Alone (US) · Season 9
Big River, near Makkovik
North Atlantic Labrador — stunted boreal forest, fog off the sea, and a river that can't be waded.
Labrador, Canada
Where on earth
Satellite imagery flying in from a world view to Big River, near Makkovik, Labrador, Canada.
- Biome
- Subarctic coastal boreal
- Latitude
- ~55° N
- Winter lows
- -25 to -35 °C
- Key food
- Char, brook trout, moose
- Big predators
- Black bear, wolf, polar bear (rare, coastal)
The country
Coastal Labrador is a different flavor of boreal: shorter trees, more exposed rock, tannin-dark rivers, and near-constant fog off the North Atlantic. Big River drains a wide inland basin down to the sea near Makkovik — moose country upriver, char and salmon in the estuary.
Why the show came here
It's remote enough to feel genuinely alone, cold enough to force real winter planning, and food-rich enough that a strong fisher/trapper can actually gain weight. The wet cold, however, is what wins.
Planner-relevant notes
Wet-cold protocols beat dry-cold protocols here. Bring redundant firestarting, and design your shelter for a wet snowpack, not a dry one. Fog eats visibility — mark trails, not just a home camp.
Field notes
- Salt-air corrosion is real; strip and oil metal every week.
- Char in a set-net produces protein for days if you can smoke it.
- Fog and wet make navigation dangerous — never travel without a return line.