From the article in The Daily Astorian | by Aaron Breniman:
When I first saw History’s hit show “Alone,” I wanted to know more about the contestants, what they learned and how the experience changed them.
The show features 10 contestants dropped off in the remote ruggedness of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in a who-can-stay-the-longest reality survival competition. Contestants bring limited survival equipment and film themselves.
When I learned that two of the show’s contestants were hosting an “Experience Alone” wilderness skills workshop deep in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range, just outside of Nehalem, I knew I had to get there.
The contestants: Alan Kay, a former Georgia corrections officer and self-defense instructor, who outlasted the other nine contestants in the show’s first season; and Nicole Apelian, a scientist, mother, educator, expeditionary leader, safari guide, herbalist and traditional skills instructor who finished fourth…