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00:00Expedition Overland's Pan-American Series is presented by General Tire. Anywhere is possible.
00:09If there's a helicopter in your near future, you know that your day will be hard to beat.
00:14We found ourselves outside of Denali National Park at Aera Helicopters looking to board a Eurocopter AS350B2.
00:22A 732 horsepower engine can lift its gross weight capacity of 4,900 pounds.
00:30Or about the same weight as our Tacoma.
00:32Toby, having lost the McCarthy toss, gets this flight.
00:36Rochelle will take the second, settled by a quick win in rock, paper, scissors.
00:40Aera is a premier flight company that a long-lost friend of ours works for during the summer.
00:46Justin Lilly is shuttling the next flight's occupants to the flight deck and dealing with his favorite type of people.
00:52My purse I can't take?
00:53You cannot take your purse, sorry.
00:55Oh, you're kidding me.
00:56So we have storage bits that you can leave them in that are secure with us.
00:59Next couple of minutes, I'm going to need everybody's full and undivided attention as we go up our FAA safe
01:04record.
01:04The crew finalizes pre-flight, and the ship's pilot, Will, cleans the windshield for optimal camera ops.
01:12Okay, yeah, let's not put the beret.
01:22This is your push-to-talk button and your headset.
01:30We do have six sacks all the way around, although I will say, and I'm not exactly bragging, I haven't
01:35had anybody puke in my 10 years of flying.
01:37So, you'll be the first, and I'll feel real bad.
01:40And I'll have this stuff, so.
01:41We don't know what happened.
02:25There is something about helicopters that are utterly fascinating.
02:29Their skin is nearly as thin as a soda can, but are extremely strong.
02:34The big brother to this ship is the B-3, and has been as high as Everest.
02:44You can't help but smile.
02:55Thirty minutes and seventy miles into their flight, the Yenert Glacier comes into the air.
03:07The setdown was by the book, and a new world awaits.
03:13How was the ride?
03:14It was so fun.
03:15Yeah.
03:16Yeah.
03:16You're about to drop it.
03:18I loved it.
03:19This is so awesome.
03:21Oh man, it's a whole other world up here.
03:24It's amazing how you get something so dramatically different from not far away.
03:29Yeah.
03:29You know, I mean, we came up seventy miles.
03:32Cool.
03:33Yeah, pretty good job, you know.
03:34Could make more money elsewhere, but I mean...
03:37Yeah, yeah.
03:38Look at this, you know.
03:41Yeah.
03:41Well, and you fly people that like to, that are wanting to go, you know.
03:44Not the guys that want, that do it every day and are like, oh great, yeah, same stuff, whatever.
03:49Yeah.
03:50Makes it fun.
03:51Yeah.
03:51Fun until the weather turns, and you have to get back to base before the winds get too severe.
04:11Number three for landing.
04:12The combined rotor wash of the other ships and a kick up in wind was to make this landing a
04:16little more challenging than most.
04:34That's all.
04:39The winds are going to be raining.
04:40The winds are going to be raining times when it's going down.
04:41Yeah, yeah.
04:48Oh, so, no, no.
04:49No, no, no.
04:50I can't catch this.
04:50I don't care.
04:50If you think the wind of the wind is so tired, you don't have to be raining.
04:51I can't catch this kroong before.
04:53You're going to be raining because you'll have to run.
04:54Fine, you won't be raining.
05:08Definitely a bucket list item right there.
05:10That's awesome.
05:13That being the last flight of the day, we needed to find a place to camp.
05:23Seclusion, quiet, no one else around, big views, and it just doesn't get much better than
05:33this.
05:40A slight element of sarcasm was our escape.
05:43And then I was looking up over these mountains and was like, wow, I'm glad I'm not up there.
05:47I mean, I could be up there.
05:49I'm so glad I'm here.
05:50I'm so glad I'm right here.
05:52To accent this, we turn the generator exhaust towards us to accentuate the wilderness.
06:01Just your sensory overload of the outdoors.
06:03Sounds, sights, smells.
06:06The smells here are nice.
06:07Every once in a while, I just catch this behind-the-restaurant dumpster smell.
06:12Yeah, like the rotten food that's been thrown out.
06:15It's probably all the plates that are extra.
06:17Probably all the deposit in the outhouse.
06:20Right.
06:21Just upwind where we are here.
06:25Makes me feel alive.
06:29There's a mosquito.
06:32There's a mosquito right here.
06:34Look, I saved his life.
06:42Whoa!
06:45Needless to say, none of us slept very well that night.
06:47Just some beautiful scenery tonight.
06:50Toby scared himself out of bed last night, too.
06:53That was pretty awesome.
06:54Doing what?
06:56Well, there was a loud truck that came by on the highway.
07:02Used this Jake brake and Toby shot up out of bed.
07:05Kind of freaked out.
07:07And then I laughed.
07:08It was awesome.
07:09It was a great experience.
07:11It was time to get moving and meet up again with our friend Justin.
07:18He arrived in his Nissan Xteria, wrapped for Tread Lightly.
07:24Good morning.
07:25Oh, hey.
07:26Fancy seeing you guys.
07:27What's up, buddy?
07:28How are you?
07:29Good.
07:30He brought his friend Scotty along for the experience.
07:44The Denali Highway is a gem of a road.
07:47It was once the only way into Denali National Park.
07:52Thousands of visitors traveled this road to see the wonders of Alaska.
07:57The Denali Highway is now a wonder within itself.
08:09Drivers are thrilled with over 100 miles of dirt and epically big scenery.
08:23Alaska's landscapes are enormous.
08:25It's often hard to comprehend what is before your eyes.
08:28Things that seem to be a few miles away are 20.
08:32Mountains that seem average are only dwarfed by the huge valleys in front of them.
08:55Along its length, the highway passes over three of the principal river drainages in interior Alaska.
09:03The Copper River drainage, the Tanana-Yukon drainage, and the Susitna drainage.
09:16The high peaks around here are over 12,000 feet and reach as high as 13,700 feet claimed by
09:23Mount Hayes.
09:24It also contains the McLaren Summit, which boasts Alaska's second highest roadway at just over 4,000 feet.
09:34The weather chased us all day and sometimes crossed our path.
09:47We arrived at our campsite road for the night and it would hopefully take us up to another glacier.
09:53Justin goes to verify that the road is open for us at a local lodge.
09:58Spectacular.
10:00I could drive this back and forth for a couple days.
10:05And if you could really haul, that would be fun too.
10:10It would.
10:11Because the road, it's got the right, it's got the right everything.
10:16Everything's right.
10:19Being good to go and travel the road, we put an assault on the road to make up some time.
10:37But obstacles soon took all regained time back.
10:41Just behind us here and it goes kitty corner.
10:45Kitty corner across right here.
10:55Doable.
10:56I think it's doable.
10:58Are you ready?
11:01Stand by one.
11:08Doable.
11:11I think it's doable.
11:14Are you ready?
11:15Stand by one.
11:39River crossings are all about understanding the force of the current and mitigating the riverbed.
11:45That's really the trick.
11:46Big boulders can lodge your vehicle in the river or force you to lose traction or momentum.
11:53Neither is a good thing.
12:00The vehicle that traveled ahead of you can also stir the road and move rocks with the current's assistance.
12:06Note the bowler that the trailer hits most likely kicked up from the cruiser.
12:43After the river the road became much less traveled and conditions deteriorated.
12:48The cruiser's weight quickly became an issue on the soft road surface.
13:18The middle of the car has less access to the Copacabana.
13:18The area on your left to an area so that it is not hard for us to make a vida
13:21and a place for us to be able to recycle.
13:22The center of the left to an area is an area of choice.
13:26That was pretty difficult for us to be able to work.
13:31I had to take the CUO-LOCK kore.
13:41We all went into full recovery mode.
13:52Remember the day you met me?
13:53I do.
13:55Oh, that's so hot.
13:59Heavy wheel spin on Maxtrax is a no-no.
14:01Rubber spinning on plastic creates excessive heat when the plastic melts.
14:06Getting them into the proper position so that the wheel can purchase the spikes and pull the track under can
14:12be a chore in soupy mud.
14:14In particular when the vehicle is high-centered, preventing the remaining vehicle weight to be placed at the wheel for
14:19traction.
14:20A center locker might have been the trick here.
14:23Maybe.
14:24Put this maybe just your rear locker in and just let it assist.
14:29This is going to be real heavy for this truck, so any assistance from there would probably be welcome.
14:36Roger.
14:37And in that case, we should probably get a Maxtrax under my rear driver's tire as soon as possible.
14:4810-4 and then we'll also get everybody to clear the area as well to the safe zones.
14:55Roger.
14:56It's probably going to pull really hard.
14:58I'm going to override my dual batteries.
15:02So it's getting both.
15:04Draw.
15:05Okay.
15:07Just start.
15:11Neutral.
15:12Brakes on.
15:13Let my brakes do the gripping, not my transmission.
15:16So, and then we're going to go for tension.
15:19Okay, Jeff.
15:20You ready for tension?
15:22Ready.
15:26Okay.
15:26Stop.
15:27Stop.
15:28Your driver's wheel is so buried.
15:31I think you might want to try and go backwards.
15:34I'm afraid we're going to break an axle right there.
15:36Yeah, Clay, I think if we dig behind the rear driver's side, we can get Maxtrax under there
15:42and possibly get out.
15:43Yeah, go ahead and let off tension.
15:45I've been on brake this whole time, so we're still good, but you may as well let off now.
15:51Okay, tension's relieved.
15:53This is a pickle.
15:55It's just so heavy.
15:56Whenever you're working with winching like this, especially vehicles like that, a 100 series
16:00and a trailer, I mean, you're working with heavy equipment.
16:03Okay.
16:04So, massive loads, lots of pressure.
16:09You just got to take it slow because if you brake something like this way out here, I'm
16:13we're in the middle of nowhere right now.
16:15We got to take it slow, do it right.
16:18The phrase, I thought I could do it, doesn't fly here.
16:22The mentality is to take it with the most precaution to get it out.
16:30So, with all the weight of the fuel under here and the tongue weight, we can't really go backwards
16:36and we can't really go forwards.
16:37So, we're going to relieve that pressure by taking the trailer off.
16:40That presents a new problem.
16:41How do you take a trailer off in this situation?
16:45We're going to probably use the high lift jack.
16:48We're going to set it under the neck or under the tongue and lift it up and relieve the tension.
16:55And hopefully be able to either roll the trailer back out of the hitch or pull one pin and set
17:00it aside.
17:02And then probably roll it back down over into this creek here.
17:07Lock up the brakes and then try and back out the Land Cruiser up the hill.
17:13Go backwards.
17:14And then we'll flip around and we'll come back.
17:17Nose the trailer around and hopefully get out.
17:20Come on, Max tracks underneath this tire.
17:23Over here we go.
17:27Oh, you got your tires!
17:28We got your tires!
17:30You got your tires!
17:31Let's go!
17:31Oh!
17:34Oh!
17:39Is he going to clear it?
17:42Yeah.
17:42I'm going to lose a crotch.
18:08Justin had scouted the trail ahead and determined that this should be our turnaround point, ending
18:13a swampy area just up the way.
18:29Finally, we're up.
18:31You made it.
18:34There's some rocks and mud in the vehicle, but as far as we know right now, everything
18:38is in working order.
18:41It's a bit of an ordeal.
18:43A little teamwork to get out of it, and here we are.
18:47Afterthoughts?
18:48Poops.
18:49Food.
18:49I hate mud.
18:50Food, yes.
18:51Food is on my mind.
18:57Found it.
19:02Camp was welcomed and setup was easy.
19:09Scotty seemed to be taking it all in.
19:14We've got a bigger crowd tonight.
19:16We've got two more with us, and so this will be pretty quick.
19:21It was the group favorite fajitas, and the view was a little better than the previous night's spot.
19:30It was to be a contender for the best camp spot ever.
19:33The Denali Highway.
19:34The Denali Highway.
19:34It's one of the original routes into Denali National Park, and one of personally my favorite
19:39drives in the entire country.
19:41Beautiful section of dirt road.
19:43I'm going from Cantwell to Paxson, Alaska.
19:45About 110 miles of dirt, which is fantastic.
19:49It's absolutely gorgeous country out here.
19:51Huge valleys.
19:52Massive river with crossing the Susitna and being able to parallel the Nenana River.
19:58And now we're sitting up here on the McLaren, just off the McLaren River, which you can see
20:03the McLaren Glacier and part of the river behind me.
20:06This is, it epitomizes why I've come up here in the mountains.
20:09The glaciers, just kind of everything about this area is very wild, very still uncommercialized.
20:16And being able to wander out and be a mile off of a major highway and not see a soul
20:22for a long time.
20:24So which, I guess kind of, today was a great experience to be able to get out and show all
20:31of you that.
20:31And be able to see exactly what it's like to be out here and what opportunities there are to explore.
20:38And kind of feel a little bit more dependent on yourself and your co-travelers
20:42instead of being an hour away from a tow truck.
20:45I think the part I enjoyed the most about today was the way everyone worked together as a team.
20:54And how, I don't know, no one ever got mad at each other or never felt heated.
21:02And I think that's really essential for this type of excursion like this.
21:08So props to you guys.
21:09You guys are doing awesome and you're already two weeks in.
21:12So third of the way there, I believe.
21:17And then, I mean, just this area here.
21:21It's unbelievable.
21:22We had to cross a river to get here, which I've never done that in a vehicle before.
21:28So that was awesome.
21:29Everything that we've done up until now has just been weekend trips.
21:34And now we're doing a six-week expedition.
21:38And as much as we've done before, this is a whole new thing.
21:48Honestly, our camp spots just keep getting better.
21:51And I didn't think that was possible.
21:53But as soon as we get home, we're just going to want to leave again.
21:57And usually if I go camping for a day or a weekend, I'm ready to get home and be home
22:04in my bed.
22:04But it's turning into the opposite for me this time.
22:09So you're going that way?
22:11We're going this way.
22:13We'll see you on the next one.
22:15Somewhere down the line.
22:39I'm here, Garrett.
22:43I know!
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