SEASON 9 (Year 9 Of Van Life)

I'm currently traveling in British Columbia, Canada on my way to the Yukon. And right now, we are maybe 5 minutes off the Alaska Highway. And putting myself out here feels like I'm the only one here. Like I'm solo in this valley. It's just me and the wildlife. But that ain't true. Cuz winding through that valley you see back there is the Alaska Highway. And currently right now, it is packed full of travelers. We run into vehicles all day long out here. But when you put yourself just off the highway, it's crazy how you feel like you're out here all alone. Welcome to the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains. Check out the old car at the gas pump. That's wicked. Yeah, it's an old gas station here and also somebody's residence as well. There's a newer cabin right there. That's the kind of property I'd buy, an old abandoned gas station and build a little cabin on it. I'm still unsure of my destination on this trip. I do know we're going to the Yukon and I do know we're going to go visit our friends at the gold mine up there in Casiar. But are we going any farther? I'm not sure. Dawson City and the Dempster Highway is on my mind. >> Coming up ahead of us here is a little town called Toad River. I'm hoping to grab some fuel here. Today turned out to be the best day in this entire road trip so far. It had everything. It had mountains, it had sunshine, and it had very little bugs by the time we got to our camp spot at the end of the day. Oh, another one of these awesome bridges. Wow. This must be Toad River. We're starting to get into some farmland out here. Man, could you imagine living way out here in the middle of the BC side of the Alaska Highway? H I don't remember any of this stuff the last time I came through. Wow. Just approaching Toad River and look at the huge mountain range in front of us. Lots of travelers in here. This is one thing I missed about being up in Northwest Territories is I miss seeing people. >> I'm guessing it has all the whistles and bells and boys. >> Yeah, it's even got a full-blown DJ booth inside. >> Oh, yeah. We went all out. We just we just finished it in January. I just met a guy over there from Victoria, BC. Fellow Vancouver Islander. We finally got some stickers to start uh start making this thing not look so bad. Says, "Eat moose. 12,000 wolves can't be wrong." This window is going to be a nice piece of memorabilia. Fuel stop complete. I'm excited to get into these mountain ranges up in front of me. And I think uh we drive right through them. Toad River, we drive right through those ranges right there. Now those are Rocky Mountains. Muncho Lake Provincial Park. Check out all the little lines. This is eat moose. Check out all the little lines in that mountain. I don't know if the camera picks it up very well, but super sick. More dirt roads. It's a wreck site in there. Oh, check out this bridge. I wish I didn't break my drone. This would be epic. Sign here says the road's been washed out. This guy's got quite the camp. He's been there for a while. These trails are getting pretty tight. Sign of the beginning was right. That's cool, man. This a beautiful area out here. I think we're partially in an in a provincial park somewhere. I don't know if that side's the provincial park and this is the sign to let you know that it's the end of the park boundary or maybe this is the start of the park boundary. You got to be careful with that stuff because technically you're not allowed to sleep in a provincial park unless you're in a designated campground. So, there was a sign back there right where we entered that kind of gave you the lowown on the area here and it said um to keep down your impact to camp in designated camp spots. There's lots of little marshes on each side of us, all over the place up here. So, I bet you this place in the evening is just mosquito central. His road's pretty narrow. I was chatting with some of the locals today about the backcount roads, and some of them were telling me that some of them may not be passable. Some of them might even still have some snow on them. So far, we haven't traveled that far off the main highway, so we haven't seen any snow yet. But I hear sometimes at night in the higher elevations, they're still getting a sprinkle of snow out here. The water is super high. I'm going to guess because from what I understand they have some very fresh snow melt up here. Wow, that's a nice spot right there. Found a huge pile of firewood. And the firewood feels super dry. We're going to borrow some. Thank you to whoever camped here last. Left a monster amount of firewood. Oh, way too many bugs. I'm sorry you guys. Stopping might have not have been a good idea. Holy crap. Sorry about the bugs, you guys. We're going to get out of this wooded area here. found that there was a little bit less bugs in the open spots. Anyway, I grabbed some firewood so if we find a place to camp out later. We got some firewood, if we're allowed to even have a fire. I'm not even sure. We're going to have to look that up. Right now, the adventure is not done yet. We are right beside that great big mountain and I got to go see. It's right there. Wow. The whole time I'm driving through there, I'm like, I need to get closer to that. Mixie is like, "Holy cow, Dad." Look at that, Mixie. It's huge. You feel incredibly small down here. Look up at that. Feeling super tiny. That river seems super high. Every corner is another monster of a mountain. That's nuts. We got to pull over. I don't remember. This is insane. Oh, look at the waterfall. The waterfall up there. We need to get a photo. That is absolutely nuts. Oh, there's another waterfall over there. That one right there. Look up there. >> I don't know why, man. Being around mountains just fills that soul of mine. I was born and raised in British Columbia here. Been around mountains my whole life, but never mountains like those. That is insane. It was worthy driving up the road 100%. And I kind of like what we got going on here. We're that little blue dot right there. It looks like we have a series of campgrounds coming coming up ahead in front of us. We're going to go check them out. detour. Oh, this nice big open camp spot loaded full of firewood. And that view. Are you serious? You're totally allowed to camp here. And the sign says, "Attention campers." Oh, there's a wreck site. No way. You're camping in bear country. All campsites must be kept bare. Stay safe. Sign says this is a designated ATV trail. Maybe don't take the big Mercedes down there. Wish my drone was working. All right, we are going to go stay at that great big spot. Welcome to camp. This is This is insane. Look around. I have mountains 360 degrees all the way around me. Every direction. You know how I always tell you guys to trust that tummy? Even when we found that nice little spot in the back country, my tummyy's like, "Nah, we got to go a little bit farther." And boy, am I glad I did. as far as you can see. Look at the one right in front of us. Those are the mountain ranges that we just finished driving through. This to me is absolute paradise. Hold on you guys. You guys can come on a sec. Let me empty the firewood. This is the first time I've had the chance to open up the doors of this thing in uh in quite a bit. I mean, there's a few occasional ones. You can see them around here a little bit, but this is the first time I've had the chance to open the doors, air the van out. There's been so many bugs that you just had to keep yourself trapped in there. So, we're going to blow all the hair out of this thing and give her a bit of a clean. Back door open. Oh, that looks like it's AI generated. But it's not. Holy crap. It's too quiet out here. So, we're going to turn up some tunes so the bears know we're here. It makes me say we start a fire. She runs. >> Well, no part of that, Dad. Cut my finger. Go figure. All right, guys. Make some food. I think I'm going to make taco. Make see that's far enough. What I need is some cheese and some sour cream, which I don't have. We got veggies. We got taco seasoned ground beef. Toss some creamy sauce on there. Bada boom. That'd be better if it was a sour cream. And I need cheese. I need cheese. Something I added to my journey when I was out in Dawson Creek is we finally have a chair. I picked this chair up at Canadian Tire. Boom. Ground leaf is shaking. Meies are taken. Heartaches and chases. Call out to the unknown. I'll take the path as shown to make it easy to make it. I know what I need to start over again. Sun's gone down behind all the clouds. Temperature has dropped and it feels perfect out here. Hey little Mixie, it's awfully nice to be outside, isn't it? Hey, you're covered in dirt. What were you guys doing? Hey, what were you guys doing? Well, crew, that's all we got. Hopefully you guys are enjoying the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains. No bugs here. After the night I had last night, being outside here is going to be wicked when Mixie has to go pee tonight. Cuz as of right now, not a single one anywhere. And I wonder why. Because literally on the other side of those mountain ranges, it was like full-blown war over there between me and the bugs. than I was losing. This is absolutely perfect. The best day of this travel trip so far. All right, you guys. Peace out. I'll see you guys on the next one. Meories. Body aches. Call out to the unknown. I'll take the path I show. Just make it make it. I know what I need. to start again. Someone again Come on.