Popular YouTube adventurer tackles B.C.'s Chilliwack River in raft made from deadfall wood

An Australian YouTuber known for his eccentric adventures — such as eating only beans for 40 days, building items from junk wood and walking 100 kilometres to work — features B.C.'s Chilliwack River in his latest video about building a raft from deadfall wood.

The video shows Beau Miles building a raft from downed trees littered along a section of the Chilliwack River — about 100 kilometres east of Vancouver — and floating down a portion of the waterway while remarking on the natural beauty of the area and the hospitality of Dave McBride, his B.C. guide.

"Look at this place, it's fricking amazing," Miles says at the start of video filmed earlier this year, which shows images of the Chilliwack River Valley — an area known for its river sports, fishing, and hiking and climbing amid snow-capped mountains, dense forests and fast-running water.

Over the past six years Miles's videos have gained millions of views and his YouTube channel has attracted more than 600,000 subscriptions. His videos feature themes of reverence for the natural world, humans' propensity to pollute it and finding value in often discarded, unwanted or overlooked things.

McBride, a former river raft guide who owns his own construction company, has been a fan of the channel from the start.

"[Miles] is putting out this message, and whether it's just enjoy nature or to get things done or to make your environment better, or to respect where you're at or to enjoy whatever environment you find yourself in ... all these things I really have a lot of time for," said McBride, 30.

As a way to thank him for his videos, McBride emailed Miles last year with an offer to take him rafting.

In January, when Miles — a former outdoor education instructor — was in Vancouver for a speaking event, he sent McBride a simple reply: "I would like to build a wooden raft, do you think you could make that happen?"

The resulting video is notable for Miles's exuberance for building the raft, being cold, eating Canadian-style baked beans ("Beans with maple syrup, it's like a whole new bloody day!") and remarking on McBride's wry humour and positivity ("You wise-cracking Canadian!").

That exuberance continues even when Miles becomes half-submerged in ice-cold water as he tackles the river on the raft.

"A bad raft will still give you a bloody good time," Miles says while trying to use a branch as a paddle.

"It's good to see someone with that level of resilience and he really is quite an amazing guy to hang out with," said McBride, who directed Miles on how to use wood that would not result in damaging habitat.

Risky activity

McBride also cautions that what Miles did was risky and people should not attempt it themselves.

"We could have drowned, but that's playing on water all the time," he said. "We both have a lot of water experience, the water is running lower in the winter and … there was a lot more caution [in making the video] than you think."

Tourism Chilliwack told CBC News that it was not aware of the video, but said it does not encourage visitors to copy what Miles did.

Miles did not respond to interview requests from CBC News.

Mt. Waddington's Outdoors, an outfitter in Chilliwack, B.C., supplied Miles with a dry suit, helmet and other gear for his outing with McBride.

"Initially he didn't want a dry suit but then everybody was like, 'you will want a dry suit … that river is cold,'" said employee Casey Webber.

He said the video is being well received in the community for its positive depiction of the area's natural beauty and recreation opportunities.

"A lot of people take that for granted," he said. "Beau's enthusiasm and his stoke for how gorgeous it was, it gets you hyped again, gets you excited for living in Chilliwack and being part of such an awesome community of adventurers."