3-Days alone in the woods | Cabin Life Alaska

Me and Norman are going camping and we're taking you along. Well the spot that I originally thought would be fun to camp at was a no-go. It was uh full of people and it's changed a lot since I was there years ago. So me and Norman just decided to keep on trucking. We've been driving for like four hours now. We're just on a totally different side of the state sitting in traffic here. It's like a construction. But you know it's all good. What's cool though is that this has been a good opportunity to test out the cabin on wheels on a longer road trip with some rougher roads. Potholes and tight corners and things like that. And so far it's doing great. Pretty pleased with it. My gas mileage isn't great. I've got about nine miles to the gallon right now. Which makes sense. There's a wall behind me. But anyway uh we're getting down the road. I'm feeling pretty discouraged. I got to the lake I was hoping to camp at and it was just packed full of people man. I'm gonna try one other spot. All right maybe maybe we'll be able to camp here. Well there's someone at that spot too. So got one other lake to try. Finally made it to a spot on a lake. Nobody else here. Getting over a cold by the way so don't mind me. I'm gonna raise up this side of the camper a bit. The thing is that I sleep with my head on this side of the camper. You always want to have your head on the uphill side of wherever you're camping. Otherwise the blood will rush to your head while you're sleeping. And you wake up with a bad headache. Perfect. So here's the lake and here is the camp for the night. And I actually talked to this guy. He's got that truck right there. He has a cabin rented out on the other side of the lake. And so he just got in the boat and went to the other side. So he's not actually here for the night. He just parked his rig there. And super nice guy. Chatted for a bit. So I've got the spot to myself for all intents and purposes. Well, me and Norman. First things first, I'll get the power started. I use this little EcoFlow power station. And it just hooks into the electricity of the cabin. And let's turn it on. And there we go. Pretty sweet. Keep this door closed. The mosquitoes are out. First time this year. It's bug season. Is this what you want? What are you doing up here? Right here, Norm. Here, buddy. This is a good spot. I was going to cook hot dogs on the fire tonight. But it's kind of rainy. It's late already. And I'm exhausted. So I'm just going to throw in a freezer meal. Which is exactly why I put an oven in this camper. I mean, I like to cook and everything. But having the ability to do like an easy freezer meal in a camper is really, really nice on a day like today. So I'm tired. It's only 9 o'clock. But I'm exhausted. It's been a long day. It's been a long week. I'm still getting over this cold. Yeah. I'm just going to eat this cheap frozen lasagna and then go to bed. So I'll catch you guys in the morning. Good morning, everybody. And a beautiful morning it is. Something I learned recently from a coffee guru friend of mine is to always wet down your coffee filter before you make your coffee with it. You just put water in it, swirl it around, and then dump it out. And it just kind of takes away some of that papery flavor that the coffee filter might leave behind. Probably doesn't actually do anything. But whatever. This thing is called the Clever Coffee Dripper, I think. Something like that. What's cool about it is that you can actually steep the coffee in the grounds for a while, kind of like tea. So you do a coarser ground coffee and then let it sit for four minutes in the coffee dripper. And then by putting it on the cup is what makes it release the liquid, obviously. They're not good for multiple people. If you've got a bunch of people, you're either going to want a few of them or just a regular old coffee pot. But it makes really good coffee. Not a bad day outside. Kind of my take on like a camping style huevos rancheros. We'll see if it's any good. It's pretty fancy for being camping. You might have noticed that this whole area was recently burned by a massive wildfire. It gives the landscape a very strange and desolate feel to it. But even after total destruction, you can see the signs of new life starting to emerge from the ash and the burnt tree limbs. And to me, it serves as a metaphor to the power of perseverance and survival. I may get knocked down, but I will get back up. Well, the fish weren't biting. So I decided to come back to camp. It's starting to rain a little bit too. And I figured I'd take a second to show you guys my new midlife crisis, which is these native flutes. I don't know. I just decided I needed a flute in my life. So I bought this one and been working on learning how to play it. There you go. It's a fun instrument because it's really lightweight. I can take it with me anywhere if I'm hiking or camping. It doesn't take up any room in here. It's definitely not what I pictured myself doing in my mid-30s, but it's cheaper than a Ferrari, I guess. That one's called Here Comes the Rain. Well, I think I'm gonna pack it up and head to a different spot for the night. It's been a lot of people coming and going from this parking lot. And they're all nice and everything, but I just kind of feel like getting a little bit more out of the way. And on top of that, there seems to be no fish in this lake. I haven't seen a single riser or caught anything. And I've been fishing all afternoon and last night. So I think it's time to move on to greener pastures. So hit the road. Easy backup. Excuse me. Oh, you stink like a wet dog. It always cracks me up to see those signs that say, like, scenic area ahead. When everywhere you look it's insanely scenic and beautiful out here. But this one actually lives up to its signage. All right, well, I pulled down this road that goes up into the mountains a little ways and crosses over this creek. This is a salmon bearing creek. So this one and all the other moving water fisheries are closed right now for spawning. They probably won't open up for, I think, a couple more weeks or sometime in June. Just fun to look at for now. It's tempting to get the rod out, but unfortunately that would be illegal. But yeah, this is a great stream. I've caught a lot of nice fish on this one for sure. So hopefully we can find a spot to camp down this road. And we're back onto a gravel road. Hopefully it doesn't get too narrow. Whoa, whoa, whoa. All right, well, we're going to go check out a spot that I camped at, like, 12 years ago. And it's down a little tiny trail that sits by the river. And it's a pretty awesome spot. But I'm not sure I want to commit to taking this thing down there without going and looking at it first. So Norm and I are going to walk over there and see if it's suitable for this tiny cabin on wheels. I figured I'd take a second to talk about bear protection out here. People ask about it all the time. And I've got a bear spray on my hip right now. And I also carry a gun. I've got a Glock 10 millimeter. That is pretty standard equipment in the summer. I don't carry it with me at the cabin very often. But I have other guns there. But I just don't have them on my person because I'm not really too worried about bears right in that particular area. I've only had one or two come through the cabin in all the years out there. So it's, you know, always a possibility. But I don't really live in fear of bears. I just make a lot of noise and be conscious of where I am. If it's a windy area or salmon area, somewhere they can't smell you or see you coming, just be more careful. Carry a gun, carry a bear spray, move on with your life. It's not really a thing to worry about. Oh yeah, this is just such a primo spot to camp. But the catch is that it's a mining claim. Now the thing about mining claims is that even though they belong to somebody else and you're absolutely not allowed to mine on the property, they don't actually own the land. And I believe that you can travel through the land and maybe even camp on the land. I think the only thing you're not allowed to do is take ore or interfere with their mining operations. So this still might be a spot that we can camp tonight. The road is pretty narrow coming in. That's the road there. I think we can get the cabin down here. And I tell you what, this would be the spot to be. This is what I've been looking for. And look at this, it's right on the creek. Beautiful spot. Well, I really want to camp here, but I don't want to get shot by a disgruntled miner. So I think I'm actually going to give this fella a call. His phone number is listed right on the claim. So I'm going to call him up and see if I can get permission to stay here at the claim. Hey, my name's Matt. I'm calling about a camping spot that is on a claim that you have. Anyway, I have no intention of doing any mining here. I was just curious if it was legal or if I had your permission to camp here for the night. Give me a call back when you get a chance. And my phone number is... Anyway, appreciate it. Thanks, bye. He didn't answer, but maybe he'll call us back. I'm not sure, but I'm almost positive it's legal to do stuff on people's mining claims as long as you're not mining. That's what all the signs say. There's no private property. There's no gate. There's no keep out. Just says, hey, don't mine here. So I can do that. Fairly primitive little trail coming in here, but looks wide enough for the most part. Might hit a couple branches here and there, but I think we can get the cabin down here. There's a bunny on the road. One thing about Norman is that he is an absolute bunny fanatic and not in a good way. If he sees a chicken or a bunny, it's bad. Oh boy. Come on, buddy. Nope. Yeah, he knows. All right, well, the dude at the mining claim called me back and said it was totally fine if we camped there for the night. And so we got ourselves a spot. Okay, here we go. That first branch right there is pretty low hanging. Oh, well, let's give it hell. Corners. Think too much about that. Home sweet home. Cheers, y'all. The sun even decided to show up. Can you sit? All right, go ahead. All right, well, I want to share something really special with you guys. As many of you know, I'm a banjo player. I write all the music along with my friend Forrest Wilson for the channel. So all the music in this video and all my videos is original and is recorded by me and my buddy Forrest out at the cabin. I want to show you guys something really, really special. I recently managed to get what's called a Romero banjo. Jason Romero is probably the world's best banjo builder in my personal opinion. And to get a Romero banjo is nearly impossible. There's none online for sale. First of all, you have to be on a lottery to get into the waitlist. And then once you're on the waitlist, it's another five years before you're actually going to get your banjo. I just got really lucky and happened to reach out to him on the right day about one of his gourd banjos. And a gourd banjo is different than a regular banjo. It's literally made out of a gourd. And I tell you what, this is like a dream come true. I just I couldn't be more excited about getting one of his instruments. And it's absolutely as amazing as I anticipated. Obviously, it's one of a kind being a gourd, which is just like a fruit, right? It's like a pumpkin. Yeah, it's just incredible. The craftsmanship is unparalleled and it's going to be used to make a lot of the soundtrack music for the upcoming videos. So thanks a lot, Mr. Jason Romero. If you happen to see this, it means the world to me to get one of your banjos. Pretty cool. Norman and I went out for a hike down along the creek and it started raining. So we're heading back to the camp. I don't know if the camera is picking it up, but there's rain falling on the tin roof. It's one of my favorite sounds in the whole world. Something about being cozy in a cabin when it's raining outside and hearing the roof doing the work for you. What's the point of building a cabin that you can take around with you if you're not going to take it out in the rain, right? Otherwise, you're just better off being outside. That's a big, ugly piece of wood. I don't know if I'm able to split this. Oh, yeah, I got it. You can gather up this really fine material on here that looks like hair. In fact, it's called old man's beard. And it's like a moss or a lichen that grows off the branches of dead spruce trees. And it's very flammable as long as it's dry. If it's wet, it doesn't do you any good. Hi, Norm. Nice night. I'm turning in. It's funny. It's like, what, 1030 right now? Totally daylight still. It'll get a little dusky at about midnight, one o'clock, where it's not dark, but it's darker, which is cool for getting stuff done. But I miss nighttime. I like the day of having an ebb and flow. I need to get some curtains in this cabin, like bad. I've been thinking around and finishing those. Norman, get off of my pillows. Lay on my pillows. You're a big wet dog. You've been had, my sir. Yeah, I know. All right, whatever. I'll just sleep on the other side of the bed. Let's scootch over here. Morning, buddy. How'd you sleep? The fresh smell of mountain air. Just to show you guys how well insulated that cabin is. It's 48 degrees outside, and it was 60. It was 64 a second ago, but obviously I've got the thermometer outside. But it was 64 inside the cabin and 48 degrees outside. And I did not have the wood stove going or a heater or anything like that. So it just insulates really well. It kept in the heat from last night. And then just, I think me and Norm being in there was enough heat to keep it in the 60s when it was 48 degrees outside. So that's what spray foam insulation does. Load up, buddy. All right, everybody. Don't forget, you can get my music at the website at alaskacabinadventures.com. I just want to say thanks again for watching, and I'll see you guys on the next episode of Alaska Cabin Adventures.