There's no power,
there's no water.
So, this is
a pretty steep driveway.
That road can k*ll somebody.
He broke this door open,
and then he ran up the stairs,
and he was
right at our front door.
You spend time in Girdwood,
you're gonna deal with a lot of bears.
There's a lot of work
to get done.
- It's gonna take some risks...
- Yeah!
...hard work...
Watch yourselves!
...and a lot of luck.
Careful!
Last night, my dad was exposed to
somebody that may have COVID-19.
This is a huge loss
for this entire homestead.
This gold mining
is the greatest potential
to make money
that I've ever seen.
Oh, my God. Are you kidding me?
In seven days, what you
did here is like a miracle.
Okay, guys, here we are,
Girdwood, Alaska.
- We're, like, back there.
- Risk.
Look how thick
this forest is.
It's so beautiful.
Ooh, look at that.
There's a glacier right up there.
There's glaciers
all around here.
In fact, we'll probably be able to see
some glaciers from this homestead.
This is a rugged, rugged place.
The Raneys are deep in
Alaska's famed Chugach Mountains,
five miles outside
tiny Girdwood, Alaska.
First founded by gold seekers,
who braved the region's
treacherous terrain
in search of fortune,
more than a century later, these
mountains remain isolated and untamed.
Trying to carve out
their own life
in this unforgiving
wilderness: the Kramers.
My name is Kurtis Kramer.
I am 44 years old.
This is my wife, Emma Kramer.
She is 44 years old also.
- I'm 43.
- Oh. Oops.
My name is Naya Kramer.
I just turned 19.
My parents have been living off
the grid and raised me off the grid
for the last 20 years about.
But after my parents lost
their business this last year,
we realized that our homestead
is definitely
not self-sufficient,
and we still need an income
to buy certain things,
stuff for the house, food.
We really don't have
a very good food supply.
To feed my family,
it's going to be a struggle.
The garden that we have
growing right now,
it can't sustain us
throughout the winter for sure.
Kurtis is able to fish
in Prince William Sound
in Cordova
But salmon season
is done in August.
We've tried to do
chickens up here,
but, unfortunately,
the neighborhood predators
actually got after them.
Both of us always
wanted to be self-sufficient.
My dream would be that
my parents would be self-sufficient,
but they just don't really know
where to start from
at this point,
so we definitely need that help.
I do worry about making it
through this winter.
It's definitely
going to be a struggle for us.
I really am scared
about losing everything
my parents have ever worked for,
so we definitely need
the Raney's help.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Misty.
Let's start over here.
- Name?
- Emma.
- Emma.
- I'm Kurtis.
- Kurtis.
- Nice to meet you, Kurtis.
- What's your name?
- Naya.
- Naya.
- I'm Rowan.
Rowan.
- These are your kids?
- Yeah.
You don't look old enough
to have kids this big.
- Thank you.
I look around,
this property is beautiful.
This is so cool.
Buddy, it's so wild.
You guys have
bear problems out here?
- I had one, like...
- Oh, yeah.
...a month ago, little less,
come up down through
our garage door down there.
He just broke the door.
This is a way wilder place, you
know, compared to even where we live.
When did you guys,
buy this property?
In the fall of 2000,
I bought it.
And then, 2001, in April,
was when she said,
"Hey, you know, I'm pregnant."
I was like, "I guess
I better start building."
So, why are we here?
We live
way up here in the mountains,
and we've managed
to barely slip through,
raising our kids
and building our house
slowly over the years with
the help of my coffee business.
Since first
settling on their homestead,
the Kramers relied on steady
income to develop their property
and raise their two children.
Then, when the economy turned,
they lost their business.
Not having
that solid income any more,
we've definitely come
to a new phase in our lives.
We've had to work to keep
on, you know, raising our family,
and have the things
that we need.
Yeah, this is the worst.
Both my parents
are very hard-working people.
My parents don't like
to ask for help from anybody.
I'm going
to college next year,
so, before I leave,
it would be just really nice
to know that the homestead
is self-sufficient
and working for my parents
and all their needs,
because they are getting older,
and I want them to be prepared.
I know that's a big dream,
but that would be amazing.
I built
all this stuff by hand,
but, right now, we do need help.
It sounds like you guys are
very hard workers, and creative,
and had a business,
and you were good to go.
- Oh, yeah.
- And then, whatever,
time and unforeseen occurrence
- took you down, frankly.
- Yeah, yeah.
It's really nice
to meet you guys,
but, really, we have to see
what the real needs are and how
to address them moving forward.
So, we'll get a plan in place,
but we can only do that
after we've looked around
and seen with our own two eyes,
kind of, what we're dealing with.
Yeah, awesome.
That looks
suspicious. Is that nets?
Yeah, these are all my nets.
I got deep gear.
I use a couple of different
types of them.
When you pull into
the Kramer's homestead,
you immediately see
fishing nets and fishing gear,
and that's got
my wheels spinning.
You really only have
these nets to lean on
- for fish.
- Yeah. Yeah, that's it.
Your business you had
for 14 years,
there's no chance of it
firing back up.
- It's done.
- No, no, no.
Seeing all
of this fishing gear,
this tells me they have
that Alaskan skillset
that not only feeds your family,
but can be
a viable source of income.
So, this is
a pretty steep driveway.
- Yeah.
- And, um,
this looks like this first
corner is the worst part.
Yeah, right here, and then, by
the big, giant rock, it's pretty narrow.
And there's a cliff
on the other side, so...
I'm thinking
fishing could be the answer
to these homesteaders' prayers.
However,
they have their driveway
from H-E Double Hockey Sticks.
It's dangerous, it's steep,
and shaped like the north face
of Mount Everest.
They can't get any fishing
boats to the homestead.
So, we're steep
straight down here.
Um, very, very steep.
Does your property
go over here to the right?
No. We are actually on my
neighbor's property right now.
Well, the road...
Comes off of my property,
and goes across
my neighbor's property,
and then, back on to mine.
Well, that sounds like
it's a totally Alaskan road.
Yeah, yeah.
The sooner I meet
that neighbor, the better.
Ah, it's so pretty
here. I love your property.
I know.
It's looking good.
So, when you drive in,
you see a lot of structures.
- Yes.
- And, mostly, I'm interested in this.
- Yeah.
- Which looks like you're doing pretty good.
Yeah. Lots of greens.
Basically, we eat those,
- like, as summer goes on.
- Yeah.
There's not much that I can do
when it comes to Emma's garden.
It's perfect.
But there are all kinds of food
sources, especially in Alaska,
that you need to be utilizing.
So, for me, for this family,
they need to be tapping into
a skillset they already have,
and using it
to its fullest potential.
- You guys fish for salmon to eat as well, right?
- Yeah.
Can you show me
your processing station
- or the setup?
- For the fish?
- Yeah. We're standing in it.
- Are we?
- So, you bring the fish back here.
- Yep.
You have a backyard setup,
which is this.
Fishing in Alaska is thriving.
It's a multi-billion
dollar industry.
If we can figure out
how to improve
the fish processing system
that the Kramers have,
I'm just seeing this huge
opportunity that they have
that we just need
to grab hold of.
- So, I want to go in here.
- Okay.
'Cause this is, besides your
house, the biggest structure.
- Totally.
- Oh, yeah.
- This is a big space.
- I know.
Okay. So there's no power,
there's no water.
- No.
- This is just, like, on rock.
- There's no foundation.
- Yeah, no.
We compacted the ground,
but then, like, just
random carpet people have
that they were giving away,
we just threw it down.
We need to
come up with a plan.
It's gonna be intense.
All right, so this is,
like, the backyard.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, pretty much.
This is a wild
piece of property.
It is. We're, literally,
right on...
Like, that is
the Chugach forest.
That is the wilderness.
Meeting with this family,
I immediately identify
with Rowan and Naya.
Our family grew up
in a very similar way,
very Alaskan,
uh, wild upbringing.
I mean, look how thick
the brush is.
I mean, this is like... How
many bears are in this brush
that we can't see?
It's crazy.
Yeah, we have our binoculars
that we just keep
right by the windows.
It's on the deck.
We've seen a lot.
They come out
of the brush over here,
you don't see them
until they're walking out.
It's so thick.
And, like, it keeps them
so hidden, it's kind of scary.
Oh, it's insane.
You were talking about a bear
that, like, went in your house.
Yeah, actually, right over here.
- Show me.
- Uh, downstairs.
- We'll show you.
- Show me where that is.
If you live anywhere
in this Girdwood valley,
you're gonna deal with bears.
It's pretty insane.
There's a super high
concentration of bears
in these Chugach Mountains.
It was, like,
and my dog started barking.
But I heard banging,
then I just heard, like,
a loud just, like, thud.
He broke this door open,
then he ran up the stairs,
and was right at our front door.
- So, he just blasted this door open, looking for food?
- Pretty much.
Yeah.
It's something that you
learn to live with, you know.
It's just like
any other major predator.
If you spend time
in the ocean, there's sharks.
If you spend time in Girdwood,
you're gonna deal
with a lot of bears.
Just hearing about this story,
do you guys have
any livestock on the property?
We used to have chickens.
Right out front, we had
a rooster and two hens,
but they got attacked
and k*lled by bears.
The thing about bears are,
I mean, they're opportunists.
If things are easy, something's
out there, they're gonna go for it.
Mmm-hmm.
I'm not surprised at all,
'cause this place
is pretty wild.
Bringing chickens back
on their property
is the easiest, quickest way
to bring livestock
and a really great source
of protein
in the form
of those delicious eggs.
What is, uh... What's this here?
That's my
really sad treehouse
that my dad built me
when I was, like, 11.
That's better than the
treehouse I grew up in.
When I first walk on
to a homestead,
I look around and say,
"What's here?" you know.
I'm thinking about
how to turn old structures
into new homesteading solutions.
I'm gonna hook up back
with my sister and my dad,
and see what they've found out,
and, basically, have,
like, a little pow-wow,
and see how we can best attack
your guys' homestead,
and help out as much as we can.
- Nice to meet you, man.
- Thank you. Yeah.
The Raneys have just seven
days to turn this homestead around,
before they must move on
to the next family in need.
Before we build
anything down here,
we gotta think about that road.
But I can't work on it without
that neighbor's permission.
So we need to meet this guy,
because I'm thinking
I'm gonna get an excavator,
and I'm gonna scratch some of
those big boulders and that granite
and see if we can get
a switchback or widen it,
or do something to benefit them.
Here's what I found out
walking around with
Rowan and Naya,
they used to have chickens
back in the day.
They said all their chickens
got ate by bears.
So it's, kind of, a sketchy
place to raise livestock.
Are you suggesting
that we bring chickens back?
I think we need
a predator-proof chicken coop.
Here's what I've found out.
You walk back to their setup,
and it's exactly
how we process fish at home.
So I think what we should do
is take it to the next level,
and make it
a commercial business.
You're suggesting
a commercial kitchen?
For them to be able to run a successful
commercial fishing business at home,
I think, is what we should do.
It's totally Alaskan, too.
You catch a fish and process
it yourself on your own land,
- and get more money for it.
- Mmm-hmm.
- That's... That's gold.
- That's the direction you want to head in.
To give the Kramers
all-season access
to their homestead
and future business,
Marty will attempt to grade
and widen the treacherous road
that is their only access.
To provide the family with a
consistent year-round food supply,
Matt will convert
the kids' treehouse
into an Alaskan ready,
predator-proof chicken coop.
And to give the Kramers a self-sufficient
source of income on the homestead,
Misty will convert
their unheated garage
into a commercial kitchen
capable of processing
their catch for sale.
Hey, guys.
- Howdy.
- Hey.
All right, so we went
and had a little discussion.
Life itself
threw you a curveball.
Alaska has a history
of boom and bust.
Sometimes you're in the chips,
next thing you know,
you're down on your luck.
We have a week or so
to help you, right?
If we all do this, right,
work on this
and invest in this time,
we can make some improvements.
So, I see an opportunity here.
I suggest we do
a commercial kitchen here.
The only way
to be able to pull this off
is to move it in the garage.
The time will be a real factor,
so it's not gonna happen
unless we use
an existing structure.
- Do you like that idea?
- Yeah.
I'm all game for anything
you guys want to do in here.
- Why are you smiling?
- It sounds like an adventure.
Okay, good answer,
'cause it's gonna be.
Can we help them get back
on their financial feet?
So, starting tomorrow morning,
the Girdwood for the day
is work.
We'll find out.
- Fair enough? So...
- Nice to meet you guys.
We'll see you bright and early.
Let's go.
Come on.
- Well, this is weird.
- Yeah.
This is the first time we have
drove to a homestead without Dad.
We're down our key player.
This area right here,
we've been finding
some pretty decent gold.
- How big?
- The size of my thumb.
All right, let's talk
about this.
On the Kramer's
ten-acre homestead,
Marty, Emma and Kurtis
begin the first crucial task
of the week-long rescue,
meeting with the neighbor
who shares the only road
to their property.
I want to work on that road
and help these guys,
but I can't do it without
Jimmy Pikul's permission.
Hey, Pikul!
All right, Jimmy.
- Jimmy Pikul, nice to meet you.
- How you doing?
- Very nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
Jimmy Pikul's my neighbor,
my mentor, my brother.
He's been on this property
next to us for about 21 years,
and, you know, we lean
on each other's backs daily.
You've been in a lot of
conversations, and it's all good.
You're, like, the best neighbor
- that anyone could have in Alaska, is what I hear.
- Great.
We also need
to talk about that road.
Five years
we didn't have a road.
We had to haul all the
material down through a trail
- to put together these houses.
- You're tough.
- Tough or stupid, you know?
- Tough.
Kurtis and Jimmy
are capable men.
They worked hard
on this road many times.
Basically, they've got it
as good as it's going to get,
or have they?
I'm gonna give it one crack.
I'm gonna give it my personal,
Alaskan cowboy touch,
and see if we can help them.
Right where
the big rock is,
it gets kind of narrow there.
Something that I've thought
about doing myself, and I can't,
literally because we don't
have big enough equipment.
If we can just rip some
of that shale off of that...
- Yep.
-...we could bring that road over here.
Four of five feet would
be nice. Would be amazing.
Just the slightest modifications
can make it easier and safer.
It's definitely going
to be a challenge for Marty
to fix our road for us.
It's one of our
biggest struggles,
living on the side
of this mountain.
I mean, it's...
Dust and sparks are gonna fly,
but I think we can get
a couple of feet there. I do.
Five miles south
of the Kramer homestead,
Misty and Emma
seek out the expertise
of another member
of the Raney family,
who happens to run a business
in these remote
Chugach Mountains.
My sister
and her husband
run a rafting business
out of Girdwood.
Melanee just put in
a commercial kitchen,
so we should definitely
go check out what she has
and, kind of, get a feel
for what we need in a design.
Okay, so this is it.
They have their office
for their rafting business,
and then, the kitchen's
just right here.
Hi. Hey.
- How's it going?
- Good.
Oh, I missed you.
- Emma. Hey!
- What's up? It's so good to see you.
So, I know Emma just by
living in Girdwood for 20 years.
We have a lot in common,
uh, running small businesses
away from a big city
and things like that.
So, we just want to come and
get a tour, and pick your brain,
- because your situations are super similar.
- Yeah.
Them doing a kitchen
that they can run themselves
seems like a really good idea
from a business perspective.
We had to do the same thing.
With rafting,
we provide the meals,
and we would pay a
catering business to do that.
And, every year,
the catering fees would go up.
So, we realized, like,
we could nix those problems
by just running our own kitchen.
- It is cost effective.
- Yes.
- Wanna see the kitchen?
- Yeah.
Okay.
So, I haven't
even seen this, Emma.
- Cool.
- Ooh.
So, give us a tour.
Okay, so we have
the non-porous floor
and an easy clean wall.
We have the food only,
like, for food prep,
sink, and we have
a hand washing sink.
- Easy.
- Yep.
It's so basic.
It was way more basic
than I thought it would be.
Three-compartment sink,
hand washing sink,
a food prep area,
a stainless steel counter,
proper refrigeration,
food and non-food storage.
That's it.
So, we're thinking
of doing a game kitchen,
which is going to get them to
a commercial level, for sure.
And is that for, like, processing
the fish that you catch,
and then, freezing it
and then selling it?
To, like, come home
and do it at our house.
Yeah. Just go
from the ocean to here.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. We're suggesting to do
a commercial kitchen
or a game kitchen
- off-grid.
- Yeah.
- Which is totally insane.
- Yeah.
And we're trying
to do it in a week,
- which is also really insane.
- Yeah.
- So, we're bringing you back with us.
- I'll change.
We need you
to come with us and work.
- Okay.
- I just need rubber boots
and rain pants for the slab,
and then, work gloves.
- That'd be amazing.
- Yeah.
'Cause we're going to be,
kind of, up against it.
- But I'm pumped. This is totally doable.
- Yep.
We just have a big hurdle
to overcome, which is a slab,
some kind of floor,
and that access.
How we're getting
the truck down there,
materials, whatever,
is a huge situation.
-Thank you so much, Melanee. This
is really-- - Yeah, no problem.
This made my day.
You, Emma and Misty
have agreed to this footprint.
- It's about 12 by 12, right?
- Yup. Copy.
Yup. This area.
And I think we're all
on the same page
- to have a nice clean floor.
- Yeah.
Inside the
Kramer homestead's garage.
Marty and Kurtis
take the first step
towards constructing their
commercial fish processing kitchen,
pouring a concrete floor.
If we start out
with a concrete slab
and we pound
a nice hard finish on it,
then you're gonna be set up
for whatever you're building.
- Right?
- Yeah.
Slab's the way to go.
The bad news, concrete truck
has never been to this homestead.
Why?
They have a driveway
about that steep.
So, how do we get concrete
to this homestead?
This is the biggest problem,
is the access.
Hey, Dad! Look who I recruited.
Oh, Mel!
- How's it going?
- Hold on!
- What? For real?
- Yeah.
- For how long?
- Uh, how long do you need me?
- Forever.
- What do you mean?
She's handcuffed to my sides.
Obviously, by now you know
what's happening.
- Yeah. A little bit.
- We wanna show her. We're gonna show her.
We don't have a lot of time
and the mud is on the road.
- I see.
- Wait, what?
Concrete's on the way.
Are we running it
through the woods on sleds?
I was thinking, how are
we getting the mud down here?
We're gonna shuttle all this
mud with the bucket on the bobcat.
He's here.
Yes, Dad. Good job.
Turn it around
any way you want to.
This is a pretty cool driver that has taken
this truck as far as he's gonna take it.
Thanks a lot, Josh.
Now, Josh is gonna
get us some mud.
Misty's gonna pour that mud in
the bucket and head for that slab.
Pretty straightforward.
At least that's the plan.
I like it. It's gonna work.
Am I gonna flip over?
Hopefully I don't
create a big mess.
Hopefully,
there's not a ton of loss.
But this is a must 'cause if I'm
gonna build a commercial kitchen,
it has to have a concrete floor.
It's the cheapest, fastest thing you
could put in a commercial kitchen.
So that's what we're gonna do.
Done!
Oh, no!
Don't do anything crazy.
We've got a lot
of weight in here.
Back up, let's go.
We want this, like,
a few inches shy on each side.
Here she comes, guys.
- Oh, yeah.
- Back up!
Okay! It's all you.
Go get us more. Thank you!
Who's pulling that?
There will be a lot of mud,
guys. Come and rake it.
Whoo!
Hey, buddy! That was a tad full.
Thank you.
Okay, back up.
One, two, three.
One, two three.
This feels like dance moves.
It's called the... It's called
the bob dance shovel.
All right, so this does look
pretty good so far.
Like frosting a cake.
We just laid a really nice slab.
- Yeah, we did.
- We did.
- It's really good.
- Amazing.
Never did I think there'd be
cement in this garage.
Once we pound a finish on this,
you're well on your way
to having a nice, clean, solid
place to work.
- Yeah.
- I'm excited.
Now, tomorrow morning when you
wake up we got a lot of work to do.
- Okay.
- Copy that.
What are the chances that this
thing will fall and I die right now?
Not that high, I hope.
On the Kramer homestead,
Matt and 16-year-old Rowan
prepare the family's old treehouse
for a conversion into a
predator-proof chicken coop.
The first thing that I'm
gonna do is brace the top,
so that it doesn't collapse
on its own weight.
Step one,
securing the structure
so it doesn't fall apart as they
attempt to move it to the ground.
Okay, this thing is braced up.
- Yup!
Gotta get it short.
Matt, I got
a shackle right here.
This looks sketchy!
So Matt's trying to detach this
playhouse from these big trees.
And it's down to these last
four ropes that hold it together.
As he cuts each one it gets
more and more dangerous.
Frankly, he's at the end
of his road.
All right, bring it up.
Here I come.
Oh, man,
that red strapping's tight.
- I got it.
- Okay.
I'm gonna cut it lose and then
you're gonna take it out.
Chainsaw?
Careful!
Whoo!
This is definitely sketchy.
But using this old treehouse
saves us a ton of time
on construction
and building materials.
Okay.
All right,
take that out of there.
Getting this chicken coop
out of the trees,
it's just tangled in-between
framing and ropes and knots.
All right. Try it.
It's hung up on this
two by four of the ride.
Is this still
structurally sound?
No, not really.
Watch out.
That feels free right there.
Yup! It's looking free.
- What do you say?
- Yeah, go for it.
Why'd the treehouse
cross the road?
Why?
It wanted to be
a chicken coop, I think.
Well then,
this worked, Matt.
Yee-haw!
Go, go. No, no.
Don't smash me now.
You guys tell me
where you want it.
- Okay.
- Right here.
All right, let's undo the strap.
To have the Raneys' here
is a huge help.
- Thank you.
- You got it Rowan.
Yeah.
It would be huge to have
a source of another, like,
livestock and food
on our property
'cause eggs is
the biggest thing we eat here.
So, it means a lot to us.
You can leave all that there
and get it off the bucket.
- What's that? Get it off the bucket?
- Yeah.
Working with Rowan and knowing
that he's 16-years-old, it's really funny.
He has the same kind of vibe
that I had when I was 16.
Like, you know,
you're capable, you're strong,
you can do anything,
but, you know, you're 16.
- You're good.
- That'll work.
So you can kinda see
that he's starting to wander
and keep him on task.
But I like the fact that we're
already working well together.
He's my man.
So that went really well.
That thing was pretty flimsy,
man, when I...
I thought I had
like a couple braces.
And then I walked out,
and just shook the building
and I was like, no.
I'm amazed it came down
in one piece.
You did a good job.
What is the plan for this thing?
We're gonna use this
as a chicken coop.
There's gonna be lang boxes,
you're gonna be able to
access them from the outside.
Check for eggs every day,
make it real easy.
This will be like a little
drive-through chicken shack.
That's sweet.
Can we get a snow machine
through here in the winter to travel?
- Exactly.
- Oh, it's gonna be perfect.
I can already smell an omlette.
- Oh, yeah.
Getting that chicken coop out
of the tree and not crunching it,
is really like the biggest win
because it's the majority of
our building project already done.
And now we just need to close it in
and get it as predator-proof as we can.
Let's start
figuring this thing out.
- All right.
- Sweet!
Across the homestead...
All right, here we go.
Marty next employs
the excavator
on the Kramer's
treacherous access road.
To widen the road, Marty cuts
into the solid rock of the hillside
with the Ex's steel bucket
straping away at the rock face
and dislodging boulders.
Next, he uses the material
removed from the hill
to further extend and grade
the cliffside of the narrow trail.
This is the first
time something this size
has been on this property.
So we should make a sizeable
impact on this homestead.
If they can sell a fish processed
right here on this property,
they can make a lot more money.
If we can pull that off,
we may turn this family
around financially.
Marty definitely has
a challenge on that driveway.
We've been trying to fix it
for the last 18 years ourselves.
The challenges
he's up against is...
We only have so much
limited space there
to what, where we can create.
We got a cliff on one side
and a rock bigger
than a house on the other.
But he's pretty good
at what he does
when he gets in them toys.
Whoo!
Yeah!
Look out, guys.
It's gonna get dangerous.
We're going for a roll.
Watch your step.
Yeah!
Yee-haw!
You can't tell me you're not
impressed by what this can do.
Oh, I'm impressed.
- Better than a truck.
- Right?
I'm gonna chip away
on that corner.
You see what's happening.
I'm gonna try to go in and around.
- You're doing it.
- Okay.
Yeah.
If Marty can pull this off
and finish the driveway
and really
get it to where I can
get my folks around here,
It's gonna be
a big game-changer.
He is crushing it, dude.
Literally.
You leave now
and we'll see you in a bit.
I'll say I'm heading over now.
On the Kramer
family homestead,
Misty and sister Melanee
move in to the next phase
of the commercial kitchen build,
sourcing and installing
a kitchen window and door.
We'll take advantage of as
much natural light as we possibly can.
When you're off grid,
light's pretty hard to come by.
This is where I cut my face.
Whoo!
Here we go. Watch out!
It's already bright.
Yes!
- Did it go good?
- Yeah.
There's a reason
why I recruited Melanee.
Not only is she working
and gonna help us,
but there is a resource here
which is the Girdwood
community that she can tap into,
which you totally just came
through with the window.
For free.
Oh, Mel!
- This is a score.
- Yeah.
- They gave this for free?
- Yeah.
There's more if we need 'em,
but they're not out of the house yet.
Okay. Cool.
Girdwood is super awesome
that way.
Emma, we're putting
the window in!
Okay, the window.
- Okay!
- Oh! Nice.
Good job.
Building a commercial kitchen
in one week up here
where we live, is pretty crazy.
Fingers crossed, it fits.
- Are you in the hole?
- Yup.
- Yes!
- For sure.
This is your light
- for the kitchen.
- Yes, it is.
I can't wait. I'm gonna
plant some flowers here.
Move some junk.
Should we go see how bright
it is on the inside?
- Yes.
- Okay, let's go see.
To process our own fish
and to be able to do it as a
business and commercially
meaning, it's a 100%
sanitary and safe.
I mean, it would be amazing.
Whoo! Sweet.
- That looks great.
- That looks good.
So, we might bring that sill
up a little bit, chimney level,
but that's about the light
space you're gonna get.
It's wonderful.
- Ah! It's cool.
- Totally.
- I kinda like that view.
- Yeah.
We have light
in the game kitchen.
- Yup. We got it.
- Looks good.
I can see
the space I have
and looking at this kitchen
right now,
I can imagine
pulling in with fish.
It is transforming in a way
that I just didn't even imagine.
I did try to daydream about
what I wanted to do out there,
but this is happening
to such a professional degree
that I'm really
excited about it.
Okay, Emma, let's see
if the door fits.
Okay.
This is another score for Mel
and the Girdwood community.
- We're going in the hole. Do you think it's gonna fit?
- Yup.
Watch your feet.
Watch your fingers.
- I had something in the way.
- Oh, good.
Okay, so we're sliding it in.
- Whoo!
- Nice.
So, it fits. Yup.
Okay, we're gonna screw it in.
This is your new door. What
are you thinking of all this?
Do you feel like
it's coming together?
Heck, yeah.
Do you feel like
we're gonna finish?
Doors and windows and a floor?
We're definitely
going to get there.
I am so happy.
Everthing's an improvement
when you're starting with a dirt floor.
A stone's throw away...
Marty continues to use
the 26 ton excavator
to widen
the narrow cliffside trail
that provides the only access
to the homestead.
I'm trying to remove all
these boulders the size of busses.
Scratching and clawing.
Well, we're taking
all of that debris,
scratching it away
and then building up
the other side of the road,
widening it, making it safer.
I didn't really think
there'd be that much material
coming out of this mountain.
He's made it a lot more of a
different pitch to where now,
I'm kinda seeing, like, I might be
able to get my boats down here.
He is shredding that rock.
He's crushing it, man.
Once Marty has shoveled
over enough rock to widen the cliffside,
he must use
the weight of the excavator
to compact
the material into place
and level
with the existing road.
Put your
seatbelt on, captain.
He was getting close to where
I was down at the bottom
looking up at him, like, "You
got a 25-30 foot cliff right there."
Oh!
Uh-oh.
Kurtis! We're gonna
lose this excavator over the bank.
Huge wake up call.
Last night, my dad
was exposed to somebody
that may or may not have
tested positive with Covid-19.
This is a huge loss
for not only me and Matt,
but this entire homestead.
On the
Kramer family homestead...
We're in big trouble right now.
I'm about to go over the edge.
All right, let's look this over.
Marty assesses
the precarious position
he's gotten
his 26 ton excavator into
while rebuilding the homestead's
treacherous access road.
Working fast,
taking a few chances,
you catch up with the end
and I just did.
I've got this Ex in a place
where I don't like it.
We're not screwed yet, but one
false move and we're gonna go over.
The way Marty was driving
the excavator
on some of that shale
in the way,
it was kinda sliding out
from him.
I thought it was
a little bit sketchy myself,
but he likes to get into
those positions apparently.
I think Marty's nuts.
That's nuts.
Look, there ain't even
a foot under there,
so it's starting to slide
off the edge.
We gotta come up with a plan
and not hurt the machine
or k*ll someone.
I'm gonna try to grab
a bunch of stuff
and then we might be able
to crawl back.
Get all the weight over here
and try to walk it down.
So let's try it.
I think I will be putting
the seatbelt on, though.
The excavator is
about to roll down a mountain
and the only way to save it
is to extend a boom
as a counterbalance
and keep it from flipping over.
Certain death awaits
if I make the wrong move.
So what I'm gonna do
is I'm gonna dig in
and I'm gonna try
to squeak over,
but if it goes half an inch
that way,
- I'm gonna stop and we're gonna look at it again.
- Okay.
This is definitely
a scary challenge
and, uh, yeah, I'm glad I'm
not driving it down the driveway.
Gotta yell and scream if
something goes wrong, please.
I felt the
whole mountain shake.
I'm gonna get as much
as I can and that rock.
How's it looking?
Good. You're slothing.
Okay, get out in front.
Here we go.
We're gonna make it!
Whoa, whoa!
What's wrong?
You wanna turn it
a little bit this way.
You're crawling out
is what you're doing there.
It'll make it?
You're doing good!
Yeah! Keep crawling.
This side a little bit more.
- That working?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah!
- Yeah?
- Keep going!
- You're good! You're good!
- We make it?
Dude, that was starting
to get hairy.
Thanks for your help.
Holy moly...
So we were that close
from a homestead disaster.
Now I gotta get back
to our homestead rescue.
Get out of my way.
Later that morning...
Matt and Melanee help
Rowan and Naya
push forward on the
upcycled chicken coop.
All right. We're good.
You guys move
this window over?
Yeah, we're
changing up the place.
I've built
a lot of chicken coops.
This chicken coop is gonna be
perfect for this homestead.
This is
a children's treehouse.
There is joy and wonder
and good vibes,
just baked into the walls.
And I think that's gonna
transfer into these chickens
and we might have the happiest
chickens I've ever seen.
So you're taking this off and
then we're going to put a floor on it?
- No to all.
- No.
No, I'll show you.
Rowan and Naya, they're
starting to really see the vision,
and progress ahead.
I'm really excited
to repurpose the tree house,
and give it a new life
as a chicken coop,
because my parents don't have
anything to fall back on for a food supply.
This platform is the old floor.
I'm not gonna use this.
We're gonna raise the floor
for the chickens up to here.
But, I wanna take
it a step further,
there needs to be
a wall framed here,
and we're going to have all the
nesting boxes and everything on this wall.
So that when you guys wanna come
through the drive through chicken shack,
you can come into
a nice little dry area,
open up the flap,
grab whatever eggs you need,
shut it and then go along
your little merry little way.
- Cool.
- Sweet.
I think the next step would
be to fill the nesting box.
Gonna go up.
And they're going to rest
on one of these axis.
See that?
I'll move it over.
Do you guys have any crazy bear stories
up here where they've gotten into stuff?
We had a black bear come up on
our deck one time when I was younger.
Do your neighbors sh**t bears
when they see 'em kind of thing?
When we were younger, my dad used
to sh**t a lot of the black bears up here.
And we actually like, ate them.
Our neighbor has like rubber b*ll*ts.
Does anybody have something like that here?
I don't think we have
any rubber b*ll*ts.
Our dog's been shot with
rubber b*ll*ts
'cause he got into
our neighbors chickens.
Is that how b*llet got its name?
Alaska's funny. The bears are
really good at getting into stuff.
And dogs can be as well.
So, just those two
are ever-present here.
I think our number one goal
here is to make sure that we...
Are really protecting
the chickens.
Grab this wall or
deck, I should say.
Now, let's see if we can
go high on your side.
Bring it in there.
Yup.
Now you're going to have to...
Nope, you're good. You got it.
Oh, is this the floor?
- Do you want me to get on the other side?
- Yeah.
It's nice to see my
brothers help with repurposing
the treehouse into
a chicken coop.
In the next year, I will hopefully
be moving away for college,
if everything works out,
and then in the next two years
my younger brother
will be moving out.
But, before I leave, I wanna see
that my parents can be self-sufficient,
and we want to feel
comfortable leaving our parents.
You're gonna lift up
this corner now.
- Naya you get on the other corner.
- Yup.
I'm not, I'm certainly not
the boss of this operation.
You're bossing.
I know, I'm doing, you're the
Working with Matt and Melanee this week has
definitely been a crazy experience for sure.
I've never go to work with people
who've actually lived on a homestead so,
maybe I'll grow a big beard
like Matt, might do that.
- Everybody lift.
- Okay.
Go flush towards Mel.
And we're going against the
four by four on this corner.
Working with my big sister on this
Homestead, I mean it's really a savior.
We need a lot of help and we
work really well together,
and she's really like positive,
upbeat, hardworking person,
that happens to be my family
member that I get along with really well.
And I could not be happier.
Perfect.
On the border between
the Kramer and Pickul properties...
- So you're property is down here.
- Yes.
- I'm following you, man.
- Okay.
Kramer neighbor
Jimmy Pikul,
shows Matt a project he and
Kurtis have recently begun work on,
that could benefit both
of their homesteads.
This area right here.
As you can see it's been
dug out quite a bit.
Me and Kurtis, we've been finding
some pretty decent gold in this area.
- From this hole?
- In this area, yeah.
I'm just kind of looking
for pockets of pay dirt.
You just gotta
move earth around.
So, you're mining for gold?
Wow, I'm just kind
of shocked like...
Talk about natural resources.
But also, it just makes
too much sense.
Here's the deal, Girdwood was founded
because of how much gold is in this valley.
Gold mining operation that
was here in the 1940's,
they pulled tons
of gold out here.
They didn't get it all.
There's a lot of hard
rock mines up in this area,
Where all the gold
originated from.
For aeons, Crow Creek
has carried gold into this valley.
Eroded from hidden deposits
in the Chugach mountains.
Over the millennia, as the creek
has changed course and flooded,
the gold it carries got left
behind across the valley floor.
A heavy mineral, those gold particles
over time sink deep into the Earth,
all the way to the bedrock.
Where they can accumulate
for centuries.
To create rich streaks of
pay dirt just below the surface.
So, this is where you started?
Yeah, I found some nice nuggets.
- How big?
- The size of my thumb.
- We gotta go deeper because we're at the organic level.
- Mm-hmm.
All that pay dirt would be way
below down hardpan, uh, clay.
Jimmy and Kurtis both
share the property
that has all that pay dirt, that
gold-bearing dirt underneath it.
You've got a massive overhang.
Are you worried about that?
Yeah, I'm worried
about the rock above it.
Oh, Lord.
I'm kind of limited to how
deep I can go into the hill.
Yeah, I mean,
you're at risk of...
Yeah, 'cause of the danger.
We still need to finish
this chicken coop,
but there's so much potential
to mine for gold on this property,
that going the extra mile,
it's definitely worth it.
Yeah, that rock is
a huge concern.
- Yeah.
- And not just the rock, I mean the bank, in general.
Yeah, there's rocks falling
there all the time.
Well, heck man.
You think we could do something
with that or maybe at least bring it down?
Just so it's not hanging
out over my head.
I think that...
With the right set up,
maybe some cables,
something, we might just
be able to pull it down
- and just do golf right into there.
- Yeah.
- Hole in one. Boom!
- Okay.
One thing's for sure,
this monstrosity of a rock,
it's not just gonna come down
without a fight.
It's gonna be, you know,
all hands on deck
and see if we can bring
this monster down.
Looks like we have a lot of
exciting stuff that's going to happen.
There's a huge opportunity here.
This is the greatest
potential, to make money,
on a homestead I think
I've ever seen.
I mean, there's so much
gold mining potential here.
- Appreciate it. Thank you.
- Yeah, man, no problem. Come on.
Well, this is weird.
Yeah, so that happened.
The dawn of a new
day brings a major challenge
the Raney's have not faced
on any other rescue.
Ever.
This feels weird. This is the first time we
have a drove to a homestead without Dad.
Huge wake up call.
Last night, my Dad
was exposed to
somebody that may or may not
have tested positive with COVID-19.
He's now in quarantine probably
heading back to the Forty to isolate.
This is a huge loss,
for not only me and Matt but
this entire Homestead.
Is he coming back tomorrow?
Is he gonna come back today?
I mean, there's no way.
- Is he ever coming back?
- He's in... No!
If there's a potential risk,
or exposure, you're out.
You gotta do your
two week quarantine.
- What are we gonna do without him?
- I don't know.
Because being down Dad,
it's gonna, this is the first time.
It's gonna be a rough
rest of the week.
We've never done a
Homestead rescue without my Dad.
We're down our key player,
the Coach.
And we just got here.
And we've already
been compromised.
I haven't even finished
the chicken coop.
And for me it's finish
this kitchen.
We know what he's capable of and the
work amount he gives on a day-to-day basis.
- What he gets done.
- And just the ideas, I mean, everything.
Thankfully, my dad finished the road,
but we have a lot of work ahead of us.
This is a huge loss, first off.
I totally agree.
We lost dad.
So, thank Goodness
we have Melanee.
Marty's mandatory quarantine
means he'll miss the remainder of the rescue.
But with just two days left,
The Kramer family is still far
from their goal of self-sufficiency.
Marty was able to widen the
Homestead's access road.
But the Kramer's new predator-proof
chicken coop remains incomplete.
As does the commercial
game kitchen.
And now, one more project
is on the Raney's to-do list.
With access to a literal goldmine,
threatened by a massive boulder.
With less than
two days remaining,
and so much left to complete...
It's locked down in there.
Matt and Melanee accelerate
work on the tree house chicken coop.
- Okay, so we're gonna cut these squares.
- Okay.
- Into here. Tight.
- Yeah.
Put this on. Boom!
Put the door on.
Go on the other side and then
screw the plywood, right...
Oh, it's a really good idea.
Matt, has dad ever been like,
sick and not been able to
make it to work, like
on a homestead rescue?
It's really rare.
With my Dad being absent
from this Homestead,
we need a lot of help,
but fortunately for us,
my sister Mel is here.
We work really well together,
and she's a really like positive,
upbeat, hardworking person.
There's big projects that
have to happen.
The only way we can get it
all done is by working together.
Okay.
- Okay.
- This is tricky.
Are you going clock-wise?
- Maybe not.
- Okay.
So yeah, things are going
really good in here.
The fat end should
be on this side.
With the Raneys
rallying to keep the rescue on track,
Marty checks in from quarantine.
How you doing?
Hey, guys. I got a
special delivery headed your way.
It's gonna solve the power
problem on that Kramer homestead.
- Great.
What?
- Hey.
- Howdy.
- Hey.
- How're you guys?
Hi, I missed you.
I'm Casey. Nice to meet you.
We're so happy
that you are here.
What'd you bring us?
Today, we're gonna go ahead
and set up a top pole mount.
Put those six panels
on the top of pole mount.
- Yeah.
- Get it pointed south
so they can be
producing power out of it.
- Sweet.
- Six panels?
- Yessir.
- We have this freezer
in the commercial kitchen and
it's gonna be a source of power.
And when it comes to seafood,
that's incredibly important.
So, I didn't really know
how I was gonna make that work
or plug that in
and then it was like, solar...
That's really cool.
- You can move 'em.
- To maximize for each time of the year
- Yeah.
- Instead of it being fastened to your house.
- Exactly. Yeah.
- Oh, wow.
Where are we putting
these panels?
- Well, maybe we head out front...
- Yeah.
- And go see exactly where.
- Sounds good.
- This is the best way to go.
- Wohoo!
This location would be great
'cause then...
- And it's gonna be taller.
- You guys can just tilt it back.
I didn't realize it was going on a
pole mount and you could adjust it.
- Oh, yeah.
- Did you know that?
No, I've never seen
that stuff before.
- It's really cool.
- I was like, "You can turn it?"
Yeah, this is a high end...
- Oh, man.
- Absolutely.
This is top of the line.
I know.
Misty just blew our minds.
We can go for days without
running the gas generator.
Days? We'll probably be
able to go weeks.
- Supersized.
- I mean,
it's a power bill
that we don't have to pay.
And it's taking advantage
of something that's here
that we weren't really able to
take advantage of.
This is like, life changing.
Kurtis is your right hand man
and you need help, Kurtis.
You come to me, but that
kitchen needs to be finished.
- Yup.
- So, if you guys could handle it
- as much as possible...
- Absolutely.
I think me and him
could handle it.
Yeah, but we'll need a piece
of equipment
for handling that pipe.
Yeah, so I got a guy.
I got Clint for you.
- Sweet.
- Thanks, Misty.
All right. We're
out. Let's get going.
I'm so excited.
Thank you. Thank you!
Yeah.
I wanna see what's down there.
Meanwhile,
across the homestead,
the team checks back in
with Marty via video link
to give him an update
on their progress.
- Hey.
- Do they know about that solar panel system?
Yeah, so the guy is here
right now, installing it.
It's like the most
epic six panel,
uh, separate pole system
you've ever seen.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, no problem, sir. I appreciate it.
- Are they happy?
- I'm really happy. The Kramers are happy.
And I gotta get back to work
'cause I'm behind schedule as usual.
- All right.
- Love you, Dad. We'll see you soon.
We're gonna walk out of
Misty's zone.
All right.
Well, hold down the fort.
To help install
the Kramers' new power source,
Clint uses the 26 ton excavator
to anchor the solar array
facing south,
to maximize its exposure
to the sun.
- Hey, you got the edge of that one.
- Nice.
See any bodies
down there?
No. No bodies. That's not
Yeah, Clint.
I think that's good.
Cool.
Cool.
We'll tilt her on down
towards the sun.
- You want that thing totally vertical?
- Just about, yeah.
- Is it good there?
- Set.
There she is.
- Seriously, though...
- Oh, it's nice.
Look at that.
This will do it.
I'd say to the Raneys
that this is way far beyond
that we'd ever imagined
they would go.
Really wild how they can make
this stuff happen for people.
And we're one of 'em.
It's awesome. Thank you.
We've seen wolverines
on the property
and basically,
between Ermin, our dogs--
- Dogs.
- And bears.
With the new chicken coop
insulated against the coming Alaskan winter,
Matt, Kurtis and Emma prepare
to reinforce the structure
against an equally
deadly threat.
Seeing a wolverine
on your property is wild.
Those are definitely
real threats around here.
Building a predator-proof
chicken coop here is no small task.
The top of Crow Creek Valley
is one of the wilder places
we've ever rescued a homestead.
We need to protect this thing
from wolves,
black bears or grizzly bears.
Even tiny little critters like Ermin.
I don't believe in chicken wire.
It's only so effective.
Chicken wire is basically
false advertising.
I've heard many times,
Ermin,
they're like a little weasel.
- Mmm-hmm.
- Right?
- With sharp teeth?
- Yeah, yeah.
They're like...
- Yup.
- They just chew...
- Right through.
- Yeah.
And they'll just make
a little hole and come in--
- And start eating the chicken.
- I know.
I mean, they can eat
the chicken.
Sometimes, they'll just
eat the eggs.
- Sometimes both.
- Yeah.
And that's where
this comes into play.
This is basically
like our first layer.
And it's the chicken wire.
Even the thickest part
of a chicken wire
isn't as thick
as this wire here.
This was like our first defence
against the little predators.
They'll have a hard time
chewing through that.
And then this would slap
over that around there, too.
- Okay.
- And we'll go underneath like an apron.
That's how some of the dogs up here
have gotten other people's chickens...
- Yeah.
-...is digging under it.
- So, that's a good idea.
- Yeah, so the apron,
that really is the trick.
- They're gonna hit their nose and paws on that mesh...
- Yeah. yeah.
- And then they're gonna go like...
- Ouch.
"This is a waste of time."
- Then they'll go away.
- Yeah.
- A bear, I mean, a bear could flip this whole thing over.
- If they wanted to but...
- Yeah.
The chickens will be able
to run up in this coop.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
He's not gonna be able
to get inside that coop.
- Yeah.
- Sounds good. I'll stop him before he does.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
These chickens
are gonna be tempting.
- - But I don't
think they'll be in any danger...
- Yup.
- Once we're done building all this stuff
- into this coop.
- Awesome.
Sweet, man. I like it.
Across the homestead,
neighbor and fellow
homesteader, Jimmy Pikul
helps install sanitary stainless
steel plumbing and equipment
in the Kramer family's new
commercial game processing kitchen.
Jimmy, last build day. do
you think we're gonna do it?
I don't know.
It's gonna be close.
We're really
moving up in the world.
It's starting to look
like a kitchen.
And as the clock
ticks down on this rescue,
Misty decides to make an
additional last minute improvement.
Okay, you go first.
It's a little slippery.
Thank God.
We're creating a fish box hoist
to lift that massive 500 pound
cooler out of the back of the truck,
and swing it into the kitchen onto
a dolly that we're making as well.
Because this cooler
gets incredibly heavy.
Right now, it has fish and ice.
And that combination
is a ton of weight.
So, how do you get that out of
the truck and into the game kitchen?
It's through this.
So we've created this pulley
system where they can offload salmon,
those heavy coolers, they
can offload a big game animal.
Even though, we don't have the time,
it's something that I think is worthwhile.
It makes this whole setup
more efficient.
- Here we go.
- One, two, three.
So, you're making sure
your side doesn't fall, Dan.
Okay. One, two, three.
Watch your fingers.
Okay. Good job, you guys.
No.
Yeah, I mean,
that doesn't have any limit.
It's such a hard thing when you
show up on people's homesteads
'cause time is your enemy.
And we've run out of time.
So, I'm really glad
we pushed for this
because when it comes to how big
that cooler is, 500 pounds is heavy.
So, to be able to
back your truck up in,
hook on to it, lower it,
hoist it down
and then put it on this little
makeshift dolly we made
with these boat rollers is
gonna make all the difference.
'Cause that is manageable.
Hopefully, by tomorrow,
we finish the painting,
we finish the plumbing,
the electrical,
but man, we got a lot to do
by morning.
Here we go guys.
Let's do this.
An hour later,
on the border
of the Kramer property.
Strap around this thing.
And then we'll get it attached
to the excavator.
Matt, Kurtis
and neighbor, Jimmy Pikul,
attempt to expose
gold rich grounds
beneath a 5 ton boulder.
Where you at Kurtis?
Ah, I'm right here.
Looking to snake it up.
All the way across.
Yeah, I got it.
Keep that, yeah,
flat and low.
I'll feed it to you.
Okay, I got about six feet out.
Today is the big day, where that
rock is coming down the mountain.
A little more.
There's gold on this property
that has never been mined
that this family desperately
needs to bring a source of income
onto the property,
for years to come.
Wrap that through.
We were mining down below here,
and undercutting this big rock.
And it's pretty dangerous.
So, we're looking to
pull it off the bank.
Into a big 20 foot hole.
Jimmy and Kurtis
have been gold mining
on this giant cliff,
probably about 30 feet tall.
With a huge, I mean, massive
multiple tons worth of rock.
Looks like you got the
rock rigged and ready to go.
Where do we go from here?
This monstrosity of a rock
is massive.
And it's not gonna come down
without a fight.
That-- Oh, we got a lot
of cord. We got a lot of strap.
Yeah, we had to
hook a double.
The first plan of attack to
bring that rock down is basically,
get out some straps and
see if we can pull this thing off.
Just throw that
over one of their teeth.
The biggest thing for me is:
I need to be in a safe
enough distance away,
but, we only have
straps that are only so long.
And so, I'm gonna have be as
close as I feel comfortable,
but far enough away
where, if the mountain comes down,
it doesn't come down on top of me.
All right, Matt to Kurtis.
Kurtis to Matt.
We're strapped up, ready to go.
I'm just gonna cat-walk
this thing backwards.
And when I see that rock
start to move,
I'm gonna give a little bit of slack so
that this thing doesn't go far down and,
catapult out me of this
excavator with all that tension.
Roger that! Just remember we
have a sleeper rock behind it
that is going to be following.
Yeah, that's all the more reason. 'Cause
that can come down on my strap as well.
It's not just one rock,
it's a bunch of rocks.
It's kind of all
trapped together
with that on massive rock
holding them in place.
That edge, it's so undermined...
I mean, it just looks like
a death-trap.
We do need to get that out
of there, it's very dangerous
for our little playground here.
We can't gold mine unless
this happens.
And I wanna gold mine.
Yeah, I hear you there, man.
Okay, man. Let's do this.
Yeah, I'm ready when you are.
Okay, copy. Here I go.
Woo!
That thing is tight.
I hear you there. I'm ducking
myself back here in the bushes.
Do you think it's going to hold?
Yeah, give it a little
more tension.
All right, I think I'm gonna kinda
see if I can work it with the bucket.
We're talking about so much
tension, so much pressure
on these straps.
It could snap and snap
you right in the face.
I don't want to get...
Slapped by that thing.
I think I'll just
back it up.
Cap back.
Look at this, look
at this smoking on the knot.
- Kurtis?
- Yeah, yeah I see it.
In the heart of
the Chugach mountains,
on the Kramer Homestead.
Look at this, Look at
this smoking on the knot.
Woo!
Matt's attempt to pull down a
hazardous boulder fails to go according to plan.
We got a massive strap,
it's like five inches.
It got so tight, the strap was
smoking and it just snapped.
And the rock hasn't
moved one inch.
It snapped like a rubber band.
I'm going to get chains!
I don't know how much that rock weighs
but man, it's got to be frickin' heavy.
So, strap is done.
And we definitely need to move
on to something that is...
A lot more heavy duty than
what we just tried.
Chains don't snap.
- Well, they do.
- Well, they do.
Chains, definitely snap. I mean,
how much chain do we have?
Oh, we got enough to get
to that bucket.
Okay.
After failing at
bringing this rock down,
I'm pretty skeptical that we
can pull this rock down,
with straps, chains, whatever.
Especially at the angle.
- Maybe go for the chains first myself.
- Let's do it. Let's do it.
Let's do one more chain deal and
then we might have to get crazier.
Let's try the chain.
Jimmy and Kurtis have
actually convinced me.
Let me go grab my
chain, see what I can come up with.
We'll try to find every chain that's on
this property, we'll link them all together.
And just try one last time,
pulling from the bottom,
with chains and see if we can
get that rock to budge.
You think that chain is
gonna hold?
I don't know.
I think it might snap.
It might snap.
Oh! It's getting exciting.
I don't know where
wanna loop it?
Think he wants
to put it on the tooth.
With these chains hooked up,
I'm not even worried about the rock.
Now, I'm worried about the chain snapping.
Because that's
the biggest danger.
Kurtis to Matt,
you get a copy?
Yeah, Matt, copy.
It seem like you're, when you're
pulling, it's kinda just pulling down.
Do you think if you
back up a little...
and kinda pull it more straight
out, not sure if that'll change it but...
I think you're definitely right.
But, um...
One thing I don't wanna have is this chain
to come back and just smack me in the face.
Unfortunately, the w ay to
really pull this rock down is more,
perpendicular, you know,
not down off the cliff.
But, like, out off the cliff.
Let me see what
I can do about that.
Staying by.
And that means raising
my bucket up,
into a more dangerous level.
Where I'm just looking straight
down the barrel of that chain.
Okay guys, this is serious,
so everybody pay attention.
When that thing snaps...
God help me. That thing doesn't
just come straight through the glass.
And do something
very harmful to me.
Here I go.
Yeah!
Yeah, buddy,
you got it. Keep it rollin'.
Watch that second rock,
behind it.
Yeah!
- Woo!
- Nice!
Oh, Kurtis was right!
Yeah!
The mining stuff for me here
is kind of like life-changing.
So, to be able to come right out the
house after coffee, and bacon and eggs,
and go to work on your own property
and start pulling in money, is a big thing.
Holy Smokes, dude!
That was super sweet.
Oh, look how much of
that bank came out.
Dude!
That was sweet, man.
It really came down
to the force, dude.
- Yes it did.
- How much did that thing weigh?
- Oh, tons.
- Tons, yeah.
Now, after we pulled
that rock down,
there's so much potential here for gold
and we might find some while I'm here.
I mean, I might be able to actually
see the proof with my own eyes.
As soon as we start mining...
I think there's a big fat gold nugget
right in the middle of that thing.
Chain didn't break.
Dude, that was awesome.
That was way awesome.
With only 24 hours
until The Raney's have to
leave to rescue
another homestead...
Are you excited about
getting chickens?
- Yeah.
Matt, Melanee and
the Kramer children,
Rowan and Naya,
put the finishing touches on their treehouse
turned predator-proof chicken coop.
Exciting!
- It's a good chicken coop, guys.
- It is.
Compared to our old
treehouse, it's still pretty good.
We got the chicken coop pretty
much done, I'm putting the last touches.
Two layers of defense.
Different wires,
different sizes.
Correct.
It's gonna be hard for
a critter to get through.
Done!
I think it looks
pretty good.
All we need to do now is
move the chickens in the coop.
Give 'em some food and water.
And this thing will be
totally completed.
The chickens are here!
The chickens are here!
Pull forward a little bit.
Right here, it's good.
- Oh, wow.
- Oh, nice.
Look at these chickens.
- Hello, sir.
- H ey guys, how was your ride?
We brought in our friend, Don.
He raises chickens for a living.
He is the go-to.
And Don has given us, really the most
hardy, tough chickens that can survive,
This really brutal, long
Girdwood winter.
And these chickens are going
to provide a lot of food,
and a lot of protein for
this Homestead.
She's so cool.
- This is a Novogen.
Oh, wow.
And she'll start laying
in a week or so.
And then this is a.
He's got
like a mohawk. Or she.
The breeds that showed up today
are super good for cold weather.
And in Alaska,
that's really important.
More particularly,
if you pulled hard you can
see their little blue...
Mohawk on top of their cone.
They got very small waddles.
They should do really
well for you.
- Dude, this thing is awesome.
- Great. Thank you.
Here I wanna take a quick peek
and see which one I'm gonna name.
Seven days ago,
The Kramer homestead was
without livestock
or a reliable source
of winter protein.
Now using a recycled
children's treehouse,
as a predator-proof
chicken coop,
the family will have access to
a near constant source of food
right at their doorstep.
It's so awesome what Matt
did with the chicken coop.
To see what he came up with.
I love how he put it together.
They're really cool. The black
ones are beautiful.
I've never had one like that.
We can cruise by in the winter
time with our snow machines.
Open it up, check for eggs.
It's super cool man,
I'm excited.
And all these varieties
lay about 300 eggs a year
for their first two years.
It's gonna be a major help if
we're getting eggs that regularly,
That's gonna be awesome.
We got six of 'em. Do that math.
That's a lot of eggs.
It's great that we now have
this food source to fall back on.
They're already checking the
nesting boxes out which is pretty cool.
The chicken coop is definitely
my favorite part of the property.
I think we really did good
with that. Especially 'cause it went
from my janky treehouse.
The whole entire
of chicken coop is cool.
Right on, well,
thank you so much.
- All right. Good meeting you.
- Thanks for the delivery.
- Thank you.
- Have a safe drive back.
I will.
The gold mining
is the greatest potential
to make money on a homestead,
I think I've ever seen.
Oh, my God.
Are you kidding me?
Across the homestead,
Emma shares some of her family's history
on the last frontier.
Hi.
Well, I brought out,
like my family heirlooms.
- Wow.
- Check out this.
My great-great-grandfather
was a jeweler in Dawson city and in gnome.
- What!
- In the turn of the century.
And he didn't really like have to do
the prospecting 'cause everybody else
was finding the gold. And so, he kind of, was
able to build a really consistent business
by being a jeweler.
Oh, my gosh, Emma. I can't
even believe that's your family history.
Yeah.
Well, what you're talking
about is history of Alaska.
- Yeah.
- Right?
The gold rush is kind of
how and why all of this is here
and why we're all here.
In case you haven't heard,
there was a gold rush in Alaska.
Oh, guess what? Emma's
family was a part of that.
So, this is um, Dawson city.
It says, "J.L. Sail."
Look at those crowds.
What a time to be there.
- Oh, yeah. Isn't it really neat?
- Oh.
On the border of the
Kramer and Pikul homesteads...
Look, look at the bottom
of that hole.
With the three ton boulder
removed from its precarious perch,
Matt, Kurtis and Jimmy begin
to excavate the cliffside
in search of a streak
of valuable gold pay dirt.
I think we found
some of that layer.
If you're looking for gold, you're
trying to find a certain color, the dirt
kind of clay, maybe a
little bit brown, little bit gray.
Maybe like a baby poop color.
We'll see, we'll see.
I'm gonna go, give it a test.
So, Jimmy Pikul has
this large, crazy, huge trailer
contraption called a trommel.
It accepts a bunch of
material. You just dump it right in
and then it follows it through
a big cylinder
that's got water spraying inside and
as that spins, it kind of sifts and cleans
and all that heavy stuff like gold
will fall down through the sluice box,
get caught in the sluice box
where then they can go through and figure
out how much gold is actually in the ground.
Curious to see what we got
in these mats here.
I better double check. This
guy's eyes ain't so good here.
Hey, hey, hey.
I got pretty good eyes.
I haven't seen any gold yet
but, hey, there's a lot of dirt here.
- Pikul.
- What?
Yeah, I see something there.
Dude, look at those nuggets.
Yeah, that's the most gold
I've ever seen in a sluice box.
- That's a nice--
- Dude!
Nice picker.
Look at that!
We could see it in the sluice
box and it was a lot of gold.
- Not bad.
- Not bad. We've never got gold like that
and this little cleanup
in our lives
Oh, my God. Are you kidding me?
Woah! It's
like more than I even thought.
We've never encountered
a natural resource
that is worth this much
on any homestead
and I, I believe that
we probably never will.
Ah! It's so much
gold, you guys.
Less than a week
ago, the homesteaders' dream
to mine a promising streak
of gold pay dirt was blocked
by a massive boulder.
Now, with the help of an
excavator, and steel chain,
the Kramers have access to
the opportunity of a lifetime.
I gotta go show Emma.
I'm gonna go show the kids.
Okay.
I was absolutely blown away
at how much was in the first pan
Then every pan
had more and more and more.
So, it was quite the experience.
I have never experienced seeing that
much gold in that short of time, ever.
Ever in my life.
Hey, come down here.
I'll show you what we got.
And now that we got
down to that gold layer
we got that potential to just
mine for a really long time.
What, Kurt? Shut up!
- Oh, that's a lot.
- We just found that from the hole that the Raneys
- dug for us.
- Are you kidding?
No. Look at that.
So, yeah. I mean,
it's gonna be exciting.
- Are you kidding me?
- That's a thousand
dollars worth
of gold right there.
Oh, my gosh, you guys.
We're gonna put you guys
through college someday.
Across
the homestead...
Trying to piece it together
in the 11th hour.
Misty prepares to show the
Kramers their new commercial game kitchen.
I wanna show you guys
in here, to your game kitchen.
Come on in.
Nice.
Come on in, everybody.
Freezer...
So, basically you have the lights.
Thanks to the amazing solar system.
Yup.
You have water and you
have the best freezer ever
with fish in it
right now, freezing.
It's kind of cold.
You're pretty legit. Like
you're set up for success.
I am so excited.
I am super grateful and really have been
glad to work with you and get to know you
and thank you
for helping my family.
You're welcome. It was so amazing to be
able to do something of this high quality
with the help of all of you.
I couldn't have done it
without you. Do you like it?
Oh, my God. In seven days
what you did here is like a miracle.
- Yeah.
- Seriously.
This is Anchorage commercial
grade. It is a world of difference for us
of the way we've been operating.
Yeah, you're full.
You're welcome.
Thank you guys. You're welcome.
This was just what we needed.
Yeah, really.
Thank you.
Seven days ago, the Kramer's
had nothing but a single steel table
to clean the fish they catch.
Now, with their garage converted
into a fully equipped commercial kitchen
the family is ready to process
fish on a much larger scale
to sell for an additional income
I feel 100 percent
confident with this kitchen
for us to take whole fish off the boat
into the kitchen and make that sellable.
That is a huge asset for us.
So, this is the worst part ever.
We're leaving but I wanna facetime
my Dad and show him the kitchen
and kind of like say goodbye.
Here he is.
Hey, Dad.
We're saying goodbye.
Wow, what a team.
I wanted to apologize
because we've been to 50 homesteads
and this is the first time I
feel I failed the homesteader
and I wasn't there.
You definitely did not fail.
No, no. You don't need
to apologize.
Your kids took care of it
like you won't believe, man--
- We were standing on what you did.
- Part of your blood.
Thank you
very much for that answer.
For a parent to hear that is pretty
special. I'm hoping that, uh, many years
of success on your homestead.
Will see ya.
Thank you very much.
Bye.
Sad but true, it's time
to say goodbye.
The kitchen's super cool. It's gonna
be nice for processing all our fish.
I'm just really happy
because it gives me peace of mind.
Now that the Raneys have helped us
and helped my parents, I feel much better,
leaving for college.
It's been pretty hectic. It's been
overwhelming and it's been a lot of fun.
It's like we made
a new family of friends.
What they've done
for me changed my life
changed my wife's life.
Thank you guys.
Bye.
- She's not leaving!
- I'm staying!
Bye guys. Take care.
Come back this week.
We are to our
Straight to the Plate
The experience of having the Raney's here
was super cool and I'm just really happy
that they were here to help us.
First time working
in our kitchen.
Someone found a 25 pound
box of fish.
Since the Raneys have been gone, I
sold over 150 pounds of our salmon.
Out of our own kitchen
that was built by the Raneys.
I'm sealing to vacuums seal.
We've had so many happy customers
and money for our homestead.
Yeah, flecks in there.
Goldmining down over at
Jimmy's, was mind-blowing.
- There's nuggets.
- Oh, yeah.
We don't talk about
those on camera.
I've never seen us pull
that much gold out.
The chicken coop.
The chickens are loving it.
I'm definitely feeling closer to my
property, being more self-sufficient.
It's so hard to live off the grid.
So, we really appreciate the help.
Not only practically
helpful but it's been really inspiring.
So thank you.
Thanks Raneys.
Thanks for hooking us up.
This homestead
is going down.
When the beam that holds
up your center of your house
is swinging in the air, you know
you might have some issues.
This is what
your creek water looks like.
That's the creek water.
So, you guys have been sick?
Oh, wow!
Disgusting.
To share this moment with
them and to be part of the helping hand
is what it's all about.
Man down!
If we can pull that off,
that's impressive.
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08x03 - A Golden Opportunity
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City slickers get schooled by awesome hosts on their last chance to succeed off grid & survive off the land... among wildlife predators & natural disasters
City slickers get schooled by awesome hosts on their last chance to succeed off grid & survive off the land... among wildlife predators & natural disasters