We start History’s Alone season 11 episode eight with four survivalists left in the wilderness. And, fortunately for the contestants, four hardy individuals remain as the episode wraps up. “The Marten Chronicles” checks in with all four – Timber, William, Sarah, and Dub – as winter seriously sets in and the river begins freezing over.
(The following season 11 episode eight recap has spoilers – you’ve been warned!)
Timber – Age 35, Salem, Indiana
Day 30, 10:24am – It’s only 33 degrees and Timber points out pieces of ice in the grass. He channels his inner Jon Snow and says winter is coming. That means he needs to catch lots of fish before the river ices over. All fishing will be paused until the ice is strong enough to walk on.
He cheers after pulling in a 28” pike and decides to keep this one fresh by securing him on the line and then leaving him in the river. Timber’s stringers have really worked to keep his fish fresh. Right now, his diet consists of fish. He admits that most of his moose meat is over-smoked, and he’s not sure of its nutritional value.
Back at camp for lunch, Timber cooks up fish in moose lard. He pauses when he hears a noise nearby. It’s not a bird, which he assumed, it’s another fish on one of his lines. It’s a 40” pike and Timber also puts this one on a stringer and back in the river. He’ll have fish for days! Since animals have robbed his food cache, he’d rather leave the fish alive in the river.
While he’s gone, a jay tries to steal his fish back at camp. Fortunately, he returns in time to chase the bird away.
Day 31, 1:17pm – Something got into his food cache, and he thinks it’s mice. Timber’s having a rough time keeping his food safe and starts building one a container like Roland’s in season seven. He chooses a dry spot under a tree and starts work on a critter-proof and moisture-proof enclosure. Timber’s using the fish weir he built on Day 11. The weather’s getting colder so keeping it cold won’t be a problem.
3:22pm – After he sews up the arrow hole, he’ll use the moose hide as a liner inside the box to keep critters out. As he sews, he admits he worries more about the mice than the bears going after his food. Once he’s got the liner in place, he cuts more trees to use for the lid. It’s coming together quickly and looks sturdy. All he needs is a bar across the top to secure it, but he’s done for the day.
Day 32, 10:41am – Winter’s fully set in, and snow covers everything. Timber believes it might snow all day. He spots a moose family and is excited to capture them on camera for his sons.
Day 33, 2:53pm – Timber sees a mink running away from his food cache and laughs at its inability to get in. He’s rested and ready to finish his cache by placing the log on top, notched into the tree. As he’s working, he credits his wife with taming him and making him much less weird.
Timber puts the finishing touches on his cache and discovers that the river’s icing up. He needs to pull in the fish he caught previously and had been keeping alive on lines. Unfortunately, the stringer with his biggest fish is gone. That’s a week’s worth of food that’s disappeared. He doesn’t know what happened to his 40” pike but is happy his other stringer is still in place. Timber doesn’t want to risk it disappearing, so he goes ahead and pulls it in. It’s frozen stiff when he places it in his food cache.
“It’s just like putting meat in the freezer,” says Timber.
Day 36, 11:21am – He watches a pine marten head toward his food cache and uses a bear banger to scare it off. The marten doesn’t go far, so he uses the bear banger again. This time, it runs off.
Timber checks his fish line and is thrilled to spot the stringer pole that had disappeared. He manages to pull it in with a long stick and his missing 40” pike is still alive on the line. When Timber pulls it in, he discovers his knot had come untied. This is a huge win; the fish is at least seven meals.
Timber puts his new fish into his cache and then returns to his shelter. He just moved his fire inside after 13 days and walks in to find his shelter full of smoke. It’s hard to breathe. The ventilation isn’t working and it’s not safe inside. This is a huge problem and Timber thinks he may have to go with a zero-fire shelter. Unfortunately, that won’t be workable when the temperature really drops.
William – Age 49, Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador
Day 31, 10:01am – William’s working on pacing himself and reducing the number of calories he burns. He’s lost 40 pounds since Day One. He finally emerges from his sleeping bag after a cozy sleep to discover frost on the ground. William’s looking forward to the fish he stashed in the cache and is furious to discover the marten he named Sassy is clinging on to his bag of food.
He uses a branch and knocks her off, acknowledging he needs to find a better place to store his food. The critters are a real problem, and some of his fish is gone. The part Sassy was chewing on will be cooked a little more thoroughly to make sure he doesn’t catch salmonella.
Day 35, 11:48am – William’s in no rush to get up after setting beaver and rabbit snares a few days ago. The lake’s frozen as he approaches his snare and discovers he’s trapped a small beaver. He was hoping for a large beaver, but this one will only provide a few meals. (It’s about 15 pounds.)
It doesn’t take him long to process the animal. This time, he stores his food under large rocks that Sassy can’t move. He cooks the beaver’s head for dinner and notes there’s good fat in the tongue.
Dub – Age 44, Frederic, Michigan
Day 31, 5:19pm – Dub enjoys watching an owl in hunting mode before checking his gillnet. He’s still frustrated that he didn’t spot the moose earlier in the day and also about the pike that escaped. Still, he needs to forget that for now and concentrate on getting food. The river’s low and dropping fast, and there’s nothing in his net. Dub uses smelly pike scraps as bait and starts fishing.
6:32pm – Dub’s still waiting to catch something when he hears a noise. He grabs his bow and spots a moose, straight across the river. Dub hopes it will cross and starts walking downwind from it on his side of the river. He makes a moose call and it pauses. The moose looks in his direction but has poor vision and doesn’t see anything. It starts walking again, ignoring further calls.
Instead of heading into the water, it begins walking into the woods. Dub didn’t take a shot because he doesn’t believe it would have been ethical. Odds are it wouldn’t have killed the animal. He’d have to build a boat to retrieve it anyway. Dub decides the moose was taunting him.
As he considers his next move, it begins snowing.
Day 34, 11:25am – It’s 30 degrees, and Dub has decided to go all over his area today. He’ll be hunting and setting snares as his mind turns to Christmas. Mentally, he’s still in the game. But he admits he sometimes misses people.
1:16pm – Dub comes upon a fresh beaver slide and thinks he’s found a den. He’ll use his remaining wire, since beavers are so big, to set a trap. One beaver equals a huge pot roast. However, as he’s working on the snare, he falls forward into the water and now has to worry about hypothermia. He takes the time to set the snare, even though he’s soaking wet and has to travel a mile to his shelter.
Dub knows he’s pretty screwed because he can’t even start a fire until he gets back to camp. He’s starting to feel the beginning stages of hypothermia which is scary since a medical crew is 45 minutes away.
2:04pm – He’s lost and thinks he’s back where he started. The edge of the lake is close by, and he heads off the opposite direction hoping he’s going the right way.
2:54pm – Dub believes he’s close to home but falls again. He describes every step as excruciating.
3:19pm – He makes it back to camp and starts stripping out of his soaking wet clothes. Inside his shelter, he films the steam coming off his body and clothes. He’s not ready to tap, even though that was incredibly scary.
Day 37, 3:12pm – Dub believes a cloud that looks like a fish head is an omen. He checks his gillnet while wearing his winter parka for the first time. The river’s frozen except in the middle and he warns himself not to fall in.
His net has caught an inconnu fish, but he almost tumbles into the water retrieving it. It’s a fatty fish that comes to this area to spawn. This fish will provide about three days of food, and Dub hopes he’ll get another before the river freezes over.
He scales the fish while acknowledging he trusts animals more than people.
Dub heads off to check his fishing lines and pulls in a nice-sized pike. He confesses he’s come to realize that nothing means as much when you’re experiencing it alone. He’d love to win $500,000 and find someone to share it with when this is done.
While cleaning his knife after scaling his catch, he pulls in yet another fish. He smiles as he sends a message to his family while posing by his catch.
Sarah – Age 48, Skwentna, Alaska
Day 32 – Sarah lives in remote Alaska and is used to this kind of weather. She believes that will give her an advantage over her competitors.
2:27pm – The snow’s making her homesick, and she spends a few minutes listing everything she misses. 6” of snow fell overnight and Sarah heads out looking for animal tracks. She doesn’t find any signs and heads to the river to check her long line. There’s nothing on it, so she casts it again. She admits she needs nourishment.
6:19pm – She returns to camp after an unsuccessful day of hunting and fishing.
6:46pm – Sarah foraged and has a decent stockpile of mushrooms, berries, and root vegetables for the winter. That will provide her with carbs, but she’d still like some protein.
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