- 1 day ago
Mountain Men (2012) Season 14 Episode 4- Icebreaker
Please Follow Me! Thank's for watching...
Please Follow Me! Thank's for watching...
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I
00:20Millions of years ago
00:22The towering pillars of ancient rock known as the Missouri River breaks
00:26Were submerged beneath an ocean that split America in two
00:32Later ice age glaciers covered and carved this dramatic landscape
00:37Which now stands virtually untouched in northern, Montana
00:43And makes a hell of a place for a hunter to track his prey
00:48See if we can't get out there and make it happen today. Let's go get them
00:52Jake herrick and his big brother Bo have spent the last week here chasing winter meat
01:01And they've got one big buck in their packs
01:09But times winding down and Bo still has his tag left to fill
01:15We've got two days left got 50% of our missing done
01:18But we've still got one more buck to get and it's crunch time. It's now or never
01:22We need to capitalize on this last opportunity and get the heck out of here. Yeah, I agree
01:29At this point Jake got a nice buck. I just haven't yet, but I'm feeling confident
01:34I'm ready to get back out there and take this opportunity to get myself a nice mature buck on the ground
01:38This looks like a real good spot to stop see if we can't spot something
01:43I think maybe once we get up to this corner we'll climb up on the hill there and see if we can get a good vantage point
01:48Out here in the middle of the Missouri breaks. It's no man's land. There's no roads
01:53There's no access the only way to get here is by boat and the only way you can access it from there is by boots only
02:00We can climb up on that little shelf
02:03Hop up there and anchor us up
02:13This sure is some big beautiful country
02:19Yeah, it's absolutely huge
02:21Been a couple years since me and Bo have been able to go out on a mission together and it's really nice to be able to
02:28Get him away from his daily job every couple years and get out and be able to harvest some meat for ourselves
02:34Where are they at Jakey where are they at?
02:38Yeah, so far I'm not seeing a lot
02:40Me neither
02:42So many little drainages for him to hide in
02:48Ooh, here we go Bobo
02:52That one's definitely a buck. He's pushing that doe you can tell. Oh, yeah
02:56I think we should top in the boat and get down there and see if we can't make a play on him
03:01Get after him
03:03I'm already tagged out. So today I'm out here just playing guide. I keep your eyes out for him
03:12We're gonna be going pretty much right below him here to get around to where we need to get to hiking them
03:17Yeah, they're still right up in there
03:19Brother Bo is about to have a baby girl and me and Anak are expecting a baby boy and a future mountain man
03:26So the last thing I want to do is have him out here in the middle of Missouri breaks for eight days and send him home to his wife without any meat
03:33If you look out across the water there's little sheets of ice starting to form
03:39Which happens back home a lot and then the next day the river freezes over solid
03:44Yeah, that's definitely not a good sign
03:46So let's try to make this one count and try to get the heck out for this river
03:51Yeah, I agree
03:53This could get dangerous real fast
03:55Oh, yeah, here we go. Here we go
03:58Across the wild heart of the last frontier where the Alaska range towers over the land
04:16Winter sometimes arrives with a vengeance
04:19And sometimes creeps in slowly and the only thing that's certain from one year to the next is that it's never the same
04:28Do you want me to clear these old logs?
04:30Yep
04:31For homesteaders like Brett Bonn and Ivy O'Gwen
04:34It means the start of every new season is a race to be ready before the deep freeze
04:39Just throw whatever you can over on the pile
04:42Today Ivy and I are going to build an access ramp directly across from our cabin at the start of our trail system
04:48This is all the foundation of the original ramp
04:51The old ramp just fell apart
04:53When you have it on the ground especially this bottom side
04:56Just sucks that moisture out and rots it out
04:59I built it 22 years ago
05:01I was a young teenager then so it wasn't built correctly
05:05Thought we could have a weenie roast tonight
05:07Learned a lot since then
05:08Oh yeah
05:09So we're going to redo it and do it right
05:11We're getting there
05:12The only trail from town ends here
05:16But Brett and Ivy's cabin sits across a mile wide lake
05:20To transport vital supplies
05:23They rely on a ramp to navigate the steep and treacherous descent down the bank
05:29We're going to start marking where we're going to excavate
05:32The old ramp was too rotten to support their most critical load this season
05:36A 900 pound amphibious vehicle that will help them navigate their trap line this winter
05:42The ramp will probably start right in here
05:47Phase one was clearing out the old rotten wood
05:50And then here's the top
05:52Phase two is to level out the ground to make a stable foundation for new construction
05:58All right, this is going to be fun
06:00But without an excavator
06:02It'll need to be cleared by hand
06:05We've got to eliminate this hump
06:08It's a lot of work to move dirt especially this time of the year when the topsoil is starting to freeze
06:14Hear that? I'm hitting nails from the old ramp
06:18But you've got to work hard to play hard out here
06:21Nope, that's a rock
06:23So we need to do both
06:25This whole bank is just all rocks
06:30We're making good progress here
06:35Get this one section done and then we'll start constructing the ramp
06:39Sounds good
06:40As the sun rises over two rivers Alaska
06:57Just getting the dogs fed, starts the morning out
07:00Competitive dog musher Laurel Eklund and his partner Virginia Ely
07:05Yukon
07:07Good morning
07:09Are racing to take their kennel to the next level
07:12Organized chaos, right?
07:14Oh yeah
07:15Before winter stops them cold
07:17Cockerine
07:18You get the whale sized harness because you're chunky
07:23Let's go do some logs
07:25For the last decade, Laurel's been building a dog team towards the goal of running the greatest race on earth
07:31The Iditarod
07:33Woohoo!
07:35Last year he entered as a rookie and made an impressive first showing
07:38Come here
07:39We're good boys
07:40Finishing 26th out of 38
07:43Good idea
07:45But with his sights now set on improving his time and standing, it's critical that he makes some key upgrades to their operation
07:53Today is a very exciting day because we're going to start building our pack shed
07:59We've got a lot of dogs which means a lot of gear and it's stinky gear
08:04Poopy harnesses, poopy gang lines, poopy boots and it's been living in our cabin for the last seven years
08:11So it'll be good to get it out and make more room and then kind of have a normal house
08:19At least it'll be a little bit more organized because organizing Laurel is a full-time job in itself
08:26Laurel in Virginia's 600 square foot cabin isn't just a home and storage shed
08:31It also serves as a kitchen for 31 hungry huskies
08:35Right now the way we're feeding is we start with frozen meat
08:40We put it in a bucket and then warm water over top
08:43And that has to stay in our house right by the wood stove so that it stays thawed
08:47So that's very smelly
08:50This tack shed is going to solve that
08:52We're going to be able to take that completely out of the house and have its own separate environment
08:57I'm excited not to have meat buckets sitting in my house anymore
09:01What? Silly!
09:04Now that we got all the dogs watered, had their breakfast today
09:08We're going to go get the last couple logs for the cabin build
09:11Right now we got about 70 logs already milled
09:14I want to go out behind my property here and get a couple more
09:18I like this guy right over here
09:20He's a good size right there
09:23That's roughly a nine inch log right there
09:29Perfect, I'm going to start cutting
09:30All right, one down
09:45You know I might actually be able to get both logs out of it
09:49It's a lot bigger than it looks
09:51You've got eight, nine, eight right here
09:57Yep, all of that, right on the money
10:01All right, we're going to go get up and deal in
10:03Bucked up and then Virgininia should be here with the dogs here pretty soon
10:10All right guys!
10:11Laura's dog team is not just trained for elite racing
10:16Once the snows hit, they're put to work for all kinds of tough chores
10:24Whoa guys!
10:27Well your chariot awaits!
10:30Now that these logs are loaded up, me and Virgininia are going to take these back to the cabin and start building
10:36I'll see you at the house, let's take it easy on here
10:38Okay, sounds good!
10:41Ready guys?
10:42All right!
10:47Oh!
10:49Guys!
10:50Oh crap!
10:57Deep in the Alaskan interior
11:00Laura and Virgininia's tack shed build has gone off the rails
11:05There you go, help her
11:06Let's do a little bit of, uh, adjusted here, man
11:11I am having problems on the trail because I forgot our rope
11:16You paint peanuts, you get monkeys, you know
11:19So then our logs aren't secured within the sled
11:24So their weight is being shifted and thrown around, tipping our sled, tipping the logs out
11:29Luckily we're not going too far
11:31And so we had to just jerry-rig it just to get by, which we do a lot of
11:36All right!
11:38Ready guys? All right!
11:40Easy, easy, easy
11:42All right!
11:43All right boys, good!
11:45Good!
11:47Good!
11:48Good!
11:49Good!
11:51Woo!
11:52You know that was a little bit of a workout but now it's time to start, uh, get these logs unloaded and start building
11:57Woo!
11:58All right!
11:59We're going to get these guys milled and start slapping this cabin together.
12:06Three-sided these logs, we're using a Hatton Lumber Maker.
12:09The Hatton Lumber Maker runs on, like, a 2x4, and that helps a lot with having a nice, straight guide.
12:17And these things have built a lot of cabins around the world.
12:21And that's right there, folks.
12:24You got a three-sided log.
12:27Sweet. You ready?
12:29Yep.
12:34Well, look at that.
12:35Yeah, only 68 more to go.
12:37Whoo!
12:38There's many different ways you can make a cabin.
12:41This time, though, we're going to go with button pass, where you have a log pass over and another one comes in.
12:46So it's kind of like this, and then you go like this, and that.
12:49And that's button pass.
12:51It's one of the more quicker ways of building a cabin.
12:54I can really see some harnesses hanging in here.
12:56Yeah, before too long.
12:58Yep.
12:59And so we're going to do what we call runs.
13:01Each layer of logs is one run.
13:03And you do another run, and then another run, so you get some height.
13:06Yeah, you're going to need ladders before too long.
13:09Yep.
13:10It's really starting to take shape, every log mill.
13:13We're going to go about seven feet.
13:15My goal is to have kind of a small cabin.
13:17It's just a tack shed, and it's not a place someone's going to be living in.
13:21That whole build process, don't got to go to the gym for a while.
13:26They're green logs, and they're pretty heavy.
13:28They're rather husky.
13:31These logs are definitely no small feet.
13:38These probably are like 250-pound logs.
13:41Well, pass me up this 12 verge.
13:43Okay.
13:44You ready?
13:45Yeah.
13:46And they're really long, so it makes it very awkward to be thrown weight above your head all the time.
13:52Just hold it there.
13:58Okay.
13:59Let me bring this end around.
14:05Hold on.
14:09Oh, crap.
14:22The Yukon and Koyukuk rivers carve out the largest census area in Alaska, spanning over a fifth of the state, much of it rugged, remote, and ideal for trapping.
14:36This is the big marsh. This is Beaver City.
14:39And for the past three winters, Chance Painter has made the majority of his income here, catching a wide variety of fur.
14:48Gonna start looking around in here.
14:51But before he kicks off his season, he needs to stock up on one of nature's most potent lures.
14:58Today we're gonna try and harvest a couple beavers to get some castor gland.
15:03Castor, it's like a smelly, oily thing that they make to mark their territory, and lots of animals like to eat beavers, and so it's a good lure to get them to come close to it.
15:14With plans to trap his 16-mile line this winter and target everything from muskrat to mink, Chance needs more lure than ever, and he's gotta work quickly before winter hits.
15:26Right now, I have a good window to actually get beavers, because there's still open water, and once it starts freezing, I'm basically stuck waiting to trap the beavers until like after Christmas, once the ice is thick enough again.
15:40So I'm here at the spot. I'm gonna go look around and see if I can find a place to put some traps.
15:47That's a castor mound right there. And from this spot, I can see that there's like a run right here that the beavers are coming up to.
15:59A run is just where the beavers traverse often, and it creates like a beaver-shaped tube in the waterways.
16:05I'm going to set a trap in this run. Basically, I'm gonna put a stick across, and then I'll dangle my trap from that, and he'll try and come through this run to come check out the castor that I put down.
16:20And then we'll throw some grass on top of it. It's just to hide the trap. By the time he realizes there's a trap there, he's gonna be in it.
16:28While Chance continues to set traps in beaver country...
16:34Back at the homestead...
16:36How many beavers do you think Daddy's gonna get?
16:38...his wife, Soraya...
16:40Let's go look over here.
16:42Yeah. Oh, yeah.
16:44...and their sons, Otter and Omisho...
16:47Daddy's gonna bring back some beavers, and we're gonna make hoops to hang them in.
16:51Do you want to help?
16:52Yeah.
16:53...are preparing to process their catch...
16:56You got them?
16:57Yeah.
16:58Oh, good man, let's go this way.
17:00All right, let's go home.
17:02Chance is out to trapping beavers.
17:04So I decided, while he's gone, that I'm gonna make some beaver hoops made out of poplar trees.
17:09A beaver hoop is a tool that stretches beaver pelts and makes them easier to brain tan.
17:15I'm basically gonna make these trees into very strong, circular hide stretchers to put our beaver hides in.
17:24Furs are livelihood.
17:26We either wear it, or we sell it.
17:29It's hard to find beaver pelts on the market now that are traditionally tanned, because it's so difficult to do.
17:35I'll just get it used to the bend.
17:37I'll do this on both sides, and then I'll start weaving them together.
17:43A lot of attention on that.
17:46This is pretty much self-taught.
17:49There's been a lot of trial and error.
17:52It's kind of like a lost knowledge.
17:54So there's not a lot of people left to teach you.
17:56Because most people just, they think it's too much work on top of already tanning the beaver hide, and they just go buy the hoops.
18:02But if you take the easy way out too much, you forget how to do things.
18:06I also don't like showing the kids that you can just buy anything you need.
18:10I'd rather them know how to make it first.
18:12It teaches them that they can utilize nature and not have to rely on everybody else for everything.
18:19This is looking really good.
18:21I think we picked the perfect trees.
18:23Chance is gonna be excited.
18:25Deep in the Alaskan interior.
18:35Looks like he's starting to build a dam right there.
18:38Chance's gamble on new country is turning a beaver sign left and right.
18:44This is a slide sliding down on his belly right here.
18:48You can see a slide right there too.
18:50This looks like a really good spot instead of trap.
18:53So the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm going to make a false castor mound basically.
19:00So I'm gonna pretend to be a beaver.
19:03The way that I make a castor mound is I just kind of channel my inner beaver.
19:07I just drag mud up onto the shore and put some grass in it, put a little bit of castor on it.
19:14Drop a little out.
19:16That should be good.
19:18You're using the habits of these animals against them.
19:22That's just the way that I like to envision where to make sets and how to make sets and how to make them more believable.
19:29I usually almost always have my traps submerged.
19:34You know, this is a foreign object in this beaver's life.
19:38It would be like if somebody came into your living room and there's like a weird stick suddenly on your couch.
19:45And so, you know, I'm gonna have to hide it.
19:48All right, so the trap is set.
19:52I'm feeling pretty good about the way that looks.
19:56Chance has covered the area with a total of 12 traps.
20:03And while he usually waits 24 hours before checking them, an area with this much active sign is worth an early inspection.
20:13As I'm walking back to the cabin, I'm gonna stop by the marsh again and just go look at the traps that I set this morning.
20:20It's been long enough that something might have actually swam into one.
20:26Well, it's kind of looking like something happened over here.
20:39And we got a beaver.
20:43Catching a beaver on the first day is really good.
20:46It was really neat in the caster and I'm glad that we already got one beaver in the bag.
20:50It was a good start to getting bait for the trap line.
20:54I'm pretty confident that gonna be at least a couple more beavers in my traps tomorrow morning.
21:00I'm gonna pack this guy up and start heading back home.
21:04In two rivers, Alaska.
21:19Hold on.
21:21Upgrading Laro's kennel before freeze up is a heavy burden.
21:25Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
21:29Definitely getting harder now that it's getting higher.
21:32It's getting harder to put these logs on because I'm pretty sure Laro's even struggling putting those 16 up above his head.
21:40Now I'm gonna cut the door out.
21:43So we're gonna cut out the door so we can just pass them through without having to chuck them all the way over our heads.
21:50Holy cow, look at that. We got us a frame right now.
22:06Yeah, it's looking good.
22:10Couple more runs now and we'll be right where we want to be.
22:18I can tell the temp's dropping a little bit.
22:22I'm getting a little bit more crystallization in my hair.
22:26We can definitely feel winter coming.
22:29It started out as like a nice fall day with above zero temperatures, which we consider rather balmy.
22:36Now it's really crisp out there, five below, ten below.
22:40It'll be nice to get the roof on before anything crazy happens.
22:44Winter's coming, so we don't have a lot of time to spare.
22:48We got termination dust on the ground, but we're not done.
22:52Termination dust is what a lot of construction workers say.
22:56When we see snow get on the mountains, construction season's almost over with.
23:02Last log.
23:08Woo! She's got walls.
23:10Oh yeah, there we go.
23:12Look at that.
23:13Let's get this roof on. We're almost there.
23:16Woo!
23:26As the frost sends the mercury plunging over the Alaska range.
23:32It's getting a little crusty.
23:34Brett and Ivy push ahead to phase three of their ramp build.
23:38Good thing we got that digging done.
23:42Laying the foundation.
23:44All right, let's put down plastic.
23:46Winter's just around the corner and weather changes constantly this time of the year.
23:51It's only going to keep getting colder, so we got to get this ramp constructed as quick as we can before the ground freezes over.
23:59This plastic keeps vegetation from growing up through the ramp.
24:02Yeah, why don't you pull up?
24:04And it's going to keep those bottom foundation planks off the ground.
24:08All right.
24:09This will help hold the bank in a little bit too.
24:12Hopefully that will prevent that foundation from rotting out.
24:15All right, try flipping it.
24:18Look at that, huh?
24:19Custom fit.
24:20Let's go get some planks.
24:22Look at these beautiful creosote planks.
24:25These planks are from the former Yukon River Bridge that big truckers would drive up to the north slope on.
24:31We'll start with this bottom of the ramp.
24:34After it was torn down, Brett was able to get his hands on a couple piles of planks and guardrails.
24:40Probably right there, huh?
24:42So he's been holding onto those for this ramp build.
24:45The planks are coated in creosote, a chemical byproduct of burning coal that works as a wood preservative.
24:57The tar-like coating locks out the moisture that causes rot.
24:58That's just going to keep us from sliding right now.
25:00I always like to build things right the first time.
25:04I'm going to bust my butt.
25:06Don't do that.
25:07Starts with a good foundation.
25:09That's what we're going to do here today.
25:11Okay.
25:12Tar paper now.
25:13I'm going to put tar paper on top of those foundation planks.
25:18Send it.
25:19Sheds the water from the top.
25:21All right.
25:22Let's grab a guardrail.
25:24We'll put this guardrail right there.
25:29Perfecto.
25:30Next on the chopping block is planks.
25:35You've got to drill two holes in each guardrail, and then you start your log screws.
25:41Are they sticking out?
25:43Yeah.
25:44You let them stick out an inch or two.
25:47I can't see the hole.
25:49Then you've got to line up all the holes.
25:51It's off a little.
25:52Let me try to manipulate it just a little bit.
25:55It's time consuming, but that's just how it is.
25:59That might be it right there.
26:05That's not it.
26:06Oh, just a smidge.
26:09Can I have a suggestion?
26:11What?
26:12Do we have a bigger drill bit for these metal pieces?
26:15Yep.
26:16Can we just drill a giant hole so that we don't play this game?
26:19Yeah, we could.
26:26Got my holes.
26:27Are they all in?
26:28I think so.
26:29Look at that.
26:30Simple peasy.
26:31So smart.
26:32What a joke.
26:33This is easy.
26:34This is why you have a woman with projects.
26:35All right.
26:36Here we go.
26:37Look at that, eh?
26:38Now we've got the system.
26:39It's going to be easy now.
26:41Wrapping up the ramp fast is crucial because there's an even bigger task ahead.
26:53Towing their last load of supplies across the lake before conditions get any worse.
26:58The temperature is really dropping.
26:59Oh, yeah.
27:00It's starting to freeze up on the lake.
27:02Yep.
27:03We're running out of time if we're going to get the barge to move.
27:07Well, we've got to get across before we end up like the Titanic.
27:10Let's see how it goes.
27:13Let's see.
27:14Let's see.
27:15Let's see.
27:16Let's see.
27:17Three hundred feet up above the Great Missouri River.
27:35Make sure you walk slow and quietly.
27:39Chasing bucks takes stamina and stealth.
27:42All right, Bo.
27:48Last time I saw them, they were only like one drain inch away from that little knob.
27:52So I think we'll go up just past it and we'll tip over, but they should be somewhere close in this area.
27:58Let's do it.
28:00With the weather turning over the Missouri brakes, he's tucked in with a doe right now.
28:06Oh, take a stab, take a stab, take a stab.
28:09Bo and Jake are on a buck, but don't have a clean shot.
28:13We need these deer to move before they spot us.
28:16Hopefully they don't take off running and escape us.
28:19This weather is blowing in on his heart. We definitely need to make this shot count.
28:23I'm starting to get nervous.
28:25There's no way you can take that shot until he clears.
28:28Yeah.
28:29Just make sure you're ready when he does.
28:31Come on, Bo.
28:34Oh.
28:37You ready, Bo-Bo?
28:38Mm-hmm.
28:40I think you dumped him.
28:50It sounded like a lap.
28:52I mean, I want to celebrate with you, but I want to see that thing before I do it.
28:56I know.
28:57If there's one thing I've learned, the hunt ain't over until you get hands on that deer.
29:01So the last thing you want to do is celebrate too early.
29:04He's got to be somewhere in that sagebrush.
29:07I can't see him from here.
29:08Hold up.
29:09Hold up.
29:10Is that him?
29:11Right there.
29:12Yeah.
29:13Right there in that next little ridge?
29:14Hell yeah, man.
29:15Let's go, baby.
29:16Dude.
29:17There's that deer.
29:18The weight of the world's off my shoulders.
29:20Looks like a big old mature-bodied deer, and that's just what we were looking for.
29:24Oh, there he is.
29:25All right.
29:27Dude, look at the frickin' neck on that thing.
29:33Oh, my God.
29:36It's gonna make good sausage.
29:39Good shooting, bud.
29:41Ah, you see our biggest problem here?
29:43We've already got a quarter inch of snow on this thing, and it hasn't been dead five minutes.
29:47We need to get to cutting as fast as we can and try to get down to the boat and get out of here.
29:52Big old, beautiful back strap.
30:08Persistence pays.
30:10You got yours, I got mine.
30:12We got a couple happy wives.
30:14Be a couple happy babies in the bellies as they grow big and strong over the next couple months.
30:19It's pretty exciting times, man.
30:21We're only a few months away and we'll be chasing around little babies.
30:26Pretty awesome.
30:27Yeah.
30:28I'm really glad Bo was able to get a mule deer.
30:31These lakes are getting bigger by the minute.
30:34But with this snow coming in like this and the weather temps dropping, here we go.
30:40We need to make our way out of here.
30:42Beautiful.
30:43Beautiful.
30:55In Alaska's frozen heart...
30:57Bird, whose idea was to do this in the winter?
31:00Yeah.
31:01The plunging temperature is adding a degree of difficulty to the shed build.
31:05Peeling ice.
31:06Yes.
31:07What a pain in the butt.
31:08Yes.
31:09But with a roof still needed to protect the structure and all their gear from the brutal elements,
31:14Laurel and Virginia aren't letting a little cold slow them down.
31:17Beautiful.
31:18First beam up.
31:19Pretty exciting to have the walls up and ready for the roof.
31:20These cabins come together.
31:21You know, we're almost done.
31:22It's going.
31:23Yeah, we're getting there.
31:24We can get some two by sixes up.
31:25They're going to act like the trusses of the roof.
31:26We're just toenailing these guys in.
31:27Beautiful.
31:28Now, for some plywood.
31:29All right.
31:30Plywood time.
31:31Pretty cool, that.
31:32We could...
31:33Yeah.
31:34Yeah, we're getting there.
31:35We can get some two by sixes up.
31:36They're going to act like the trusses of the roof.
31:38We're just toenailing these guys in.
31:39Beautiful.
31:40Now, for some plywood.
31:41All right.
31:42Plywood time.
31:43Pretty cool, that.
31:44We could...
31:45Yeah.
31:46Yeah.
31:47Yeah.
31:48Yeah.
31:49Yeah.
31:50Yeah.
31:51Yeah.
31:52Yeah.
31:53Yeah.
31:54Yeah.
31:55Yeah.
31:56Yeah.
31:57Pretty cool, that.
31:58We could finally stand on it.
32:01And it's so close.
32:03A few more sheets of plywood.
32:06We're golden.
32:10Last one.
32:11Fun one.
32:13Hit the shed.
32:14Whoo.
32:17We're going to roll out some plastic.
32:19Keep it waterproof.
32:21And then that'll basically secure it for the winter.
32:28Well, the roof's done.
32:30Whoo!
32:32All right.
32:33Let's get this door on.
32:42Whoo!
32:43Whoo!
32:44This looks great.
32:45Let's grab some stuff.
32:46Now that the cabin's done, it feels awesome.
32:49This actually is going to make running a dog kennel a whole lot easier.
32:54Hang the harnesses there.
32:56My harnesses, my dog jackets, my dog booties.
33:00Having that all out of the cabin is going to help a lot with, like, just feeling less cramped.
33:06Man, what a feat.
33:08Now organization is my favorite part.
33:10Feels like bringing order out of chaos, so I'm pretty pumped.
33:14One big benefit Virginia's going to like about this whole thing is we'll be able to keep our meat buckets in here.
33:23Oh, boy.
33:25The meat buckets right next to that toasty fire.
33:29This thawing out meat, that has a pungent odor to it.
33:34Well, look at that.
33:37Sweet.
33:38We didn't kill each other.
33:39Nope.
33:40We did good.
33:41Yeah.
33:42Looks great.
33:43Let's go run some dogs.
33:44Yeah.
33:57It's 10 degrees and dropping in Alaska.
34:00Last board.
34:02Where the job is done and not a moment too soon.
34:05Good job.
34:06It looks really great.
34:07It's starting to get icy, so good timing.
34:11Brett and Ivy have a major piece of equipment to shuttle across the lake.
34:15An amphibious all-terrain vehicle that tips the scales at 900 pounds.
34:20If they don't get it across before the freeze hits, it'll be weeks until the ice is thick enough to support the load.
34:27Hold out my girl.
34:28This cargo is pretty valuable to our hunting operations.
34:37All right.
34:38Let's see what our ramp's made of.
34:39Let's see what our ramp's made of.
34:52All right.
34:53Here we go.
34:54Let's go.
34:55Let's go.
34:56Let's go.
34:57Let's go.
34:58Let's go.
34:59Woo-hoo.
35:00Beautiful.
35:01Probably right there.
35:02Good job.
35:03Pretty smooth, huh?
35:04Yeah, it was pretty seamless.
35:05Now we just gotta break through the ice.
35:07This lake is gonna pose some challenges for us because we need open water to get back home.
35:08Even though the ice is thin right now, it's getting thicker by the minute, making it difficult and dangerous to plow ahead.
35:25Almost a half-inch thick.
35:26Brett's busting out ice in the front, and I'm in the back trying to push the barge forward.
35:35Hold on.
35:36Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
35:38It's getting too deep for my boots.
35:43Basically, we're fighting the ice until we get in deep enough water for Brett to lower the motor.
35:50We'll leave you here and I'm gonna go try to break it with just the boat because we ain't going anywhere with it.
36:00It's too thick.
36:01Yeah, I know.
36:02We're never gonna get anywhere.
36:03Yeah.
36:04I'm gonna take this boat and I'm gonna start breaking the ice and try to treat it like I do my snow machine trail.
36:11I just hope I don't poke a hole in my bow.
36:14I'm gonna make a trail all the way to the cabin.
36:17Some of these spots are an inch thick already.
36:19And then I'm gonna come back and just keep widening it out.
36:22There's a few open spots, but I'm just trying to connect the dots here.
36:27There's a little bit of open water in the middle of the lake that I'm gonna try to go around and do some donuts and make a wake and try to break this ice up.
36:35Just taking advantage of this open water and that ice just goes like this and that wave comes from underneath that ice and it just cracks it up.
36:46Probably the last possible day you can do this.
36:49This is gonna be solid ice tomorrow morning.
36:53When Alaska cold strikes open water.
37:02Oh, that wind hurts.
37:04The ice takes over everything in its path.
37:08Brett's breaking the ice with the boat.
37:10And quickly.
37:11Good job.
37:12We gotta hustle up because it's closing in behind me.
37:13I know.
37:14All the ice is drifting now.
37:15That north wind's starting to pick up.
37:16It's changing fast.
37:17Let's tie off and I'm gonna start chugging.
37:18It's just one mile across to Ivy and Brett's cabin, but the freeze is faster than the barge.
37:33I'm gonna try to go back the way I just came.
37:36We're just gonna put our way through it.
37:39This is not ideal.
37:40Oh, look at this.
37:4150-yard section I'm moving right now.
37:44Some of these ice pieces are the size of a table.
37:47Some are half the size of a football field.
37:49Whoa.
37:52But right now we're in a situation where we have no time.
37:56Making progress.
37:57About a third of the way across.
37:59We're almost to the middle of the lake.
38:03It's cold.
38:06Okay, you're in open water now.
38:11Good job.
38:15Where's the trail at?
38:18Um, it's over here.
38:21That's crazy.
38:22It moved over 75 yards.
38:25I know.
38:26That was in a matter of seconds.
38:28It's amazing what a little bit of wind during this crucial freeze up can do to the ice and how fast it can move.
38:35You just gotta stay calm and stay on task.
38:40We're so close.
38:42Cabin's right there.
38:44We got this last sheet of big ice.
38:47Whoa.
38:48Hold up.
38:49Hold up.
38:50Almost there.
38:51100 yards away.
38:52We made it.
38:56It's a huge relief knowing we got that ramp done.
39:02We've had a really busy season of just tons of prep work for this upcoming year.
39:09And so to have that last project done, it's a huge weight off our minds.
39:13We're gonna be using it all winter.
39:15Driving snow machines over it.
39:17We're that much closer to getting our snow machines out and getting our trap line put out.
39:21Good work.
39:22Yep.
39:23Awesome day.
39:24Woo!
39:25In the heart of Alaska.
39:26Scoot.
39:27Go on please.
39:28Scoot.
39:29I got the beaver skinned out.
39:34The fur on them is actually looking pretty good.
39:50The leather itself is really nice.
39:53I think that this hide, looking at the size of it, I think it'll be perfect to make a moss
40:02bag for a new baby that's coming.
40:05For centuries, indigenous people have used moss bags to carry their babies and keep them
40:10warm.
40:11Traditionally, they were made from various different hides, but filled with sphagnum moss, which
40:16is absorbent like a diaper.
40:18There's pure luxury being put into a beaver fur moss bag that's brain tanned by your mama.
40:25We put beavers in hoops because nine times out of 10, a beaver needs to be thinned.
40:30They're coming right by this little .
40:34Why?
40:35Thinning it is essentially just carving away little shavings of skin.
40:40Scooter!
40:43It's the sun spot.
40:45And it needs to be dried perfectly flat so that you can thin it with a really sharp blade.
40:50Scoot!
40:53All right.
40:58Now we'll just hang this up and let it freeze overnight.
41:03I'm just gonna open this sec.
41:07Open the castors up.
41:09I'm adding vegetable glycerin.
41:12The vegetable glycerin solubilizes with the caster and keeps it from freezing out on the
41:21trap line.
41:22What I'm looking for is I'm just trying to make like a kind of just a paste.
41:28This is about the consistency that I'm looking for.
41:35I'm just gonna go ahead and jar it up.
41:41So tomorrow I'm gonna wake up early and go check my traps again.
41:45I'm hoping to pick up a couple more beavers and get some more castor glands.
41:51This is a really good start to the trap line season, getting this beaver and, you know,
41:56lucking out and him having so much castor.
41:59I mean, that's a lot of castor for one beaver.
42:02I'm gonna go inside and eat some beaver back straps.
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