A self-described bookworm from Lake Crystal, Minn., Ashley Selden wouldn't have expected to spend each winter in Alaska's bush country and to star in a reality TV show about her and her husband Tyler's unique way of life.
Having met as students at the University of Minnesota Duluth, the Seldens decided to move north after Tyler, 32, graduated in 2006. They settled for a year in Cold Foot, Alaska (population 10), where they worked at a truck stop often featured on the History Channel reality show "Ice Road Truckers."
They then migrated to Fairbanks, finding jobs as log peelers. It was there that they were introduced to a network of trappers who worked in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. When they had the opportunity to acquire an established fox and wolverine trap line in the bush, they jumped at the chance. It was not just adventure they sought but an alternative way of life.
For the past seven years, the couple have left their home in Fairbanks to spend September through March in the isolated Alaskan wilderness. They live in one of only seven permitted cabins left in the ANWR, which is the size of South Carolina and covers more than 19 million acres. The Seldens' daily lives are documented in a new show called "The Last Alaskans" on Animal Planet (7 p.m. Sunday). With all remaining permits to live in their area to expire in less than 100 years, thereby eliminating human presence in the ANWR, the series chronicles the last age of frontier living in Alaska. The show premiered Monday.
In a recent interview, Ashley Selden, 30, spoke about the challenges of their daily existence in the harsh Arctic wilderness, as well as the perpetual awe she experiences in nature.
On building a relationship that centered on the outdoors
When we were at UMD, Tyler and I would always get on the trails around the North Shore and hitchhike back to town at the end of the weekend. They were some of the best times in our courtship, spending that time outside together.
On deciding to move to Alaska
When Tyler graduated I had totally fallen in love with him and he desperately wanted to go to Alaska because he had been working in Denali in the summers. I was in school in the criminology department, and all I could see myself doing was some sort of indoor job in a prison or something. I felt like it was a road that wouldn't interest me and I wouldn't be happy. It was all fate that I went to Duluth, though, because I met my husband there and we were able to create this amazing life together.
On getting to their cabin each fall
We land on whatever gravel bar is accessible to the plane. The river near our cabin is always changing, so every fall we don't know what to expect. Once we had to land a mile upriver with our entire load — 2,500 pounds of gear — that needed to be moved to our cabin area. We landed on an island, so we had to go across water to hike everything in. It took almost three weeks. In the meanwhile, we had to camp out next to our gear and food because there are a lot of grizzly bears.