Dale Matson
[Discovery Channel following "Alaska The Last Frontier" On Sunday Evening.]
The series centers on a number of
characters. The Riverboat captain Buck
Denny had a problem with his engine overheating and couldn’t immediately
get to the engine since the cargo (a jeep) was sitting on the engine cover. He
was able to use a handyman jack to lift the jeep high enough to access the
engine compartment. It turns out that the radiator cap had fallen off, allowing
the coolant to leak out. Problem solved!
Wes
Gregory and Katherine Castenelli
manage the historic 100-acre South Fork Ranch. His main task was to kill a
large boar black bear that had been raiding the ranch. He was able to find and
kill it, but it was too late to pack it all out. He went back the following day
on horseback and loaded the meat and pelt on a mule and brought it back to the
ranch. He reloads his own ammunition.
The problem at the Indian Creek
Ranch was a tall tree that was threatening to fall on a hayfield. Aubrey and her boyfriend Pete Metz (the former caretaker) took on
the task of felling and limbing the tree. They then used an Alaskan Sawmill to
cut the tree into boards. With Pete’s trusty chainsaw “Aubrey”. “You’ve got to
name your chainsaw if you’re serious about cutting”.
Mike
Dorse is an experienced bush pilot and he is teaching his daughter Kate to fly in the wilderness. He owns
the “Sawtooth Flying Service”. In this episode she was flying below the Salmon
River Canyon and ran into a storm. They were forced to land at the Mackay Bar
Ranch to avoid a thunderstorm.
There were some tense minutes for
Pete and Aubrey and for Mike and his daughter. The wilderness is unforgiving if
you make a mistake. This is going to be a good show.
Season 1 Episode 3
ReplyDeleteRon Enns is a back-country guide living at 5,400’ on the BC Ranch. He rode out of the wilderness area to pick up six horses mixed in with 100 other horses. It was a difficult effort but he got it done.
Meanwhile, Aubrey was having to deal with a leaky barn roof and the logistical nightmare of getting the repair materials to the barn. It began with a trip up the river but she is up a canyon on a feeder stream. She got her boyfriend Pete (as usual) and another friend Will who is a helicopter pilot to bring the supplies in the rest of the way by helicopter. There is the problem with upcoming weather and the possibility that the load could make the helicopter go out of control. In a side note, Heinz, The Jet-boat captain and Pete help out a man who has fallen out of his raft.
Wes and Christine had built a large greenhouse on the property and now there is a problem with the 60-year-old hydroelectric plant. Mike Dorst the bush pilot brought an electrician along on his mail run who found the problem in the wiring just in time to save the plants from freezing. Mike had a little problem landing at the ranch on his way back home because of horses on the runway.
Buck Denny also fetched a mare home with a stubborn stallion following and getting through the fence to continue following.
River Of No Return
DeleteSeason 1 Episode 4
“Greenhorn” Aubrey had her hands full in this episode. The Indian Creek Ranch where she is the caretaker, is the most remote of the back-country ranches in the Frank Church Wilderness. She had to set the roof repair aside to tend to a mare that was about to give birth. She prepared a place for the birth and cut up an 80’ tree that had fallen into one of the hayfields. She was fortunate that the tree rolled on her as she was cutting it but was not hurt. The mare gave birth to a male foal while Aubrey was sleeping in the house.
Meanwhile, at the B.C. Ranch Ron Enns was shoeing horses in preparation to pack in roofing supplies to the Tappan Cabin built in 1917, one of several backwoods cabins he has used since 1995 as a wilderness guide. It is 23 miles from the ranch and he enlisted Wes Gregory from the South Fork Ranch to help him pack in the 600 pounds of supplies. They made it there in a day and had to replace some of the rotten roof boards with trees they cut. Wes was proud of the axe he used to cut and limb the trees with. When they were done and sitting on the roof, they both joked about getting a “real job” in town.
This is the first time Mike Dorst’s daughter piloted the plane into the difficult landing strip of the South Fork Ranch. She did well. Katherine Castenelli kept the head of the bear that Wes had shot and after dropping off supplies, they took off for the Indian Creek Ranch with 30 pounds of frozen bear steaks for Aubrey. There is no landing strip there, so they threw the meat out of the plane. It landed in a good spot for Aubrey to retrieve it along with her dog and cat who also got some meat.
Buck Denny was teaching his 8-year-old 60-pound son to pilot the boat. He was quite proud of his son’s ability to pilot the jet boat. Buck is one of only 10 people licensed to captain a boat on the Salmon River. Buck’s son Dax had to give up the pilot seat when he was headed for a rock. One could only feel sorry for him as he held back the tears. Buck is also teaching Pete Metz (Aubrey’s boyfriend) how to pilot the boat.
It was another good show with a good cast.
Season 1 Episode 5
ReplyDeleteNow that Aubrey named her new foal “Gunner”, It was time to repair the barn roof. The bunkhouse side of the roof leaked for ten years and the wood under the roof was rotten also and needed to be replaced. With a storm coming, the job was too big for Pete and Aubrey so they called out on the radio asking for help. Pete slid off the slippery tin roof but was not badly injured.
Ron Enns, helped Wes Gregory repair a hay bailer and cut down a big tree at the edge of the hay field. They used a hydraulic jack to get the 137-year-old tree to fall the right direction. Wes asked Ron what time he got on the plane to come and he said, “I don’t know. I don’t own a watch.”
After helping Wes, Ron took the mail plane and headed to help Pete and Aubrey. River pilot Jess Bar and his son Patton also heeded the call for help. With all this help, they were able to put the plywood down and cover it with roofing paper and new tin. Everybody helps everybody out in the “Frank”.
Jamie Dorris was flying with her uncle Bill who has been a flight instructor for 30 years. He taught her how to do a tight 180 degree turn while climbing in the canyon. As they were flying, they could see a plane that had crashed into a tree and remained suspended there.
I believe next week is the final episode of the season. Hope it is renewed.
Season 1 final episode
ReplyDeleteThe episode began with riverboat captain heading out with a donkey named Junior. Junior was to be used for breeding stock for four different ranches. The idea was to breed the donkey with mares to get a mule. Things did not work out very well for Aubrey. The mare kicked the donkey when it attempted to mount it. Aubrey even dug a pit to make things more equal but to no avail. Aubrey and her boyfriend then began haying after getting Junior back on the boat.
Wes Gregory was having a problem with deer and elk eating his alfalfa. He had one pesky doe in particular on the South Fork Ranch named the “Killer doe” who was not afraid of his dog and would chase it around. They also knocked down portions of his pasture fence when they would jump over it. He used a “powder wedge” to split logs to use for new fence posts. He then soaked the portion of the post that would be in the ground to keep it from rotting. He was successful breeding his horses with Junior too.
Ron Enns was scouting hunting areas and came across a trail marker from the mining days. There were about 10,000 gold miners there at one time. He took some of the ore out and tried getting gold from it by crushing it and then panning it in the river. There was not much gold in the ore. “One of the great things about wilderness is that it forces people to keep traditional skills alive.” Ron also found an elk skull from which he removed the ivory canine teeth. Elk and walrus are the only animals that have ivory teeth.
Buck Dewey was doing a friend a favor and hauling a side by side on his boat. This time of year, the river is low and there are quite a few “sleepers” (hidden rocks). One bad section of river is called called “Ludwig”. He hit a rock and had to redo the load at Indian Creek Ranch.
Mike Dorris is short on pilots since two left suddenly. He is doing the mail run and wanted his daughter Katie to get her commercial pilot’s license. The last thing a student must do is take off and land a plane by herself, which she successfully did.
I enjoyed the series and hope it returns next year.