We’re following A&E Networks' History survivalist show Alone, Season 3, thanks to local survivalist, Zachary Fowler of Appleton, one of the remaining nine contestants on the unscripted show as they try to survive all alone in the Patagonia wilderness. See our recent article on him.

Episode 2 aired last night, (Dec. 15, 2016) and today we find out what happened:

Pilot: Seems like some of the contestants were having trouble finding food in the first week; how did you do?

Zach: I did okay my first week. I set out a little spring line the way Meghan did and a static line. I think I had about three lines and was finding worms while flipping over rocks at the water’s edge to bait my hooks every morning and evening. I think I caught about five fish in that first week. And the days I didn’t catch a fish, I had fish head soup. I didn’t have as much luck foraging because my location was so dense and dark, but I had quite a bit of nutrients from the fish.

Pilot: How was your mental outlook the first week?

Zach: It was really hard; I really was thinking over and over about having to leave my family. I kept worrying about them. Would my wife, Jami, get a chance to fix our broken down vehicle that I had to leave them in on the side of the road? I just had to trust her that she would and do what she has to do. Missing home was really a big part of the first week.

Pilot: For the brief clip you got on the show this week, it showed you using that shovel you debuted in your casting video? How useful was that tool?

Zach: Oh yeah, I used it to flip over rocks and work the bamboo and for some other projects I started out while in Patagonia. I used that shovel all of the time. I made fishing poles and I think that clip showed a little of what I was working on; stripping down poles.

Pilot: Once you got your camp set up, how did you spend the rest of your time?

Zach: I worked on a lot of projects just to stay busy and make myself more comfortable.

Pilot: Like what?

Zach: I did a horrible job filming it, but that first week I made a spoon. I figured with pot and making soup, I needed to scoop out little bits. I made something similar to a miso spoon that was flat on the bottom but to be honest, it looked more like a toilet with a big handle.

Pilot: Is there anything else notable behind the scenes from your episode this week?

Zach: When we were watching this at Threshers [Brewing Co.] last night, my one scene showed a tree and of course I knew what was going to happen next, but the audience didn’t. So, when I threw the shovel to hit the tree, I snickered out loud in the bar, but it just so happened to coincide with me snickering exactly the same way on the screen, so you had this stereo effect and that made everyone in last night’s audience laugh out loud.

Stay tuned to watch Fowler in History’s next episode of Alone, airing Thursday at 9 p.m.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com