The desert is where civilization ends. To live in this barren landscape, you must adhere to a simple motto, adapt or die. In Arizona's red-hot Sonoran desert borderlands, blacksmith and survival expert, Jason Hawk comes across troubling signs that intruders are crossing into his land. Miles from the nearest police station, he's forced to take the law into his own hands, using scavenged parts to create a make-shift surveillance system. In Southern Utah's Red Rock Canyons, desert geologist David Holladay sets off a months long trek into the area's remote badlands, searching for the rare stones he gathers to support his large family. But a change in the terrain leads him to make a dangerous decision that could cost him everything. In the Chihuahuan Desert of Southwest Texas, desert cowboy Howdy Fowler is trying to keep his lifestyle going, despite increasing age and a dwindling client base. He tries to hunt down a rogue thousand pound steer, in scorching temperatures.

Summer heat is pounding the American Southwest. After a close call with an armed intruder, Jason Hawk decides that his old truck isn't up to the task of protecting his property line. He and his father turn to a heavy duty junker that they call "The Beast," but getting it into service in 115 degree heat will be no small task. In Utah, David Holladay searches for a remedy to the contaminated water he mistakenly drank before it's too late. In Texas, Howdy Fowler races the sun to corral a pair of wild longhorns, and in New Mexico, primitive weapons expert, Charlie Acuna sets off on the challenge of a lifetime, trying to survive in the state's High Desert.

In Arizona, Jason Hawk continues to spruce up his rehabbed desert truck "The Beast," hoping it will help make his property more secure. Key modifications include bulletproofing with scavenged parts. David Holladay and his son, Leo, venture on a rock hunt through Utah's Red Rock Canyons. But while crossing through a dangerous slot canyon, a looming flash flood could end their rock hunting for good. Charlie Acuna, still trying to adapt to living in the New Mexican highlands, goes on a rattlesnake hunt to prove he's got what it takes to survive there. And in Texas, cowboy Howdy Fowler fights the blistering heat and a tight deadline, when he's hired to travel up a steep mesa to rope to brand some cattle.

When the power goes out, knocking out his family's well on the hottest day of the year, Jason Hawk needs to come up with an ingenious method to keep his family hydrated.

With the power still out on his property, Jason Hawk returns from the desert with 200 gallons of water, but needs to come up with an ingenious solution to make it drinkable. In search of cash, Howdy Fowler takes work tracking a dangerous set of horse thieves in Texas. In Utah's Red Rock Canyons, David Holladay and his son find a rare desert oasis full of fresh water ... and trout! In Death Valley, desert scavenger, Rick Gibson tries to find valuable relics at the site of a crashed military plane, while Charlie Acuna's struggles in adapting to life in the desert continue, as he scours the volcanic New Mexico landscape for water.

After an animal tore up his desert fridge Jason Hawk sets off on a hunt with his father, Jim in tow; but the searing heat of the Sonoran summer heat quickly becomes too much for the old man. In Utah, David Holladay prepares to say goodbye to his son, but not before a close call in the Red Rock Canyons. Charlie Acuna's latest challenge has him looking for a new desert shelter, but what seems like the perfect spot turns out to be anything but. And in Texas, Howdy Fowler learns that the horse thieves he's tracking are even more dangerous than he believed.