So how do you get a load of plywood from the trailhead next to the Alaskan Railroad tracks to a remote cabin located down several miles of trail in chest-high snow in brutally cold temperatures?

You call Paul Hemann, of near Willow, Alaska, and his son, Jeff Hemann, of near Trappers Creek, Alaska, who will bring a team of dogs and a sled or two, and haul the lumber for you.

The Hemanns, who are Fort Dodge natives, will be featured on upcoming episodes of the National Geographic Channel’s show “Dead End Express.”

Both Hemanns live off the grid. Paul Hemann has been in Alaska since 2005, Jeff Hemann since 2002.

“It’s a few miles to the railroad,” Paul Hemann said. “The nearest road is 20 miles away.”

Getting his mail is an all-day event.

“I would leave to get the mail at 5 a.m.,” he said. “I’ll return at 5:30 p.m.”

Plus, he doesn’t mail order a lot of heavy items.

“You’re not able to carry a lot,” he said. “It can get pretty heavy by the end of the walk.”

Like most Alaska residents, particularly those who live in the wilderness, a firearm on his hip is a constant companion. Guns are for protection against bears and moose more so than humans.

“The moose,” he said, “they’re more dangerous than bears.”

The animals, who weigh up to a ton, won’t run away.

“When they’re on the trail,” he said, “they don’t want to yield.”

Jeff Hemann had to shoot one when it charged his sled.

Paul Hemann said the best solution is simply to either wait till the moose wanders off or take a different route.

It’s really the animals’ territory.

“The animals compete with man,” he said.

The production crew from National Geographic spent two months filming the Hemanns for the show – they pretty much moved in.

“They were with us till 3 a.m.,” he said.

Conditions were often brutal. Temperatures in the double digit lows are common, and snow cover is measured in feet. It’s not an environment that offers much room for mistakes.

“If you don’t become bigger than your environment, it will eat you up,” he said. “Even if you’re only a mile off the road and something happens, you’re dead. It’s a danger we accept.”

Paul Hemann has helped rescue and save the lives of several people. One was a newcomer to the area who had a snowmobile accident and got wet.

“I thought she was dead,” he said. “The rescue crew showed up with body bags.”

She learned.

“Now she’s a seasoned person,” he said.

Calling for an ambulance isn’t an option. Victims of medical emergencies have to be flown out, usually by Army helicopters.

But, the wilderness risks are worth the solitude for some.

“The people who are out here, they choose to be alone,” he said. “It’s not too hospitable if you haven’t been here for a couple of years.”

One modern convenience that they do enjoy is cell phone coverage.

“It’s fair,” Hemann said of his ability to get a signal. “They have towers that run on diesel generators; they’re fueled by helicopter.”

The Hemanns are often travelers on another Alaskan lifeline, the Alaskan Railroad.

“It’s $10 a ride,” he said. “The locals get a discount.”

The railroad knows his stop – it’s milepost 235.6.

“All it is is just a spot,” he said.

Jeff Hemann has a team of 30 active dogs that they use for mushing. The dogs get a lot more regular exercise than the average canine, he said.

“We mush them 50 miles a day,” he said. “We get done, and they don’t even pant.”

The dogs require a lot of input to produce that kind of output.

“Their normal diet is 10,000 calories a day,” Jeff Hemann said. “We feed them fish, salmon and moose meat that we supplement with high-end dog food.”

When an off-gridder needs something hauled, the question of paying for the service has to come up.

“We do a lot of bartering,” Jeff Hemann said. “We deliver their cargo, we trade them for wild game.”

Much of Alaska’s rural economy depends on that old system of exchange.

“It’s cheaper to raise your own chickens, then trade or barter,” he said. “Maybe I have eggs, and my neighbor just butchered a hog, he might trade.”

It also helps them vary their diets. An expensive treat in the lower 48, locally caught salmon is a staple in the wilderness.

“People get tired of eating salmon,” he said.

As part of the show, the production crew focused on two of the dogs, Charlie and Cayenne. They also did an entire day of interviews that will be edited into the episodes. After each event, the crew also does field interviews, called on-the-fly interviews.

“They talk to you,” he said.

For Jeff Hemann, having the crew around was fun.

“It was really pretty cool,” he said. “A lot of times I’ve found myself out on the trail thinking this would be a neat opportunity for a camera to capture this.”

They tried to capture everything.

“They tapped into every part of our lives,” he said. “The show is very real.”

He said the producers insist on realism. On one of the first days of filming, Hemann asked if they wanted him to something in a certain way while he was hooking up the dogs.

“Their response was, ‘What would you normally do?'” he said.

Hemann said he’s already gotten to see parts of the finished episodes – on a laptop computer while standing on an isolated gravel road.

“The story producer got the show to us,” he said. “It’s incredible”

He said they’re going to be featured in each of the season’s eight episodes. One of the later episodes follows them closely.

“There’s a full six minutes just of us,” he beamed.

The Hemanns won’t be able to actually watch the episodes at home when they air. They are, after all, off the TV grid too.

Jeff Hemann might actually journey to see one.

“My sister lives in Anchorage,” he said. “We might end up going down there.”

Of course, there are other ways to see the show.

“We’re going to try to order the episodes digitally,” he said.

The first episode airs on Thursday, May 7 on the National Geographic Channel. To see previews of the episodes, go to channel.

nationalgeographic.com.