

I think that that was A pivotal moment for him.

Whoa, whoa, Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Dude, get to shore. Get to shore!

Parker was on An ice shelf.

You know, if he got stuck Under that ice shelf,

We might not have been able To get after him.

That was the worst case scenario Was anybody falling in.

That was leading, you know,

To hypothermia and frostbite.

That's how you die.

That was the moment Parker kind of grew up.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Whoa, whoa.

Dude, get to shore. Get to shore.

Just get up there!

Even parker had to admit To himself like,

"You know, this is real."

I can't feel my feet at all.

I'm sorry that happened.

That was just dumb.

It's such an easy way to die.

I couldn't have somebody Getting hurt out there.

My grandpa's told me A lot of stories.

About guys working For him that have died.

It's damn tough To see someone die.

Because of your Judgement.

I don't want to see you have To go through that.

You don't know how You're going to feel.

When you go up To somebody's wife.

And tell her There's been an accident.

You know, Above everything else,

That's something that I never want to have to do.

The fact That we didn't make it.

To dawson Under our own power,

You know, I feel like That's a bit of a failure.

And I hate that. I hate it.

But it was the smart decision.

What we saw from the air Once we were in the plane,

We would've never made it.

All of a sudden, "A nice hike in the yukon".

Turns into, you know, Best friend dying.

I've seen parker change.

He learned about humility.

You know, that's really Good for him.

That's a good life lesson.

And I think that He's matured in that way.

We're in dawson city. We're alive.

There's nothing left But to celebrate, yeah.

My father, I know he's up there Watching this whole scene,

Beaming that he left Behind a grandson.

That's carrying on his ways.

I know that my father's up There probably.

Shedding a tear of pride.

I spent a lot of time On this trip thinking.

About my grandpa, yeah.

From the age of 4,

Grandpa john was parker's Mining and life mentor.

Thank you, you know, For the last few years.

It's taught me a lot.

I look upon you Like the eagle.

When it flaps its wings And flies out of the nest,

He never comes back For help.

My grandpa was A real pioneer of alaska.

And he taught me a huge amount.

Parker! Hey, parker.

For me, this trip was An important part of dealing.

With my grandfather's Death, yeah.

I'm 22 years old.

And I got to spend,

You know, 21 of them.

With the most Wonderful grandfather.

You could imagine.

He even made us a sign At big nugget...

"Wilderness is therapy."

I agree with That wholeheartedly.

It was a nice little gift For him to leave us, yeah.

You know, one thing I always keep in mind.

Is how valuable My grandpa's experiences.

And stories Were to me as I grew up,

And an adventure Like this will be.

A great story.

For some grandkids one day.

Hopefully not too soon, but...