03x04 - Blowout

[bunniefuu]

[ominous tone plays]

[narrator] Previously, on
"The Last Woodsmen"--

[Matt] All right, tear it up.

A second operation launches
in Kachelot Creek with

two untested fallers...
- Wow!

[Kate] There's a lot at stake
and major challenges,

but we're doing our best to see
if we can make Jared happy.

...while Jared tries to cash in
on an old tugboat.

I believe that I'm gonna be
able to turn $100,000 profit by

selling this tug.

But as the salvage faces
high seas...

[Leon] Not a happy boat.

...new fallers Kate and Matt
bag some big trees.

[Kate] Some good money in it,
and I think Jared's gonna be

happy with this one.
- [Jared] The plan is paying off.

Hopefully there's no hiccups.

Oh, Chief Jerry Jack.

- Hello?
- [Chief Jerry Jack]
I'm looking for a favor.

[creaking]

[music plays]

[door creaks]

[Ross, on phone]

We still on target for


by the end of the week?
- [Ross, on phone]

It's five weeks from winter
shutdown, and Jared Douglas

and the Cypress Creek crew are
full steam on two fronts.

Thanks, Ross.

The Forever Claim,
with the next royalty log barge

arriving in two weeks.

And Kachelot Creek,
where it's an all-out hauling

scramble with the first barge
due in just two days.

It's definitely a high-tension
kind of situation.

Filling this Kachelot barge
is crucial, so we have to

really hustle.

[Alicia] Let's get
going down the hill.

[Jared] Well, right now,
that's the game we play, right?

- [phone rings]
- Oh, Chief Jerry Jack.

- Hello.
- [Chief Jerry Jack, on phone]

Everything's going good.
What's happening?

[Chief Jerry Jack, speaking]

Oh, really?

[Chief Jerry Jack, speaking]

[Jared] When do you need it?

[Chief Jerry Jack, speaking]

[Jared] Yeah,
we'll get it done.

[Chief Jerry Jack, speaking]

- OK, thanks.
- [Chief Jerry Jack, speaking]

OK, we'll talk to you later.
Yeah.

When a friend like
Chief Jerry Jack comes to you

and needs a favor, you drop
everything and you help him out.

His blessing granted me
permission to log in

Kachelot Creek.

That is a huge favor

and I need to return the favor,
whatever it takes.

We need to find the perfect
tree, no knots, no bark seams,

just a perfect round
and sound log.

Then we have to get it
to the beach

and tow it all the way
to Jerry Jack's harbor.

This creates a lot of pressure.

[Ross] Truck's on its way.

At Kachelot Creek,
foreman Ross Davis is on

a flat-out drive to
splash for cash.

[Ross] We're off to the races,
and as a woods foreman,

my responsibility is
getting this done.

We got to barge in two days,

so we got to put the wood in
the water as fast as we can.

There we go.

On average, Kachelot's
two fat trucks can move up to

three loads a day, and he needs


[Ross] Right now is go-time.

Everything's planned to
keep rolling out here.

We got no time for hesitation.
We got to keep moving.

That's the goal.

Good to see you, Jackie.

What's that?
That's a nice load
you got there.

[Jack] Yeah, a little nice
cleanup load.

All right.

[Ross] These wires are so big,

you gotta throw them over
with the machine.

You can't get them over
by hand.

Even Arnold Schwarzenegger
might have a hard time throwing

this stuff over.

- Right about there?
- [Jack] Yep.

[Ross] So he's gonna start
stripping the stakes here now.

Once he strips the stakes,

they're gonna fall over
and then push it into

the water, and that's
one load off.

And there goes one stake.

[bleep]

The stake hung up.

This is called the D.

When you hook it up to
the handle here,

it's sideways like this and it
just slips right through.

But this new wire,
it's so sprung that it's going

in there like a wedge.

That's holding 100 tons up
right there, right now,

because this stake is free.

It hardly ever happens,

but it happened this time,
of course, [bleep].

And we're on a deadline.
The barge is coming.

And he's gonna have to cut
that wire

so the stake can completely go
down, and then we can push

the rest of the load off.

Hopefully that'll work.

There she goes.
Nice.

It didn't go as smooth
as it should have,

but hopefully
the next one does.

Higher up...

Watch that top!

...fallers are busy
across the mountain,

dropping big timber.

- [Kate] Hell yeah.
- Nice one.

So, needing the perfect totem
tree from First Nations land

on Kachelot, Jared pulls
his A-team, Jim and Rob,

from the Forever Claim.

[Rob] It's got to be fairly nice
and round and sound.

[Jim] Fairly round
and sound, OK.

[Rob] We need a specific tree
for this totem pole.

A nice cedar tree, minimum


How about that thing?

- [Jim] Oh, there we go.
- [Rob] That looks nice.

[Jim] Oh, this might be
our totem pole.

Yeah, it feels solid in there.

It's probably one of the nicest
stems in this block.

Very tall, pretty clear.

[Rob] Yeah, I think Jerry Jack
would be happy with this one.

[Jim] Perfect.
Yeah.

And I think it's leaning
up the hill.

I think our best bet would be
right through here somewheres.

I'll make a nice bed for it
and then I'll try and lay

this thing right on top of it.

So I'm just going to probably
bring my undercut back to

about here.
Stay away from this bark seam.

Check my aim a couple of times
and then I'll cut the low side

up and then fingers crossed,
the totem pole lays down in

its bed and lays right out
to the tippity-top.

The potential to smash this
thing just totally ruins it

for carving a totem.

Even just damaging the sapwood
and the outer layer

of it's gonna damage it
for Jerry.

So this thing's got to
go down perfect,

so all the cuts got to
be pretty precise.

To bring this totem down
gently, Rob will start by

building a bed of smaller trees
to cushion its fall,

then aim his face-cut straight
at it and pray he doesn't miss.

[Rob] I think we can do it.

- I think so, as long as it
stays together, all in peace.
- [Rob] Yep.

As long as everything
goes right.

Yeah, you got this.

[Rob] OK, I'll go start
slapping some snags

and get a good bed
down there for it.

[chainsaw buzzing]

[chainsaw buzzing]

[chainsaw winding down]

What do you think?
Good enough?

[Jim] That looks good, bud.

Yeah, that's a great little
corridor to sh**t for.

Throw it right there.
I think it'll be perfect.

Yeah, that should save it
right out to the tippity-top.

- [Rob] Hopefully.
- Hopefully.

[hand smacks gently]

OK, let's get this totem
on the ground, Jimmy.

[chainsaw buzzing]

[chainsaw continues]

If it goes high, it's going to
break across the road

in the pile.

If it goes low, there's some
uglier ground down there

and some big windfalls
that could break over.

So it's got to go perfect right
down the corridor I created

for it and land on the bed.

We're good.

OK.

Oh, [bleep], thanks, Jimmy.

[chainsaw continues]

[ax pounding]

Moving at all?

- [Jim] Huh.
- [Rob] No?

[Jim] Not much, if it is.

It's talking,
but it's not moving.

It should be moving by now.

[breathes heavily]

[ax pounds loudly]

I'm gonna will you
to the ground.

- [tree creaking]
- There she goes.

Committed.

[popping]

- [bird squawking]
- [music plays]

[ax pounding]

[Rob] There she goes.

- [popping]
- [cracking]

Beauty.

- That sounded like a goal.
- [Rob] We saved it out.

That's a nice piece of wood.

I think Jerry will be
happy about that.

That was fun to watch.

Don't see too many totems
brought down.

[Rob] No.

This thing's going to make
a beautiful totem pole

in my eyes.

I was a little nervous
at first, because it's

pretty significant meaning
to Jerry,

and I'm glad we saved it out
for him.

[Jim] If everyone does
their job right, we'll get

a beautiful totem pole
out of this.

Job very well done, Rob.

Later that day, the next step
of the totem project begins

as loader operator
Garrett Hollinshead
arrives to deliver

the log to shore.

[Garrett] That is a big tree.

It's going to be important
when I grab onto the strap

that I don't nick
this tree or anything,

causing any damage.

So...

I'm going to lay it like that
and just be very gentle

when I grab it.

All right, here we go.

♪

[bleep]

She's heavy.

See how this goes, here.

[Critter] Not a bad job, boy.
Not bad, not bad.

[Critter] You're coming
with me now?

[Garrett] Yeah,
I'll hop in with you.

You should have stuck an extra
log on the driver's side then,

if you're getting in with me.

- [Critter] Gotta even out
this load here.
- Yeah.

[Critter] OK,
let's rock and roll.

[honking]

[Garrett]
If everything goes off without
a hitch, The First Nation will

be very happy.

They have a nice,
structurally sound piece

of wood to make
a beautiful totem out of.

[Critter] You're just gonna walk
right in there,

and offload me kind of front.
- OK.

[air brakes hiss]

[Garrett] Critter's just done
doing his wrappers right now.

We're going to take
this totem pole off,

and lay it down on some logs.

♪

- [bleep]
- [thud]

Holy [bleep].

Well, I think all in all,
other than the little

mishap unloading,

no real damage to the tree.

A couple little dirt marks,
but that'll clean up just nice.

I think they'll be happy.

It should carve up
pretty nice, so.

[Critter] Yeah, and I want to
see the end product.

Yeah, no, it should
look really good.

Now we just get it
in the water for them,

they'll be good to go.
- [Garrett] Yeah.

[Jared] It's a big honor
for this today,

and I'm just getting
a little nervous.

Hopefully, I don't do
any damage to it.

Now, it's Jared's turn to
complete the final step,

so the log can be towed off
to the totem carver.

Just got to be gentle
and make sure I get it right in

the balancing point right now.

It's heavy.
Heavy log, heavy log.

It's crucial I get it
right in the center

where I think it's gonna roll
down and not be marked up.

It's like a dance.
Be gentle.

Be cautious.
Respect her.

Get her down the skidway.

Perfect.

Whoo-hoo!

[reverse signal beeping]

Oh, that took a hell of a lot
of relief for that puppy.

Oh, man.

♪

At Kachelot Camp...

[Alicia] Let's get going
down the hill.

...the race to splash logs
before the barge arrives

is at a full sprint,

with fat truck driver
Alicia Pallan hauling

her second load of the day.

One of the things that
I'm looking out for

is we gotta try and stay

out of everybody's way,
but it can be

very intimidating.

There's not very many women
in the industry.

I grew up in the outdoors quite
a bit and seeing logging trucks

going up and down the road,

and I thought I always
wanted to do it,

so it was fairly easy

figuring out where you're going
when you already have spent

so many years in the bush.

We're going to go around
the switchback,

taking it nice and wide.

Looks like our water's
all working.

- [boom]
- [bleep]

- [boom]
- [bleep]

For [bleep] sakes!

Oh, [bleep] that's bad.

We got two flat [bleep] tires,

of course.

Sidewall's taken off of
one of them.

[bleep]

We're not going to be moving
for a while.

I'm blocking the road now.

[Alicia] You on this one, Ross?

[Ross, on radio]

I'm down by the bridge here.
Got a double-header.

I think I'm going to need
a hand if you can come

down here.

[Ross, on radio]

[bleep]

Oh, we're getting close
there, Jerry.

Yeah.

After a six-hour tow,
Jared and Chief Jerry Jack

arrive at Friendly Cove,
outpost to

the Mowachaht-Muchalaht
First Nations

and home to
their head totem carver.

[Jared] It's been a bit
of a journey.

We're just about in
through these islands

and around the corner is
Friendly Cove, so we're--

we're doing pretty good.

[Chief Jerry Jack]
We're doing really good.

- [Jared] You got her there?
- [Chief Jerry Jack] I got it.

Oh, here comes Sanford now.

- [Jared] Hey, Sanford,
how you doing?
- All right.

We got you a log.
It's the one you're looking for.

- [Jared] No knots,
no nothing, so...
- Perfect, I like it.

- [Sanford] Good.
- [Jared] Right on.

[Jared] Let's get it
up on the beach.

OK, that's probably good.

[Jared] Here you go.

We really want to make Jerry
proud because Jerry's done

a lot for my company,
and we are business partners

together in this.

So I think I hit a home run,
and I'm looking forward to

seeing this log take shape.

Thank you guys for, I mean,
I can't imagine what you guys

did to getting this log
out there.

I can't wait to get this pole
started out of this log.

Getting, you know, something--
make something special
out of it.

[Jared] OK, we're going to make
our way back to camp,

and we'll check in
in a few weeks.

[Matt] It's a little bit warmer
than it has been.

[Kate] Cloudy, but warmer.
I'll take it.

[Matt] Yeah, yeah.

Back at Kachelot,

new fallers Kate Johnson
and Matt Meckley look to

continue their successful start
on the job

with more money trees.

[Kate] Here's a couple
good ones.

[Matt] Oh, yeah.

Sharing the same
stump, essentially.

Look at that.

[Kate] This one looks like
it's leaning pretty hard,

is it?
- [Matt] Yeah, she's
way out there.

Kind of wants to go quarter
down towards the water there.

I don't know if it would quite
reach the water, though.

[Matt] No, I think it'd make it
to the high-water mark there.

I think that's
the best ground for it.

We're not going to be able to
fight the lean on this one.

It's just going to have to go
where it has to go,

and the name of the game is to
save it out, so we'll just do

the best we can.

What's going on with
this other one?

[Matt] I don't know.

Looks like the top kind of
hangs back a bit out that way.

[Kate] Hmm.

Then the challenge of this one,
look at this.

[Kate] Got some rot back there.

It's got a little bit more
side weight than I realize,

too, now that I'm standing
behind it here.

- Yeah.
- [Kate] But I think we could

still get it
to go up that way.

Yeah, I think that's
the best option for it.

[Kate] These two decent-sized
trees, the wood looks solid,

but they're both kind of
leaning opposite directions,

which is gonna be a little bit
of a challenge.

It would be easier in some ways
to cut this first,

but at the same time,
when you're making

your final cut, you're gonna be
a little bit underneath that

side weight.
- [Matt] Oh, yeah.

Maybe try to get this one
out first.

Yeah, that way we can cut up
that far corner on the leaner.

Yeah, yeah, and you can be
in a better spot cutting.

I like that plan.

To harvest a combined value of
up to 40 grand,

it's essential Kate and Matt
bring both trees down

completely intact.

To start, they'll counter
the first tree's lean with

a heavy face cut and use wedges
to force it over.

Then they'll drop the second
tree alongside it,

letting its natural lean
steer the fall.

I'll take this one,
because I think we're gonna do

this one first, right?
- Yeah.

- [Matt] And I guess
I will take...
- This other one down.

...leaner.

- [Matt] Let's get
this double down.
- Sounds good.

[chainsaw buzzing]

When this thing does go over,
I think we should watch out for

maybe some brushing
of this little tree, too.

[Matt] OK.
Sounds good.

All right, here we go.

So something that I like
to bring into the industry is

a little piece of
my family history.

And that's that my great,
great, great, great

fourth great aunt
is Annie Oakley.

Annie Oakley was a famous
sharpsh**ter in the late 1800s,

early 1900s.

At one point in time,
she was probably

the most famous woman
in the world.

And it wasn't just because
she was a woman, but she really

was, like, an amazing
sharpsh**ter and could

outshoot anybody.

Won almost all of
the competitions

that she entered.

Yeah, she was quite
a leading lady of her time.

So I definitely want to emulate
things about Annie Oakley

in my career and her
dedication to her craft

and her skill set.

And I kind of like
the parallels between

having a good aim

on the g*n and then also being
able to aim your trees and put

your trees where you want it.

So, her story and her dedication
to her craft is just
inspiring to me.

She's got some weight to her,
getting some wedges set,

and some of this is
starting to split.

[Matt breathes heavily]

- [Matt] Stupid tree.
- [Kate] We're not
getting any lift

because it's splitting
right there.

You want me to slice that off,
try to get into some solid wood

in there?
- [Matt] Yeah, go ahead.

- [Kate] Well, that should help.
- [Matt] Get another yellow in.

[Kate] Oh yeah.

Now I think we're getting
a little lift.

- [Matt] Yeah.
- [Kate] It's popping.

[Matt] She's moving.

[Kate] Top's moving,
and stuff's breaking.

[tree creaks]

Watch yourself.

- [popping]
- [suspenseful music plays]

She's going.

Watch that top.

[popping]

[Kate] Watch that tree.

- What a pain.
- Yeah.

She was heavy.

[Matt] Well, good spot.

[Kate] No, yeah,
it landed perfect.

Looks like it saved out.

[Matt] Yeah, I don't think
I heard it break at all.

Just made us work for it.
Jeez.

[Matt] Yeah, whew.

Well, I guess it's time
for me, huh?

Yep, you sure you don't want me
to do it now that you just

beat your guts out?
- No.

[Matt] I won't be
wedging this one.

No, this one's gonna
be the opposite.

[Matt] All right.

I think she's gonna
go quick.

[Kate] Oh, yeah.

[Matt] I did have a totally


I went to cosmetology school
and cut hair

and was a hairdresser.

Yeah, I was kind of
a different human back then.

Did it, it was cool, I worked
in a high-end hair salon

in downtown Chicago.

But you can't get me in
a small space like that with

other people.
I'd find some way to

get on someone's nerves
or make them mad at me.

So I moved out West and started
cutting logs and learning how

to stump trees and then just
progressively moved to being

a production timber faller.

So I went from cutting to
cutting, so I must like

cutting things.

I'm going to hit the trigger.

OK.

[buzzing]

[popping]

[Kate] Oh, god.

Oh, [bleep].

- [Matt] Son of a b*tch.
- [Kate] Oh, [bleep].

[Matt] Oh, she split.

- Where the rot was?
- [Matt] Yeah.

Well, we can't win them all,
I guess, right?

[Matt] No.

When you see a tree split
like that, it sucks.

But you can't let it
beat you up too much.

It's just a part of the job,
and sometimes things go the way

you want them to,
and sometimes they don't.

1,000 feet up,
the main logging road to water

is blocked, with Alicia's truck
down with two flats.

[Alicia] I can feel the clock
ticking every second.

My truck is holding up
production right now.

The other trucks aren't getting
to the beach, and if there's

no logs at the beach,
then there's no money.

- [Ross] Oh, wow.
- [Alicia] They're right gone.

[Ross] Look at that.

Well, this is an issue.

I mean, we're
blocking the road.

We got to get this cleaned up
here, so.

Hey, Tigger, can you grab
two three-piece and bring them

up to 4K here, please?

TS1.

[Tigger, on radio]

Double header, buddy.

[Tigger, on radio]

[Ross] In the logging world,
things go sideways daily.

I mean, say out of five days,
you're probably going to have

four days
with [bleep] ups.

I mean, you might get one day
where everything runs smooth.

Maybe two, but maybe none.

It can be challenging when
you've got machines down

and you've got a bunch
of people waiting

while everybody's sort of
trapped in behind it.

So it's urgent to get this
thing repaired and back down

hauling logs.

Yeah, it's a fresh road,
fresh blasting,

sharp rock, right?
Not very often you get
double headers, though.

We're gonna have to
unload this.

We've got to get
the mechanics up here.

We'll bring a couple of tires.

And we'll try to get this thing
out of the way as soon

as possible here.
Get her back hauling logs.

- [tool whirring]
- [pop]

Whoa.

Oof.

Wedge flew out of there.
That could have hurt.

Maybe, can you lift it up?

Take some of the pressure off,

so I don't have these wedges
popping out.

[Alicia] I'm just gonna ask
him to go forward a bit.

There, now it's not gonna
[bleep] with us

while we're doing that.

[Ross] There we go.
One tire off.

[Alicia] One more to go.

I really like working
at this company.

Jared's been a great boss,
and I really take pride in

doing my job
efficiently and quickly.

There you go.
Where's your bar at?

[Alicia] There is pressure to
get it done fast, and really,

every minute counts, so I do
feel pressure to get the wood

to the water.

[Ross] Yeah, this needs to
go way in here.

Yeah, we're way off here.

- [Alicia] Anyone know
what time it is?
- [Ross] Four.

[Alicia] [bleep], I didn't
think it was four o'clock yet.

[bleep] thing.

[mechanic] Yeah,
right there, right.

- [Ross] You want to
be the cincher?
- [Alicia] Sure.

All right.
We got one secured.

- [Ross] Go.
- [drill whirring]

- [Ross] There.
- [Alicia] OK.

[Ross] All right.
Good, good.

- [honking]
- Alicia's gonna head
to the beach.

This was a major setback
for us,

so we have to make up
for some lost time.

Put the scramble on.

[Ross] That's a big bundle.

[Jared]
That's gonna take a little
massaging to get up there.

[Ross] Got weight on it.

Barge day at Kachelot Creek.

After a mad dash through
hauling hiccups, Jared hopes

there's enough timber for

a $200,000 profit.

[Jared] Just barely
getting it on there.

Come on, baby.
Come on.

What's this stern crane
bundle weigh?

- [Lin, on radio] 54 ton.
- [Jared] 54 ton, yeah.

A heavy one.

♪

How are the bundles?

[Lin, on radio]

Definitely not what I want
to hear right now.

This doesn't look good, man.

My hair's gray,
but it's starting to

fall out now.

Kachelot Creek was supposed
to be my savior.

It was supposed to be
my ace in a hole.

So having the log barge
come in light,

it's a punch in the guts
right now.

What do you think we can do
to make changes?

We can't have this
happen again.

Like, this is tragic.

Snow's starting in the hills
a bit here, too.

That's disappointing.

[Jared]
Yeah, we worked our asses off,
but these light loads are

k*lling me.

It's gonna be
a real struggle.

We're going to have to think
outside the box.

Get people to work a little
longer, no time off for

the crew, get some more crew.

Snow's coming,
so that's a good incentive

just to keep rolling here.

[bleep]

[Ross] We just need more.
We got to do more.

The next barge has to be full.

Next barge will be full.
We'll make sure it's full.

You have my word.

Next time...

[Kate] We're doing our best,
but it's not working.

And I do not want this tree
to go sideways.

Because if it goes sideways,
it's going into the water.

- [Matt] Going.
- [Kate] That'd be a bad day.

- [Kate] Oh, god.
- [popping]

Oh.

[Jared] I'm falling behind,
but I got a plan in my head,

make some extra cash
to catch up.

I have an opportunity to buy
timber for pennies on

the dollar, all me and Ross
have to do is get this wood

on the barge
with no [bleep] ups.

Go where I tell you to go!

[Adrian] This is a major race
against time.

[Sue] No, no, no.
No.

[bleep]

[Jared] Everything
has to go right.

[Rob] Oh, oh [bleep], Jimmy.

It's a little more premature
than I was hoping.