# Alaska: The Last Frontier



## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

Stumbled across this show on Netflix. It's a great show! I thought some of y'all might enjoy it, too


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i dearly love it....you know that Atz is Jewels dad right?


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i like all the bleeping when things go wrong....roflmao


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/alaska-the-last-frontier


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

Jewel the singer?! I had no idea! These guys are awesome! I like how they show the women out helping too


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

And she sings the theme song!? Awesome!


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Atz's brother....What a hoot!!!!

....James


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

rkintn said:


> And she sings the theme song!? Awesome!



Jewel and Atz sing it.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

[YOUTUBE]rktZbb2Ia1I[/YOUTUBE]


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i like yukon men and life below zero too.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

rkintn said:


> Jewel the singer?! I had no idea! These guys are awesome! I like how they show the women out helping too


Eve is a super gardener for sure....and Jane is hardboiled and pickled....she was a commercial fisherman for 10 years...now thats tough as a pine knot.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

[YOUTUBE]3WSsbVOYbFk[/YOUTUBE]


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I've had this in my queue for a while. I was afraid it was going to be like other reality shows, which I don't usually like, but I love Alaska. I guess I better start watching it, lol! Thanks Rhonda and Elk!


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## partndn (Jun 18, 2009)

I really like the show. 

And I had NO idea Jewel was a Kilcher. :doh:


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

I've been watching this show for quite a while. It is one of my favorites. They've never mentioned her that I remember.

I also watch Yukon Men and highly recommend it.

From Wikipedia:

Jewel was born in Payson, Utah. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Homer, Alaska, where her grandfather Yule Kilcher, a delegate to the Alaska State Constitutional Convention and a state senator, had settled after immigrating from Switzerland.[7][8] Yule also made the first recorded crossing of the Harding Icefield.[9] Jewel is a first cousin once removed of actress Q'orianka Kilcher.[10] She spent most of her young life in Homer, living with her father, Atz Kilcher.[11] The home she grew up in did not have indoor plumbing; it had a simple outhouse instead.[12] The Kilcher family is featured on the Discovery Channel show _Alaska: The Last Frontier_, which chronicles their day to day struggles living in the Alaskan wilderness. Jewel and her father sometimes earned a living by singing in bars and taverns. It was from these experiences she learned to yodel, as demonstrated in many of her songs. Her father was a Mormon, but they stopped attending the church shortly before she turned eight.[13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel_(singer)


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## abagee_123 (Oct 14, 2013)

Love that show! They are also millionaires so they choose to practice that lifestyle for fun


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## bouvi (Jun 1, 2013)

elkhound just watched an episode of life below zero it is a good show thanks


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

And now Jewel is a Texas country girl...


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

*Videos of hobo jim youtube*


fishin for chickens is fun
but the scenic dog sled race is good

Hobo is our state Balleder--he is a really neat guy--He is Al Gore's neighbor in Tenn when he is not here.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I love that show, as well as Yukon Men and Life Below Zero. Alaska TLF is my favorite, though. I watched the Thanksgiving episode tonight and laughed my head off...sounds just like my family sitting around the table telling stories and making jokes. I didn't know Jewel was a Kilcher until last week. That just put the cherry on top of my sundae.


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

There are times I wish I had TV access, and the computer that is running so slow, doesn't help matters much.


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

And times when I had access to watch reality shows...glad I hadn't wasted my money.


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

littlejoe said:


> And times when I had access to watch reality shows...glad I hadn't wasted my money.


And your time.


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

I don't get to live real Alaska but 3 days a week and I don't have cable. I do understand what it takes and have a few friends that at much more informed than I am.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I just saw the Thanksgiving show. It was great. We do the same thing. Great time to think about the joys and trials of the last year, be thankful for the bounty and good friends and family....James


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

abagee_123 said:


> Love that show! They are also millionaires so they choose to practice that lifestyle for fun


I really don't believe they do it for fun... They do it because that was how they grew up and what they were taught by their father(s)... It's what they know and enjoy as a life.. not a hobby..


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

simi-steading said:


> I really don't believe they do it for fun... They do it because that was how they grew up and what they were taught by their father(s)... It's what they know and enjoy as a life.. not a hobby..


Until you have been through a winter there tending to stock and trying to keep things going day to day, y'all have little appreciation of how UN-fun it can get to be before Spring. They wouldn't trade it, but it's all hard work. BTDT.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I know what they go through.. I've done tough winters working around and with cattle... I could never imagine me ever wanting to go that far north to homestead.. The people who live that life in Alaska and Canada have a whole lot of respect from me... It takes a real certain kind of person to be able to do it and survive..


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Its my favorite show! I record them, I really like them all.

I had no idea Jewel was related, wow


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

I found it on Netflix last night and watched the first one. Seems well done and interesting. Will look forward to watching one a night during craft time


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## shannsmom (Jul 28, 2009)

I've had this in our queue on Netflix (when I can't sleep during the night I troll netflix and fill up the queue), and after your recommendations, I started watching it last night and love it! Thank you! I would love to say I could live that life, it is so appealing in so many ways, but I hate the cold and don't think I have anywhere near the energy they do!


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

After watching all they had on Netflix. My children's new favorite game is Alaska the last frontier. Lol


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## msjif (Nov 12, 2013)

:thumbup:


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

Yep, it is pretty much spot on. I hate it when we are not ready for winter. It is nasty then--It was so much harder a few years back and as DS aged and grew stronger --life got easier. I have one year at worse for him to be here so there is pressure on me --self imposed cause it is not right to think or manipulate him into not living his life.---Trade school or college--(honestly before I never thought he would be able to make college,) but now --it is really an option.


See, how the homes are inside and out--well that is what is normal. It is not better homes and gardens. Also, note how medical issues are --things like the shoulder displaced is just done when in where it happens. (dh diplaced his ribs often--I had never heard of that before)

Also--almost anything can be as building material--if it fails remember if it words repeat and remember.


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2013)

I have a love / hate type relationship with those type shows . I like to watch them but I can't help picking them to pieces because of their unreality .


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

I hope to shed some light about why some do not get wood in till winter freeze up.

I have solid land but I am but 60 miles from where they are so it is not that different. Alot of folk with swamp land get their wood after a freeze --deep freeze--they they take out the big machines and go at it striving to beat the real deep snows. Right now I have two buds that are just getting the wood in. With the machines they can bring in a years worth of wood in two days---I budget six weeks at 3 to 4 hours a day so that i can deal with other things.--it all depends of what a person has to deal with and if they have a bit of money well--they can buy their way out of a jam. Or if they are a giving good neighbor well folks do look out for the good folks

Also --summer time is cash time--fishing and that can mess up your schedule. It might mean that you are fishing solid for a few weeks with little sleep. It might mean that you are mending nets due to sticks (they are flowing logs but they call them sticks)

It is also building time--Your neighbor helped you so you give up prime time to help them build--might mean that you spend a week getting equip out of mud cause surprize in clearing and area there is an unknown patch of muskee.

Equipment brakes down so it has to be fixed. Weather changes and you were haying --it was out to dry and dang it got rained on. Got to solve that issue. Suppies you ordered did not make the barge so you are delayed. 

There have been years kicking the ground and snow to find wood--my saw died and snow came before the repair could be afforded. But instead I canned blueberries and such to trade from the winter wooders. 

I must say some people --and I have done it too miss the time to do things. I wanted two more sheds---well I had the money but the store was shorted on the load so I only got one built. The ground is frozen so that is it.


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

My BFF lived I Alaska for many years. She wishes to return. They loved it!


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

WV Hillbilly said:


> I have a love / hate type relationship with those type shows . I like to watch them but I can't help picking them to pieces because of their unreality .


If some poor cheechako came up here and tried some of the stupid stuff these reality shows portray they'd not last long.
I did run across two realistic situations the new one called "Life Below 40" features. That's the young man living alone (reminds me a bit of a younger Proenneke) and the Aleut family, the mama is adorable and sharp as a tack, their daily lives are pages from the journal of my own small community. But there's a woman on there called Susan so full of herself and stupid I have to mute when she talks. I must be entertained 'cause I flip thru them now & then. 
I always wonder what those of you 'down south' think of these shows and the way we live up here. Which ones do you think are the way it really is?


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

kasilofhome said:


> I hope to shed some light about why some do not get wood in till winter freeze up.
> 
> I have solid land but I am but 60 miles from where they are so it is not that different. Alot of folk with swamp land get their wood after a freeze --deep freeze--they they take out the big machines and go at it striving to beat the real deep snows. Right now I have two buds that are just getting the wood in. With the machines they can bring in a years worth of wood in two days---I budget six weeks at 3 to 4 hours a day so that i can deal with other things.--it all depends of what a person has to deal with and if they have a bit of money well--they can buy their way out of a jam. Or if they are a giving good neighbor well folks do look out for the good folks
> 
> ...


Well said and ain't it the truth. I needed money so took a camp job away from home from May to September this year. No garden but the spuds I quickly threw in and the garlic I'd planted last fall. No berries, no repairs,no improvements, no wild herbs & medicines and I'm still working on filling the woodshed.... but the debts are paid. Thank goodness for the warm fall and the unlucky moose on opening day.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

Interesting. I'd never watched it before, but it looks like a typical week, really. We lived up on the other side of the road for nearly 20 years, and Fairbanks, Anchorage & Juneau for another 5. My kids are older than the ones in the show, but went to school with Jewel. People can live any way they want up there (no permits back then!), but there's no reason they couldn't have running water (did anyone notice the stand-pipe near the barn? They do have water) and indoor plumbing. It's just money away. Yes, summer is tremendously busy, and winter I got so tired of shoveling to get the car out to go to work, get the car back into the driveway, take the kids to their programs and school. And I got tired of being cold. Moved to Oregon where I can grow tomatoes outdoors and don't have to shovel more than a week a year!
But on the other hand, Alaskans are great. Friendly, helpful, wonderful people, and it's a great place to raise young kids, with good schools, strong community, and a high importance placed on education.
Kit


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

:bow:


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

Oh, there is a reason why some have water on the property YET do not bring it into the house.

The risk of freeze up is very high, and the reasons for emergencys that might and do cause one to have to leave and personally -- (limited personal resources and limited population to deal with issues and add in for medical it is offen a long drive or a plane ride) Many homes are heated with wood which require someone there who is able to deal with that. Ele is costly and not dependable in the winter. Oil runs out when winter is at the worse (and ele is still needed to run them) and trucks can't reach you for days some times)

Many a cabin have dealt with frozen pipes that burst--Heck on year my well froze up. We have steamer that throw out wells along with pipes. Many welders thraw out pipe or some homesteader just keep the equip for that perpose.

We, lost ele for two weeks and a stucture had water in it and now it is a dry cabin--everything was a total loss. that was in 2010 --no ele to keep the heat on a boiler. It was a choice to put my energy and time during that storm to deal with the stucture people lived in and others could come in and use vs the smaller one. --I needed water for the animals and the gen could only do so much.---So, now three years have past and I still have higher prioitys as to where to put the money than the repairs to that stucture. It will happen but in that time I am looking for a system of heating that I can deal with to protect that and any other structure in the future. Carrying water might be silly when there is water out doors but something it saves money and resources (inc time and personal) to simply carry it in vs the risk from first hand realitys.


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

The more we watch, the more we like it. I especially like how the family all genuinely care about each other, that the husbands and wives love each other and aren't afraid to show it. I know that seems kinda like a "duh" kinda thing, but if you watch any other tv shows at all you will know what I'm talking about. I like Phil and Kay on Duck Dynasty for the same reason.


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

But Si is the glue that holds the Ducks together...LOL


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Yeah, the crazy glue, lol!


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

arcticow said:


> But Si is the glue that holds the Ducks together...LOL


At least, he thinks so anyway


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

rkintn said:


> The more we watch, the more we like it. I especially like how the family all genuinely care about each other, that the husbands and wives love each other and aren't afraid to show it. I know that seems kinda like a "duh" kinda thing, but if you watch any other tv shows at all you will know what I'm talking about. I like Phil and Kay on Duck Dynasty for the same reason.



just like troy on swamp people.....family unit first.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

I just found this show on NF a couple days ago. Only 1 season on NF, but we have watched them all now.
I really like what we have seen. I have to admit, I started watching while being critical of the show, only because we constantly hear about or see how reality shows are not always very accurate and many times scripted.
I have had a little trouble convincing my kids that homesteading is right for our family, but after watching this show, my kids both seem more interested.

Watching this show does in fact show my family how much time we uselessly waste, hopefully that will start changing.


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## Grogan14 (Feb 11, 2014)

I knew they were Jewel's kin the minute I saw Atz Lee's face. What I don't understand is why they've never even mentioned the fact, unless I've somehow missed an episode, especially where she obviously contributes to the theme song and is credited as such.


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## Vash (Jan 19, 2014)

My wife and I watch the show regularly.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

I love Swamp People...Liz and Jessica rock. Gals that CAN Do. Life Below Zero is an interesting watch; especially the family with native mom and how she is carrying on with teaching her children native ways. So what if some of the action is for show...you don't live a remote life for years and not know something! 

At least these shows are about more than a gimme lifestyle. They are about living the way you want which can still be done if you want it bad enough.


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## backwoods (Sep 12, 2004)

Love the show! I heard it was Jewel's family first, which is why I began watching, and am a follower ever since! One of the few shows I bother to watch.


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## paulty_logic (Jan 15, 2014)

Grogan14 said:


> I knew they were Jewel's kin the minute I saw Atz Lee's face. What I don't understand is why they've never even mentioned the fact, unless I've somehow missed an episode, especially where she obviously contributes to the theme song and is credited as such.


They probably had their reasons for distancing themselves. Like they wanted to be known for something other than just being the family of Jewel. Or, perhaps Jewel didn't want to be involved, even though she did help with the theme song at the start of every episode.


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## deodra (Aug 18, 2015)

elkhound said:


> [YOUTUBE]rktZbb2Ia1I[/YOUTUBE]


Thanks for the link to the video. I really like their family.


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