[Eivin] Previously on Alaska: The Last Frontier...
[siren blaring]
[Eivin] My dad was crushed almost to death by a cow four months ago.
[Eve] He has suffered so much,
but Otto's alive, and he's getting better.
But he's going to be down and out for a while.
It... Yeah, it won't be easy. [sniffles]
[Atz Sr.] This past year, my brother Otto and I both had a hard time.
I had major shoulder surgery.
And I feel a little, a little down at times just dealing with it.
I proposed to my dad putting GPS collars on the cows
to, hopefully, make it much easier on my dad and much safer.
But everything to do with cows always has its dangers.
[Otto grunts] Ouch.
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
Every single animal that we encounter is well over 1,200 pounds.
-Dad, watch yourself. -[Otto] Okay, she's got her collar on.
Oh. [grunts]
[August] Dad?
[cow mooing]
[August] Are you all right?
Dad, are you okay?
Jeez Louise. Yeah, I'm okay.
I'm pissed.
That's a pretty tame cow, but she was annoyed.
And she got tired of being messed with,
and she popped me in the chest.
[grunts]
That was a damn fandango.
Oh, you snuffy old [bleep].
You know, being a cattleman is my livelihood,
and I'm not ready to give that up.
But I do have to keep a mind on making it less dangerous.
I'm gonna be a little more careful here.
I'm gonna take this, I'm gonna hold that.
[August] Look out, look out.
-[cow mooing] -[August] Uh, Dad?
Like some assistance?
[Otto] We're all done.
[August] Am I worried about my dad?
Yeah.
I really need this GPS system to work.
Because with the injury that he got,
he's honestly lucky to be alive.
Beat up by a cow.
But it's what has to be to get the job done.
Trying to find lost cows is never easy.
They can often be two to three miles away from the herd.
And that can often include crossing rivers,
zigzagging up switchbacks, and up hillsides.
There's always an inherent risk.
[Otto] Wow.
[August] Last year, we tried tracking down cows using a drone, but...
-[Otto] Yeah, there's cows right there. -[August] Okay.
...that only works
if you're in relative proximity to the cows in the first place.
But these GPSs ideally will differ
because we can then track the cows from miles away.
-[Otto] Let's do this. -[August] All right, let's go.
[Otto] It's on their ears It's horrible, huh?
Well, there's your bear-proof bucket, August.
Looks like a bear might have farted with it, huh?
[August] Well, that's what the proofing is, right?
The tough part about this operation
is taking this remote cabin, with no electricity,
into, basically, a data hub,
where we can transmit signals from the cows to the cabin...
[Otto] There's the solar panel.
...and then up to satellite,
and then to ourselves back at home,
so we can identify where these cows are.
[Otto] I'm gonna put it up here,
'cause it's better for my right hand to do the work.
Can I get a short... Couple of shorter screws?
So, my dad and Katie are outside,
trying to rig up where the antenna is going and the solar panel.
[Otto] I need two more of those short screws.
That's where all of our cables are going to be going.
In order to make this work, we're going to need a high-range antenna,
and a solar panel positioned to get enough sun
so that we can power all of this gear.
Yeah, pull on, uh, the antenna one, with the little nut.
Okay, keep going.
Then we have to make sure that everything is wired correctly
to then beam that up, Scotty, straight to the satellite.
Yeah, we're getting very close
to finishing up setting up the, uh,
the station for these geo-tracking collars.
Come on. Just clamps...
-Oh. -Oh, there was a light.
-Yeah, there was lights. -[August] Yeah, the black box will light up
if I do it right.
[Otto] You know, August went to engineering school.
I kind of forgot.
But, uh, the way he's handling the wires and everything,
and the way he's talking, I'm like, "Oh, that's right.
He's actually got an education."
-[Katie] This one's good. -[Otto] Oh, my God. Here it goes.
-[August] Hey, it's working. It's working. -[Katie] Cool. Look.
-Oh, cool. -[August] Yeah.
All that we have left to do is tidy up our wire management.
Yeah.
And, uh, go throw some collars on some cows.
Now that we know everything is working, we can head out,
put the remaining GPS collars on the cows
and make our way back home.
[Otto] Let's do this.
I'm really glad that this GPS system is working,
because, honestly, without it,
I don't know how much longer I wanna do this.
I forgot to take my nap.
[Atz Sr. yodeling]
So, at the beginning of this year,
our plan was to get some logs, build a log cabin.
My retirement cabin.
Then I got hurt.
Things kind of took a nosedive.
I was hurting physically, kind of depressed.
But today, I found purpose for my lumber
and also some purpose for myself.
Okay, lead us... Lead us forth.
The mighty lumber that must move.
Etienne, I'm gonna let you drive,
-'cause my arm's hurting. -[Etienne] Okay.
We've got some new homesteaders moving in out here,
close to Canyon's Edge.
Atz Lee's closest neighbors, Anna and Marcus.
They're living in a tent.
Kind of like my parents started out.
They need to build a barn, they need to build a cabin.
I can't do much anymore with my shoulder,
but I can help them with supplies.
And, of course, I'm always full of advice.
Boy, these are really solid, Marcus.
You did a good job between the tight part of the gravel
and the concrete, man.
This is gonna last 200 years.
We hope so. And if the barn
shifts a little bit from year to year,
if the doors stop working,
then, you know, we'll just get on it
-and level it right back out. -[Anna] Yeah.
[Jane] Let's bring in some wood.
-I'm ready. -Yes.
[Atz Lee] Away!
I think it's as dry as the air is by now, so...
I'll trust your judgement there.
[Atz Lee] Etienne, go.
-How are you feeling? -Good.
-How's your shoulder? -The other day, I spent five hours
going up the head of the bay.
And I was feeling like a rockstar.
Like... [exhales deeply] You know.
-I got home... [grunts] -Uh-uh-uh. Yeah.
...tired.
[Atz Sr.] You realize, after a few months,
that you really get tired of the pain,
and it wears on you, you know?
Can't do anything. Very little stuff.
So, just having to learn patience and, uh...
And that, together with aging.
So it just kind of comes with the territory, so...
A little, a little down at times just with the...
Dealing with it.
More.
[Marcus] I think that's about what we took last time.
[Anna] It looks good.
[Atz Lee] It's not easy for him to sit back
and watch other people do work
while his shoulder is recovering,
and he's building up that muscle
and tendon movement again.
I know it's hard for him just to sit back and watch and not to jump in there.
We're about there. Last bag.
Yo! Come on now.
We need confetti. Yay!
-Thank you. -[Atz Sr.] Many hands, light work, actually.
[Atz Lee] Yes, our pleasure.
I'm at a point now where I'm watching my father
get towards the end of his cycle of life and struggle with that.
What does it mean? Did he do enough? Did he love enough?
Did he work enough?
Did he do what he wanted to do?
Did he live out his dreams?
If I could say one thing to the Kilcher elders, it would be, "Embrace change."
-You want some sweet water, Atz? -I would love some.
[Anna] Yes, this is from the spring.
[Atz Sr.] Mmm.
I've spent a big part of my life
trying to figure out how other people could help me,
feeling sorry for myself.
-Wow. -How do you say in Swedish "unbelievable"?
[speaking in other language]
-Huh? -[speaking in other language]
In German, unglaublich.
I like that.
[Atz Sr.] And, uh, I learned you feel better
when you're helping other people feel better.
So I am thrilled that I can spend more and more time,
don't matter how old, don't matter what shape my body's in,
helping other people.
-[Marcus] Hey, thank you. -Thank you so much, you all.
-Anna, thank you. Thank you. -[Anna] I'm so lucky to have
-wonderful friends and neighbors. -Yeah, likewise.
-[Atz Lee] Yes. -[Anna] Thank you. Thank you very much.
[Eivin] All right.
[engine sputtering]
-You kill it by taking that off. -Yeah, and wearing it.
-And wearing it. -[laughs]
[Eivin] My dad has been working cattle since he was nine years old.
Here we go, honey. Either we're gonna make it or we ain't.
[Eivin] But since he can't manage cows like he used to...
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
-Oh, man. -Are you all right?
...I'm trying to come up with new ways for helping him,
kind of like August did with the GPS collars.
Extra oil, do we need any? Or antifreeze or something?
Maybe a... Crescent wrench?
[Eivin] GPS is great for kind of tracking cattle, rogue cattle...
[man] Right there. Right there, right there.
...but it doesn't solve the issue
of how do we get to some of these hard-to-reach places?
[Otto] That quicksand over there.
When my friend, Chris Ritchie, told me about this hovercraft that he found,
that he could get for super cheap,
I was like, "This is the perfect vehicle
to help my dad reach those hard-to-access locations with the cattle."
This is, like, the ultimate vehicle for getting
shallow water, head of the bay, need to check on the cows.
Almost any point in the tide, we can go up there and do that.
You don't have to worry about horses getting stuck in deep mud,
-rivers that are too deep to cross. -[Otto] Well.
[Eivin] A hovercraft can literally just glide over all that stuff with ease.
Yeah. We're gonna fire it up, and hopefully it'll... [mimics hovercraft whirring]
...come off this trailer pretty easy.
Yesterday, we got this thing running
by putting a used engine from one of my old snowmobiles into it.
Now, we're ready to take it out for its first test flight.
[engine sputtering]
At this point, this thing is still very much untested.
[hovercraft whirring]
We need to kind of put it through its paces,
and actually give it kind of a Kachemak Bay test,
and run it over the water and see how it does.
All right.
I still am not completely confident that the engine that we put in here
is gonna be enough to be able to float it and fly it.
And also, is it going to be reliable enough
to be able to drive this thing over water?
All right, Chris, I feel like we're boldly going...
where other men have gone before.
Let's do it.
[Eivin] All right. Clear prop.
[hovercraft whirring]
We're gonna take this thing and run it as hard as we can today
and make sure it's a safe vehicle for my dad,
because you really don't want the thing to cut out on the water.
It's not like you can just kick some oars out
or put a motor in the water to be able to motor yourself back.
If it dies in the water, you're kind of SOL.
-[engine thuds] -[Eivin grunts] Damn it!
[hovercraft whirring]
[Eivin exclaiming excitedly]
We need to make sure that this hovercraft is 100% reliable for my dad,
because if it dies on him somewhere in the middle of nowhere,
he's gonna be totally SOL.
Woo-hoo!
-[engine thuds] -[Eivin grunts]
Damn it!
[engine sputtering]
What's going on there, you think?
[Chris] Not sure. Just...
[engine sputtering]
[Eivin] Honestly, this was my biggest worry,
that the engine from the snowmobile was gonna crap out.
[Chris] Oh, oh, oh. Gotcha.
-Lack of fuel. -[Eivin] Oh.
Fuel hose came off.
Here we go.
[hovercraft revving]
[Eivin] Thankfully, it was just the fuel line that popped off,
and not an engine problem.
We're back in business.
We're gonna run it for about 45 minutes, full speed, wide open.
If it can make it through that test,
I'm gonna feel confident my dad can use it with no problems.
Now that it's running like it's supposed to,
I'm gonna have my dad come check it out for the test drive.
-Yeah! -Woo-hoo!
[Eivin] Dad!
-How are you guys doing? -Hi.
[Eivin] You wanna go for a ride, Dad?
Hell yeah.
[Eivin] Yeah!
Come on over, Dad.
How many people can you ride?
[Eivin] I think we can do me, and you, and the kids. No problem.
-[Otto] Really? -[Eivin] Oh, yeah.
[Otto] I'm really excited about the potential of this hovercraft.
It would save me from having to ride the horses out
into all these treacherous areas,
especially with the changing weather patterns.
Last fall was a huge weather problem.
The rivers were high and flowing stronger than any previous fall.
We could not get across.
We had tsunamis,
we had blizzard conditions I haven't seen in who knows how long.
One thing August is helping me with
is, uh, putting tracking collars on the cows.
[Eivin and Otto laughing]
[Otto] And now, on top of that, the hovercraft.
It's kind of like giving an old horse a new set of legs.
This thing's working awesome.
[laughing] Whoa!
-[Tela] You know Owen and Alysse a little bit? -[Eve] Yeah.
I actually wanted to go up to their place forever.
-[Tela] Yeah. -I just haven't,
'cause life is always so busy.
Today, Tela and I are visiting relatively new homesteaders to the area,
Owen and Alysse.
Both Tela and I understand
how difficult starting out can be,
so we wanna let them know we're here for advice, or help,
or whatever they may need.
Yep, okay. So, this is us.
[Tela] This is us.
Hello.
-Hey, kiddo. It's you again. -[Tela] Yay.
-Yeah. -[Tela] Hey. How's it going?
Thanks for coming up.
-[Eve] What a spot! This is amazing. -[Owen] I know.
-[Eve] Look at your house. -[Alysse] Welcome.
[Eve] You live in such a beautiful spot.
-My name's Alysse. -And I'm Owen.
-And we are... -The Snowhawk family.
[Eve] Good job, guys.
[Alysse] Snowhawk is our children's middle names.
We have Sequoia Snow and Juneau Hawk.
-And that's where Snowhawk comes from. -Hence, Snowhawk comes from.
We came from a small town called Nevada City.
It's in Nevada County, in the state of California.
It's a little confusing.
We dated when we were
-seniors in high school. -[Owen] Seniors in high school.
[Alysse] When we decided, you know, okay, we're having a family,
and we're settling in, and, okay, well, this is fun,
but is this where, where we really wanna be?
-Yeah. -And is this where we wanna raise our family?
And so we went on a trip.
-[Owen] Across the US. -[Alysse] And we drove across the US
with our dog and with our baby
-in our camper. -[Owen] Looking at different towns.
And we then drove all the way to Alaska.
And that's where we said, "Oh, my God."
We were just awestruck by the mountains and just the beauty here.
Once you see it, it captures your soul.
Hi. I think we found our spot
where we're gonna build.
-[Owen] Do you wanna build our house right here? -[Alysse] Mmm-hmm.
[Owen] Yeah?
We moved out here onto the top of this mountain for peace and tranquility.
And we have an adventurous life every day.
[Owen] Are we building our house together?
Yes.
[Owen] I didn't have construction experience,
I didn't have any experience doing anything remotely, I mean, like this at all.
-So I mean-- -[Alysse] We've had to learn.
-[Owen] We're learning as we go. -[Alysse] There's a lot
of, of trial and error.
And it has not been easy, let me tell you.
[sighs] There's been times when we wanted to give up.
There's been times that were really difficult.
-[Owen] Full of them. -[Alysse] It's challenged, you know,
our relationship, our marriage...
-[Owen] Ah. -You can turn that off now.
Whoa!
...our inner core values.
[Owen] We have a few friends out here,
but we don't have the support network
like we used to have in California.
We're gonna haul water from over there.
Bring the water back to here.
Okay.
I think the toughest thing on both of us
is having to haul water to keep our homestead going every day.
[Alysse grunts]
I feel like in the last four years, I've just been raising babies.
-[Eve] Mmm-hmm. -And now, exactly,
I've been hauling water for four years.
And now, I'm finally ready to homestead.
[Eve] Yeah. Yeah, totally.
[Alysse] This year, we're sweetening up our soil,
expanding our current garden plot.
[Owen] Raising a bunch of chicken for meat,
-which is huge. -[Alysse] Raising a bunch of chickens.
But if we don't get our water situation straightened out,
we're dead in the water.
Have you, uh, had much luck
with rain catchment off of your tunnel?
-We have a spring... -Uh-huh.
...so, um... [clicks tongue]
Yeah, we just have, like, gravity-fed water to our...
-That's nice. -That I... Yeah.
One of the biggest issues as a homesteader is water.
When you're living remotely, you can't just call the water company
and have them make your faucet work.
Man, do you have to work for it.
Eivin and I developed a spring/shallow well...
[Eivin] You better appreciate this, here, running water.
...and connected it to our house.
-Oh, man. -We have running water!
But it's actually super expensive
to get everything you need to set it up.
So most homesteaders start by hauling water from the nearest spring,
like the Snowhawks are doing now.
[Owen] Off to haul water.
[Eve] We understand how the Snowhawks could feel
like they just can't catch a break.
So, I want to make sure we find a way to make things a little easier for them.
Both Eve and I have been in the same situation.
So if we can help and make your load a little bit lighter--
Thank you.
-Yeah. -Thank you.
Tela is a buff lady. I'm working on getting buffer.
-She's buff, too. -I'm getting buff.
-Muscles. -I've been working out.
-Us mama bears. -Yeah.
-[Tela] Yes. -[Alysse] Yeah.
[Otto] Coming up on Alaska: The Last Frontier...
Wow.
Pre-legalization, marijuana was still the largest cash crop in Alaska.
-Except, this isn't marijuana. -Uh...
[Charlotte laughing]
Okay. What an exciting, exciting day, man.
Down here is where I used to play as a kid.
Meeting some veterans who are gonna help me
help some homesteaders that Eve knows.
And we're gonna take a big water-holding tank
that I'm not using anymore up there
and help them fix their water problem.
That's their first test, to see if they can find this place.
So, a few years ago, my daughter Jewel invited me
to speak to a group of veterans that were dealing with PTSD.
Having been to Vietnam, I can remember how bad it can get sometimes.
One thing you have to remember about filming
is just agree with everything I say. Let's try that again.
-We have a plan, right? -No.
Froggy is a fellow Vietnam veteran dealing with his whole PTSD thing.
So, what are you thinking for a shed?
I'm thinking of a little lean-to.
Building and healing means so many different things, you know?
Hey, hey! You found the way.
That was the first test. Good job.
-Thanks for showing up. -Thank you.
Come on over here, and I'll show you where we're gonna get started.
-So, you were in what branch of the service? -Navy.
-[Atz Sr.] Navy. -'86 through '88.
-And what about you, sir? -[Marc] '99 to 2006, Iraq.
-Navy doctor. -[Atz Sr.] Navy physician. And you?
-Branch of service? -[Bobby] Army.
[Atz Sr.] Army? What years?
2000 to 2013.
And what country were you in?
-Driver in Iraq. -[Atz Sr.] Okay. I was a cook in the artillery.
'67 and '68.
I think I am the old guy here.
Um, I became a cook because I thought it'd be a pretty safe gig in Vietnam.
First guy killed over there was a cook.
Yeah, you think, it's kind of like,
"Maybe it was just a dream," you know?
When I first met Atz, I started working with Kroger
in the Wellness Your Way Festivals.
He went up there, and he started speaking, and then he started crying.
So, when I went up there to go speak, I started crying, too,
but I didn't care, because he was a Vietnam veteran.
These guys were able to make it through all the problems
with no help.
He didn't even get no PTSD help.
They didn't even have that diagnosis.
They didn't have TBI, they didn't have nothing.
He had to figure everything out on his own.
So, I figured the only way we're gonna make it through is doing what he did.
Another big thing about my goal for all of this
isn't just that I ask veterans to come and help me
help some local people who needed help,
but it's also passing down what my parents taught me,
to me, passing down to you,
and more importantly, passing down to the next generation.
So, let's head that way.
[yodeling]
That is the call for all veterans to help.
[Bobby] Here we go.
[Atz Sr.] Have water, will travel.
So, this is gonna kind of be a multi-stage project.
Help me throw that.
[Atz Sr.] We're gonna get the tank a certain distance,
then we're gonna drag it on the sled.
-[Bobby] Whoa, right there. -[Marc] Right there.
[Atz Sr.] Then we're gonna have to roll it up the hill.
The top of the hill is a great place if you want a good view,
but a little hard to get water up there,
so it's gonna be quite a process.
[Bobby] Okay, how's it look?
-Good. -[Bobby] We're ready?
-Here we go. -[Bobby] All right. Let's give it a shot.
One of the best ways to get over your own troubles
is get involved in other people's lives.
Hut, two, three, four.
Hopefully, this kind of experience
is gonna be healing for these veterans.
Company, halt.
About pace. [grunting]
Oh, wrong way. This way.
-[Greg] How's your shoulder feeling? -Good. It's good.
[Bobby] Last little bit.
[Alysse] Thanks for coming. You made it.
Merry Christmas. Happy birthday.
-All of those things. -Hi.
[Alysse] I'm so excited.
I am so excited about having some water.
-Water's life. -Water is life.
I mean, after hauling water for four years from the town.
-We need to have access to water on demand. -Access to water.
[Atz Sr.] I'm the supervisor, okay?
-[Marc] Um, right? -No, left, left.
One of the traditions I learned from Atz is that
these homesteaders help other homesteaders.
You know, in my profession, I went into it as a...
As a physician to help people,
and this is just an extension of that,
and being able to help any way you can.
[Greg] Watch your toes.
[Marc] There we go.
Well, so we've got the tank in place now and it's levelled,
with a slight decline on one side,
so they can drain the tank if they need to in the winter time.
We're getting ready to fill it up with the prime water
that we brought up with us.
Okay, water should be comin'.
This way, we can prime their new water tank with water
until it starts raining.
And then, eventually, we're gonna get the pump into it
and get it pumped into their house.
-Whoo! -Yeah. All right.
-Yeah. -[Greg] That's a good feeling.
[Alysse] Although we have neighbors,
we're spread out pretty wide.
And it's nice to have community and feel I'm home,
and there is somebody to call on if you need help.
Appreciate it, my man. Glad we could help.
-No problem. -It was amazing.
-Thank you so much. -Yeah. It's cooking, man.
[Atz Sr.] So, we were able to help a family today.
It's obvious how happy they are by the smiles on their faces.
Little kids just jumping up and down like it's Christmas.
So, my body may not be what it used to be,
but I've still got a lot to give.
[grunts]
[Otto] Oh, man.
Check it out. I'm so excited. This just happened today.
Oh, we got us a new hempstead.
-[laughing] Hempstead. -Changing it from the homestead
-to the hempstead. -Love that.
Wow.
This has been a summer of some new endeavors for me.
[Otto laughing]
August and Eivin have come up with some pretty cool gadgets to help manage the cows.
Bring the trailer, wheeler trailer, and get that weed eater.
Now, we're starting a hemp farm.
So, when the day comes that I can't get on a horse,
we've got a backup plan.
Maybe we should just forget about growing the hemp
and just grow some dope.
But this is the stuff that you take--
-I am totally kidding. -I know.
[Otto] When I was in the hospital,
I was given narcotics to endure the pain.
And the side-effects that those drugs gave me
was far worse than the broken ribs.
After taking some CBD oil,
I was able to get myself off of the narcotics right quick.
And, uh, it was a wonderful thing, and it, uh...
It got us to realize that we can do this ourselves.
So, another adventure and another new direction in homesteading.
And we've got a perfect place to try this out.
With this elevation, we might have a real good situation here.
For sure.
[Charlotte] We've got a friend, Jason,
who has a permit to grow hemp.
And he also knows how to make CBD oil, he makes it himself.
So he's gonna coach us through the whole process.
Hopefully, we'll be able to have a hemp farm of our own.
And it could be a new cash cow.
[chuckles] Cash cow, so to speak.
[laughing]
-[Jason] Oh, man. Come on. -You like that?
[Jason] Come on, man. Yeah.
[Charlotte] Yeah, there is our lawnmower right there.
[Otto speaking]
[Charlotte] I guess you're gonna do it.
[Otto grunting]
There we go.
[Charlotte] It's a riding lawnmower.
[Charlotte and Otto laughing]
[August] My dad has spent the majority of his life as a rancher,
so I think my dad has a hard time imagining the homestead without cows.
But he is getting older,
and it's a possibility that those days are numbered.
[Otto] See, my dad used to just use the shovel.
-Shovel for cutting grass? -Yeah, check it out.
He used to... Just like this. Check it out.
But this is another step that I think my dad has
some more personal investment into
because he felt how beneficial
CBD was for him during his recovery.
[Otto] That hurt my shoulder.
[Otto winces]
[Otto grunts]
He needs some CBD salve right now.
-We gotta get the stuff growing faster. -You got some?
-[Otto] You're not gonna put it on? -Oh, thanks.
I'll let... I'll let... I'll let your wife do that.
[Otto] Rub it in there.
-I am. -Come on. I want a little...
I want a little masseuse action while you're at it.
[Charlotte laughing] Oh, come on.
Pre-legalization, marijuana was still
the largest cash crop in Alaska.
Except, this isn't marijuana, this is hemp.
-Uh... -[Charlotte laughing]
I hate to disappoint you.
[both laughing]
[Otto] Oh, boy.
Oh, man. This is so cool. [chuckling]
[Otto] The fact that we're growing hemp is kind of ironic,
because my daddy, uh, he always suggested
we should be growing hemp here.
And back in the old '60s, he tried growing some hemp.
I'll tell the plants a little story.
Back a long time ago, my daddy found some seeds,
and he loved them, and he threw them out in the outfield.
And then, the dark ages came along.
It was no longer okay to grow hemp.
It was against the law!
But some of your siblings survived,
sprouted up here and there.
And now, here you are once again.
Being a cattleman has become my main livelihood.
But that's not to say that I haven't tried lots of other things before.
I've worked as a machinist.
I've worked construction.
Now, does it clear?
[man] I think so.
[Otto] And I've done massive jobs hauling cargo at sea.
That is a relief.
Some things work out, some things don't,
but I really hope this hemp turns into a good thing for us.
[Charlotte] We've got Jason's expertise.
I feel like we're gonna knock this out pretty easily.
I'm glad I'm not doing it by myself.
[August] My dad seems pretty back on track.
He's got a lot of new gadgets and a hemp farm on the side.
[Otto] What do you wanna do with this dirt? You wanna dump them in the holes?
The hoarder in me wants to save it.
[August] I think, at this point, it's my turn to relax,
go out, have some fun.
And to be honest, figure out what on earth to do with my life.
[Otto] Charlotte, you've got another little beady plant somewhere?
[Atz Sr.] Yeah, it's the only thing I've been able to do
with my shoulder surgery recovery is run.
So, this will be the veterans' last day here in Alaska,
so I thought I'd give them a little taste of my childhood.
I've always found that getting out in nature
and doing some good old-fashioned hard work is good for your soul.
Okay, I think we'll chop some wood.
Grab an axe.
-Bobby Bunion. -[Atz Sr.] Bobby...
-Bobby Bunion. -All I need is blue.
-Bobby Bunion. There's blue right there. -Yeah, right.
So, uh, I tried to take some things
that were essential homestead skills.
You know, the basic food, shelter, clothing.
Well, chopping wood, uh, sawing wood, all of that.
I got scars all over my hands when I learned to make kindling as a kid, so...
So the first thing is, we're gonna chop through...
Is chop through a little log.
[Bobby] Wow. So you just get to call this "backyard."
I'm super happy to be up here as part of this veterans' activity.
It's great. You know, veterans' issues
are really underappreciated in the United States.
And, of course, the mission that Atz is on,
to help vets focus and build strong self-awareness,
this is the kind of thing that people that are in crisis can look at
and just, you know, take a deep breath.
Have a few deep breaths.
-Now, you notice what I'm doing? -[Bobby] Yes. Yes, sir.
I'm subtly demonstrating.
So, we'll put one guy here, and we'll put one guy down there.
There you go.
Little more angle, Bobby. Keep the angle.
There you go. Beautiful. That was a perfect hit there.
Marc, put your hands together when you're coming down.
-You get more force. -Okay. Got it.
I'mma get this bad boy.
So, if I could describe this, it wouldn't be beautiful, it would be peace and calm.
And that's... That's what it's doing for me right now.
Big Greg, Big Greg, keep going. You're not through yet.
Didn't you guys chop in the Navy?
-Not too much woodchopping, no. -No?
And for someone like me, it's something that I need.
Okay, gentlemen, that is all. That is all.
Lay your axes down. Looking good.
Learning to live with PTSD has been a life-long journey.
First, you think you just can't get rid of it,
then you realize you just gotta figure out a way to live with it gracefully.
-[Jewel] Hey, guys. -Hi, Jewel.
And my daughter, Jewel, has spent a lot of time
learning about mental health and wellness and mindfulness.
It's been a big help to me.
Made a little fire for you guys.
It got chilly out, huh?
Being able to work with veterans is my dad's biggest passion.
It's when I really see my dad come alive.
And it really opens his heart. He really wants to help.
He knows what it's like to suffer with trauma and PTSD,
and how isolating it can be.
And so to help other people with that means a lot to him.
When I was young, I started having panic attacks when I was about 16.
And I would imagine I was here on the Bay,
I would imagine I was in a boat.
And then I'd fall backwards, and I'd taste the saltwater,
and it'd get quieter and quieter as I went down.
And by the time I would "reach the bottom" of the quiet ocean,
where it felt calm to me, I was out of my panic attack.
I had one coming on...
I almost didn't come from Seattle to Anchorage.
-I walked on the plane, full panic attack. -Yeah. Yeah.
-Heart was beating... I started sweating. -[Jewel] Yeah.
I got clammy. Scared as hell.
-Wow. -[Atz Sr.] You made it.
You're a veteran, you have to be something bigger or better,
badder, stronger, but then you're broke.
[Atz Sr.] A month or so ago, I found myself
in the lowest place I've ever been.
The difference was, when I got there, I thought,
-"Okay. I've been here before." -[Bobby] Mmm-hmm.
"I'm not gonna panic. I know this place."
So, I took comfort in knowing that I'd find my way back out.
Even if you go way down, at least you know,
"Oh, I've been here before."
-It's all about the progress. -Exactly.
My heart's been with veterans most of my life.
Eagle. There comes your eagle, Bobby.
-[Jewel laughing] -[Bobby] Oh, my God. It's a bald eagle.
And, uh, none of this beautiful experience, helping others,
using the healing power of nature,
sharing this beauty with my veteran friends,
none of that would have happened if I hadn't hurt myself,
so blessing in disguise.
[Atz Lee] Coming up on Alaska: The Last Frontier...
[Etienne] It's very rare for this many Kilchers to assemble...
for the pure sake of having fun.
-[Eve screaming] -Oh, my gosh! Wow!
So, water for, like, the garden and stuff,
I have gutters and I do rain catchment.
We need to, like, make a little pump,
so we don't have to come down here all the time.
But for drinking water, I prefer, you know,
to drink it straight from the source, right out of the earth.
Oh, God. Dream come true for me right now.
[Atz Lee] But it's kind of a steep incline to get down there,
and I haven't really taken the time to establish a better system yet
than crawling into the canyon, filling up said jug,
and then fighting your way back out
with a 40-pound jug of water.
My feet are stuck in the slime.
What's happening with you? You're not even moving.
-Where am I supposed to go? There's just you. -I don't know.
Traffic jam down at the spring.
[Jane] One of my least favorite chores
is to get water out of the canyon.
The reasons I got married are gone.
I mean, besides love.
I'm really gonna miss Etienne.
Did I mention that I was gonna miss Etienne this winter?
[Jane] I'm never coming down here again.
I'll just die.
[engine revving]
-[Etienne] We're here. -[Eve] Woo-hoo!
I have one glove. I don't know where my other glove is.
We're going out to Atz Lee's place.
It's gonna be muddy, which is why everybody decided,
you know, just go with it and wear white, I guess.
Where's your white, bro?
So excited.
I've been wanting to see Atz Lee's cabin.
And it will be really fun to be up there with the whole gang.
We rarely can make the stars align
to all be in one place at one time.
We've been helping out our parents a lot lately
adjust to an incredible amount of change and difficulty.
[August] Oh, you've got your tassels.
-[Jane] Oh, I plucked it over from a bachelorette party. -Oh, great.
So we just wanna get out and have some fun together.
[Eve laughing]
Oh, there he is. Yeah!
[Atz Lee] The whole fam damily,
we're all heading out to Canyon's Edge,
because I haven't really had the whole gang out there, you know.
-[laughs] -[Atz Lee] Good luck.
-Good luck. -[shrieking]
-[Eve screaming] -Give her hell.
Oh, God!
-[Atz Lee] Yay! -Yes! Whoo! Woo-hoo!
[Etienne] It's very rare for this many Kilchers to assemble in one location.
It's even more rare for this many Kilchers to assemble
and not have to airlift a cabin 400 miles
onto an island or something.
[Atz Lee laughing]
This is really the first time that we've ever
just really done something for the pure sake of having fun.
-[Eivin grunting] -[Jane] Yeah.
Eivin, are you stuck?
Oh, God.
-[engine revving] -[Eivin grunting]
-[Eve screaming] -Oh, my gosh!
[Atz Lee] We made it.
There's motorcycle parking right there.
[Eivin] First motorcycle in the neighborhood.
It's probably the first and the last
-motorcycle in here. -Yeah? You're not gonna come out every time
-on the motorcycle? No? -No.
Probably not a good idea.
-Oh! -[Jane] Payback, Eivin.
-[Eve] Whoo! -[Eivin grunts]
-[Eivin] He's already muddy. -She got you so good.
[Atz Lee] It's not just about going out there and getting muddy
and having a great day.
I planned a little something else
to kind of bring the family together
and connect the generations,
so that long after we're gone,
there will still be something to remember all of us by.
So, I have one tree that I would love to plant with you guys.
-Aw. -It is a Siberian larch, which is my favorite tree.
-[Eve] Oh. -You guys can put it in there,
and then it will grow, like the two of you,
the next time you guys are out here.
-Look at that. -Boop.
[Atz Lee grunts] Next week, you know.
-On that note, you wanna go plant a tree? -Yeah.
-Okay. -Let's plant a tree.
-Let's go plant a tree here, people. -Let's go and plant.
[Atz Lee] Growing up on the homestead,
death is an everyday occurrence.
You're raising animals, you're butchering animals. Kind of part of life.
And as the older people start growing old and dying, then the people you love,
it's not just the animals anymore, it's the people.
And it's this kind of big cycle that can be a lot to think about.
I think I'm gonna put it in this triangle.
-[Etienne] Oh, right in the middle of the triangle? -[Atz Lee] Yeah.
-I think I'm gonna put it right here. -[Etienne] Great spot.
But the tree is the symbol of growth, of life, of newness.
Now, in honor of the next generation, you get to do all the work.
[Eve laughing]
[Etienne] I've learned nothing.
[Atz Lee] And this tree is gonna be around a lot longer
than any of the rest of us.
It'll be, hopefully, a place,
in a moment of loss, in a moment of hardship,
in a moment of just, kind of, confusion,
to think about, "You know what?
There's a lot of loss in life,
but there's also always a lot of growth."
It does seem kind of like our dads should be here for this.
-[Atz Lee] It does. -They're old and broken now.
I tried to kill mine off, it didn't work.
My dad's kind of been through a lot with his shoulder surgery.
Otto recently, you know, almost got stomped to death by a cow.
And it's finally getting to point now where it's like
people are starting to actually come to terms with
"I'm not going to be here forever."
-[Eve laughing] -I feel like a bad Kilcher right now.
-This is our work. -Yeah, this is the work we do.
-Which is the work we were doing. Yeah. -We're a little older now.
The work we do is trying to find peace
-with not doing the actual work. -Yes.
-It's hard. -It is.
The great thing about family
is the longer that a family lives somewhere
and the more that a family grows,
the hope is that more people will be interested
and will want to invest their time and energy
into creating a better and bigger homestead.
So I kind of see Atz Lee's symbolism a little bit
with wanting to plant a new tree, new generation.
August and Etienne, them coming on.
Them to kind of starting to take that lead
a little bit more on the homestead.
This will grow and thrive with the hard work that you have put into it.
-Yes. -And someday there will be little baby larches.
And then, pretty soon, someone will come down here and be like,
"Oh, my God. What an amazing larch grove."
And it all started with one immigrant,
with one family's heart, blood, sweat, and tears.
-Aw. -[Atz Lee] Larch... Larch equals life.
-Let's go. -Let's get out of here. It's so hot.