If Alaska was a human being,
he’d be the boss of all bosses.
He ain’t gonna forgive you if you disrespect him.
Alaska is fickle, it's moody,
and it’ll kill your ass.
The ocean'll do it, the cold might do it,
the land might do it.
The environment says, "Get the [bleep] out."
It's my nature to say, "Make me."
For some people, living the lifestyle I have
would be sheer hell.
And for me, it’s sheer paradise.
Truthfully, every day is different.
That’s half of what enthralls me about this lifestyle.
I never have the same day twice.
It’s wild; wild Alaska.
We need to keep our eyes out for pretty much anything
that we see that’s edible.
Okay.
It’s been a super lean winter.
There’s been nothing to hunt.
No signs of caribou to speak of, moose.
Nothing for us to put on the table.
So we’re hitting this spring hungry.
So we'll go fishing, beaver hunting,
and get our canoe in a good spot for the rest of the year.
I'm gonna leave this boat near the mouth here.
It looks pretty shallow. We're not gonna get very far.
There's barely enough water for the canoe back there,
let alone this boat.
We've been wanting to get a canoe back into the slough
for a couple of years now,
and we haven’t because it’s a bit of a challenge.
The water is so low. We're not gonna have much water.
We’re gonna have to drag this thing probably a half a mile.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it this low right after breakup.
There is a walking trail
into the head of the slough,
but going over the ice and through that walking trail
would be a nightmare trying to haul that canoe that way.
And then the rain came!
Let’s just see what we can do.
Okay.
Keep walking ahead.
I don’t know how much I’m gonna be able to walk on this stuff.
That’s it.
Really thick mud there.
Yeah, it's like you never know
where you’re gonna sink in a couple feet.
It's a tough go to get the canoe up
and into what was part of the slough
where the water used to be.
There's basically a ditch of water
banked with a lot of slippery, slimy mud.
Oh, whoa.
With the added rain on top, it makes it super slick.
Keep walking forward.
That’s good, I can work the canoe through the channel here.
The mud along the Yukon River, I call it eel [bleep].
It's slimy, sticky, it sucks you in,
and the suction makes it really hard to walk.
You're gonna have to pull like a son of a bitch,
’cause I can’t walk in here.
Yeah, I know. Just a minute.
It’s like quicksand.
If you stand in one place and you wiggle a little bit,
you start sinking down.
We’re just gonna have to struggle our way through it.
Stucker than stuck.
That’s good. Keep going.
That might do it.
Good.
Are you ready?
No, I’m not ready!
So let's just try and keep some water under it,
and then we won’t have to battle so bad.
Toss me a rope.
I’m just gonna keep lining.
I think we’re almost home free here.
Hello, garden.
Let’s get a good look at what I’m looking at.
I have not seen the garden without snow since last year.
It’s been almost nine months.
Winter hung on.
It was one maelstrom of windstorms and ice
after another, unendingly.
This is the latest let go of winter,
and it hasn’t really let go.
It’s not really warm, but I’m out of time.
Instead of having three months of planting time
and growing time, I've got one and a half to two months
for my entire season.
So I've got to get my work, open everything up,
get it to dry out, see the health of the dirt.
This far up in the Arctic, it’s worth its weight in gold.
Why am I so concerned with the garden?
I don't want to harp on the fact that I had the surgery
to fuse the cervical spine.
But the doctor said one year and no shooting a big weapon.
That means any of the big ticket food items are done.
No anything large.
Okay.
So here's some old plants,
but you see, it didn't get open very early,
so there's some mold.
I'd like it to dry out for an evening,
but it’s not bad.
I've got to come up with ways of raising,
growing and supplementing the food I eat.
'Cause I think winter's gonna come in
and kick our butts again.
I’ve gotta be ready for it.
Last one!
Oof, this one’s cold.
Good healthy-looking dirt, though.
The sun is out, the sun is on it.
Needs to warm up, needs to dry out,
and then later I can bring the plants in.
The garden is open.
Well, let’s start with these, grandson.
I’ll cut them down and you’ll walk them back to the boat, huh?
The goal for today is to go set out some markers
along the channel down here in the lagoon.
Every spring, the river makes itself
a whole new sandbar system, a whole new channel,
and most of it’s frozen.
So when we hit it with the boat, it’s like hitting rock.
We don’t want that.
So what I’d like to do is just go mark the mouth of the river.
At the beginning of this delta here,
it spreads out into three different channels.
And they all go to the lagoon, and the lagoon’s brackish water.
So it's basically access to a whole different type
of environment down there.
You got all the animals from the ocean down there,
which is excellent.
The birds, the fish, the sea mammals.
And it distinctly changes from here
on the freshwater in the river.
Whole different set of animals,
so it makes our hunting twice as good.
When the water’s low, it’s easy to see where the channel is.
But that’s only twice a day.
I want to be able to access the whole thing all times a day.
Stay there, Wade, we're good.
I’m coming out with the last ones.
Okay.
We're gonna trim these up
so we’re not taking down whole bushes.
You know, Wade, every year the sandbars out here
change in this lagoon.
So every year we go out and find them,
instead of finding them with our propeller.
Whoa! Holy cow!
Or finding them with our underwater unit.
What we want to do is find it first,
deliberately, and mark it.
Taataa, what was the first rock you ever hit?
The first rock I ever hit?
You know, I’m not sure.
That’s a good question.
Here, let’s get a couple of these and make a nice...
Oh, tie those? I thought you were tie these.
No, we’re gonna tie some of these up.
When I was a kid, every summer I went to my grandparents'.
My grandparents taught me tons of stuff.
So, I can see how I should be passing it on to him.
The best way to pass on knowledge
is to have them do it with me.
They got to participate.
Wow, now that’s some knottage.
Let’s stand it up and see if it works.
You are a knotty boy.
I like your knots.
Maybe this can withstand several knots of wind.
Not.
Alright, let’s go get your Uncle Doug.
We’ll come back and put all this stuff in the boat and go.
Beautiful out here.
Oh, no, I see a beaver dam.
Where?
You see that big wall in front of us?
Yeah.
We’re gonna have to go over that thing.
Oh, no.
I’m gonna land right here, let’s check it out.
Me, Skyler, Keenan are out here on the waterways today
and we’re gonna go look around for things to hunt.
Beaver, muskrat, ducks.
There’s a lot of things to look for out here.
Let me see.
Ooh. What?
That’s not gonna fit in there.
I’ll try to drag it over.
Sky, I think you’re gonna have to get out.
When I'm with my kids, beaver dam like this,
I play it up like it's a lot bigger deal than it is,
but I know what’s going through Keenan’s head.
Whoa, it’s going fast.
Can that pull you away?
He hasn't been through this,
so I gotta kind of walk us through this and let him learn
how to get past a little obstacle like the beaver dam.
Okay, Keenan, get in.
This is too scary.
You’ll be alright.
If I float away, it’s your fault, Dad.
Okay, if we start floating away,
just start paddling with your hands.
Dad, Dad, Dad!
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Just kidding.
Okay, Sky, you can hop in.
Okay, good. Sky's gonna be in here.
Yeah.
Now it’s safe.
You’re safe.
We’ve overcome this obstacle.
So we’ll journey on.
A situation like this teaches them how to push forward,
push ahead, and overcome obstacles.
That’s what you’re gonna face all the time in life.
This is how you make your kids tough right here.
You’re scared, Keenan?
Yeah.
I thought you were scared of nothing.
It’s okay to be scared sometimes.
That’s how you stay alive.
Because there’s a fine line between brave and stupid.
Oh, a couple of birds right there.
You see them, Keenan?
Yeah.
You’re gonna shoot at that one right there.
Here. You gotta stand up.
I don't feel like it.
Just try. If you miss, it's okay.
Ah. We’re taking too long.
You don’t have to, Keenan.
You want Sky to do it?
Yeah.
Oh, look at those two ducks right there.
Let’s see if they land.
Get it ready.
Pull the trigger back.
Just be ready when they get together.
Right when they come together.
Right... there.
Oh, good shot.
It’s right there in the moss.
Oh!
Whoa!
Good job, Sky.
Thanks.
Anaa baasee’.
Well, we got one duck.
Mm-hmm.
It’s a little scary for you to shoot, huh, Keenan?
You’re still little yet.
But if we get a real good chance and you feel like it,
let us know, okay?
And we'll probably ask you to try to shoot,
but if you don’t want to do it, don’t do it, okay?
Let’s keep rolling.
We’ll look for more ducks.
It helps a lot when you push through the shallows.
Still not deep enough
to put any kind of a fyke net in, though, right?
No.
When you live close to the land like we do,
we rely on going out and harvesting our food.
Having a few key areas that we can go to that are reliable
for us for various types of fish or wildlife or bird life
is really important to us.
Once you get out there, you gotta have access.
So, we just need a good, reliable canoe
back at one of our favorite hunting spots.
Oh, it’s windy.
Whoa, can you grab my hat?
I think you're probably gonna be
in deep enough water here.
You could probably paddle on back
and I’ll just meet you at the far end of the lake.
I’ll take, I’ll take the Go-Devil back.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
We’re gonna have to split up now.
Denise is gonna take the boat, try and paddle,
unfortunately, into a pretty strong wind.
One person in a lightweight canoe in a strong wind
is pretty challenging.
Really am not thrilled about the wind.
It’s gonna be hard, Andy.
I’m not like Superwoman, you know?
Yeah, you are.
I think you are.
My job's gonna be to go back to the boat,
ferry the boat down to the far end of the slough,
about two miles away, walk in, overland,
and then meet her at the end.
Here you go!
Off you go!
I love canoeing and have experience at it
and fully understand the challenge
that canoeing into a headwind can be.
Ducks aren’t worried about me coming up so slowly.
Okay, I’ll see you at the far end!
Ah!
It’s a race now to see who gets to the far end.
If the wind picks up, I’m gonna beat her.
Oh, my god.
There’s actually waves in here.
Oh, my god.
Oh.
Those gusts just stop me like a cement wall.
Oh, jeez.
Ah, here comes a gust.
Oh, my god.
Oh, I think I see him.
That was pretty good timing.
Hi.
It’s a lot nicer back here than at the other end.
The canoe has arrived to its new home base.
Yay!
A new canoe in the slough.
How 'bout that, Andy?
This canoe will end its life here.
It’ll probably be living here long after I’m gone.
It’s never gonna leave this spot, ever.
I was just thinking let's go out
and just fish with the pole for a little bit.
There might be some pike or anything.
Go out and get away from the shoreline.
Fish in the deep end here.
Maybe we’ll get lucky.
Whew, we got mosquitoes by the pound and by the ton.
Too bad we couldn’t sell them.
Yeah, or feed them to the fish.
Hey, you guys about ready to go?
I’m sure they’re gonna have fun.
It’s a nice place to be when the mosquitoes are here, huh?
Yeah.
Well, let’s go put out those markers, huh?
Yup.
You want to drive or you want to be the one
putting markers out?
I can drive. Right on. Come on.
I’m glad you get a chance to follow, Sabastian.
Pay attention and keep still in the boat, grandson.
It's really important when you have a family camp
in a family setting to work together.
Oh, boy, I get to be a passenger.
That don’t happen often.
It makes you a lot stronger by sharing, providing,
thinking of others,
because you have to have teamwork and a crew.
It takes a lot of extra people to live the way we do.
It's a little windy, but the tide's down,
so we’ll get these markers in.
Taataa, what’s wrong with these willows?
Those willows got killed by the ice.
The ice comes along and smashes them and breaks them.
It’s important to take my grandkids along.
I want them to learn how to be comfortable on boats,
what conditions to look for, and if there's things to hunt,
I want to show them hunting techniques.
Lots of eiders right here.
Oh.
One male only.
That’s what we’re after.
Huh.
A little windy makes it hard to shoot birds.
Holy [bleep], Doug!
That’s a lot of water in the boat.
Is there-- is the plug out or something?
No, it’s not out.
No, there’s just all the weight is in the front.
Oh, yeah, I guess so.
Let’s, let’s get rid of it.
I’m about to spill all this water out.
Yup.
Careful, nephew. I'll bale from the back, nephew.
What?
I’ll bale from the back.
Okay. Over here.
Sabby, you want to go look around?
See what’s all over here?
These boys, they’re playing back and forth,
and Doug’s got the boat taken care of.
Taataa, they’re over here!
You’ll find them over here!
Look, Taataa, eggs!
Oh, wow, you know we were here earlier this year
and we picked these eggs, Sabby.
We have plenty of eggs and we’re not gonna take these.
We’re gonna leave them be. Yup.
Let's get back in the boat and go put out
those markers and see if we can get some ducks.
This sandbar goes out pretty far out this way,
and I want to put one on this side and one on this side,
so you can tell where the, where the mouth is.
I’m gonna try to see how deep it is.
It might be getting shallow.
Yup.
I'm hitting, I think.
Yup.
It’s up to here.
Good?
Yup, should be.
Are we gonna put some markers down?
Yup, I’m gonna put the marker down.
I’ll put the marker out.
Out or down?
Both.
There we go. Good?
Yup, let’s go to the next one.
We'll go to the curve where you have to make the curve,
and then we’ll go where the seagulls are sitting.
Gotcha.
The boat’s very expensive to replace.
So is the motor, and we depend on them.
So we're pretty touchy about our boats,
pretty touchy about our motors.
And if there's a way I can make myself a clear trail out there,
I do.
Okay.
Okay, I’m gonna put this one out now.
Ready, Wade?
Yeah.
I’m gonna try and shift it this way.
It's important to take my grandkids
because they need to learn how to work.
There we go.
I want them to unerringly and unflinchingly jump up
to be able to do something that's physically hard,
maybe a little mentally challenging,
and maybe a little dangerous.
Okay, I think we got 'em sunk.
Thank you, Wade. You're a trouper, boy.
And I don’t mean an Alaska State one.
I mean, like, a tough kid.
Hell yeah!
Well, what do you think, Wade?
Now you know which side you’ll have to be on.
This is the channel side.
If you get on the other side, you’ll end up on a sandbar.
Let’s go look around for some ducks!
Lots and lots and lots of plants.
I’m super excited to get these in the ground.
In town, it’s so late, nobody's planting anything anymore.
All the garden shops are like, "Just take these things!"
And so I got a killer deal, pennies on the dollar,
to just take whatever they had left.
I don’t even know all of the plants that I just got in.
It’s a hodgepodge of, "We got a winner!"
And they just shoved everything in boxes and sent them.
So the first thing I’ve got to do kind of is start sorting.
That way I can see what and how much of each kind I’ve got.
And then plan out my garden space.
I’m not sure if there’s a luckier girl on the planet.
I’m planting my garden.
And I got a World War II aircraft bringing me fuel
while I’m doing it, and I got caribou all around me.
I’ve been here in Kavik my 30s, 40s, 50s, and now 60s.
I found myself in a situation where I was alone and remote.
The adversity, the hardness.
Occasionally, it’s difficult to get through, but I blossom.
For a personality like mine that thrives on the challenge,
it doesn’t get any better.
I love my life.
Being very far away from the doctors
and appreciating a very natural lifestyle,
I love herbs.
I love them for the food,
but I love them for the health benefits, too.
People didn’t always have physicians.
There was a lot more natural remedies.
You were sick, Grandma made you a mustard pack.
A garden, it's a giver of life,
but it’s a giver of emotional balance, too.
It grounds you, it calms you,
you give it care, you give it love.
What you put into it is going to definitely show
in what you are able to take away from it.
So this is sort of my therapy session with myself.
Life’s a garden.
Cultivate it.
Right, little guys?
"I wanna grow and be good for you, Sue."
I know you do.
I know that’s right.
If you could wait for me to kill the motor,
that would be the best, Sky.
And then I can shoot?
Uh, if you, if we see something, you can try.
Being out here with my kids is really important,
and it’s also my backyard.
This is where I grew up and explored when I was a kid,
so I like bringing my kids out.
Brings back a lot of memories.
I’ve been living this lifestyle my whole life.
Never gets boring to me.
I don't think I could do the whole 9:00 to 5:00
pushing pencils.
I just catch myself daydreaming, staring out the window,
wondering what’s going on out there.
That’s just who I am, and that’s what keeps me going.
And also teaching my kids.
My kids is the new breath of life for me.
Sky, you want to learn to drive this boat?
Yeah.
Okay. Get back here.
There you go.
Sky is a good driver.
You're used to using motors now.
As I get older, I tend to start to get played out with life
a little bit, you know?
You get used to everything,
and having my kids with me makes it special again.
That’s why I like bringing my kids out.
I like going fast.
Yeah, me, too.
But it’s easier to look around when you’re going slower.
Oh, there’s a muskrat right there, you see it?
Right there.
Big muskrat.
See him, Keenan?
Right there. Turn, turn. Shut--put it in neutral.
Oh! I see him.
Okay.
Okay, careful.
Oh, you’re shooting over him.
Too high.
Dang it.
Keep shooting.
Oh, close!
Turn that way, Sky.
He’s gonna be right in the grass over here.
Where is he at?
Oh, he’s right there. Keenan, look.
Look, look. Stand up. Stand up.
You see him in the water right there?
Just shoot in the grass right there.
Yeah, I see him.
Oh, that’s not comfortable.
Okay, you got it.
Oh, you got him, Keenan!
Yay! My first one.
Say anaa baasee’.
Anaa baasee’.
Seeing Keenan hunt is actually amazing,
because it reminds me exactly of when I got that first animal.
Deep breath.
Good job, Sky.
Good job, Keenan.
I know how happy he is in the inside,
because I know how happy I was in the inside
getting that animal.
You did it.
Love you, Sky.
Love you, too.
It’s like my dad’s passing it on to each one of us.
It’s fun to see.
Okay, you guys ready? Let's cook some food.
That’s a Kavik drive-by.
I got a whole bunch of caribou out here.
I mean, a lot.
They’re all over, but a good number of them here.
And I can just see now a little fox right there.
It's a hell of a way to round out doing your garden,
having that kind of scenery.
There's not a lot of people but us that live in the Arctic
that get to experience this.
I got my garden planted.
Let's give you guys a little water.
What’s the glory of getting it in?
That sun does this.
It just goes around in a big, fat circle over my head
until late August.
So these plants now,
these are gonna have 24 hours of daylight.
Three to four times the average for growing time every day.
But if I can get them to take root well enough,
they’ll make it.
All this is kind of making me a little hungry.
So, I’m picking myself a little salad.
Life’s garden is always filled with seeds.
But you gotta nurture them to grow.
I've got just a whole bunch of happiness
right here in this bowl.
And it’s wonderful.
So, bon appétit to me and my garden
and another year at Kavik.
I’m not seeing any fish jumping.
I haven’t seen any. Mm-mm.
I've never been real lucky at pole fishing,
but it’s always fun to do.
You know what I like about this part of the day?
What?
It’s the easiest part of the day.
No lining canoes, no slugging through the swamp.
You know, there's a lot of work living this lifestyle,
but there's also these kind of moments
where you can just sit, listen to the birds.
It's springtime, just a nice time of year
to get out and enjoy it.
This’ll be really nice to have back here now.
Independence has always been really important to me,
and there's no way to be more independent
than living out in the bush in Alaska.
The big goal of our life is to be as self-sufficient as we can.
That gives us a lot of freedom, a lot of independence,
and gives me lots of things every day to wake up
and try and figure out or build or create.
And this is our vision of what life should be like.
That was a beaver.
Do you want to try and get a shot at him from the canoe?
Not from the canoe.
Once they know you’re there, they get super spooky.
They're not gonna get close
and he’s not gonna stay up for very long.
So we need to just go up and sit in our cache
and if he comes close then we’ll shoot him.
If he doesn’t, he doesn’t.
After a cold, hard winter, we’ve always had salmon.
We always had a back supply of fish to lean on.
We don’t have that anymore.
He’s still there.
If there's nothing to hunt in the winter,
there’s nothing to eat.
It’s really pretty much that simple.
So if we can get a beaver home today,
that would be a super bonus.
How close does it have to be?
You gotta head shoot him,
so it’s gonna have to be pretty close.
All that’s above the water is a beaver head.
They’re swimming, they’re moving.
It’s a small target.
It’s a tough shot.
Oh, look at him.
Oh, he’s looking right at us.
He’s pretty curious about us, I think.
He’s winding us.
Ahh. Oh.
Oh, he’s beautiful.
Got him.
Good shot, Andy.
Oop! He just sank.
I was hoping he was gonna be a floater.
To lose that beaver, that makes my heart sink.
It's one thing to take a life if it's continuing to give life,
but to lose that beaver into the bottom of the pond,
it seems like a life wasted.
Oh, okay.
Well.
That’s good.
We got a beaver if we can find him now.
We have to find him.
We have to make it worth it.
If we had a long pole, we might be able to feel around
down there, but it’s pretty murky.
Can only see down about maybe two to three feet.
Oh, oh. He's floating. Let's go get the canoe.
Let’s go.
He’s floating, barely.
Do you see him?
I’m not sure.
I think I see something.
I’m not sure if it’s him or not.
Well, you steer.
I hope we didn’t lose him.
It would be horrible.
See that thing just dead ahead of you?
Just barely in the water?
I think that’s him. I think that's him.
Yup.
It’s his tail. It's a little guy.
Oh, look at him.
Oh, I’m glad he didn’t sink.
Yup.
Yeehaw!
That’s probably like 25 pounds maybe? 20 pounds.
Yeah, it looked pretty heavy when you lifted him out.
It was just a small beaver,
probably about a two-year-old beaver.
But that’s gonna be a good eating beaver.
And that’s, that’s what we’re after.
We’re after food.
At least now it goes to good use.
I hate to see anything get killed or shot.
I always feel it even as much as you need it.
You can think about it as savage and cruel and sad.
It’s survival.
And it’s all about life going on and the cycle continuing.
And that’s a good thing.
Well, that’s a good little beaver.
Yeah, they’re quite the creatures, aren’t they?
That’ll be some...
Look at that belly.
Yeah, that’ll be some tender meat and...
It’ll be really good eating.
...nice little fur.
Well, we went fishing and we came home beaver hunting.
That was good, Andy.
Right in front of us.
They’re just taking off.
Ah, there we go.
Lots of ducks.
Let’s see what they do.
Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
Oh, dang.
Those are all boys?
Yup, they’re all males. They're going to sea.
They’re all males.
Let’s hope they come back again, huh?
They almost got close.
The black ducks don’t raise their babies together.
As soon as the females are sitting down,
the males take off; they go to the ocean.
We're trying to get them at high tide right now,
because at high tide, they’re not feeding.
They’re not spread out. They all get together.
And then they fly around like they were doing.
They’ll fly circles and get closer and closer.
But I think they’re mostly heading out to the ocean.
Maybe just motor back, Doug?
Yeah.
Back towards the, um, towards the spit.
Yup, the spit.
We're going to go on land, or still on water?
Stay in the water.
Land’s more better.
It’s a lot of fun to go take these kids out.
Even Doug, my kid, I call them all kids, he’s 35.
That’s kind of, kind of the way it is.
Right in front.
Yup.
Oh, man.
Oh, come on, turn, turn, turn.
Come my way.
Oh, there we go.
Coming.
They’re just making their way around us.
Oh, they’re dropping.
We might have a chance.
Oh, shucks.
I’m not the best shotgunner in the world, that’s for sure.
Between a rifle and a shotgun,
I'm definitely better with a rifle.
But I just keep trying.
Too low.
Nope, no luck.
You know how it is.
You can’t always get up close.
So we just sit here and we try to call them with a whistle.
Oh, I see lightning. Lightning.
Wow.
Makes you wonder if we’re safe.
Whoa!
That was a good lightning. Holy cow.
That was the biggest one.
Wow, big lightning.
Yeah, we should probably go back if it’s lightning like that.
Oh, my lord.
Getting even closer.
We’re gonna get wet, you guys.
That’s a big storm coming our way.
Well, it’s just time to go back.
Oh!
I think we've spooked most everything
in the lagoon anyway.
There’s not too many here.
That’s okay.
It’s just bonus. It's fun.
Sometimes you just have fun.
I wanted Wade to see how we hunt black ducks.
We were whistling for them.
We were sitting dead still, and we were letting them
circle around and get closer and closer.
What isn’t important is that I shot,
it's that Wade has learned how to get them close enough
to take a shot.
And that’s what counts.
Well, shall we get going, Dougs?
Yeah.
We have to stop and get snow.
Snow for slushies?
Yes, we’re gonna go get snow for slushies.
We’re making two slushies.
We’re gonna make everybody two slushies.
I can see white right there.
Yup, that’s it.
Looks like this is gonna be the last snow of the year.
Make snow cones!
Yeah.
On a day like this, these are almost mandatory.
We bring home some smiles for the ladies.
I feel good.
Alaska has shaped me since I was a young man, 19,
into the man I am today at 55.
You know, I got freedom here.
I can do what I want, be who I want,
and I’m willing to run with the wolves.
It’s a lot of fun.
Keep you on your toes. Scares you every day.
Oh, honey!
Chip!
There’s no taking it out of me; I'm part of it.
I feel good here. I feel at home, at ease.
And when I die, they can chuck me in the river.
Wow, what a treat.
Something cold on a day like this, huh?
Yeah, you wouldn't expect to miss snow
on a hot, sunny day.
To me, Alaska is my great home.
It's a beautiful place to raise your children
and your grandchildren.
What did you learn today, Wade Kelly,
from your boat ride and your experience out there?
Yeah, I learned the channel to set the markers.
How about you, Sabastian?
He went to sleep.
I'm really proud of the way
my mother and my grandmother raised me.
It made strong women,
and I try to make my daughters strong women.
This is how we used to put it when I was a little girl
like you girls.
Go, Carol, you can make it!
Now my girls know how it’s gonna be to carry meat back.
You girls know this place now.
You’ll never fail if you come here.
Yup.
I can see it in them with all the values they have
and they're blessed with, and they teach their children
and they want their children to experience the life.
That beaver’s gonna take a little bit.
I think we’ve earned it, Andy.
Yeah.
There was a little bit involved
in getting to this point.
What's the point of busting your ass
to live out here and do all the work we do
if you don't take the time to smell the roses
every now and then?
Coming to Alaska was not something
that was really a cerebral thing in my life.
It was a gut thing in my life.
There’s just something pretty deep in my core.
It kept calling me to Alaska.
Yeehaw!
Come on, boys, let’s go!
Went with my gut, listened to my heart.
Woo-hoo!
Yay!
And it’s worked out good for me.
So good.
Isn’t that delicious?
It was an "Alaska or bust" trip that landed me here,
that got me floating down the Yukon River to this spot.
Ready for a little bit of a sweat?
I’m ready!
It became something I had never envisioned.
It is just so much more wild, so much more real.
Oh, beautiful.
It's something that I felt that I could never in my lifetime
being here, explore it all.
And that is the place I want to be.
Oh, my gosh.
I see color.
These resilient little plants.
Look at this.
The first flower of the year.
Life finds a way.
Every single plant out here in the Arctic tundra,
it exemplifies the words tenacity.
So for me, I take a lot of my cues from nature.
I've been living more than a quarter of a century now,
in a tent, almost 200 miles north
of the Arctic Circle.
It takes strength.
Gotta take baby steps, ’cause I can’t see where I’m going.
What does going through
some of these extremely challenging conditions do?
It pushes me to go beyond things I didn’t know I could do.
I feel proud of myself, but mostly the only thing
I’m feeling right now is freaking cold.
The most important piece of wisdom Alaska has taught me
is that it’s still gonna teach me something else.
I think the muskrat’s cooking pretty good.
Mm-hmm.
That was some good shooting, you guys.
Listen.
Sounds cool.
They say the loon is calling the wind.
As a Native, I consider myself as part of the wilderness.
I'm just as much a part of this wilderness
as a tree, a stone, an animal.
We’re all a part of nature.
Everything has a spirit.
Everything that's living here,
from the animals, to the plants, to the waterways,
it takes whatever nature does and thrives with it.
It’s strong.
Maybe that’s a portion of why I’m here and why I love it.
It’s the wild in the wilderness.
It’s the wind in your sails.
It's what keeps people like me and the peoples of the Arctic
coming back for more.
I can only hope that Alaska keeps on being Alaska.
When I’m dead and gone, I hope Alaska stays wild.
I hope the land of Alaska remains a very harsh place.
Because it needs to retain the wild in its wilderness.
And if it's too calm, too nice,
it will lose that which makes it terribly unique.
As you get older, you start to understand
everything has a strong purpose.
Everything has a spirit.
Everything is connected.
Nothing is a lie out here, and nothing is for nothing.