As winter ends, Andy and Kate must deal with wildlife waking from hibernation, while Chip and Agnes attempt to catch valuable beavers and river rats.
As the snow continues to melt, Sue finds her runway in danger of being flooded. Meanwhile, Glenn decides to change his hunting tactics.
Sue worries that a lost water filter and a missing food shipment may impede her business. Also, Andy and Kate work on constructing a greenhouse.
In Chandalar, Glenn is running perilously low on food. His only option is to take to the waters and fish, but vicious mosquitos, and fish that aren't taking the bait, make it a bigger hassle than expected. Sue is startled by a strange shadow on the horizon, but after heading into the tundra to investigate, she finds nothing. Determined not to have let her efforts go to waste, she heads to a nearby coal seam to try and gather some of the "black gold".
Sue attempts to hunt caribou to fill her food supplies before winter; Andy tries fishing with a net, which can be more dangerous to operate than his fish wheel.
A lack of food forces Glenn to embark on a long journey back to civilization, while the Hailstone family begins a trek to Agnes's family camp.