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The Indians called the frozen peak of this great Alaskan mountain range Denali, or 'the high one.' Most know it as Mount McKinley. This preserved wilderness comes to life with the thaw of spring and wildlife abounds during the brief summer, only to succumb to the grip of the long winter. Watch as 5-week-old grizzly cubs play, a moose gives birth to her calf, and a wood frog survives the deep freeze of winter. Breath-taking shots of dazzling northern lights over vast and lush wilderness make this an unforgettable Eden.

In Southeast Alaska, there's an ice-bound Eden that harbors possibly the richest temperate rainforests of all. Where the coastal mountains meet the Pacific, lays the Alexander Archipelago, a remote island chain running for almost 300 miles along the Alaskan Panhandle. This frozen frontier is one of the last great wildernesses of North America. And a stronghold for the country's highest diversity of megafauna, feasting on the abundance of fleeting summers to make it through relentless winters.

In the next three episodes the journey moves into three radically different worlds where survival depends on mastering water, ice and extreme seasonal change. In the Amazon, giant river otters hunt as a family, black caimans ambush newly hatched turtles, army ants sweep through the forest in highly organized raids and a harpy eagle guards a vulnerable chick high above the jungle floor. The rainforest emerges as a vast living system, shaped by rivers, floods, towering trees and countless species competing for food, space and the chance to raise their young.
The story then heads north to Alaska and Canada, where polar bears wait for sea ice, wolves struggle through blizzards, hares evade lynx and immense caribou herds cross dangerous meltwater rivers during their ancient migrations. Finally, along the Gulf Coast, flooded swamps and subtropical wetlands become the stage for black bears, alligators, manatees, burrowing owls and one of America’s rarest wild cats, the ocelot. From the frozen Arctic to the humid marshes of Louisiana, Florida and Texas, these episodes reveal how animals adapt to landscapes that can change completely from one season to the next.