Lost History Uncovered. The Border Dispute Between Canada and Alaska | Destination Adventure

mornings like these are exactly why I fell in love with Prince rert the ocean is a sheet of glass heavy blanket of mist laying in the trees all a beautiful byproduct of Canada's rainiest city but today we are pushing on a little bit further if you've been a longtime viewer you'll remember a disastrous Ferry Crossing with the motor home ended up getting high centered holding up traffic for about an hour while we waited for the tide to come in and that was the deciding moment to officially build the new rig So today we're heading over to laa Lambs to conquer the ferry and do some exploring on one of the most beautiful places on the west coast of BC let me run you through the challenge of this particular boarding and why it was such an issue with the motor home this is the ramp and of course the angle changes with the tide so with the motor home I did book the highest tide that was available within the weeks that I was visiting here and loading was not really a huge deal came on no problem everyone was prepared with dunnage and everything it was getting back off we were at about a half tide coming in and uh I came up with the motor home was going up started to drag the trailer hitch they told me to power through and you can still see my hole and then I was stuck here for about 40 minutes we had to wait for the tide to come in lift up the ferry give us a little less angle and then climbed on out with the new rig should be piece of cake [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] wow last time it was like 30 minutes of screwing around and a whole bunch of angry other passengers that was smooth it was smooth piece of cake [Music] the Nia she's an old boat uh BC fairies owns the boat uh laal lams they they they run and operate it she was built in 19 around 1960 she's an old boat she's going in refit in August and um I'm not sure how many more refit she has but uh it's been serving uh lacal Lambs I I believe uh uh what was it Darren it's about 98 yeah 1998 and they just recently just just paved the road so I mean this they used to go outside uh outside to to Port Simpson and yeah it's very recent that it's been coming up to tuck [Music] Inlet it's a 40-minute run out of Prince rert and coming into tuck Inland it's 40 minutes we serve 15 cars and about 90 95 passengers that's what we can hold on on the boat now all right traffic ring off guys have a good day thanks sir see you on your way back yep I will find my way to the coast to the coast where the [Music] water meets me welcome to the end of Tuck Inlet and the beginning of a quite short but very beautiful drive to laa lamps [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] here we are in the beautiful laa Lambs great place to enjoy the ocean learn about some history and culture but we're here for a very specific reason I've been chasing a particular story now for several years but there's one more I have to get to there's several ways we could get there but dealing with a small boat in a big ocean safety is Paramount I've mapped us out the safest possible route but it's still a pretty long run about 80 km return but at least going down the Portland passage we're pretty sheltered the only real risk or challenge with a trip like this is wind and it's calling for a Max of seven knots today which is higher than I would typically go out in especially with a passenger but this little boat can do shallow water pretty well and I've mapped out some really neat little passages I think it's going to be a really good day off to what appears to be a bit of an unfortunate start we have a Westerly wind and an incoming tide but this first section should be our only real challenge just starting to White Cap so we'll kind of just chug our way through there and then should be in the clear if we're not be heading back to camp just making our way into canoe pass which is going to go into work Channel and if you're in anything other than a full-on ocean boat or a slack tide this is how you want to get into work Channel because the tide just flies through the sou you'll be dealing with a fair bit of Tide here as well so if you're in a canoe or a kayak plan your Tides accordingly but in a small boat like this it's no problem and it's just a beautiful little run through here things are looking really good we're just coming into basically the moua work Channel things are calm as can be just perfect out here do you yeah I've seen your videos right on awesome appreciate that yeah no problem how are you doing good you good um just wondering if you guys have seen any whales hanging out from the channel yeah awesome okay well cheers guys thanks for your time St any time appreciate it nice folks here sounds like there is some hunchbacks close by not sure if we'll be able to track them down but I guess these are rentals here I think he said it's called Victory Cove I'll definitely be taking a look when we get [Music] back feels great to be back in the channel and the weather is finally cooperating with us it's just beautiful in here I've been looking for spouts and I don't see anything so we're going to continue on our path we're taking Emma passage this is Hogan Island on the left Pacific Ocean is not really known for beautiful clear water but when you get this far north look at [Music] this just crystal clear so we see some Grizz Bears up ahead looks like a m and two Cubs I'm going to get out the long lens and see if I can get a shot these Bears out here in the midst of nowhere they're pretty skittish around boats so we probably won't be able to get very close oh the Cubs looking at us oh my goodness they're both looking right at us oh okay you can tell just how skittish these bears are out here don't ever see humans we're probably couple hundred feet offshore still and mom was looking right at us mou wide open she rounded up the Cubs and into the woods they went just perfect kind of encounter gave them their space we stayed nice and safe out here here and now we can continue [Music] on we're just coming out of Emma pass and we'll be going into steamer pass which will take us around Somerville Island now if you're a longtime viewer you probably have figured out what we're searching for today but if you're still trying to figure it out let's do a little recap from a previous season today's story takes us back to a fundamental date in North America's history 1867 when British North America became Canada and Russian America became Alaska and of course with these two countries sharing the same land mass an official border had to be determined the final decision on the border line stayed dormant for nearly 30 years but discovery of gold in the Klondike and of course the need for accessible ports kicked things into high gear the final stretch of border separating British Columbia from Alaska runs basically down the center of the 114 km long Portland canal and at the southern end of that lies two large islands Pierce and Wales determined to be on the Canadian side in August 1896 the US Army Corps of Engineers allocated $5,000 to conduct a survey of the Portland Canal but being already late in the summer there wasn't enough time to complete the work so a team of 23 people were sent out to prepare storehouses and supplies for the following [Music] year in just 17 days the team erected four stone buildings measuring 3 and 1/2 M wide 5 m long and 2 and 1/2 M tall with one door one window and a cater shingle roof and on the front of each building read us property do not injure but two of the storehouses were built accidentally on Canada's Pierce and Wales Island though it took Canada 5 years to discover this mistake once the word got out concern was that the houses were built intentionally to lay claim to the islands as US Territory the dispute over the islands went back and forth for a total of 7 years but was solved without raising arms and leaving Pierce and Wales Island on the Canada side [Music] being such a remote location three of the four buildings have been basically forgotten and unseen for nearly 130 years Mother Nature has of course reclaimed the cedar roofs but the stone walls stand as strong today as they did [Music] then well this is our second of three possible rough spots today sure enough the rollers are just big enough to kind of surf with the little boat I'm hoping we can get around this corner and I'll hug the mainland on the way in should be pretty [Music] good off the port side here is Somerville Island this is my first time exploring back in here and it is absolutely glorious reminds me of Milford Sound in New Zealand it's uh Milford Sound has the highest vertical Peak coming out of the ocean in the world miter Peak that's what this reminds me of I know there's lots of folks in southern hemisphere that follow destination Adventure big thanks to my Southern Hemisphere fans I hope you enjoy the British Columbia FS as well [Music] [Music] would you take a look at Mr Somerville over here absolutely Ely freaking spectacular Mr Somerville has been our Guardian all the way provided us some beautiful calm water lots of beautiful scenery no whales but also no complaints not that I want to give away all the sexy secret Adventure spots but I think a trip around summer Island should be on everyone's BC bucket list we saw one boat coming out of work Channel and nothing else no logging no mining just pristine nature the way it's been forever we're just coming into Portland Canal actually it's Portland passage still at this point on the other side of this island there's another Channel and that's the Alaska side where the they meet up up there that's where it turns into Portland Canal we're going to shoot straight across which should bring us to our official destination heck of a run today all three of our Open Water Crossings today were quite miserable but funny enough the overall distance was less than I had plotted not sure who was in charge of the mapping must have been Mick nevertheless we're just getting to our Bay here here and somewhere hidden behind the tree line in this Bay should be Stone Storehouse number two [Applause] what a desolate and unforgiving place this is the wind really picked up on us here which is slightly is concerning and he's holding down the fort found her a nice warm place to hunker down for a little bit I'm going to see if I can go find this thing they can be a bit of a challenge to find cuz they use just local material and then hide it just in behind the tree line but there's only so many places it can be so I presume we will be successful no Storehouse yet but I found a marker really fresh bear scat right there I think it would be a better decision to take the boat over a couple beaches is and then just hike in from the shoreline no luck I'm thinking it's by that Creek over there Em's a super tough girl but uh she's pretty out of her element out here don't want to leave her for too long so heading back to retriever hop out for a second well it's a really unfortunate call but we might have to head back pretty devastating because we've come all this way just not worth the risk I'll take one look over here if if if the bay is calmer pull the boat up but just filled the boat with water trying to get launched good job loving it there a black bear over there by the creek and it's actually nice and calm in the bay right here so I think I'll pull the boat up and take a look in it along this bank I'm guessing it's going to be right in here it's a great spot for it Tide's going out so it should be no problem to leave the boat but this Forest looks quite dense I can hardly believe it we pulled the boat up second Peak into the forest and this is certainly the hardest one I've found so far and the most overgrown but found it here we are Storehouse number two the lens all covered in ocean water now yeah can you believe that old wood still hanging in there crazy see if I can get back for one more closer look for look at the moss growing out of here but this one if it wasn't just a flat surface I wouldn't have even recognized but looking through the forest right here I could see in and just like a flat wall so I knew that was it and what the heck else could it be but can you believe all all those miles all that fraking angry water today just for this pretty rad though can't lie and a fresh bear scat right in front of it the United States wanted this territory pretty bad I don't know why because three of the storehouses that's the only thing on the land no houses no anything well I think our first Crossing here across the Portland passage is going to be uncomfortable and then around Somerville Island should be pretty nice and then smooth sailing home I hope but I am so thankful we found it I was seriously this close to just calling it and going home hate risking it like that but I'm happy we pulled up for a second try let's get the heck out of here well if you thought I got wet launching the boat up to my knees you should have seen us on that Crossing absolute nightmare oh we're just coming back into Steamboat pass should be easy easy peasy well it's been pretty fun watching Emmy start to fill into her Adventure shoes I think this was probably the most consistent bad weather I've had on one of these big ocean trips but nevertheless we got to our destination and finally got to cross this one off the list there has been a really interesting story that I've been pursuing for a few years now and it's a really exciting one because this is a piece of history between Canada and the UN United States that's been basically forgotten and it's only been possible for me because of leads that come through this channel I've tried really hard to Source an interview for this one but it's just one of those places that is so far out there nobody really knows about it so if anyone's watching this and you're well-versed on the subject you like to sit down for a conversation please reach out to me most of all thanks for watching everybody as always take nothing but pictures leave nothing but Footprints and I'll catch you on the next one good so [Music] good got so [Music] good so [Music] good you got feeling so good

Channel: Destination Adventure

Views: 12,791

Keywords: abandoned, history, historic, historical, discovered, discovery, history changed, changing history, rewriting history, history rewritten, nat geo, documentary, docu series, national geographic, BC, British Columbia, Canada, Alaska, The border dispute, Canada Alaska Border Dispute, untold history, adventure, explore, explorer, adventurer, Overland, overlander, overlanding, vanlife, tiny home

Id: b7tvy3AeVgQ

Length: 26min 58sec (1618 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 01 2024