Life Below Zero (2013) s01e10 Episode Script

1
ANDY BASSICH:
I'm going to drill
a hole right now
through the Yukon River ice
so I can get some water.
I'm also going to be
testing the thickness
of the ice right now.
I can tell a lot about what's
gonna happen at breakup
by observing ice conditions.
Our life revolves
around this river,
but this time of year,
it can be extremely stressful.
The potential for the
water to come in here
at a very high level
is certainly there.
We saw what happened in 2009
when it wasn't even predicted
to be a bad breakup.
-(AUGER MOTOR SPUTTERS)
-Let's see
how thick this ice is.
(WHIRRING)
Shit!
Son of a bitch.
I've been drilling
this same hole
most of the winter here.
When I broke through
the last time
I drilled this
I was at about this level
right here.
But when I finally broke
through to the bottom
of the ice, I was right here.
I'm 5'8",
so I'm guessing right now,
the ice thickness
right here is still close
to five feet thick.
In 2009, when we had
our major breakup
that destroyed our home,
that's how thick the ice was
a week before breakup.
And that's really bad.
Shit load of ice, man.
Right now, we have
a couple of really bad omens.
The first is too much snow
up in the high country.
The second is
too thick of ice.
And the third is
the ice is still really solid.
This is looking to be
a really bad one this year.
Our home is
only 35 feet above this level.
We have the potential
for a lot of serious flooding
on our property this year.
SUE AIKENS: To be successful
at living out here,
you have to accept
shit doesn't always go down
on your schedule.
It's just life
throwing you a curve ball.
You better learn
how to swing.
Been here
a little over a decade.
I've been trying to buy
this camp since I've been
Started this thing.
And over the past few months,
something's come up
that's definitely gonna
affect the rest of my life
and my ability to stay
here at Kavik.
The owners of the camp,
they want, now, to sell
the camp, I want to purchase.
For 10 years now,
I've been saving my money,
but if I can't get
enough scratch put together,
somebody else
is going to buy it,
and, uh, I'm flat on my butt
somewhere trying to find
a new career and a new life.
Everything I do here,
I've taught myself.
Every chore is
something that I've learnt
over these past 10 years.
I mean, it doesn't matter
if it's good, shitty,
cold or terrible.
I mean, I still got to do it.
Fuck!
Fucker!
I mean, there's
never a good time
for a breakdown
but there's probably
20 to 30 mile an hour winds
here and Fuck!
So, you're talking 50, 60s
below zero on your skin.
Only takes a couple of minutes
before you start to freeze.
Fuck!
Fuckin' belt's done. But
I always carry a spare belt.
You just never know.
This is what it's supposed
to look like
and, uh, that's
what I fuckin' got.
I mean, this is what's left.
Make sure
everything's all clear.
It's fuckin' cold.
It's gotta be 20 or 30 below,
I don't know.
I'd say we got just
a few minutes in these temps
before your skin cells
start to freeze.
So I gotta get this done
'cause I'm going to be
in trouble here if I don't.
I'm trying to get the belt.
It's over the one pulley.
But it's kinda frozen.
I gotta get it to go
over this one.
Fucker!
Come on, you son of a bitch.
(HUFFS)
Yes!
It's on.
(EXHALES)
(SUE SPEAKING)
I upped the ante
by playing my A game.
Nature is uppin' her ante
by throwing hers back.
CHIP HAILSTONE: As a hunter,
you go out with an idea
of what you'd like to do
and then you end up doing
what you have to do.
When we have
an opportunity
at a certain time, we take it.
(CROWS CAWING)
Well, this is
the last chance that we have
to get some, uh, sheefish up
before the flies come.
Pretty soon
it's gonna warm up.
If we wait till later
and we go fishing, like,
in a couple more weeks,
we have to deal with flies,
and then you really have
to watch your meat a lot.
So for us right now,
this is the best time,
with the best weather,
and the best days are here
to go get the best fish,
and that's what we're up to.
We want to go fishing
down to Kobuk Lake.
Um, it's
a pretty popular spot.
We're getting
some brackish water fish
called sheefish.
Sheefish is like
a sweet white meat.
It's a really good-tasting
fish, and it's a change
of diet for us right now.
To us, it's shopping.
We're going
to go to the store,
the store's got
new stuff in it.
We're coming home with
something different to eat.
(AGNES SPEAKS)
(CHIP SPEAKS)
AGNES:
Okay, sounds like a deal.
We're here on the lake and,
uh, we're where the fish are,
and we need to find
a nice deep spot or channel
and, uh, we need to throw
some holes down.
And if we don't catch fish,
we'll just keep jigging
and keep jigging
and keep jigging,
making holes,
making holes, making holes.
That's kinda the way it goes.
(DRILLING)
(AGNES SPEAKS)
-The very first one. Ready?
-Yep.
Ha! Mud.
(LAUGHS)
Try again. Try again.
Fuck, I'll try again, what?
-AGNES: Fuckin', that's it?
-(CHIP LAUGHS)
Yep.
Well, we just got through, uh,
auging up a hole.
It's about, like, five foot
of ice and probably
two inches of water.
We just probably
pretty much hit mud
so we're just gonna
have to carry on.
KATE RORKE-BASSICH:
We'll die on the river.
The river almost took us
in 2009.
She didn't win,
but I think it was a warning.
(DOGS HOWLING)
We're getting
warm weather now.
We're getting, like,
50 degrees,
60 degrees a day.
So all that snow packed
in the mountains right now
has got to melt.
When it flows downward,
it flows into the river,
and that's what lifts the ice
and makes the ice break.
And the faster it comes down,
the quicker it's gonna break.
So what will happen
is that the water
will push the ice,
the ice don't want to move,
so it's just gonna jam up
and create big dams.
Of course,
a dam diverts water,
and the water is gonna come
over land,
and that's what we don't want.
(DOGS WHINING)
In May of 2009,
almost everything we had
was ruined in the flood.
It was amazingly high water,
and the ice jams created
backed-up water,
and then floods.
So when the current died down
for a little bit,
Andy took a canoe
and tied a line
onto the cabin,
got all the dogs in boats
and tied them off.
And just before dawn,
the river broke free
of some ice down river.
So it was flushing
like a toilet.
(DOGS YELPING)
So then all hell broke loose
and we lost five dogs.
(DOGS WHINING)
I grabbed one into my boat,
Andy grabbed two more.
And Ouzo and Iceberg
got washed away.
They couldn't keep up
with the current to swim back.
They tried and tried
and tried. They couldn't.
Then the big boat
that the dogs were in,
that flipped on its side
and the dogs were
all drowning.
They were holding on
to the metal gunnels
with their teeth.
And then, finally,
the helicopter came
and it picked us up
off the roof.
That night was
about the most horrendous
thing I've ever gone through.
This year we're just taking
a lot more precautions
to the similar situation
we've got going on this year.
It's going to be
a bad breakup.
(DOGS HOWLING)
Yeah, it's coming, Tab.
Don't worry.
Today, we're gonna
We're gonna get the dogs
moved up to Eagle.
Yukon River is gonna start
getting really soft.
And my, uh, nice firm trails
that I've been using
all year
are deteriorating
very quickly now.
So, I'm feeling like this is
kind of the last day
to try and get
the dogs up to Eagle.
Otherwise, it would be
quite a slog.
Hey, Bertie, wanna go to town?
Huh?
Got no choice.
This is
kind of an unusual event.
I've never had to move my dogs
up to Eagle before.
(SIGHS)
We are really feeling nervous
about the ice
going out this year
and flooding our property.
Kate's gonna take six dogs
with her on the sled
and I'm gonna take
the other 18
with my snow machine.
Kate's gonna stay up there
with them during breakup
and, uh, I'm headin'
back to Calico
to look after
all of our property.
We'll just have to play
the wait-and-see game
at this point.
-(DOGS YELPING)
-KATE: Hey, guys. Up! Up!
ANDY: Tighten up!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
KATE: Come on, team, let's go!
ANDY: Straight ahead.
Straight ahead.
We should have gone yesterday.
The weather was predicting for
it to be cold this morning.
We would have had a good,
hard trail.
Instead we've got water
underneath the snow now
and there's no support
on the trail
to hold the dogs up
so we're just gonna
have to slog our way
up to Eagle.
KATE: Come on, guys.
You gotta do it.
-Come on, team.
-Come on, team!
Up, up, up!
-You gotta get off
and push a little bit, girl
-Come on, team. Come on.
(SOBS) I hate this day!
You're like in quicksand,
Kate.
You're probably
gonna have to step off.
(VOICE BREAKS)
I can't find the bottom.
You got all these dogs,
they're all tangled up.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Ahhh!
ANDY: It's not deep.
Okay, let's go.
Up, up. Up, up.
Cone on. Up, up. That a boys.
Up, up, up, up. Good boys.
Up, up. Up, up.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Everybody stay.
Everybody stay.
You okay now?
(PANTING)
A lot of water.
A lot of soft snow.
A couple of frozen feet.
Boots are full of water.
Just not having a good day.
I wish this was over.
It's rough on the dogs.
It's rough on me
having to leave for breakup.
Wish I could be home.
It's just high-stress day.
Can't stop shaking.
Pull, Stolie, pull.
Good job, guys.
Come on, up, up.
ANDY: We're lucky to have
this This is my first house
I built here in Eagle,
and I lived in this before
I started developing our place
down at Calico Bluff.
And so, if I have to spend
a night in Eagle,
we have a place here
that we can spend the night.
That was a hot trip, huh?
Well, that was nerve-racking.
Hey, guys.
Well done, Gilligan.
Well done, Noel.
Come on over here.
This is your new home.
You're such a good girl.
You did a good job today.
Oh, I think
that's everybody's.
This has been a rough day.
But I do have
to look after the dogs
and that's
the most important thing.
Mmm. My angel.
But my heart will be at home.
So it's a bittersweet day
for me, and I don't know
how long I'm gonna be here
and that's gonna be
the hardest part for me.
You did a good job today.
-Little bit frustrated?
-Yeah.
It's gonna be
really hard when Andy leaves
here now shortly.
See ya.
-Love you.
-Love you, too.
You're gonna be okay.
I'm gonna be okay.
You better be.
It's going to be really hard
to be separated that long,
for one thing.
And, uh, just worry
about all the work that
he's got to do down there
to finish up getting ready,
and I can't be there to help.
And, uh (GULPS)
I just hope he'll be okay.
I hope that all this fuss
and bother is for nothing.
I really hope I have
a home to go home to.
CHIP: A lot of patience.
That's what you got to have
to live up this way.
This is the Arctic.
It may be, technically,
a desert, but we got
lots of water flying around.
(AGNES SPEAKS)
CHIP: Looks good to me.
Who knows if they'll bite
or not.
There's only one way
to find out,
is knock a hole in.
Get 'er done.
AGNES: Whoo, that was heavy.
Well, the fact is
if we didn't take it
all the way down
as far as we could,
we'd have a real narrow hole.
We wouldn't be able to pull
a big fish through.
So you want to fish
this one and I'll fish
another one or what?
I'm gonna go right over here.
AGNES: Hopefully, our second
try will be a lot better
so we can sit here
and start fishing.
There is a whole big lake
to choose from.
Just gotta go find
that perfect spot.
-Oh!
-Fuck.
Whoo-hoo!
Whoo!
-AGNES: Whoo!
-(CHIP EXHALES)
We weren't
expecting it to do that.
That took me by surprise.
We're pushing down
as hard as we can,
all of a sudden, slam!
I got it.
I feel pretty good!
I'm about to start fishing.
Hopefully this will be
productive, but you don't know
until you try.
Happy fishing.
Good luck.
(AGNES SPEAKS)
(SIGHS)
(AGNES SPEAKS)
(GIGGLES)
Well, I've got no luck.
I can't quite think
like a fish.
I got wolves
and caribou down, but
(LAUGHS)
(WIND HOWLING)
(SIGHS)
Something's down there.
Ah, man.
Something's under there.
It just bit again.
Come on, fish.
Oh, I got something.
I got something! It's a fish!
-CHIP: Hey!
-Whoo!
-(CHIP WHOOPS)
-Right on.
I got the first fish.
CHIP: Thank God.
That's a little one,
but it's a good one.
I was about to get chilly,
but I just
all of a sudden warmed up.
(LAUGHS) Hey!
Today we weren't as successful
as we'd like to be.
I caught
a small sheefish.
It's been a long day
sitting here jigging,
so, uh, we're just gonna
pretty much call it a day
and try again tomorrow.
We'll all just keep trying
till we get a good load up
and go back home.
CHIP: The mess of success.
(AGNES SPEAKS)
CHIP: Fishing's
always hit and miss.
Some days you catch them,
some days you don't.
But, um, that's just fishing,
and it doesn't discourage us.
We have tomorrow.
We got enough fish for dinner
and I'm not complaining.
We're gonna head over
to a shelter cabin
and crash out for the night,
and when the sun's back up,
we'll be back out here again.
ERIK SALITAN: There's a lot
of things to do
at this time of year.
It's a quick transition.
The bears will be out soon.
It's, uh It's a great time
here to be alive here
in the Arctic of Alaska.
Springtime here. Big thaw.
I'm gonna grab
my chainsaw here
and go out and cut some wood.
There's a lot of things to do
at this time of year.
It's a quick transition.
Here in the Arctic,
the preferred time to cut
firewood is the spring.
The reason for that is
you still have enough snow
that I can use
my snow machine to access
my wood-cutting yard.
If I waited until the summer,
I'd be limited
to what I can do on foot.
I have a real nice
wood-cutting yard
and I'm able to get there
on snow machine
and snow machine only.
Hoping to cut enough firewood
right now
that it will get me through
that first part
of the fall this next year
until there's enough snow
that I can again be riding
my snow machine
to cut more firewood.
This is where I cut firewood
here on this island.
We're on sort
of a tight little slough
of the river here.
This is a backwater,
a flood channel.
This is the first tree
I want to take today.
Here, we're targeting
dead standing spruce
that's already dry,
that's ready to go.
Get this home,
throw it right
into the wood stove.
When you burn
exclusively firewood
to heat your home,
you need a lot of firewood.
So what you do to get the wood
is you come out
and girdle these trees,
which is the marks
that you see here.
In girdling it, it cuts
the xylem of the tree,
it exposes it.
It kills the tree,
and then the tree sits
out here in the woods,
it dries standing,
and a few years later
when you come back to cut them
it's already dry
and ready to go.
Always got to pay attention
when you get one
hung up like that.
See, there's
that loose top up there.
No, really, though,
'cause that
It's gonna roll this way.
It's not like, uh, bullshit.
It is gonna fall here
in the next cut or two.
(CHAINSAW STARTS)
That tree was not leaning
in an advantageous direction.
Well, I got
a full load in my sled.
I got several piles back there
with some more wood.
I'm gonna haul
this back to camp.
I just came out here,
travelled down the river,
a short distance from my home,
cut some firewood,
I filled up my sled,
I made several other piles
along this slough.
So, uh, that all worked out.
I knocked over
a couple of trees here.
And got them all limbed up,
bucked up in lengths.
I'm going to haul them back
to my camp,
buck 'em up, split 'em,
throw 'em
in the wood shed there,
and we're good to go.
Wood to me is one of the most
valuable commodities
there are out here
in the bush.
I mean, it's
how I heat my house.
What I just did here
is basically everybody else
in the world
going out to their desk job,
working their week,
punching their clock,
and then giving it
to the heating oil man
for the winter
to pay for
however you heat your house,
propane, heating oil, however.
I'd much rather cut out
the middleman
and just go and get
my own heating fuel here.
SUE: I've always had
a way with nature.
I work in harmony with it,
not against it.
I'm part
of the circle of life.
First thing I have to do,
'cause I'm burning.
Haven't been frostbit
in a long, long time.
If you can
relate a frostbite
a frost burn,
just like you would a sunburn.
If you imagine you go
to the beach
and you're having
a hoo-ha time
and you don't notice
you're going
to get a little pink.
You go from pink,
you're gonna get a little red,
from red, you know,
you get blisters
and then if it's bad enough
those blisters pop
and you start peeling.
Your skin is
telling you that, uh
"Look, dipshit, you abused me,
you burnt me.
"Here's a little payback,
biatch."
(COMPUTER CALL RINGING)
MAN: (ON PHONE) Hello, Momsky.
Hey, sonsky.
How are you doing?
Oh, I'm doing okay.
How about you?
SUE: I'm doing all right.
I'm just trying to put
together, uh,
everything going on
here at Kavik.
MAN: So what's going to be
going on with Kavik now?
Well, you know,
I had to lease the camp
this winter just to stay here
and I either gotta buy it
or get booted.
If I don't purchase
the place, I have to leave.
So I'm looking at being
a 50-year-old fat chick
trying to find a new career
and a new life.
And I wanted to ask
each of you and Jen,
I mean, we're a family,
even if I do run away,
but, uh, you know, see
what your feelings are on me
buying the place
or quitting the place.
MAN: What I want you to do
more than anything else
is do what's gonna
make you happy.
I don't ever wanna do
anything to make you sad,
but you know I go psycho
when I get in town too long.
MAN: I love you a lot, Mom.
I just want you to do
what's gonna make you happy.
All right, I love you,
sweetie,
and I'll call you
in a few days.
The enormity
of the decision is,
I mean, it's off the charts.
I don't want to lose
my home and I want
a chance at this future.
I'm going to Fairbanks
to buy this place.
God willing, I'll come back
and be able to introduce it
as Susan's Kavik River Camp.
ANDY: I've invested 25 years
of my life here,
and this is a place
that I have a really strong
spiritual connection to.
And it's gonna take
an awful lot
for me to give this up.
Kate's in Eagle now
with the dogs.
I made it back here.
I left Topez here.
I always like to have one dog
with me when I'm down here.
We're predicting this to be
a really bad breakup
and one of the last things
I want to do
is to put some eyebolts
through the beams supporting
my house
and then tie those
off to the base of trees.
In the flood in 2009,
every building on our property
floated and moved.
Some of them moved 75, 80 feet
away from their original spot.
What I'm a little
nervous about
is if all these buildings
start floating,
they're gonna end up
going back out with the water.
This rope here
is weighted for five tons.
Unless the ice actually hits
the house,
if the whole house
was floating, I'd be able
to pull it with this rope.
It's like having
a large boat in the water.
There's not
a lot of friction there.
So I think I'll get one here,
go around the other side,
see if I can't
get one over there
to some more trees that way.
And that'll keep it
from moving sideways.
Then I'll have to go and try
to figure out a way
to attach to the back
of the house
and go back that way.
So I think if I can do
three points,
I'll be in pretty
good shape here.
Okay. So the house is secure.
Try and get
a few hours' sleep.
Probably go to sleep tonight
with the window open
so I can listen and hear
if something starts happening.
We're coming down to the wire.
It's been a long winter.
It's been a lot of fun.
Got a lot of trapping done.
I got a lynx here.
A lot of the stuff out there,
hunting and fishing,
is, uh, luck, to be honest.
But where the skill comes in
is in seizing opportunity.
What the fuck!
There's a muskrat right there.
You know, Alaska's
a harsh place.
Either you like it
or you don't.
It's the only place
that I could live.
I wouldn't trade
this life for anything.
This is the lifestyle I choose
to live. It's not the right
or wrong way to live.
It's just the way I choose.
It's been a lot of fun,
got a lot of trapping done.
Caught a lot of fur,
had a great time,
got out on the country,
but spring is officially here.
It's time for me to get ready
for what I really do
for a living,
which is, uh,
be a hunting guide.
Alaska has a rich tradition
of guiding and outfitting
for big game.
There's nothing
I'm more proud of
than being a guide
and everything
that goes with that.
I'm gonna be taking
six grizzly bear hunters
over the next month.
I have my first client
coming in today.
I need to put together a camp.
I need to ready
his guest cabin
that he'll be staying in
and head down and pick him up.
These are two
of my most important pieces
of guiding gear.
This is a 60-power
spotting scope.
I can look at a brown bear's
head from a long range
and know
if it's a mature bear or not.
My second piece of gear
that's really important
is my guide rifle.
This gun has been with me
for my entire guiding career
and it's, uh, it's been
involved in the harvest
of many, many bears
and moose and sheep.
(TRIGGER CLICKS)
I'm kind of excited
and nervous all at once.
It's the first hunt
of the spring
and I'm gonna hop in the truck
and head down and pick up
my first client of the year.
CHIP: It's a way of life.
This isn't just a job
or an occupation.
Every day, I have to do
something that benefits
my household and my family.
I gotta keep them warm.
I gotta keep them fed.
Well, I guess we're gonna go
fishing again today.
The fish weren't biting
yesterday, but, um, you know,
that's fishing.
So we're giving it
another try.
We could get a sled load,
we might get nothing.
But we won't know
if we don't try, so we're off.
(AGNES SPEAKING)
(CHIP SPEAKING)
(AGNES SPEAKING)
Other people are out here
all the time looking for fish
and, um, when we come across
their holes,
where people have
been lucky, then we're lucky.
We don't have to dig so deep.
The fish move.
You know, like, this could be
the hottest hole that there is
for a whole day
and tomorrow there'd be
nothing at all.
In the same manner, the holes
that didn't produce today
might just be the hottest
places to be tomorrow.
So, we don't know
until we try.
Just keep trying.
Oh! There we go! There we go!
Oh, good golly!
I don't like getting hooked.
I always try to stun 'em.
Oh, boy.
That's a good meal
right there.
Oh, I got one! Yes!
-CHIP:
Oh, good one, too! Big one.
-Ahhh!
Get it!
CHIP: Holy shit!
Where's that hook?
AGNES: Ahhh!
I hook this
Whoa, all right!
Got one! Yes!
-You need your hook
by your hole.
-Phew.
Now this is
what you call a sheefish.
This what we're after.
It's a pretty good size,
it has a lot of meat.
Sweet meat. Pretty good.
Wow, that's all the way
to your Past your waist.
Well, we got one, big
sheefish, and then we got
ourselves four smaller ones,
and we got ourselves a couple
small tiktaalik.
And, um, if you had to go buy
the equivalent in the store,
it probably could run you
300 or 400 bucks.
So, um, coming out here,
and doing this
is definitely worth our time
and our effort.
And we actually saved
money by buying gas
instead of food at the store.
Well, that's quite a few
meals right there, all right.
Yeah, looks like it. Yum.
CHIP: When we look at spring
coming on, we see a change
of seasons coming
and with the change
of seasons comes
a change of taste.
There's something else
to hunt. Every day, there's
something new to gather.
We're gonna jump
on our snow machines
and we're gonna head off
to Noorvik.
Have ourselves
a nice little trip home
with some smiles on our faces.
There's a big difference
between a fresh fish
and a frozen fish.
And fresh fish is
what we got on board.
SUE:
When you get knocked down,
you either stay there and cry
or get your ass back up
and make it work.
And this has been
a long time coming.
I am in Fairbanks.
The only thing standing
between me
and my dream of owning Kavik,
this right here.
A cheque needs to be
written to purchase it.
This is
what it all boils down to.
Get down there,
sign a document,
shake some hands,
light a stogie,
and sip a single malt
and breathe.
Start the next chapter
of my life.
It's a huge step for me.
It's no small feat to be 50
and finally purchase
your own lighthouse
so you can make that light
shine for everybody to see.
Hey, there.
-Good to see ya.
-Congratulations.
-Oh, thanks, I'm nervous
as a little cat.
-Oh, yeah.
(LAUGHS)
MAN: That is it.
-Congratulations.
-Thank you.
Oh!
Cheers.
Success.
(GIGGLES)
I feel good, and I feel shaky.
It hasn't sunk in yet.
This all started I was
in Fairbanks, dead of winter,
busted leg, having surgery,
and trying to get back home.
(SUE SPEAKING)
I absolutely think
it's detestable
that somebody feels
they have the right
to come in and change my world
without asking.
He's down.
-Oh, man, it's
good to see you.
-(MAN LAUGHS)
(LAUGHS) I see a light.
I'm back in Fairbanks,
leg has kicked ass,
and I'm buying my own home.
It's a
It's a new era for Super Sue.
(LAUGHS)
ANDY: I've put 10 years
into this place
and lost almost all that work
and I don't know what would
happen if I lost it again.
I don't know if I would have
the resolve to rebuild again.
(RUMBLING)
Come take a quick look over
the bank here
and see if it's coming up.
I gotta get
some stuff up high.
Just woke up, heard a sound.
It almost sounded like rain.
It was kind of
a crackling noise.
Looked out of the window
dreamy-eyed
and saw big chunks
of ice in the yard
and, uh, realised the river
was breaking up.
You can hear the ice
cracking and popping.
This is looking to be
a really bad one this year.
KATE: I'm scared for his life,
to be honest.
I can't replace him.
If all my buildings float,
and I lose everything,
we have to
really think seriously
about whether we want
to continue to live here.
KATE: If the ice comes,
it's the end.
It'll just be splinters.
So I really hope I have
a home to go home to.
It's kind of a last minute,
big scramble here.
Well, I was hoping
I was gonna get
a night's sleep last night.
That didn't happen.
I gotta get in the house
and get some more stuff
up high.
So, my electronics.
Storing all
my water jugs in here
so they don't float away.
So I got water
in case I'm flooded here.
I'll get a few upstairs.
It's one of the biggest issues
when you get stranded
is you realise
you'd have no water to drink.
(RUMBLING)
Just going to have to wait and
see what Mother Nature
throws at us now.
I woke up and I thought
I heard it raining out
and it just didn't
sound right.
It sounded
like the sound of raindrops
or something on the tin roof
and it kind of took me
a minute to kind of wake up,
and first thought was,
"Oh, shit, it's raining,
I gotta go cover stuff up."
And then, I looked out
the window and saw
big chunks of ice here
right up on the bank.
I was like, "Oh, crap!"
I could see the ice,
it looks like it must've
started right up
against the shoreline
'cause the ice out between
here and the islands
was, uh, still solid,
but it was just starting
to break up.
So, uh, the river is moving
really good
out in the main channel
right now.
I'm looking out
there and I can see it moving
probably 10
or 12 miles an hour.
Water came up about five feet
in less than a minute here
when it breached up river
about maybe 200 yards.
So, uh, there's
a lot of water piling up
back behind this, I hope
I hope it keeps moving.
All right, well, I just came
up on my roof
'cause that's
my best vantage point.
I'm seeing open water
starting to show up
and I'm seeing
the ice thinning out
in the main channel right now.
So I think the first big push
has gone through right now,
and, uh, that's
exactly what I like to see.
So we're going to see here,
when this open water appears,
it might peel off these large
pieces out in front.
We'll see what happens here
but, uh, I'm feeling like
we're through the worst part
of it right now,
so I'm starting to relax
a little bit more.
CHIP:
It's a way of life. This isn't
just a job or an occupation.
Every day, I have to do
something that benefits
my household and my family.
I gotta keep them warm.
I gotta keep them fed.
Springtime.
It's the sure sign of spring,
kids in shorts.
-You guys catch fish?
-Yeah.
-Whoa!
-Holy crap,
look, it's still moving!
-It's still alive.
-(LAUGHS)
-(GIRL SPEAKS)
-CHIP: Of course.
AGNES: Oh, yay, home at last.
CHIP: Home, at last!
We're having this one.
She chose
this one for tonight.
This is the one I caught.
-It's gonna fit right there.
-Oh, my God.
Holy cow, that's big.
Boy, it was lots of fun
catching this.
It almost get away.
Well, it's the first sheefish
we've had fresh
since, uh, we stopped netting
fish in November, huh?
AGNES: Yeah.
CHIP: Nothing like fresh,
fresh food.
We'll get four or five meals
out of this one,
if you include the head.
We'll bake the head
and eat it separate.
We actually had
a pretty average year, huh?
I'd say.
Catching fur, catching fish,
catching caribou.
-But, um
-Watch your knee, sweetie.
I would say it wasn't
too bad of a year.
-CHIP: Best thing to do is
look at how well you've done.
-Look! Are these eggs?
-Yeah, Mom, it got some eggs!
-Mom, it's got eggs!
Bad!
Look, Daddy, I got eggs!
CHIP: Oh, lucky!
-(AGNES LAUGHS)
-CHIP: Bonus.
-CHIP: Wow, look
at those eggs.
-Oh, Mom, look at the liver.
CHIP: You guys can have
the rest of the fish,
-just leave me the eggs.
-No.
-CHILD: The liver.
-AGNES: Watch out.
Might splash ya.
-I'm just gonna go bam!
-Oh.
See?
(WHISTLES)
AGNES: Out here, we try to do
subsistence hunting
and gathering and fishing
as much as we can.
I'm gonna put this
in the oven now.
Sometimes we don't always
have money
to go to the store
and purchase
all the meats and prepared
foods that most people have.
It's pretty expensive
when you try to go
to the store,
so we pretty much
rely on all the stuff
that we catch.
-Ready for dinner, girls?
-Yep.
Right on, it's done.
Some people say
subsistence living
is a poor way to live.
But I think subsistence
is a poor word
for a good healthy living.
Looks pretty good.
CHIP: There's a big difference
between a fresh fish
and a frozen fish
and, um, we've got
nice, chemical-free,
organic fish
that we know
happen to be wild.
It's all about good health
and happiness, and that's
what we got here today.
We ended our fall and started
our winter with fishing,
and we ended
our winter and started
our spring with fishing.
Almost like poetry.
KATE: We'll push every day
until we can't push
any further.
Until the time runs out
and that's all we can do.
ANDY: Here we go. Come here.
Come here, Tope.
Mommy's coming.
Mommy's coming home.
Oh, boy!
I talked with Kate last night,
and she's found out
that there's going to be
a helicopter
in the Eagle area,
and she's contacted
the company
and they said that they would
be able to do a quick trip
to drop her off down here,
which is going to make her
really happy to be home again.
(HELICOPTER APPROACHES)
Who's that?
Who's that gonna be?
Is that gonna be Mommy?
Huh?
She's managed to find
someone to take care
of our dogs in Eagle
for the next two
to three weeks
until I can put a boat in.
Getting Kate back here
is gonna be a real joy
for the both of us,
and I know she's chomping
at the bit to get back here,
so it'll be a happy reunion.
Who's that, Tope?
Is that your mommy?
Hey, man!
-Hey, how you doing?
-KEITH: Good, how you doing?
-This is Keith.
-Hey, Keith.
Thanks for bringing
my woman home.
-Oh, no problem.
-(LAUGHS)
-How you doing, stranger?
-(KATE MOANS)
(KATE SPEAKING)
ANDY: Yeah.
-KATE: Oh
-(ANDY SPEAKING)
(ANDY LAUGHS)
So that's what saved us,
that big chunk from here
down to there.
KATE: Yeah.
ANDY:
It deflected all this stuff,
we were pretty lucky.
KATE: Well, I'd say we got
the lottery ticket this year.
-(ANDY LAUGHS)
-KATE: The winner.
It's 'cause we did
all that work to prep.
(LAUGHS)
If we wouldn't have prepped,
we would have been kicked
-Well, we're
all organised now.
-Kicked in the butt.
-We know what to do.
-(CHUCKLES) Yeah.
This has been stressful,
but a good ending
and looks like
we made it through, probably
one of the worst breakups
that could have happened
in this area, unscathed,
so good start of the spring.