Jake's Take: "Out of the Wild" (1.4): Another one bites the dust

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.

After six grueling miles of some of Alaska’s harshest terrain, we arrived at our fourth camp. We all spent much of the hike dreaming of what our new “housing” might be like at the next stop. I tried my best to imagine the worst case scenario (a Howard Johnson's) so that — regardless of the shelter (or the lack thereof) — it would far exceed my embarrassingly low expectations.

I remember coming over a hill and spotting our campsite: the wreckage of a small aircraft was to be our humble abode for the next four days. As we got closer to the actual site, I could hear members of the party actually start to sob (perhaps they were aware that the only part missing from this equation was eating each other’s flesh for survival). Not unlike the plane, after a day-long hike, next to nothing to eat, and freezing temperatures … our spirits had crashed.

As usual, I broke out the pom-poms and was the group cheerleader. It was difficult seeing everyone — even the unflappable John — struggle with feelings of depression and mental exhaustion. Even Kelly Kapowski, the world’s greatest cheerleader, would have a tough time keeping spirits up in this scenario.

We made camp, set some snares, and climbed into bed. The sleeping area was really only big enough for us to lay on our sides. We were literally packed in like sardines, and were unable to move from that position for the entire night.

I don’t normally like to admit any wrongdoing, but I do need to apologize as the following morning I woke up and said “We all woke up on the wrong side of the foot.”

Seriously, Jake? Was it the outside of the foot, the inside, the heel, the toe? I’m opting to blame this badly butchered expression on starvation.

Dan continued to grow weaker, and we were all starting to come to terms with the fact that the group’s strongest might not be moving on. Dan made the announcement that we all didn’t want to hear, but knew was coming: he was bulimic. Just kidding.

No, Dan informed us he would be unable to continue on with us, and it was honestly one of the saddest moments of the trip so far. When I first began this journey, I had my concerns about Dan, the big muscle-bound cop from Jersey. I admit, I am guilty of stereotyping. However, it was Dan that first asked me about my being gay. He went on to say he had a relative that was gay, and made an effort to let me know that it was all good. It was an effort that I truly appreciated.

In the past, when someone opted out of the experiment, we were already off continuing our journey; this was the first time that we actually witnessed the helicopter landing and picking the person up and it was extremely emotional. We felt helpless as we watched a member of our family disappear into the horizon and it was hard.

We found out later that unbeknownst to us, Dan was in fact quite sick. The lack of food and dehydration left his kidneys in rough shape, and he had dropped 45 pounds in 13 days! Kirstie Alley, I hope you’re paying close attention.

After Dan’s departure, we did the only thing we could do — continue to survive. Trish and I set out hunting with the 45-70 bear rifle, but returned empty-handed. The following morning, I awoke from a strange dream in which Carolyn and I went out hunting with those foam noodles you use to float on in the pool, and we were in my Grandma’s backyard in Baltimore.

When I awoke from this dream, I heard the sound of ptarmigan outside of our shelter. I love how the narrator throws in there that my mind has started to play tricks on me. Just because I was operating on nothing more than primal instincts, does not make me crazy.

I woke John up, and the two of us spent the rest of the day out hunting. Needless to say, our 410 shotgun began to malfunction. We had several opportunities to fire off a round, but when we pulled the trigger ... nothing. I was finally able to pick off a ground squirrel. Did you see me field dress that sucker? It is amazing what two weeks in the wild will do to you. I went from dry heaving the whole time I skinned my first kill, to doing it practically with my eyes shut.

The next day we were up and out of there as fast as humanly possible. I think John summed it up best when we were leaving: “Goodbye sh*tbox!”

Our journey continues and the next hike is one that stands out in my mind as one of the worst ones of the journey. On top of that, I was starting to get sick. Will I fight off sickness and starvation and find my way “out of the wild”? Tune in next week to see if I’ll become America’s Next Top Model.