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Narrator: In the Pacific Northwest,
filmmakers from National Geographic Channel
are following a legendary wild man named Mick Dodge.
Mick Dodge: A lot of animals move through here.
Narrator: Over the last 25 years,
Mick's perfected the art of scavenging,
finding food in the least likely of places.
Mick Dodge: See that?
Elk died.
Coyotes draggin' the bones from somewhere.
Really old.
Here's another one.
Let's see if there's any marrow in there.
Narrator: Bone marrow is the perfect mountain man snack.
Only a half ounce is packed with over ten grams of fat.
Mick Dodge: I want to see if we can crack these bones.
See this is marrow right here.
Pretty old.
Mmm.
Well that's really good.
Mmm.
Meaty, yeah, tastes like chicken.
Narrator: 25 years ago,
a man named Mick Dodge left the modern world behind.
Mick ventured deep into the wilderness.
He made his home in trees,
hidden in the moss.
And to this day, he's still out there.
In the wilderness of Washington State,
on the Olympic Peninsula,
lies the Hoh Rainforest.
The place Mick Dodge calls home.
Mick Dodge: I need to wake myself up and get going.
Narrator: This morning,
Mick's up earlier than usual,
ready to start the day.
Mick Dodge: Some people go to the spa.
I go to the mouth of the waterfalls.
Time to stand in the shower
and turn my heart into a flower.
Whoo, whoo!
Narrator: In 41 degree waters,
Mick's dip only lasts a few minutes.
Mick Dodge: Whoo!
Narrator: But with the shower vacant,
he can think of someone else who could use a bath.
Mick Dodge: Okay, I took my shower,
now it's your turn.
Andres Vasquez: Alright, I'll do it.
Mick Dodge: [laughing].
Andres Vasquez: [yelling].
Mick Dodge: That'll wake you up in the morning, boy!
[laughing].
Ah, it's a cold one, laddie!
Narrator: Mick and the crew are feeling clean.
And that's a good thing,
because today they're headed out of the woods
and into the city.
Mick Dodge: My home is in the wild and off the grid
but that does not mean that I never visit
the modern world.
Narrator: When winter's approaching,
Mick makes an annual trip into Forks, Washington,
to pick up gunpowder, candles and lamp oil.
The essential tools he needs to survive
the cold months ahead.
Mick Dodge: Sometimes, I need things from
civilization that I cannot find out here.
When I go, I try to get in and out and if possible,
not be seen.
Narrator: With temperatures dropping fast,
it's time for Mick to risk a trip into town,
a journey that often comes with conflict.
Mick Dodge: People coming at you
with trucks and guns goin',
"What are you doing walkin' on my land?"
They think you're a derelict or homeless.
They think you're, uh, up to something.
"You can't come in here without shoes on,
get outta here."
They don't know what the hell to do with ya.
"Is this guy; is he breakin' a rule or
a law here or what?"
I've been learning from this forest and
this mountain for, uh, four generations.
My granddaddy and dad, they were, uh, Dodge.
They were people always on the escape.
Dodging modern life and they dodged their way
all the way out here.
Woman Backpacker: How long have we been out here?
Did you look at the [inaudible].
Mick Dodge: I hear somebody.
Narrator: Mick's still 12 miles outside town.
Mick Dodge: I hear them heel-pounders
through the ground.
Narrator: And encountering city people
this deep in the woods is like spotting aliens
from another planet.
Woman Backpacker: Look at that.
Mick Dodge: I watch people come out here, backpackers.
You know they got on those big thick boots.
They got on their rain gear.
The only they're missing is a damn oxygen bottle going,
[inhales] "Oh, not here or there."
"Ah, you see that tree over there?"
I think I'll uh, make like every other animal
in the forest right now and uh, find a good little
hiding place and uh, keep my distance.
Narrator: He's spent the last 25 years dodging
civilization and in only seconds,
he disappears into his surroundings.
Mick Dodge: I say we just crawl in this log,
wait a while.
Let them go on by.
Come on, follow me.
Let's get ourselves down and quiet.
Narrator: He blends in, remaining motionless,
to avoid detection no matter what.
Mick Dodge: [sniffs].
Hmm, you smell 'em?
Yeah, they're getting closer.
Synthetic animal moving through the moss lands.
Be real quiet.
Woman Backpacker: So we want to go this way?
Man Backpacker: [inaudible].
Woman Backpacker: Then we're not too far off.
Mick Dodge: [laughing].
Narrator: Mick's finally rid of his unwanted company,
but he knows it's only the beginning of today's
encounter with civilization.
Mick Dodge: Let's do it.
Narrator: Only a few miles down the trail,
he reaches the edge of the Hoh Rainforest.
Mick Dodge: They lock you up.
They lock you up.
First thing I do is cross over the barrier.
You always come to the gates in life.
Narrator: For Mick, this fence represents all
that's wrong with modern man's idea of wilderness.
Mick Dodge: I hate gates.
A lot of people are under the impression that there's
wild still left out here and um, it's gated.
And what I suggest to anybody to figure this out,
just wake up in your city, your suburb,
pick a mountain in the distance and just try
to walk directly to it.
You can't do that.
You gotta jump fences.
Now I've gotta get on the road, here.
Narrator: After slipping past this fence,
he reaches interstate 101.
Mick Dodge: Barrier.
Narrator: The main artery into Forks and
the first asphalt Mick's seen in months.
Mick Dodge: Why a two-footed animal would make
a surface like this, hard to imagine.
Very *** the foot and it's ***
the body and you can even feel the chemicals
that come through it.
As you begin to adjust and adapt your feet
to the forest, you find it much harder
to step into concrete.
Narrator: Before his feet can adapt to enemy turf,
an unfamiliar sound barrels toward him.
Mick Dodge: You hear that?
[cars approaching].
Wow.
Two, three thousand pounds of metal,
zipping down the road not paying attention
to a damn thing.
I gotta go where those machines can't go.
Narrator: To stay safe,
Mick decides to avoid the road and
stick to the forest path.
Mick Dodge: Just gonna head this way.
Narrator: But unfortunately,
it's a stretch thick with brambles.
Mick Dodge: Into the briar patch.
Take small steps and slowly feel your feet and
if you feel a sticker, pull back.
Narrator: In thickets like these,
his clothing gives him a distinct advantage.
Mick Dodge: My clothes are ah, animal skins.
And so as I move softly, it has no reason to grab
a hold of me like that,
'cause I'm moving with animal skins.
As you come out, "Look mom, no blood!"
Run through there?
Nah, ha, ha, ha, pay the price.
All right, here we go!
Narrator: Mick's making good time
staying off the main road.
But it seems even out here,
he isn't alone.
[car door shuts].
Narrator: 5 miles outside Forks, Washington,
off-the-grid pioneer Mick Dodge is making a
rare trip into the modern world to pick up supplies.
Mick Dodge: Stepping out of the wild.
Narrator: On the way,
he's having trouble avoiding civilization.
[car door shuts].
Though his instinct is to hide.
Mick Dodge: It looks like we got somebody
broke down over here.
Narrator: Mick can't ignore someone in trouble.
Mick Dodge: Hello!
Woman: Woah!
Mick Dodge: Hope I didn't scare you.
Woman: Yeah, you scared me.
Mick Dodge: Did I?
I'm sorry, yeah.
[laughing].
Woman: What are all those cameras doing?
Mick Dodge: They, uh, they're with me.
Havin' some car trouble?
Woman: Yeah, I just broke down.
Are you, walking around?
Mick Dodge: I live out here.
Woman: You live in the property over there?
Mick Dodge: No, no, I live out here, in the woods.
Where my feet are standing.
Where, uh, where you from?
[laughing].
Woman: [laughing].
I'm from France.
Mick Dodge: France, France, yeah, yeah.
Woman: Do you speak French?
Mick Dodge: No, no I don't, I don't speak any French.
Narrator: Mick may not speak French,
but he does know a lot about cars.
Before he fled the modern world,
he worked as an engineer and a mechanic.
Mick Dodge: I got a special tool I use for
moments like this.
My special hat, makes me think better.
[sniffs].
So it just died on you, yeah?
No lights, yeah.
Woman: Yeah, yeah, just like ten minutes ago?
Mick Dodge: Mm-hmm.
Why don't you uh, get inside and
turn on your light switch.
Woman: Here, can you see something?
Mick Dodge: Yeah, you don't have any lights.
Narrator: Mick can immediately see that the
problem with the truck is corrosion on the battery
terminal and he knows that gently tapping it with
a blunt object can knock away acid build-up,
acting as a temporary fix.
Mick Dodge: Just kinda beat on it, you know, and.
Yeah, well, watch your hand.
Just get in there and turn that ignition
and you'll be on your way.
You have a good day!
[car starts].
Woman: Thank you!
Mick Dodge: She'll have a tale to tell.
[horn honking].
Narrator: As Mick returns to the brambles
bordering the road,
he spots one last opportunity for food
before the final push into town.
Mick Dodge: This is a thimbleberry right here.
They're so delicate.
You don't really see 'em getting in the market.
Narrator: Thimbleberries are similar to raspberries.
Usually found along roadsides and
in forest clearings.
Mick Dodge: Yeah, look at these.
Yeah, they is just so tasty.
Yes they are.
Picking thimbleberries is a, a delicate line of work.
They fall apart so easy.
Narrator: Thimbleberries are at the peak of their
ripeness in late summer.
So Mick's fortunate to find this batch,
so late in the year.
Mick Dodge: Take 'em to the next destination.
Narrator: From here, Forks is now only 2 miles away.
Mick Dodge: I got a special stash nearby.
Narrator: But en route,
he needs to make one last stop.
Mick Dodge: Here it is, yeah here it is.
X marks the spot.
And there's my stash.
Yeah, let me go get busy.
Narrator: Mick prefers to enter town
after dark to remain unseen.
So he'll use this stash, to make camp on the outskirts
and wait until dusk.
Mick Dodge: Yeah, this looks like a good hideaway.
Place where I can raise myself up higher
into the trees.
Narrator: This close to town,
there could be people nearby,
so Mick will set up shop somewhere
he can't be spotted.
Mick Dodge: Years ago, I was traveling through the city
and I found this nice park that had huge old trees
and I climbed up really high and
I set up my hammock in there.
And hung out,
watching everybody walk around below me.
Hundreds of people.
They never had any idea I was up there.
[laughing].
I was sleepin' in this tree.
Narrator: Living comfortably in the trees is
something of a Dodge family tradition.
Mick Dodge: I'll never forget, my dad and my granddad,
all of us one time went up 60, 70 feet in the trees.
We all sat up there and ate lunch.
My granddad had sandwiches and
tossed that over to the next tree.
And it came, but I grabbed just the tail of it,
just a piece of the paper and it unfolded and
all that food went down.
And I was upset.
And I looked over at my granddad, he said uh,
"Ah, you, you should have caught that one!"
[laughing].
Yeah, that should be tight.
Narrator: With the ridgeline secured,
Mick clips in,
ready to shimmy his way 30 feet in the air,
to attach the hammock.
Mick Dodge: Moment of truth.
Still holds.
Narrator: On the rope,
he needs to tie the hammock off on two anchors,
suspending it in the air.
Mick Dodge: Right now to stretch it out.
Just tying them together.
The trick to this, not get stuck on the outside.
[laughing].
It is so beautiful out here.
Narrator: With a few hours to kill until dark,
Mick's got the perfect place to hide out
until the sun cooperates.
Mick Dodge: Damn, climb all the way up here
and now I gotta pee.
Narrator: Just after 8:00 PM,
the sun disappears from the sky,
over the Olympic Peninsula.
And as soon as Mick's cloaked in darkness,
he hits the road with no idea of what
awaits him in town.
Producer: Are we close?
Mick Dodge: Yeah, we're getting pretty close.
Narrator: In Forks, Washington.
[dog barking].
Narrator: Mick Dodge is on a trip to a friend's
house in town to pick up crucial supplies
he needs to survive winter.
Mick Dodge: Try to do this as fast as possible.
Narrator: Here, he's hoping to avoid detection
and the kind of confrontation that's found him in the past.
Mick Dodge: It's just as much as an adventure
as going into the wilderness,
'cause people want to see you conform.
They want to see you in shoes.
They want to see you dressed a certain way.
There's a challenge to 'em if you're not conformed
to them and they have their reactions to it.
Yeah, look at the lights, Jesus.
Narrator: He's less than 20 miles from home,
but it's as if Mick's on another planet.
[crosswalk beeping].
Mick Dodge: I don't know what the hell that is.
Oh shoot, that right there.
[laughs].
All that's left of deer.
Listen to all the noise.
People are scared;
they got all these lights on.
Hah.
Narrator: Though Main Street might
seem deserted to most,
to Mick the blaring TVs and
neon lights are overwhelming.
Mick Dodge: This is a mad house.
I like dodgin' all this crap.
Yeah, we're getting pretty close.
She's right here on the edge of town.
This is it, this is it.
Narrator: This house belongs to a woman close
to Mick's heart, a friend he calls Cedar.
Mick Dodge: She's a really special woman.
She, uh, [laughs],
just really supportive of what I'm doing.
Women got that deep mystical thing about 'em.
Narrator: Mick and Cedar have an arrangement;
she leaves him a stash every year just before winter.
Mick Dodge: Doesn't look like she's home.
Yeah, she's not home.
She usually keeps a sack around here for me, stashed.
This might be it, yeah, this is it.
Narrator: Though the stash is small,
it's got the vital supplies he needs to
survive the cold months ahead.
Mick Dodge: Sack full of goodies!
Narrator: Now, all he has to do is pay for it.
Mick Dodge: And I leave her these thimbleberries
I picked today, they're really fresh
and she likes those.
They're hard to get, can't get 'em in the store.
Yeah, so then I can get back on the road.
Narrator: Just like that,
Mick slips back into the darkness,
away from the streetlamps.
And by the time most in town are out of bed in the
morning, he's already miles from the nearest road.
Mick Dodge: I'm gonna sit down and check it out.
It's always good stuff.
Narrator: Living in the wild,
Mick already has all the furs,
blankets and gear he needs to survive winter.
Mick Dodge: Alright, let's see what we've got.
Narrator: But this small bag holds the few tools
the forest doesn't provide.
Mick Dodge: It's like Christmas, you know?
Candles, candles come in so handy.
Narrator: The candle's melted wax is flammable
and helps wood burn when it's wet.
Mick Dodge: [sighs].
Gunpowder.
Narrator: Gunpowder burns fast and hot,
allowing Mick to create embers and
keep the fire going.
Mick Dodge: Yeah, lamp oil.
Narrator: Lamp oil is fuel and
an accelerant to douse the wood.
Mick Dodge: Matches.
Narrator: With these simple tools,
Mick's now ready for winter.
But there's something else in this care package
that speaks straight to his soul.
Mick Dodge: [clears throat].
There's one kind of nutrition out here that
truly goes directly to the heart.
Chocolate chip cookies.
Mmmm.
Narrator: Back where he belongs,
Mick's more grateful than ever to be off the asphalt,
away from cars and once again in the
place he calls home.
Mick Dodge: I don't want to go back to the city.
I want to stay out here.
Look around you.
I've gotten so far out into this,
how could I give it up?
Though there are two things that would call to me,
good woman and chocolate chip cookies, you know, uh,
these things will sure play with my heart.
Then after I eat it, I look back around again
at this moss and these trees and, um,
just so much life going on.
I want to stay out here and, um, play and live.