Man vs. Nature (Full Episode) | Port Protection Alaska

About Chimbee, I'm really hoping that it's not a, you know, blood clot. It could change our lives forever. There is no hospital for protection. And if the weather's nasty, as it is right now, you stay here until the weather lightens up. If it's a life-threatening emergency and you're going to die, you're out of luck. Chimbee's my other half. If I didn't have her here, well, I don't know if I'd want to be out here by myself. Miles from the nearest major city, Prince of Wales Island is home to the remote village of Port Protection. People at Port Protection are isolationists. They are hunters, they're fishermen, they live off the land, you know. That's just the way of life for us. We wouldn't have it any other way around here. Cut off from the lower 48 states, the residents of Port Protection live lives of self-imposed isolation. Half the people that show up here, they couldn't make it if they wanted to. I mean, you've got to have a strong back and a weak mind to live out here. But even rugged individualists need a community to thrive. And Jack's Trading Post is where they come for necessities. How's it going, Hans? Morning, Jack. Morning, Hans. Hi, Curly. How you doing? Hi, Curly. Morning, Jack. Kind of weird weather we're having right now. Just went from so mild to that. Now we're seeing a little bit of everything. Snow, sleet, sunshine, rain all in one day. We've got good kite-flying weather, huh? That's for sure, yes. We'll see you later, Curly. I need a hunting, trapping, and fishing license. Hunting, trapping, and fishing license. Without the Trading Post, life in Port Protection would be almost impossible. Guess we better get going. We're burning daylight. Yep. All right, well, have a good day. You too. When the weather comes, it doesn't mess around. It can turn around and bite you in just a heartbeat. Nearly 100 inches of rain fall upon Port Protection every year. The pier must take advantage of every opportunity, no matter how slim. Let's see here. All right, here we go. I don't know how anybody can survive without mail. My favorite. I mean, that's the **** to me, man. For 18-year resident Curly Leach... Nothing worse than a dry sandwich. ...a pause between downpours means it's time to get to work. Okay, we're heading out over to the road system. We got some beavers over there we're going to try to trap there. We got some problem beavers that are threatening to take out our road over here. And they're plugging the culverts up. And if we get any amount of rain, it's going to wash the road out. So we're going to go try to get a few of them out of there. And maybe throw one or two in the freezer also. Good to go with that. There you go, Jethro. There are no roads within port protection. But a mile and a half southwest of the village is a remote forestry road. Accessible only by boat. Go get some beaver. Come on. If the tide is right. The road allows access to vital hunting and logging areas. And access to game and trees means survival out here. I don't want to be out there trapping every beaver that comes along. The only reason why I do it is because they're threatening our road. I mean, they're threatening my livelihood and everybody else's in my village though. I mean, I'm going to be the first one on top of it. I guess all we got to do is get out there. We're burning daylight now. Damn it. What the hell. Always something. Hopefully my tailgate will make it out there. Pretty sad excuse for a tailgate isn't it? It just fell off. Thank God for bungee cords. Not the only thing that holds it on here. Yeah, I guess we're ready to go. Time to go do some beaver trapping. Springtime. It's the rebirth. It's definitely time to get all your little ducks in a row. Fresh produce is a luxury in port protection. If you can't grow your own. You can do without. Most of our vegetables are flown in from 100 miles away. So we try to grow as much of our own produce as we can. Over the last 50 years, Sam Carlson has learned that with a certain kind of mastery, nature will provide. Living out here can be very interesting. You have to wear about 47 different hats. You got to be jack of all trades and the master of most of them. That's not good. I just ran some soil tests and found out that I need to go out and gather some stuff so I can make everything right. pH 5.5. Looks like we're going to have to put some lime in this soil. The soil in port protection is, it grows big spruce trees well. It's an excellent base. You have to adjust the pH, add your micronutrients and macronutrients to turn it into excellent nice black dirt. I know where everything's at, so I'm just going to make some new dirt, basically. It's going to be a good long day. Completely unreliable, with little regard for the convenience of its residents. We're always weather dependent. Getting out of here can be extremely difficult. For Hans and Timby Porter, high winds and rain building throughout the day have made for a dangerous situation. We woke up this morning and Timby was having some pretty severe pains in her leg. So she called the doctor's office and they'd asked for her to come in. Over the last seven weeks, Timby has been recovering from foot surgery. They're kind of worried that she has a deep venous thrombosis, which is a blood clot in her leg. Hans clear land in preparation for their farm. Timby's foot has become painfully swollen. I might have a blood clot in my leg. It's particularly concerning to me because of my family history. I have a brother who passed away from a blood clot after a knee surgery. So is it life threatening? Yes. And am I concerned? Very much. There is no hospital for protection. If you get hurt, you're on your own. And if the weather is nasty, as it is right now, you stay here until the weather lightens up. If it's a life threatening emergency and you're going to die, you're out of luck. Timby needs to be transferred to the nearest one, over 40 miles away. Weather permitting, we'll try and get her into Petersburg here tomorrow. Hey, hun. Yeah. I think I am going to call before it gets any later and see if they think they're going to be able to make it out tomorrow or not. Excellent idea. The only way in protection is by boat or seaplane. But with dangerous swells building, a boat is simply not an option. There's a lot of conditions that they will not come get you. You're on your own. So I'm kind of stuck at wondering if I can get out and if not, what the consequences are going to be. Hi. This is Timby in Port Protection. I was just calling to see if it was looking like we were going to be able to fly tomorrow. Yep. Okay. Alright. Okay. Thanks. Bye. What'd she say? Well, it's not looking so hot for flying tomorrow. I like being free out here. You know, it's a very remote place and I like the wildlife abundance. For Curly Leach, keeping the lone logging road south of the village clear is a personal mission. They're overran with beavers on this island right now and, you know, if they get too close to the highway, you know, they threaten it for our whole community. Today, a series of beaver dams threatens to flood the road and cut off the residents' only access to rich hunting grounds. Well, here we are. You got a small beaver dam here. In order to catch the beaver, basically, you got to think like the beaver. I mean, you got to put yourself in his world and you pretty much got to become a beaver. The name of the game is finding where their main path is, the one that they're using the very most. Wolves are a big predator to the beaver and this culvert's a natural path for them to stay hidden. Several hundred archipelago wolves roam the forests of Prince of Wales Island and packs averaging nine or more. This culvert here is going to be the best set. Beaver are pretty catty, you know, they catch on real quick. They're smart, cagey animals and they know what's going on all the time. You kind of want to try to conceal the trap as best as possible. All's we can do is hope for the best. Okay, that looks pretty good. With the type of trap I'm using, you're basically, you'll take sticks and use them as guides. By using the sticks and that, you funnel them into the trap, which narrows the hole down where it forces them to go right through the trap. And whenever they hit the trap, it's like game over. I guess it's off to the next one. There's a hole there. Pretty much was self-taught. My first experience trapping was on this little creek that I grew up on called Scatter Creek. And I had a trap set right next to the road that the school bus actually went down. I couldn't get off that school bus fast enough to get down there to check it. I was hooked. It got in my blood. Pretty soon I was a full-blown trapper. By doing this, this will just funnel the beaver right into the trap. Take this last one. It'll go across. And that'll force them to dive right into the trap. Hopefully tomorrow our traps will be full. I'm worried about Timby. I'm really hoping that it's not a, you know, blood clot. I mean, that'd be bad, you know. It could change our lives forever. Timby's my other half. If I didn't have her here, well, I don't know if I'd want to be out here by myself. After an agonizing night spent looking for a break in the weather... Hi, sweetie. Hans and Timby Porter are hoping for good news. Well, you know what? I'm concerned because it's not any better than it was yesterday. Check this out. Complications from a foot surgery seven weeks ago have Timby concerned she may have a life-threatening blood clot. My surgeon actually wanted me to fly in yesterday and go to the ER, but the weather was so bad. It's still raining pretty good, but the winds have died down, so hopefully they're going to make it in. I'm going to call Petersburg and see what their weather's looking like. And they're not in yet this morning. I guess we're just going to have to wait. I live out here to feel free, but the freedom has a price. I don't think I could live with myself if that blood clot broke loose and then it disabled her for life. Good morning. Hi, sweetie. How are you? You are awesome, Holly. Thank you so much. All right. We'll see you about 8. Bye-bye. We're on. We is flying. You ready for an adventure? Living out here has made me a real believer in when it's your time, it's your time. But little things that happen out here can become life-threatening issues. I depend on Hans for an awful lot of day-to-day activities. I would be totally handicapped without him and probably to the point where I couldn't continue to be here without being a huge burden on the community. Be safe. I will. Please don't do anything dangerous. I never do. Here we go. Time for me to go to work. A lot of people have the romance that they're going to come to Port Protection and live the dream. But they don't take into consideration the work. This is a hard life here. Jack's trading post in Port Protection stocks just the barest essentials. Good boy, Trevor. If you want fresh fish or meat, then it's up to you to catch it. Going out fishing for king salmon today. People have been fishing all winter. I'd like to take advantage of what king salmon there is around before the quota is filled. With a lifetime of fishing under his belt, few people are better equipped to find dinner than 69-year-old Gary Mulberger. The Margaret T, she's an old boat. She was built in 1919. When they're old like that, they've already proved themselves. If they could talk, they would make your hair turn white right away, some of the stuff these boats have seen. I want to put some in both of these totes, Jack. Well, Jack's trading post here is what makes this Port Protection go around there. He has the ice machines, the fuel dock, he has freezers for us, the store, the post office. He makes it possible for us to do what we do. Heaven forbid we don't catch any fish and we keep our beer cold here. So, it works two ways. Hey there. I've seen your girlfriend. I already hugged her twice. You guys getting ready to go catch a king salmon? When you go down to the store or Jack's there, you're bound to run into some of your neighbors there. Everybody's going there for one reason or the other. Yeah, well, where's the fish at, Curly? I've got to go and catch a fish to eat. Out there. Curly's my old friend. He's the one that makes sure that I get home at night. Coronation are you talking about? Yeah, there you go. Wow. I don't know if I have enough fuel money to go there. Without Curly as my friend, there'd be a lot of, I don't know if I'd still be here. We look out for each other and it's been a relief for me to know somebody that's there to watch your back. Port Protection, it's just as nice as can be. But once you get outside of here, it can be real bad here. Port Protection was named by explorer George Vancouver, who rode out a heavy storm and took shelter in the protected bay in 1783. Now we're going to go out a little bit farther here. Remarkably, over 230 years later, little has changed, and all who leave the safety of her shores set out on remote and often unpredictable waters. What up, dropper? I'm looking on the surface, whales, sea lions, diving ducks. I know what they eat and what they're after. They mean different types of bait. The lure of the wily king salmon, that's what we're all about here. I see a bunch of birds there, and that kind of tells me they're eating something. Seabirds gathered at the current line are a good indication of small fish or krill below, both major food sources for the king salmon. Well, I'll go put the gear down, see if I can't coax one into biting. Uh-oh, we might be in trouble here. Gary runs into some fierce competition on his fishing grounds. And later... I just seen Jimmy's plane fly over. I've got to get down to the dock. ...Han's wife's fate. You're like this. Extremely important to make use of the local resources, which are readily available, but you've got to get out and get them. Now the work begins. The growing season in Port Protection is short, and the soil of a temperate rainforest is too acidic for farming. This particular beach here, it's kind of a special place. In order to eat fresh produce, Sam must first create the soil in which it grows. I'm going to have to get some fine sand. Adds drainage and tilth to your soil. Good stuff. Perfect consistency. This particular type of sand, you put it in your garden, mix it with your dirt, which allows the roots to access to the oxygen. Plus there are micronutrients in this, forms of minerals that the plants require. It's the stuff. This little particular beach, it's kind of a funny story behind this beach. It's called Bear Ass Beach. I've been living out here for most of my adult life. I arrived when I was wee little. Some of the old timers, my mother and this old gal would come over here and drink beer and sit in the sun and just sunbathe. Obviously bear assed. Well, that's going to do. Probably weighs 75 pounds. With the first ingredient in hand, Sam heads back out to sea to secure the next vital element of fertile soil. Oh yeah, baby. There's some kelp we can use. We have another load. It's got the essential micronutrients that all help your plants grow. It's really enriched my life, being able to harvest the kelp, make the soil and grow 100% pretty much organic food. You can make kelp relish out of this. Eat it just plain. Top this basket off. We'll be out of here. Good haul. Just about everybody here lives off the land in one way or the other. For the last close to 40 years, my main income is fishing. To survive in port protection means mastering the sea for food. Fish are kind of funny. They're finicky and they don't always bite the same thing they bit last year. They change up. And Gary Mulberger is the fisherman that everyone here looks up to. There's a lot to fishing. But as you get older, you learn and you take in what other fishermen do and you observe and come up with your own conclusions. But fishing's fishing. As you go along here, you see all kinds of things. Once I seen a sea lion with an octopus on its face there. That was a pretty weird looking thing. I never seen it twice either. Sometimes we see killer whales, orcas, but they're not a good sign. The springs there on the bow there, they go from each of my lines there. So, when a fish hits or if I hit bottom or something, they start going and I know I have a bite or I have a fish on. Being patient is a really big thing in fishing. You have to stick and try a spot before you can say there's no fish there. And patience is a virtue. Uh oh, we might be in trouble here. There's two orcas there right where I wanted to fish. The orca is a way better fisherman than me. And he likes the easy way too. He's lazy like me in a manner. He likes to pick fish off the gear. And so, whether it be long line or trolling, when the orcas come, it's just a bad deal. That's not a good sign. He's the competitor. Here in Port Protection, we're either in the forest or we're on the ocean. The ocean is similar to Mother Nature. Don't fool with the ocean. Don't fool with Mother Nature. If you do, it can kill you. Uh oh, we might be in trouble here. There's two orcas there right where I wanted to fish. After dropping his gear in pursuit of the coveted king salmon... He's the competitor. Gary Mahlberger discovers he's sharing the waters with the greatest fisherman of all. Now that killer whale, he eats those salmon. I hope he left me one. There's the wiggle. We're going to go and see. I suppose I should keep my eyes open for that whale. We better get that fish before he comes and eats it. Something's wrong here. He wants to run on the other side. This is a real happy game. I just poke the gills there, let it bleed out. There's things that give you just that little bit of a rush. Shoot a duck or something that you do. Maybe make the eight ball on the break. Catching a fish does it for me. Kind of looks like there's something on that float bag. That was it. We got two fish, so I got to put two thumbs up. King salmon fishing has been going on in Alaska since the first day people came here. Killing the animals is not a natural thing, but it's something you have to do. You got to just kind of go with the flow there for how it is. There's a feast or famine. That's just a fact of life. That's how it is. When you eat them, you got to kill them. I'm looking forward to sharing it with all my friends. Time to go home. For protection here, most of the people live a subsistence life. Everything you eat around here either comes from the forest or the ocean. It's always anticipating coming up to a trap. You just never know if there's going to be something in there or not. It's a pretty exciting thing. The adrenaline gets to pump it a little bit. Kind of let down if you don't have one, but if you do have some, it's quite a rush. 24 hours after setting his traps, Curly returns to the pond to see if his attempt to catch a beaver has paid off. There's something back there, I think. Maybe it is just the wind. Make the dog stay here. Hey, you stay there. Stay. I have a lot of respect for the forest and the dangers that it holds. You've got to keep that attitude in mind all the time because it's a pretty unforgiving place out here if you're not careful. Well, we've got an empty trap here. Not too sure what's going on. I guess all we can do is move on to the next trap. I've been out there a time or two and felt that I was being watched. Turns out that it was a bear following me. That'll kind of make the hair on your neck stand up. Nothing. Absolutely nothing today. Can't figure that out. Looks like something's been in here. Not sure what. Yeah, right there. Right there. Wolf. Nothing. Absolutely nothing today. After coming up empty-handed in pursuit of the beaver that threatened the road, looks like something's been in here. Curly leech may have stumbled upon an extraordinary explanation. Yeah, right there. Right there. Wolf. That's what I thought. Thought there might be some wolves in the area. That shows that there is. Let's see what he's been eating here. Oh, boy. It's nasty. Looks like lots of brown hair in there. That tells me they're feeding on these beaver. Real stinky stuff, too. Oh, my God. Good thing, but a bad thing for me. I won't get no fur out of this. Or a beaver dinner. But, oh, well, such is life. As long as they're in the area, we're just wasting our time. I guess I don't have to worry about them anymore. Might as well just bring the traps and go home, I guess. You got a wolf taking a s*** right next to your trap. It's like he's telling you, hey, these are my beaver. Get the hell out of here. Looks like the wolves are going to do my job for me. I might as well let them have them. Move on and find something else to do. Life out here is not simple. It may seem simple, but you have to have about 14 different hats you got to put on. But if you want to have basic necessities, you have to be everything. For most of us, getting fresh food is easy. Got to go to the back of this cove here. But here, you must understand not just the type of soil that makes things grow, but where every element can be gathered to make it. Got a nice limestone bluff up here in the forest away. To make his dirt rich and fertile, Sam needs one last ingredient. I discovered the limestone cliff. I actually just ran out of lime and I just took a little walk up into the forest there because it looked really cool up in there. And I just wanted to kind of just check out the cliff face. So I got to the base of it. I could see that the rain had been dissolving the limestone. And a little belt went off in my head. I went, hmm, dissolved limestone. Might seem like a trivial detail, but when you build soil, it's got to have the right pH or your nutrients don't get assimilated by the plant. I wonder what kind of prehistoric artifacts are up inside this crack here. You might think that, you know, as a young person, that you'd be bored to tears in an area like this. Well, I don't ever remember being bored. There was such a vast amount of country to explore. Seeing what's over the next hill. There's always something interesting on every beach. You never can tell what you're going to find. Time to go back home and do a little mixing. Timby's always on the back of my mind, but if I don't get out there and get this wood for us today, then we're going to be cold and miserable. Anxiously awaiting his wife Timby's return from the hospital. Okay, boys, let's go to work. Hans decides to keep himself busy in their home heated by heading into the forest to gather wood. Timby told me not to overdo it out here, but it's my natural personality just to grab a big log and latch onto it and go like hell. I can't help it. If you're alone in the forest and you hurt yourself, nobody's coming to get you. At my age, you can't help but to think about your own mortality a little bit. I'm not really particularly fond about the fact I'm getting older, but I'm grateful as can be that I've got someone here to share it with. I couldn't imagine getting old alone. That's got to be kind of lonesome. Timby, she provides me with security, not having to be out in the woods by myself, and she makes a great partner. The worst news that I could get today is that she does have a blood clot and it is traveling. Timby's safety to me is everything. I just, uh, I seen Timby's plane fly over. I got to get down to the dock. I seen Timby's plane fly over. I got to get down to the dock. Six anxious hours after she was flown to the hospital with the threat of a blood clot. There she is. Hans Porter races to find out if his wife is okay. I really do worry about Timby's safety. She's a tough girl, and I got a lot of respect for her, but sometimes she thinks she's a little bit tougher than what she ought to be. Hopefully we have a good report. Hi, hi. Hi, baby. Hi, what did the doctor say? The doctor said it is not a blood clot. I am good to go. We have a clean bill of health. All right. Thank you. Well, that's good news then. Hi, Smokey. Yes, it is good to see you. Hi. Thank you, John. It was great seeing Hans when I got back. The relief on his face was pretty obvious. It's nice to be greeted like that and know that somebody really loves you and is concerned about you. And here's your guilt day present, by the way. It's what? Yeah, you have Valentine's stuff. Oh, honey. I know, but I got you chocolates I liked. That was a splendid idea. This hasn't been the easiest year. In fact, it hasn't been the easiest couple years. I'm good for another 100,000 miles, honey. Oh, that's good news. Yeah. Well, let's get the first one under our belt then. Shall we? But we're healthy, going to have a good meal. Does it get any better than that? Things are looking up for the two of us every day. One of the unique things about this area is ever since I was a little boy, there were a lot of old-timers out here and I got to learn from those folks. I had two biology teachers. Amazing people. Gave me a basic foundation. And since then, I've read, you know, I don't know how many books on gardening. But you have to have the patience and the time to sit down and read it and try to grasp it. It's funny. Most people think that dirt is dirty. Don't get dirty. You could wear gloves if you wanted to, but nothing like the feel of good, good soft dirt in your fingers. Having gathered all the ingredients for his soil, Sam must prepare it for planting. Nature has got everything pretty much figured out. When you're doing your gardening, you're basically trying to imitate nature. Base soil ready to mix. This is the lime from the cliffs of Whiskey Cove. This sand will create what they call proper tilth. I'll mix this first and then add the kelp nutrients. It's quite a process. The hard work, when it pays off, that's why we're here. I appreciate the ability to be able to actually go out and do this kind of stuff. I'm just going to run a little test on this stuff. We'll see how good that kelp is. Just above adequate to sufficient. I'm in the ballpark there. That's all I need to see. Nothing in the world is like eating fresh garden vegetables. You can kind of tell the difference between them and the mass-produced ones. They look better. They taste better. There's more nutrients in them. You take a little seed. It's the most amazing thing. Within that seed, it contains everything to make that plant grow. It's almost like a miracle. You can take something this big, put it in the ground, and it will thrive and turn into a very large plant. It contains its genetic stock for its whole species right there. It pretty much goes back in time. It's like a window into the past, and it's also the future all in one. It's kind of like the alpha and the omega. It's like the beginning and the end. You put that in the ground, and boom. It makes a person feel good. It tastes good, too. To live out here is to choose living far from modern conveniences. The community here takes care of each other. My mom always taught me to share with people, to give, that it makes you feel good. It's good for you. I'm always glad my mother taught me right. With no easy way in and no easy way out, the people depend on one another. Hey, Jack, I got a fish for you. This is my first fish. I brought it for you to share with your crew and all. Gestures, big or small, keep the community intact. Did everything I could. You know, what I'd normally do, give my best shot. Wolf's got the upper hand in this situation, though. Mother Nature, she dictates what happens. It all worked out, though, in the end. Win or lose, it's all part of living off the land. If you look at nature, nothing you ever give away doesn't come back to you in another form. We kind of take care of each other. It's where we live. It's what we do. Family.