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00:00Expedition Overland's Pan American Series is presented by General Tire. Anywhere is possible.
00:42Just got the shot complete of us driving up the Dempster, past the Dempster sign, and picking up Toby and
00:50got it on the radio.
00:51The guys on the radio said, we gotta pull over, we gotta look at this trailer again, still making the
00:55same noise.
00:58But it wasn't the trailer. Most likely, it was not the trailer all along.
01:05Two of five lugs left.
01:08On what?
01:09That tire.
01:11Two of five lugs left?
01:13Yes, it's been rubbing into here.
01:20We have to inspect every tire.
01:24One issue faster than the other.
01:28Remember all that noise, you know, just the rub on the cameras?
01:33It just happened at the same time.
01:36We were lucky.
01:37Had the remaining bolts sheared, the wheel would have separated from the Land Cruiser.
01:42And given the speeds that we were just traveling at, it could have been fatal.
01:48We had to get creative with how to chalk and block the truck for such an extensive fix.
01:54The guys located a beam in the ditch, and Ty made quick work blocking them for the axle and chalking
01:59the wheels.
02:00I would just do two straight up, just so that we got room to get a bottle jack next to
02:05somewhere on it.
02:06Pull the tire off the curb.
02:06Yeah, pull the tire off and out.
02:08And out.
02:10Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
02:13Wheeee!
02:14Oh, yeah.
02:15I'm backing away.
02:21Ryan removed the studs so that we could look for more in Dawson.
02:32Ryan also looked the axle over and found a bulging brake line who would also need addressed.
02:40With town shut down for the night, so were we.
02:43A storming session broke out and we addressed group frustrations and concerns.
02:48When you're working on vehicles, don't get under a vehicle unless it's on jack stands.
02:52It's the first thing they teach you in any shop class I've ever been to.
02:56I don't know.
02:57That's just what I'm frustrated.
02:59It's certain things that are very obvious to me that got missed by other people.
03:05And there's camera craft, there's production craft, there's all this other stuff that I
03:11don't have a clue about.
03:12We all have this piece.
03:14And we all did the piece, but we all forgot a part that could have been your piece at some
03:19time.
03:19You know what I mean?
03:21And so you're feeling that stretch, that lack, and that's, you know, we're sorry for that.
03:27That's our fault.
03:31And I know right now it feels like you're just standing there naked because you don't have
03:36what you need to do your job effectively and safely.
03:40We would make it a point to pick up a bottle jack and some jack stands in the morning.
03:45With our storm session resolved, we are becoming a well-oiled machine.
03:49And then this is our storming.
03:51Yeah.
03:51There you go.
03:54This is good though.
03:55But the thing that came out...
03:56It's 7.50 a.m., rolling 40 kilometers to back to Dawson City.
04:06We got to find the right parts.
04:08If we don't find these parts, I honestly don't know what we'll do.
04:13We're going to have to get real creative or get real risky or something to get something
04:19done.
04:19So...
04:21I don't know.
04:22Right now we're waiting for the other half of the team to get here.
04:30They went into town to go fix our problem that we had last night.
04:34So we're missing three posts off of our tires.
04:38So, if they're not able to find those, any dreams of going any further down that road
04:45right there are going to be all but lost.
04:49Our brake line was the hardest part to locate and would be picked up next week after our return
04:54from the north.
04:55There's no brake lines until Friday of next week or of this week and it's Tuesday.
05:03We can't be shut down that long.
05:06So just put a hope and a prayer on it and load it on.
05:14Thankfully the lugs and lug nuts would be flown in from Whitehorse, Yukon tomorrow.
05:18What time are they going to get here now?
05:208 in the morning.
05:21So we'd have to get from here to Inovic tomorrow in one day.
05:29Back at camp we set to some chores.
05:33Tonight we're going to have pepperoni pizzas.
05:38Some of them will be good, some of them probably won't, but that's okay because everybody here
05:44loves us.
05:45Well, I'm sitting here at Yukon Gypsy Camp number one and I decided to choose
05:52Ty's Pizzeria for the local vendor of the evening and it is one of the best dishes that
05:59I've had in a long time.
06:11Ryan did what he could with the brake line bulge.
06:13However, all of us knew anything we did wasn't going to help.
06:17Brake line pressures are just too high.
06:21This is more for just a little piece of money.
06:25Later in the day, a scenario we didn't expect slammed us into high gear.
06:30Toby, just off the side of the bridge as he was doing some filming, he was laying there
06:34motionless.
06:41Hey Toby, hold still.
06:43Toby's still up in time.
06:44Hey buddy, it's okay.
06:46Toby, you've got to hold still, okay?
06:48Toby, can you talk to me?
06:49Go, push.
06:56Uh, non-responsive, but we don't see any visible injuries and it doesn't seem like there's
07:03any broken blood.
07:04I think we need to pull his knee up like it is, I guess, the way it is.
07:09Cross his arms over, roll him, I'll support the head.
07:11The one not ready.
07:13That one's good.
07:14One, two, three, turn.
07:37Watch your fingers, everybody.
07:40Toby, you need to hold still.
07:41Toby.
07:42Toby.
07:42Toby had a big fall, okay?
07:44You need to hold still.
07:45Ryan and Ty have military training, which varies from wilderness first aid training.
07:49The exercise was crucial in making sure we could work and communicate as a team if it all hit the
07:54fan.
07:56Then a lone passerby thought the scenario to be real.
08:02This is weird.
08:05Don't worry, we do this all the time.
08:07We racked out early in preparation for a big push to Inovic in the Northwest Territories.
08:13Contingent on lugs arriving in the morning.
08:19Next year we're being sponsored by Napa.
08:21Parts in hand, we inspected and installed.
08:33Installs went smoothly and time was of the essence.
08:37We needed to get moving if we were to make the final midnight ferry at Arctic Red River, nearly 13
08:43hours and some 600 kilometers from our current location.
08:47The Dempster awaits, a caught Ty lost in thought as he peered down the road.
08:55None of us knew what we were heading into.
09:08In 1979, the Dempster was opened as a two-lane, gravel surfaced, all-weather highway.
09:14It runs 671 kilometers or 414 miles from the Klondike Highway near Dawson to Fort McPherson and our time-crunched
09:24ferry crossing at Arctic Red River in the Northwest Territories.
09:29Heavy rain nearly instantaneously created extreme slick conditions.
09:34Wow, weather change instantly, instantly.
09:36The road was becoming dangerous.
09:5610-4, I need everybody to prepare for what they may see here.
10:04The hazard's on.
10:05Hello?
10:06Hello?
10:08Hello?
10:09Hello?
10:09You want to hear?
10:16Hello?
10:21Everybody in care?
10:32Yeah, they're out.
10:33These roads.
10:35They're clear.
10:36These roads can be pretty flippin' treacherous.
10:38This guy obviously didn't get off very far and it just sucked him in, sucked him right in there.
10:46The flight says we're clear so it looks like this guy got away.
10:48I mean it obviously can't go too fast on these roads.
10:52These are really hard to ensure because they do this.
10:58Stuff's screwed everywhere in there.
11:00I bet he was coming from that direction to see these tracks.
11:03Yeah, he was coming.
11:04Coming from there and like probably flipped it around backwards and drifted.
11:08That could have been bad.
11:09That could have been really bad.
11:11Bad roads are an equal opportunity killer.
11:14Yeah.
11:16Ryan at the wheel of the heavy Land Cruiser provided peace of mind.
11:20He has served with the first of the 163rd Infantry Battalion in Iraq,
11:25convoying supplies and infantry across Iraq's hostile roads.
11:33I thought to myself, the stress of this road must seem like a piece of cake to him.
11:40All right, so I just passed a sign that said 2K to the Eagle Plains.
11:44I am literally on a fume so I'm just going to try to roll in.
11:47This light's been on for probably about 40 miles here.
11:51About as far as I've ever pointed it.
11:54Sounds good.
11:552K, roll in and get hopping and get out of here to be dead fairy.
12:06That's pretty crazy.
12:07The fuel up at Green River would be the most expensive fuel up of the expedition.
12:11At just over $500 for both rigs.
12:15We needed to keep moving to make the ferry and allow us to complete the dimpster in one day.
12:19We can see the Arctic Circle which we planned to stop and be like,
12:22yeah, we're crossing the Arctic Circle here in such a time hack that we've just got to blow right past
12:27it.
12:28So, here in about 30 seconds we're going to be crossing the Arctic Circle.
12:33My first time ever.
12:34There, there it was, in the Arctic Circle.
12:42That's not to say we didn't celebrate another small benchmark crossing into the Northwest Territories.
12:55Wow!
13:00This is so nuts!
13:02Look at that!
13:03It's like lines of weed and brown.
13:07Shades of all different colors.
13:11Grizzly!
13:12Come on, brother!
13:14Right there is a grizzly bear just roaming the Northwest Territories.
13:19He owns this place.
13:21This is...
13:22Apparently Ty has never seen a grizzly bear in the wild before.
13:28Ty?
13:29Dude, I've never seen...
13:31Okay, I lived in Montana for five years.
13:33I had to move for the rest of that time.
13:35Hey, Ryan.
13:38And, I've yet to run into a grizzly.
13:40Which, I consider myself fortunate to not run into a grizzly.
13:48I've never seen a...been able to observe a grizzly bear in the wilderness before.
14:01That was awesome.
14:03That was awesome.
14:05We gotta go.
14:08We still had five hours to go.
14:10The Dempster continued to woo our eyes with its vast splendor.
14:18Dude, that is insane.
14:19You guys sneak out like a sword.
14:21The Dempster's engineering is unique.
14:24The road sits on top of a gravel berm to insulate the permafrost in the soil underneath.
14:30Without the gravel berm, the permafrost would thaw, and the road would sink into the ground.
14:34If possible, that city's even inside the ground.
14:56We made it.
14:57We made it.
14:59And with time to spare.
15:00With time to spare.
15:01Which is awesome.
15:02Because these guys close pretty soon.
15:05There's a very cool little church on the edge of the cliff.
15:07Sweet! So we just made it!
15:20Making the ferry was a big win for us.
15:23Had we missed it, our travels would have been delayed until morning.
15:34The Lewis Cardinal operates 15 hours a day, four months out of the year.
15:38Its crew makes an entire year's salary during this short season.
15:45It was nice to step out of the trucks.
15:50Upon reaching the Arctic Red River, a sense of accomplishment and adventure overwhelmed us.
15:57We are 12 hours in, almost 12, yeah, just over 12 hours in.
16:03It's 1.15 in the morning, and we are about to complete the Dempster Highway.
16:09This is cool!
16:11We've done Prudhoe Bay, Dead Horse, and now all the way up to Inovic.
16:18And it feels good, it's a dream come true for me.
16:22Inovic was a dream destination for many of us.
16:25Morale was high.
16:31We came up this road all the way up here.
16:36Past this village, I can't pronounce.
16:40And first ferry crossing, second ferry crossing.
16:43And then we came up to Inovic.
16:45And now we're going to fly up to Tuktuk.
16:49And then we're going to come down to Mackenzie River.
16:53All the way back to Inovic right here.
17:00Once airborne, we were able to take in how this land really looks.
17:05It's an intricate system of waterways, marshes and lakes.
17:0925 minutes into the flight the pilot banks to show us the new summer road being built.
17:14A road to connect Inovic to Tuktoyuktuk.
17:19It's expected to take another three years to be completed.
17:23Nearing final approach, the third largest Pingo comes into view.
17:27A Pingo is a dome shaped hill formed in a permafrost area when the hydrostatic pressure of freezing ground water
17:35causes the upheaval of a layer of frozen ground.
17:38Some of these larger ones are still growing at around one inch a year.
17:47At the airport, we met up with our guide, John.
17:50We had asked him to show us the village of Tuktuk.
17:53First of all, welcome to Tuktoyuktuk.
17:57English pronunciation, obviously.
18:01Our first stop was atop the town-centric Pingo that would allow us to get our bearings.
18:06Over in this direction where you guys will be going, towards the mouth of the river is in this direction.
18:11You can see a Pingo on the horizon over there.
18:13That's where the Mackenzie River is, which is about 30 kilometers from here.
18:19That's also where the whales go this time of year.
18:22They like to go to the mouth of the river where the warm water is coming down.
18:26And then they calve there and that's where people also hunt and harvest them.
18:46Next up was a long-awaited date with the Arctic Ocean.
18:49Where we are to join the Polar Bear Club for all eternity.
19:09One of the few times in my life where I can honestly say I didn't have much expectation going into
19:16it, but getting here and running in, for me, just kind of blew my mind.
19:22All of a sudden it just kind of hit me all in one, where I am, what I'm doing, and
19:29just the presence of this place.
19:33It's amazing. I wanted to do this for a while, just to be in this place where a few people
19:40go.
19:41And it's just beautiful here. You just get this feeling of like you really are on top of the world.
19:48Toby had taken this time to reflect on an important decision he had to make.
19:53The proposal to his girlfriend back home.
20:02Across the bay, John takes us to the town's prized ice house that's hand chiseled deep into the earth's permafrost.
20:10It's 30 feet.
20:12They're 30 feet.
20:1430 feet.
20:15See the permafrost layers of sand and ice.
20:19This is frost, the white stuff is covering all that.
20:26You will better wear the hat though if you, uh, yeah.
20:34Wow!
20:37Do you see this?
20:38This is like...
20:42Look at that bird!
20:43This is incredible.
20:46Perfect.
20:46Beautiful.
20:48Look at that.
20:49Okay.
20:51Further in, we located the food storage lockers reserved for the families of Tuck.
20:57Oh, hey. You got it.
20:57This is what people use the ice house for.
21:05Solid.
21:07You can't even budge this thing.
21:10On our way out, we met up with our next guide, Kylik, who will be taking us back to Innovic
21:15by boat.
21:16All right, big guy.
21:17All right.
21:17Going up.
21:18So, yeah.
21:27Though it was nearing 10 PM, the light was just coming alive.
21:32Tuck had made a personal impact on all of us.
21:38I don't know, it just felt really thick, like, peaceful there.
21:41Uh, very homey and warm.
21:44And authentic.
21:45And that's the best way to describe it here.
21:47It's like...
21:48It's like walking into a cozy home everywhere you go.
21:52So, I'm excited.
21:54Like, that was one of the most peaceful places I've ever been in my life.
21:59Not far into the open waters of the Arctic Ocean, the waters rowled our boat as it powered through the
22:04chop.
22:10It's an understatement that all of us were having the time of our lives.
22:15Nothing prepared us for this moment, at the top of the world.
22:19It was a rush of camaraderie, adventure, and discovery.
22:24But this boat ride isn't over.
22:27An experience awaits us that none of us will ever forget.
22:38To be continued...
22:41To be continued...
22:56To be continued...
23:07To be continued...
23:11To be continued...
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