The Legend of Mick Dodge Season 1

With winter on the horizon, Mick Dodge sets out on his annual migration to a cave close to the ocean, where he can take refuge during the toughest time of year. But before Mick can reach the safety of his underground shelter, he must move 150 pounds of gear to the opposite side of the mighty Hoh River. With the help of his close friend Norman, Mick attempts to navigate the dangerous obstacle.

As winter moves in, legendary wild man Mick Dodge is on an important mission to track down and harvest his main source of food for the coming months — chanterelle mushrooms, a delicacy that appears in the Pacific Northwest only once each year. But Mick knows that he is not the only one after this rare treat. With chanterelles selling for up to $20 per pound in the market, mushroom hunters from all over the world flood the rainforest to cash in on the golden bounty.

Winter is approaching and Mick Dodge knows that he needs supplies to help him weather the cold months ahead. Although the wild provides Mick with most of the tools he needs to survive, there are a few essential items that can only be found in the modern world. With temperatures dropping fast, Mick embarks on his annual trip to Forks, Washington. But in order to get the supplies, Mick will have to ignore his instincts and walk directly into the middle of civilization.

When Mick Dodge catches wind that some poachers are scheming to steal trees from a protected area in the Hoh Rainforest, he and his friend Moss Hopper team up on a risky mission to sabotage the heist. Hoping to catch the poachers red-handed, Mick and Moss plan a stakeout and prepare for battle. The two men will stop at nothing to protect their home as the dangerous mission leads to a late night showdown with the armed thieves.

With his birthday approaching, Mick Dodge prepares for an epic celebration. But unlike most people, Mick doesn't celebrate with cakes and balloons. Instead, he embarks on an ambitious 25-mile journey to his favorite place on the Pacific Coast — a birthday tradition he has kept alive for more than two decades. To get there, Mick has to travel down the foaming whitewater of the Sol Duc River and trek amongst the gigantic spruce trees of the Hoh Rainforest.

Encroaching loggers are forcing Mick Dodge's friend and student, Will of Stone, from his cabin in the woods. Although Mick is accustomed to sleeping in tree stumps and living off the land, Will still has one foot in the modern world and is not ready to give up the roof over his head. Fearing that he might lose the one man who will carry on his legacy, Mick offers to help his friend take the next step in his transformation — life completely off the grid.

In the far western corner of Washington state, off-the-grid pioneer Mick Dodge and his wild dog Gabu have been relying on each other for survival for more than two years. Gabu is as wild as her master and often runs off on her own for hours. But with bear, cougar and elk roaming the forest, Mick knows it is much safer for the duo to stick together. When Mick can't find Gabu for nearly two days, he worries that she may be in danger and sets off on a mission to track her down.

It's a holiday weekend at the Olympic Peninsula and tourists have flooded the area. The usually peaceful Hoh Rainforest has been taken over by hikers, campers and hunters. To escape the chaos, Mick Dodge journeys deeper into the forest toward a special place where he knows he can find refuge from the intruding city dwellers. After a long and dangerous hike, Mick finds that his go-to sanctuary has been compromised and is forced to come up with a new plan.

Mick is fighting a bad case of “Beaver Fever,” an illness that's left his belly aching. For a remedy, he'll rely on a time-tested healing process he's devised using only the forest. The first step is a trip to the forest physician, Doc Gair, who has been living in the woods practicing forest medicine for ages. The two men collect natural ingredients to brew up a cure-all elixir.

Living in the Hoh Rainforest, Mick Dodge doesn't have easy access to food. He survives off mostly vegetation, but he also needs protein. After almost a week without a decent meal, he sets out to scour the Olympic Peninsula for protein. As he begins his outing, he shows just how desperate he is becoming — investigating elk feces for larvae eggs to eat. Then, Mick runs into a man named Will of Stone, who joins him in the food hunt at the river.

In the Hoh Rainforest, Mick uses a prized bow and arrow gifted to him by his grandfather. But when he goes to retrieve it from a stash, it's gone, stolen from its hiding spot. Mick makes a plan to replace the bow utilizing the age-old economy of bartering and trading. There's only one man he knows who can craft him a new one: a legendary archer named Norm. To find the currency he needs for the trade, he'll head to “The Boneyard,” which is filled with remnants and scraps from previous logging.

After waking up in the stump of an old tree, Mick sojourns to a remote spot called the Highlands — a place that looks out over the entire valley and holds special significance to his family. The purpose of his journey: to fulfill his father's dying wish by spreading his dad's ashes over the land. But before Mick can carry his dad up to the mountains, he will first have to remember where he stashed him.