All right.
Woo!
So cold!
Yeah!
In the ageof technology,
the electrical gridis expanding,
and the world isgetting smaller.
For some, finding peace of mind
means hiding out
where no one thinks to look.
To escape, they redefine"off the grid."
The old adage knownas Murphy's Law says,
"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
On the edge of civilization, beyond the grid,
that means always being prepared for the worst.
You can see how dry it is.
We really need rain.
I don't know if it's been a month or a month and a half
since it's rained.
This is gonna be a bad time of the year.
And we've had 100-degree weather.
I feel real hot.
I got to get some water here.
I am burning up.
Beyond the grid,
Bear Claw makes his home high atop the ridgelines
of the Clearwater Mountains in western Idaho.
Over the past two months,
a severe drought has ravaged this area,
taking its toll on Bear Claw
as much needed resources continue to run dry.
Oh, man, look at that.
Looks like a, looks like a resting spot...
...for a horse.
It's dry as a tinderbox.
Water is life.
Boy, we all need it.
Well, I'm glad there's still a little water in this pond.
I'm just a little leery of drinking it.
It looks a little rough, but the horses like it.
And, you know, there's a few elk in the area, and there's deer,
and bears come here, and cougars come here,
and it don't look like more than a couple weeks,
this pond will be dry.
All right. Come on, guys.
Have to go thirsty.
Looks like I got to go get some water.
Man, I've been hearing a lot of stuff going off.
I thought it was thunder and lightning out there.
I've been hearing a lot of other...
This isn't good.
Over the past five years,
the northern region of Arkansas, where Joe Ray makes his home,
has experienced more than600 earthquakes.
Last night an earthquake registering 2.0 hit the area,
causing tremors and cave-ins below the grid.
I heard a lot of noise.
I thought it was a big storm outside.
I heard a lot of stuff fall, and I guess it was a cave-in.
Let's get out of this place before something falls in on us.
We got to keep a close watch on everything above us.
It ain't no telling what's fixing to happen.
Ain't no telling what else we got to go through
to get out of here.
Y'all might want to stay behind me.
Takes a little bit of shake, everything falls.
We got lots of new, fresh stuff that's fell all over the place.
A lot of this stuff up here is still loose.
I mean, this can keep settling, I don't know, so, uh.
It's all caved in here.
Hang on, yeah, probably still caving.
That up there doesn't look too stable, there.
See if I can still get through here.
Well, I don't.
Yeah, this is really caved in up here.
Oh, yeah.
A lot of this has fell in back here.
Last time I was in here, I had a great path to walk through.
With Joe Ray's primary path to the outside
compromised by the cave-in, he's forced to turn back
in search of an alternate route to daylight.
There's gonna be some more slides in here,
and I hope we're not in here when it happens,
because I don't want to be part of the scenery here.
Over the past year,
massive wildfires have scorched more than one million acres
in the northwesternUnited States.
Above the grid, firefighters are currently working to contain
a blaze near Onion Creek, Washington,
not far from the tree house home of Doc and Jeanny Leverett.
Recently there's been a lot of wildfires coming out our way.
That's pretty close.
The fires have never been this bad until this year.
It's getting a little too close for comfort.
Let's get the hell out of here.
Approximately 250 miles from here, one month ago,
wildfires threatened Bear Claw's home
in the Clearwater Mountains of Idaho.
The danger of the fire
is this whole country could catch on, burn down,
and I don't want to burn up with it, all my critters.
So, I'm gonna move my camp.
While Bear Claw
was able to move his camp for safety,
Doc and Jeanny's tree house is anchored in the forest.
Don't take for granted that my wife and I, and our dogs,
can survive.
This spot is dried up.
I'm gonna need to move.
Above the grid in eastern Washington,
firefighters are working tirelessly to contain a blaze
only miles from Doc and Jeanny's tree house.
Stuff is horribly dry up here.
You can see all this is burnt.
And it's dust.
One little spark and it goes up in flames, just like this here.
When you live in a tree,
it, you know, makes you a little nervous.
Despite potential danger in the area,
Doc's embarked on a salvage mission
to save belongings he's stashed, not far from encroaching flames.
That's not a good sign.
You got a fire line here.
The Forestry Department makes these to break the fuel,
the pattern of the fuel,
so the fire can't continue on past this point.
But, uh, my camp is on the other side of this line,
so that's not a good sign.
Ah, son of a bitch.
We had lots of stuff.
We had little stashes of food here.
My lures are gone.
This is too close to my house for comfort.
Much too close.
I think I'm gonna mark this up to a loss.
I've got a lot of stashes throughout the woods here,
so, I'll go and, go see what else is gone.
All these fires in the last few months
in the summer here, they've been raging.
I got ash falling. This is one of the clear days.
Ooh, we got struck.
Thank God it didn't catch on fire.
But this is what happens when lightning strikes a tree.
And you look how close,
I've got one of my stashes up here in the tree.
Look at how close it is.
I would've lost, you know, a lot of food.
Wow.
One little spark catching on this dry,
and all the drought that we've had, and it would've been gone.
And we're so close to my house
that, uh, we would've lost everything.
All right, take this all back to the tree house,
kind of assess what all we've been able to salvage.
We'll do that and figure out our next steps.
Oh, it's like Christmastime.
Canoes, kayaks, rowboats, and sailboats I've been making
for about 10 years.
You know, you're gonna live in an area like this,
you got your garden, you got your wildlife.
You do what you got to doto survive.
So, sometimes you're, you're building something
to sell to somebody for money.
In the middleof Lake Michigan,
a small community of approximately 600 people
lives year round within the Beaver Island archipelago.
The boat shop's been on Beaver Island for a long time.
Those who choose to live out here
rely on one another.
And over the years Dan Burton has supplied many islanders
with the vessels they need,
working as an expert boat builder.
Living in an isolated area
where you only have a handful of neighbors,
you have to work together.
I mean, you end up, you know, doing all kinds of things
to survive, and, you know, come up with an income.
And obviously, one of them that I do is build wooden boats.
This boat will last somebody's lifetime.
This will be an heirloom.
Be right back.
It's Burton, what's going on?
All right. No worries. I'm on my way right now.
Hey, if you guys are going, I got to go!
Buddy of mine named Dick Burris is having some problems,
and I need to go find him.
He was fishing off this shore, right here.
This is called Martin's Bluff.
It's a real good spot for fishing.
My main concern about this guy right here is his age.
He's in his mid-80s,
and sitting out on this hot day like this,
in who knows what conditions,
of, in terms of, uh, just drifting around.
I can't see anything on the water,
so I'm gonna run down and see if he made it to the beach.
Come on, Titus!
Come on, buddy.
Yeah, like I say, it's easy to get lost in here.
It could be the end of the beginning
or the beginning of the end for you.
Y'all just stick with me, and, uh, we'll get out.
In the Ozark Mountains,
an earthquake registering 2.0
has transformed Joe Ray's home below the grid.
We really can't go any further this way, you know.
After his main passage to the outside world
was barricaded by a cave-in, Joe's navigating new terrain,
in search of an alternateroute to safety.
Well, over here I found some new tunnels,
and that's where we're fixin' to go.
Try to stay in the same path I go,
and let's just hope we get, get back safe,
because I don't know where this is going to go.
Nah, not really.
Holy .
Yeah, looks like we got a good fault over us, right there.
Earthquake shook this.
Yeah, it is.
I'm getting a little nervous.
That was probably a light earthquake.
Once I get up on the ground, up in the sunshine,
and just happy because that's a pretty scary thing to be in here
and stuck on these rocks and stuff.
Oh, man.
Ahhh.
Let's go this way.
Y'all guys, come on. We'll get out this way. I'll show you.
There's a good water flow here, a real good water flow.
Always follow the water.
Water always goes down, always goes out.
And you get in a cave, you know,
something like that there can save your life.
Years of experience have taught Joe
to follow running water when searching for an exit.
Now, in this unfamiliar tunnel, he'll use it to chart a course
in hopes of reaching safety outside.
Water will always exit the cave somewhere.
Looks like we might have a pretty good-sized room up here.
Let's slip on up there and see what we can find.
There's got to be a way of me collecting some water.
Beyond the grid in Idaho,
Bear Claw's beenbattling a drought
for the better partof two months,
struggling to stockpile the water he needs to survive.
There it is.
After months with barely any rain,
an unexpected storm on the horizon
could mean an opportunity to gather whatever he can.
We don't get rain in the summertime, ever.
I have an idea that a good friend of mine
mentioned a long time ago.
And with some blocks of wood, a few poles, tarps, and a bowl.
See if we can trap some of this rainwater.
We hope it keeps raining all night
or a couple of days at least,
but it's been a long time since I seen anything like that.
Make sure everything looks like it's gonna work.
Because I need some more water in my camp today.
I've trapped quite a few critters in my day,
but nothing like trapping some water, is there?
That's what we're looking for, right there.
Huh.
That's pretty darn good.
I mean, it is dripping right in there, isn't it?
Well, I reckon in reality if it keeps raining
for four or five hours like this,
I'll betcha I'll have a whole glass of water.
Over the next hour,
all signs of rain in the areadissipate,
just as quickly as they arrived.
We really need the rain.
We'll take what we can get, though.
And in the aftermath,
Bear Claw's no closer to the 75 gallons of water he needs
to make it through the week.
This water is life.
Boy, we all need it.
There's just a few drops left in this thing.
Looks like I got to go get some more water.
Time to pack up and mosey.
Hey, sweetheart.
She's a good girl, aren't you?
Come on, guys, see if we can find us some water.
Yeah, I'm not seeing any sign of anybody on the beach.
Outside the grid, on Beaver Island,
Dan Burton is hurrying to locate a fellow islander
who's gone missing.
The lighthouse, it could be a good spot to look for him.
Four hours ago, 80-year-old local Dick Burris
reportedly went adrifton Lake Michigan.
If you're gonna see a boat to the south end of the island,
this is the spot.
Yeah, you can't beat this view.
You can see all the way to the east, south, southwest.
That's full southern exposure, right there.
I don't see anything.
Still got a steady wind.
And the further you get from the island,
the further that wind is, so I got to move.
I'm gonna run to my boat, and see if I can find him
and get him back to the island.
Hey, Dick, you out there?
Hey, old man on the sea, where you at?
With the wind going like we have today,
and the temperatures, the age of the person involved,
it all adds up to, you know, kind of scary.
The quicker we find Dick, the better.
I mean, this is, this is a needle in a haystack.
In eastern Washington,
a wildfire is still burning out of control,
despite firefighters' efforts to contain it.
Jeanny?
Well, we saved a little bit of stuff, honey.
After salvagingbelongings
stashed near the blaze,
Doc Leverett's hurried back
to check on his wifeand their home.
Hey, sweetie. JEANNY: Hey.
There was fire to the east of us, a fire to the west.
We did lose the platform over the deer field,
but I was able to save some stuff, so...
wasn't a total loss.
Why the tears, honey?
I'm just worried.
We, just, we lost a lot of stuff.
With the weather and the ash, there's no rain.
We live in a tree house.
It's getting to be too much.
All that we can do is be prepared.
I'll get started on an exit strategy.
Um, and as long as we still have a pulse, it's good.
It's, it's, it's nothing but some sticks.
That we worked really hard for.
We need the wind to die down.
Yep.
We need the, we need some rain.
I can hear the creek down there.
Hopefully, there's some decent water.
Beyond the gridin Idaho,
Bear Claw is battlinga severe drought.
Let's go right down through here.
In a state of emergency,
he's headed toward the Clearwater River,
on a desperate search for any source of drinkable water.
Looks like this stream has got the kind of water
we're looking for.
It's not enough to be real serious.
We'll have to head for the big river,
but this'll work out for today.
We'll just gather some up and boil it.
There's a little sediment here,
and I don't want to get it in the water.
This is pretty clean runoff water,
but you never know about the giardia in this part.
I've already had giardia a couple times.
It's not really a lot of fun, so.
Now I'll bring it to a boil.
You'll see that we're just about boiling, coming hot.
Just one of those old tricks of being a mountain man.
So, now I just want to cool it down so I can drink it.
Well, this would just take all day, one little cup at a time.
We'll head to, head for the big river and get a lot more water.
Yeah, it's pretty tight,
but that's the only way you can get anywhere.
In Arkansas, an earthquake last night
has transformed Joe Ray's home below the grid.
And the trail keeps going.
After a cave-in blocked his passage
to the outside world,
Joe is searching for another route to safety.
Looks like we'll have to drop down
into another hole here, so, hang on.
Let me lift this out, and...
Gets a little tight here.
Right now, I haven't found an exit way out.
I'm still exploring more ways,
so I can see how you can get locked in here.
Oh, boy.
Rocks, looks like there's nothing holding 'em up there.
Looks like they could fall at any time.
What was underneath 'em, holding 'em up,
has been washed out and took away.
So, I mean, at any time, this place could cave in.
I mean, living underground is,
there's nothing safe about it, actually.
Little earthquake come up, and this could be our resting place.
Well, let's head on down this new path here
and see where we go now.
Holy , look at this.
Oh, gosh.
Stalactites, stalagmites.
Well, this here would've been one
that was hanging off the ceiling starting off.
You see it coming down.
But you can imagine standing under that
and it falling on your head.
From here, it's not gonna be good.
It's as slick as snot on a doorknob,
so, I've got a little trick I'm fixin' to try up in here,
and hopefully make it a lot easier on me.
Y'all are on your own,
but I'm gonna make me a, like a pair of little golf shoes here.
Well, I'm gonna put three tacks right here,
right across...
...my foot, so that won't be no slipping for me.
It's like having three extra toes buried down there
that's gonna grip for me.
So, when y'all fall, y'all be saying,
"Damn, you got any more of those tacks?"
And I'm gonna say, "Nope."
Like I say, it's slick, so, y'all watch out.
Hang on, boys.
I keep hearing something.
Hell, it could be bear, could be a mountain lion.
Sounds like it might be coming from down in here.
The hell?
This is, uh, this isn't good.
I keep hearing something, though.
Hell, it could be a bear, could be a mountain lion.
Sounds like it might be coming from down in here.
In Arkansas,
an earthquake has caused tunnels to cave in below the grid.
After discovering his passage barricaded with fallen rocks,
Joe Ray's attempting to safely reach the outside world.
It's breaking.
What the hell?
Hey.
Hey!
What are you doing in the cave?
How'd you get here?
Huh?
His story is hard to tell. He's pretty friendly.
But he might be just happy
because he found somebody in here, and he's been in the dark.
That's a pretty scary thing to be in here with no light.
Yeah, I'd like to keep you,
but I probably couldn't kill enough to feed both of us.
He seems to be pretty good shape, pretty taken care of.
I mean, he's got a few ticks and stuff on him,
but, uh, big ol' dog tick, yeah.
I know, I know, come on.
Yeah, see, look at that.
And you know what we do with him, don't you?
They're blood suckers!
Hmm.
They're all nasty.
Come here.
You should have a good name.
He made the cave-in, so, we'll probably call him Lucky.
That's what I'll be calling him.
You are Lucky.
You're lucky I found your ass.
Come on, buddy, let's get you out.
Come on, let's go.
Once I get him up on the ground, up in the sunshine,
and he'll probably smell his way back home.
- Won't you? - Yeah.
That'll be okay.
Going home.
When you're getting ready for a bug-out bag,
don't look at it as a freak-out bag.
Think of it as you're going overnight to somebody's house,
and they have absolutely nothing.
Above the grid in eastern Washington,
Doc and Jeanny Leverettare on high alert,
with a wildfireburning in the area.
Over the past few hours,
firefighters have begun to contain the flames,
but in case of emergency, Doc is developing an exit strategy.
Little dose of water, some brandy,
because, well, you never know.
Another important thing, we have to deal with the good old green.
We may have to go farther than we think.
Medical tape, antiseptic wipes, basic Band-Aids,
those kind of things, cuts and bruises.
Burn spray.
Duct tape is a must.
We have some ammunition for the rifle.
Some ammunition for the pistol.
You need the ammunition
because if everybody's evacuating,
you may need some attitude adjusters, equalizers, uh, hmm.
We're gonna keep this readily available
and strapped to the quad.
I can grab Jeanny, cut the goat and chicken loose,
grab the dogs,
and away we go.
There was fire to the east of us, a fire to the west of us,
and if the fire is to cut off my only path into the property,
I'm kind of screwed, so.
If I'm making
an "Oh, , let's get the hell out of here" move,
the least amount of stress I can have, the better.
All I need to do is make it wide enough
for the quad to get through.
And we're about just almost to the road here.
And I think between the bug-out bag
and a secondary path,
I feel a little more confident about our chances
of getting out of here quickly.
As Doc makeshis preparations,
firefighters in the area continue their work.
And after daysbattling the blaze,
the wildfire is finally extinguished.
When hits the fan, I want to be ready.
This time Doc and Jeanny are out of harm's way.
But living high above the grid,
they're always prepared for the unexpected.
You know, when it comes to natural disasters,
all I can do is be as ready as I can be.
There's nothing here, physically,
that's worth my life or my wife's life.
I'll park it up under the tree house there
and be ready to roll.
After you drive five, six miles
to the south part of the island like this,
you start to get real concerned when you don't see your friend.
Outside the grid,
Dan Burton is continuinghis manhunt
for 80-year-old island local Dick Burris.
After four hours scouring Lake Michigan,
there are still no signs of life.
Hey, Richard, you out there?
I'm down on Martin's Bluff, and I don't see you anywhere.
I'm gonna head down towards Kilty's Point,
maybe take a look there, see if you made it for the beach.
Come on, where you at?
Not the day to be out here on the water
just sitting doing nothing.
We have some pretty scary factors to worry about.
I'm just hoping he's got enough water.
It's hot.
Okay, I'm seeing something up here.
Dick, is that you?
I'm seeing something up here.
Looks to be a small, maybe a little fishing boat,
or a speedboat to the north of me.
Anytime you see a small craft this far out,
it's a nice gesture to kind of go by and just give them a wave,
and make sure everything is okay.
I'm pretty sure whoever's out there sees me by now.
Yeah, I think that's Dick.
That's our guy, right there.
Hey, Richard!
He's just between Waugoshance Point here,
and slipping between Hog Island and Waugoshance,
and after that, there's nothing
until you get to the straits.
Hey, Richard.
Yeah!
You're saved. I'm gonna grab on.
Well, this isn't what you were planning for today, was it?
What exactly happened out here?
What...
Okay.
So, did you catch any fish?
No.
Okay, well, I got some line, so, just maybe hold on to the boat
for a minute, and I'll get us a rope to pull you in.
Yeah, we'll go nice and slow.
We'll try to get to the island before that sun goes down.
One thing about Dick is he may be in his 80s,
but, you know, he's one of the toughest guys I know.
It's always a scary day when you're dead in the water at sea,
and you're depending on someone to find you or come get you.
You doing all right, Dick?
See if we can find us some water.
Beyond the grid,
a severe droughthas forced Bear Claw
to hunt for drinkable water.
With the situation growing dire,
he's headed to the Clearwater River
in hopes of finding the resource he desperately needs.
Getting down here, jumping in the river.
That's what we want.
You know, after coming out of the high country,
where it's so hot and dry, and this is just paradise to me.
Ohhh, oh, oh.
You can't beat cold freshwater.
We are just so lucky to have this water as a resource.
This is just a blessing.
Water is one of the most important things,
other than oxygen.
This is the river of life right here.
It's called the Clearwater River for a reason.
Come on.
Below the grid in Arkansas,
Joe Ray is attempting to safely reach the outside world,
after an earthquake last night.
Come on.
Okay.
The unlikely discovery of a dog within the caves
could signal an exit close by.
I got to crawl now, buddy.
Keep going, buddy.
Lucky's doing a lot better than I thought he would.
He's pretty calm.
Running around up in here like this,
this is a pretty harrowing, you know, experience.
Go. Yeah, follow the cameraman.
Let's go.
Yeah.
We're on the way out, big boy.
Yes, we are.
Come on.
Yeah, I think he knows we're trying to help him out.
Here we go, boy.
Hey, Lucky, we're getting closer, big boy.
Keep going, come on.
Okay.
Look, you're fixin' to go out.
There's the light at the end of the tunnel, my little buddy.
Let's get you up, come on.
Come on, let's go.
Come on.
Come on, buddy, let's go.
Oh, yeah.
Okay, well, you're on the topside now.
It's time our paths separate.
Okay, Lucky, go on home. Go on. Go.
It's time for you to go.
Good boy.
After a long tripto daylight,
Joe Ray is finally safe.
And he won't immediately return below the grid.
Whenever seismic activity affects the region,
Joe remains outside for 48 hours as a safety precaution.
Solid rock, can't get much better than this.
It's definitely not gonna move, it's not gonna go anywhere.
On the edge of the world, far beyond the grid,
man lives at the will and mercy of the elements.
See, that river's the lifeline of this whole mountain.
Every dayin the wilderness,
survival is a matter of preparation.
No sweat.
I know. I love you.
Love you, too. We'll be all right.
Out here, the power of nature can seize control
in an instant.
Always got a smile on his face.
And overnight, a once-familiar landscape
can shift unexpectedlybeneath your feet.
Like I say, lots of things can happen down here.
Cave-ins, stuff falling on you.
I mean, it's a hard life, but it's a great life.
You try to stay as safe as you can, smart as you can,
eat as good as you can, keep yourself healthy.
What better life is there?