Winter Van Camping In Alaska Travel In Snow & Hot Springs & Ice Fishing Tent Part 3
- 27 wind chill that's frozen fishing is a patience game and I don't have any patience now you're really hooked okay no what oh there it is there's the Arctic Circle sign okay well there's some girl there in a bikini she's in a bikini with a back everybody turn the camping with Tony from Ab camping right sitrep it's - 25 now outside it was minus 27 so if you've left from the last video um I've been warming up in the van I slept outside Inus 27 with the Aurora and everything else I've got to go and get my sleeping bag and pad and everything that I left out there this morning uh so let's go out and check it out it's the coldest has been yet and just in case you know I'm in Denali National Park in Alaska and you can see it up there I'm in a camper van from River Wild Alaska Camper vans I cooked out here last night I've been camped up here 2 days pretty much got the place to myself um my thermometer is is not working now it's too cold for it and then if we look at the back here there's my sleep system the Corinthia d1200 X served me well last night got my bivvy bag you can see where I've been breathing it's all Frozen and I got the thermarest pad here which is probably frozen solid as well so yeah I've got to pack all this away so let's do that valve is frozen there we go little bit of warm breath did the job oh gosh it's so cold my fingers are going to get very cold doing this I should have put my gloves on okay so we're going to need to dry the bag out I've got my booties in here as well down booties it was a cold cold night if you haven't seen that video go and watch that before this one it was a cold night but I was warming here I had the Northern Lights which uh I put on video which is beautiful no animals oh so cold okay so because it's so cold the snow is just powder it's not clingy or anything like that so not sticking to the bag just brushes off oh this is too cold I should have put gloves on that was a bit loud okay so the plan is we're going to drive to Fairbanks today but first we need to get a coffee on I've got to get this stuff in the van and yeah definitely can't feel my fingers now all right let's go to the van I've got to get in there come on let's go that was silly come in with me oh gosh it's crazy cold out there well let's get a coffee on it just takes your breath away it's the cold it's just absolutely takes your breath away wow okay let's get a coffee on and then uh pack everything away and then we'll head off right now the lights are flickering I just lost power cuz the I've depleted the batteries and they're cold so our heating has stopped so I will have to start the engine shortly to uh charge it up again but right now it's toasty in here so as long as I don't open the door we'll be okay for a [Music] bit Yeah so I worked out that you get under voltage with this van quite easily in these temperatures and you have to keep starting the vehicle to keep topping up the batteries I'm not plugged in they're not fully charged and I'm not driving long enough to really fully charge them so I'm just going to have to keep doing this sequence of events to make sure it doesn't keep happening all right so what I'll do is start the engine and then that'll get the voltage up on the batteries and I can put the heating back on all right that should just by the engine by itself should provide enough volts to run everything so minus 27 last night that was ridiculous right now it's about - 24 out there which is what it was yesterday at this time but where we going going it's going to be - 30 coffee cheers everybody thanks for coming along again to part three of this Alaska series that was pretty epic last night what we did staying out there I couldn't have asked for it to be better with the Northern Lights the sleeping bag worked fine so you might see the lights are flickering that's the heating trying to start up I think it's it's trying to ignite fingers crossed uh it doesn't matter I've got Heat going to come from the engine soon anyway and we're going to be leaving soon as soon as I've had this coffee I'll start packing everything away and we'll leave right so yeah the plan today we're going to drive up to uh Fairbanks have a look around then I've got a cabin uh like an off- grid cabin booked at China Hot Springs so we'll go and check that out hopefully get some great food have a good look around and uh I don't know whether we'll go to the hot springs today uh you know as in getting in the water and stuff but definitely tomorrow uh and then the next day I've got ice fishing right so I'm going to have this coffee bring you back when we're ready to go all right we're off we're off to China it says it's going to be 3 and 1/2 hours hopefully I can find somewhere to have a break thank you What's this called Riley Creek this was awesome lovely spot as you can see from this footage it's just so pretty here and apart from the one camper that's just here on the right coming up arctic fox it's called he he also did two nights um I've had the place to myself I didn't hear them see them amazing that experience last night was incredible I'm just I just loved it I loved all everything about it the Aurora all of it okay we're going to get on the road um yeah 3 and 1 half hours and uh I need to have a bit of a rest stop if you know what I mean these toilets here are pretty grim and I don't really fancy going into those they're not heated uh not going in there at -24 right now right bring you Backus 24 and we're off very icy Road this vehicle has uh studded tires designed for ice and snow so not really a problem look at the mountains in the background just spectacular Riley Creek Campground in Denali Park Alaska what a [Music] place wow look at this Valley it's completely frozen over that is just nuts I can't tell if that's smoke or Cloud I think a lot of that is smoke and look at this guy on the left it's like an Ice Road Trucker and he's he's got a digger on it and the Digger is running so that it it won't uh it won't die in the freezing Cal when they need to use it this is spectacular it really is we're coming down into a dip I think we're meant to be getting colder I think we're heading towards well the sun's up now so it won't get uh cold today but tonight -30 right now we're sitting still at - 24 I just love this place love it all right here's a pitol station so I'm going to go in and fill up even though I've got plenty of fuel I've got um 3/4 of a tank I want to always be fully topped up and also uh it looks like it's some sort of store as well maybe they have a bathroom I can use that would be handy yeah let's fill up this is going to be cold though I'm going to need gloves on all right got my card okay processing processing approved card good okay remove nozzle push button and grade um why won this go in in the hole I don't know oh it's diesel that's a diesel one yeah you don't want to do that gosh almost put diesel in there that one petrol okay we get in there um I might put a bit better in lovely jubly I can't imagine I need much maybe just a few gallons but I was running the engine that whole time uh for a few times to charge the batteries up and the drive and everything else so it'll end up using a lot more it is flipping freezing Tellus 24 is it's cold people go oh you should try minus 30 - 35 look it's all cold okay below Min - 10 it's flipping cold some somewhere is always colder okay how much was that eight eight gallons and that cost eight gallons and that cost 2978 okay right let's go in the store I'll just drive over there right just coming up to I think Nana I think that's how you say it I need a cup of coffee and glue again we've been going an hour just over an hour so Nana and it is - 16 so it's warmed up a bit and the sun is out and it's lovely all right let's see what Nana looks like and see where I can get a cup of coffee and use the L it's all about toilet brakes on this trip so this place has got an airport as well but I guess most small towns here do have airports this is cute this is a oh look there's a campground in Nana uh wow this is a very icy Road oh this is very very quaint so if you are driving through Alaska you know either way from Fairbanks to Anchorage or the other way definitely stop off here and have a look oh here's a cafe in so this is the rough Woods Inn and Cafe cool everyone's friendly waving lovely place I'll just pull up here go and get a cup of coffee so I'm in the uh rough Woods in great menu awesome menu what a lovely little place look at this definitely recommend stopping off here rough Woods in in Nana lovely spot I bring you to the nicest places this is cute though look at this a lovely place right I'm going to get some food I think I've got to go with the chicken fried steak breakfast that sounds awesome it's very good and a coffee as well this perfect look at this everything I could need this is a lovely little town it's like an old mining town looks like it it's beautiful what a beautiful day as well it's like - 16 there's a few cafes restaurants here nice okay let's get cracking a long drive still a couple of hours to go all right we've got 40 minutes 35 mil to go to the hot springs and we just keep climbing and climbing on this ice road that the truck in front of me is Slip Sliding around I think he's kind of struggling for traction even though he's obviously got studded tires on it's turning off now luckily but when you're on a hill it's uh very difficult to get going again you have to be very gentle with the throttle so I'm going I'm starting again uphill behind coming out from him so if I put my foot down a bit yeah my wheel starts spinning now it's got traction and it goes so we've got yeah 34 miles of this and I've already done 30 mil this road is a nightmare it really is it just keeps climbing and climbing oh all right so hopefully I'll bring you back at our at our cabin in about 40 minutes got a bit of a wind storm going on through this Valley here the the the ice is just shiny and the wind is taking the van you can see the swirls of snow on the road bit of a nightmare it's really pushing the van around and you don't want to lose traction on here look at it it's like a mirror some of it you imagine how slippery that would be without spikes without uh studs I couldn't even imagine trying to walk on [Music] this okay 1 minute we just came through some pretty horrible conditions the wind is howling the trouble is it pushes the van and you're on Ice it's it's quite unnerving it's got a lot of grip but you only have to screw up once and you are off and if you end up in these snow Banks uh I don't know what you do okay so Chino Hot Springs here we go end of Road 1,000 ft think we're here in a quarter mile you will arrive at your destination thank you so uh we're here I've got to find one lane bridge okay you also have to slow way in advance so you don't go sliding into the guy in front campers RV please register at front desk okay so I need to find front desk and go and get my cabin now I might not be able to check in straight away I'm a little bit early but hey you never know uh main Lodge activities General parking overnight RVs okay I don't know where I'm going I'll just um I'll just park anywhere I can so this is where I'm glad I'm not in the massive camper van that I had in Canada actually hey you know what oh no I won't fit in them I'm too long she said okay l activities this must be the front desk here yeah so I'm going to stop here go in and find out what's what okay bring you back after I've worked out what I'm doing all right as predicted I'm a bit early so I'm going to just chill out here uh have some soft drinks do some work and dry stuff out look it's like a laundry in here so this is my gortex bivy bag and this is my pad and the pad look still got ice on it yeah the pad got really Frozen so and my sleeping bag had ice on the inside of the outer layer so this has got a special system where you can pull the whole bag sort of lining inside out anyway that dried it off completely um cuz this was all soaked this was all covered in ice and soaking wet now it's bone dry so that dried out really quickly which is great cuz I was dreading that um I could take everything in the cabin with me as well just to make sure it's extra dry I don't want to have any dampness on any of this gear for when I do my big Camp colder oneus 30 um I do need to go into Fairbanks to get a foam p pad um either that or take take a mat out of here but I think I want a phone pad so I'll go into F Fairbanks after I've stayed here at um Gina Hot Springs right so uh the deal here is I can use the hot springs in all the facilities there's an ice Museum and everything else but I'm only about an hour off getting the cabin so I'm going to wait in here yeah have a zesty drink and then I come back for going in the cabin which could be kind of cool and then we'll see what's around this ice Museum and stuff like that all right everyone got my cabin come and check it out so I'm in the mush's cabin here it is now it doesn't have its own toilet it's got an ouse that's a bit worrying isn't it let's have a look how bad this is not so [Applause] bad okay and then this is the cabin oh it's lovely and warm in here lovely and warm check this out it's got heating air conditioning nice big bed it's got power strange it doesn't have a toilet but there you go oh and I can see the sleigh dog the dogs for the sleds oh and there's a thermometer outside it is minus whatever that is minus 15 so it's it's just above zero fahrenheit okay nice and bright right I want to get unpacked bring some stuff in that I need Essentials I don't think there's any wardrobe space in here tool no there isn't fact there's not really anything it's just a fridge with nothing in it that's it it's the tea and coffee there's there's tea and coffee and a microwave that's about it I guess you're using the facilities here so You' be using the hot springs um and that's why there's hardly anything in here but it's nice to have a nice warm big bed uh to chill out in tonight uh maybe do some work right right what I'll do is I'll unpack and I'll bring everyone back I'm going to wander over and check out the village see what's in there see what the restaurant looks like and then uh talk to them about access to the hot pools which I'll got a pass for uh and then we'll take it from there okay we're going to go out for dinner I am suited and booted look let me turn the camera around you can see got my big boots on insulated pants leggings and this massive Canada Goose jacket because it is frigid frigid outside let me in the camera it is so cold outside it's insane and I'm not going to be able to keep I'm not going to hold this camera for long uh just because it is so cold so let's go to dinner now I don't know whether I want to do Hot Springs tonight I'm not really in the mood I'm going to do it tomorrow night I think got my keys locked the door okay van is locked yep all right so let's go and yeah I'm not going to keep my hands out long there in a way everything was blue then okay it's a little walk wow it's cold so temperature has absolutely plummeted in the last hour and the wind chill is just Next Level it's absolutely howling can you see the tops of the trees moving well it's ripping through here lots of cabins but none of these cabins have toilets inside or showers they what you call dry cabins even that one which is the biggest I think so again I'm at chain China China Hot [Applause] Springs so I don't know if we're allowed to Walk This Way it says do not enter so I'm assum assuming you can't go past that point but there's a river here that's that's actually steaming cuz it's volcanic water I guess yeah look there's a natural hot pool coming out of the ground wow that awesome we have the same thing in New Zealand up in Topo do not enter so this is a dog sled track that's why it says that so we have to walk on the main road [Applause] right going be impossible for me to film it's just too cold can't have my hands out for longer than a minute so I'll bring you back bring you back at the restaurant that was an epic dinner oh my God it's brutal out here I couldn't film anything because I was at the bar there are people all around me I've come out instantly into just Grim I just looked at the forecast sign on the door it's -8 and it's aus 27 wind chill I don't know what that is but it's Grim let me put the lights on so you can see me hang on yeah - 27 wind chill I'm not going to be able to hold this phone for longer than a few seconds it's just so brutal okay and it's it's weird it feels so much colder than being at Denali and it was - 27 and this is - 27 Winter but this feels colder it's just biting ripping through I had a fantastic meal I had scallops for dinner I had some apple pie clam chowder apple pie and a couple of beers all right everyone I need to get back to the cabin I need to put my hand in my pocket see you in the cabin well all I crashed I just chilled in the room little by myself I had a glass of rum watched a movie and now I'm just that's it I'm Z it's been a long day it was a long night last night even though I slept well it was cold and now it's just so nice to be in a normal bed so we'll pick it up in the morning we'll go straight to the hot springs and then after that we'll check out this ice Museum but I want to see the hot springs this natural Hot Springs see how hot it is apparently it's 100° or something all right everyone pick it up in the morning night night oh morning everybody great sleep great sleep oh it's nice to be in here especially after being sleeping bag outside last night night before right let's go to the hot springs I've going to put it put everything in the van and drive over there and then we'll go and have showers hot springs and chill out okay cop it's cold I've got my change of clothes I've got to get a couple of quarters in the pool house uh the Hot Springs area and then uh we can go on the hot springs now I don't know if I can take the camera in there I don't think people want to be on there so I might just have to tell you what it's like but that's the hot springs there and these are all natural Hot Springs they've got massive M therapy rooms as well and other activities Oh look you can see the steam look at this so this must be the outflow oh yeah wow you can smell the sulfur hey Ducks they're obviously enjoying the hot can't see anything there are people in there wow the sulur smell is so strong there are people in there but I can't see anything oh yeah there you go can just about see it right I got to get in there freezing now showers hot pool okay you can take uh cameras phones in so a shower I've actually been out once right back in [Applause] again it's quite a nice setting it's big they obviously get a lot of people here I wouldn't say it's the classiest place but it's okay check it out so there's actually a whole bunch of people over there in the Mist so towards the Rocks here is where the water the hot water comes out and it's scolding so here the temperature is 37° and then over in the corner it's more like uh 45 your hair freezes so quickly when you're out here so check out my hair that's frozen instantly so when you get over to the Rock there very very hot that's cool I think this is for cooling down so in this corner is where the water comes out of the ground over by this rock here by this ice for and that's hot gets very hot the closer you get to the Rock so now it's 40° that'ss all the way up to oh the blasts of hot water are insane 40 about 45 44 coming out of here you can't stand in front of the rock too long you really feel it this is good I feel relaxed my hair is completely Frozen look that's frozen oh it just freeze cuz it's about - 18 celsus so it just everything freezes instantly all right I'm going to chill out in here and then we'll go and find the hot tub okay that was nice good soak but now I'm want to go they've got an outdoor hot tub I can't imagine how hot that is cuz standing at that rock over there where the water comes in it's like 44° it's crazy and just think it's not heated it's natural comes out of the ground like this Chino Hot Springs okay outdoor hot tub hopefully there's nobody in it so I had to buy buy some shorts I'm not very well prepared outdoor hot tub there's no one in it okay let's do this let's see how hot this is ah it's not very hot at all in fact it's hotter out there in the main pool ah although this is nice the bubbles oh your ears freeze look at my hair just turning into a block of ice oh it is pretty chilled I tell you what when you're on the road and you're in an RV in a camp ran it's nice it's nice to get baths and things like that it's better than just having a shower and it is relaxing my back was s so what I'm going to do is I'm going to stretch out in here a bit and then we'll go I'll get dressed we'll go and have a look at this ice Museum uh before we head back to Fairbanks uh I've got to go and find this campsite where I'm going to be fishing at tomorrow morning ice fishing all right everyone bring you back at the ice Museum well that was the uh that was the hot pools experience it's nice enjoyed it I mean I've been to onen in Japan and we have hot pools in New Zealand as well this is quite old uh I think the facilities in there are a bit run down and considering that's their main attraction I think it needs a big refurb but you see there's a lot a lot of Apartments here and some people aren't even coming here for the hot Springs I think a lot of people come here to see the aurora they do an aurora tour they go up I guess they go up one of these mountains up here and 5 hours this tour and you can see the aurora and look at all these things they do so they do a lot of things they've got the Aurora viewing 5 hours guided snow machine tour CrossCountry ski rentals Sunset Tours ice fishing ice Museum dog kennel tours Hot Springs Greenhouse geothermal tours and massage therapy so quite a lot of stuff it is a long drive up here the other thing you should note is that whilst the resort itself here at the main entrance has Wi-Fi there's no Wi-Fi anywhere else and there's no mobile signal up here completely cut off so especially if you're in a cabin uh like I was there's just nothing so I had styling so I was okay so just bear that in mind if you're coming here and you need to stay in contact with people you're going to have to be over at the main Lodge uh I don't know if the rooms themselves have Wi-Fi I'm don't think they do right let's go have a look at this ice Museum and then we'll head off active Runway got their own Airport there's no signage on these buildings I have no idea what anything is I don't know what that is I think that's another pool area yeah Aurora ice Museum H well the door's frozen shut let me try and get in oh well that sucks look at that you can only go in with a guided tour which you've got to pay for okay forget it it's a money grab everything here is a money grab that's annoying I just wanted to see what it was I'm not waiting around to do a guided tour I hate guided tours I don't know it's just very very very commercialized it's not look it's it's it's not my sort of thing but other people might absolutely love it um okay well Chino Hot Springs been interesting thank you for having me I had a good dinner last night people were pretty friendly the guy in the pool house just then was not friendly whatever I don't know begas can't be ches I guess it's the only hot springs around it's a nice sight but uh yeah not my cup of tea I wouldn't do it again I'd recommend it if you in Fairbanks but I wouldn't drive all the way to Fairbanks to do this right I'm going to head back down the mountain and we'll uh we'll go and uh check out our camp spot nice fishing site I might try and get a massage in Fairbanks see if I can sort that out as well cuz my back is killing me all right let's get on the road okay let's get there all right bye by China Hot Springs [Music] Alaska it was worth coming up to see it definitely huh I'm taking completely the wrong road here I haven't paid any attention to where I was going I just blah blah blah blah blah these are campsites by the way RV sites that's kind of cool yeah I took I took the wrong side road [Music] there here we go [Music] right we're off again but it's a long drive down um to Fairbanks I think it's about an hour down the mount down the hill and it's all ice bumpy it's pretty horrible they got a train up here as well interesting yeah cool all right everyone bring you back in Fairbanks right we're in Fairbanks temperature has uh climbed a lot it's -8 here up there it was - 18 so I'm just going to go into REI um while they still exist before they go bankrupt I guess just to uh have a look I might get a Pham pad just to go under my pad for if I do another wild Camp just to protect it so I'm just going to have a wander around REI and then uh yeah we'll go and probably go grab a coffee and find this campsite I've got to go to I really want to have a massage as well so there's a physio place right here they might be able to do it so fingers crossed wow this place is flipping huge we don't have anything like this in New Zealand you got such great gear all right so it's quite a bit later now it's uh 400 p.m. I've uh had a massage neck shoulder back oh I was in so much Agony um I've done some shopping yeah I've just chilled uh I went I got a coffee which sacr is Starbucks but it's uh drip roast it's not bad you know what I like about Canada it's Tim Horton I missed that they needed Tim Hortons they need it here in the states all right we've got 21 miles so half an hour to the campground going to Camp there the night and then we got ice fishing in the morning at that same spot so we'll get to the campground we have a couple of snacks chill out set the starlink up and then uh wait for dinner so just on our way to the campground and look at this that's the Alaska pipeline look at that is that carrying oil let's go check it out this is a Viewpoint a lot of people standing there I'm sure there'll be statistics as to how much oil is flowing through this thing but is this coming from the tundra it must be well you can pause the video and have a look at this okay so we're here Fairbanks it's come all the way from prudo Bay actually I'm going to be around here uh here here the Arctic Circle I'm I'm going there that's my destination and then it goes all the way to the bdes marine terminal cost to build 8 billion in ' 97 in 77 amazing 800 mil long pretty cool that is pretty cool all that oil in there wow very cool please do not climb on the pipeline well there you go don't say you never learn anything on this channel all right onto the campground we're almost there this road is a nightmare just a sheet of ice and just the hills and coming down I've got to go back up this thing a mile turn left I just went past a sign for this town this city called ales population one oh my God who would live out here well that one person that's who all right so this is the turn off you got to give yourself so much more distance even though I've got the studs are really worn down on these tires so you're sort of skid to a halt oh gosh am I going to get up this ramp well the trick is don't stop continue for one mile all right you got there okay so this place is called ens Pond o l n s ens Pond Campground hey you know what we might get uh Aurora tonight it's meant to be King off tonight huge Aurora um it's a bit cloudy but it's not so bad maybe if this clears we're going to get a fantastic Aurora that would be superb and I'll set up to do a proper time lapse of it this time last time was just by flute coincidence that I managed to get some of it in the last video okay 2 minutes a wash so I'm used to washboard gravel this is washboard ice oh I also refueled as well so I've got a full tank of gas important to keep the gas tank toed up in a quarter mile your destination will be on the left that's a New Zealand accent done everything I can to change it and it keeps going back to New Zealand accent campsite ahead okay it's here somewhere here on the right your destination is on the left no it's on the right stupid thing on on Pond Campground here we go all right look at this there's a little pay station so pay station not PlayStation so um I've got to pay register here for campsite okay well I need to First make sure that there's spaces oh yeah there's hardly anybody here wow you can go right out onto these okay I'm going to go and pay and then we'll go and find our spot oh it's nippy nippy Breeze okay so the temperature is minus 6 instructions press keypad oh he yeah here we go press keypad to begin follow prompts uh two camping license plate it's kunu which is an arctic fox okay Enter number of days one thank you mount you 20 bucks insert card okay remove card processing processing come on cards accepted all good right got a receipt I guess I have to stick this yeah stick that in my dashboard okay cool right let's go and find a spot oh there's a whole bunch of information here as well oh so this is where we are SS someone's going to have to tell me how you say this I'll find out tomorrow at Lower chatanika River fishing and hunting you are here so we got to go and look around and find the camp spots somewhere around here oh here we go ons campsites 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 so we'll drive around and we'll find a spot okay let's have a look I wonder if all of the campsite spaces are open gosh and I wonder if they're marked it's got toilets it's good to know so yeah all I got to do is work out oh the campsites are right right up in the back there uhoh this is a dead end well I can't get back up there so I'm assuming you're just allowed to Camp here on the road um because the head is completely blocked and I'm not driving up there new way I'll be stuck instantly in that deep snow so yeah I guess this is it that was that was easy I guess nobody's stupid enough except me to be camping here right now people have driven gosh look at this there's tire tracks what there's tire tracks down to the pond so that oh then of course they are that's how they're doing their the fishing so we'll do that tomorrow so what I want to do is then uh there's nobody else here I'm just going to which spot do I want to be in I want this sun definitely coming through the wind screen as long as possible um wonder if I should just Camp side on oh I don't know I'm so confused right I'll bring you back all right got my spot okay and I'll tell you what I'm already very very excited about this spot being by the lake the pond just lock up so you see here's the end of the the road there the big snow bank it goes all the way around there'd be Camp spots campsites all the way around there's some tent camping and other spots up there but look I've got those couple of people that were there they've gone hopefully no one else turns up I'm in my big 70 baffins um but it is only - 6 so before the sun completely goes down I want to walk down onto the pond let's go have a look Van's locked up so look people drive down here now I'm assuming these could be the same this could be the same vehicle that comes and does the ice fishing that we're doing tomorrow starlink is set up on the roof there's no signal here snow machines have been down here so yeah this is where I'm going to be fishing tomorrow morning which that's going to work out brilliantly I can see campgrounds in the distance there campsite people have just driven down here hey I guess you could if you've got a really good four-wheel drive with everything the Right Tires I guess you could just go and park up over there and Camp so I think what they do is they set up cabins oh look see they drill drill the holes for the ice fishing but they've made a groomed tra here so I'm assuming they come all the way out to the middle I doubt they drive down here I can't believe they do this is quite deep the snow I'm sure they'd get stuck I should have brought my snowshoes with me on here it's quite difficult to walk on maybe uh next time so there's camp look I can see campsites up there as well we're on another lake so this is obviously a fishing spot there must be a hole just there under this under this snow where they dug and another one there wow lovely this is a lovely spot if you're coming here look at this I mean I go to some lovely spots but look I've got the whole thing to myself there's me parked in the distance there I've got this entire thing to myself where is every everybody I know it's winter but to be honest it's almost spring we're at the end of February now what is today I don't know 27th something like that this is what I wanted this a it's just beautiful it's crisp it's not too cold that you can't do anything when it was- 15 - 20 I couldn't even have my hands out to hold the camera it was so cold I didn't want to cook outside even though I did cuz I had to oh okay this is moose look see these moose prints look at the size look at the size of the foot and then this is Moose poo which is just wood basically that's one big animal wow wouldn't it be great if we see a moose tonight and wouldn't it be great if I see Aurora here tonight ah I'm just so happy honestly I'm so happy more moose poo over there moose scat wonder how deep this Pond is and how deep the ice is I guess we'll find out tomorrow oh and here's fishing holes so look lots of moose poo there sitting on the top the moose scat and there's two sets of moose tracks more moose track oh God I really want to see a moose I'm desperate to see a moose fishing spot I wonder if this is their fishing spot for tomorrow yeah it must be the branches Mark where they've drilled the holes that and then they've gone off on the snowmobiles I wish I had a snowmobile back country skiing Back Country whatever if we find a moose I'm I'll have achieved pretty much everything I wanted to achieve on this triip more moose prints I mean look they're huge I know the camera doesn't really do it justice so look this is what I was talking about the campsites see here's number five so you just park up here and you've got the whole Pond I guess this is a big summer attraction cuz no one's going to be getting here you're not going to be driving around here I guess you could snow my beet and set a tent up whoa okay that was deep oh okay yeah I'm not going in there that's very deep need snow shoes there just the amount of moose tracks is insane all right well I think I'm going to walk all the way around the lake bit of exercise uh the pond which way should I go I'll go this way and uh bring you back I guess for dinner look at this honestly please take this in come to Alaska it's just staggeringly beautiful we're only at 282 M here so just walking walking back to the van which is over there and a few things some observations um obviously the moose use this a lot and I found a few of these now look at this they' just hunkered down for the night they just lie there and you can see they've peed there as well that they've marked it but then coming out coming out of the Bush a wolf Prince and there seems to be that's big that's that's big uh yeah and there's a few different ones so look again look at this where the Moose has sat down that's all flattened out carved down where it's sat and you see it's just pooed here peed here more moose Scout but the Wolves yeah they're around they're definitely around they've darted back in it looks like just over there crazy that would be cool it would actually be cool to see the Wolves as well I don't think that's a mountain line yeah I don't think that's a mountain line track I don't even know if they have Mountain lines all the way up here I don't know why would a mountain line want to be around people here but definitely the Moose are everywhere they're insane their hoof prints are just gigantic and where they hang around they make such a mess all right we're almost back at the van it's another campsite there just about to lose the sun oh please let there be a great Aurora tonight and please let there be moose so what I'll do is I've got two action cams I'm going to set one up uh to look for the Aurora and I'm going to set one up aiming down towards uh the ground towards the lake if there's a moose hey or Wolves Crossing it might pick it up on the time lapse cuz the photos show up they they're better in the dark on these so who knows fingers crossed I'd love to capture them in in the camera I'd love to see see them in the flesh as well all right see you back at the van seen this it says public use cabin it's got firewood outside people have obviously parked up here oh it's padlocked Alaska State Park oh you have to reserve it and then I guess they come and unlock it oh they give you a combination code to get in yeah temperature is just at 20 it's that minus 6 so this has got a fireplace in it can't really see in there the bunk yeah not much else I guess I could call them up and ask him if I could use it but I'd rather stay in the van right it's now 7 about 7:30 in the evening I've been out set the cameras up I did a bit of work um it's -1 outside I've snacked a bit so I'm not that hungry so to be honest all I'm going to do is I I went shopping I've got a whole bunch of salmon I'm just going to eat some salmon um but what I'll do is because I didn't get to do a cigar time last night I didn't have a cigar and also I want to go outside with my headlamp and have a walk around and see if we can see anything so I'm going to eat some dinner I'm going to have some Mountain Dew zero zesties oh so thirsty yes so I'm going to eat my salmon maybe have a bit of snack popcorn with it and um yeah we'll go for a walk outside I've got the two cameras set up doing time lapse I hope it works out and uh we'll have a walk around outside now I'm going to have to film with my phone it's not going to be as great but I'm using my two DJI actions for um the other footage I guess I could Mount take this camera out but uh it's too much fat I'll just use my phone it'll be fine all right I'm going to grab something to eat and then uh bring you back for a cigar and a walk right it's quite a bit later uh we're going to go outside I'm going to have my cigar walk around someone else is parked up literally a few feet away why I don't know uh why they have to park right next to me I haven't got a clue they could have parked at the other end maybe they're scared I don't know maybe they to do with this fishing thing maybe I haven't got a clue I don't know but all I know is there's a van there and there's a couple of guys talking really loudly um but it doesn't matter it is what it is we're going to go for a walk just up to the end here so I can smoke my cigar and uh yeah bring you back outside but I'm going to walk away from these guys I don't want to be right next to them um they're going to Spook any animal so we won't see any moose or anything cuz just I think they've got their engine running I think that's the only way they've got power it's a shame but yeah is what it is I'm so close to Fairbanks it doesn't really surpris me right cigar time is just me walking with my cigar uh again another Tampa Bay [Applause] one so yeah I think I think there's something to do with ice fishing cuz they've set up a big tent right next to the van so maybe I'm going out with them tomorrow I don't know I'll uh when I go back I'll ask them I think there's some lights or something over on the lake or it's just reflection I think it's the reflectors [Applause] be cool if I saw something walking along the lake but again with these guys now set up and the noise they were making putting that tent up I really doubt there'll be anything I've got a feeling they're uh ice fishing in the morning or something they're just getting set up now [Applause] there's I can see Reflections but I think it's it's all the tent markers yeah there's no animals out there no nothing out there okay this What It Is Well I'm going to enjoy my cigar and then I'll probably go and find out what what those guys are doing and then uh oh so the temperature is minus-3 it's nothing compared to- 20 it feels so much warmer I can have my hands out in- 13 but there's no way I could at minus 20 all right everyone I'm going to have my cigar bring you back at bedtime maybe I'll have worked out what these guys are doing by then so I'll bring you back oh okay back in So turns out there's a whole bunch out there there's a big van of tourists um and then there's two other cars and they've all got photography equipment and they're all trying to film the Aurora trouble is I've just gone out there it's completely clouded over there's nothing left so I don't know if I caught any of the Aurora earlier I've got cameras running on the front and I've had them running since Sunset so you never know I might have it and they got here way too late for it if that's the case because I think it really kicked off um at 9:00 that was the forecast but it's so cloudy out there that I doubt they'll see anything at all the guy next to me the van next to me of the tourists they're all sitting there waiting for him he's got a hot tent set up right next here and they're all waiting for him to get to get the uh stove get the stove lit cuz they all look freezing cuz they're not in a camper van I think there's four or five of them six of them and they're in just some sort of Van tourist van with seats and obviously the guide who's brought them out here to do the photography something follow moose tours I don't know what it was um they were going to be sleeping in the hot tent tonight oh well they damping more than I am um but I'm toasty warm in here got the heating going got everything going so I think we'll just uh we'll lock up the van like so that would have just lit up outside like everything all the lights come on when I lock it and um we'll say good night actually I'll see you in bed if you know what I mean she said right well it's bedtime it's late it's almost 1:00 a.m. I was watching movie and just chilling enjoying it I can hear these people out here just they're quite annoying they've had their engine running since they got here so what's that over two hours just leaving their engine running outside just talking even though this is a quiet Zone after 11:00 and I guess they're trying to watch the Aurora quite irritating people are they're kind of weird some people they just don't think or don't care um they're probably very nice people but it doesn't occur to them that other people might want to be trying to sleep or whatever and that they're disturbing the piece I don't know lack of consideration I guess I'm me sitting here just running that engine when they've got a hot tent there to warm up in I wonder how long they're going to be here the Aurora stops soon so then they'll all leave like 3:00 a.m. they'll all be leaving around the same time I I haven't
looked out to see if it's still covered in Cloud I haven't bothered I I can't be bothered I don't care I've got my cameras running if if it's clear it's clear if not then is what is all right everyone see you in the morning for ice fishing night everybody morning everybody cold feet my cocoon my coffin I've put my sleeping bag at the end to provide a bit of insulation from the door it seems to make a big difference sitre it's 6:00 a.m. I slept really well I put earplugs in cuz those people were next [Music] door all those like two cars and a van separately trying to film the Aurora and had set up a hot tent anyway I've just looked out the window through the little crack here and everybody's gone so they must have left middle of the night it must have been a tour group oh man they were so loud and annoying and they hot tent and everything and they just left their van running the entire time with the engine running to keep it warm for them while they waited each to their own that's not the way I would want to see the aurora but hey so yeah they've left so I'm here all by myself so I thought what I'd do is we' got ice fishing this morning so I can take my time have a cup of coffee I thought I'd then just as uh just as it gets Dawn go outside and see if there's any animals around cuz you never know right I need to get addressed get a coffee on oh cheers everybody oh okay it's bright enough for me to see now so lights out let's have a look outside [Applause] it's crisp so temperature is-4 okay so all the people who are parked here we're all gone they had a hot tent set up right here that you can see where they had the fire they had these matches massive matches so that's what all these stains are on the ground from the [Applause] fire look you see where they were parked just dripping oil in the truck just leave a mess unbelievable there are two other cars over there as well so everybody's gone they've left a mess as well I can see oh they wouldn't have got any Aurora they wouldn't have got anything cuz look it's just covered in Cloud it would be interesting to see what I what footage I managed to get whether there were any animals I doubt it because well they were around for hours look two warmers look they've just thrown tow warmers out look at that they're just throwing them on the floor look at [Applause] that what is going on look there's another one they've just peeled them off and chucked them out I mean it really winds me up these people they're obviously tourists but the guides the companies that are running these tours they're just allowing their tour groups just a litter throw junk everywhere who's going to clean all this up I've got to pick all this up all of it and there are there is [ __ ] everywhere I'm sorry but there is and I've got to put it in the trash bin all the way over there this just it winds me up it it really does people are just there there are some people they don't deserve ve to come to places like this they don't deserve the nature the beauty of these places they just don't they just want to grab their photos they stayed in the van for hours while they left the camera out they just want to grab their photos and go back to whatever City they live in and show off to their friends in the meantime they just leave junk everywhere it's disgusting and it really winds me up and I'm really sorry but if you're watching take your rubbish home with you leave no Trace how can you ruin a beautiful spot like this with leaving all this junk around oh and yeah the guides the companies that run these tours look there's more here there's more tow warmers just thrown here right by my van they've literally just thrown them out these companies that run these tours shame on you as well for not educating people that come on your tours to look after the environment and appreciate what there is and cleaning up after yourselves well it just speaks volume for the people that run these tours it really does I can't remember the name of the company something moose and they would have been based out of fair Banks chasing or or a moose or something like that I don't know what it was it was on the side of the van but you know what they're responsible as are the others that pulled up and did their own thing gross anyway that's my rant over sorry it just really winds me up nothing makes me more mad than disrespectful people uh tourists locals I don't care who they are just littering making a mess and and just ruining the environment for everybody else uh that doesn't do that it's just awful awful Behavior right I've got ice fishing at uh 9:30 and you know what I'm going to tell those guys look at this rubbish that these people left behind who are they just so that they know that this is unacceptable behavior I'm sure these guys cuz I went out on the ice and there's no litter out there at all so I'm hoping the guys that run our tour are really good right I'm going to check my cameras and see what footage I got and uh if there's any decent footage I'll put it on e right let's have a look outside again it's bright brightening up nicely oh looks like it's going to be a beautiful day uh temperature is -5 all right -5 and it's just me so I reviewed the footage of the Aurora my footage and I'll put it up now uh it did come out and it did capture uh Fair bit of Aurora for quite a few hours it also showed um what looks like a firework I think they set off fireworks last night or one firework something like that God knows what time they did that I didn't hear anything because uh I had earplugs earplugs in so I actually had a good night sleep they didn't interrupt me but it just shows how inconsiderate these people are uh and how trashy it is to sit off a firework out here um there could to be moose wolves whatever out there just freaking out but yeah great footage really nice I'm glad I got that I did see the aurora myself I was out I took a couple of photos of it early uh before that lock got here um so I'm glad I did that there's no chance there'll be any animals around or there wasn't any anyway last night with all the noise and Ruckus that they were making yeah crisp it's a lovely day I can't wait to fish this is going to be fun and it's going to warm up today so it's going to go it's going to be one of the warmest days that they've ever had uh this time of year it's 10° above average so it's meant to be right now around minus 20s sort of- 25 instead of Justus 15 today it's going to get above freezing one degree what's going on I don't know but you can just sense it coming so it suits me for ice fishing though cuz that'll be less cold even minus 15 though you can only stay out so long without a jacket on right bring you back later when we're ice fishing all right the ice fishing guys are here so let's go and check it out the sun is coming up so this is their truck and look they've got the same tent so they've got the double version of the tent that I tested the ice fishing tent that I tested um a few videos ago looks like the exact same thing just a double version I heard them drilling the holes so let's go and have a look I'm not wearing my thick thick gear because once the sun kicks in it's going to get quite warm and I'm sure it's quite warm in that tent but yeah the sun's going to hit it and we're going to get really warm and it's almost on it now right let's go check it out okay so it's just me uh I'm going to be the only one fishing this morning uh so I got a whole thing to myself so this is the double version of that tent I [Applause] tested it's pretty big and inside uh Jake say hello to Jake hey how it do and he's uh already cut the holes we got Heating in God it's hot in here we're going to be cooking we got the fish finder got a heater cranking and yeah we got a great view down it's nice with the light shining on that side of the ice you can actually see down there as well oh yeah once we shut the tent and the windows everything it's Crystal Clear Water it glows awesome how deep is it under where we are now we'll be right in like 15 to 13 ft of water and so we're on the edge of like a weed beds over here where gets like 4T okay cuz it's a pond not a lake so right it's all manmade it's a old gravel pit from the highway yeah ah okay manmade all right cool awesome Jake to do is thing here had to get ready get all the rods ready and everything but I think we're pretty much ready to go now it was so warm in that tent with the with the heater on and everything else lovely I can't believe this is another experience that I'm going to get all by myself uh like the dog sledding in the first video just one of those things it's so quiet here okay let's go and see what Jake's up to I think we're good to go now I should explain something I am not into fishing I am not a fisherman I have been fishing and I've caught some big game but I really don't know what I'm doing whoa so I will 100% believe this to Jake to tell me exactly what to do I am absolute novice at this all I've seen is Mavs videos with him ice fishing and that's about it so yeah I don't know what I'm doing I'm sure Jake is going to show me the ropes I just saw a whole ton of steam come out of the tent when he opened the door so it must be flipping hot in there so yeah cool right let's go good ice fishing look what steam coming out what a day it's a cracker okay see you over there all right let's go for it there a lot of steam coming out of here yeah oh my God letting out all our heat oh it's a SAA wow oh you're right it really does glow isn't it oh yeah you can see right to the bottom God at that 15 20 ft of water amazing oh you've already got a lure in there okay yeah yeah no I just got it all set up so I can show you what's going on yeah all right all right so so tell me what to do and what have we got on here this is a spoon and it's got a little bit of smelt on it we have a hook up off this with a shrimp on there the shrimp okay give them a little options and so this spoon so you got a different size hook down here though and a small hook up here yep and what size line is this what test okay and so what we're doing is uh this spoon's really heavy super heavy and it glows really good oh so the fish see it yep and so the bourb it that we're fishing for kind of blind oh and uh they use like a lot of like their lateral line and okay smell and everything else that how deep is that ice uh about about 30 in 30 in like almost a meter Christ yeah oh my God that's three feet almost 3 fet yeah it's deceiving cuz you look down there it doesn't look that that deep like gu it's a long way down and so what's going on with these is you're going to drop this down to the bottom okay and it's going to hit the bottom of the water or the bottom of the lake and every time it does that a little cloud of dust gets stirred up and put a whole bunch of scent out there dling it okay yep so three or four really big ones and then I'll pull it up about four to five inches off the bottom yep and you're just moving it around like this and that lure's down there dancing and kicking around cool okay sometimes the tail falls out like that but right the bourb it have big mouths they can come right in and BB it yep okay and you know we'll catch rainbow trout or white fish and stuff up on the top hook and and would you catch and release yeah uh I try to encourage the Catch and Release with the bouret okay takes them about 8 years to get 18 in long and that's about when you can start eating them gosh yeah some of these 3ot ones that we catch out of here they're probably over 25 wow yeah so I'm happy with Catch and Release the trout those are stocked here yearly by oh okay so you take those home yeah I let people like we'll cook those up if they want well I'm in the van I can't do that can you imagine the smell in the camper van that would be bad and so yep you just drop that lure down right on the bottom okay and you'll be bouncing it around and cool watch it and you'll see those
2025-03-21 07:56
