Jake's Take: "Out of the Wild" (1.8): The long way home

Each week, Jake Nodar, one of the "volunteers" on Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment shares his first hand take with us about the latest episode.

The morning of the 27th day, I, along with my four fellow survivors, set out for yet another wonderful stroll through Alaska’s unforgiving terrain. How unforgiving? A storm blew through overnight, leaving behind a blanket of snow a foot deep.

The up side to this particular hike was that we once again found a path to walk on, and this was certainly something we did not take for granted. However, due to the deep snow, our judgment of how many miles we had actually traveled was greatly impaired and we arrived at our next camp in the afternoon.

I clearly remember walking up to that campsite. Nobody spoke a word to each other; we just got down to business and got the shelter up and running. This was when it really dawned on me just how far we had come. The routine of surviving was becoming second nature.

Carolyn, after seeing the shelter/hell hole we would be calling our home for the next few nights, finally decided she had enough. I desperately didn’t want her to go.

We convinced her to sleep on it.

That night I slept (I use the term slept loosely) next to Carolyn. The temperature dropped to five degrees and even my amazing spooning skills weren’t enough to keep her warm.

The next morning, after kicking ass for 27 days, Carolyn pushed her GPS button and was choppered out. As the helicopter flew out of view, those of us pushing on immediately returned to surviving. There wasn't much time to mourn Carolyn's loss if we were going to make it.

John grabbed the shotgun and hit the trail hunting, while I, with rod in hand, gave fishing one last shot.

At this point we were literally starving. I remember coming across a patch of wilted rose hips while walking the bank of the river in search of a good fishing hole. I dropped to my knees and began shoveling these little “past prime” morsels into my mouth.

I remember the look of the camera crew who just stood there watching as I desperately scarfed down anything that looked remotely edible. Makes that other Survivor show look like kid's play, no?

After several hours of attempting to catch a fish, I once again returned home empty-handed. John, on the other hand, returned home from his hunt with four squirrels, enough for one per person.

We were going to be eating like kings. Okay, very poor emaciated kings, but we felt like kings nonetheless. 

After dinner, we reviewed our map for the upcoming hike. It was going to be a fourteen mile doozie. We returned to our campfire with seriously dampened spirits. We looked like something straight out of a Zoloft commercial.

I couldn’t stand to see my crew so down and out, and I had to take action.

“With furs he has been carrying with him from Day One” The Narrator was kind enough to point out, I made the most gorgeous fox fur loincloth and headdress ensemble that I had ever seen. Yes it was 10 degrees outside. Yes there was a foot of snow on the ground, but we all know fashion isn’t about practicality.

It’s about looking damn good. Mission accomplished!

Okay, I was mildly horrified at the scene of me saying “I’m not one to toot my own horn, but toot toot, AMAZING!” I looked all sorts of busted up and I had a touch of crazy in my eyes as well. Hey, you eat a squirrel for dinner and see how nutty you look.

At least we went to bed with our spirits slightly lifted — unknowingly for the last time in the wild.

Day 29. We packed our belongings and braced ourselves for what looked like the worst hike to date. After a super fun trolley ride across the river, we began our journey.

The four of us remaining were working very hard to keep each other from thinking about the 4500 ft. mountain pass ahead. I remember talking with Trish about going horseback riding together this summer. Anything to keep from thinking about lay in wait for us.

Midway through the discussion, our trail brought us into an opening. Off in the distance we saw what looked to be a few cabins. We were so excited. Kim took over Carolyn’s role as the group crier and started to bawl. I gave her an awkward hug. I saw yet another clearing in the distance and made a dash for it.

Railroad tracks! This had to be it! The end! Civilization! Food! Hot water!

We were indeed going home.

Since today’s theme seems to be me tooting my own horn ... one of my favorite/most beautiful quotes comes from yours truly: “If a train comes I am totally going to throw up and pee at the same time.”

Poetry people, that’s what that is. (See my earlier comment about eating squirrels.)

After a while of standing around waiting for ... something, Kim led a group dance to stay warm. I branched off and began the train dance, and surprise, surprise Trish was the caboose.

Not unlike the great Native American rain dance magically causing the skies to open up, so to did my train dance bring forth a mighty steam engine.

I will forever remember that moment when I first saw the train appear around the corner. Watching it arrive, I instantly got goose pimples. What an amazing moment! The train came to a stop and our fight to survive came to an end. We did it!

The train ride back was beautiful. I danced, I smiled. I gave thanks for the incredible people, that in less than a month, had become family.

After close to 30 days, 60 miles, and minus 26 pounds, the train arrived at the Talkeetna station at 5:12 p.m. Much to our surprise we were greeted by our loved ones.

I looked out of the train and saw a crowd of people. Fortunately, my boyfriend Andrew has bright white hair, which makes him easy to spot. Trying to find him in a crowd is like playing Where’s Waldo, the remedial version.

There he was!

I jumped off the train and ran as fast as I could. As it turns out, after starving for a month, my running speed had dropped significantly. Nonetheless, I ran into his arms, and I knew that this adventure was over!

To top it all off, the closing line of the show was delivered by me. When asked about quitting, I said (referring to my GPS locator) “That’s been nothing more than a little bit of jewelry down there.”

Nothing like closing out a dramatic series with a good ol’ fashioned Prince Albert joke!

So there you have it: Not only was I Discovery’s first openly gay man, but I like to think that I kicked some ass out there and represented pretty darn well, and most importantly, I made it to the end. TOOT TOOT bitches!

In all seriousness, one of the reasons that I took this opportunity was to represent as a gay man.

I struggled greatly coming out of the closet, and had nobody to turn help me or anyone to look up to. I didn’t know a single gay person. Ellen DeGeneres’ comedy CD was the only reason I pulled through that year the way I did.

I never thought about quitting during my time in Alaska because I wanted every single person struggling with coming out to know, you can do this.

Yeah, it’s one hell of a hurdle, but once you get past it, man, is it great! So to everyone reading this — live out loud. It’s not always easy, but it the only way we are going to push forward to true equality.

Thanks so much for following me over the last few months. I hope you enjoyed the show.

All the best,

Jake