The History Channel’s Alone season nine episode three picks up the action on Day 12. Episode two included the first tap out by a survivalist (Jacques), and by the end of episode three the contestant count remains at nine.
Episode three – “Law of the Land” – survival tidbits included that berm shelters (like Jessie’s) create a natural thermal mass to help absorb/store heat. Some of the contestants are building on a muskeg – a bog made up of water and dead vegetation. And willow branches are good for building because of their flexibility. The episode also confirmed participants can bring up to two pounds of snare wire as one of their 10 survival items.
Episode three focused on Jessie, Igor, Adam, Benji, Juan Pablo, and Karie Lee.
Jessie, Age 49, Pagosa Springs, CO
Day 12: Jessie’s determined to finally get to work on her long-term shelter. Her short-term shelter is close by and her long-term shelter will utilize four existing trees as her structural support. She believes incorporating living trees will make the structure more stable.
The weather’s unpredictable and Jessie wants a shelter that will be insulted and away from the moisture. She admits she’s a workaholic, just like her family. Her mom was a single parent who loved the outdoors, and Jessie thinks about her struggling (putting herself through college, raising a child without any help, etc.) when things get tough.
Day 13: She’s happy to have found huge bunches of bunchberries and will feast on them for lunch. She confesses she’s tired of them but at least they’re providing sustenance. She’s lost 15 pounds and hasn’t been taking in many calories. She didn’t expect the food situation to be this tough.
Jessie hasn’t seen any rabbits or grouse, but there are squirrels nearby. She has experience setting traps and snares, and sets up 15 snare lines on fallen trees. A squirrel yells at her as she works, and she confesses she doesn’t like killing things but knows it’s necessary.
A short while later she gets her first squirrel. Jessie thanks the squirrel for her evening meal of 270 calories. It tastes like chicken.
Jessie hopes that once she’s finished with her lodge, she can turn her attention to getting more (and larger) game.
Day 14: Today’s task is to get the support poles in place and get a roof up. She’s designing a shelter that doesn’t really fit any one particular style. It’s sort of a lean-to design but has other elements.
She’s burning 375 calories an hour working on a shelter and admits it’s going to be more work than she initially thought.
Day 15: Jessie gets in a little sunbathing before doing any work. Break over, she checks her traps and finds one dead squirrel. A live one screams at her and then approaches the dead squirrel. It appears the squirrel’s trying to get her fallen friend to get up, but it doesn’t budge. It sits just inches away and chatters, a sound that’s absolutely heartbreaking. Jessie apologizes and feels bad about seeing what she believes is the dead squirrel’s mom trying to help her dead child.
Jessie understands that’s how it works but acknowledges these animals have feelings. “Every day we live other things must die, and that is the law of nature,” says Jessie. “That is the way things work, and we don’t realize in our modern lives that the same thing is happening indirectly because of our actions.”
Igor, Age 39, Bountiful, UT
Day 12: Igor’s eating bladderwhack seawood, creating a stew he calls his staple food. His attempts at hunting and fishing have thus far been unsuccessful. He’s lost 19 pounds in 12 days and still hasn’t built a permanent shelter.
Igor’s shelter will eventually be a log cabin because it’s sturdy enough for the area. The winds and animals won’t be able to get to him, however, he’s disappointed that he’s not further along. The area’s so squishy he’s decided he needs to build a floor. It’s not ideal – and it’s a lot of work – but a floor’s necessary because of how damp the ground is.
Igor finishes up for the day and spots a spruce grouse. He tosses his saw and makes the kill, noting it’s the first time he’s killed with a saw. The grouse is amazing and Igor believes it’s an indication he’s building in the right location.
Adam, Age 36, Fayetteville, AR
Day 13: Adam’s built a decent shelter and decides to add a stone fireplace using cob (clay, sand, and straw). His shelter doesn’t allow for the smoke to escape since it’s well-sealed, so he needs to add a chimney. Adam explains he’s using willow and a wattle and daub design to build the fireplace and chimney’s walls.
Adam’s adhering to a slow and steady pace and says he doesn’t get easily flustered.
As he’s working on his shelter, he hears a grouse. Instead of potentially wasting an arrow, he uses his throwing stick. It misses. Fortunately, he’s been seeing more grouse near his site but his success has basically come from fishing.
He makes a weather flap for his chimney and then uses his chimney for the first time. It’s holding up well and the structure’s smoke-free.
Day 15: Adam’s come up with a vise system to help him work on flies. He uses part of his boot’s inner liner to create different types of flies – some that will sink and some that will float.
Adam’s hungry and doesn’t have any food stored up as he heads out to fish. The weather’s perfect (although it’s just above freezing) and he thinks he’s doing great thus far. Winning would transform his family’s lives; his parents get by on just $20,000 a year.
He doesn’t get any nibbles and decides to put up a casting rod. The river level’s dropping and he’s worried his fishing opportunities are drying up. He’s only fishing in two small areas and it’s possible that soon all of the fish will be gone.
Adam takes a break to do “The Hunger Dance” since songs always make the cut on Alone. Adam’s musical talent is about a two out of 10 – he definitely shouldn’t give up his day job.
Day 16: Adam does some target practice because his aim’s off. He’s decided he’ll do this every day to get better at hunting. His fishing spot’s no longer a viable option and he wants to turn his attention to finding a black bear.
While checking out the area he finds his first bolete mushroom. It’s old but still edible.
Adam doesn’t believe he can survive 80+ days without bagging a bear. He finds a good spot on the plateau to spot game and is pleased to find some bear scat that appears fresh.
Adam decides to keep exploring since he’s finding bear signs. Going all in is the only way he’ll be able to survive and he firmly believes just sitting in his shelter preserving calories isn’t the way to succeed at Alone.
Adam’s practice pays off when he shoots a grouse. It’s his first grouse of the adventure after shooting at nearly a dozen.
Adam stuffs his grouse with cranberries and other items before cooking the bird. Grouse has a gamey flavor but Adam describes it as tasting amazing.
Benji, Age 46, Bellevue, ID
Day 14: Benji admires the beauty of his area and the gorgeous sky while doing his video log. Benji thinks it’s time to get serious about building a debris hut since the weather’s going to turn much colder real soon. He finds a spot among trees that are close to the beach and determines how to situate his structure based on the wind direction and other factors (including the lack of animal tracks).
He initially concentrated on getting familiar with his area and finding food, but now he’s ready to work on his permanent shelter. He won’t be making a raised platform or a bed because he feels more comfortable on the ground.
Benji’s island doesn’t have much in the way of animals but it does have squirrels. He shoots one, cooks it up, and confesses he’s not a big organ eater. However, he will eat the squirrel’s organs because they’re loaded with vitamins and minerals.
Benji’s feeling amazing and happy about the amount of food he’s eating. (He’s lost 19 pounds.) “I feel more alive every day I’m out here,” says Benji. He’s can’t wait to have Labrador try and break him and is determined to stick it out.
Day 16: Benji’s having incredible luck fishing and in fact reels in so many that he creates a fish cache to store his surplus. Although he came to hunt, fishing’s providing him with plenty of food.
He spots a beaver trail and follows it to the creek. Benji explains the best way to hunt game is to find a high-traffic area and an ambush spot, and he figures out the perfect place to try and find a beaver.
Benji sees one not too far away and takes a shot. It misses but he’s able to get off a second shot that strikes the beaver but doesn’t kill him. The injured beaver disappears into the water and Benji tries to figure out his location. He watches the water but it doesn’t pop up. Benji looks around the surrounding area and doesn’t have any luck there, either.
It’s getting dark so he gives up for now and will search again in the morning. He hopes the beaver expires peacefully.
Juan Pablo, Age 30, Pinawa, CAN
Day 14: We catch up with Juan as he’s just missed shooting a squirrel. He’s explored upriver and hasn’t found anything, so he sets out in a different direction. It’s difficult to walk in his area and he hasn’t eaten much since he shot a grouse 10 days ago.
He comes upon a bear track that’s bigger than his hand which means it could weigh 400+ pounds. Juan’s happy with the discovery because he’s looking forward to hunting a bear since that would mean he’d have a month of food. However, a bear near camp is too dangerous. He sets up some of the cans he found and hangs them so they’ll make noise.
Juan then comes up with the idea of making an actual bell with an old pan and a huge nail.
Karie Lee, Age 57, Sandpoint, ID
Day 15: Karie washes her hair before working on her day 15 goal of building her permanent shelter. She claims the land dictated how to build the shelter and she’s going to use clay to hold in the heat. She feels blessed with the abundance the land has to give.
She places the tarp over the shelter as the temperature falls. Karie hasn’t been eating much and believes she needs to take the time out to just “be.”
Karie spends her first night in her new shelter and is happy to finally have a fire inside as she gets ready to call it a night.
She’s discovered that she’s a perfectionist and she’ll need to back off that in order to survive. Now that the shelter’s built she’ll focus on getting food.
- Alone Season 9 Episode 1 “Drop Shock” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 2 “Consequences” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 4 “The Beaver” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 5 “The Land Giveth” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 6 “The Weasel” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 7 “The Birds” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 8 “Gut Feeling” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 9 “The Ice Up” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 10 “Winter’s Grasp” Recap
- Alone Season 9 Episode 11 “Fight, Flight or Freeze” Recap
