Wyatt Black comes 2nd in Season 10 of History Channel’s ‘Alone’
Standing in his bare feet amid tall, straggly-looking trees, on an outcropping of moss-covered Canadian Shield, a Bracebridge man makes gillnets to catch fish. As he works, he speaks directly to a camera and tells the dull unblinking eye that he’s hungry because for Wyatt Black, this is what it truly means to be alone.
“It’s a very humbling experience,” he said.
Black spent 64 days on Reindeer Lake, Sask., and was the runner-up on the 10th season of the History Channel’s survivalist series “Alone.” He and nine other participants were dropped off in the Northern Saskatchewan wilderness last fall. The endeavour was not for the faint of heart. All of the contestants had experience with outdoor living, and their backgrounds played a huge role in how they navigated life on their own. Fending for themselves, this season’s cast came face to face with the reality of what it means to survive in the bush.
“We were told a general geographic location, we weren’t told exactly where,” said Black, noting that they had enough information to help them prepare.
“We could study the plants and wildlife in the area, learn a bit about the expectations of weather, just the general layout of the land, but without being too specific.”
Throughout the duration, each person would be tasked with finding fresh water, building shelters, fending off predators, facing extreme weather and existential questions — all for the chance to win $500,000. That prize translated to the beginning of an educational institution for Black.
“I would like to open a wilderness school, so that ($500,000) I’d like to sink into something that could truly make a bunch of other people’s lives better,” he said on the second episode, which aired in June.
To help with the transition to becoming a self-sufficient survivalist, the cast was given a master list of items needed to survive and each contestant was allowed to bring 10 on the list to aid their work. Black began with 18, then whittled it down to his final choices.
“It wasn’t going to be a place where I could run down (to) a local Cabela’s and grab what I needed, so I figured taking a few extra items would be a good play.”
Before the show could begin, the contestants first met with Saskatchewan Fish and Wildlife Branch to learn about the rules and regulations before getting hunting and trapping licences and permits. From there, they spent the first nine days at Arctic Lodges as an orientation before heading out to the lake.
“They had 10 spots picked out by the survival experts and we had a little contest and then it was a draw system and whatever spot you picked, that was yours,” he said. “It was 100 per cent random.”
Each location was roughly eight kilometres in size and the boundary between each person was about two kilometres. Black was sent to Granite Bay.
“I stayed on the point, so I called it Granite Point.”
As soon as Bracebridge’s participant arrived, he got to work.
“I just decided I’d have a quick look around and set up a temporary shelter,” he said, noting that it grew to be his permanent camp.
“It just kind of became my home.”
During the just over two months he was there, he was alone. He hand-carved his fishing rod, reel and lures, and was not allowed a lighter or a match — everything required skill, and that included the cameras that he had to operate. All of the footage shot was done by the contestants themselves. The only time they would see people was when the members of the production crew came to provide fresh batteries and swap out SD cards or for brief visits from the medical team.
The days were mostly spent picking berries, foraging for mushrooms and catching fish, grouse and even squirrel.
“It treated me well, the land was good,” he said.
At one point, however, he impaled his left arm on a stick that led to a serious infection that he kept secret from the medical team and was chastised for.
“I wasn’t prepared to leave on my own stupidity.”
At other times, he had to put out fires — literally. Although Black grew up in the boreal forest and knew how to live, fish and hunt, by no means did he take his formative experience as a guarantee that it would be easy. It wasn’t. Living off the land was one thing; living with himself was another.
“We all have our little demons in our closet and stuff, and I’ve been a guy that my whole life, I’ve never dealt with them,” said Black, referring to substance abuse struggles.
Being away from his two sons and wife was challenging for him, but it was also an opportunity to learn about who he is.
“You get out there and now you get to deal with them all and there’s nowhere to hide. It’s you and the truth.”
As Black faced himself, he knew there were two options: go on living with it or “get it gone,” and he chose the latter.
“I had made it up in my mind that it was time to clean out the closet.”
The series aired its season finale on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 and Black said he is “extremely grateful” for all of the support from his friends, family and the fans of the show and congratulated winner Alan Tenta of British Columbia and Mikey Helton of Georgia, U.S. for his third-place finish. Meanwhile, he said, anyone who is considering applying to be on the next season should think long and hard.
“It is 100 per cent the real deal,” he said. “Anybody who doesn’t think it is, go try it.”
Originally posted here.
