July 20

The truckers have delivered the fragile 135-foot derrick to the new MGM exploration site, but before it can be erected, they must also transport the 80-ton substructure that will form its base. At 160,000 pounds, the base must be broken into separate loads, the combined weight of which makes them the heaviest--and most dangerous--loads the ice will face all season. Veteran trucker Bear Swenson and Arctic Ice Road rookie Alex Debogorski are entrusted with the challenge. This is the heaviest load of Alex's ice road career. Compounded by on-going and increasing health problems, the pressure on this trucker is rising fast.

Bear and Eric must haul a boiler and a flare stack--two critical pieces of equipment--to Langley at the same time that a polar bear is spotted in the area. In this region of the Arctic, polar bears have been known to kill humans, so the truckers must now be on guard against this new danger. Rick is irate about a 5-day-long trip that his bosses assign him, and his frustration mounts along with his threats to quit. Alex's health continues to deteriorate and he must be med-evaced to the Yellowknife hospital, his fate unknown.

Historically, keeping the peace in Alaska has been a unique challenge. After all, how do Alaska State Troopers keep the peace in a state two and half times the size of Texas? Geo will find out when he joins a team of recruits for an intense survival course at Alaska's Trooper Academy in Sitka, investigates caribou "crime" scenes with Wildlife Troopers in the Brooks Mountain Range, and helps the sergeant at the northernmost Trooper post in America to hunt for alcohol smugglers and arrest criminals in the remote arctic bush villages outside Kotzebue.

The promise of gold has lured men north to Alaska for more than 100 years. Learn how individual prospectors around the state use ingenious techniques (including a giant underwater vacuum) to extract the gold. Watch as a team of hard rock miners in the mining town of Wiseman blast through 250 feet of rock in the hopes of hitting the mother lode. Join host Geo Beach as he reveals the guts, self-reliance and ingenuity it takes to prosper in this challenging land.