‘Mountain Men’ S7 E1 Recap: Preston Roberts Death Remembered – Mary Hawk Faces Early Labor

Mountain Men starts again with Season 7. It promises the ripple effects of Preston Roberts’ death and new life springs for Mary Hawk and family. This season’s mantra is “nature bites back”. The Mountain Men Season seven premiere for “Nowhere to Run” starts two months before winter with Morgan Beasley. He’s in Alaska’s Kodiak Archipelago to battle brown bears for much-needed protein for him and partner Margaret Stern. The race for salmon is on and it’s man versus beast.

Morgan Beasley needs fish in Alaska

Morgan Beasley hopes to bring home 50 pounds of fish. That would get him and Margaret Stern through the winter. Morgan is packing a .454 Casull rather than his usual .357 in case of emergencies. Morgan needs shelter and finds a rocky outcropping to set up shop. He strings up his pack of food to keep it out of reach of bears so they don’t come sniffing around.

The Mountain Men expert heads out to scout a creek for a prime fishing spot. Morgan Beasley happens upon a mother bear and cubs. He talks soothingly to the bear and backs out of the potentially dangerous situation. They move on and Morgan is relieved. He continues with caution. Morgan looks for a river bend to throw out his line but spots a bear and has to move away.

Mountain Men return for another season full of living off the land and surviving against all odds starting TONIGHT at 9PM/8C on @HISTORY! #MountainMen #livingofftheland #getoutdoors #newseason #premiere #onHISTORY pic.twitter.com/koa5c7axsr

— Warm Springs Prod. (@warmspringsprod) July 19, 2018

Tom Oar faces blaze

Millions of acres are ablaze and the fire nears Tom Oar’s property in Montana. He heads to the West Kootenai to see Mark White, a friend who lost everything to the furious fires. Mark is also a trapper and four days ago, lost everything in minutes to a fire that burned at more than 2,000 degrees. His beautiful log home and outbuildings all went up in flames.

Tom feels deeply for his friend and knows it’s devastating. Mark says 35 years of collecting is all gone. His gun safe, cast iron tub, and wood stove all melted They dig into the debris to salvage what they can. Tom and Mark need to find his trapping equipment and dig up some tools and traps so that Mark can try and get some meat for his family against the rapidly-approaching winter.

Bears keep Morgan on the run as he tries to secure his catch and escape with his life. Eustace struggles to get back to work w/out Preston. Jason and Mary prepare for their due date. Jake readies his team to face down the lions. #MountainMen airs TONITE at 9PM/8C on @HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/uwL4Jls4cg

— Warm Springs Prod. (@warmspringsprod) July 26, 2018

How did Preston Robert’s die? His death was hard on Eustace Conway

In North Carolina, Mountain Men vet Eustace Conway is at the grave of lifelong best friend Preston Roberts. Eustace sits at his gravesite crying and says he misses him. Three months prior, Preston Roberts died suddenly at age 60 of liver cancer. Eustace says from diagnosis to Preston’s death, it was just two weeks. Preston asked to be buried at the center of Turtle Island on the Medicine Wheel.

Eustace Conway goes to the grave daily. Today, he places a special marker and says Preston would want him to keep living. This is the first winter in 40 years he’ll face it without Preston. Eustace gathers Preston’s sons and grandson Tanner to repair a hunting blind. Preston spent a lot of solo time there but it’s in disrepair. Eustace tells Preston’s sons their father would be proud of them.

Building a hogan in the Ozarks

In the Ozark Mountains, Mountain Men homesteader Jason Hawk is busy constructing a Navajo-inspired hogan for wife Mary Hawk who is ready to give birth soon. She wants a traditional home birth. Jason wants this special place for Mary but knows the build is time-sensitive. He sketches out the build and shows it to Mary.

He levels up the raw lumber to ensure it’s stable. Jason gets the foundation laid and leveled and starts the side walls carefully with notches and placements. He spikes them for stability and admits it’s a big challenge to do alone. Jason is committed and wants to make it happen for his wife.

Tom’s place at risk from Rockies wildfire

In the Northern Rockies, the wildfires continue raging. Tom Oar’s home with Nancy is safe so far. Tom and Mark White continue picking through the four-day-old wreckage and find wrenches and an ax head that just needs a new handle. They find shovels and hammers that need new handles too. Mark is desperate to find his steel traps.

Tom and Mark finally unearth some traps in good shape. Tom says poor Mark has a long road ahead – months of rebuilding. Mark tells him the fire kicked up again and they worry about the wind changes that might blow it towards Tom’s place. Mark is worried about Nancy’s safety. Tom admits the wind has him concerned and he decides he needs to get home to be with Nancy.

Fishing frustration on Mountain Men

Mountain Men Morgan continues to evade apex predator bears in his search for salmon for him and Margaret Stern. He finds a spot and casts his line and lure. Morgan pulls up a pink but finds it’s spawned out and inedible. He tosses it back. You have to get salmon on the way upstream when they’re still healthy and not rotten and nasty on the way back down. Morgan looks at some silvers (coho salmon), hoping they’re fresh. Morgan snags a good looking silver.

Mary Hawk wobbles

Back in the Ozarks, Jason is still building his hogan. He’s got the sides substantially constructed but lifting the huge logs is fraught with danger. Mary makes the clay mixture to seal the walls. She’s got lime, clay, and sand she’s blending with water to make the hard, waterproof mix to fill in the gaps in the logs. She fills in the gaps with grass then adds the sealant.

Mary looks wobbly and says she needs a drink. Jason says it looks like when she went into labor with River and decides to go get the midwife. It’s three weeks before Mary’s due date. The midwife checks her out and Mary says her contractions are 10 minutes apart. Jason is concerned. The midwife checks her out and says it’s not time yet. Jason says the race is on to finish the hogan before Mary really goes into labor.

Tom and Nancy Oar pack to evacuate

Tom drives home to check on his Mountain Men co-star and wife Nancy Oar. He says they need to pack up what’s most precious so they can be ready to go if they get the notice to evacuate. Tom grabs up tools while Nancy packs essentials inside the house. He says they came with just a pickup full of stuff 40 years ago and that might be all they have left now.

Tom and Nancy watch the smoke get closer as the fire moves in their direction. In Alaska, Morgan is fishing up a storm with no bears in site on the Alaskan river. He packs up to head back to camp before dark. He’s got 15 pounds of fish towards his 50-pound goal. Morgan needs to smoke them but wants to finish his fishing and smoke them all at once just before he leaves.

Preston Roberts’ son and grandson hunt with Eustace Conway

In the Blue Ridge Mountains, Eustace Conway is with Travis Roberts and his son Tanner Roberts, Preston Roberts’ family. They are out hunting. Eustace hears a gunshot and laughs. He heads to meet Tanner and Travis. They took down a deer. Eustace says it was nice to honor his friend Preston Roberts that way by using the blind and passing on traditions.

The fire rages in Montana but Nancy and Tom Oar are thrilled to see that rain starts to fall. They hope the worst is over with the rain coming down. That’s the end of Season 7, Episode 1 of Mountain Men. We hope you enjoyed the recap. Be sure to check out our recap of Mountain Men, Season 7, Episode 2 “Time and Tide” as well.

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