Vanlife Camping with BEARS in The Yukon (Driving to Alaska)

Now guys, if I remember correctly, this was the stretch of the Alaska Highway where I saw the most bear activity in my whole entire life. Look, there's a black bear right there. Wow, it's crazy how many there are out here. Whoa. Oh yeah, this is definitely like a hunter's camp. That usually means a lot of animal activity. I wonder if someone was living out here. Yeah, this is an old shower setup. This is weird. I think this is the scariest type of forest to be in. I mean, you can't see past like 20 feet. And considering how much bear activity and whatever else is out there, you never know it's watching you. Well, good morning everyone from the beautiful Alaska Highway. My name is Trent and I live, travel, and game out of the back of this very cozy camper van. And welcome to day three of my 1,300 mile trek through Northern Canada along the barren remote Alaska Highway. If you missed last episode and the previous episodes of me taking this epic journey up to Alaska, you can watch the playlist right here so you can catch up on everything that you missed. But on today's adventure, we are continuing our drive north and it is a beautiful, beautiful day. And our first stop is a place called Liard Hot Springs, which you guys have seen before on my previous Alaska series. But this is a hot spring that you just have to stop at on your way to Alaska. It is so beautiful and it's about two hours away from us. So we're going to do a short little drive, hit the hot spring, find camp, get cozy, make some good food. It's going to be a good video. So make sure you stick around. Just trying to go to the hot spring. Yeah, it's only $5 per person. $5? Yeah. Strictly no food at all. There's a bear hanging around. Alcohol, cigarettes, and pets are not allowed there. Also, your receipt is good until 10 o'clock tonight. Have a good time. Oh, great. Awesome. Thank you so much. You're welcome. We'll be back. Well, down the fort. Well, guys, we've made it to the renowned Liard Hot Springs here in BC. But as you can tell, this whole area is surrounded by electric fence and it kind of feels like we're about to enter into Jurassic Park a little bit, but we're leaving the parking lot now and we have to go through this gate and this is a fully secured area because guess what? There are tons of bears. And believe it or not, the Liard Hot Springs actually has some gruesome history. Back in 1997, one of the deadliest black bear attacks happened right here in the park. Two people died because of a black bear who was just starving. It was in predatory mode, just looking for something to eat and normally black bears don't attack like that, but this one in particular was just in a frenzy and unfortunately took some lives here. And that's why this park is now surrounded by the electric fence. This is it. Dang, this is awesome. Guys, this is literally the perfect day for a hot spring soak. It's a bit chilly today and this hot spring is hitting the spot. Alright guys, we're going to the colder side of the spring. Keep your eyes open around here, mind you. Solids out, cubs. Oh, okay. Okay. Gotcha. Springtime. Sounds like the bear situation here right now is actually kind of crazy. That guy was just warning me about a bear that has her cubs that's wandering around here and bears with their cubs are aggressive regardless of whether they're black bears or not. Alright, bye hot spring. It was good seeing you again. Hi Millie. Hello. Now guys, if I remember correctly, this was the stretch of the Alaska highway where I saw the most bear activity in my whole entire life. Within a small span of just 30 minutes of driving, I think I remember seeing seven or eight bears just on the side of the road here. And I'm not sure what it is about this particular area that makes it so bear heavy, but what I do know is that I definitely don't want to settle into camp anywhere near the heightened bear activity because, I don't know, it just makes me a little nervous. Look, there's a black bear right there. See what I'm talking about. Wow, it's crazy how many there are out here. Alright guys, let's take a quick little break to talk about today's video sponsor on X Offroad. You guys know they've been sponsoring this channel for a couple of months now and I love using this app while living and traveling out of my van. It's such a great little app for adventurers like myself. If you want to do some off-roading, this app gives you access to tons of different off-roading trails all across the U.S. But the main feature that I love the most is the dispersed camping feature. Basically, you open up the map, turn on the dispersed camping layer overlay on the map and it shows you all of the U.S. Forest Service roads that allow free dispersed camping on them. And let me tell you, this has saved me so many times when I have been struggling to find a place to camp. And usually, those roads offer some of the coolest, most beautiful campsites I've stayed at so far. And if you're someone like me that both works and travels simultaneously, so you need to make sure that you have cell coverage wherever you end up camping for the night, well, onXOffroad has thought of that. Because there is a cell coverage overlay that you can put on the map that will show you your exact cell provider's coverage and how far it reaches so you know wherever you end up camping for the night, you're going to be camping where you have cell service. And just when I thought this app couldn't get any more perfect for van life, they implemented something called group location sharing. So if you have cell service and you're traveling with a bunch of friends, you guys can all share your location together and you can see exactly where each person is on the map. And it makes it so convenient for traveling with a bunch of people. It's awesome and it's one of my favorite features. So with that being said, I highly recommend you guys try out the app for yourself. You'll get a seven-day free trial if you click the link below and if you use my code TrentTheTraveler at checkout, you'll get 20% off the elite or premium membership. And you'll be supporting me and my channel, which will be greatly appreciated. So shout out to onXOffroad for sponsoring this video and the channel. I really appreciate you. But now it's time to get back to the rest of this adventure. Well, dude, you feeling hungry yet? I'm starving. I was thinking about making those quesadillas tonight. Can I steal those chicken thighs? Ooh, perfect. Thanks. All right, guys. We are all settled into camp for the night. After we left the hot springs, I was feeling real tired. So we pretty much found camp just an hour outside of the springs, right off the side of the Alaska Highway. And this spot is pretty great. Nothing crazy, but we're in the forest. We've got a nice wide open space to let the dogs run. So it's a good spot for me. But it's about dinner time. And today's a special day. It is Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, my friends. And I don't know why, but Americans go all out for Cinco de Mayo. So we're carrying our roots up to Canada here. And I'm going to make some chicken quesadillas for both me and Christian. It's something I've never made before, so I really don't know how they're going to taste. But I'm going to try my best. I got this pollo asado seasoning that I'm excited to try. But yeah, it's feasting time. Welcome to the party. Oh, it already smells good. You're just cutting peppers. Really? Wow. Thank you. Yeah. That sounded professional, bro. Dude, this looks great. It looks and sounds and smells great. I'm excited to see how it tastes. Do you want me to take a bite now? Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. The cheese pull, bro. Bro. That's really good, dude. Yes! Y'all hear that? That's a crispy quesadilla. Oh! Dude, that is amazing. Yeah. Fire. Seconds? Yes! All right. It's time to close up. It is getting cold. Let's turn the heat on. And it is time to feast. It's a good display. Good plating of the quesadilla right there. It is. Cheers. Happy Cinco de Mayo. Cheers! Already gulping it. I've eaten half my meal. Cheers. I drank my coke. It's all right. It's all good. All right, guys. The feast is prepared. And I've already sank my teeth into this, and I really do think it's one of the best meals I've made in my entire life. But honestly, you can't really mess up quesadillas. Happy Cinco de Mayo. So, this is kind of embarrassing, but I actually don't know what Cinco de Mayo is. I just know that we celebrate it, and it's like a huge holiday in the States. But apparently, it's to celebrate Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. The United States began lending money and guns to the Mexican liberals, pushing France and Mexican conservatives to the edge of defeat. And, fun fact, Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the United States than in Mexico. And apparently, Cinco de Mayo generates beer sales on par with the Super Bowl. That's literally crazy. All right, I'm going to hang out with my dogs. All right, mate. Thanks for dinner. Of course. Oh, that's yours. Thank you. Good night. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of the evening. Bellies are full, and me and Millie are in bed. The van is all cozy and cleaned up. So, I'm going to do what I do best, which is game into the night, and then get some rest. And I'll see you guys in the morning. Shh. Good morning, everyone. Oh, Millie. Done with your breakfast already? That was quick. Yeah. Good morning, everyone. It is a beautiful, foggy day today here on the Alaska Highway. And man, I slept great last night. Can you tell? Starting to look a little greasy, too. Might be time for a shower. But first, got to have my coffee, my slow morning, to get ready for the day ahead. I think Christian and I are planning on driving just a little bit, going up to the next town, which is called Watson City. It's not really much of a town, but there is a small grocery store there. There's a few things I want to grab. I need to get more milk for my coffee. Currently drinking it black, among a few other things. But also, let's see what my water levels are at. Oh, yeah. I'm at 36%. So, I definitely need to top off soon. So, when we go into town, I'll probably try to find a water source to fill up. But yeah, the plan for today is to just continue trekking on, restock on some things, and see where we get to next. You about ready to roll out? Yeah. Okay. Ready to go. Let's do it. Alright, Billy. Ready to hit the road? Me too. Alright, made it to the small, small town of Watson Lake here in the Yukon. And there's this tiny little grocery store here that I'm going to go in and quickly restock on a couple things. This grocery store is so cozy. I don't know, maybe it's because it's like a local grocery store and not a chain. But just the vibes in here. Very cozy. The downside is that it's a little pricier than other grocery stores. Small fillet of salmon, $20. Yeah, it is very expensive. See, even he knows. Alright, next up on the to-do list is to fill up on some water. Oh, Millie, it's not playtime. What? We're just filling up on water. Tell you what, guys, Millie loves that little lizard. It's her favorite toy. Dang, we're filling up quick. 49% already. Alright, we're just going to top off on water. Then after that, refuel, then hit the road again. Alright, restocked, refueled. Now it's time to continue trekking north. This is a good spot? Yeah, I like this. Nice. Alright, let's park it. First rainy day here on the Alaska Highway, guys. I love it. It's cozy. But guys, check it out. This is camp for the night. We're about two hours outside of Whitehorse, which is kind of like the halfway point on the Alaska Highway. It's like the most established town between Dawson Creek and Alaska. What's down this way? Do you know? You want to walk down there? Yeah, definitely got to grab the bear spray if we're going to walk around. Especially out here. Whoa. Oh yeah, this is definitely like a hunter's camp. That usually means a lot of animal activity. I'm not sure what all these are for. Maybe for like skinning, maybe? Processing, yeah. There's another little camp right over here. Somebody's trying to build a house. Wait, yeah, you're right. This looks like the foundation of a soon-to-be cabin of some sort. And then it looks like, yeah, this is an old shower setup. This is weird. So either someone was trying to live out here or people just hunt out here for a long period of time. Whoa. I think this is a hunting spot, I guess. What do they call them? Deer stand kind of setup? Did you hear that? It sounded like an earthquake. These forests up here are just so pretty. This is a boreal forest and they're just so dense and like fluffy. That's the best way I can describe it. And it literally is fluffy. Look at this, the ground is just, I mean, you could sleep on this. But as beautiful as these forests are, I think this is like the scariest type of forest to be in. At least that I've experienced because it's just so dense. I mean, you can't see past like 20 feet into the forest line. And considering how much bear activity and moose and whatever else is out there, you never know what's watching you. All right. Let me dry you off. Come on. Up. Good girl. Okay. Good girl. Come on. I think you guys know what time it is. It's cozy o'clock. Just made me some tea. Got my cozy hoodie blanket from Lazy One On. Millie's chilling in the bed staring at me because she's, it's almost time for her to eat. But Christian and I are just going to hang out in our vans. I'm going to do some work. I am trying my absolute hardest to get ahead and get awesome content out for you guys here on the channel. But it is so tough to film, edit, and drive across North America at the same time. But honestly, I cannot complain because look at my office. Look at where it's at. And beautiful wherever the heck I want. But yeah, this is camp for the evening. And we are making some really good progress along the Alaska Highway. I feel like we are going a lot faster than my last trip. And I am just having so much fun being here again. And hopefully you guys are too. But before I sign off here, I want to let you guys know that there will be a break in my series of me traveling up to Alaska. I'm actually about to fly out and go to Taiwan for a week to meet up with my friends from ROG. I'm going to be doing a really awesome adventure in Taiwan. Seeing some cool nature. Playing with some new tech from ROG. And I'm excited to show that to you guys in these upcoming weeks. But yeah, I'm having to fly out of Canada in the middle of this trip. Spend a week over there and then fly back to Canada. And then continue the trek. Organizing all of that while doing all of this is just, it's a lot. It really, really is. But I'm excited for those videos. It's going to be a blast. But guys, this is it for this episode. I am going to get to work. And then for the rest of the evening, I'm going to hang out back here. Probably game, chill, vibe as usual. And if you guys are enjoying this series, make sure to hit that like button. It really helps the channel out so much. And of course, if you want to support me further than just a like or a subscribe here on YouTube, consider purchasing some of my merch at TrentTheTraveler.com or subscribing to me on Patreon, where you can unlock so many van life adventure episodes that you haven't seen yet, that are exclusive to Patreon. But until next time, guys, thank you for watching. And I will see you all in the next episode. Peace.