Add
Private Notes
It's been six years since Sue Aikens was attacked by a grizzly bear, and now it's time for her to face her fears and take on the challenge. She heads into the tundra, and after spotting a grizzly in the distance, takes aim. In Eagle, Andy and Kate Bassich have just fed the last of their fish to their sled dogs. Chip and Agnes Hailstone's whitefishing in Noorvik is being disrupted by a late freeze. And Erik Salitan returns this season, having just finished the guiding season a southern village.
Erik Salitan is ready to subsistence hunt, and on Kodiak Island he has the opportunity to go after the elusive mountain goat. Andy Bassich in Eagle is hoping that a single $2 homemade bullet will bring home a moose, and meat for the year. In Kavik, a storm brings an unexpected opportunity to Sue Aikens as it forces a herd of caribou close to her camp. In Noorvik, Chip and Agnes Hailstone are anxious to prepare for a winter of nomadic hunting and trapping.
Chip and Agnes are ready to embark on an autumn moose hunt. For Sue, the approaching winter means that she has only a few days to make sure her camp and business are completely closed. In Eagle, early snowfall has left Andy and Kate concerned that winter will come sooner rather than later. Andy decides it's time to hit a nearby pond to see if he can catch a beaver. Erik Salitan has ordered powerful new traps with the hopes of catching a valuable fox if he can set the traps safely.
Andy discovers the river isn't going to freeze solid in front of his homestead. He must cut a trail through dense forest to cross the river safely and get to his hunting grounds. Sue needs 4,000 gallons of fuel delivered to see her through to next spring, and a storm is threatening to hit before deliveries can get in. Erik needs his bad trapping season to turn around, as the furs he collects are vital to his income. Chip and Agnes are behind on their meat stockpiling ahead of dark winter.
To make ends meet, Andy and Kate teach subsistence and survival skills, and Cody Allen has ventured into the bush from Oregon to learn how to live off the land from the experts. In Kavik, Sue preps her weapon arsenal as bears are still roaming the tundra, hungry for food. In Wiseman, Erik must prepare for the meat he will bring in from his upcoming hunting trips. In Noorvik, the Hailstones need essential seal oil. Agnes and two of her children must fly to a nearby village for a seal hunt.
A warm-up has swept through the Arctic, leaving the camps scrambling to prepare for what lies ahead. In Eagle, newcomer Cody Allen hopes to learn the intricacies of dog mushing & the lessons have only just begun. In Kavik, the warm weather has Sue on high alert. Her fears that the warm weather is bringing predators closer to her camp are realized when she scouts Kavik from a plane & spots a group of polar bears not far from her land. For Chip & Agnes Hailstone, the warm-up has delayed the thickening of the Kobuk River ice, making fishing impossible. Until the ice is thick enough to bear the weight of their large net, they will be without their fish & their winter trade currency.
Glenn is back, returning to his remote camp after months away. With grizzlies active in the area, he doesn't know what he'll be walking into. In Eagle, Andy and Kate's apprentice, Cody, wakes in the middle of the night to an extinguished fire. He manages to chop wood in the dead of night to get another fire going before frostbite sets in. In Kavik, Sue slips and falls hard. Combined with lingering pain from previous injuries, she's worried about being incapacitated during this vital time.
Sue is locking down camp in Kavik and heading to Deadhorse, the nearest town, to pick up a new eight-wheel all-terrain vehicle. Cody is considering a full-time life in Alaska, but he needs help from his hosts, Andy and Kate, to learn how to earn an income. In Noorvik, the price of stove oil is high, so Chip decides to forgo the oil for chopped firewood. Glenn has been melting snow for drinking water, but he'll need a larger supply to meet his most basic needs, like bathing.
After a short flight to Deadhorse to pick up her new all-terrain vehicle, Sue begins the 85-mile unpredictable journey through the Alaskan tundra back home to Kavik. In Eagle, Kate and Andy's apprentice, Cody, faces his final test as he heads out to spend a night alone in the Arctic wilderness. Chip and Agnes's daughter Carol goes out with her parents to learn how to set a fur trap. Isolated in the Brooks Range, Glenn sets out to make a fire kit to help keep his fires going all winter long.
Chip is planning to go hunting with his son Jon, but when Jon still hasn't arrived hours after their departure time, the family becomes concerned. The unpredictable weather in Kavik threatens Sue's ability to gather basic resources essential to her survival. In Eagle, Andy and Kate begin training new lead dogs to take over for the aging Iceberg, the current veteran lead. The bears in Chandalar will wake from hibernation, so Glenn prepares an emergency shelter should the bears destroy his cabin.
n Kavik, a looming snowstorm threatens Sue's camp. The last storm buried her food tent under 17 feet of snow, and the additional snow could crush it. Andy and Kate find that a large chunk of ice has broken free from the shore, leaving Andy scrambling to get supplies before the whole river breaks up. In Noorvik, Chip and Agnes prepare for their annual light winter hunting trip. A howling wolf wakes Glenn in Chandalar. He sets off in pursuit of the predator in hopes he'll find a bigger prize.
The end of winter is quickly approaching. Chip and Agnes have one last chance to harvest caribou until late summer. If they succeed, they will have meat for food and trade for months. Sue stumbles upon a mysterious object in the tundra, and fears for a potential encounter with a predator. Glenn is on the hunt for food and fur, and the wolf tracks he spots remind him there is more than one hunter in Chandalar. Andy sets out to collect wood before the rising temperatures melt away his snow trails.
Alaskans living in remote corners of the Arctic fight to maintain an independent lifestyle through self-reliant ingenuity, innovation, resourcefulness, and knowledge.
