We found an abandoned boat on an Alaskan lake! - Return to the Last Frontier [S4E18]

[Music] there is a land in the north that spans 663 000 square miles a land larger than texas montana and california combined [Music] its three thousand rivers and three million lakes make up nearly 100 000 of the square miles dwarfing even the great lakes of michigan [Music] it embodies 34 000 miles of shoreline longer than all the lower 48 united states combined [Music] it is home to 12 of the 13 highest peaks in the united states with mount denali standing head and shoulders above the rest dotted with 70 volcanoes of various activity levels an eruption here is not uncommon or unexpected with its endless seismic movement it's no stranger to earthquakes either this is a land that sees months of sunlight followed by months of darkness fringe with an occasional colorful display from the aurora borealis nearly 30 000 square miles of this land is covered in over 100 000 ancient glaciers which punctuate the greens of the summer landscape with hues of the purest sky blue and blazing whites from snow that fell thousands of years ago [Music] this wild and untamed land is home to muskox caribou moose and some of the largest bears in the world [Applause] [Music] and though it has been inhabited by civilizations for over 12 000 years it remains one of the lowest densities of human population in north america with an average of 1.2 people per square mile while the popular perception this land is one of unforgiving cold and endless blankets of snow across its high mountains deep valleys and expansive tundra the truth of the matter is that summers here are in fact pleasant if not somewhat frantic as plants animals and people emerge from a dark winter wonderland and burst forth into the 24 hours of daylight as if to make up for lost time and prepare for the inevitable return of the snowy shroud this is a land with a history of untold riches for those strong enough to wrestle them from her icy clutches beginning with the fur trade gold strikes vast oil discoveries huge pockets of coal and now fisheries are the finest seafoods in the landscape ripe with experiences for the adventure seeker there are roughly only about 14 000 miles of public roads in this vast land which is about the same amount as the state of delaware the second smallest state in the u.s even the term highway is used loosely here and long stretches of these main thoroughfares are actually not paved at all this leaves the vast majority of the state inaccessible to even four-wheel drive vehicles to reach the rest of this wilderness you'll have to do it by boat plane snow machines and maybe even sure-footed furry sled dogs but along these few stretches of gravel dirt and pavement lies some of the most incredible land to be found in north america welcome to the last frontier the land of the midnight sun ride along with us as we explore alaska [Music] [Music] [Music] if you're new here welcome to our story this is my beautiful and talented wife sarah who knows her way around a four-wheel drive and a camp kitchen and this is our eight-year-old daughter caroline who has been the better part of her childhood traveling and exploring the great outdoors and myself well i'm kevin your narrator cameraman and all-around storyteller we are the lifestyle overland family and this is another chapter in our three years of full-time adventure seeking and storytelling as you've probably guessed by now we're headed north way north to revisit alaska the place that first inspired our leap into this crazy lifestyle oh and for you new folks riding along the short story up until now is that after years of stressful jobs overtime schedules and a few tough personal losses we took the plunge quit our jobs and sold almost everything before hitting the road in our 4runner and turtleback trailer i have a secret we're about to embark on a new adventure we're now devoting our full-time efforts to lifestyle overland our journey will begin on the gulf coast of texas then travel a meandering path north through desert grassy meadows alpine forest high plains and tundra to our northernmost destination the arctic ocean at prudo bay alaska we're in alaska baby we had no idea what the future held but we knew we wanted to drive as far north as possible and share our experiences along the way all right needless to say our first time in alaska made quite the impression on us and if i'm being honest it feels like we left a part of ourselves behind in this vast frontier and even though we spent two full months exploring this land before heading south again we were still finding ourselves awed by its beauty and overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of places to explore we have often longed to return and pick up where our explorations left off over the recent pandemic travel through canada was out of the question and the alternative of shipping our rig north far too expensive but fortunately for us there's another way to have your alaskan cake and eat it too and that is what has brought us back so let's get this adventure started after a long day of flying a few hours of sleep and copious amounts of coffee it was time to meet the folks who helped make this trip a reality craig and brooke pastor of alaska overlander this family has been following our adventures since the early days and were inspired to give overland travel a try with their three kids wow welcome guys thank you thank you to alaska like most of us once they began their own adventures they fell in love with the pastime and eventually saw an opportunity to help other families experience the excitement of off-grid travel here in alaska by building and renting a fleet of four-wheel drive vehicles outfitted with some of the finest camping gear available with their business growing by leaps and bounds in just a few months of operation they've come full circle in the chain of inspiration and invited us back to alaska to experience even more adventures in a very familiar platform a 2020 toyota 4runner named denali after a quick walk through of their build featuring things like arb storage drawers dometic fridge dual batteries camp kitchen eye camper tent and a 180 degree awning they then surprised us with some alaskan staples for the road coffee moose nuggets and caroline's favorite a stuffed bear to ride along there you go thank you you're welcome that's our favorite stuff awesome with keys in hand and butterflies in our bellies we mounted up and headed into town to cure a few days worth of groceries and outdoor essentials well here we are again alaska guys are you gonna cry no maybe a little on the inside wow here we are father's day 2021. you can't ask for a better start than this right here and craig and brooke thank you so much for this opportunity to ride around in this beautiful 2024 runner outfitted with the finest gear i mean i've i'm very impressed i'm very very impressed with what you guys have done with this kit if you guys have been wondering how in the heck you're ever going to get to alaska and explore it this is an easy way to do it this is probably the way to do it if you can't take off one to two months from work and drive up and drive all the way up all right well let's get all of our stuff figured out get on the trail how's it feel to be back good yeah you excited what do you want to see first hmm of course well i think we might have something special in the works what is it i'll have to surprise you with it just tell me tell me now we gotta figure out how to get all of this in there hey watch me now just watch me she knows how to pack yeah i'm getting a little uh a little tight on space already [Music] [Music] part two on the denali so this is my request because when we did it last time we took it in four days because we kind of had crappy weather well the weather is about the same as it was last time but there's always tomorrow maybe we'll be lucky and tomorrow will be different right right [Music] what do we think we love it it feels surreal i can't wait to get out there to the river same i can't wait to fish tonight miss this bad boy doesn't it feel like our wedding day oh boy it's your own little portable bug hut so i don't know if you guys remember this spot or not but this is a definite highlight for us from the original trip this is where caroline and i just wore out some grayling i mean one fish after another so we'll see what we can do this time around too [Music] here he goes [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] stick with me and i will guarantee you're never lost alone [Music] you'll never lost alone a crowd with all right guys well here we are had a nice quick dinner of frosted shredded wheat you might not know it but it's about 10 30 p.m right now it's pretty doggone light and we've got some thick cloud cover let me tell you it's surreal being here again in a way it feels like we never really left and in another way it feels like we didn't even travel that far it's it's strange you fly all the way up here and you just skip ahead to the best parts and that's that's exactly what we've done so let's get some sleep [Applause] after a good night's sleep quick breakfast and some tasty alaskan coffee it's finally time to see if our honey hole from three years ago was still packed with grayling for this time around caroline has graduated from the push button spin caster to the spinning reel i was a little bit concerned she would have a steep learning curve to make the switch but turns out she's got some natural talent uh as with most eight-year-olds while she excels in casting skills and initial enthusiasm patience is a virtue yet to be mastered especially when the fish aren't cooperating in the first 20 minutes after 45 minutes without a nibble even this guy's patience was worn a bit thin but hey we've got all of alaska out there waiting on us so we'll try again on the next stop well did we have any luck no no the fish are rotten not my usual spots are they now it's time to head off the main roads and revisit a place we just barely missed the first time around thankfully this type of tent packed down super quick even with the bedding still inside and the best part no zippers to fight [Music] [Music] [Music] moose big one little baby [Music] [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] i don't care where i'm going baby oh [Music] these keep flowing where you need to go [Music] [Applause] big [Music] we finally made it [Music] all right guys well it's taken us over three years but we finally finally made it to roosevelt lake oh man yeah the hallway we were about a quarter mile away last time water was rising mud was insane unfamiliar territory so we pulled out but we're back and it's amazing fish are already jumping they're happy to see us so it's time to get the rod and reel out good job nice what'd you find i found a boat a boat what to find that's crazy i wonder if someone had it stashed here just to use or actually really excited if i could if i could be honest what do you mean you can't make some more locks a rope had a rope a paracord you're gonna make us see [Laughter] [Music] look at this guy easy [Music] what a bite [Music] [Music] oh where are we going [Music] there you go look at you let me get this figured out row row row your boat that you found beside the stream we're not sure where the owners went but life support was fun for me good job awesome job okay what are you peacocking for you said you needed a can opener yes what you got the old leatherman coming in clutch let's get your peas on [Applause] millimeter by millimeter i'll figure out a way right that's right yeah overcome what you do out here in the alaskan wilderness the last frontier the last frontier wow overland the more you go the more you know [Music] right [Music] as we stared out over that glassy pristine lake it was finally sinking in and we were back back to the last frontier back to the land of the midnight sun back to the hunting grounds of the alaskan mosquito but it feels so right to be so at home and so at peace with this breathtaking land and we we're just getting started join us next week as our adventure continues to slowly reveal more of the beauty history and culture found here in alaska and if you've enjoyed this video and want to support more adventures like this then consider joining us on patreon.com lifestyle overland all these fine folks you see here are what keeps this story going thank you patrons for your continued support thank you for more information on overland rentals in alaska please check out craig brooks website at alaska alaskaoverlander.com until next time stay curious

Channel: Lifestyle Overland

Views: 320,301

Rating: 4.9343333 out of 5

Keywords: 4runner, adventure travel, camp cooking, camp food, camping, outdoors, overland, overlander, overlanding, toyota, travel, abandoned boat, alaska: the last frontier, alaskan lifestyle, alaska, alaska overland, explore alaska, alaska adventure, alaska rental, alaska fishing

Id: QeGjT3o-UC0

Length: 26min 54sec (1614 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 22 2021