History’s Alone season 11 takes place in the coldest location to date, 125 miles above the Arctic Circle in the Mackenzie River Delta. It’s also the northernmost location in the franchise’s history, with 10 survivalists battling temperatures that could plunge to -40 degrees. This season’s survivalists will have to deal with snow, grizzly bears, wolves, moose, wolverines, and weeks of total darkness.
Season 11’s participants vying for the $500,000 grand prize are Peter Albano, Dusty Blake, Michela Carriere, Timber Cleghorn, Cubby Hoover, William Larkham Jr., Jake Messinger, Dub Paetz, Sarah Poynter, and Isaiah Tuck. Season 11 episode one, “Enter the Circle,” focused on Isaiah, Dub, William, Michela, and Cubby.
Warning: spoilers ahead in this recap of episode one which aired on Thursday, June 13, 2024.
Isaiah Tuck – Age 35, Ghent, West Virginia
Day 1, 8:52am – After being dropped off in a swampy area, Isaiah set off scouting the area. Isaiah’s a game warden in West Virginia who views his job as protecting our natural resources. He’s also a captain in the Air National Guard and assists with search and rescue. But he considers his family to be his most important accomplishment. He’s married with a little girl, and taking care of his family is priority number one.
He and his wife spent a couple of years of his salary on IVF procedures to have a child and winning Alone will help pay that back. Isaiah believes his military training will help him survive this challenge.
The first three days will be crucial to learning the area. Per Alone, the Mackenzie River Delta is covered with black spruce trees and thick vegetation. Isaiah is determined to find game trails while he’s still got food in his belly.
He momentarily pauses, overcome with a feeling of dread. It passes, and he continues to the riverbank, where he discovers dozens of wolf footprints. He also spots fresh grizzly tracks that indicate a mom and her cub are nearby.
10:59pm – It’s 40 degrees as Isaiah explains that starting now, they lose an hour of daylight a week. If he lasts 100 days, he’ll be in 24 hours of darkness.
Day 2, 4:12pm – Isaiah’s in a reflective mood, and can’t stop thinking about his family. He’s doing this to prove to his daughter that he can push through anything. “But what am I proving by leaving her,” he wonders. It’s hitting him just how alone he is, even though he was warned about drop shock. Drop shock is what the Alone survivalists call their disoriented state after being dropped off. It happens every season, yet he didn’t fully grasp what it felt like until he experienced it himself.
Isaiah doesn’t know if this is worth it but doesn’t tap. A growling stomach gets him moving and he locates a patch of berries. Suddenly, his nose starts bleeding even though it’s not dry out. It’s actually dripping so much that it messes up his shirt. He thinks maybe the berries are thinning out his blood.
Isaiah shifts his focus to protein and sets up a line for passive fishing. While he’s working, we learn he used to be a preacher. To survive, he needs to mix his tough side with his spiritual side. He believes you can hear God easier in the wilderness.
William Larkham Jr – Age 49, Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador
Day 1, 10:16am – It’s 44 degrees and William strips down to his T-shirt to set a net for fishing. William included a net as one of his 10 items so that he could begin fishing right away. He’s not a bowhunter and will concentrate on fishing. After the fish are gone, he’ll move on to trapping squirrels and smaller creatures.
William grew up in Labrador, Canada without running water or electricity. That prepared him for the Alone challenge, along with working as a commercial fisherman. If he wins Alone, he’ll use the money to build a house for his family in a small coastal community.
He locates a good spot for a shelter and decides on a simple lean-to with poles around it to protect him. Taking a break from building, he finds he’s already caught a 24” northern pike in his net. Unfortunately, his celebration is premature when the fish escapes as he’s removing it from his net.
10:02pm – William doesn’t have a fire but does have branches down to soften his bed. He confesses he’s not used to this landscape and hopes to adjust his skills for this area.
Day 3, 1:17pm – William’s energy is drained, and he searches for cranberries, still frustrated he lost the pike. He finds itchy bum berries that literally make your bum itch. He doesn’t find as many berries as he anticipated but starts to feel better anyway.
William spots a rabbit trail and sets up a rabbit snare. He’s looking forward to sucking the rabbit’s brains out of its skull. (Not sure we needed that vivid description, but okay.) After preparing the snare, William continues to hike around his area. He comes upon a small stream in a swampy area and sees smelt. He grabs a stick and hits the water, sending out shock waves. He scoops up two smelts with his hands and decides to try to grab a few more using the same method. By the time he’s done banging the water, he has five small smelt – good enough for a decent meal.
Dub Paetz – Age 44, Frederic, Michigan
Day 1, 12:24pm – Dub spots a caribou nearby but can’t shoot it. Caribou are at-risk species and protected from hunting. He’s disappointed it’s not a moose and chuckles when the caribou doesn’t seem to care he’s close by.
Dub’s a lifelong nature lover, and his only real job was as a fly-fishing guide. He’s not interested in a 9-to-5 job and is certain he has what it takes to win Alone. Dub doesn’t have close relationships and doesn’t mind being by himself. (Being away from family has caused many Alone survivalists to tap out.) He’s not a quitter and would use the money to pay off his house and his mom’s. Dub claims his top skill is brute bullheadiness.
Dub’s found a great spot next to a berm protected from the wind, and he’s chosen to use the hill as part of his shelter. There’s lots of firewood all around, and his big concern is making sure his shelter is well-insulated. He finds the perfect ridgepole for his roof and confirms his shelter’s going to be tight and small.
Dub explains he was bullied as a kid at school and spent lots of time in the library reading survival books during his lunch hours. He believes that made him stronger.
11:36pm – Dub wakes and hears a bear close by. He calls out to it as Alone informs viewers grizzlies shift their hunting patterns to nocturnal in the presence of humans. Dub admits he can’t wait for daylight to come as an outside camera shows a large bear walking near his shelter.
Day 2, 7:41am – Morning arrives and Dub knows he needs to make lots of adjustments to his shelter to stay safe. He says his shelter sucks and moves everything outside. With so many bears obviously living nearby, he needs to reinforce the walls to keep them out – or at least give himself time to grab some bear spray.
He’s not scared of bears, but he has never been in an area with this many. He hopes his fellow competitors are aware of what bears are capable of.
Michela Carriere – Age 33, Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, Canada
Day 2, 11:41am — Michela set up a quick shelter and is making duck decoys as we catch up with her on day two. She provides step-by-step instructions on making decoys and reveals she’s been hunting ducks since she was a kid. Michela makes a convincing duck out of reeds and uses a stick to place it in the water. When she’s finished, it looks like two ducks are swimming close to the shore.
Michela wants to follow in the footsteps of her ancestors. She has a Metis-Cree background and has always looked up to those who came before her. A wolf trapper who grew up isolated in the wilderness, Michela was homeschooled. Their house didn’t have running water.
She runs an adventure-guiding business and is incredibly knowledgeable about hunting and fishing. Recently married, Michela hopes to start a family soon. $500,000 would go a long way toward providing for her family.
Alone informs viewers that she’s just the fourth person in the show’s history to not bring a fishing line and hooks. She brought a fishing net, which she sets up on a bend in the river. Unfortunately, it’s really shallow and her net isn’t stretched out.
She spots a print indicating a running wolf. A short distance away, there are more pawprints indicating wolf activity. Michela doesn’t trust wolves and thinks they will kill if they have an opportunity.
Day 3, 9:09am – Michela has found grizzly tracks in the water. Her net is empty and twisted so she spends time fixing it. Her Cree name means Beaver Hands Woman and she’s determined to work and think like an industrious beaver. Once her net’s untangled, she sets it again hoping for success.
Day 4, 8:36am – Michela can hear wolves howling in the distance. She takes her bow and arrows along with her pot to the river to check her net. Bugs are buzzing near the net but all she caught was a stick. She changes the location to a few feet away where it’s slightly deeper.
There are new wolf tracks on the bank, and she finds the remains of a squirrel. A kidney was left behind and it’s fresh enough that she decides to cook it. She thanks the wolves for leaving her some protein.
Cubby Hoover – Age 34, Seligman, Missouri
Day 1, 3:01pm – His wife told him to take a moment for himself when he arrived, and he follows her instructions. Cubby’s a homesteader who makes bows for a living. His skills include fire-making, hunting, fishing, trapping, shelter-building, and snaring.
He wants to win Alone to help get his wife healthy and let them start a family.
Cubby feels the biggest issue will be the cold, so he scouts for an area to build a warm shelter and keep safe from bears. As he’s looking around, he spots a squirrel but misses with his first shot. His arrow broke and he admits he shouldn’t have taken the shot.
Contestants can bring 10 arrows, and Cubby’s down to nine on his first day.
5:12pm – Cubby collects firewood to boil water and begins to work on his temporary shelter. He reveals that he used to work 60-70 hour work weeks at two or three jobs. The day before his friend Cameron passed away, he told Cubby that family and friends are the most important things in life. That affected Cubby deeply, and he realized he needed to spend more time with his wife. They bought a camper, moved to a property in Missouri with his parents, and began homesteading.
Cubby uses birch bark to start his fire and says he picked this location for a shelter because it has a vantage point. Game trails are nearby, and for now, he’s leaving his shelter open so he can see around him. The fire in front will hopefully deter any animals.
Day 2, 1:07pm – Cubby pops small cranberries into his mouth since his belly’s grumbling. They’ll provide a little energy to build his shelter now that he’s located the right spot. He’ll build between three trees and works on setting up the ridgepole. Cubby knows food is important, but with bears, moose, and wolves close by, he needs to build a safe shelter ASAP. He’s building an A-frame shelter that will allow him to stand up inside, with a roof that will hold a lot of weight. It needs to stand strong in the wind and snow.
He feels like he needs to work quickly but reminds himself to go slow and steady so that he doesn’t have an accident. Cubby finishes work on his shelter for the day and has the ridgepole up along with a raised bed area.
Day 4, 11:36am – Cubby’s decided it’s time to go exploring and get some food. He’ll postpone finishing up his shelter, even though that’s all that’s been on his mind. Cubby pushes his way through the woods and it’s tough going. He spots moose poop and determines it’s dry.
Cubby knows there are squirrels and rabbits in the area, but he’s looking for big game. There are lots of bear signs and it’s impossible to see more than five feet away. He’s debating pushing on when he suddenly screams. An arrow slipped out of his quiver and went right into the bend of his leg, near the femoral artery.
He cuts his pants around the wound and very carefully removes the arrowhead. Cubby’s mad at himself and in pain. He wraps the emergency compression bandage provided by Alone around his leg and struggles to his feet. Camp’s 30 minutes away but he doesn’t want to tap.
He turns off the camera so that he can walk back quickly. Cubby confesses he’s trying to talk himself into staying as he examines the wound. However, he knows he needs stitches since the arrow went about four inches deep.
Disappointed, Cubby becomes the first person shown tapping out of season 11.
The medical team assesses the wound and confirms he needs to go to the hospital. Cubby had a lot riding on this and much more to learn, but a freak accident took him out of the competition.
- Alone Season 10 Episode 1 Recap: “Game On”
- Alone Season 11 Episode 2 “Opportunity Cost” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 3 “Fortune” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 4 “Legacy” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 5 “Something in the Air” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 6 “Murphy’s Law” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 7 “One Pike at a Time” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 8 “The Marten Chronicles” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 9 “The Wormhole” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 10 “Symphony of Solitude” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 11 “Collapse” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 12 Finale Recap
