AISLYN_BROWN BELLAMY_SARVELA CHEVELLE_ROACH CHEVIE_ROACH EMRY_ROACH JOHNNY_ROLFE KATIE_SARVELA KYLE_SARVELA NATHAN_BROWN SAMANTHA_BROWN SONTA_ROACH SYDNEY_ROACH NATHAN BROWN Oh, some serious snow. It's crazy. I guess it forces me to go slow, though. Some ptarmigan flew in, flew right over my head. NATHAN BROWN They were just right ahead, hanging out at the base of some of these trees. They got quite the advantage. They got incredible camouflage. Let's see if I can sneak around, see if they're still there. Ptarmigan tracks right through here. Shit. Damn. Just flew right out. NATHAN BROWN But, that's not to say that they won't be back. We'll just have to keep an eye out for them, but I gotta get out and start doing some work. Even though there's still snow on the ground, you know, it's never too early to start thinking about spring. SAMANTHA BROWN I'm kinda short. NATHAN BROWN We got a lot of planting we want to do this year. We want to fix these up and turn one of them into, uh, basically a greenhouse just for hardening off our starts. Next step is gonna be to fix these, uh, PVC pipes. I'm gonna rip a two by four and a half right down the middle. SAMANTHA BROWN And tear it? NATHAN BROWN Yeah, with the saw. SAMANTHA BROWN Fair enough. NATHAN BROWN The plants in the spring, when you move them out, you can't just move them straight out, um, into the ground. You want to acclimate them to the weather. You want to get them used to the cold. Otherwise, you'll shock them, and it'll kill the plants. We can't plant anything if we don't fix these things up. All it has to do is hold the pipes in place so. SAMANTHA BROWN Yup. NATHAN BROWN So, next step. We gotta get the door on. Certainly ain't gonna be a perfectly flush door, but as long as it opens and closes, it keeps the critters out. I was a Lego kid, playing with bricks and building things, so it's kind of fun piecing things together. Especially something like this. I'm no craftsman by any means, or expert, but I make it work. That's what you gotta do up here. SAMANTHA BROWN Moment of truth? NATHAN BROWN Yeah. SAMANTHA BROWN I'm proud of you and your door. It looks really nice. Yeah. It's starting to really look like a greenhouse. I'm actually really excited to get the shelves in. JOHNNY ROLFE When the warm weather comes around, everything wants to rot, everything wants to spoil. I don't know when the changing of the guard takes place. When winter lets go and spring comes. When it happens, it happens fast. JOHNNY ROLFE The best thing I can do is just be prepared. You hold those. Gotta get this jacket off. Thank you. I appreciate your efforts. JOHNNY ROLFE So, I've got all this meat. JOHNNY ROLFE Hides, hooves, skins, skulls, heads, and all that stuff up there I use. I keep it all for a reason. And it's nice having this giant freezer that I live in to help preserve that stuff. But, for a very brief window, it turns into spring and summer. When that temperature starts changing, I need a place to keep this meat, and this here is going to be my meat locker, essentially. And the beauty of this location, cabin window right there. Perfect tunnel all the way to my cabin. I don't know what nature is going to throw at me, but I'm not worried about predators with this at all. I got Java, I got myself. I'm going to hear if something comes around this thing at night. I got two more. Snow is very insulating. If I can pile this up real big, it's going to stay here a lot longer than the rest of the snow. And that will give me an extra couple weeks, maybe even a month, that I can have meat in here, staying cold, while the rest of this is just thawing. When I first came out here, it was a tough time. Oh, yeah. I had to figure everything out the hard way. I had rain coming down on this stuff. Put it under a tarp, but now it's rotting because it doesn't have airflow. I didn't know what to do. And I've learned all these little tricks to be more prepared when weather changes happen. You don't want to get caught with your snow pants down. This isn't a freezer that I'm going to be going in and out of every day. This is going to be kind of like that freezer that's in your garage. And you only go in it maybe once a week. I'm going to make a lid. EMRY ROACH Get onto the boat! SONTA ROACH Whitefish dipping is something I grew up doing and enjoying immensely. SONTA ROACH The process of fishing, for me. SONTA ROACH Is really that connection to the past. SONTA ROACH That really feeds your soul. SONTA ROACH Oh! CHEVIE ROACH What the heck? SONTA ROACH First fish! CHEVIE ROACH Fish on! SONTA ROACH There's the process of making the hoop, making the net, and putting it all together in a way that's super-efficient. EMRY ROACH Yay. Fishy. CHEVIE ROACH Did you even feel it hit? SONTA ROACH I did. Good sign! CHEVIE ROACH Pike will feed ya. SONTA ROACH We're hoping to get whitefish, but there's other fish that are in the river throughout the year as well, and the main stay that we have is pike. You gotta be happy with pike. It's a survival food. Whitefish come back to the Innoko River in a big spring run, every year, as soon as the ice goes out. The run's a pretty big run. So, we're just hoping that we're gonna time it just right to where we're at the beginning of this run. But it's hit or miss. SYDNEY ROACH Can I try now? SONTA ROACH Yeah. CHEVIE ROACH Sit. Can you sit? SONTA ROACH Once it quiets down in the boat, you can kinda focus on bumps. If you feel it bump, pull it up. I always look forward to just putting that dip net in the water and anticipating that first bump in the net that tells me there's a fish in there. We've got to be kind of quiet in the boat, otherwise it scares the fish away. Did you feel something? SYDNEY ROACH I didn't really feel something. It mostly just got heavier, I think. SONTA ROACH Okay. Well, pull it up. You're good. No one's behind you. Okay, all the way out. It's good just to check. SYDNEY ROACH That's a fish? Yay! SONTA ROACH Wow! Oh, we got a little pike! EMRY ROACH Pike! SONTA ROACH Good eating size, too. CHEVIE ROACH That thing hit hard, man. SONTA ROACH Did it? Yeah, pike are so strong. CHEVIE ROACH I thought it was two whitefish. SONTA ROACH Feel anything in your. CHEVIE ROACH Been pretty quiet. SONTA ROACH I'm thinking we're ahead of the whitefish. This is a sign that we've got to come back. CHEVIE ROACH Yeah. SONTA ROACH I want to be here when the first whitefish arrives. I think we could try putting our net in by the cabin. See what we get. We can take care of our few fish we did catch. I've always wanted to have a fish drying rack. CHEVIE ROACH Yeah. It'd be nice to be able to process some fish there. KYLE SARVELA Being on the ocean definitely has its challenges. We do have to worry about erosion. Things are constantly washing away. KYLE SARVELA You kind of just have to think quick on your feet because things happen and you just got to adapt. KYLE SARVELA So Bellamy, do you know what we're going to do here? BELLAMY SARVELA No. KYLE SARVELA All right. So we built this floor, right? BELLAMY SARVELA Yes. KYLE SARVELA We're going to move that garage on top of it. KATIE SARVELA We're going to pull it with the Argo. BELLAMY SARVELA I don't think the Argo's gonna be enough to move an entire garage. You're gonna need all of the vehicles. KYLE SARVELA You think all of the vehicles? BELLAMY SARVELA Yes. KYLE SARVELA Well, we got an ATV, so if we have to, I guess we'll do it. KATIE SARVELA We could use all three. Every high tide erodes the bluff a little bit, so. KYLE SARVELA If we don't do something now, this thing is going to just end up in the ocean. KATIE SARVELA Yeah. KYLE SARVELA So, we'll put a brace right there on each corner. And then, uh. KATIE SARVELA Okay. Floor level. KYLE SARVELA We'll brace it up right there wall-to-wall. This is probably the most important brace. KATIE SARVELA So how are you going to cut this floor off? KYLE SARVELA I'm just going to go along and separate it. KATIE SARVELA Oh! Jeez, I thought you were going to fall right through that. KYLE SARVELA All right. Well, that's pretty free. KATIE SARVELA Are you starting to get on solid ground on that side yet? KYLE SARVELA Yeah. Look at the, all the metal is, uh, hanging off. KATIE SARVELA It's gonna fold. KYLE SARVELA It's gonna fold. KATIE SARVELA Yeah. KYLE SARVELA Do we want to cut that off? Ooh, that was, ow! (bleep)! KATIE SARVELA Did you slice yourself up? KYLE SARVELA No. KATIE SARVELA What'd you do? KYLE SARVELA Ah. I whacked myself. All right. I think we're free. KATIE SARVELA You think so? KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA Okay. It definitely. KYLE SARVELA Good to go. KATIE SARVELA Feels more tippy. Ooh, nope. I don't like that. KYLE SARVELA I'm getting out of here. It's gross and stinky. KATIE SARVELA I don't like it, it's moving. KYLE SARVELA All right. I was thinking about taking this corner and it'll go to that back corner over there. And we'll swing it that way. KATIE SARVELA So we're gonna pivot it on this corner and then pull it straight back? KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA Okay. KYLE SARVELA To the winch. KATIE SARVELA I'm just gonna put it through here and then hook it to itself. All right. I think it's gonna hold. KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA I'm gonna get away from it now. KYLE SARVELA All right. You ready? KATIE SARVELA I guess. I'm as ready as I'm going to be. KYLE SARVELA All right. Here we go. KATIE SARVELA Stop! [COMMERCIAL BREAK] KATIE SARVELA You just. KYLE SARVELA It ripped it apart. KATIE SARVELA It did. KYLE SARVELA How bad? KATIE SARVELA So. KYLE SARVELA That did not. KATIE SARVELA Did not do what we wanted. Okay. KYLE SARVELA Yeah. Huh. KATIE SARVELA That far side over there, I think there's something still connecting it because that side didn't move at all. Everything else moved, but that far side didn't move. KYLE SARVELA Let's, uh, let's get the high lift and just, let's just jack it up at all and, and just see where. KATIE SARVELA Make sure everything's disconnected. KYLE SARVELA Where, yeah, make sure it is all disconnected. KATIE SARVELA It looks like it's still connected in this far corner. There you go. KYLE SARVELA There it is! KATIE SARVELA We are completely disconnected. KYLE SARVELA All right. Pull tight! BELLAMY SARVELA Pull it. KATIE SARVELA Let's try it then. KYLE SARVELA Let's get it started. KATIE SARVELA All right. KYLE SARVELA All right. Here we go. KATIE SARVELA There it goes. KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA Stop, stop, stop. You're hung up on another beam. KYLE SARVELA It's sunk down so low that it just keeps pulling the back of the wall. KATIE SARVELA That's the last spot where it's going to catch. KYLE SARVELA I think I'm just going to cut them out. We just keep coming up with new plans and nothing's really working. Oh. KATIE SARVELA It's caught right here. KYLE SARVELA I don't know what to do. KATIE SARVELA So, we need to, we need to jack this up. KYLE SARVELA We just gotta think of a new plan. NATHAN BROWN This farm has had a huge impact on me. Just as much as I've had an impact on this farm. We're picking up all kinds of new skills. Honing in on old skills. NATHAN BROWN Alaska is teaching us how to live up here. It's pretty windy today. It's kicking up the snow quite a bit. NATHAN BROWN So, you know, a little snow shower to the face. But, uh, we gotta get this stuff done. We're gonna work on getting the shelves in this greenhouse. So, that's the goal today. We fixed up a lot of the old, dilapidated buildings. Barns and whatnot but doing a project like this. NATHAN BROWN When we build something mostly from scratch, it kinda feels like we're making our own footprint here. NATHAN BROWN Characterize the farm in the fashion that we like it. SAMANTHA BROWN I think we might need some help, huh? NATHAN BROWN So, yeah, let's grab one of these big, long pieces here. And it's just gonna go right on the inside here. All the way to the other end. SAMANTHA BROWN Okay. NATHAN BROWN I like the spot that we got. We got the sun in the south coming right down on them. How much overhang? SAMANTHA BROWN Maybe a little less than a centimeter. NATHAN BROWN That's good. I think it'll be a good spot to have some little beds for strawberries or culinary herbs or any of that sort of matter. Looks like there's a moose over there. The dogs, they're always on guard. Oh, yeah. Two over there. Might be one of the cow and calves that come through. We have our boundaries and their boundaries. You know, I don't mind sharing with them, but I don't want them too close. We got a lot of vulnerable animals in the barn there. The next month or two, the bears are going to be waking up. I'm just glad it's a moose and not an early rising bear. You never know when there's going to be a predator coming through. Just hold that there and I'll go on the other side. You know, when I was young, I played I played in a lot of bands, like rock bands and what not, played a lot of music. That's a difficult way to make a living. And I just got to the point where I started to look at things from a totally different perspective. It just kind of put me on that path where, you know, I want to do something that's, uh, self-sustainable. And something that helps you grow as a person as well and just pushes your limits. I just started messing around with, uh, growing random vegetables and realized how doable that is. From that point, I just never looked back. That'll work well enough to hold plants. We wanna do larger livestock and more room to do all the different kinds of projects that we wanted to do. And, kind of jokingly, talked about Alaska. The more we looked into the lifestyle, the more interesting it became. The hunting, the fishing, the trapping, farming in a location that just really challenges you. Last three slats, going into place. You know, we love it. It's been so rewarding and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Shelving is up, but this thing is totally stable. And it looks pretty nice. CHEVIE ROACH It's always exciting to get to the cabin for the first time in the spring. So many things going on. We're hunting, we're fishing, projects. To be able to go somewhere different just gives you a different outlook. CHEVIE ROACH Paddle us over to the shore. SONTA ROACH This is going to be a good place for the net. Nice eddy right here. Right by the cabin. Heave ho, matey! SONTA ROACH We set up right at the mouth of the slough that our cabin's on. We're optimistic on maybe getting some whitefish, but we'll just see what we catch. This is a Chevie job. It's not a Mommy Sonta job. CHEVIE ROACH Set nets are used to be able to catch a large number of fish quickly. It gives you an idea of what fish are there and what fish aren't there. SONTA ROACH Looking good. CHEVIE ROACH Set nets allow you to fish while you accomplish another project. SONTA ROACH Looks good. This is the perfect breezy spot for our drying rack. CHEVIE ROACH I'm going to put a post in there and then put four posts. Then we can put one across the top and then Mom can put her fish poles and hang fish from it. SONTA ROACH Someone's bringing you your coffee, Chev. Oh, so sweet. Oh, my gosh. CHEVIE ROACH Oh, thank you. SONTA ROACH Chev, the anchor went out. CHEVIE ROACH We better get that. Come on, Sydney. SONTA ROACH Better get it right now. Make it fast. Our fishnet got so heavy that it pulled out the beach anchor. So, Chevy's gonna go out there and re-anchor it so it doesn't float away. Daddy's gotta hurry. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] SONTA ROACH You gotta really lean over, Sydney. SYDNEY ROACH I know, it's kinda hard to. SONTA ROACH Go on your tummy. CHEVIE ROACH Bring it in the boat. SONTA ROACH Pull it in. Keep the rope. Keep the rope. CHEVIE ROACH Now grab that white rope. Perfect. Good job, Bean. SONTA ROACH Good job, Bean. CHEVIE ROACH I think we can just tie this straight up there. SONTA ROACH A little safety. I don't think this is gonna give. Yup, that'll stay. CHEVIE ROACH Get these posts in the ground and get your drying rack up so we can get that net cleaned out, huh? SONTA ROACH Eyeballing, it looks perfect. I can definitely see slinging fish here. Sweet! CHEVIE ROACH Cool. Let's check that net. SONTA ROACH Water's rising so there's just a lot more debris in the river. CHEVIE ROACH One, two, three. SONTA ROACH Oh. CHEVIE ROACH Four. SYDNEY ROACH More to go. SONTA ROACH Pike nation? CHEVIE ROACH Five, six. SYDNEY ROACH Oh, my gosh! CHEVIE ROACH Look at all those pike. I thought we'd catch a few whitefish here. SONTA ROACH Yeah. I was hoping, but you know what, fish is fish. SYDNEY ROACH Oh, my gosh! All I see is pike. That's all I see. EMRY ROACH Daddy, how many are there? CHEVIE ROACH Probably fifty or so. We might need to build you a bigger drying rack. JOHNNY ROLFE I put a lot of time and effort into this meat. It's a lot of respect to the animal that I take care of it properly. And that always involves a lot of work. Trying to preserve the things that help you thrive out here. JOHNNY ROLFE This is what I call spring cleaning. I get up on the cache, bring everything down. Get it ready for spring. Got my leg pile. This is a front leg. Okay, that's a back leg. That goes in that pile. Boom. There's going to be just enough room for everything. I imagine these aren't going to fit in that chest freezer. I'm probably going to have to lob these off. Get the hair off. Get the hooves off. Yeah, there's a lot to be done. JOHNNY ROLFE I'll never forget, man, when I first started teaching myself to process meat. I didn't know how to get in between the joints. And I would just saw through it. And the bones would be really sharp. And I would put them in game bags. And they would just rip holes in them. I didn't have anybody teaching me how to process wild game. You know, I learned, I learned the wild way really. Just pick up a knife and figure it out. This one's pretty bloody, Java. You clean that up for me? Thanks. Do the same to this one. These are the shin hides. They're just so soft. It's unreal how soft they are. They're really, really good for making boot liners and muk luks and stuff like that, but a problem I come up with is when they dry, they shrivel up, the edges all curl in, and it's just like, just hard as a rock. I don't have any plans for them yet, and I don't want them to rot, so what do I do? I just need to dry them. This looks like a, a horror movie prop with all these nails sticking out. All right. Move on to the next department. KYLE SARVELA Living off road like we do, it's tough. At times, you just get beaten down, but my determination is boundless. We don't give up. KATIE SARVELA Ready? KYLE SARVELA Oh! Stop! Dude, it's bowing out the back and just caving in the front. This thing is gonna go, dude. KATIE SARVELA Well, I'm very frustrated. KYLE SARVELA Definitely not gone as planned. Not plan A or B or C or D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K. KATIE SARVELA I feel like we're on plan Q or something. KYLE SARVELA Yeah. This is beating me, man. Well, I guess we could try the rolling method. We've got a whole bunch of logs right here. We just lay them down and roll it. KATIE SARVELA Right. KYLE SARVELA Basically, two logs like this, and then a log in the middle and it just rolls on it. Like that. Maybe that'll work. KATIE SARVELA Okay. Do not get your hands on there. The grip I have on this is tenuous at best. KYLE SARVELA Let's get another log right here. KATIE SARVELA I think you just stick it like that. All right, moment of truth. How many times can I say that in one project? KYLE SARVELA Yeah, right? KATIE SARVELA You ready? KYLE SARVELA Holy (bleep). KATIE SARVELA It's going! KYLE SARVELA Yes! KATIE SARVELA All right, can I keep going? KYLE SARVELA No! KATIE SARVELA Ugh! KYLE SARVELA No! I gotta move the wheel. KATIE SARVELA Why do we have to move them all? KYLE SARVELA Because it's gonna fall off. It's at the end. We're gonna jack them up and move both tires back up into, into position, and then it'll roll. KATIE SARVELA All right. But it's working? KYLE SARVELA That totally worked. It's clear. It's not dragging on anything. KATIE SARVELA Yes. KYLE SARVELA Yay. We know what to do for next time, right? KATIE SARVELA I hope to God there's never a next time. KYLE SARVELA I actually feel a little bit of hope. KATIE SARVELA All right, ready? KYLE SARVELA Uh, as ready as I'll ever be. Woo! KATIE SARVELA Oh, it's spinning. That's all it's got. KYLE SARVELA Really? Rev it up a little! KATIE SARVELA I think it might be out of gas, Kyle. It just died on me. KYLE SARVELA It shouldn't be. It's a full tank of gas. KATIE SARVELA We killed the battery on it. It's not even trying to turn over. KYLE SARVELA Yeah, it's completely dead. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] KYLE SARVELA Why don't, I could just grab a spare battery and just disconnect the, um, the winch and we can just run off a battery. KATIE SARVELA Will that work? KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA Okay. KYLE SARVELA All right, this battery's got a full charge on it. KATIE SARVELA Nice. KYLE SARVELA All right, well let's get this back end lifted up and, uh, let's get it, let's get it ready to winch. KATIE SARVELA Maybe we need to rotate this this way now and pull this corner. All right, let's see if that pulls it more that way. Stop, stop, stop, stop. JOHNNY ROLFE Pretty overwhelming sometimes when you got all these different animal parts. Heads, bones, the hooves, the hides. It's my duty to do what I can to make these animal parts last as long as possible. But I find use with all of them. All right. Next thing on the list is spring cleaning. Save these skulls. Get the tongues out. JOHNNY ROLFE I like to get the face meat off. And the brains. All winter long I rely on the cold to preserve everything. Eight, nine months, don't have to worry about anything. JOHNNY ROLFE And then it's quite the opposite. Everything wants to just rot and spoil and just flies. So, by being prepared one step ahead, I can preserve all this stuff. Let's take all this hide off the face. And kind of get in there a little bit better. And get all the little morsels I want to get out of here. Now it's trendy these days to know what's in your food, right? Like, you go to the store, you buy meat, and on the label it says, grass fed or grain fed. And you just take their word for it. Here's what mine was eating. There's a lingonberry leaf. There's a lowbush cranberry leaf in its teeth. There's moss. There's lichen. Looks like I got a little bit of a spruce cone piece while I was eating off the ground. I don't need labels on my packages convincing me what my food's eating. I have the evidence right here. I guess you could say I do eat my veggies out here. You know how I know warmer weather is eventually coming? Is because of the snow. It doesn't snow when it's negative 40, 50, 60, it snows when it's like negative 10, 0, all the way up to 32 degrees. Oh yeah. This is the eyeball. And there's a lot of good fat behind it. And, you know, just like the caribou, they go out and they forage. They get their food. They eat what they want. I always tell them what to eat. I do the same thing. I come out here and eat what I want. Forage and hunt my food just the same they do. That's a pretty tasty Java. You gotta have a piece. Hmm. Okay, here you go. That's a good girl. All right, I'm gonna move on to preserving the brains. There it is. Get all these brains out. Look at this stuff, man. Oh, yeah, look at, look at all this gooey goodness. All right, so I got all the brains out of these skulls. Now I just need to mix this brain matter up with some moss. Sprinkle it on in with all that brain. Let's mix it up real good and that moss is going to help dry it out. And when it's time to use the brains to tan a hide, you just rehydrate it with water and the natural occurring chemicals that help tan hides will all be leeched out and you can actually kind of strain out the moss and just be left with a thick greasy liquid is what you'll use to tan hides. So what I need to do now is just let these brains and moss kind of just soak. Hopefully that sun comes out. Either way, it's time to get these inside. Java girl. You gonna come with? Good girl. NATHAN BROWN We enjoy this kind of work. Hands on, getting dirt in your fingernails. NATHAN BROWN More of the old-fashioned ways of doing things. There's something that's really satisfying about it. For this greenhouse, these, uh, beds don't have to be that deep. NATHAN BROWN We're just gonna use one layer of logs. And I really like using logs because it's just, you know, it's easy, it's not dimensional lumber, I don't gotta waste any of that, and it's an easy resource. NATHAN BROWN We got a whole forest of lumber out there. It's looking pretty good, now I just gotta get the screws in. You know, if you'd asked me two, three years ago, if I'd be up here in Alaska doing this, I'd tell you, you were crazy. I remember working on the garden in Oregon. We had a pretty big garden that, uh, we did from scratch. And we put a lot of work into that. I just remember thinking, man, if I could just do this every day, that would be amazing. And now here I am. I think those logs are screwed together well enough. I think all I got to do now is wrap these, uh, greenhouses up, and come spring we'll be ready to get plants in here. I think Samantha will be happy to see how it turned out. SAMANTHA BROWN So, this is giant Alaskan cabbage, and this was Brussels sprouts, and this one's celery. We're going to transplant these. Do you know what that means? AISLYN BROWN No. SAMANTHA BROWN We're going to take them out of their little cup and put them in bigger cups. We've got to give them the space to grow, otherwise they're going to be stunted and die. When I was a little kid, my parents used to have a huge, amazing garden. I would always get sent outside to pick my snacks straight from the, straight from the garden. And something I want to give to you kids is a similar experience. Being able to produce your own food and grow your own food is one of the most valuable things you will ever learn in your entire life. It'll be the best gardener there is when you're older. Good job, honey. These are going to be in these cups until May comes and we get to put them out in the greenhouse and then we'll plant them in the ground. This is the system that you dad has going on, and he has the green thumb. NATHAN BROWN Um, I just had a ptarmigan fly right over my head. Looked like a decent size, too. Flew right around the house. Head over this way through the trees. See if I can spot it, hopefully, before I spook it. Okay, right over there. I got it. [COMMERCIAL BREAK] NATHAN BROWN Got it. It's flapping around. There might be more there. I see feathers right there. But it was flapping around. It didn't fly away. A lot of snow. This guy and his buddies have been taunting me this whole last week. Flew back over here. Beautiful bird. This is my first ptarmigan. I'm excited. We haven't tried ptarmigan yet. Yeah, Samantha will be happy. I think the kids will be happy too. Try something different. We got our first ptarmigan. SAMANTHA BROWN You got us dinner, or a snack anyway. I have never actually seen a ptarmigan. That's gorgeous. NATHAN BROWN Ptarmigan. SAMANTHA BROWN Oh, hey girls, look what dad got. NATHAN BROWN It's pretty, huh? AISLYN BROWN Scronchy. NATHAN BROWN Crunchy? SAMANTHA BROWN Crunchy? AISLYN BROWN No, I said scrunchy. SAMANTHA BROWN Scrunchy. NATHAN BROWN Oh. AISLYN BROWN It's like a snowflake, but giant. SAMANTHA BROWN It's like a giant snowflake. Oh, we should probably take it inside and do something with it. NATHAN BROWN Yeah. AISLYN BROWN It's really cold. SAMANTHA BROWN All right. All right. Let's go back in. SONTA ROACH This is what I remember growing up. Just hanging on the bank with my family and taking turns dipping. Anxiously waiting for my turn. Right now, we want to fill that fish rack up. Hey. What do you think you're doing over here? Fishing? You felt something? CHEVIE ROACH Unless it was you. SONTA ROACH No, not anywhere near you. SONTA ROACH We're back out to dip some more and hopefully we're going to time it just right to where we're at the beginning of this whitefish run. I felt a little flicker. SONTA ROACH We hope to get anywhere from 30 to 50 whitefish. Oh, I hit my frame. CHEVIE ROACH When it hit my frame, I think it echoed out. SONTA ROACH Woo! Dang, I'm in your way. Nice, Chev. It's a great day to be fishing. Whitefish into my boat. Sydney, while they're hitting so good, do you want to come give it a try? SYDNEY ROACH Yeah. SONTA ROACH Okay. CHEVIE ROACH Oh, it just swam out. I've seen it. SONTA ROACH Oh, you did? CHEVIE ROACH Hold it just a little longer if you feel it, let it get all the way in the back of that net. Don't pull it up quite so soon. Just give it another second. SONTA ROACH Our boat's rocking with fish. SYDNEY ROACH Oh, now I feel it, a lot. CHEVIE ROACH Okay, go ahead. SONTA ROACH Whoa! Got one Sydney? SYDNEY ROACH Yay. SONTA ROACH Okay, bring it on over. Good job. SYDNEY ROACH How many we at now? CHEVIE ROACH Six maybe. SYDNEY ROACH I felt something. CHEVIE ROACH Get it. SONTA ROACH Sit down. CHEVIE ROACH It's jerking. SYDNEY ROACH Yup. I knew it. SONTA ROACH I got you. Back you up. SYDNEY ROACH This is a lot more fun when you actually get stuff. No more pike. We're good on pike. SONTA ROACH Maybe we hit a good pulse there. When you're constantly pulling your dip net out and there's fish hitting. Basically you're in a pulse, a whitefish run. SYDNEY ROACH Ooh, baby one. SONTA ROACH The faster you get your fish into the boat, the faster you can put your net back in and wait for the next fish to hit. SYDNEY ROACH We're getting fish. SONTA ROACH It's exciting! Dang! We got two! Holy smokes! Keep it coming, keep it coming! Dang, homie! CHEVIE ROACH Oh! SYDNEY ROACH Yay! SONTA ROACH Yay! CHEVIE ROACH Enough fish for you, mommy? SONTA ROACH For sure. CHEVIE ROACH Oh, one more, Sydney! SONTA ROACH Sydney got the last one. SYDNEY ROACH Oh, shoot! CHEVIE ROACH Final fish right here, okay. Good job. We'll put the dip nets away and put that fish rack to use. KYLE SARVELA Yeah, out here you're going to have those situations where you're just beaten down. I'm the type of guy, I don't give up until I win. You gotta have some real grit to live out here. KATIE SARVELA Well, we rolled off the log, we just rolled off this way instead of forward. We should jack this end up, put it back on the log. And reposition the cable. KYLE SARVELA Okay. KATIE SARVELA Okay. That one's on. Babe, we're this close. KYLE SARVELA I think this angle will really do it. Just make any loud noise and I'll stop. KATIE SARVELA All right, go! Stop! If we get this wall over this way, then we're just, like, we're set. Do you think that the ATV would pull it? Like if we put the ATV on this side? KYLE SARVELA Oh, yeah. KATIE SARVELA And just, like, and then you, like, fulcrum this side and then I'll pull this side with the ATV. KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA And maybe just like that little bit of. KYLE SARVELA Yeah, no, that's a great idea. We'll put a rollie on that side, two on each side. That's a good plan. KATIE SARVELA I'll pull it over. KYLE SARVELA We probably need a rollie right here too though. Do you think that might be enough though? KATIE SARVELA I think so. KYLE SARVELA No, let's just jack it up and do that. KATIE SARVELA Here. KYLE SARVELA All right, I'm coming. Ah, (bleep) [COMMERCIAL BREAK] KATIE SARVELA You okay? KYLE SARVELA Ah, (bleep). KATIE SARVELA Hey, what happened? KYLE SARVELA I tripped. Let's just jack up this side. Just kind of roll it this way as much as you can. KATIE SARVELA Yeah. KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA There we go. KYLE SARVELA Damn dude, I (bleep) up my knee and that hurt (bleep) bad. Let's do it on this side. KATIE SARVELA There we go, that's better. KYLE SARVELA Yeah, that seems a little better. I think we're ready. KATIE SARVELA Let's go get the ATV. Let's tie it on. KYLE SARVELA Okay. KATIE SARVELA Oh, it's going. KYLE SARVELA Oh, yeah, yeah, we got it. Yeah. KATIE SARVELA Oh. KYLE SARVELA Right there. Yeah. KATIE SARVELA Right. KYLE SARVELA All right, babe. (bleep) yeah, dude. You got it. KATIE SARVELA It's on. KYLE SARVELA Heck, yeah, on. KATIE SARVELA I think it, let's unstrap it and get the logs out and. KYLE SARVELA Square it onto it. KATIE SARVELA Square it off. KYLE SARVELA Yeah. KATIE SARVELA It almost looks like a garage now with all those out. KYLE SARVELA I know, right? KATIE SARVELA This is probably the sketchiest thing I've ever done out here. But we have a new garage and we're both still standing. KYLE SARVELA Oh my god, I didn't think it was going to happen. NATHAN BROWN Shelves in one, doors on both. But I think now, we'll get these wrapped. SAMANTHA BROWN I'm glad you brought out two staple guns. NATHAN BROWN I remember when I was a kid thinking about Alaska, imagining it as one giant ice cube. Just not realizing there's a whole way of life up here. SAMANTHA BROWN Thanks, wind! NATHAN BROWN Looking back, the condition that this farm was in when we got here, it's incredible to see the transition. It really makes us feel like we're putting our footprint here. Woo! Stand on this right here. SAMANTHA BROWN If you think I can hear you, you're funny! NATHAN BROWN Stand right here! SAMANTHA BROWN I rebuke you, wind! Rebuke! NATHAN BROWN We want to try to keep it as tight as we can. SAMANTHA BROWN Yeah. When you grow it yourself, food tastes better. I never imagined working as hard as we work and enjoying it. I always figured it would be, burdensome, but this is where I have truly found my freedom. Oh, it feels really good to be at this point. NATHAN BROWN We got one more to do, you know. A little brutal with the wind but, I'm glad we got it done now. SAMANTHA BROWN Kind of want to peek inside. See the final product. It's beautiful. I can't wait to see this full of dirt and veggies. SONTA ROACH Once we get all the scaling and gutting done, then we can cut them for eating and then we'll hang them up. These are some big fish. This is what I envisioned as a kid, having my family live this way. SYDNEY ROACH I still can't really hold the fish, mom. SONTA ROACH Right here, babe. Look, watch me. Left hand on its back. Look how the fish is. Watch for me. Cut down there, circle around, and then cut its backbone. There's something about having a strong sense of place. Ooh, nice scaling. I know the places on this river that I'm connected to. EMRY ROACH Two more fish, like you. SONTA ROACH It's my job now to teach my kids that same understanding of a sense of place. We're looking pretty good for a start to the fishing season. Once we get these dried, we'll put it away, and we'll be eating this all year. It's something that will always ground them, like how it's grounded me. CHEVIE ROACH That's looking pretty good. SONTA ROACH Nice. CHEVIE ROACH First fish of the summer. SONTA ROACH We're having [inaudible]. Can you say [inaudible]? CHEVELLE ROACH Fish. SONTA ROACH Fish? CHEVELLE ROACH Yeah. SONTA ROACH Emry, remember [inaudible] is? [inaudible] means half dried fish. Look, Chevelle. You had white fish in my tummy. You had white fish last year, and you're going to have white fish again. [inaudible] with a little potato and onion. Mmm. That's the taste of the Innoko River right there. CHEVIE ROACH You really like fish, don't you, baby? EMRY ROACH Mm hmm. SONTA ROACH You like your fish? Fins are the best part. CHEVIE ROACH I know. SONTA ROACH Cutting all that fish today and putting in a hard day's work. I was especially thankful for both you girls help. You guys did awesome. CHEVIE ROACH It's like all these years of teaching you when you're really little and it's like, honestly, you kind of slow us down. But. SONTA ROACH At first. CHEVIE ROACH At first. But now your, your help is like so nice. You got a bunch of fish hanging with the sun on them, the wind blowing through it, some fresh smell of smoke in the air. This is what life's all about. That's so good. I don't know if I've ever had that fresh again of [inaudible] before. Right out of the river, right to the rack, right here. SONTA ROACH Yeah. CHEVIE ROACH Be able to sit down and enjoy that fish that just came right out of that river. We're talking down to hours of freshness here. We work for it. We're going to enjoy it as a family. SONTA ROACH Well, we definitely have enough fish for the year. So when we want spring whitefish, we just look in the freezer and it says, Spring [inaudible] Whitefish. And it'll be all the work that you girls did right there in our freezer. They're ready to go for many meals. CHEVIE ROACH A day on the river is a good day. SONTA ROACH All that hard work sure tastes good. JOHNNY ROLFE The sun didn't come out. I'm just going to use the fire to dry out these parts. The heat's going to dry them out. A couple more right here. I mean, you can feel the heat coming off the fire, so that should just dry this all naturally. I'm gonna dry some brains. Do you have the brains for that? Oh yeah, look at that gooeyness. That moss did a really good job soaking it all up. Flatten them out. Kind of like making a hamburger patty. This reminds me of, like, when I used to work in restaurants. I remember I was hitchhiking through Florida, and I had nothing. No food, no nothing. A tropical storm came through and I got stuck at this truck stop. I was holed up there for a week. I would sleep in the back corner of the truck stop. There was this cook that came up to me at the little greasy cafe they had there. And he's like, hey man, do you want to wash dishes? We'll give you a meal every time you wash dishes. And I was like, all right. And I remember watching him in the back making patties. Just like this. In my past life, I was doing stuff I didn't want to do. And now everything I do is up to me. Yeah, it's still chores. It's still hard work. But my coworkers are birds. They're caribou. I'm part of something bigger. Something unrelated to money, possessions. I'm part of the natural world. JOHNNY ROLFE The weather's changing pretty quick. I don't know how long until it completely changes, but all the pressure's kind of gone. That cache is empty. The meat's, it's safe. It's frozen in that box. I'm going into the next season prepared and it feels pretty good. You prepared? Prepared to eat some more snacks. Here, you want a little piece? There you go. Good girl.