Survivorman- Canyonlands
The red rock Canyonlands of Utah- the home of Butch Cassidy, mountain lions, extreme temperatures, and, for seven days, Les Stroud, who with nothing but a broken-down bicycle, his multitool, and a couple corn chips demonstrates how to survive alone in this desolate environment.
Although his winter visit to Canyonlands allows him to avoid the 100°+ F weather, it could be argued that to survive here in winter is equally dangerous. Freezing temperatures at night and hot weather during the day put any traveler at risk of both hypothermia and dehydration. Furthermore, experiencing both these extremes regularly is exhausting to the body, which has an even more difficult time thermo-regulating without a reliable source of water.
Even though he awakes every morning to frost, Stroud does not find much snow to eat or many puddles because the daytime sun evaporates all the water. The few puddles he finds are so small that he must use a tube from his bicycle as a straw to get to them.
Stroud brings along a survival tool to test- magnesium flint. It works by scraping off a little pile of magnesium dust and surrounding the dust with tinder (dry juniper). Then he uses his knife to hit the flint and make a spark. Right away the spark catches, and he has a big fire.
Corn chips are also good for keeping a fire. The oils in the chip burn long and hot. Cow patties smolder for several hours, so Stroud recommends burning a patty if you want to keep a fire going without wasting firewood.
To look for more water, he follows a cattle trail down a canyon. The riverbed is dry, but he finds a cave for shelter. Most of the caves are filled with pack rats and bats, which can carry the black plague, or insects that can cause anaphylactic shock with one bite.
He smokes his cave out very slowly and carefully. Too much heat at once can cause thermal cracks that will bring rocks down upon his head.
He builds some deadfall traps, and on his fifth day of survival, he finally catches a ground squirrel. Squirrels can also carry the plague, so he is sure to cook it very well. He eats it all except for the stomach and intestines, and he saves the bones for a calcium-boost “breakfast.” Before he eats the meat, however, he eats a few juniper berries, which he says taste terrible but prepare the stomach for digestion.
By day six, Stroud is very weak and decides he must hike out of the canyon while he still has the energy. Running the cameras has really weakened him this time, and he even leaves one behind for the crew to come find later.
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