Age: 56

Hometown: Northern Wisconsin

Profession: Off-grid Organic Farmer

Ann still vividly remembers when her parents made the big move from the hustle of Minneapolis to a little rustic resort along the rocky shores of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. As a five-year-old, Ann fell in love with the great outdoors and spent her childhood rambling through the forests building forts, and learning about all of the wondrous plants and animals. Fishing, hiking and cross-country skiing through the boreal forests were her favorite activities all through school.

After college, Ann worked in a myriad of different jobs over the years including hospitality, bus driving, and factory work, and even had stints as a personal trainer and a shiitake mushroom grower. It was being outside and growing things that ultimately became her career path and her life.

Ann and her partner Tom operate an off-grid, organic farm in far northern Wisconsin. Tucked deep into the forest, they grow many small fruits, tree fruits, herbs and numerous market vegetables. Most of Ann’s days consist of growing things, tapping birch and maple trees, wild ricing, foraging for mushrooms and picking up roadkill. Winters are spent flying through the woods on cross-country skis or snowshoes, making jams and jellies, tanning hides and making buckskin clothing. Both Ann and Tom teach various primitive skills classes at Wintercount, a primitive skills gathering in Arizona, every year.

On Alone, Ann sought to fully engage all of her accumulated life skills and ingenuity to thoroughly enjoy this amazing experience no matter what comes her way.

Here are the ten items Ann selected to bring on her survival journey to the bone-chilling temperatures of Northern Saskatchewan, Canada:

1. Sleeping Bag

2. Saw

3. Snare Wire

4. Paracord

5. Multitool

6. Axe

7. Cooking Pot

8. Fishing Line and Hooks

9. Bow and Arrows

10. Ferro rod