04x01 - Alligator Alley

[bunniefuu]

[ alligator growling ]

[ bird calls ]

[ growling continues ]

captions paid for by
discovery communications

ryan: There's one.
That's right by our shelter.

[bleep] watch yourself.

Amber: Ryan!

Aah!

Narrator: One man and one woman

put their survival skills
to the ultimate test.

They have no water,
no food, and no clothes.

Oh, my gosh.

Their challenge
is to work together

and not only survive,
but thrive for 21 days

in the sweltering swamps
of the florida everglades...

Bring the machete!

All right, so it's the day
before I have to leave.

I'm really excited.

I am a little nervous
about a couple things,

but I really think
I'm ready for this.

These are the best
supporters I have --

my little man, eason,
and my little mini-me, leila.

You guys excited about
mommy going bye-bye?

Mm-hmm.

Kick some butt, mom.

Here goes nothin'.

Very, very excited.

It's been a
whirlwind of emotions

these -- this last week.

I've been training
mentally and physically

my entire life for a
situation like this one.

Whoo!

Next stop, the everglades.

Narrator: Covering
more than 2,000 sq

the everglades is the
largest subtropical wilderness

in the united states.

In this mysterious,
otherworldly environment,

where the elusive florida
panther st*lks its prey,

civilization disappears,

leaving behind
primitive wetlands

teeming with north america's
only poisonous water snake.

But the real rulers of
these deadly swamps

are the ferocious alligators,

some reaching 15 feet in length,

that can quickly transform
a tranquil, misty marsh

into a k*lling zone.

There's a lot of
creepy-crawlers out here.

Everything seems to move.

My name is amber hargrove.
I'm from fountain, colorado.

I am a u.S. Army instructor...

We're definitely gonna need this

to get through
where we're going.

...A mother of two children,
and a married, happy wife.

The army really helped me
become a great survivalist.

I've been training for this,
just like I did in the military.

I've had several hands-on
training with alligators.

Man: You got it.
You don't got it.

And with that, if I
do come in contact

with an alligator out here,

I will be ready
to rock 'n' roll.

Whoo!

Ryan: I'm feelin'
pretty comfortable

but once I get out there,

there's gonna be,
uh, many challenges.

My name's ryan holt.
Uh, I'm from maine.

And for a living,
I'm a wildcrafter,

and I collect wild medicines.

I was in the united states
marine corps for eight years.

After having been to
afghanistan and iraq,

multiple deployments
on the front lines,

I left the marines a
damaged and lost soul.

I was suffering with ptsd.

So I took to the
appalachian trail,

which is a 2,200-mile
hike from georgia to maine.

And it literally saved my life.

I'm taking on this challenge

as the ultimate test for
my skills and knowledge

so I can open up my own
wilderness survival school

and take out veterans
who are suffering from ptsd

using nature as a healing tool.

Let's get naked.

Being naked is not the
scariest part of this adventure

for 21 days.

It's meeting my partner.

If he has great survival
skills, I'll be really excited.

But I will have a hard
time if he's very hardheaded

because I'm used to being in
charge and being the leader.

All right.

Here goes nothin'.

What concerns me most

about not knowing who
my partner's gonna be,

they might have, uh,
a negative attitude.

They might have
some really bad energy

where we just don't connect,

and, um, we just can't
work together really well.

That's one of my bigger
concerns in this challenge.

[ sloshing ]

[ laughs ]

oh, hey. You're naked!

I misplaced my fig
leaf this morning.

Hey.

Amber. I'm ryan.

Ryan, nice to meet you.

It's a pleasure to
meet you, amber.

You ready to rock
this? Yeah, I'm ready.

All right. I'm excited.

Me too. Double five.

Narrator: Amber and ryan are
beginning their 21-day challenge

in the middle of florida's
hurricane season,

when intense, heavy rains
cause water levels to rapidly rise.

In this mostly flat environment,

ryan and amber's
best chance for survival

will be to trek through
the deadly swamp

and set up camp at the
highest elevation they can find.

Amber: We're in
this area, remotely.

Ryan: We're gonna need
to find some high ground,

so it looks like we're
gonna have to head

a little bit northeast,

up to this area.

Amber: Let's head northeast.

All right.

Oh, wow. Look at this bone.

Oh, my gosh.

That's a big-a*s bone.

I think there's another --

oh, there's more
of it. All that way.

Oh, my gosh. There's
the body, right there.

Ryan: One of my primary worries

about surviving here
in the everglades

are the various
types of predators.

Um, 12-foot alligators,

they could definitely do some
damage and tear me apart.

I was definitely
concerned about snakes.

One of the first and
foremost venomous...

[ creature snarling ]

oh, my god.

[ snarling continues ]

[bleep]

that we just heard
was a florida panther,

something that I did not
expect to encounter down here,

as they're pretty
elusive and endangered.

I can add that to one
my biggest concerns.

There's another palm
fruit. Oh, yeah. What a find.

I just found this glass bottle.

It's a pretty good vessel,

somethin' to hold
water for later.

Once we get some pretty
high ground straight ahead,

the highest ground
we've seen yet,

it might be worth checkin'
out for -- for a base camp.

Oh, my god. We're
surrounded by bodies of water,

which is a big no-no
for making a house.

My concerns is worried
about the gators crossing

because we're on
two bodies of water.

It makes me
tremendously nervous.

Ryan: I think we should
just walk this ridge,

see how far that water goes.

This one goes a ways. Okay.

But this is definitely
the highest point,

if it's gonna rain. Okay.

Ryan: Flooding can be
a huge problem out here,

so being in an elevated
position is extremely important.

This is a giant tree here.

It's... All right.

If you want to set
up our shelter here...

Shelter's gonna be
right up against this tree,

and a california king-size bed.

Deal. Deal.

I'll get the base of
the fire right there,

right next to our shelter.

All right. I'm gonna
cut this stuff down

and at least clear the
-- clear the grounds.

[ thunder rumbling ]

amber: We're just
a little bit concerned

about the thunder right now

because if we don't have
our shelter built in time,

we're gonna be
completely rained on.

Biggest priority is trying
to get the fire protected

and our shelter built
because without the fire

we're gonna be eaten
alive by the bugs out here.

This is really
fine plant fibers.

All it takes is a small
spark to get that going.

That's pretty badass.

Soon as the breeze
hit us, I knew it.

I was like, "it's comin' down.

We need to get this
shelter up, like, now."

it's comin' down.

I can't believe how
much it's raining right now.

This is insane.

Pretty good water.

Put your mouth right
there. You ready?

Wow, that collects it
really fast in this rain.

[ thunder rumbling,
rain pouring ]

ryan: So this is
night number one.

And this rain storm came on
pretty strong and pretty fast.

[ thunder crashes ]

amber: Holy [bleep]

amber: I've got, like,
huge welts on my body.

I have so many mosquito bites
on my vag*na. It hurts so bad.

Oh [bleep] he's a big one.

[bleep] damn!

Ryan: Last night, we got soaked.

Along with big storms
comes rising waters.

Now we got an 8-foot
gator as our neighbor.

Amber: She's comin'
out of the water.

Oh, yeah. She's lettin'
us know she's here.

The gator keeps swimming
closer and closer to us.

Like, she knows -- you
can see she's lookin' at us.

They have poor vision,
but far away, they can see.

But just up-close, they
don't have good vision

'cause they're cross-eyed.

So they can see us
right now perfectly,

just fine, movin' around.

Narrator: Before they
began their journey,

a panel of experts
gave amber and ryan

a primitive survival
rating, or psr.

Ryan's marine experience
and expert hunting abilities

have set his
initial rating at 7.9.

Amber's army training

and extensive preparation
for surviving in the everglades

place her just a
notch below, at 7.8.

During the next three weeks,
their psrs will be re-evaluated

based on how well they
accomplish their goal

of thriving in the
florida swamps.

I say we go get one.

Might as well.
It's worth a shot.

One what? One gator.

I'm not scared of alligators

because I have had the
training that prepares me for it.

Knowing there's at least a
half a dozen alligators out there,

ranging from maybe
12 feet to 3 feet,

I'm just not walkin'
out there. I'm sorry.

Like, I don't want
you to walk out there.

I live for that stuff.
That's fun to me.

I'm from northern maine.

We don't have gators
for 2,000 miles. I'm no

maybe in 10 days, when I
still haven't had anything to eat,

I may feel a little differently.

But, at the moment,

I don't see any reason
to harvest an alligator.

Maybe we can find some
snakes or some spotted gar.

That would be ideal.

Amber: I am so excited that
there's alligators out here.

We're gonna have to get one.

If we don't, I am gonna
be so disappointed.

Oh, don't move.

Whatever it was,
it moved quickly.

It's getting a
little bit deeper.

Guess I have to turn around.

[ mosquitos buzzing ]

oh, my god! These
[bleep] mosquitoes.

We're bein' attacked
by mosquitoes right now,

like, severely bad.

And, um, I'm just hopin'
these b*stards will go away.

They're biting me.

Narrator: Mosquitoes are
attracted to the lactic acid

in ryan and amber's sweat.

The tiny insects can
sense the chemical

from up to 100 feet away.

This sucks.

[ sighs ]

last night was pretty
traumatic for me

because I've got, like,
huge welts on my body.

For some reason, they're
biting me more than my partner.

So I created my own grass skirt
so that I could cover my vag*na

so that the mosquitoes
don't eat me alive.

But no matter what I do...

They just don't want
to leave me alone.

You're, like, dousing in sweat.

Ryan: It's day 3.

We still haven't
had anything to eat.

So I'm gonna go
out on a solo hunt.

Amber and I are in desperate
need of some protein.

We're feelin' the hunger.

So I'm gonna head out
into the swamp today

and see what I can find.

Fingers crossed I'm gonna
come back with some food.

[bleep]

this could be deadly.

Deep water is where
the alligators like to lurk.

You need to stay alert.

I'm always looking around,

looking for things
that could be a danger.

[bleep] that.

What to do?

That's a fish right there.

Aah.

Aah! [bleep]

whoo!

Amber: Oh!

Whoo-hoo!

Oh, my god!

Look what we got for dinner!

Oh, my god.

[ gasps ] he looks amazing.

I've never seen a catfish
look like that before.

He's very -- got
really spiky gills.

That was so perfect.
I can't believe it.

[ birds calling ]

there's tons of meat back there.

Ryan: Right?

[ laughs ] it's amazing.

I got catfish
eyeballs for dessert.

Ew. Catfish eyeballs,

the only natural
saline in nature.

So it has salt that your body
needs in survival situations.

I hear they taste
like salt water.

[ giggles ] it is salty.

Narrator: Having gotten
past the first 72 hours

successfully acclimating
to their environment,

amber and ryan are hit
by another massive storm,

forcing them to hunker
down and wait it out.

[ thunder crashes ]

holy [bleep]

it's five days since
their last meal.

With a break in the weather,

ryan gets his first opportunity
since he caught the catfish

to venture into the swamp
in search of more protein.

Ryan: The level of the water,
it's up about another foot.

And all those little
islands with cypress trees,

they're all submerged.
They're all underwater.

Well, the good news
is the higher waters

will bring in more wildlife,

making this an even more
target-rich environment.

I'm not gonna be able
to take another night

bein' attacked by
150 mosquitoes.

So today I'm gonna
weave this big blanket,

so we can just lay over all of
us, so it will cover everything.

That way, we're enclosed in it.

Hopefully it works.

Ooh, hang on.

Oh [bleep] yeah.

He's a big one.

Water moccasin.

Just came up on it.

If I hadn't been
paying attention,

I would've gotten bit.

I'd been out of here.

Damn.

Amber! Bring the machete!

Ooh, hang on.

Just came up on it.

If I hadn't been
paying attention,

I would've gotten bit.

I'd been out of here.

Damn.

Amber! Bring the machete!

Amber: Are you okay, ryan?

It's not gettin' away.

Boy, this is a fat snake.

So proud of you.

There you go. Oh, my god.

That looks amazing.

Oh, my god. I'm so hungry.

From the moment I had
the idea to even be out here

and accept this challenge,

I told myself that
I'm gonna thrive.

I'm not gonna
hang on by a thread,

come day 21, and
crawl out of here.

Wait, it might be eggs.
Let's not break 'em.

We can eat 'em.

Amber: Ryan is
such a good hunter,

so it's, like, natural to him to
go out there and get anything.

But with him, I'm able
to teach him things, too,

like it's okay to eat snake eggs
or how to actually skin a snake.

We can save the skin.
Make you a p*nis cover with it.

We could.

I don't know if that'll fit.

Oh, there's no
judging here. Okay?

[ laughs ]

snake eggs, just like I said.

There's five of 'em. Oh, yeah?

Huge. So we can eat those, too.

Nice. Those are so proteinable.

Ryan: I've never had
a snake egg in my life,

and we're gonna try this out.

It's like boiling an egg.

We found shells
from apple snails.

You can stick 'em
right on the fire.

And using the shell as a vessel,
you can boil water with that.

No.

So this is ryan's first attempt

at eating snake eggs,
boiled snake eggs.

Poached egg, hard-boiled.

Mmm.

Oh, my gosh.

Told you they were good.

Tastes like solid egg whites.

Mm-hmm.

That's amazing.

Ryan: Not too long after we
woke up, gators started growling.

Narrator: In breeding season,
the everglades alligators

are at their most
aggressive and dangerous.

Their frequent bellowing
is to attract a mate

and threaten intruders.

[ alligators growling ]

we're hearing ones
down by our camp.

We're hearing
ones up this creek,

ones over here, which
we've never heard before

or knew that they were there.

And this one's on
the opposite side

from where we have
been seeing them.

[ alligator growling ]

there's one. There's
right by our shelter.

[ growling continues ]

so there's been a bunch
of gator calls this morning,

hissing at each other.

It sounds almost
like a mating call.

It's kind of weird. At the
end of the day, I mean,

they're just
beautiful creatures,

but really good meat.

Amber: Why don't we go
together and go hunt a gator?

We could try that.

That would be kind
of exciting, wouldn't it?

[ laughs ] yeah.

Ryan: I'm finally just gonna
have to side with amber

and go on a gator hunt together.

She definitely
shouldn't go alone.

Maybe we can just
get a smaller one,

and that'll give us enough
meat to last a few days.

Are you ready to get
goin' for alligator huntin'?

Yeah.

Game on.

She's hungry, and so am I.

But I have a small
amount of fear.

Gators out here are
definitely a reason to be fearful

'cause the only ones I've
seen out there are monsters.

I saw this trail right here
going through these weeds.

It looked wide enough to
be a gator, and I looked over.

There's a gator
nest right in here.

They like to make their nests

in the middle of these sawgrass.

Oh, I see it.

Right?

All right. I'll go over there.

Yeah? Let's go.

I'm not.

Why don't you want to go?

I'm not stupid.

I don't, like, not
think things through.

You haven't found a gator yet.

Yeah, 'cause I'm
not goin' in there.

You should come with
me as my battle buddy.

No.

To be in the middle
of the swamp,

where you can't see,
entering a gator nest

with a half a dozen
gators that we know of,

it just...

Hello?

Amber: My partner doesn't
want to come play with me.

Ooh.

I've been through some pretty
sketchy areas around here,

and that's one
place I'm not going.

It's exciting, hunting gators.

You get that adrenaline.

I got to train with them, so I
know how to react around 'em.

If a gator comes up next to you,

just stand still like a tree,
and they won't touch you.

There's a gator right there.

It's about an 8-foot alligator.

Oh [bleep]

oh, my god.

[bleep]

there's a gator right there.

It's about an 8-foot alligator.

Amber, stay there.

Look to the right.
You'll see a gator.

Oh, my gosh.

It's moving away from us.

I don't see anything in here.

Amber: I was
hopin' to go in there

and least see a small
one or medium-sized one,

but my partner doesn't
want to come play with me.

I'm done playin'.

We're on a gator hunt.

You have to go to places
like that to catch a gator.

There is no exceptions.

There is an exception.
It's called thinking.

It's called you being a [bleep]

you need to, like, get
over your fear of gators.

I don't -- I'm not
scared of gators.

Whatever. The point is,
you're my battle buddy,

and you're supposed to go with
me if I need you to go with me.

Not if my life is on the
line in a situation like this.

Your life would
not be on the line.

You're overreacting. It's fine.

We don't have to
go in there now.

We can keep forging on.

No. This is over.

Let's do this. Let's
go find a gator.

We could do much more together.

Amber: I don't
think that he really

if we're going
into the gator lair,

yeah, it's 'cause we're
going to catch a [bleep] gator.

He's just bull [bleep]
and he's a p*nsy.

Yesterday was supposed
to be really exciting.

Didn't go as planned.

I called my partner a [bleep]

when I shouldn't
have called him that.

I'm sorry for yellin' at you.

It's all right.

It was wrong of me to
not pay attention to you,

and I should have.

I really just didn't mean that.

I think you just
really wanted a gator.

I'm hungry.

If a gator's on
land, no problem.

But let's not put ourselves
in inherent danger.

Okay, deal.

We need to get protein in
us today, or I'm gonna die.

Feel like I'm dying.

Narrator: In their
first two weeks,

amber and ryan have
consumed more calories

than most who have survived
the "naked and afraid" challenge...

...But they are way below their
daily target of 2,000 calories

as they continue to burn
through their reserves.

Ooh.

There's definitely
a hole up here.

When you get 'em like this,
they swim deeper into the hole,

and they expand all their fins,

all the sharp
parts of their fins.

So they're hangin'
on extremely tight.

Aah!

Catfish.

Makes more sense
to be living on fish

instead of putting ourselves
in dangerous situations.

And if we're just eatin' fish,

everybody's happy
except for the fish.

Amber: Oh, my
gosh. Look at that.

Ooh.

That's insane.

That's, like...

Mmm, it just fell right
off the entire side.

It's huge. It's like two steaks.

Oh, my god. My stomach.

[ retching ]

ryan: You still
feelin' nauseous?

My stomach's churning.

Well, I hope you
feel better soon.

I hope it passes quick, and
it's not a debilitating thing.

You got a long way to go.

I'll be okay.

Ryan: Amber is
not feeling very well.

We've ingested all the same
stuff, the water, the catfish.

[ retching ]

she gettin' sick?

Cameraman: Yep.

[ moans ]

[ sniffles ]

[ moans ]

[ sniffles ]

well, that sucks 'cause
that was my dinner.

[ sighs ]

that was gross.

How you feelin'?
Better that it came up?

Uh, a little bit. Yeah.

[ bird calling ]

how you feelin'?

Like [bleep] yeah?

The pain is, like, all
over my abdominal area

and my intestines,
like, really bad.

It's just getting worse.

I thought I'd be okay,

[bleep] hurts. But it really

ryan: Amber is in a lot
of pain right now, and

she sees it as a
sign of weakness,

so it's got to be
pretty serious.

Like, this is t*rture.

It's, like, really t*rture.

Got to call the medic.

Robert: Where's the pain at?

My intestines.

My body aches so
bad, and I don't know

if it's just from the
water or the catfish.

This is absolutely miserable.

[ monitor beeps ]

robert: Until further
exam from a doctor,

once you get her
inside a facility,

they can do some more
testing to find out if it's dysentery

or some other bacterial disease.

Amber: I just feel like death
is on my stomach right now.

I just don't want to put
myself through this pain.

I'm ready to go.

Narrator: With amber's
intestinal condition worsening,

she is advised to receive
additional medical attention,

forcing her to
tap out on day 16.

Dang, it hurts. Thank you.

Her intestines, her stomach
was just twisting and turning.

And she was sick,
and she was crying.

I can only imagine how
much it must have sucked.

Oh, god.

This experience
has been amazing,

but this is just too much
for my body to handle.

I'm in pain.

Ryan: I'm gonna miss amber.

I feel bad about her leaving.

And being solo for the
rest of this challenge

is definitely going to be,
you know, a little bit different.

It's gonna be, uh, a challenge.

[ groaning ]

today I'd like to
make a backpack,

as well as a woven basket.

And that way, I'll be able to
carry a lot more vegetation

when I go foraging

or when I capture a
bunch of crawdads by hand.

I'll have someplace to put them.

To sustain my life for
the next three days,

I'm gonna need protein.

As I'm nearing the
extraction day on day 21,

I'm gonna need that energy.

But no catfish come
back to that hole in --

all day yesterday.

Nothin' today.

The only thing that seems to
be left around here is alligators,

so I got to put my
hesitations aside

and just get out there
and get myself an alligator.

I'm gonna be making

one of the giant, like,
boomsticks with a noose on it.

Here, I've got my
12-foot boomstick.

Um, I've also got
my vine, natural vine,

that was completely woven.

And that's gonna be
the noose at one end.

And I'm gonna pull
it from the other end

once that's around
the gator's neck.

[ splashing ]

I just heard this intense
splashing around over there.

My heart's racin' right now.

It's runnin' a thousand
miles a minute.

Try to maintain a
very calm presence.

Stay there.

Whoo!

Alligator boomstick-noose.

He ain't goin' anywhere
with this thing on him.

Really tight.

Oh, we're gonna go ahead
and take care of this one now.

[bleep] [bleep]

[bleep] [bleep]

[bleep]

narrator: Before ryan
began his 21-day survival test

in the florida everglades,
he and his partner

were each given a primitive
survival rating, or psr.

After almost two and half weeks,

amber succumbed
to food poisoning

and was forced to tap out.

This will have a considerable
effect on her final psr score.

Ryan's final rating
will be determined

by how well he
fares in his quest

to not only survive,
but thrive on his own,

battling the elements

and the dangerous
creatures of the swamps.

Whoo!

Alligator boomstick-noose.

Really tight.

Oh, we're gonna go ahead
and take care of this one now,

with this dull-a*s machete.

[bleep] [bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep]

all right.

It wasn't very clean,
but it was quick.

Remember when
amber called me a [bleep]

and said I was
scared of alligators?

Hah!

I should, uh, make
a smoker of sorts

before I start
processing this gator.

I need this protein.

I need this energy to get me
through the next several days,

all the way to extraction.

So none of this
meat's going to waste.

Thunderstorms are nearby,
and it definitely worries me.

I need to make this
work right the first time.

Just got to hold about
90% of the smoke in.

That's my goal.

[ thunder crashes ]

oh [bleep]

so we get a fire going here

and then move the
fire into the smoker.

[ thunder rumbling ]

here it is.

This is really
just unbelievable.

This is like an oven. It's
not getting wet, either.

So I'm about to try
my first piece of gator.

Amber, I wish you were
here to enjoy this bite.

This one's for you.

Mmm.

I've been really tryin' to
come up with the perfect sign

to hang on my shelter
before I head off to extraction,

the perfect word that would
sum up my experiences

out here in the everglades.

This is great.

Holy cow.

I made it this far,
but it's not over yet.

I still got to get
to extraction.

I have no idea how
far I've got to go,

and I don't know the terrain
that I'll be goin' through.

I'm pretty sure it's
not gonna be that dry.

Narrator: The recent storm
has raised water levels.

Ryan's trek through
the swamps to extraction

will be wet and treacherous,

with a greater
amount of alligators

and water moccasins
to contend with.

If he can navigate to
where the swamps give way

to this open area in
the marshy grasslands,

he will be rescued by airboat.

Can't wait to get out of here.

There's a lot in there
that could hurt me.

I'm gonna miss
having amber here.

Another set of eyes and
ears would really help.

You can't see
underneath the lily pads,

and it's definitely
water moccasin territory.

Not knowing how many --

there could be
hundreds of 'em in there.

I can't see.

This is so sketchy.

Whoa. What was that?

Oh, my god.

Five feet away from
me, a giant gator.

That's her, right there.

Yeah, this is definitely
an area I want to avoid.

This is the
alligator flag ponds.

Goin' that way.

Whew.

Definitely something
I don't want to run into

on extraction day.

That could have
been very dangerous.

You got to stay aware of
your entire surroundings,

everything at your feet,
everything at eye level,

everything in the
distance, everything.

It could be extremely
easy to get turned around

because everything
looks the same.

I could easily get lost if I
don't maintain my bearings.

I think I see a lighter spot
in the landscape up ahead.

I'm gonna move that way.

This has got to be it.

Now what?

[ vehicle approaches ]

oh, my god.

Over here!

This challenge was huge for me.

It is one of the most
profound experiences

I've ever had in my entire life.

Whoo-hoo!

Yes!

Been through some rough
times in these past few years,

and I was more lost
than I've ever been.

So to come out here and
have nature continue to heal me,

I'm just so grateful for
the entire experience.

Whoo!

Wanting to be a
teacher and guide people

and take people out on
wilderness expeditions,

I couldn't ask for
a better experience

to really build that up.

Aye-aye-aye-aye-aye!

It's, uh, huge to
prove to myself

that I really came out
here to the everglades

and thrived for 21 days.

Narrator: Attempting to survive

in the oppressive conditions
of the florida everglades

has had a profound
effect on the survivalists,

both mentally and physically.

In spite of their successes,
over the course of 16 days,

amber lost 14 pounds.

And in three weeks, ryan
lost a total of 28 pounds.

Based on their performance,
their psrs were re-evaluated.

Because amber had to
be medically evacuated,

her rating drops
from a 7.8 to a 7.4.

Ryan excelled on his own

and successfully
completed the challenge,

raising his psr from 7.9 to 8.3.

All right. I'm back in colorado.

I'm gonna get to see
my kids for the first time.

Mommy, yay!

Mommy, I love you!

Mommy!

Oh, my god.

This is how you
have your first meal.

I'm headed straight
back to my land

and get this project
off the ground,

building a wilderness retreat.

I'm gonna call it the
human nature hostel.

The ideas and the
vision's already implanted.

It's well under way, just
got a few more steps to take.

Narrator: In the end,

amber and ryan put
themselves to the ultimate test

and discovered
just what it takes

to survive and thrive...

I'm so happy. I
could cry right now.