One man. Five cameras. Seven solitary days in the wilds of the Sonoran Desert. Les Stroud has been through some unforgiving experiences surrounded by the harshest of terrains while filming his Discovery Channel series "Survivorman."
Each episode finds the outdoor enthusiast alone in the wilderness, documenting his adventures as he attempts to conquer his environment solely on wits and know-how.
Stroud came through the Southern Arizona desert for one of the show's very first episodes, but he had very little to complain about during his stay.
"In a way, I had it a bit easy there," the survival instructor said in a phone interview from his northern Ontario home. "I chose to go when it wasn't that hot. From a survival perspective, it ranked high in being easier. There were a number of things I could eat. There was fresh water. It became a beautiful experience rather than a rough one."
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Stroud's "Survivorman" returns Friday for its second season with a whole new series of episodes that will take him to the Kalahari Desert, the jungles of Ecuador, the Labrador region of Canada and Alaska's Pacific coast.
We caught up with Stroud by phone, preparing for his next adventure, in the Cook Islands.
How did filming for this season compare to last season for you?
"It is on par with the first season. What I do doesn't change. Where I do it changes. I would have to give an edge to this season for being a little tougher physically in a couple of circumstances. I went to the Kalahari this year. It was 107 degrees in the shade, really tough. That really took a toll on my body. It has also been physically tougher because we've gone to some bigger places. I made a conscious effort to go further out into the world — to go bigger and beyond our North American borders to see what the rest of the global ecosystems have to offer."
The Sonoran Desert episode came early in the first season. Why choose Southern Arizona?
"I guess it had the classic desert appeal I was looking for. Those beautiful saguaro cacti. The look to the entire region seemed to be very classic in and around your area. I like to go to an area that not only gives me something unique as an ecosystem, but also represents the best of that ecosystem. In truth, the best places are the parks, but I can't do this sort of thing in parks. So I look for natural areas that say, 'If you think of the desert, you think of this.' "
How do you choose where they drop you?
"I will go and scout out places ahead of time until I see an area and think, 'This region is good; I can get all the permits I need and go for it.' The interesting thing about that Sonoran Desert show was that it was only the second one I had ever filmed. I was still in the stages where I had no safety crew, no emergency satellite phone, no radio. During that particular episode, I was completely alone.
Scariest moment so far in your travels?
"That was in the Kalahari Desert. I came very close to heat exhaustion. I almost had to call in the cavalry and get taken out of there. You will see it in the episode. There is a moment where I stop and I stare at the camera and I'm out of it. There is no play acting going on. I was very close to succumbing. That is a dangerous place to be."
Did you visit Tucson before or after your adventures in Southern Arizona?
"I did get down to Tucson. I went down on a couple of day trips just to look around. I thought it was stunning. Absolutely beautiful."
'Survivorman,' Season 2
• Begins: 9 p.m. Friday on the Discovery Channel.
• Read the full transcript of Gerald Gay's interview with Les Stroud in "Remote Controlled."
