History Channel has continued its string of successful manly reality series with the 8-episode Mountain Men, which focuses on the lives of three men living “off the grid” in the mountainous regions of northern Alaska, Montana, and the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Keep reading to see photos of Blue Ridge Mountains resident Eustace Conway as a clean-shaven younger man, taken somewhere around the time he was trekking down the Mississippi River in a homemade canoe, living with a Mayan Indian tribe in Guatemala, and riding horseback across the United States with his brother Judson. Sound fascinating? The post has more details about this pretty famous nature lover, including the fact that he was the subject of a National Book Award finalist biography written by the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Eustace ain’t no joke!

Reality TV is proving that beards are on a comeback with a vengeance. Nowhere is this more apparent than History’s latest hit, Mountain Men. Marty Meierotto is one of the three hard-core loners featured on the show, which is all about manning up and making ends meet in the wilderness. Read on for photos of the Alaskan trapper including his cover of Life & Stream, bio information including his 2nd job as a smokejumper (which is somehow more kick-butt than his first job), and even a “how to build a log cabin” video featuring Marty, his beard, and a loud chainsaw.