All language subtitles for The.Last.Alaskans.S02E08.Fire.and.Ice.720p.HDTV.x264-DHD.en

Oh, right there --
a rabbit.

They always stop
when you whistle,

if they're running.

This is a snowshoe rabbit.

Just about everything
kills rabbits --

owls, fox, minks, marten,

Wolverine.

The arctic refuge
is roughly the size

of the state of south Carolina.

You go for hundreds or thousands
of miles without roads --

nothing.

Our permits only go up

until the death
of our last child.

Within 100 years,
there's going to be nobody.

We are the last.

Deep in the winter,
when it's dark and cold,

you feel totally alone.

But then the sun comes back.

You get really excited
to get over that hump.

Like, the light's coming back.

The light's gonna come back.

It's natures way.
It's gonna get better.

Out here,
we're connected with the earth,

you know, with the seasons.

We get to see the cycle
of life and death every year,

and we are intertwined with
the natural order of life here.

Winters come and go.

Cabins come and go.

Even people come and go.

Out here, you realize how
important that basic truth is.

Watch yourself.

I'm cutting little trees

close to the house
as like a safety perimeter.

Now that the new cabin is built,

I'm gonna burn down
the old cabin.

You know, everything was good,
then all of the sudden,

the river changed
and then it started flooding.

Now it's really bad mold
on the inside,

and there's not much
you can do about that,

so we're --
I'm just gonna torch it.

Just burn it away.

I like to leave an area back
to what it was, you know,

never be any sign
that a human was here.

This is the place

where I came here first
41 years ago,

then one of the places
that we raised the kids.

We raised four girls
at our cabin here,

and one of them passed away
out here.

When you live in a place
40 years,

you become attached to it.

I mean, it just becomes
part of you.

But I'm not sentimental
as Edna is, for sure.

She might shed a tear.

I'm more pragmatic.

I mean, our family has had
so much history out here,

but me, I'm worried
about now and in the future,

not in the past.

The past is the past.
It's gone.

You know, it's done.

It'll never come back.

You got to move on.

Everything in this world's
temporary -- everything.

So, this is the end
of the trapping season,

and I took plenty of fur.

And also, we have plenty of meat
from the moose hunt.

I feel very safe,
i feel very comfortable,

very at ease.

And so, it's a good feeling.

Ooh, you got the split
pea soup going?

Yep.
love you.

I'm glad
you make it back.

Mm.

Ah, all that ice
in my beard.

Instead of putting ice
on the floor,

you put it in a stove,
it melts away right away.

On the floor,
it would just be a puddle,

and then you'd have,
you know, wet, you know?

Here on the stove,
it's kind of sizzles away.

This new cabin
that I built,

I like it better
than the old cabin over there.

I did a better job,
because I knew more.

It's a little more open here,
so it's brighter.

This new cabin, I like it.

I like the location.

Oh.

So, I sure hope it's the last
one we ever build.

Okay, I'm hungry.

There.

The pea soup
is just right.

Mm.

Pretty thick.

Tomorrow, I'll go
to the old cabin there,

our old cabin and...

Pick out the stuff.

...pick out the stuff
and get it ready to burn.

Mm-hmm.

It'll be sad
to watch it go up in flame.

That cabin's special,
because all the girls

were just babies
when they were there.

It's full of memories.

You think about

when the girls are there
and what they did.

And plus, coleen was there,
our daughter that died.

Coleen was a baby then.

Mm-hmm.

Man, I don't know
if I can finish this.

When Heimo's upset,
most of the time he holds it in.

And you know,
to hold it until it break loose.

When you burn it,

what do you think Heimo's
reaction is going to be?

I have no idea.

It is --
it's kind of sad, though.

Mm.

I guess.

Whatever.

Love.

We're at the lake cabin, now.

Just gearing up to go.

We're gonna run home today

from the lake,
back to the main camp --

complete the circuit.

It's late January now,
and we're trapping hard.

This season has just been magic.

The salmon fishing was good.

We got the moose.

I just feel, really,
like a rich person right now.

I just feel very rich.

We're hoping the luck --
the luck continues.

Where's your little bag at?

This bag has emergency
supplies in it.

We have a fleece blanket
in here.

And we leave that outside,

in case we're ever stuck
with the cabin burning down.

But a Wolverine came along
and drug it off

about 300 yards
into the thick woods

and started chewing on it.

The Wolverine is kind
of an iconic animal

for the northern wilderness.

They're honorary,
and just feisty animals,

you know, with a bad temper.

So, in go our
emergency clothes --

keep it away
from the pesky wolverines.

This trail we're going on today
is a neat trail, though.

It goes through some pretty
cool country,

and coming back towards home,

there's good forest,
thick forest.

So you can
pretty much always count

on catching a lot
of animals out of there.

-All right.
-Good luck, little cabin.

Don't blow over.

You're ready to go,
aren't you, buddy?

Aren't you?

Hey, boy.

Go take a run, huh?

You ready?

Okay!

Let's go, jaff.
Go on.

Go on, guys.

Let's go!
Let's go!

Come on, guys!

Hup, hup.
Let's go!

Let's go.
Go on.

-Come on.
-Good boys.

Good.

Ho, ho, ho, ho.

I'm just gonna go in
and check a trap here.

-Shh, shh, shh.
-Holy smokes, look at it.

Well, this is common,
when you catch a Wolverine.

And that's what happened here.

One got caught,

just fought its way
out of this trap.

Chewed hell out of the set.

Fought like crazy.

And was able to just pull its --

pull its foot out of the trap.

Super strong.

This is an animal
that can back, you know,

bears off of kills
and wolf packs off of kills.

They got really powerful claws
and jaws, you know?

They can break moose bones
with their jaws.

Some people say they drop
out of trees, you know?

They'll wait over a trail
that they know a moose is using,

and they'll drop onto the --

onto the moose
and grab it by the neck

and just hang on
until they crush that vertebrae.

Stay, stay.

There's Wolverine tracks

that our are just
entering the trail here.

Dang it.

They have pretty short legs,
so you can see

it's kind of this trough
they dig in the snow,

because their bellies
are dragging a little bit.

We're just hoping that it

didn't follow our trail
too much.

'Cause it could --

they steal fur,
they steal everything.

-Let's go.
-Come here, goose.

Stay by me.

We're just
hooking in the puppies.

Just a safety precaution.

The Wolverine --

they're a terror
to have on your trap point,

so, yeah.

Just need to keep going
and check the traps.

Ready?

Go on!

I'm noticing the fire
goes out a lot more often

when I'm by myself.

So, my parents finished
their trapping season a little

while ago, so now it's just me
staying in their cabin --

the house that I've grown up in
since I was, I think, one.

Some of my favorite childhood
memories is, you know,

like, in the middle of winter.

Makes you go out
and get firewood after dinner.

Smelling the wood
smoke coming back.

Come in here, and it's --
every day, it's 75 degrees.

And I get this really
comfortable, very good feeling.

I just have
very warm memories --

no pun intended -- of the house.

Today, I'm having moose steaks
and basmati rice.

I know.
It's some craziness.

I've had a pretty successful
trapping season thus far,

so, I'm gonna shift
more of my energy now

towards building my own cabin.

I'm 20 years old, and as
most people do at my age,

you learn to live
on your own, you move out.

Here, instead of going
to college

or trying to get a job
to pay for your own home --

out here, you're gonna build
your own home.

Today, I got to select the log
that's gonna match

the diameter
of the ones I've got already.

I want to be super precise.

So, you have like a formula
that you're following.

You take the average diameter
of the butt end

and the tip end of the log.

The technique
of log building I'm using,

for the bush,
it's fairly unique.

It's not something
that you slap together.

It's not legos.

Ready.
time to hit the trail.

Late winter's probably
my favorite season.

It's a lot more light,

which is all reflected
off the snow, and you know,

being in a canyon here,
it makes it even more drastic,

so, I think it's
a beautiful time of year.

It's a little bit
crazy building a cabin

in the middle of winter
in the dark and the cold.

But there's reasons
why I like it.

For one, you can cover a lot
more ground looking for logs.

So, having this snow
on the ground

allows me to drag the logs

back to the cabin site
with a snow machine.

Otherwise,
it would really be impossible

for one person to do.

There's a lot
of trees out there.

But very few of them
are gonna work for the cabin.

Right now,
I'm looking for a tree

that's gonna be 11 inches
at the base

and 9 inches at the top.

This one
here's a little too bent.

I'm not just looking
for any tree.

It's got to be the rare one

that's straight,
matches the walls I've got.

Takes a lot of searching,
a lot of time.

Takes a little bit of Patience.

I'm pretty slow working
on the cabin.

It shows that I'm really anal.

I don't like to do things
halfway.

Those very small mistakes

can add up to be
something really large,

and then you've got
this towering,

you know, mistake pile.

And I'm trying to build a cabin

that's gonna last
as long as I do.

I think this one might do.

Come on.
Hep hep hep.

Let go.

Ho, ho.

Ho.

Yep, damn it --
the Wolverine.

It looks like it found it.

See that claw?

That's a marten toe.

That's all
that's left in this trap.

Most of the Wolverine just --
they get onto your trails,

and it's like a buffet line
for them.

It's just a real bummer,

because you're
missing out on fur.

And you only catch
so many marten, you know?

So, it's really important

that we make a catch
while we're out here.

You know, we're trying
to fund this whole operation

by the amount of fur
that we catch out here,

so that's
why we work so hard at it.

That's the only way
to make money out here.

So far, that Wolverine
looks like he's...

On the trail?

...on the trial, so,

let's keep going and see
what the damage is.

Ready?

We might just get cleaned out
from this point on

in the trapline.

We'll just find out.

Hep hep, go on.

Selecting this log
is kind of like selecting lumber

at a hardware store
for your frame house.

You wouldn't buy a crooked 2x4
to build a wall with

if you don't want crooked walls.

I'm trying to build
a very precise cabin,

but I know I definitely
don't have the experience

that others have.

Zero.

Two thirds of a cabin,
i guess.

I read a few books
on building cabins,

and then, for the most part,
it's trail and error.

Figure out what worked for me,
and mostly what didn't work.

I'm definitely one
of the younger people

living remotely in this area.

It's not necessarily a young
person's lifestyle anymore.

But I always just worked as hard
as I possibly can

if I really want to get
somewhere in life.

And so, if I don't really
know what I'm doing, you know,

if you work hard at it,

you're probably gonna learn
how to do it eventually.

There you go.
It's a finished product.

Now all we got
to do is pull her home.

Before I burn it,

we got to go inside
and see what we want.

We're gonna take
what we can use.

Then I got to take
all the snow off of the roof,

otherwise,
it'll put the fire out.

And then start hauling brush
and sticks in there --

everything we need to burn it.

And then light it,
and...Burn.

I got to take that plywood
off that window first.

Could use this plywood
for something.

A lot of memories
are gonna go up in smoke.

It says, "rhonda korth --
5 years old."

Pretty good.

It smell like mold, though.

20 years ago,
it was home for sure.

We had a dirt floor
at first here,

'cause we couldn't
afford plywood.

We were poor financially,

but rich in our way of life,
you know what I mean?

Krinny's leaping stump?

Oh, yes.

Remember she used
to cartwheel.

She jumps
and leaps over.

Yeah.

Yeah, I remember that.

Yeah, and that great,
big tree that Millie...

Used to climb, I know.

...climbed
way up it there.

And I was scared
she was gonna fall down.

We used to be happy here,

and they used to play
all around here.

It's kind of sad to see it go.

Running out of light.

Are we done getting everything
out of the inside of the cabin?

I think I'm done.

I mean the rest,
you know,

you figure we lived
this long without it.

I know.

Are you crying?

Damn near.

-Aw.
-aw.

The whole house
is full of memories.

Come on, hike!

Go on.

Hup.

-Come on.
-Hup, hup, hup.

Ho.

Something
stole the bait.

The Wolverine --

you can see
his tracks all over.

They're such a pain
in the ass.

I know it.

And for some reason,
they're really savvy

about going around to the backs
of these sets this winter.

A Wolverine
came and stole the bait.

And this one's
obviously smart enough

to steal it
without getting caught.

That's pretty fresh track,
though.

What's your next trap?

They think
something's up there.

There is
a trap coming up here.

Gauzie heard something.

-Ready?
-yeah.

Go on, back on.

Back on.

Hup, hup, hup, hup.

Hike up there.

Oh, what the heck?

Holy

Wolverine.

Hup, hup, hup, hup.

Oh, what the heck.

Holy

Wolverine.
-uh-huh!

Hey.
hey!

There's a Wolverine.

We got a Wolverine.

Don't let it have
any position on you, Tyler.

No.

No, it's done.
It's dead.

Huh?

It's dead.

Just look at the destruction
around this set

that this Wolverine did,
you know, here,

chewing on trees.

He chewed trees off.

Just super strong,
super tough,

super determined animals,
i mean.

That's part of why they have
such legendary reputations.

I like wolverines, you know?

I like all the animals
that are out here.

They have the stuff
to make it, you know?

They have what
it takes to survive,

so they deserve our respect.

It was a good day.

I mean, I wasn't expecting
to catch a Wolverine.

Couldn't ask for more, really.

All right, guys.
Hup!

Being out here alone
makes it more challenging.

Definitely a little bit slower.

I kind of have
to figure it out by myself

and find a solution
that works just with one person.

About a year ago,
i started working as hard

as I could possibly can.

I've gotten about half the cabin
done -- maybe two thirds.

Probably another two,
three months

of pretty long days
worth of work.

This is a rope come-along.

It's a winch -- uses leverage
to pull this rope tight

and pull the log
up onto the wall.

All right, now I'm gonna use
this tie-down strap --

you know,
secure the log up here.

And it's really easy
to knock one end off,

and if you're holding
on to the other side,

that could hurt you pretty bad.

You can get rolled over
by the log or pinched.

Did you learn that
through experience,

or did you learn
that through...

Kind of like that.

You guys okay?

Yeah, I guess experience.

You wouldn't want to be
underneath that log

when it falls.

It's got a lot of force
to it when it comes down.

There you go, jaff.

Ho.

Good job, guys.
-Yeah.

We made it.

Good to get here?

Yeah.

It's always good
to go home -- I mean,

that's what it feels like to us,

it feels like main camp
is home to us.

That was a good hunt.

Yeah.

This has been
a really great trapping season.

Compared to last year,

we've already caught
twice as much fur.

I think a lot of it is,
you know,

this big loop we got going.

A lot of work went into it,
but that's why we did it --

you know, so that we could be
more effective

and efficient trappers
and hunters.

And...it's working.

It is really cool to, like,

experience the whole process
of not knowing much,

to, like, gradually just getting
more and more information --

like, a really cool
learning process,

I think will, like,
never end.

We did it.

Do it as long
as we can, I think.

Till we have to tape
our hands on the handlebar.

I want to get the real
small stuff, so I'll just --

I'll pile them inside for fuel.

You know, I mean,
it's too cold

to start a forest fire --
you know, 10 below like this.

It's supposed
to get 40 below tonight,

so that's the least
of my concerns.

You done that?

I think there's got
to be more.

I've been here 34 years.

We build a cabin,

and it seems like you
just close your eyes

and open it and he --
it's already time to burn it.

There.

More than enough.

Oh.

Okay.

Be careful, Heimo.

Wow-wee, enough.

Gee-whiz.

That's it.

There it goes.

Poor house.

So, a scribe-built cabin,

you're kind
of sculpting that cabin out.

And to do that, you use
a something called a scriber.

It's a tracing tool.

A pencil traces that same
contour, the same shape --

you know, whatever's below,

every little notch,
every little knot,

so you can perfectly
match the log below

and cut to that line.

If you build it right,

the log's will look
like they grew together.

Gives you a larger connection
between logs that's insulated.

So, it's a warmer house.

Precision.
precision.

Couldn't even put a piece
of paper between them.

I'm just finishing up the log

that I've been working
on all day, so...

It's been a long day, but --
and I have one done.

I guess I'm happy with that.

I'm pretty excited.

By this time next year,
every day,

I'll be coming home to this.

So, you know,
this exact time next year,

I might be cooking
dinner right there.

I mean, that's just
a really magical thing.

It's a nice, tight fit now.

Only have about 10 more to go.

I imagine in the future,

you know, having a family
out here of my own.

And building a cabin
is my first step.

But you don't really
know where you are in life

until you're past that point,

and that's what makes life
life is things are changing,

whether you want them to or not.

Yeah.

You're thinking of the girls
now of a long time ago.

When we built that cabin...

I was 26 or 27.

You know, we were young
first married.

It took us probably a month
to build it, and me and Edna,

we packed it over on
our shoulders -- all the logs.

Green -- heavy.

It kept us alive
for how many years,

you know,
out of the cold.

We raised the girls
here.

There's a lot
of laughs in there,

but a lot
of arguments, too.

Our first daughter coleen

that died out here,
this is her --

when she was an infant,
she was here.

And up until she was...

Well, anyways, so,
this is where coleen --

don't mention it again.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Okay.
I'm sorry.

I won't.

There it goes.

I think it's really important
that this lifestyle continues

and we remain attached
to our past.

And we remain attached
to our connection with nature.

This lifestyle,
this is natural.

It's the way it was,

10,000, 20,000,
30,000 years ago.

Living in sync with nature...

This is so important.

And if I pass on anything
in my life,

I want to pass that on.

I know that if we have a kid
that this where I want them

to spend a good part
of their life, you know?

So, if we have a kid,

where are we
gonna put him in here?

Well, the baby
can sleep on the bed, right?

Yeah.

But they don't stay little
for very long.

Knowing I'll be able
to share a life

that I really love --
everything that we've learned

out here
won't die with us, you know?

That would be a gift.

Whether or not they want
to take that on

once they come of age,
that'll be up to them entirely.

But at least one more generation

will have been raised up
in the lifestyle.

Ooh, first light in the cabin.

You think this is the end
of a legacy?

No.

Hmm?

I don't know.

That cabin holds
a lot of memories.

But we want it burnt down,

so it could be restored
back natural.

It's all wood and moss.

You know, I mean,
it's of the land.

Hopefully there will be grass,

and firewood growing
all around there next year.

And there'll be little trees
and stuff growing.

I want it to be back to

how it was
before we built the cabin.

This is the end of legacy

or else the beginning
of the new.

-A new era.
-A new era.

-I love you.
-I love you, too.