The final three survivalists are really struggling as History’s Alone season 11 episode 10 kicks off. Fresh food is scarce, and Timber, William, and Dub are each dealing with problems involving their food caches. The river’s on the verge of freezing over, but it’s not safe to ice-fish quite yet as we pick up the action on Day 54.
(Recap with spoilers ahead – you’ve been warned!)
Dub – Age 44, Frederic, Michigan
Day 54, 11:22am – Dub’s still upset about the mice invading his fish storage. The lake’s frozen and his gillnet’s gone, but the river’s still got a few days before it’s covered with 4” of ice. Dub chalks it up to life in the Arctic and tries to stay positive. To amuse himself (and viewers), Dub puts on a fashion show, complete with a strut down an imaginary catwalk. He models an outfit partially made of squirrel pelts and fish bones.
Back at his shelter, he discovers his sleeping bag’s wet from water dripping through his roof. A wet sleeping bag can be disastrous, so he needs to take care of this issue ASAP. Dub’s forced to expend calories to rip down spruce boughs and redo his ceiling. He’s happy with the fix and hopeful the condensation won’t cause further problems.
Day 60, 11:46am – It’s his first day of ice fishing, and Dub uses the snowshoes he made on Day 52 to walk to the middle of the lake. He’s glad he talked himself into bringing an ax and admits he planned his whole survival around being able to ice fish. Dub’s banking on his fishing ability and confesses he’ll get worried if he doesn’t catch a fish today.
4:22pm – Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any luck and heads back to his shelter. He has two ounces of questionable pike left from the fish that was infested with mice droppings and decides to take a chance and eat it. It looks gross, and he describes it as looking like slime and tasting like hell. But right now, it’s worth eating for a shot at $500,000.
It’s hit Dub today that he’s screwed if he doesn’t catch a fish ASAP.
Day 61, 2:51pm – Dub gets busy making a second gillnet he can set in a new fishing hole. The amount of daylight’s decreased by eight hours since the first day, and Dub realizes he needs to take advantage of every second. He slips his gillnet into the ice and hopes for the best.
3:48pm – Dub puts a hook down in another new hole. Although he’s thought of tapping, he wants to stay in the competition to pay his mom back for everything she’s done for him.
He’s unsuccessful in fishing and returns to his shelter to wait 16 hours before the sun rises again. To keep busy, he made a violin/guitar on Day 41. He sings a song about his time on Alone, the fish he caught, and feeling down and out. Dub sings, “Oh, I think I’d trade it all right now for a hug from my mom.” He gets a little teary-eyed and confesses he doesn’t think he can last much longer.
Day 64, 11:19am – It’s 11 degrees and Dub shows off the fresh snow that fell overnight. In less than a month, it will be pitch black, but for now the sun is shining. Today he’ll try and cut a hole in the river, rather than the lake, and do some fishing. He will not go out far and is wearing his personal flotation device provided by Alone just to be safe.
He hopes his family’s okay as he sets a few lines. Dub admits it hit him when he was singing how much he misses his family.
One of the sticks attached to a line moves, and he pulls up a 40” pike! He screams with joy and relief, realizing he can now last at least another week. It’s the biggest pike he’s ever caught, and this is a game-changing catch.
Timber – Age 35, Salem, Indiana
Day 55, 10:51am – He chews on more of his jerky after giving his teeth a break for a while. Timber had a good night’s sleep, more than he usually gets at home. He heads out to search for bunnies and discovers one snare line is busted. The other snares are empty.
Like Dub discovered, Timber confirms it’s not safe to ice fish yet. However, he believes he’s got enough jerky stored up to make it 100 days.
8:01pm – He’s cooking dinner when he hears something outside by his food cache. The camera shows a wolverine attempting to break into it.
Day 56, 11:34am – Timber shows off the wolverine tracks along his trail. It’s the first time he’s seen this animal’s tracks, and he discovers it stole his fish bait. Timber realizes he needs to make sure his food cache is extra secure. And it turns out the wolverine followed his tracks into camp. Alone notes wolverines can travel 15 miles a day in search of food. Timber describes wolverines as raiders and pulls up all his snares. He won’t set them in that area again.
Day 58, 10:58am – Timber built a bass out of half a moose antler he found, driftwood, a rib bone, and six strands of monofilament line. He’s in a good mood and has decided to enjoy things while working on his spirit. Timber wrote a couple of songs and sings one titled “If You Find My Body,” complete with an Alone version of a music video.
Day 61, 11:09am – Timber’s pretty pleased with how he’s doing. He’s got firewood stored up, and his cabin’s in great shape. He decides to sort his moose jerky into two piles, separating the parts that are soft enough to be chewable. As he goes through it, his heart sinks as he realizes the thicker pieces have mold on them. He’s forced to cut off the mold but saves what he can.
His store of lard is about to run out, and he cooks up fish for lunch. Timber admits he’s starving, even though he’s eating better than most Alone contestants. “I just lust after food in the most crazy way all the time,” he confesses. He knows it’s all a mental game right now, and he needs to keep his mind on track. Timber misses his family much more than he thought, but he’ll buckle down and keep his head in the game.
Day 62, 2:12pm – He heads down to the river to do some ice fishing, dropping lines with steel hooks and some bone gorge hooks in freshly cut holes. Timber’s lonely but reining in his mind to avoid thinking about being by himself.
He returns to his cabin with new tinder for the fire. He builds it up, and the flames quickly get out of control. Timber places a pot over the fire to block the flames so it doesn’t catch his ceiling on fire. It’s a close call, and he’s shocked the situation was almost a disaster.
6:04pm – He didn’t get any food, and his shelter almost burned down. It’s been a matter of going from one problem to the next, leaving no time to just cruise.
Morning arrives and he admits he stayed in bed because he just couldn’t face the day. Timber’s decided to use part of the moose hide, stone, and dirt as a fire shield. He’ll also move his range hood to protect the moss that’s drying out above the fire. Timber believes his fire system is too dangerous and it’s going to become a problem as the days go on.
He needs to bring in more food since his jerky supply is molding. It’s possible Timber could lose since he’s running out of food options, but he’s committed to trying his best. Although he’s thrived out there, today he admits to struggling.
Timber lights a fire and his cabin fills with smoke because he moved his smoke shield. This is now beyond what he wanted to experience, and he’d rather be home. Achieving what he set out to do is important, but now he’ll just let things play out. He says a prayer and explains that his go-to right now is to talk to God about what’s going on. The prayer helps, his spirit’s renewed, and he’s not ready to call it quits yet.
William – Age 49, Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador
Day 57, 10:13am – William uses his ax to chop a hole in the ice. He believes it’s finally safe to ice fish in his area and makes a wire leader out of rabbit wire. William’s going to set hooks attached to alder, and if the alder moves, it means something’s on his line. Losing the beaver was a huge setback, but he’s still determined to remain in the competition.
After setting his hooks, William cooks the last of the grouse he caught on Day 46. He’s trying to keep a positive mindset and focus on what needs to be done. He eats the bird while watching the alder to see if it moves. Suddenly, he sees it twitch and races off across the ice. He’s caught a big fish and drags it up onto the ice. It’s the biggest pike he’s caught on a hook, and Alone estimates it’s 36” and weighs 16+ pounds.
William cheers as he realizes he’s caught a week’s worth of food. And as an added bonus, there are fish eggs inside the pike. He’ll use the eggs as bait and decides to put the pike back in the water for now until he builds better storage.
Day 59, 10:47am – The days are getting shorter, and William’s focus is on fishing. And if he can catch a lot, he can stop fishing for a while. His line still has bait but no fish, and he cuts more holes to set more lines. After that, he builds an ice chest near his lines – one that Sassy can’t get into.
Day 63, 11:37am – William catches a grouse in the morning, and in the afternoon, he heads down to check his line and net. The bait’s still on the line, but the net has trapped a huge whitefish. It’s about 12 pounds and he kisses it on the mouth before putting it in his new ice box. He’s adding a few ice blocks to the box just to be safe when he takes a spill. Fortunately, he’s uninjured.
After he walks off, Sassy tries to break into his stash but can’t.
- Alone Season 10 Episode 1 Recap: “Game On”
- Alone Season 11 Episode 1 “Enter the Circle” Recap
- 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 11 “Collapse” Recap
- Alone Season 11 Episode 12 Finale Recap
This post was last modified on September 5, 2024 6:53 pm