WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS and Barely Making It Home // EFRT S8 EP24

The reason we have the white Jeep pulled up next to us and we're using its hose is because this also has an ARB dual compressor it's just it's run by our S-Pod which just is our original Jeep so the S-Pod on this Jeep is run by a touchscreen and that touchscreen over the last year or two has kind of degraded to the point of I guess on this trip I just it was working before we started this trip but now it seems to have stopped working. We can't run our KC lights or this currently since all of that is wired into and controlled by that S-Pod touchscreen. I think it's a pretty simple fix it's either just get a new S-Pod which isn't a big deal or we would just change to what we have in the white Jeep Worsley is an S-Pod HD panel so it's like actual buttons which I've actually come to like more as cool as having a touchscreen version is and you can do custom buttons and all that having just actual pushing buttons you can actually turn on the lights faster or off faster and then you know it's not going to malfunction unless something goes wrong with the buttons it's a little a little less fragile than a touchscreen. The ones we use now are called they're speed plates so you can do all four tires at once it just has connecting hoses like one with an elbow and then you go around to the other tire so you do all four at once the best thing to do is before you start using a speed plate is to equalize all of your tires perfectly that way you know every time you plug in now they're going to be doing it perfectly equal really convenient once you get that all dialed. With all our tires now aired back up to highway pressures we jumped onto the James Bay Road and began the 1,200 kilometer or 745 mile journey back to the cabin. Before long the fuel problems we were having with Vandy began to act up again and we soon found ourselves stalled out on the side of the road. It could be as simple as just fuel but hopefully it's nothing more than that we're heading back now to check. Yes this whole fuel gauge situation isn't uh isn't the best we just got on the highway here our we've been going for like an hour or so and then we got a fuel light like five minutes ago and then it died we had to pull over ran out of fuel it's just weird it's not uh i don't think it's reading accurately either the actual stock tank or something to do with the air lock might be causing this it's just not uh not the best thing ever well that's good news that was a very simple fix uh they just ran out of fuel and we filled them up from the cabbie and we're back on the road everyone's hungry so it's time for lunch we're gonna find a place to pull over and make some food after a quick bite to eat we continued on down the road but first mom had a very special stop she wanted to make so we were here about a week ago or so and um i found an antler down around this pond oh boy a moose antler massive one and then i saw this odd shape i didn't know what it was so i asked you know the boys and pete right well what if it's something like sacred you know or something like that we just couldn't figure it out what it would be there for i'll i'll just leave it here because it looks like a ceremonial uh display so but it's pretty neat always gets your heart pounding later as we kept driving and i left the antler there not knowing um we kept on seeing them everywhere around all the ponds and come to find out um it is for like hunting ducks or geese and and things like that so i'm came back here and i'm gonna go and see if it's still sitting here if not well at least it was a cool find but if it is here it'll be really cool so it's an old one but it was beautiful so sweet congratulations thank you this is neat especially especially with this trip and how far we've come and my neck can finally be relaxed for how many kilometers has it been um a lot and she mentions it every two hours man i should have grabbed that that antler nice the engine just shut off on its own so we made it all the way to the fuel station but now the engine is stalled so it could be a little more serious than fuel just put in like four gallons we were able to get vandy refueled and back on the road but we were becoming a little concerned with the fact that it was stalling out more frequently and we still had a long way to go all right so we just completed the billy diamond highway after the trans niaga it's a long drive we're gonna be pulling into um autogamy soon but it's just neat to go back through the sun didn't know what to expect and we definitely weren't let down on the beauty and uniqueness of a trip like this just going so remote because the beauty is different than what you typically go out to go do like when you're going out on a jeep trip if you have a week of time or two weeks of time to travel like what we're doing now you'd kind of picture in your head you'd want to go see mountains in bc or beautiful deserts and you know stuff like that or the ocean but going out to do something like this is just really long drives technically and it's all just forest but you really get a sense of what it's like in the north especially in the north of canada obviously you're so far from civilization and from people it was crazy when we were back on the billy diamond highway from the trans niaga because there was other cars which was kind of a sight yet we hadn't seen in like three four days and especially when you get out to the end we didn't spend too much time out at the very end of the trans tag because of our fuel situation but uh if you spent a couple days out there you're basically guaranteed not to see another person and you could probably stay out there for three weeks and not see anyone unless there's another traveler so it's a really cool experience and something definitely worth doing and worth checking off as an overlander that you've done the loneliest road in north america we topped up our fuel in mitagami found a camp spot for the night and then got an early start back on the road the next morning civilization now let's get the mugs out since there's so many we are back in civilization and the first stop we're getting fuel and right behind us is a tim so we're gonna copy up and get back on the road lando could you have a fun trip we encountered a few more fuel related problems on the rest of the journey home and then with our driveway coming into sight the engine quit we began to coast our way in we made it back what an incredible time we had in northern quebec making memories and experiences that we will never forget that was crazy installed a mile back and i was going enough speed i rolled right in i just kept her going coming in here it you know how the uh power steering and the power brakes went off so i just muscled it around and then we made it that's an unbelievable adventure come to a crazy completion but we did it we absolutely love our off-grid lifestyle whether we are exploring a remote road somewhere in the wilderness or enjoying life at the cabin the wilderness makes us feel fully present and alive it's a biggie look at that thing yeah there it goes feet that thing that's huge two massive bass in the same line like three minutes apart we just got back from an epic trip up north and the garden's looking good and it's exciting to be back and check out everything and now that things are blooming and it just is so beautiful but i got the tumble test going and i'm making moose burgers with a little bit of pork blended in with it i'm gonna be using some applewood pepper in with it and some nice bacon and stuff like that so it's gonna be nice it's the perfect beginning of summer meal i think so let's get started so this is really thoughtful of our neighbor on the lake and good friend of ours especially when you come back from a big trip like that and he came over with the pork the moose hamburger and bacon and buns and it was just such a treat so that was really nice like i said really thoughtful so we are all pretty hungry and this is gonna be amazing i think he said you add in a little bit of pork to your moose hamburger because it's um very lean this is my first making moose hamburgers i think the apple smoked espresso pepper will be really nice touch to this look at that beautiful so we got vandy into the jeep dealership for service and there was a couple issues uh they believe we haven't tested it yet but they said it's running fine and um it was called a camshaft sensor or something along those lines which they replaced and reset everything and then they did a full uh engine cleanup you can see the spark plugs are were kind of worn out broken actually so uh replaced the plugs flushed out the fuel injectors and all that kind of stuff so let's hope that's all it was i think uh i'm gonna go try start it and i think you know we're probably in good shape ready for our next trip good morning guys as you probably heard a bunch of wildfires broke out in quebec and ontario uh thankfully since then we've had three lovely days of slow drenching rain and so the fire bands have been lifted and i think a lot of the fires are under control if not completely out now but it made us think what's our state of preparedness for a wildfire if one were to happen on the island god forbid but anywhere on the lake we're quite a distance from any any fire hall of any kind and it would take some time for a water bomber to fly in so we need to be our own first responders so we do have a pump and some uh brush fire line and a nozzle so and we have lots of water that's one thing we have an unlimited supply of so we're gonna just dan and i are gonna grab the pump and see how long it takes us to get water coming out of the end of the nozzle so we leave the pump primed in the summer in the winter of course we drain it but that just makes it easier to use try to leave it fueled up and pre-primed so it's ready to go i see uh the water hitting the pump now and here we go we charge putting the fire out now you can rev it up a lot more than this so if we're just trying to soak down an area you can shoot it right up into the canopy of the trees we're getting up there a good 50 feet into the air and in preparation for a fire that was advancing towards us i would uh soak everything soak the trees at the same time the ground would be getting soaked if you're fighting a like a grass fire or a brush fire that's close by you put this on a nice wide nozzle like this and you get the biggest area possible and you can just douse the fire with in no time but yeah this allows us to get a high volume of water i'd soak the buildings the ground and the trees and just get as much water on everything as possible should be able to put out a brush fire pretty quick with this all right we can knock down a pretty big fire with that and uh the nice thing i was saying earlier we could throw this whole rig into a boat head across the lake put a fire out somewhere else we also have two more 75 foot rolls of this inch and a half brush line so we could go like 200 plus feet into the into the bush run around putting out spot fires so pretty good i think our test was successful now if we keep up with this nice cool and damp weather wildfires aren't going to be much of a problem this year while we were practicing our wildfire suppression skills mom was busy picking up a load of organic meats to top up the freezer for the next six months or so i just went and picked up another load of some organic meats and some also some organic cleaners that i ordered from this company here in ontario it's just really helpful to just get it all at one time so it's less shopping trip and driving and stuff like that we did get um our hunting license so we're going to be adding that this next fall so hopefully i can get a tag or a moose or a deer this year that would be really fun to learn that kind of stuff and harvest our own meats it would be really rewarding and true organic right we did have a few things left over from the whole winter yeah for five people and when the ice didn't freeze up we were eating breakfast lunch and dinner and snacks and then when people would come we could also feed them as well like really nice steaks or ribs and things so it went a long ways i was really really happy about that so after coming back from the trans taiga trip and with some plans to do more traveling around the east coast of canada especially in ontario which is also known as the land of lakes we have so much freshwater lakes and rivers here um we've just been camping alongside them and really wishing we had something to go out on like a canoe or a raft so we ended up picking up a alpaca raft um and we haven't set it up yet so i'm going to do that now and kind of see how it looks and then maybe take it for a little test the reason why we got one of these is they just pack so small because we've seen a couple other models that you know can go up on roofs and stuff but since uh an overlanding space is key an inflatable one seemed like the way to go from what i understand how you inflate it is with this bag and you just inflate the bag with air and then you squeeze the air into the kayak before i start inflating i'm just going to turn this around because the wind is coming from this direction so you kind of just open the bag as much as you can and then grab it closed i didn't get much air that time but this is a basic thing then this fills with air you just squeeze it into the raft and then rinse and repeat that until you inflate the raft if you have the wind at your back like this really helps get a lot more air in with each pump about as much air is going to go in there and then uh even though it's pretty much fully inflated just to get the last bit of air and you just blow in uh with your mouth and then it should be good to go well that was easy uh that's actually that only took like 10 or 12 pumps and i'm not even sure i was doing the bag as uh good as you could but that's actually faster than most of the electric ones we've used which is pretty amazing it's also weightless that's awesome another pretty neat thing about these is they're actually handmade in the states but uh they have tons of different models this one is i believe they're caribou model um so it's designed to be able to carry a frontal load of whatever you're taking if you're going on like a backpacking trip or something well i'm really excited to take this out uh even up here to go fishing but then also when we're on the road uh can finally take something out to go explore some of those remote lakes and maybe do some fishing up there as well but uh these ones are designed for bike uh for hunters as well to carry your loads and also bike packers people that travel on bicycles so if you ever need to go across a river or a lake you can just set your bike up front and take to the water which is pretty neat one thing i forgot to mention as well as there's this seat that you just fill up by flowing into this tube but uh yeah let's go take it out without falling in all righty well i'm not much of a kayaker so the paddle style is quite a bit different it's definitely something to get used to from coming from canoes but and this thing is agile even in the wind like a slight paddle strokes and you start really moving which is nice i'm actually very surprised at how stable i feel in here usually with inflatables you always feel like you're going to tip over but even if i tried it'd be hard to and the seat and backrest is really comfortable as well and even uh for taller people like us it's more than enough room for my legs to fully stretch out it's really nice have to go out on a extended trip with this thing hopefully like a couple day camp trip fishing trip or something around the lake with this would be awesome later on ah slippery rock that thing's a light awesome now we got a way to explore even further into the wilds when we're out on our trips it's awesome now that i've been back i have been working in the gardens again one of my favorite things to do um this year is not abundance of variety of things but at least we have a garden i started with some green onions kale and then lots of peppers because you know i like to cook with jalapenos and bell peppers and then this i did plant last fall and this is my garlic and it's uh turning out really nice i'm excited about that and this area as you saw last fall as well the beets love this and the radishes i wish it was a little bit bigger so i could add carrots to this garden and if you're wondering about all these sticks they're everywhere because lando is so used to just running through the gardens and then he rips all the plants up and i have to start over but he's he's slowly learning i think in another week or two he'll just stay right out of them but um i got this because i have strawberries down by the water but i think i want them hanging here and i wish it was long enough i'll we'll build one next year but i think for this year we'll just move them up here so i think that'll be nice then herbs all along the top and then right here i have my rhubarb and asparagus so that'll be coming up for next year's season and a few brussel sprouts and then my tomatoes along here i only went with three plants i want to like learn more about them and just kind of separate them a lot more this time and then here in this garden that we have lando proofed um we have some broccoli and a lot of brussel sprouts i think i'm going to take out like two rows and do carrots and we have some acorn squash and spaghetti squash but yeah so that's why all the sticks are here it's because lando likes to lay in here but also i'm gonna get the brussel sprouts growing upright that way and get them trained up so that's what is going on so far i have no potatoes this year but i may start some in containers that way i have raspberries and strawberries all down there and my blueberries wild ones so i've also been kind of just making the place around the cabin a little bit more cozy with ferns and hostas and down on the slope by my red chairs i am trying to grow a lot of wildflowers because i really want to learn how to use wildflowers as more of like a herbal medicines i'm pretty fascinated by that and i have a lot of learning with that but yeah so that's all down there and it's all done by seed but they're all coming up nicely so i think that's going to be a good spot to keep on adding every year to that the wildflower garden so now it's kind of fun to see it playing out and you know i'm sure i'll have trial and error but to just kind of have a map of the property where you know different gardens are gonna be going so it's really fun happy father's day dad thank you for being such a great example and for always taking the time to teach us stuff and for all the adventures we've had along the way for all the lessons you've taught us and for always being there and to all the other fathers out there we wish you a happy father's day as well and a wonderful weekend happy father's day dad i love you so so much and i'm so unbelievably thankful i could write an entire book of all the things that i'm thankful for you and everything that you mean to me um you are truly the best dad in the entire world and something that i'm super thankful for is that you have been an example in showing me what is truly possible in life when you dream big enough and work hard enough towards that dream and keep that goal in front of you because anything is truly possible when you are willing to work hard enough for it and i am so thankful for all of the years of hard work and just dedication to building those dreams for our family and the life that you've given us it is truly truly been a dream and all of the experiences and memories together and the lessons i've learned it is so unbelievable um and you are also a true example of selfless unconditional love and yeah i love you so much dad i could keep going and keep going but yeah just happy father's day join us next week as we set out on another overland adventure into the backcountry of ontario canada