Shadowing Practice: Camping in an Alaskan Survival Cabin - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Luke here with the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel
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and I'm up in the mountains of Alaska and the weather is trying to kill me.
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I got hit with a serious winter snowstorm in the middle of September
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and I'm having to seek shelter in a survival cabin to stay warm.
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I'm cold and I'm wet but I'm having quite the adventure.
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Well I've got good news and I've got bad news.
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The bad news is that it's cold and wet and it's probably going to dump snow on me tonight.
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The good news is I've got the trail all to myself.
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So since I'm all by my lonesome I'm going to turn on my tracking on my Garmin InReach Mini
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so my wife knows where I am.
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All right first mile.
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Now I've got a really good chance of seeing some ptarmigan
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or grouse on the road and I love to hunt and eat those.
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But I ended up not bringing my gun just because it was a lot of extra weight.
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You know the surefire way to see birds is to not bring your gun.
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The trail is starting to get narrow and mucky.
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Check these out.
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This is mountain ash.
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So this is mountain ash or roan.
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Never eaten these before.
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Some people say that they're good.
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Some people say they're poisonous.
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Best information I can find is that the flesh is edible but the seeds will give you some discomfort.
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Mountain ash is really common in this part of Alaska and it's a berry you can find pretty late in the season.
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This right here is a willow.
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In the wintertime willow is the primary food source for moose, ptarmigan, and hares.
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It also has some medicinal properties.
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The greenish yellow inner bark of a willow has aspirin in it.
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It tastes just like biting into an aspirin pill.
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But it's obviously not as potent as an aspirin pill, so you'd have to chew a lot of it to get the same dose.
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But it's a pretty wretched way to get pain relief.
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Uh oh.
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Look at this.
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That my friends is snow.
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Oh boy.
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Winter is coming.
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Alright, two miles down.
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I'm just barely starting to get that aspirin taste out of my mouth.
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Mile number three.
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My pants are getting wet.
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I can start to feel it soak through right there.
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I'm breaking the main rule of big boy survival.
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Don't wet your pants.
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Look at that water.
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That is so clear.
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Gorgeous.
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There's mile number four.
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Check out this beaver pond.
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This is the beaver den.
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It's hollow inside.
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And there's usually like a little hole down in there where the beaver comes up underwater
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and then he can hang out inside.
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This right here is the beaver's food pile.
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These are all willows that he's not often stored in front of his house for wintertime.
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When ice covers the pond, he'll go down underneath the ice and grab food from underneath the ice and bring it into his den.
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See this little slide right here where he scoots back and forth.
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You can see this entire wall of mud.
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That was all made by a beaver.
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That's the beaver.
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Sorry about that.
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Got to watch my language.
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I want to keep this family friendly.
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Seeing more and more snow.
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Slowly gaining elevation.
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Mile number five.
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Look at this.
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It's a watermelon berry.
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It's rare to find watermelon berries in the fall.
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They're usually gone by the end of the summer.
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Man, it's 33 degrees and raining out here.
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I don't understand why I'm not seeing anybody else on this trail.
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Oh, geez.
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Just hit the 6-mile mark.
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I got some blueberries
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there's a bunch of crowberries some of them are kind of
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red it's been such a cold wet year the berries aren't ripening properly they're not ripe yet
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it's too bad because there's a ton of them
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oh my fingers are getting numb I brought a pair of gloves with me
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but I don't want them getting soaked on my first day Alright,
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just did 7 miles.
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Now for the hard part.
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I gotta climb that thing.
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Well, it's starting to properly snow on me.
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My hands are so cold right now.
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Need a little snack break.
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Alright, we just completed 8 miles.
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This is where I gotta be really careful.
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My muscles are tired, I'm fatigued, and everything is slippery.
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Just gotta take it nice and slow.
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Unfortunately the path is getting covered up with snow and that's not making my life easier.
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The snow is completely covered up the path, but that's okay, I know where I'm going.
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Just need to follow this little stream.
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The headwaters of this stream are in a saddle that'll get me over this mountain.
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Oh, my battery just died.
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My hands are so cold I had to use my teeth to get it out.
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It's getting a bit much.
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I need to find some shelter.
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My hands get too cold.
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I can't light my stove or set up my tent.
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And I do all those real important things.
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Oh, there's a ptarmigan right there.
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That's a rock ptarmigan as opposed to a willow ptarmigan.
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The rock tarmigan live up here in the rocky parts of the mountains.
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They're a little smaller and they make a different sound.
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Look, there's a tarmigan right there.
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I knew I should have brought the .22.
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Having to pick my way through these boulders is taking so much time.
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I've got to be careful I don't fall down.
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I am exhausted.
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My limbs are numb.
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It's slick.
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It's getting dark.
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It's really easy for me to take a bad fall here.
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I've got to be careful.
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I finally get to go downhill a little bit.
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oh look at that there's a cabin oh how do i get down there i've never been
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so glad to see shelter it's just in the nick of
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time sun is gonna set here in less than an hour slow as fast fast as small
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That one hurt a little bit.
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They've got an outhouse.
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Oh my goodness.
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How do you get inside?
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I am so cold.
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So cold I had to use my teeth to undo the buckles on my backpack.
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I need to get dry immediately.
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This is a mountaineering cabin.
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It's a shelter from the storms for people exploring the mountains here in Alaska.
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It was built by volunteers from the Mountaineering Club of Alaska.
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Just a whole bunches of odds and ends, equipment,
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a whole bunch of the tools in there in here got a little table and chairs
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mountaineering books and a map poker chips
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and decks of cards trivia suit little kitchen area some pots
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pans oh there's just a little bit of fuel in there that's a full can
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don't pee in the outhouse got it there's a little ladder here in the loft Oh look at the little library there.
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A little loft to sleep in.
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Nice.
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Got some old mats and stuff.
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I am so cold.
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I think I'm going to bust out my sleeping bag and get it set up in the loft
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and hop inside for a little bit.
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Well I'm glad I kept my gloves dry but I think it's time to use them.
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I can't even get my fingers in those. so I've
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got these adhesive body warmers.
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I'm going to use these.
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Man, I didn't think I was that cold how to get in here I'm just freezing.
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When I was packing for this trip I had a nice little bag of hot chocolate and herbal teas.
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is going to bring that along and uh i think i forgot it
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because it's not in my bag so i just got a little hot water
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and honey in a cup and i'm going to drink that because i am so cold
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yep that's good enough i found my bag
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of hot chocolate yay oh my bag is soaked let's see how bad it is
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Oh geez.
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Oh yeah my bag is pretty wet.
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I hate the rain.
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I hate it.
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Hot water bottles in here.
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Okay.
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Alright, got some stretchy pants on.
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Got these down booties.
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They are wonderful.
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I feel like I'm starting to not die.
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I'm wearing every bit of dry clothing that I have
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and I've got two water bottles in here and I'm snuggled up in my sleeping bag bag.
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I'm super hungry and I want to cook some dinner, but I'm just going to sit in this bag until I feel warm.
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Once my body feels nice and warm, then I'll go make dinner.
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I'm going to eat a little snack while I sit here and warm up.
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I got some smoked alligator gar from our trip to Louisiana.
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Got some dates.
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well it took a while but i'm feeling warm again my base layers
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and underwear are still pretty wet but it's warm that's a lot better
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but i think i need to make some dinner it is
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getting really late oh it is cold in here all right we're gonna make some quesadillas oh it goes
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so much better with your fiends fingers work pork chili verde we're gonna stuff inside okay smell you
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i forgot to bring a plate but i found this one Dang it.
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Just dropped my knife and busted the tip off it.
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I really like this knife.
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It's stuck together.
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That's good.
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Got a little can of salsa here.
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Mmm, that's good.
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Roast a little marshmallow here.
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Got a little chocolate sauce.
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Oh, that hits the spot.
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It's going to get well below freezing tonight.
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Hiked about 9.5 miles today and climbed 3,600 feet in elevation.
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So we are way up in the mountains.
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oh my pole propping the door closed the wind doesn't open it
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but look at
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that there is a proper pile of snow out there we got close to a foot on the ground
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and we could get a lot more snow tonight we're gonna
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reheat this bottle too i'm going to bed with piping hot bottles
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i'll tell you what i wouldn't mind a little bit of hot chocolate too with marshmallow oh
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it actually seems to dry me out pretty good i feel
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a low drier just since i put this hot water bottle under my clothes mint hot chocolate that is good stuff
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oh that was good i got my clothes hung up
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and i'm hoping they'll dry a little bit before tomorrow morning
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no i'm not holding out a lot of hope i think i'm gonna go hop into bed no sense
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and run around here my stretchy pants
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oh i can't tell you how much i've warmed up just by being drier
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oh and having a little food in me doesn't hurt either
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all right it's late and i'm exhausted i'm gonna see you guys in the morning
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oh good morning i didn't sleep particularly well last night but i was warm
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ended up having to take my jacket off it got too hot something i didn't think it was possible
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when I went to bed.
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You know, I wouldn't call that dry,
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but it's not dripping wet.
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Oh, they're so cold.
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Oh, I'm terrified about putting those back on.
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I think there's a shutter on that window.
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If I go outside, I could open it up.
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Look at this valley.
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Oh, that's where we came down last night.
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We've got this board all covered in nails.
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That's to keep bears out.
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Bears get real curious.
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Man, I really need to use the bathroom.
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I think I better go check out the outhouse.
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many of these cabins are maintained by the mountaineering club of alaska they don't require any reservations
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or fees they just ask that you be a dues-paying member
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or if you get stuck in the weather
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and it's an emergency you're more than welcome to use them too
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but they're first come first serve and they can be quite popular in the summertime
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when the weather's good if you guys want to learn more about these cabins
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or donate to the mountaineering club of alaska I'll put a link in the video description below.
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Let's see if we got a little more sunlight in here.
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Ah, it's a little nicer.
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We can admire that view a little bit now.
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All right, I got some steel-cut oats here.
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I'm going to make some good oatmeal.
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Oh, alrighty.
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Good hearty oatmeal with butter and brown sugar.
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It's hard to beat.
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Oh, it feels good to have hot food in me.
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I filled up another hot water bottle.
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This one is going to go to try to dry out my pants.
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Well darn it, I think that's actually working.
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Oh, you know, it's nice to just sit here and not be wet and cold.
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Oh, I'm really trying to think hard about what to do next.
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Originally, I was planning on spending three days hiking through the mountains, and I was going to go to the crash site of a B-29 bomber.
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Last summer, I did a two-day hike to that crash site, and it was really cool, and I've wanted to go back ever since.
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But to get there, you've got to go over two glaciers
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and around this mountain and there's a big problem let me show you
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if i want to go to the bomber crash site i've got to climb two
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and a half thousand vertical feet up over that saddle
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and there's a foot of ice and snow on those rocks
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and it's been snowing on and off all morning
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so there's a really good chance i could get caught in
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another snowstorm the weather's definitely been a lot worse than i anticipated on this trip i was
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so cold yesterday i really feel like i pressed my luck a little bit more than i like to do
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and i'm thinking i just need to head back home
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and i'm about 80 the way through my fuel i have just barely enough fuel to cook dinner tonight
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that means no hot water bottles no hot drinks you know
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and that's going to be really rough if i'm wet again
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so i'm thinking the smart move is to hike the nine
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and a half miles back through the snow and
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if you guys want to see the crash site
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and those other survival huts i'll put a link to my video from last summer in the video description below
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but i think i need to start packing up and getting my gear ready
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you know hot sports drink ain't bad pants are soaking wet pretty much everywhere except for where the bottles were
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it's been a fun but challenging trip so far
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but i think it's time to call it let's gotta lock this place up
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gotta make sure we put my snow gators on these burton snow pants have built-in snow gators
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I'd have two pounds of snow in each shoe
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if it wasn't for those snow gators you know this place is beautiful
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when it's not trying to kill you there's some ptarmigan tracks right there must be pretty fresh
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because it was snowing this morning look at this
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it's a snow spider now i know spiders can crawl into my mouth
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while i'm sleeping in the snow cave there's something to be
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afraid of in the winter time i found my trail this is the stream i was following yesterday oh
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but look at that the sun's come out
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and it is gorgeous look at this just makes you feel tiny doesn't it that sun coming off the snow is bright.
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Now that I've pulled my sunglasses out, I've jinxed it.
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It's gonna snow on me any minute now.
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Oh, I lost my sunshine and it's starting to rain properly.
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I'm glad I got off that mountain.
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I bet it's snowing like the devil up there.
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Three miles to go.
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There you go.
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One mile.
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If I hurry up, I might make it to my car before my underwear gets wet.
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Yay!
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Well, keeping with the pattern of this trip, I am soaking wet and freezing cold.
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But I made it back to the car.
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And I feel pretty good about my decision to call it early.
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But hopefully you guys enjoyed this video.
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If you want to see more videos from the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel, make sure to click subscribe.
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I'll see you guys next video.
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If you like this video, don't forget to check out the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel where we have hundreds of videos just like this.
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And don't forget to click subscribe so you can see other great videos every Saturday morning.
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Hit that bell button and you'll get notifications.
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Thanks for watching.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Camping in an Alaskan Survival Cabin”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: snow, cold, hot, wet, mile. This video has 291 sentences and 2813 words to shadow. The speech runs for 24:24. The speaker talks at a steady 115 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ptarmigan noun | /ˈtɑːmɪɡən/ | Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia. |
| mountaineering noun | The sport of climbing mountains. | |
| soak verb | /soʊk/ | To be saturated with liquid by being immersed in it. |
| beaver noun | /ˈbivɚ/ | A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere. |
| willow noun | /ˈwɪloʊ/ | Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern… |
| cabin noun | /ˈkæbɪn/ | A small dwelling characteristic of the frontier, especially when built from logs with simple tools and not constructed by professional builders, but by those… |
| aspirin noun | /ˈæs.pɹɪn/ | an analgesic drug, acetylsalicylic acid |
| hike noun | /haɪk/ | A long walk, usually for pleasure or exercise. |
| berry noun | /ˈbɛɹi/ | A small succulent fruit, of any one of many varieties. |
| shelter noun | /ˈʃɛltə/ | A place where a person or animal may find protection from the elements (especially rain, storms, or cold) sometimes as a place to sleep (such as a cave). |
| gator noun | /ˈɡeɪ.tə(ɹ)/ | Alligator. |
| outhouse noun | /ˈaʊthaʊs/ | An outbuilding, typically permanent, containing a toilet or seat over a cesspit. |
| loft noun | /lɔft/ | An attic or similar space (often used for storage) in the roof of a house or other building. |
| freeze verb | /ˈfɹiːz/ | Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature. |
| climb verb | /ˈklaɪ̯m/ | To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| warm up verb | /ˌwɔː(ɹ)m ˈʌp/ | To become warmer. |
| bear out verb | /bɛəɹ ˈaʊt/ | To corroborate, prove, or confirm; to demonstrate; to provide evidence for. |
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. | |
| come off verb | To become detached. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm breaking the main rule of big boy survival.
- I've got to be careful I don't fall down.
- I've got to be careful.
- How do you get inside?
- I can't even get my fingers in those.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | it's been · i've never been · i've warmed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was built · is soaked · are maintained |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was packing · was planning · was snowing |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | is trying · I'm having · is starting |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 112 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I've, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shelter /ˈʃɛltə/, marshmallow /ˈmɑɹʃˌmɛl.oʊ/, elevation /ˌɛlɪˈveɪʃn̩/, greenish /ˈɡɹiːnɪʃ/, shutter /ˈʃʌtəː/
- Long words — get the stress right: alligator /ˈæl.ɪ.ɡeɪ.tɚ/, quesadilla /ˌkeɪ̯səˈdijə/, medicinal /məˈdɪ.sɪ.nəl/, anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, underwater /ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like ptarmigan, mountaineering, soak.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.