Missing Taters, but know you are as well! This trail is very different from your usual hikes, but is interesting too. Enjoying the C&O canal! Thank you for sharing!
You meet each challenge that arises with great care,explaining the logic, logistics or foesight.The knowledge you are taking the time to share is priceless.Thank You
I really appreciate your comments about safety. It’s totally important. The C&O was designed for hikers and bike packers but it’s being overrun by often aggressive transients. A guy waited for me to 100% set up my tent and then pursued me for a “protection fee” to watch over me. I ended up packing up at sunset and making my way to the nearest hotel. I was on my bike. It’s just a shame. I’ve got compassion for the homeless but the aggressive scam artists are a different story. Such a shame. The trail is absolutely beautiful, as you have captured. Anyway, your trip is awesome and I look forward to my daily dose of your adventure! Thanks for sharing.
It’s one of the unfortunate realities of anything easily accessible. I’ve heard stories for years of issues around some of the AT shelters particularly early in the season. Which is a shame since it causes people to act so hostile to the non problematic transient types. Hence why I always try to go out of my way to act overly polite
i really am just blown away by the amount of bluebells. for the record, i'd have offered you coffee if i saw a thru hiker passing my house. you need a large "coffee is always welcome here" sticker for your pack.
I was joking with Taters after the PCT that I was going to get a shirt saying something along the lines of “For the love of *bleep* PLEASE ask me about my thru hike” I’m all about the conversation starters…
Great ! Came just back from my first overnight hike of the year and can bingewatch your 2 last video's ! Beautiful scenery on the c&o trail .Thanks for your video work .
I've got the same sick sense of humor as you. I'm not a hiker, but a camper that likes peace and quiet who worries more about the two-legged variety as opposed to the four-legged kind. Happy trails!
I agree with your safety plans. I was camping a half mile from a parking lot in crescent city California overlooking the beach. I was around others, and I felt fine. But I came back from a hike in the redwoods and the fog settled in and I got this spooky feeling. I packed up everything and took off for a motel. I had the best night of sleep in that cheap motel. My dad was worried about my solo hiking 9 miles/3k elevation in the wallowas because of bad guys. I was like dad, you should be more afraid of me falling. lol bad guys don’t hike 3k feet elevation to rob/assault you. lol and other backpackers are at sites like that, so if I were to run into problems, I knew I’d run into somebody. That’s been my sweet spot as a solo female biker: remote, but not so remote that there wont be a couple other hikers.
I spoke to a park ranger a couple of years ago and he was the only one on duty between Swains Lock and Cumberland. They have Force to space issues in the NPS.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Military term that translates into how many men you have to cover the given area. In this case, the entire C&O canal covers less then 5 square miles so one police officer should be sufficient. However, 180 miles long and only 100 feet wide makes the position untenable. They would need a minimum of 36 people to adequately cover that frontage in peace time. As an IT guy you could handle 100 desktops in one office building easily. Imagine scattering them to 25 buildings over 200 miles see the problem?
lol yeah when i started following you couple years ago , took me few weeks to understand that you werent apart of some church...i was leaning mormon during those weeks i was figuring it out
Excellent security advice. Early last year on the AT, an older gentleman from Florida who was a couple days ahead of me nobo had his wallet with all his money and IDs stolen while he sleeping in a shelter near Franklin, NC. He backtracked to Franklin and went to a hostel where the kind owner put him up for free until he could get the matter straightened out. It was suspected that a younger sketchy guy who had a dog with him was the thief. Not sure if they were ever able to catch him. Needless to say I almost entirely avoided shelters during my thru hike. Like you, I really love my tent- 2 person BA Copper Spur. My favorite part of the day after completing all the camp chores was being able to lay down in my tent, relax, unwind and decompress before falling asleep. -Geo
Downside of civilization. I’ve known multiple folks who left battery packs plugged in in public bathrooms and had them stolen. It’s all about taking reasonable precautions and not making it easy for someone to victimize you
I dealt with some of this biking across the great plains, especially in eastern CO, WY, Nebraska, Iowa. There's plenty of places where it's impossible to get out of sight to camp unless you're on someone's private farm. I switched to seeking out tiny towns and camping in town parks, setting up at sunset and leaving at dawn. Let's face it, cheap long distance hiking/biking is homelessness. We depend on the kindness of others to treat us fairly anyway.
Per the US government voting roles Jen and I are officially homeless. You have to register with a cross street. But yea, I really wish there was a better way to go about advertising that I’m just looking for a place to set up for the night but I won’t leave trash, do drugs, try and stay permanently, etc
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes yeah, it's hard to tell the good thru-hikers from the party crew. Too many hikers trashing hotel rooms, taking over every outlet at restaurants and then not leaving a tip, starting forest fires, etc. A couple years ago I was at a motel on the CDT as they stopped welcoming hikers entirely after multiple rooms were trashed. Honestly, even living in Oregon I have fewer issues with regular homeless people.
Yea, I saw a lot of bad behavior especially amongst the larger trail families sadly. Seemed like one jerk would inspire the others to feel like they could / should act like that also
The Big Slackwater towpath was closed in 1996 due to two major floods that year which made the original towpath unsafe. Funds from ARRA made the restoration possible and it only opened in 2012. The restoration of the Conococheague Aqueduct was completed five years ago. The upstream wall of the aqueduct collapsed in 1920. Instead of building a time-consuming masonry wall, a wooden wall was hastily constructed, but the canal closed for good in 1924. When the aqueduct was restored, it was the 1920-1924 look that was used.
Good morning Matt, I always enjoy the way you explain things. I would also be very cautious with my surroundings. The caves were creepy but very cool to see. I hope you had a safe campsite. Stay safe and take care. God bless
5:18 OMG I just read that Trek article. I can't believe that the 911 dispatcher wanted the address of the bear attack and to know what road they drove to the campsite on, and then wanted to dispatch a 4 wheel drive vehicle up the Appalachian Trail to help them. 🤦♂ That's the same way they just killed that woman in Arizona who got stuck out in the desert. The 911 dispatchers demanded to know what highway she was on and at what cross street. She told them she was not on a highway and gave them the GPS coordinates. They still dispatched a CHP cop up and down a California highway looking for her, even though the GPS coordinates she gave were in Arizona. A week later when the Sheriff in Arizona got the missing person's report, he requested to listen to the 911 tape. He jotted down the GPS coordinates and they immediately recovered her body right where she said she was. 911 call dispatchers are completely worthless.
Personally my main takeaway from that trek article was the ridiculousness of the person writing it calling 911 on a bear, refusing to leave the tent, etc. And in general I wouldn’t ever expect town authorities to be in a position to respond to a wilderness situation. You are by definition going out beyond standard services and there’s a reason things like sat messengers exist. Also in the multiple rescue situations I’ve been a part of over the years sending coordinates of any sort has never worked smoothly
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes My problem with 911 dispatchers is that they act like bots. They just read the questions off their computer screen. One of the fields is for a street address. There is no location to enter GPS coordinates. So if you can't give them a street address. They just done send you help. As both the bear attack and the stranded woman in Arizona prove. I'm totally done with 911 and the dumb questions they read off a computer screen. In the future I intend to get a cell phone with an SOS button and exclusively use that. As for the AT hikers that were attacked by the bear. Of course they should have been carrying bear spray. That could have resolved the situation and there would have been no need to call 911.
Bear spray isn’t made for black bears. It’s made to stop charging grizzly’s and you wouldn’t believe the amount of spread it causes even shooting it down wind. They should have been making noise, getting big, and if it kept returning leaving the area.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Bear spray should stop pretty much anything including humans, if you need it for that purpose. Though it's probably best to carry one can of bear spray and one can of pepper jell for smaller jobs. Bear spray spreading can be a useful. I have seen several TH-cam videos were people had problems with bears trying to come into their camps. So they just sprayed out a layer of bear spray in the direction the bears were coming from. According to the videos the bears quickly moved along and didn't try to come back again.
@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes yes charging dogs are scary, too! The Hiking Rev has a whistle device of some sort that stops them in their tracks! He used it on the Pinhoti with great results.
I’ve heard people talk about dog whistles but as with a lot of the alternative mosquito solutions I wonder if it works when it’s a serious encounter. Most dogs back off when an aggressive step forward and a shout of “BACK”. It’s mostly the pit bulls that are a problem
Good security advice. I enjoy people on the trail too, but with increased numbers at campsites comes increased noise and "issues". Making great miles. Also, FYI, Dolly Sods (in the near future) has a nickname of "Soggy Dogs" since a lot of it is high altitude bog and very, very, wet and muddy. But some nice water supplies and sites. Hike on! Tortoise
Humans are definitely the biggest question mark. Ive done one single walking trip. It was eight days and 225 km. I got shin splints and had to quit. Cycling trips have been full of alerts and cautions. Really enjoy your testimony. Forward ho!
Looks like they put the handles back on the pumps for the year. Maybe I missed it in a previous video, but is there a reason you're avoiding them? I've found some of them to have a lot of iron in them (Brown water) But I've never had any issues filtering out of them. If you pump it for a little bit, the water tends to get clearer
And if you are anywhere on the Potomac side of the Towpath, you are most certainly on National Park service Land except for a few places like that RV park that you passed through. So don't stress about camping anywhere there. I doubt any arranger would give you trouble especially with your creepy stranger story. That's the only thing about the Towpath I dislike. You never know who you're going to end up at camp with. And that big woods site where you were at is super small. The one time I camped there, I remember thinking " Man I hope nobody else shows up here because this is only big enough for one"
Found the water out of the pumps to have a really bad metallic aftertaste. Plus the water seemed to get browner the longer we had it in our bottles. Initially it didn’t look bad
It’s one of those controversial topics I occasionally forget to hold my tongue over online but Google Skurka Bear Hang for an article by someone who knows what he’s about outside. I’ve seen a whole lot of bear hang failures first hand and I refuse to teach the technique in the wilderness class. I’m a big believer in bear cans else sleeping with your food *properly*
I’d argue watching what has been happening on the AT with all the failures (even properly hung and established cable system) bear hanging is causing bears to get food. Bears getting food leads to dead bears. And there are techniques that work better. Even the ATC recommends against hanging these days. Hence why I tend to refer to it as unethical. Plenty of folks disagree and I usually reference the Skurka article and don’t go much beyond that
I guess I read slowly and usually have to replay what you write on your videos. Could you leave them on the screen a little longer? I am enjoying discovering America on your hike. Stay safe.
Sorry about that. I’m using iMovie on IOS and it has a default length for text that is a pain to work around. You basically have to cut the clip manually and say show for the entire duration. I used to be better about remembering to do that
The German accented Ukrainian is totally plausible. Starting in the late 1700s there were large colonies of German farmers recruited by the Russian government to turn the steppe (prairies) into productive farmland. This is the story of my own people. They kept to themselves in the colonies, speaking German, even after the revolution and into modern times amidst brutal persecution. MANY fled Ukraine for Germany after the fall of the Soviet Union. The "gentleman" you encountered may have come more recently. It would be interesting to know his name. My own great grand parents left Ukraine for the US in the 1870s when Russia started reneging on the deal they made with them. First the midwest, then California. Many others went to Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Paraguay.
Given security issues and the desire to keep a low, out of sight profile would a tent in a more subdued color make sense? That said, I don't know if suitable tents are manufactured in anything but high visibility colors. I have always thought that wilderness esthetics would create a demand for tents in dark greens, browns, etc.. It has always saddened me a bit to look out over a bain in, says, the Winds or other wild places and see a half dozen plus splashes of orange, green, yellow, etc. of tents when they could be in colors that blend into the landscape more. As an old spelunker I'm not sure I could have resisted the call of the underground. If you go with Jen, find a 3d person which is the minimum safe number for caving. If someone gets hurt, one person stays with the one injured and the other goes for help. Same magic number 3 for light sources per person (back in the Paleolithic that meant a carbide lamp, flashlight, and candle/matches. Today, probably 2 LED lights, extra batteries, and a candle and butane lighter). Also, if you are ever in southern New Mexico the caves in the Guadelupe Mountains are great (both horizontal and vertical) and the Ranger led Lower Cave tour in Carlsbad Caverns is very impressive.
There is an LNT for visual pollution saying use earth colors but that one I don’t personally believe in. The more visible people are the better I can avoid them if I want to. I was really tempted to keep going but I had all my things outside and wasn’t the best gear wise. Any serious cave we follow those rules. We did Crystal Cave and Cave of the Bells a number of years ago with a friend which I believe have written up on my site. Ranger led ones don’t have the same appeal.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes The lower cave tour in Carlsbad is the only ranger led tour I have ever done and the cave is so spectacular that it is worth the more regimented format. So far, you seem to have been able to keep a low profile with a higher visibility tent. So, what you are doing seems to work. I was just suggesting that it would be easier with a lower visibility shelter.
You would actually be surprised how well the Hornet blends in in a green environment. I actually thought it would stand out a lot more than it does. Now my 4 season MSR fury tent that thing can be seen from the next state
It's not remote enough when you can hear the truck back-up alarm.....lol. He has also skipped the best parts of the Buckeye Trail. I've always considered the C&O for a bike packing trip, and it looks like it would be a good time.
Please always trust your gut, millions of years of evolution have given most of us a sense of when things aren't quite right. Moving away from potential danger is the best thing a person can do to protect themselves. Or, you can hike with an armed dog (just kidding of course).
You found gold in that cave. Beautiful, shiny, yellow gold! Always assumed your trail name was from your sexual preferences. It's okay, no judgement. 😂😂
He's hiking the American Discovery Trail which goes coast to coast and ends there. He puts the city name on the screen because he figures most would not know the ADT.
I subscribed because of your name. As an older solo female hiker I also tend to tuck away from people. I feel more secure
Thanks for the cave tour.
As soon as I saw the name my reaction was. Cool someone else whose first language is sarcasm!❤
Thanks for making my morning coffee more enjoyable. Hope you got extra cups too, and your not missing taters to much.
Missing Taters, but know you are as well! This trail is very different from your usual hikes, but is interesting too. Enjoying the C&O canal! Thank you for sharing!
It’s going to be another like the ECT that is going to change quite a bit. More roads and actual trail ahead
You meet each challenge that arises with great care,explaining the logic, logistics or foesight.The knowledge you are taking the time to share is priceless.Thank You
I really appreciate your comments about safety. It’s totally important. The C&O was designed for hikers and bike packers but it’s being overrun by often aggressive transients. A guy waited for me to 100% set up my tent and then pursued me for a “protection fee” to watch over me. I ended up packing up at sunset and making my way to the nearest hotel. I was on my bike. It’s just a shame. I’ve got compassion for the homeless but the aggressive scam artists are a different story. Such a shame. The trail is absolutely beautiful, as you have captured. Anyway, your trip is awesome and I look forward to my daily dose of your adventure! Thanks for sharing.
It’s one of the unfortunate realities of anything easily accessible. I’ve heard stories for years of issues around some of the AT shelters particularly early in the season. Which is a shame since it causes people to act so hostile to the non problematic transient types. Hence why I always try to go out of my way to act overly polite
Oh good! Grateful to see your reply posted only a few hours ago after seeing on IG you in front of an urgent care clinic Sending good vibes!
P.S. It was nice to see footage of places I'd been. You've even panned across five of my campsites.
I love listening to you talk 😊 That cave was really cool too. Thank you for sharing today's adventure and letting us know you are safe❤
Hey Matt, one step at a time. Cool caves! It'd be nice to find one on a 98 degree day for natural AC.
i really am just blown away by the amount of bluebells.
for the record, i'd have offered you coffee if i saw a thru hiker passing my house. you need a large "coffee is always welcome here" sticker for your pack.
I was joking with Taters after the PCT that I was going to get a shirt saying something along the lines of “For the love of *bleep* PLEASE ask me about my thru hike” I’m all about the conversation starters…
Great ! Came just back from my first overnight hike of the year and can bingewatch your 2 last video's ! Beautiful scenery on the c&o trail .Thanks for your video work .
I've got the same sick sense of humor as you. I'm not a hiker, but a camper that likes peace and quiet who worries more about the two-legged variety as opposed to the four-legged kind. Happy trails!
Thanks, at frist I didn’t like the name but I persevered and continued to watch now I’m a fan. ✌🏻👊🏼
I agree with your safety plans. I was camping a half mile from a parking lot in crescent city California overlooking the beach. I was around others, and I felt fine. But I came back from a hike in the redwoods and the fog settled in and I got this spooky feeling. I packed up everything and took off for a motel. I had the best night of sleep in that cheap motel. My dad was worried about my solo hiking 9 miles/3k elevation in the wallowas because of bad guys. I was like dad, you should be more afraid of me falling. lol bad guys don’t hike 3k feet elevation to rob/assault you. lol and other backpackers are at sites like that, so if I were to run into problems, I knew I’d run into somebody. That’s been my sweet spot as a solo female biker: remote, but not so remote that there wont be a couple other hikers.
I spoke to a park ranger a couple of years ago and he was the only one on duty between Swains Lock and Cumberland. They have Force to space issues in the NPS.
Force to space?
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Military term that translates into how many men you have to cover the given area. In this case, the entire C&O canal covers less then 5 square miles so one police officer should be sufficient. However, 180 miles long and only 100 feet wide makes the position untenable. They would need a minimum of 36 people to adequately cover that frontage in peace time.
As an IT guy you could handle 100 desktops in one office building easily. Imagine scattering them to 25 buildings over 200 miles see the problem?
Homeless camping at Swains Lock.
Be careful
lol yeah when i started following you couple years ago , took me few weeks to understand that you werent apart of some church...i was leaning mormon during those weeks i was figuring it out
I joke the church folks don’t like me because they think I’m something weird, the weird folks don’t like me because I’m something churchy…
Excellent security advice. Early last year on the AT, an older gentleman from Florida who was a couple days ahead of me nobo had his wallet with all his money and IDs stolen while he sleeping in a shelter near Franklin, NC. He backtracked to Franklin and went to a hostel where the kind owner put him up for free until he could get the matter straightened out. It was suspected that a younger sketchy guy who had a dog with him was the thief. Not sure if they were ever able to catch him. Needless to say I almost entirely avoided shelters during my thru hike. Like you, I really love my tent- 2 person BA Copper Spur. My favorite part of the day after completing all the camp chores was being able to lay down in my tent, relax, unwind and decompress before falling asleep.
-Geo
Downside of civilization. I’ve known multiple folks who left battery packs plugged in in public bathrooms and had them stolen. It’s all about taking reasonable precautions and not making it easy for someone to victimize you
Thanks, a great day, safe journeys. ✌🏻👊🏼
I dealt with some of this biking across the great plains, especially in eastern CO, WY, Nebraska, Iowa. There's plenty of places where it's impossible to get out of sight to camp unless you're on someone's private farm. I switched to seeking out tiny towns and camping in town parks, setting up at sunset and leaving at dawn. Let's face it, cheap long distance hiking/biking is homelessness. We depend on the kindness of others to treat us fairly anyway.
Per the US government voting roles Jen and I are officially homeless. You have to register with a cross street. But yea, I really wish there was a better way to go about advertising that I’m just looking for a place to set up for the night but I won’t leave trash, do drugs, try and stay permanently, etc
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes yeah, it's hard to tell the good thru-hikers from the party crew. Too many hikers trashing hotel rooms, taking over every outlet at restaurants and then not leaving a tip, starting forest fires, etc. A couple years ago I was at a motel on the CDT as they stopped welcoming hikers entirely after multiple rooms were trashed. Honestly, even living in Oregon I have fewer issues with regular homeless people.
Yea, I saw a lot of bad behavior especially amongst the larger trail families sadly. Seemed like one jerk would inspire the others to feel like they could / should act like that also
The Big Slackwater towpath was closed in 1996 due to two major floods that year which made the original towpath unsafe. Funds from ARRA made the restoration possible and it only opened in 2012.
The restoration of the Conococheague Aqueduct was completed five years ago. The upstream wall of the aqueduct collapsed in 1920. Instead of building a time-consuming masonry wall, a wooden wall was hastily constructed, but the canal closed for good in 1924. When the aqueduct was restored, it was the 1920-1924 look that was used.
Good morning Matt, I always enjoy the way you explain things. I would also be very cautious with my surroundings.
The caves were creepy but very cool to see. I hope you had a safe campsite. Stay safe and take care. God bless
5:18 OMG I just read that Trek article. I can't believe that the 911 dispatcher wanted the address of the bear attack and to know what road they drove to the campsite on, and then wanted to dispatch a 4 wheel drive vehicle up the Appalachian Trail to help them. 🤦♂ That's the same way they just killed that woman in Arizona who got stuck out in the desert. The 911 dispatchers demanded to know what highway she was on and at what cross street. She told them she was not on a highway and gave them the GPS coordinates. They still dispatched a CHP cop up and down a California highway looking for her, even though the GPS coordinates she gave were in Arizona. A week later when the Sheriff in Arizona got the missing person's report, he requested to listen to the 911 tape. He jotted down the GPS coordinates and they immediately recovered her body right where she said she was. 911 call dispatchers are completely worthless.
Personally my main takeaway from that trek article was the ridiculousness of the person writing it calling 911 on a bear, refusing to leave the tent, etc. And in general I wouldn’t ever expect town authorities to be in a position to respond to a wilderness situation. You are by definition going out beyond standard services and there’s a reason things like sat messengers exist. Also in the multiple rescue situations I’ve been a part of over the years sending coordinates of any sort has never worked smoothly
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes My problem with 911 dispatchers is that they act like bots. They just read the questions off their computer screen. One of the fields is for a street address. There is no location to enter GPS coordinates. So if you can't give them a street address. They just done send you help. As both the bear attack and the stranded woman in Arizona prove. I'm totally done with 911 and the dumb questions they read off a computer screen. In the future I intend to get a cell phone with an SOS button and exclusively use that. As for the AT hikers that were attacked by the bear. Of course they should have been carrying bear spray. That could have resolved the situation and there would have been no need to call 911.
Bear spray isn’t made for black bears. It’s made to stop charging grizzly’s and you wouldn’t believe the amount of spread it causes even shooting it down wind. They should have been making noise, getting big, and if it kept returning leaving the area.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Bear spray should stop pretty much anything including humans, if you need it for that purpose. Though it's probably best to carry one can of bear spray and one can of pepper jell for smaller jobs. Bear spray spreading can be a useful. I have seen several TH-cam videos were people had problems with bears trying to come into their camps. So they just sprayed out a layer of bear spray in the direction the bears were coming from. According to the videos the bears quickly moved along and didn't try to come back again.
People scare me more than bears or cougars.
I subscribed because of your channel name. 😊
And mistreated and unfenced dogs generally scare me more than humans honestly. Glad someone appreciates the channel name :)
@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes yes charging dogs are scary, too! The Hiking Rev has a whistle device of some sort that stops them in their tracks! He used it on the Pinhoti with great results.
I’ve heard people talk about dog whistles but as with a lot of the alternative mosquito solutions I wonder if it works when it’s a serious encounter. Most dogs back off when an aggressive step forward and a shout of “BACK”. It’s mostly the pit bulls that are a problem
Good security advice. I enjoy people on the trail too, but with increased numbers at campsites comes increased noise and "issues". Making great miles. Also, FYI, Dolly Sods (in the near future) has a nickname of "Soggy Dogs" since a lot of it is high altitude bog and very, very, wet and muddy. But some nice water supplies and sites. Hike on! Tortoise
Really looking forward to that section after hearing so much
Interesting day. 👍😎
Humans are definitely the biggest question mark. Ive done one single walking trip. It was eight days and 225 km. I got shin splints and had to quit.
Cycling trips have been full of alerts and cautions. Really enjoy your testimony. Forward ho!
Cool cave! What mile marker was that closest to?
Near the Big Woods Campsite around 82. C&O Explorer does mention it in the write up but there’s no marker
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes thanks!
Was that gold on cave walls?
Thank you, sir! Bear Cave now has a waypoint!
Looks like they put the handles back on the pumps for the year. Maybe I missed it in a previous video, but is there a reason you're avoiding them? I've found some of them to have a lot of iron in them (Brown water) But I've never had any issues filtering out of them. If you pump it for a little bit, the water tends to get clearer
And if you are anywhere on the Potomac side of the Towpath, you are most certainly on National Park service Land except for a few places like that RV park that you passed through. So don't stress about camping anywhere there. I doubt any arranger would give you trouble especially with your creepy stranger story. That's the only thing about the Towpath I dislike. You never know who you're going to end up at camp with. And that big woods site where you were at is super small. The one time I camped there, I remember thinking " Man I hope nobody else shows up here because this is only big enough for one"
Found the water out of the pumps to have a really bad metallic aftertaste. Plus the water seemed to get browner the longer we had it in our bottles. Initially it didn’t look bad
After you get to Pittsburgh are there any other main east west stretches of real trail?
The ADT site lists what local trails it follows. I know the Sierra / PCT crossing and the CDT crossing are real trail sections
Are you taking the northern or southern option?
South. Because it goes by my parents in canon city
I am curious as to how hanging food could be unethical.
So am I.
It’s one of those controversial topics I occasionally forget to hold my tongue over online but Google Skurka Bear Hang for an article by someone who knows what he’s about outside. I’ve seen a whole lot of bear hang failures first hand and I refuse to teach the technique in the wilderness class. I’m a big believer in bear cans else sleeping with your food *properly*
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Interesting, but I'd say impractical rather than unethical.
Your sense of humor is what keeps me sticking around. I thoroughly enjoy watching your channel. Thank you for all your hard work.
I’d argue watching what has been happening on the AT with all the failures (even properly hung and established cable system) bear hanging is causing bears to get food. Bears getting food leads to dead bears. And there are techniques that work better. Even the ATC recommends against hanging these days. Hence why I tend to refer to it as unethical. Plenty of folks disagree and I usually reference the Skurka article and don’t go much beyond that
I guess I read slowly and usually have to replay what you write on your videos. Could you leave them on the screen a little longer? I am enjoying discovering America on your hike. Stay safe.
Sorry about that. I’m using iMovie on IOS and it has a default length for text that is a pain to work around. You basically have to cut the clip manually and say show for the entire duration. I used to be better about remembering to do that
What song best describes your thru-hike so far?
The German accented Ukrainian is totally plausible. Starting in the late 1700s there were large colonies of German farmers recruited by the Russian government to turn the steppe (prairies) into productive farmland. This is the story of my own people. They kept to themselves in the colonies, speaking German, even after the revolution and into modern times amidst brutal persecution. MANY fled Ukraine for Germany after the fall of the Soviet Union. The "gentleman" you encountered may have come more recently. It would be interesting to know his name. My own great grand parents left Ukraine for the US in the 1870s when Russia started reneging on the deal they made with them. First the midwest, then California. Many others went to Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Paraguay.
That thing was an Aqueduct.
Williamsport is where I pick up the trail for day rides, so you're in my neck of the woods
Given security issues and the desire to keep a low, out of sight profile would a tent in a more subdued color make sense? That said, I don't know if suitable tents are manufactured in anything but high visibility colors. I have always thought that wilderness esthetics would create a demand for tents in dark greens, browns, etc.. It has always saddened me a bit to look out over a bain in, says, the Winds or other wild places and see a half dozen plus splashes of orange, green, yellow, etc. of tents when they could be in colors that blend into the landscape more.
As an old spelunker I'm not sure I could have resisted the call of the underground. If you go with Jen, find a 3d person which is the minimum safe number for caving. If someone gets hurt, one person stays with the one injured and the other goes for help. Same magic number 3 for light sources per person (back in the Paleolithic that meant a carbide lamp, flashlight, and candle/matches. Today, probably 2 LED lights, extra batteries, and a candle and butane lighter). Also, if you are ever in southern New Mexico the caves in the Guadelupe Mountains are great (both horizontal and vertical) and the Ranger led Lower Cave tour in Carlsbad Caverns is very impressive.
There is an LNT for visual pollution saying use earth colors but that one I don’t personally believe in. The more visible people are the better I can avoid them if I want to.
I was really tempted to keep going but I had all my things outside and wasn’t the best gear wise. Any serious cave we follow those rules. We did Crystal Cave and Cave of the Bells a number of years ago with a friend which I believe have written up on my site. Ranger led ones don’t have the same appeal.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes The lower cave tour in Carlsbad is the only ranger led tour I have ever done and the cave is so spectacular that it is worth the more regimented format.
So far, you seem to have been able to keep a low profile with a higher visibility tent. So, what you are doing seems to work. I was just suggesting that it would be easier with a lower visibility shelter.
You would actually be surprised how well the Hornet blends in in a green environment. I actually thought it would stand out a lot more than it does. Now my 4 season MSR fury tent that thing can be seen from the next state
Lotta strange people out there!
Looked real shiny like gold in them there cave.😂 The paint was disgusting ppl do that
There is a good chance that guy was checking your tent out to make sure you weren't a threat and that it was safe to camp near you.
Possibly. But odd he’d do it after being there for a few hours
It's not remote enough when you can hear the truck back-up alarm.....lol. He has also skipped the best parts of the Buckeye Trail. I've always considered the C&O for a bike packing trip, and it looks like it would be a good time.
Yea, it would make for a nice mellow bike pack. Lots of town services if you want that sort of thing.
Please always trust your gut, millions of years of evolution have given most of us a sense of when things aren't quite right. Moving away from potential danger is the best thing a person can do to protect themselves. Or, you can hike with an armed dog (just kidding of course).
You found gold in that cave. Beautiful, shiny, yellow gold! Always assumed your trail name was from your sexual preferences. It's okay, no judgement. 😂😂
Why would anyone wanna hike to Scat Francisco though?
He's hiking the American Discovery Trail which goes coast to coast and ends there. He puts the city name on the screen because he figures most would not know the ADT.