The most Beautiful Section of the Alaska Highway is Actually in Canada 🇨🇦 | S1E33

Oh, my bike fell over. Oh, my plate. That thing does not want to stay on there. It's already pulling tears, so. But yeah, this is going to be a crazy moment when that goes into the Southern Ocean, so. Yeah. My journey begins at North America's most Northern drivable point. The plan is to ride through Canada and America before crossing over to Europe. From there, I'll make my way across Asia and down to Australia. New Zealand's Southern most drivable point will mark the end of my journey. I'm calling it the big spiral, and this is act three across North America. Good morning. As you can see, I'm down by the river, and this is where I slept last night. But I'll tell you that story in a second, because it got a little complicated after the last video. Today, I think we're going to visit what is probably the nicest set of developed hot springs in Canada. And they're up here in Northern BC. I'm really excited to visit, and I can't wait to show them to you. But first, we're going to go up river and check out something that I stumbled upon last night. All right. So let me tell you the story. So in the last video, I went to visit a hot spring. It's a kind of a secret remote one. And I had finished the video, and I still had to walk out and get back to the bike, which is probably like two hours. All right, just crossing the highway here. So after I got out, it was already pretty dark, and I needed to find a place to sleep or camp or whatever. I saw this place we're going to now, and it's right by the falls. So I thought, oh wow, if it's by the falls, there should be water, because I was out of water. Well, I get up here and it's like, the campsite's like really high up, because it turns out that the falls are massive. I didn't realize it. That's why I want to go up here and show them to you, because they're really cool. So I'm like, oh, I need water. I can't go without water. So I go back down. I'm like, well, at least where I know there's water, because the falls are a river. So I go back down to the highway, and that's where I camped this morning. But there's that pipe, and I kind of knew, like, oh, there's this pipeline there. I'm like, I know someone in the morning's gonna come and fill up their truck with water probably. And sure enough, at like 7 a.m. or whatever, they come. I didn't even look, because I just know what it is. I hear it. They turn on the water pump, and oh my god, was that water pump so loud. At least four times as loud as the truck was. It must have not had an exhaust on it or something. That definitely woke me up. I'm glad I had earplugs in, but even the earplugs are still loud. Anyways, that campsite was like right by the highway, and yeah, maybe not my best site, although I did get water from the river, so kind of all worked out, because I stumbled upon these falls, and I know I did, these things existed, but they're really cool. Oh yeah, I just saw them there. Smith River Falls. All right, the Yard Hot Springs. So this place is kind of crazy, because it's got, it's surrounded by electric fence, which I don't, I've never been to another provincial park that's done that. Hi. How you doing? Good. How can I help you? I'd like to use the hot springs. For sure, just $5 per person then. So I only have American, is that okay? Yeah, we take that, yeah. We also, you can pay card, but there's an extra $2 charge, so I think it maybe equals that. Okay, I'll just give you five American then. Have you been here before? I have. All righty. Yeah. So yeah, just no food, drink, alcohol, or smoking down there. Okay. Otherwise, you're good to go, just down there. Cool, thank you. So yeah, it's kind of crazy, the whole park is surrounded by electric fence, and I'll tell you why in a second. All right, let me just park first. All right, so we're actually leaving the electric fence area here. All right, so the reason why there's an electric fence around this, the whole campground, is there was an accident with a bear. There was a bear attack, I'm not sure, it was in the 90s, I think. And yeah, someone died. So it's kind of crazy, actually, because bear attacks are really uncommon, but they still went out and put up the electric fence around the whole campground. Like, obviously, I'm outside of the electric fence now. There can't be that too much of a problem there, but maybe there's too many attractants in the campground, like with people with food and stuff, but, you know, I've been to BC campgrounds with plenty of bear problems. Like, I've woken up in the night with bears eating out of coolers and things like this. But anyways, yeah, it's kind of crazy that they put a fence around the whole thing. And anyways, the hot springs here are exceptional. All right, if you go to the far end near the source, it gets really hot. If you look at the hottest spot over there, there's a pile of rocks. And the deal is, is that you have to walk over there, place a rock, and then you can make a wish. But it's actually a little bit painful to walk over because it's so hot. So, but I'm going to give it a try. Oh my God, it's really hot. You can see it's like literally bubbling. There. Yeah, basically you have to mix the water as you go because it's just, the top layer is so hot. It's coming straight out of here. Actually start to worry, you know? Like you're like, oh, I'm going to burn. Let me try it. Oh my God. Ah, I didn't do it. Okay. I do like a hot spring, but that is supremely hot. You have to kind of try to mix the water as you're walking up to that. So, it's super fun. Get a rock in your hand, man. Yeah. Go ahead, count. Didn't count. Did that burn? This is so cool. Wow. This place is awesome. This is so cool. I've been here before, but I don't remember this going so deep. Let's go back. This is such an amazing experience. Like, I don't know, this has got to be one of the coolest hot springs in the world. Maybe I'm biased, but I haven't been to them all, but this one is really special, I'd say. So, that was a fantastic soak, but there's actually a little bit more to see. There's kind of a boardwalk that goes above the spring. There's something called the Hanging Gardens, which is apparently closed. There used to be, yeah, more stuff you could visit, but this might be, this might be related to the bear attack, so. And there's one other cool thing about this place, and it's that there's a species of snail that lives in this spring that only exists here. So, around here, you'll see signs that'd be like, save our snails, but yeah, basically they've discovered a species of snail that only exists in the springs here. And there's some hot springs around, like in the last video, I went to a spring there, but that snail does not exist there, does not exist to other springs in the area. It only exists here, which is kind of crazy. For one, that means that the springs have existed for long enough that a whole species has evolved in these springs, and two, it's the only one of its type in the world, so if you come up along the Alaska Highway, this, for me, is a must stop every time. Well, I am so relaxed right now, I could just take a nap, but I need to keep going. But first, maybe a bit of food. So I think just across the road is exactly what I'm looking for, I think. All right, I've had my bale of tea. Still feeling super relaxed, actually. But I got 300 kilometers to go to Fort Nelson. It's a bit smoky, but hopefully I can still get some views, because I know this section of the highway is quite beautiful, especially around Muncho Lake. Oh, man, but did those hot springs ever hit the spot? That was pretty special. I'm gonna go stand up to the bridge. The Yard River. ♪ We set out to save them all ♪ ♪ It's where I saw you standing small ♪ ♪ Separated by our flags ♪ ♪ Saw your eyes, you saw my tags ♪ ♪ Find you on another shore ♪ Muncho Lake. ♪ And fond love will do you well ♪ ♪ For the stories that you'll tell ♪ ♪ When you raise your daughters free ♪ ♪ With this ring, remember me ♪ Really idyllic. Gorgeous here. All right, how do these ones work? Pump first, move your vehicle, pay inside. I like that one. All right, got some gas and time to go again. And look, I also cleaned the windshield and my visor. I should have done that long before all that beautiful stuff back there, but there's more beauty to come, so. Oh, it's a metal bridge. Crap. I'm getting more comfortable on them, but the bike, it does move around a lot on those. Another metal surface bridge. Just a little one. No problem. Bit like gravel, I guess. Stay in the throttle, you're good. I'm learning, guys, I'm learning. ♪ I dare you to say what does it mean to me ♪ ♪ I can't feel this way, my girl, my girl, my girl ♪ ♪ Talking about my girl, woo-hoo ♪ More bison, more bison, more bison. Oh, it's so cool. Right by the sign. They're so cool. They're like a little bit like, why did you stop? They're curious too, aren't they? Looking all majestic in the sun there. Oh, taking a dump? Poop is funny, but not much is happening there. Oh, my bike fell over. Crap. I parked it just right on the edge, as far off the road as you can, but when you're on a hill, it's hard to. The bison are like, your bike fell over. Why don't you go get it, huh? And it looks like it fell, it fell downhill. I hope everything's okay. Let's see if I can pick it up. Okay, let's see. Might've been the car that drove by. Just kind of blew it over. Ah! These bison are watching me struggle. Oh, thank God. Okay, I have to take the case off. Okay, let's try this again. Back onto the road. Okay. Oh, it looks like this is bent. I have to fix that later. Brakes is still working though. Ah! How embarrassing, right in front of the bison. Oh, my plate. That thing does not want to stay on there. Ah. My zip ties are in the bottom of that bag there. Yeah, it's going to go to a better spot to fix my plate, cause I don't want, I haven't had enough losing that thing. Keep dropping the bike, huh? Okay, I'm going to try to put these on a bit loose this time and see. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but if it can move, it might be better. But yeah, I put three on there before and they all broke. So this thing does not want to stay on. Oh, there's the three wheeler. One more coming by? Yeah, there he is. All right. Back on the road. All right, arriving in Fort Nelson. And this is my final stop for the day. And I booked a hotel already. And I forget where the hotel is. It's a small town, I should be able to find it. I think it was at a Petrochan, gas station hotel. There's Petrochan, it was the cheapest one. Looking especially cheap. They have a lot of room, so. Wonder mat, too. Perfect. Hi, is this where I come to check in? Yes, so your name please? Eric Testrod, yeah. I just love those Liard hot springs. For a developed hot spring, that is one of the best ones I've ever been to, if not the best. And that drive after through Muncho Lake, it's so, actually the whole drive, basically from Liard to Fort Nelson, absolutely amazing. If you ride a motorcycle, you have to drive that road. It is just so fun and so beautiful and all the things. Plus there's bison. There are bison. Although that second herd was probably wondering what the heck I was doing, dropping my bike on the side of the road and walking around. Anyways, we'll just forget about that little mistake. But what I really wanna do is update the maps. And actually there's a lot of updating to do because I've been slacking a little bit and in more ways than you probably realize. But last time I updated, I was in Little Salmon Lake and I just had camped there. I'm still feeling a little under the weather, but I decided I wanted to keep going. And I drove the Campbell Highway all the way to a little lake called Simpson Lake. And then I spent the night there and then kept going to Watson Lake right there. And then saw the signpost forest. And then I hopped back on the highway and continued to Liard. And then from there, I continued all the way. So now I'm gonna have to update the map. So this is back, this is the Simpson Lake again. So I'll just update this bit. And then it even says Liard River Hot Springs there. And then drove past Moncho Lake to Toad River. And then, so we keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going to Fort Nelson. So yeah, definitely made some progress and we're back in BC again, which I'm happy about because it's my home province. But there's one more map that I've only showed on the channel once so far that I need to update. And I should have updated it at Prudhoe Bay, but I forgot. So I'm gonna update it now. So this might be a little difficult to do, but we started near Vancouver in Abbotsford and then kept going up the Cassier Highway all the way to Whitehorse. And then from Fairbanks, I drove to Prudhoe Bay. And then went over to Dawson and then down to Fort Nelson, which we are at now. Okay, there's one more thing to do that I'm kind of excited about. And here, let me show you. So when I made it to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and got to the most northern drivable point and then went to the Arctic Ocean and took a dip, I picked up this rock. And I wanna take this rock all the way with me to New Zealand where I wanna throw it in the Southern Ocean of New Zealand. And for me, this is gonna be a really special rock. But I also wanna be able to incorporate it into the story a little bit. So since I'm splitting this trip into acts, I wanna write each act on this rock as I complete them. So I've already completed two acts and I need to write them on the rock. So the first act was about preparation. So it was about getting the motorcycle together, getting my license, getting all the gear I needed, just all the preparation required, a couple of warmup rides, getting used to the bike, things like that. So I've completed that already. And yeah, so act one is done. Now act two was leaving from my hometown in Abbotsford and driving all the way up to Prudhoe Bay. So that was like my little warmup for the journey and just getting to the start point. So yeah, that's my idea for the rock. I feel like it's just gonna be a really nice way to kind of sum up the story in one tiny little piece and just a kind of a beautiful way to keep track of the trip and the progress and all that. And then just to be able to throw this into the ocean at the end of the trip. Oh my God, the idea is even making me emotional right now. I barely even started and I'm already, it's already pulling tears. But yeah, this is gonna be a crazy moment when that goes into the Southern Ocean. So yeah. Anyways, sorry for that bit of emotion there. It's all a little overwhelming at times when I think about the whole scope of it. But I don't know, it does mean a lot to me. So, but anyways, if you like the videos and you haven't yet, I'd love for you to subscribe. And if you don't want to, that's fine. I just hope I see you in the next video and I'd love for you to follow along because it's just gonna be one massive story. This whole trip is just gonna be just one crazy thing after another. And yeah, I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't even wait for tomorrow. Like I'm so excited to do these things and it's just so fun. So anyways, thank you so much for watching and I hope I'll see you next time.