Me and Nate traveled to Alaska in search of adventure and we found it. We took a water taxi from Miller's Landing in Seward Alaska to Caines Head along Resurrection Bay. The boat dropped us off and we camped and explored Fort McGilvray. Fort McGilvray is an abandoned WWII military based with dozens of buildings (some of them underground). Me and Nathan put on our head lamps and climbed inside searching these abandoned buildings.
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TravelTranscript
00:00Luke and Nate here with the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel and we're in Seward, Alaska and any
00:08minute now a boat's going to take us off into the wilderness where we are going to explore
00:14and camp at an abandoned military base.
00:18What!
00:44That's leaving us behind, we got to walk home, think we can do it?
01:03Check it out guys, we're all alone, only way me and Nate are getting back is with our own
01:10two feet, but check it out.
01:13There's this old dock here, that's remnants of the supply dock for the military base that
01:18we're going to go explore and over here in the woods you can see these concrete footings
01:26going off into the woods, they're part of an auxiliary building.
01:30This military base was built here because of the Japanese invasion of Alaska, a lot
01:34of people don't realize this, but during World War II, the Japanese attacked and invaded
01:40and occupied parts of Alaska for 16 months and there was some incredibly bloody battles
01:45fought here in Alaska and because of that the military built lots of bases to protect
01:51our coastline and our harbors including here in Resurrection Bay and so up on the top of
01:57the mountain up there is one of those World War II military bases, but it's been abandoned
02:03now and we get to climb inside and explore all the bunkers and all the fun stuff and
02:09we're really jazzed, but first we need to find a campsite.
02:15Look at this.
02:17What is that?
02:19It's a kelp bowl.
02:21Here pick it up, it's like a balloon.
02:23See?
02:25Blow it on the floor.
02:27Boink.
02:29Yep, that's what makes kelp float.
02:31Alright.
02:33Got a little fireplace here.
02:36Nice level spot over here.
03:02Well we have the tent set up, how about we go explore a military base?
03:04Yeah.
03:06Alright, let's do it.
03:08If you want to know more about the Japanese invasion of Alaska, an excellent book to read
03:12is The Thousand Mile War.
03:14Absolutely fascinating.
03:16Fascinating history.
03:18This trail is pretty nice, it used to be an old jeep trail for getting supplies from the
03:22docks up to the top of the battery.
03:26What a view.
03:28Even on a cloudy day it's beautiful.
03:30Check it out, this is Devil's Club.
03:32It's got all of these spines on it.
03:34It's kind of like the stinging nettle of the north.
03:36But it has some medicinal uses.
03:38This is a salmon berry.
03:40This is a red version.
03:42Ooh, that's nice and ripe.
03:44You want that?
03:46There's white ones and red ones.
03:52Check out this bear den.
03:54Look in here.
03:56Look at that.
04:00Yep, that's black bear poop.
04:02See all the seeds in it?
04:04About anywhere you go in Alaska is bear country.
04:06So you better bring something to protect yourself.
04:08And I like to use the bear maze.
04:10And it works.
04:12It definitely works.
04:14But it's got limited range.
04:16Probably about 20 feet.
04:18The upside, it's a little bit more than that.
04:20But it's got limited range.
04:22It's a little bit more than that.
04:2420 feet.
04:26The upside is you don't really have to aim.
04:32This part of Alaska rains all of the time.
04:34If you stand still too long in Seward,
04:36you'll end up covered in moss too.
04:44Hey Nathan.
04:46Nathan, do you see the military base?
04:48No.
04:50It's hidden. It's right here. Can you see it?
04:52No.
04:54I'll give you a hint. It's up there.
05:00Can you see it?
05:02Yeah.
05:04Look at this.
05:06This down here
05:08goes to the military base.
05:10It's underground.
05:12This
05:14used to be up here.
05:16But a bear probably chewed it up
05:18and ripped it off.
05:20Yeah, this is a vent.
05:22The secret base is underneath us.
05:24What is this thing?
05:26I can hear
05:28it's like a flue. I can hear something
05:30moving down there.
05:32Can you go inside of the base?
05:34We've got to go find the secret entrance.
05:36Let's go. Keep looking in the woods.
05:38Keep looking in the woods for more
05:40entrances.
05:46Alright buddy.
05:48You ready?
05:50Alright, let's go.
05:54There's probably just one bunker.
05:56There's more.
06:00Should we go look for some more?
06:02Yeah.
06:06Look how hidden this is.
06:08There's no way you could shoot this from the water.
06:10And good luck
06:12spotting it from a plane.
06:14This would be really hard to bomb or shoot
06:16with artillery.
06:18Hey Nathan, did you spot something?
06:20Yeah. Show me what you found.
06:30You got your flashlight?
06:36It's like a tent.
06:38A metal tent.
06:40I think there's another one over here.
06:42I think there might be one
06:44over there.
06:46Whoa, look at this
06:48door.
06:50That door is like solid steel.
06:52Look at that.
06:58Yeah.
07:00It bends up there.
07:02I wonder what they put in here.
07:04It's been about 3 quarters of a mile
07:06since we found our first building
07:08and they're just all over the place.
07:10Overgrown with moss
07:12off in the woods.
07:14We probably walked past half a dozen
07:16that we didn't even notice.
07:18Hey Nathan, look at this.
07:20Sea way out there, the ocean, the far bank
07:22that's Seward.
07:24That's where we're hiking to tomorrow.
07:26That's really far away.
07:28We got a lot of hiking
07:30to do.
07:32Look at this energy.
07:38And there's something back here.
07:40Check it out.
07:44This goes to a light.
07:46That's where you screw a light bulb in.
07:48And there's the electrical wires.
07:50And there's
07:52another light bulb outlet.
07:54Oh, and look.
07:56Here's another vent
07:58that's tipped over.
08:00There's another vent and there's some roofing material.
08:02My guess, this was a normal wood building
08:04and not a bunker.
08:06That's why the lights are right here.
08:08This used to be inside.
08:10There's a couple 6 inch by 6 inch posts
08:12right there, so some building used to be there
08:14in the woods.
08:16See that?
08:18This is another building.
08:20Here's some pipes
08:22that go down.
08:24This is part of the building too.
08:26We're standing on part of the building.
08:28Look, that's pavement.
08:30That's 4 inches of reinforced asphalt.
08:32You're standing on top of some sort of
08:34bunker or road or something.
08:37There's probably 20-30 buildings up here.
08:39You could spend hours exploring this.
08:41Hey, that looks serious.
08:43You ready?
08:45This is the bunker.
08:49Alright.
08:51Look, a secret entrance.
08:53Look at this.
08:55Oh, I want to...
08:57What the...
08:59There's some donut weeds in there.
09:01Oh, man, yeah, look at this.
09:03Oh,
09:05this is so cool.
09:07Look how thick these doors are.
09:09Oh, it's
09:11so cold in here.
09:13Look at all the droplets of water leaking out of the ceiling.
09:15So much water
09:17coming through the ceiling.
09:21Oh, look at that. There's like a secret
09:23tunnel that goes outside.
09:27What is that stuff?
09:29That looks like old water that's dripped
09:31in from the ceiling.
09:33I don't know.
09:35Is it high?
09:37I don't know if it's dead
09:39because it hits
09:41the metal
09:43before it goes through the metal
09:45and it's high.
09:47Look at this tunnel up here.
09:49Here, let's go around.
09:51This is a dead end.
09:55That sounds
09:57like water.
09:59I think this is water.
10:01Oh, this is totally rusted.
10:03That's a closet.
10:05Daddy, this is a closet.
10:07Yeah.
10:09What's in here?
10:11What?
10:13Oh, this is...
10:15Watch out.
10:17There's a trap door.
10:19That's a bathroom.
10:21How deep does that go?
10:25Does this go all the way down?
10:31What the heck?
10:35Oh, look. There's another room
10:37over here.
10:41Look at that. That's like some sort of light switch.
10:43Oh, it's all rusted.
10:47That's the floor tiles
10:49and
10:51the ceiling's probably
10:53asbestos or something.
10:55Oh, you can see
10:57the floors. The floors were like a checkerboard.
10:59Yeah, red, black,
11:01red, black.
11:05Oh, I wonder if this was like
11:07a mess hall or something.
11:09Look at that.
11:13There's
11:15an air duct in there.
11:17There's like secret compartments under the floor.
11:19Look at that.
11:21I wonder if that's for like electrical work
11:23or for water to go out.
11:25Oh, look at all
11:27those pipes in there.
11:29Look at that.
11:33Whoa, this is
11:35so big.
11:37There's like, look at this.
11:39There's doors.
11:41Look at all these doors.
11:49Yeah, let's go check it out.
11:51Oh, look. There's
11:53stalactites
11:55growing.
11:57There's like a cave.
11:59Look at that.
12:03I don't know if this is where people
12:05lived or slept or
12:07where offices were.
12:09Oh, look at this.
12:17Whoa.
12:19It's a whole bunch of pipe pieces.
12:23Whoa.
12:27I can't fit in there.
12:29Man, this hallway is long.
12:31Look at all these rooms.
12:37There's another one.
12:43This is one of the few that I can squeeze through.
12:45Oh, look over here.
12:47We made it out.
12:49Whoa.
12:51Oh, look at this, Nate.
12:53Look at this.
12:55We found it. This is where the guns used
12:57to be. Look at this.
12:59This is where the giant 6-inch artillery
13:01guns were.
13:03And look over here.
13:05Resurrection Bay.
13:07Yeah, anybody who wanted to sail in
13:09and attack Seward had to sail
13:11past this point.
13:13And they could shoot at anything
13:15in the bay. Wow, look at that
13:17view. No wonder they wanted this.
13:19On the other side of Resurrection Bay, I think
13:21right over there, there was another
13:23military installation as well.
13:25So they had guns on both sides.
13:27Just heaven help anyone
13:29who tried to sail up this bay.
13:31Let's see. Yeah, down here.
13:35Wait for me.
13:37Alright.
13:39That was cool.
13:41Was that totally worth the hike?
13:43Yeah.
13:47Oh, look at this.
13:53Let's see what's
13:55in here. Oh, look at this. It's a machine gun nest.
13:57See, look at this. They've got these plates
13:59that are bulletproof. Like, this is
14:01like 1-inch steel. There's these
14:03rails. And so they could go and move
14:05it along this. And
14:07the plates are on
14:09hinges so that even if the bullet hits
14:11it, it'll flap and drop the bullet
14:13instead of penetrating.
14:15Oh, man. That is smart.
14:17That's so cool.
14:19You want to go up this trail?
14:21Oh, look at that.
14:23Isn't that neat?
14:25Man, imagine trying to shoot at somebody
14:27inside there. That would be really hard.
14:31What is this?
14:33What'd you find?
14:35Oh, that's like a little bunker
14:37for fighting.
14:41That's probably a little fighting pillbox.
14:43Oh, there's a trap door of some sort.
14:47Nope.
14:49Just took some random path through the woods
14:51and another chunk of concrete
14:53and who knows what's at the end of this path.
14:55Is this cool or what, Nathan?
14:57I'm really having fun.
14:59So in case you're
15:01wondering, the name of this fort is Fort Gilvery
15:03and it's on Caneshead
15:05near Seward, Alaska.
15:07Up there in the woods
15:09I can see just the corner of some concrete bunker
15:11but there's a big patch of Devil's Club
15:13we'd have to go through to get to it
15:15so I think I'm good.
15:17What is that?
15:19Yeah, I think this building
15:21wasn't a bunker. It was just like a normal building.
15:23Holy mackerel. It's just like
15:25the forest has swallowed it up.
15:27Look at this. These trees are just growing
15:29straight through where the building used to be.
15:31There's something over here, too.
15:34There's something over here, too.
15:40Pilings right there. The wood pilings.
15:42There's the wood beams
15:44right there.
15:46And then this pipe.
15:52That looks like a sewer pipe to me.
15:54It's so weird. You're just in the middle of these woods right here
15:56and then you look down
15:58and there's a manhole.
16:00Well, Nathan,
16:02shall we go back to camp?
16:04Yeah.
16:06Yeah, we got some good food waiting for us
16:08back at the camp.
16:10I'm looking forward to that.
16:16I love it when the hike back to camp
16:18is downhill. Downhill!
16:20Yeah!
16:22In a roundabout
16:24way, the Japanese invasion of Alaska
16:26is responsible for my family ending up
16:28in Alaska. When my grandparents
16:30were living in Bellingham, Washington
16:32during World War II, they befriended
16:34a couple that were refugees
16:36from Alaska. They had fled the invasion.
16:38And after the war
16:40was over, those friends convinced my
16:42grandparents to go back up to Alaska
16:44with them. And that's how my family
16:46ended up in Alaska.
16:48This was before it was a state.
16:56Oh, look. Look at this.
16:58It's a jellyfish.
17:00Look at this. It's a big jellyfish.
17:02See him? He's huge.
17:04We're back at camp, and now we need to get some firewood
17:06gathered up. So I've emptied my backpack
17:08so I've got plenty of room to put wood
17:10in it.
17:12When I was a kid, we used to call this
17:14moss witch's hair.
17:16And we'd use this as a fire starter.
17:18So I'm going to grab a bunch of this stuff.
17:20And I'm going to see if I can knock this
17:22tree down and use that.
17:24Then...
17:28Whoa.
17:30Good save, Dad.
17:32Yeah, that tried to get you.
17:34Alright, buddy.
17:36Come on. You ready?
17:44Dad has some mad skills.
17:46Thumbs up for Dad.
17:58Alright.
18:24You got that?
18:28Yeah.
18:34Itchy, itchy, itchy.
18:40On the menu today is a prime, well-seasoned
18:42one and a half pound steak
18:44with green beans and warm bread.
18:46However,
18:48Nathan wants a cup of noodle.
18:50That's his jam.
18:58Is that good?
19:04That's alright.
19:16Here, try
19:18the green beans. They're good.
19:20Just bite off the ends?
19:22Want me to eat yours?
19:24Even I've been exercising.
19:28It's crazy that
19:30the bubbles are brown.
19:32Is that good?
19:34Well, Nathan, it is past your bedtime
19:36and we have to get up early.
19:38Shall we go into bed?
19:40Go ahead and hop on inside, buddy.
19:44Well, I got Nathan to bed.
19:46Got the food put away.
19:48Now, I'm going to make Nathan
19:50a hiking stick for tomorrow.
19:52He's got a long hike.
19:54There we go.
19:56Perfect walking stick.
19:58Well, today was a lot of fun,
20:00but tomorrow's going to be a lot of work
20:02and adventure.
20:04I'm going to be hiking five miles
20:06to a trail I've never been on before
20:08and three of that will be across
20:10a low-tide beach zone.
20:12If we don't get those three miles covered
20:14fast enough, we will be stranded
20:16and we'll have to wait 12 hours
20:18for the next low tide
20:20to be able to finish our hike.
20:22No stopping, no turning back.
20:24We're going to go to bed, get a short night's sleep
20:26and I'll see you guys in the morning.
20:28Alright, Nathan, you up?
20:30You angry at me still?
20:32A little bit because I woke up in the night.
20:36Well, it's 4.40 in the morning.
20:38Our packs are on our back and our camp is broken down.
20:40Things were said that can't be unsaid,
20:42but I think our relationship will mend.
20:44The sunrise is in about 45 minutes
20:46and the tide is way out there
20:48and it'll continue to fall
20:50for another hour and 15 minutes.
21:04Well, there we go.
21:06This is the beach, two and a half miles that way
21:08until we get off it.
21:10Now, it looks pretty easy, right?
21:12But there's two choke points on this trail
21:14where we have to sneak around
21:16the toe of some cliffs
21:18and if the tide comes up,
21:20we can't make it and we're trapped on the beach.
21:22And in order to come here on foot,
21:24you've got to have a low tide
21:26that's three feet or less.
21:28Now, this week,
21:30the only tide that fits the bill
21:32is the AM tide, which is really early.
21:34And so, nobody's been hiking in.
21:38So by taking the water taxi
21:40and then hiking out
21:42at the 5.50 AM tide,
21:44we have just been the only ones here.
21:46We absolutely had
21:48this entire state park to ourselves.
21:50It's been awesome.
21:52You look like you're doing a lot better, buddy.
22:02What did you find?
22:04Oh yeah, look at that.
22:06This is the second one.
22:12Want some?
22:14Nah.
22:16Okay.
22:18Look at this.
22:20This is beautiful.
22:24Oh, look at the size of that jellyfish.
22:28That thing's huge.
22:30You know, Nathan, when I was a boy,
22:32I went clam digging
22:34and there were so many jellyfish on the beach
22:36that they were as deep as your knees.
22:38The tide has turned
22:40and it's now officially coming in.
22:44Look at that.
22:48Yeah, look at all those mussels.
22:50I can see a bunch of pink salmon
22:52jumping in the cove over there.
22:54Makes me really wish I had my fishing rod.
22:56Look at that.
22:58That's a starfish.
23:00Oh look, here's another one.
23:02Yeah, he's alive.
23:06What a gorgeous place, man.
23:08This is just amazing.
23:10There's a sea otter right there.
23:12Sea otter!
23:14I must really be a Virginia boy now
23:16because I brought biscuits and gravy with us.
23:18We're going to stop and have a biscuits and gravy break.
23:22There you go.
23:24Cold biscuit and gravy sandwich right there.
23:26Oh darn it, that still tastes real good.
23:28Whew!
23:40We got another half a mile or so
23:42of beach
23:44and then a couple miles
23:46through forest and stream.
23:50This is my walking stick.
23:52Walk! Walk!
23:54Walk!
23:56Hahaha.
24:26That's a chum salmon right there.
24:28That's a chum.
24:30That's a chum.
24:32There's a whole bunch of salmon in here.
24:50Nathan took a spill and hit his head on a rock.
24:53All the crazy places we've been hiking
24:55and the trips on a gravel road.
25:05That's Miller's Landing
25:07where we started this whole adventure.
25:09Nathan, was that an adventure?
25:11Yeah.
25:13I hope you guys enjoyed this video
25:15as much as we enjoyed filming this video.
25:17If you guys want to see more information
25:19about this hike and Miller's Landing
25:21and how to do this
25:23I'll put information in the video description below.
25:25And if you want to see a video of our entire
25:27six week adventure here in Alaska
25:29I'll put a link to that
25:31in the video description as well.
25:33Thanks for watching guys and don't forget to click
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