A photo of Alone Season 9 runner-up, Karie Lee Knoke

Alone Insider: Interview With Season 9 Runner Up Karie Lee Knoke

Karie Lee, who lasted 75 days in the wild, recalls her agony and ecstasy moments.

Did you experience “drop shock” the first day?

I didn’t have time for it. We had a big rainstorm coming in. I knew I only had about an hour to find a shelter before it hit.

Adding to the general anxiety, I had the flu that first day and was utterly exhausted. While we waited for the helicopter to go out, they’d announced, “If you don’t think you have 30 days, now’s your chance to exit.” I almost raised my hand. But I’m glad I didn’t. I would’ve regretted it the rest of my life.

Did you do any diet prep to stave off starvation?

I gained 25 pounds—a lot of weight on my small (115-pound) frame. First, I ate rich, fatty foods like burgers and ice cream, but that made me feel gross. Then I started making protein shakes with olive oil, chia seeds, peanut butter, protein powder, yogurt, fruit and coconut oil—heavy oils and proteins. That helped me gain quickly, and my body could digest those easier.

What was your shelter strategy?

Building shelters was one of my favorite things to do since I was very young. I knew to keep them small—just big enough—and well insulated, easy to heat.

WATCH: Every episode of Alone from the beginning.

At 57, was age a factor for you?

I think age worked in my favor because I went out with the strategy of keeping things small and deliberate. My firewood was always sticks. I never chopped firewood. I knew to keep my heart rate down and not sweat and waste calories. I tried to work smarter, not charge around.

Hardest moments?

It’s embarrassing to say, the thing I struggled with most was going poop. Your digestive system slows way down. It gets very painful, like birthing a baby. It helped that I knew things like holding different acupressure points and massaging the belly to help move things along. Knowing your pants are going to be down for a few hours, you have to pick a warm day to try. Before the first med check I went 13 days without pooping.

Most exhilarating moment?

I got lucky: A muskrat came onto shore near my feet because they weren’t yet afraid of me. I shot it, but the arrow didn’t penetrate its thick backbone. However, it went under a willow bush and flipped, getting wrapped up in the fishing wire I had tethered the arrow with. So I dove under there with it. My hair got tangled in the branches, I couldn’t see what I was doing. I was trying to get my leatherman out of my cargo pants, open the sheath and unfold the knife with one hand, all while trying to wrangle the muskrat with the other. It took me five to 10 minutes to actually dispatch it. On the show, I think it lasted 20 seconds. I was so happy. I did a skit about Muskrat Suzie and Muskrat Sam, a takeoff of the song “Muskrat Love.”

But after that, the muskrats wouldn’t come close to me. I’d lost their trust.

Most bittersweet?

My tapout was the most bittersweet day of my life. I wanted to stay, but I was so weak I couldn’t pull my bow even a little bit. I was like, really? I couldn’t hunt. I couldn’t fish. My traps were buried under two feet of snow. I was hoping they’d extract me, but they wanted me to decide because (it turns out) I was in second place. My biggest fear was that another storm would come in and I’d be out there three or four more days. It was 15 degrees, I had holes in my gloves and building a fire was going to use a lot of calories. Thinking about going, my body would just relax and say thank you. But my heart was saying noooo, don’t goooo. My heart and my soul were dedicated to that place.

How hard was it to re-enter the human world?

Coming home was hard—on many levels. I remember flying into Toronto, looking out the window and seeing the whole sea of lights. All I could think was, why are we so excessive as a human society? After seeing a flashing billboard sign, I actually yelled out the plane window: Why do we need all these lights? Then I turned around and realized I was surrounded by all these people. I had lost my filters.

Do you stay in touch with fellow “Alone” alums?

Our season’s group—we check in on each other, visit each other, help each other out. It’s such a powerful experience that most people don’t understand. There’s a lot of mutual support.