As an Aussie I enjoy watching US trail cam content makers, because of the wide variety of animals they capture, especially at night, however…I was watching trail cam footage in the day, from a area where the public visit by day, with trails. There were quite a few people, including families with kids walking on a path that was visible to the right of the trail cam and running in the opposite direction. It was about an hour of condensed footage of the day, when towards the end something at the far top right of the screen moved in my peripheral vision. So I went back, slowed down the video and oh my gosh. It was a big cat. It had been up in the tree that people had been walking past all day, absolutely invisible because it was perfectly camouflaged against the colour of the tree and the landscape and once it got to dusk and people weren’t around, it got out of the tree and disappeared like lightning. But it was right there the whole day.
The scariest thing that ever happened to me was hiking in the well traveled trails in Gatlinburg. Plenty of people around, we felt as safe as you can out in the woods. We rounded a corner with a drop off on the left side, and a bank preventing you from going right. As we rounded the corner, there were two cute bear cubs playing on the trail. I said, “Oh shit! Everyone stop and turn around!” When I yelled, the bear cubs looked at us and came running as if we were calling a dog. Then out of the brush on the left came the mother. We had about 50 yards between us with the cubs getting closer. I know they say don’t run, but adrenaline hit, and we bolted. We were flying back where we came from. I looked back and the cubs had stopped, but momma was closing in, about 40 yards or so. I knew we could still make it, and I tripped on a root while I was looking back. I rolled, and was back on my feet in no time. We passed two other groups and just screamed “BEARRRRRRR” as we passed and they joined us. When we finally hit the start of the parking/picnic area I felt safe and looked back. Momma bear was standing about 75 yards away, just staring at us. As she turned I felt brave and took some pics with my phone. Of course she was so far away she looked tiny with whatever phone I had then, I think an iPhone 6 and it didn’t have zoom or anything like nowadays, so when I show people, they say, “That little thing?” Damn, I was scared, and my shins and knees were all jacked up from the fall, but I felt exhilarated, like I’d cheated death! (Edited for misspellings)
I encountered black bear cubs coming out of dense woods lakeside in the Canadian wilderness. We had packed up and fled a campsite in early morning due to a dense mosquito swarm - very unusual . So we portaged into the next lake and stopped on a flat boulder at the lake edge to cook breakfast. Dense woods came right down to the shore there. When the cubs popped out, sniffing the air and huffing, we knew Momma was coming any moment. So we put the breakfast fry pan and coffee pot straigh into the canoe (aluminum) , kicked the fire into the lake and pushed off just as Momma bear appeared. She waded in up to her shoulders, swaying and sniffing as we paddled across a small bay. We pulled ashore and finished breakfast while watching the bears walk along the shoreline (so cute!}. Then we realized that Momma bear was strolling over to us again. So we loaded up the canoes, poised to jump in, but waited for the bear to come around a big boulder sitting on the shoreline about 200 ft away. We thought we could just snap a couple of photos and jump into the canoes. But as all of us stood facing the boulder, from behind us we hear "Huff! Huff!" - and Momma bear was only 50 feet away having circled around past us and doubled back. A minute later we got good photos from the canoes of Momma and cubs sniffing and watching us paddle away.
I was hiking by myself in Helen ga. It was after a hurricane so we had had tons of rain. There was a lot of trees down. I heard some rustling on my left side. Thought to myself it was a squirrel (for their size they make a lot of noise lol). It was a bear cub. Thought to myself it’s far away. I’m ok. Turned back around and the mama was like 100 feet ahead of me. Luckily she was not facing me. I was going to take a pic but just got the hell out of there. Never walked so fast in my life.
As a cyclist I have had dozens of dogs chase and lunge at me. A vet told me years ago, wait until they are close (10' or so) and yell as loud as you can, NO!!!! It suprises them, stops them in their tracks and most times they run away. I have used this over 100 times over the years, and it works every time.
Twice, I've had the owner send their dog after me, once a German Shephard and the other a Pit Bull. After the German Shephard, I started carrying a small cannister of pepper spray...for the owner. It's just another example of how f'd up and self-centered people are.
I've had a ton of run-ins with dogs and I've done this every time. I used to run a lot through the city and on trails. Dogs are everywhere! One time I even warded off two coyotes who were following me by stopping and yelling at them!
I've occassionally had that experience in earlier years, but it's been a long time since I came across a dog that was wandering a street or road and decided to chase my bike. Usually, it's enough if I give a dog a very upset-looking glare and do a few loud noises. Most of them are confused by that and remain standing, or sit down. Really depends on the individual dog, though. And I've thankfully never come across an owner dumb enough to publicly send their dog after me or another person.
Mine was a gut feeling. I had just entered the AT. I was less than half a mile up (it was super steep), and I just had this overwhelming gut feeling that something just wasn't right. I did what I've never done in my life and turned around and went towards my car. I was about 10 feet from my car and I turned around and some guy was coming around the gate I just left from and just stood there staring at me. NOT dressed in any way like he was there for a hike. My gut tells me I dodged a bullet that day. I'm a woman, and I carry 3 kinds if knives, and bear spray, but... it didn't make me feel any better.
Always stay strapped. Get training safety, first aid and some proper tacticle training. Maybe insurance as well. And above all always be situationally aware of your surroundings/environment. Thats also why no drink, smoke, drugs etc. They blur/block your thinking and intuition. 👍
@dananorth895 I do own two pistols and a revolver, but I've never practiced with them so I have a hesitation when it comes to carrying them. I have to address that soon.
The girlfriend tale sounds like the start of that movie Back Country. Fellas, if your lady doesn't have a lot of hiking experience, don't take her to anywhere challenging, she will not be impressed no matter how good you are. Glad to hear you both came out unscathed, I love your channel.
That goes for experienced people. Taking a dude who thinks they know how to survive just because they go hunting once a year, isn't a good idea. Don't ask me how I know.
I took a boyfriend who supposedly was experienced at long distance cycling and camping trips. He did so many things wrong, he had no idea. And to top it off, he confessed he was scared of camping in the Australian bush - yet I had a tent & told him the itinerary! And he waited until it was too dark to find a good spot & collect wood for a camp fire to cook dinner & relax while the sunset. We were cycling about 80km per day & carrying everything. When he insisted we should cycle an extra 80km in one day, (probably impossible anyway, since max on a fully loaded bike per day was generally 120km), I said "see you in the next town tomorrow, I'm pitching my tent here" . Then he was too scared to cycle in the dark alone. So stayed with me & badgered me not to wait to light a fire for a warming drink in the morning - turned out he didn't even know how long it took to boil water on a camp fire & thought it would take 30 not 10 minutes. Needless to say, relationship over after that trip.
I learned that lesson with my girlfriend. We were camping near Crested Butte, Colorado and went for a day hike. I warned her repeatedly about the altitude but she insisted that she was fine... Until we started hiking back out, up a long steep incline. She was ready to pass out but we got picked up by some strangers in a UTV.
Okay dog advice - I ran long distance for years - often in the country and almost always alone, here are two pieces of advice that really do work: 1.) pretend the dog is your dog and is being disobedient- now tell it to “get back to that house!” Do this while pointing towards the direction it came from. Like for real - get your butt back! It only works if you say it with authority and again really pretend it is YOUR dog. Don’t ask me why - it works. 2.) this has never failed me - NEVER. Get a hand held taser. Make sure the batteries are charged. When that dog comes at you, start moving towards it and pop that taser. I have never had a dog or horse not literally lose their mind trying to get away from me with that. It terrifies them. My favorite was some kind of pit bull cross that was charging me at a full on run and I hit that snap, crackle and pop and that dog straight up pulled a you turn at the same speed he was charging. 😂 P.S. I have never had to actually zap the dog! And they may keep barking at you - but it will be from a good distance. ❤
Good advice. I LOVE dogs, and I've worked at three different doggie day cares. One thing that terrifies me is trying to stop a dog fight. I worked at a bad day care that took any and all dogs, and it was dangerous. I watched up to fifty, yes 50 dogs by myself sometimes. I love dogs, but some dog people are awful. Esp when they're in it for the money alone
@@rdred8693yikes! I can’t imagine trying to wrangle 50 dogs - that is an impossible task! I agree with the dog fight perspective too - I have actually gotten bitten breaking up a dog fight before - they just go into total predator mode - it’s INSANE to me that anyone enjoys dog fighting! It is so traumatizing!!!!
@@rdred8693 That was a very foolish thing to do- at my shelter at any given time there will never be more than 3 dogs per person- that's all one person can reasonably be expected to handle. I've trained and kept dogs my entire life- I'm in my fifties, and I love them more than I love people- but any time you have more than 3 dogs together, their behavior will change. They become very dangerous in large groups- even usually well-behaved dogs are much more prone to aggression and acting out. And if 2-3 turn on you- all 50 will turn on you. Ppl have been killed by animals they had kept and loved for years because of this. They were once wolves- you put them in a pack, they begin to remember that- and it feels good to them. Edit: We are a no-kill shelter by the way- for strays- in North Alabama.
Our neighborhood is terrible. There are always dogs running loose in groups. The taser is a good idea! I love to walk the hood, but so scared I’ll come across the dogs. I was told, don’t look them in the eye. They will take that as a challenge. 😱
@@Thetimecapsuletx That is true to a degree- but not the way ppl think. You have to be like mean mugging him and trying to be intimidating toward him- then he might see it as a challenge. But not if you just look at him in the eyes- in fact, dogs are much more prone to attack when you turn your back to them- never do that. Always face them, even if you're not looking in their eyes- look at them head on so they know you are ready and able to defend if they attack. The second you turn your back, if they're already wanting to attack- this is their chance and they know it, they will take it.
My experience with dogs or packs of dogs has brought me to this successful plan of action: As soon as you hear barking, whether near or far, get your flashlight out and turn it on. Turn toward the approaching dog(s) and stop walking. In a commanding, booming voice (not panic-screaming) yell, "NO!" Start this from as great a distance as possible. Don't wait until it's within close range to start shining your light toward their eyes and yelling your commands. The closer they are, the better they can assess your level of fear, which you don't want, if at all possible. Imagine that animal is YOUR dog and you're stopping it from doing something bad. "NO! NOOO!" Stand still. Don't challenge it by rushing it. Every dog understands NO!
Honestly, becoming competent at techniques that work to subdue animals is better than nothing, and hoping none of them will ever call your bluffs. Have a stick, survival tools, bear spray if you can; pay attention to animal attack stories and the things victims did to prevent bites. Accept the reality that animals do, on rare occasions, choose to fight.
I remember when the guy I was newly seeing made some remarks about not taking "girls" with him when he was camping. He camped rather regularly (as in, all summer long). When I'd press him on this issue, he would say some vague nonsense about how it's cursed. This unfortunately just made me more curious and I kind of insisted on going out there with him, deep in the woods, lots of bad decisions there. I've heard in a lot of hiking/camping videos that it's not very common for a bear to attack a tent. 5:45 am, the sun was just peeking up. I woke from my exhausted sleep (the kind you get from rigorous outdoor activities), thinking I had just dreamt of a loud sound. But my ears were actually ringing, the way they do after hearing a SUPER loud sound up close. I slowly sat up and heard it-- GIANT sounding footsteps, snapping twigs, that low growly-breathing... my boyfriend was already awake and on high alert. We sat stone still. BAM BAM BAM, the bear was almost knocking on the tent with its giant paws. It kept bumping up against the tent, walking around, and finally we could hear its footsteps going away from us. Something was wrong with my boyfriend too, he was white as a sheet and looked like he was struggling to breathe. I have no idea how long we sat there before he pulled his left leg up-- we were still trying to be silent at this point in case. I gasped in horror at the three DEEP claw marks on his bare calf. HIS LEG HAD BEEN OUT OF THE TENT. It wasn't bleeding very much either which was weird. He unzipped the tent and started vomiting... so much.. NO alcohol or substances were involved in this either. He told me to take various noise making things (a whistle, a pan and a spoon), said "I want to hear you screaming and making noise with these until you're out of the woods, please get help". I listened and RAN in terror making all the noise I possibly could, ended up getting help from an elderly man who was sitting on his front porch reading his paper. Still makes me shake just thinking/writing about it!
also people should note that sleeping bags dont really make you warm. They are used to help trap the warmth that your body generates and keep you warm. If you get into a not warm enough rating bag freezing cold youre going to have a really hard time warming up. Good trick I use in winter hikes is to do some jumping jacks or squats or something like that to get a little warm (NOT SWEATY) before I want to get into bed and helps you kick start the process of warming up the bag to your body temp.
Packs of hand warmers that last for long periods of time can help restore body heat once the body’s core temperature has dropped too much for it to recover on its own. External heat is needed at that point. Stones heated from fire do not retain heat as long and are relatively dangerous by comparison, the hand warmers are really worth packing.
@@KH-rt3efI was taught by the Navajo to "Move the fire". You start the biggest fire you can, when it gets small after a few hours you kick all the coals a few feet away, you wait a while until you can touch the ground where the fire used to be then sleep on that ground feet towards the new place the coals are. You will be warm all night. I have done it in weather below freezing and didn't even use a tent. In fact I crawled out of the bag because I was too hot and I was still warm in the morning laying there in the open, and the fish we caught the day before were about 10 feet away and were still frozen solid!
The Lightning/Thunder trick works, if you understand the speed of light vs the speed of sound. For us, the speed of light can be rounded to "instantaneous". And the speed of sound can be rounded to 1 mile per 5 seconds. The lightning and thunder happen at the same time, but the light reaches us instantaneously, and the thunder much slower. If we start counting at the flash and stop when we hear the thunder, we can estimate that the strike is one mile away for every five seconds counted. "One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thou...*BOOM*" would be about 1/2 mile away. Of course in the mountains the echos could play tricks on you.
That checks out with what I was taught using km! 3 seconds means 1 km, with a mile being 1.6 km, divide that by five and times three, we have roughly a km! Nice.
In large scale sound enforcement, we need to set audio delays the farther speakers are from the stage. That allows for the sound to be time balanced while you're walking around. For that, the thumbnail is "1ms per foot". Which, works out to 5280ms/mile, or 5.2 seconds. Math is cool! lol
Yup, it's very scientific in of itself. The only flaw is that there's no telling where in the storm the lightning is going to strike. Maybe in the front, then maybe in the back.... Also, if you can hear thunder, you can get hit, pretty much. Super rare, but not impossible.
For the dog part of your video, the trail to bridal veil falls in NH, there is a property towards the beginning of the trail head. Twice, there were 4 aggressive dogs that came onto the trail angry and pack mentality was kicking in. Two of the dogs attacked our dogs that were on leash and tried to come at us. Our dogs broke off leash and it was game on for these 4 dogs attacking our dogs. I went after our dogs to get them safe and in the process became the subject of these dogs attention. The owner yelled at me to leave her dogs alone and get off her property. I yelled back to her that her dogs were about to get shot if they didn’t get away from me. She didn’t like that. Luckily it didn’t come to that as I’m a dog lover but not dogs that will readily attack. Also on the same trail, a guy that had property bordering the trail was shooting a rifle across the trail. Love the hike up there but not worth the hassle to do again.
How stupid of them! When their dogs act like that, the second anything happens and it's reported, their dogs would most likely be confiscated and destroyed by their local government. You weren't the one putting their dogs' lives at risk (and the lives of others too!)...that was 100% them. I wonder if those dogs made it to old age, or will. Something's bound to happen at this rate, unfortunately.
Was just thinking about that. I've definitely yelled with authority at angry dogs and they tend to give up the fight when they aren't actually trained to be serious guard dogs. The K9 cop kinds of dogs will not respond to a well worded NO, BAD DOG but the average dog that isn't rabid will
I used to have problems with a neighbors dog when I lived in the sticks. A loud forceful "Go home!" followed by pepper spray was my tactic two or three times. From then on, all I had to do was hold up my fist (like I was holding pepper spray) and yell "Go home". He would tuck tail and run. This one did anyway. If the owners aren't going to train their dogs to stay away from hikers, then we have to do it ourselves like this if there's a known problem dog near the trail. Just keep the command consistent through the community. "Go home" is usually the universal command of rural folks when someones dog comes on the property, so a lot of dogs already understand that.
A black garbage bag with head and arm holes has saved me a few times as has a pladtic bag between two hats even after getting soaked. I learned this the hard way almost 40 years ago when I was 15 riding a mountain bike from Washington DC to Harper's Ferry West Virginia and back with the friend who convinced to bring a few extra garbage bags. I still use the Hefty Hefty Hefty bag trick today when clearing snow or playing in the woods during a snowstorm. Dave, Milton New Hampshire
3xhefty bag!!! Much heftiness indeed 🤣 Garbage sacks have saved me many a time but I will now be searching the shelves for the ‘elephant dimension’ sacks….
Lightweight, waterproof. Can be used as poncho, bivy, small tarp, to collect water/rain and takes virtually no space. As a bonus you can haul out yours/others trash.
I really appreciated this video. Not many people will talk about the stupid mistakes they made or things they did to impress a girl or tag a bunch of summits in a rush. Well done
Like you were talking about climbing into your sleeping bag and still being cold, I have hunted in -15° weather, and after a hot shower and a warm hotel bed, we were still cold and shivering, this kind of cold is called chilled to the bone
Been there in a hammock in a wild thunderstorm. Been bitten by an unleashed dog. Met mushroom hunters that were scary weird. All part of long distance hiking.
Oregonian here. I know the Eagle Creek Trail well, especially that spot near Tunnel Falls. Two things: First, you would never catch my azz in a steep forest topography within 10 years of a crown fire that destructive. Everything that held the cliffs together has been burned away and erosion just keeps taking a bite every year. Sh!t falls down constantly--trees, boulders, landslides--it's not worth it. Second: Earphones? Dude, seriously? Never drown out or numb your senses in that sort of topography.
Did eagle creek on the PCT last year 2023 and usually cautious and well researched; I'd not heard of this at all or seen any warnings about these issues on trail or online. Wouldn't have known...
Ex-Oregonian here. I hiked the 3 Fingers trail after a fire and it was a HUGE mistake. I didn't expect to have the ground feel like powder. I slipped around a lot and learned the hard way never to hike in a post-fire area.
my grandpa and I used to sit on the porch and count the storms in, ''one Mississippi, 2 Mississippi....." It works that's why the people who didn't have weather radio back in the day, relied on it :) You're fortunate. Worst hiking I had was in the late 80's Washington State. 3 of my friends and I were hiking on a very narrow trail outside the town of Index. It was steep almost straight up, and I wanted to sit down a minute after just over an hour(i was city girl, not used to this). One friend stayed with me, while the other 2 went to look around the turn coming up, to see where we were headed to. A few minutes later, her and I THOUGHT some small rocks were being thrown from- where ever up above, but then we hear "Run run run!"" and the guys were coming down fast- running/sliding, kicking rocks ahead of them. We were being shot at, and were shot at almost all the way down that hill/mountain. The shrubbery was so thick (colorful too, as it was Fall), we couldn't see where the person was and never did find out. It stopped when we were almost to the bottom. We ran and didn't stop until we hit the parking area. Later I was told that was very close to some claim someone had up there, so we were probably being run off. No signs posted or anything so who knows, who cares. I never went back, and wasn't into hiking after, except more well worn trails with humans around that were doing what I was doing. No more remote, out in nowhere crap. But it took up over an hour hiking up, and I swear like 10 mins or less down. I don't even remember my feet hitting the ground, we were so terrified.
It's used by boy scouts also to track how close a storm is to you I believe every second is a mile so if it takes 2 secs for you to hear the thunder the lightning strike was 2 miles away
dang... i have a gun story too. i lived at some hot springs for years. some asshole cholo dude came there one day, & he got so drunk & nearly fell & crushed my dog. this dude was so big hed have killed my dog or broken her to pieces... so i got maaaad. he was rude the whole day, so this was the last straw. i told him off. then he threatened me & came at me like he was gonna hit me. so i pull out a machete & some other dude who was there, he pulled out a buck knife & told this crazy dude to f off. this crazy dude left. but he came back an hour later w a gun. i was a bit aways goin to the bathroom in the trees, so i heard him come down & start screaming & shooting into the air. screaming for me & that dude. I KNOW UR HERE BTCH IM GONNA FIND U BTCH. so i grabbed my dog & ran to some nearby rock caves that no one but us locals know about.... & i heard him walking the trail i just was on... he didnt know i was off trail of course. but he did eventually leave. & i was so terrified i stayed in that cave for 3 hours. when night came, i got out of the cave but was too afraid to use my flashlight incase he was there still... so i creeped in the dark, got to the river, crossed the river, and went upstream to a lil hiding spot until the next day. and the next day i was too afraid to be there. for days i was afraid hed come back. but he never did. or atleast that i know of. fkn terrifying.
I was taught by the Navajo to "Move the fire". You start the biggest fire you can, when it gets small after a few hours you kick all the coals a few feet away, you wait a while until you can touch the ground where the fire used to be then sleep on that ground feet towards the new place the coals are. You will be warm all night. I have done it in weather below freezing and didn't even use a tent. In fact I crawled out of the bag because I was too hot and I was still warm in the morning laying there in the open, and the fish we caught the day before were about 10 feet away and were still frozen solid!
Before I get into your scariest moments - Mine was about 20 years ago, and I was on a walk in NZ - the clouds and snow came in ultra quick and it was a ridge walk with next to zero visibility and just following a path you could barely see with winds from both sides! Ended up spending two days in the hut on top of a ridge, before we could hike out! I'm glad I always over-estimate when it comes to food, fluids and fuel!
When I was around 17/18 I went on a white water rafting trip in May in Wisconsin. I didn’t realize how cold and long the rafting would be and when I went to sleep inside a sleeping bag and tent with layers of dry clothes and was shivering and couldn’t sleep I freaked out! I decided to leave the tent and go lay by the dwindling bonfire which helped a little until my bf realized I was gone and then made me get into his sleeping bag with him. His body heat saved me. I was hypothermic and it was the only thing that worked. It was kinda scary. I’ll never do that again! 😂
Whenever playing in near the water...particularly cold mountain runnoff, a fire is invaluable. A hot meal and drink keeps energy levels up. Hot coccoa is priceless there's a reason it's in survival packs! If you go to bed without a proper meal you'll shiver all night. A quality refective tarp/blanket is a life saver as well. Bodies (bare skin) for heat transfer are common hypothermia fixes.
You needed some fire rocks. The ones you put near the fire that were too hot to touch with bare hands and you needed gloves/towels/leather scraps for. Warm rocks on or in your sleeping bag that can be removed if they are now cold or if you can't be comfy with them. Let them warm the sleeping bag before you crawl inside it. If you have a fire find some good rocks that can be brushed off and stand the heat w/o shattering/cracking and are not too heavy. Rotate to warm evenly by the fire and place on sleeping bag before bed. You will crawl into a warm bag. Similar if you have a piece of stainless steel that can be enclosed fully aka has a lid as you used to put some coal from your fire in there to warm your feet. The issue is the being enclosed so it's not a fire hazard and won't get ash on everything.
@@blackdandelion5549 Boiling water in a nalgene bottle works well. One of the reasons I carry a nalgene bottle is because you can put boiling water in it even though I don't hike when it's cold. I do use microwaved heat pads to warm my feet at home though.
When I was a kid in my early teens, I was a paperboy, and on my route was this aggressive German shepherd that would chase after me every morning during my deliveries. It got so bad, that it would make me late for school in the mornings because of the long delays at this house. I finally got fed up and screamed at it while chasing it back to its house. It pretty much left me alone after that, and we eventually became friends. It took awhile, but it would later run up to me to say hello rather than bark and snarl.
I've had multiple flooded creek crossings that were waste high and fast flowing while holding my dog by the collar so she didn't get swept away as she was swimming. I got flooded out next to a creek once and had to abandon my hammock and lay on a rock underneath an overhang. The scariest was getting caught in a prescribed burn. I was told it was in the opposite direction I was headed. I was covering about 25 miles a day so I was moving pretty quick until I smelled smoke. Looked up and saw a wall of flame. My dog and I jogged back to a rocky outcropping where i was safe from the flames but was worried about the smoke. I ended up sleeping on a big flat rock again under an overhang. I could hear the coyotes super close running away around the edge of the bluff. I had a small fire going and started banging sticks against the rock to hopefully deter them from coming mine and my pups way. Everything was torched around me the next morning all smokey and small fires still burning here and there. My old lady dog Miss Penny is a badass. Oh and the cold lol. Therese been a few times I tried to get away with an SUL pack and froze my ass off to the point my feet felt like blocks in the middle of the night. That and putting on shoes that were soaked the previous day and froze overnight. Sleeping with your water bottles and filters so they don't freeze. The list goes on and on. Type 2 fun lol
I had a similar incident to your last, happen to me while hiking the Kalalau Trail in Kauai, HI. I had just passed the infamous Mile 7 going towards the beach, and had just made the turn that hugs the side of the mountain. Without warning, several large rocks (slightly larger than bowling balls) from above go flying across the trail. I look up and there are a family of goats or possibly feral pigs just prancing around, likely the ones that had kicked up the loose rocks. If any of the rocks hit me or the other hiking group members I was with, we would not only have been knocked out, but the force would have sent us into the 200 ft drop of the ocean below. I always check above when I pass areas that appear to have rock slides, and take out my headphones. It's still hard to know are definitely just freak accidents, but still take what you can get from understanding the environment.
hey there, talking about wild dogs. I did the northern camino all along the the bay of Biscay/the Atlantic ocean, then down into Santiago 800 kilometers and there were wild dogs all along the way and I helped this lady that used to work for green piece. She was screaming and yelling, and I walked up by her, and I told her to stop her movements and I started talking, harshly and looking at them and saying no and they were both malinois if you know what that dog is, I knew that dog to tear the holy shit out of my buttocks in her, since she was a short woman, but acting totally the way you’re not supposed to act, and then finally, the owners of the Farm came out and she said that I saved her life. I wanted to say no I just saved your legs. So I just loved your dog story and I know you had to be vicious and then I had another encounter. I’m just so glad that I used to train with some of some of the wildest dogs and I learned so much about dominance I had some good teachers here in Oklahoma.
The fact that youre willing to talk about your own shortcomings and embarassments shows how humble you are. Its a good thing to be able to accept that you made mistakes and learn from them, sadly not as many people nowadays have that.
I once found a good area to camp while hiking in NW Pa. in March. I took off my pack to search for that exact spot to put my tent- (haven't we all). It was snowing and late. I was so concentrated on looking for a resonable spot for my tent. I meandered further and further away from my pack. Once I found the spot for my tent, I forgot the way to get back to my pack. I was turned around and everything looked the same After an hour, I finally found my pack and just pitched my tent in the dark in the snowy and rocky area where I was. If I did not find my pack and wihtout a flashlight, lighter, or warm dry clothes in the wet snow it would have been, at best, a miserable night. I would have had to "swallow my pride" and flag down a car at a road or knock on someone's front door.
Hi Kyle, Your content is excellent! 1st off I am a lover of dogs. My dog is my best friend. That said you haven’t mentioned carrying any defensive weapons No need to give your op-sec here but Bear-spray, a large hunting knife and a concealed compact firearm would be advisable. As they say to hikers in Montana … “You are not hiking through a zoo!”. God Speed Kyle!
I'm glad you're sharing these stories because the comments on other videos are SO HARSH. Everyone makes dumb choices sometimes but most people are lucky enough to survive them. It's just luck. There but for the grace of god go I or whatever
My great grandfather Dumont would have loved to hear this, living in White River Junction and hunting in the White Mountains in the years after the Civil War. We inherited hundreds of his photographs taken in different formats during the 19th and early 20th centuries that depict these very places Kyle describes.
I took a 3000 mile bicycle camping trip with 3 dogs in a doghouse bicycle trailer, this summer. Southern NM to Southern Maine. Im always solo with dogs. Its very life changing, to take on the elements with animals like that. Its hard enough without. My babies loved it, thats what matters. Lol. It almost unalived me several times at least. Dodge city Kansas had the worst eye of the storm I've ever been in. making good bye videos and everything 😅 Be careful everybody. Be smart, be safe
Thanks for sharing your encounters, Kyle. The second and third stories you told could save someone from a miserable night or even death. Lesson 1: don't try to outrun a storm. Lesson 2: never try to cross an angry, swollen river. Lesson 3: bring a tent even if the desination is a backpacking shelter. Lesson 4: wear appropriate clothing for the weather. Lesson 5: temp ratings on cheap sleeping bags lie. I'm pretty sure there were more lessons in there, I just think those are the ones that will stick with me.
I have a good one, get a physical map, if you are hiking and get lost, turn back where you came from, never assume it is a loop. I made a terrible mistake hiking with my parents a few years ago. A 4 mile hike turned into a 10 mile hike. Fortunately my parents are in good physical health and we made it back to the car, dehydrated and with a few cramps, but we made it.
Animal behaviorist Ian Dunbar describes a technique to stop a dog attack in one of his books. I have used it twice and both times it worked! Both dogs were pit bulls owned by homeless people. The dogs were changing me and within ten feet. You turn your head , look down to the ground and yawn. It stopped both dogs. Dunbar is a dog trainer and vet and described imminent attacks on himself he has stopped. Apparently it's dog speak for "I'm no threat , you are the boss."
@SatanenPerkele Dude they are man's freaking best friend! And every bad thing you said about dogs applies to humans a thousand times over. Dogs won't destroy this planet. Humans will. Dogs love and loyalty far exceeds any humans. I'd trust any of my pet dogs over any human I've ever known.
@SatanenPerkele Humans have murdered each other since the beginning of time . Wars killing hundreds of millions of innocents. Ghengis Khan was estimated to have killed 40 million which was 10 percent of the world's population at the time. And you are worried about dogs!
We were sailing on a cruise up the Mariana chain of islands, around 144E, between 13N and 35N. We passed the island of flies and ran spinnaker all day til we reached the Maug, granite towers hundreds of feet high surrounding an old caldera. At around 28N the trade winds kind of peter out and the weather settles into a bare whisper of a wind accompanied by great sunsets. But once it gets dark, out of nowhere the most horrendous thunder and lightning storms takes over. The rain pours so thick you can't see your hands in front of you. The lightning strikes are continous, 5, 8, 10 strikes, and punching the seas on either side of the boat, each strike causing steam to rise from the water. You wonder if the mast reaching 60 ft plus will attract one of these electrical bolts and what will happen to the hull. The thunder claps are so deafening that you wish you had foam plugs for your ears. Somehow you get used to it and check your heading every now and then. Hours later the day watch, which missed it all down below, will ask if anything notable happened, and you mostly just shrug, take your cup of coffee and logbook to the foredeck and jot a few notes about the horse latitude lightning storms in the springtime.
Doubtlessly expressed by others, but I love your honesty and your self-checking, not a hiker myself but appreciate you owning these lessons learned and also not really apologizing for it, they are just life learning opportunities...
I'm just a regular hiker, usually never going more than 8 miles on a day hike. I mostly just have to watch out and not slip, because that's my specialty. I've come home with a bruised forearm that went from wrist to elbow, but thankfully didn't actually break anything despite it hitting a boulder. I've of course been chased by bees (thankfully not allergic). And once in Washington state, I stepped into a covered hole that was several feet deep. That was the incident that reminded me I needed to let someone know where I was going on any given trip.
I've been so close to a lightning strike. I did not hear the thunder. Plus I've ridden my bike through some storms that was so bad, I figured I was dead a few times. Thunder Storms are not fun.
An older friend of mine has 2 adult daughters who went hiking with a friend. The lightning just took their friend so fast & so unexpectedly, she was walking right between the two sisters. I take thunder so seriously now. My friend was so grateful her girls were ok, and her eldest was pregnant with her first grandchild, but so devastated for the other family.
I was running around lake overholsen in OK whilst trading at the FAA center when I saw a wall of darkness approaching in the sky. I ran as fast as I could back to my car but the thunderstorm was faster than me. You definitely can’t outrun them 😂
Another time my friend, her daughter, her daughter’s friend and I were hiking in sc. Weather was great when we started. Got maybe a mile in and it started pouring. Kept going. Started lightening soon after. We made it up to the waterfall. Stayed for a couple minute. When we were going back the rocks were covered with rushing water. Only had sneakers on. Was not a fun hike back. Afterwards we felt awesome though. Don’t hike without hiking boots anymore.
My worst thunderstorm experience was in the Gore Range of Colorado. I was several miles into the wilderness on a backpack fishing trip, and this storm hit about 1 AM. I was camped on the valley floor, so probably about as safe a location as I could have been in such a storm, but there was a almost an hour of very close lighting strikes, just a few seconds apart, along with pouring rain. There was no way I was sleeping through that. I wasn't extremely scared. I figured the lighting was either going to hit me or it wasn't, there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it except stay in the tent, wait it out, and hope for the best.
You are a natural story teller...pausing in right places ... simple straight forward prose ... emphasis on right words ...lots of empathy for the people in your stories...well done.
I've been on the Eagle Creek Trail in that spot and it is incredibly beautiful but also incredibly dangerous. I'm so glad you and your buddies were okay.
HI FROM MN..I HAVE A SISTER WHO IS SO SCARED OF STORMS..WE WERE CAMPING AROUND LAKE SUPERIOR,,,FORGETING THAT HOW WINDY IT GETS RIGHT ON SUPERIOR.. IN THE ⛺️ 🎪 TENT,,WIND CAME UP SO FAST EVERY ONE WAS SLEEPING..,THE NEXT THING I KNEW MY SISTER CAME FLYING THRU THE TENT HEADED TOWARD THE 🚗 🚘. HAD NO IDEA SHE WAS TERRIBLE OF STORMS.... STILL A GREAT TRIP.
For charging dogs, I've seen The Hiking Rev (RUclips channel) has a little device that he used when he was on the Pinhoti. He got charged a few times by dogs, and he hit the button, and they turned around and ran back home! No harm, no foul to either human or canine. It’s an electronic thing, high pitched noise dogs don't like.
I talked sweet to a mountain beaver once and it tried to attack me 😂 *this happened at home though. It was so mad it chased me, went right past everyone around me, and I had to jump over stuff in the yard. I got away but a little bit later i was standing in the house with everyone, facing the open sliding door, talking to someone in front of me, and I saw it behind that person, on the track of the door, watching me haha. Apparently they can hold grudges
THANK YOU from Quebec Canada!!! I tell people I’m more careful near beaver than I’ve ever been near coyotes. And they always think I’m crazy! But those buggers are mean!
I honestly learn so much from your channel. I hike, but I am getting into longer hiking / back packing slowly. I have done long day solo hikes. I feel like by sharing your mistakes, I learn what to do if I am in a similar situation. Thanks for opening up and sharing!
Whew! I'm so glad you made it through those experiences. My scariest experience was coming up a trail in the black hills and right above my brother's and I was a mountain lion on a large boulder. It gave us a warning snarl. We slowly backed down from where we just came, and when we thought we were safe we ran back to our campsight. I assume she was warning us that her cubs were near.
Your dog encounter reminds me of a time my pal and I encountered a couple of Bison on a leisurely day hike at Elk Island National Park in Ab Canada. I am from southern AB and am very well versed in mountain safety and wildlife. I had never been and didnt realize how close and abundant the Bison are at Elk Island, and also didn’t look up bison safety. We encountered two, first a big male eating beside the trail in front of us. And then a big female came out of the trees behind us. I named them Frank and Wanda and all four of us walked down the trail in that formation for a while. Then Frank buggers off into the woods out of our way, while Wanda keeps up her trail. We calmly talked to her and kept walking, but the kept charging when our backs were turned! We would hop to the side and turn to half face her and she would stop. We were reasonably a bit scared, but after she got bored of us she left the trail back to the woods. A bunch of families with children and old folks passed us going towards Frank and Wanda and we definitely warned them.
I really hate the outdoors, bugs , wild animals , sweat , cold , snakes and all the rest. I do not work hard to sleep on the dirt lol..I will never understand why people do it. But I love hearing all these stories!
Growing up in the country, I've never understood...and still don't...why people want to go camping, especially in a tent on the ground. I don't even want to go in a rv. I want a nice hotel room with people to do things for me. I don't want to go on vacation and have to WORK!
That dog story bothered me a lot. I love dogs, I have 2 now, and my last dog was with me for 17 years. The owners of that dog are doing neither the community nor their dog any favors allowing this situation to continue. If the dog is aggressive with the wrong person, it can obviously suffer violence, even death, either drawn out violence or a quick gunshot, either is horrific. Apart from that is the obvious risk to every person who passes the property. A child, an elderly person, or just someone unprepared, someone could be badly hurt, even killed. ❤ Glad you survived all those crazy adventures! We could be watching a story about a young hiker crushed by a freak rock fall!
Just to let u know, I have subscribed to u 3x. RUclips keeps unsubscribing me. It's not just ur channel but it might be hard to get to 500K when they unsubscribe a bunch of us at random. 🤬
Worst holiday is camping and the more I watch about camping n hiking the more confirmed this option is. Just really enjoy hearing about crazy people and their C and H stories.
The scariest thing that happend to me on trail was crossing a wide creek at the Sipsey Wilderness that filled up 14 feet overnight due to a flash flood, and it was 30 degrees out...we were .5 away from the car and it seemed like the only option was to cross it....i learned a valuable lesson on turning back around the loop for a safer path, and to sit and stay and not risk your life...if only we had rope
What's great about stories like these, besides the fact that the personal telling the tale is telling it, so you know there's a happy ending, is thag it provides everyone who hears it the chance to learn from the mistakes, especially when the storyteller gives an honest and humble assessment of their own mistakes and what they would do differently. I was involved in creating policies and procedures for risk management in professional outdoor trip organizations and one of the most valuable ways to keep a program running safety is to do incident and accident reports. Incidence reports are when something could have happened but didn't, giving often valuable insight into what actions prevented a worse disaster and what preparations made the difference. The White Mountains are notorious for exteme amd unpredictable weather events, making them a timeless test piece for those preparing for major high altitude mountaineering who want to test their skills and decisions in extreme conditions without having to deal with altitude yet. People should view the Whites that way all year round. They really can be like doing big mountains just without the altitude. Great job, Kyle!! I hate hiking, too 😅
Your Trail Tales videos/podcasts are awesome! But I feel like this video on your Kyle Hates Hiking channel hits more personable. Keep up the great content my guy!
I'm not going to lie ... I am confident that your viewers believe what you say. You don't need to constantly tell us you're not going to lie. Please consider this as constructive criticism. Love your channel!!
My kids are in their 40s now but they still talk about (with wide eyes lol) the time Grandma and Grandpa took them camping in a remote area of Eastern Oregon and a storm just like that encompassed their campsite. They were probably 6 and 8 years old. I am so grateful that they had these experiences with my very outdoorsy parents because it is not my cup of tea!
Wow! Thank you for this wonderful video. I now know what kind of outdoor activities I would like to try my hand at. All activities that have NOTHING TO DO WITH HIKING!! 🥶🥶
Dogs are actually the 4th deadliest animal to humans. The first three are mosquitoes, other humans, and snakes. I actually started carry a knife after several run ins with dangerous dogs.
A couple months ago I had a pack of hunting dogs attack me and my my dog thankfully my dog was unharmed but I had got bitten on my leg and hand and then having a group of hunters on horseback come up basically not giving a crap yell at there dogs at leave I’m left with no idea what to do because I’m miles from service and confronting a group with guns and dogs didn’t sound like something that would well Thankfully nothing was serious and I ended up fine.
This is the second video of yours that I've seen and I'm impressed!! I am now a new subscriber. I see that you have 335 thousand subscribers and that's no joke!! 💜✌🏼️
Hi Kyle, in the 'dog incident,' you did the right thing by using your trekking pole as a reminder\almost weapon to let the dog know that you were carrying a 'stick.' That may be why he didn't come any closer. He knew about sticks and poles. ~~ On to the 'falling rock' story. Dude, the Eagle Creek Trail is in a lava flow, at 20:23 when you point out the 'dirt cliff' to your left, that is basalt, a solidified lava flow. When volcanic lava solidifies into Basalt, it develops evenly distributed spaces in-between chunks of solid rock. It's dangerous at any time, but especially after a fire, even if years before. You are here 'by the grace of God.'
@Kyle Hates Hiking Take a ~ Electric Cattle Prod ~ with you for close encounters with animals. If it can put down a cow , it sure as heck could save your life. Great stories. Glad you made it!!!!
I always enjoy your stories Kyle. But, of the many I've listened to, in my opinion, you do by far your best story telling so far in these. I'm guessing because they are your very own personal stories . Thanks for taking me along, I was riveted.🌞❤🔥
One fourth of july weekend in yosemite we got snow while backpacking. We were a couple of days in and luckily we found a tarp that had fallen off someones pack. After that we would prepare for any weather anytime of year
the boulder story reminded me of something similar that happened to me... i was driving to my canyon hot springs. the road is narrow, cliffside, windy, boulders EVERYWHERE... the car in front of me had swerved & flipped upside down cuz a huuuge boulder came smashing down right in front of it. it rolled into the river. the thing is, these canyons, if ur a slow driver, u have to pull over into these lil spots to let faster cars go passed... but some drivers are assholes and dont do this. they just drive slow as hell & make everyone else clog up behind them. this was one of those assholes. but had this asshole been driving just a lil bit faster, that boulder wouldve fallen right on me. id be dead. so... guess he wasnt an asshole afterall. but had he pulled over in the first place, i never wouldve experienced any of that boulder falling.
Rewind: 1984. My family and I were hiking the north slide on Mt. Tripyramid in the Whites. The party ascending before us had apparently dislodged several sizeable rocks. I will never forget my seven year- old self hearing my dad yell as we looked up, paralyzed in fear. One was the size of a dorm-sized refrigerator, the others equivalent to that of a small toaster oven. The largest was bouncing like a beach ball, just like the movies, gaining ridiculous speed with every inch of ground it covered. By the grace of divine intervention, the four of us were positioned in the scruff, right along the trails' fringes. No alert given before us, but we certainly vocalized to those below.
I had a very similar dog encounter in the Sinkyone wilderness. There's a private in-holding right next to a knife edge section of trail that skirts a 500' shear cliff that drops down to the Pacific ocean . Hiking in, I was accosted by an exuberant border collie who started jumping up and down like popcorn in front of me. Tho the dog was super friendly, I had to grip bushes to not be knocked off the cliff. The owner came out and got the dog who was called Arthur. A few days later on the hike out I prepared myself to again encounter Arthur. I'd just about passed the knife edge and cliff, when I heard a dog running toward me, only it wasn't Arthur , it was a snapping snarling German Shepherd. The encounter was very similar to yours. I had to keep facing it. It would lunge if I turned my back. I kept my poles between us. I told it to go home, every time I said " go home " it turned around and looked toward the house. I almost pulled out the bear spray. I finally got far enough off it's territory it did go home. It's enough to put me off hiking that section of the trail.
Had a friend freeze to death in the Sierras. Two friends seperate incidents attacked by vicious dog. After being biten made a 3 legged dog out of the once 4 legged dog. He sued owner and won. Other incident Monument Valley friend bitten by rez dog. Dog ran away. He had to take rabies shot. Worked incident of lightening fatality.
I live in Oregon and have been hiking Eagle Creek since I was young. It's a sketchy trail as it is! I'm glad you're here to talk about it though. Have you ever done Multnomah Falls?
See the flash, count to 5, lightning one mile away. So cold that the bottom of all your beer cans have bulged out. Your girlfriend "came along for the ride" but I don't imagine you got lucky that weekend Nar Nar. A rolling stone gathers no moss but plenty of unsuspecting hikers.
I agree- in my experience, off leash dogs are the biggest animal danger by far. We have irresponsible dog owners to thank for this. I’m aware of a man in my city that adopted a pitbull, and decided to hike with the dog off leash- one week after the adoption. The dog bit a mountain biker that day. So irresponsible!
Oh great - about the dog thing - I live in SW Oklahoma and would love to go hiking in the eastern part of the state. The farthest I've been is Sulphur, but I would LOVE to go to Talimena!! One of the few things that's stopped me is I heard a story a while back about packs of dogs running loose up there. I have always been afraid of dogs do to many negative encounters with them in the past (things like being bitten by a trusted dog unprovoked). :V My fear has now been perpetuated. I think loose dogs and wild hogs are probably the animals that scare me the most out there. :)
At 7:31 you mention the "math" for estimating the distance of a thunderstorm by counting the seconds between flash and thunder. . . . .it is actually every 5 seconds (between flash and thunder) equals approximately one mile and is based on the differential in the speed of Sound about 720 miles per hour (or 1 mile per every 5 seconds) and the speed of light 671 million miles per hour (or nearly instantaneous). . . . .I know this in part to needing to look it up in early adulthood after experiencing a thunderstorm with a girlfriend's Family and a friendly, but intense discussion resulting with nearly everyone insisting it was 1second equals 1 mile and me swearing it was every 5 seconds equals 1 mile and no one knowing the actual math and everyone (myself included) saying that their understanding of the "calculation" was based on what they had been told by family and friends since earliest childhood with none of us ever questioning what we had been told or researching the numbers on our own.
As an Aussie I enjoy watching US trail cam content makers, because of the wide variety of animals they capture, especially at night, however…I was watching trail cam footage in the day, from a area where the public visit by day, with trails. There were quite a few people, including families with kids walking on a path that was visible to the right of the trail cam and running in the opposite direction. It was about an hour of condensed footage of the day, when towards the end something at the far top right of the screen moved in my peripheral vision. So I went back, slowed down the video and oh my gosh. It was a big cat. It had been up in the tree that people had been walking past all day, absolutely invisible because it was perfectly camouflaged against the colour of the tree and the landscape and once it got to dusk and people weren’t around, it got out of the tree and disappeared like lightning. But it was right there the whole day.
It was waiting for the people to leave
@@snowmiaow yup. The crazy thing was it was there all day, and the people were clueless.
@@virginiaviola5097 people tend not to look up
Prob best no one noticed @virginiaviola5097 someone panicking may have actually put them in danger. But cats be stealthy af
Much scarier than a few snakes & spiders in Australia!
The scariest thing that ever happened to me was hiking in the well traveled trails in Gatlinburg. Plenty of people around, we felt as safe as you can out in the woods. We rounded a corner with a drop off on the left side, and a bank preventing you from going right. As we rounded the corner, there were two cute bear cubs playing on the trail. I said, “Oh shit! Everyone stop and turn around!” When I yelled, the bear cubs looked at us and came running as if we were calling a dog. Then out of the brush on the left came the mother. We had about 50 yards between us with the cubs getting closer. I know they say don’t run, but adrenaline hit, and we bolted. We were flying back where we came from. I looked back and the cubs had stopped, but momma was closing in, about 40 yards or so. I knew we could still make it, and I tripped on a root while I was looking back. I rolled, and was back on my feet in no time. We passed two other groups and just screamed “BEARRRRRRR” as we passed and they joined us. When we finally hit the start of the parking/picnic area I felt safe and looked back. Momma bear was standing about 75 yards away, just staring at us. As she turned I felt brave and took some pics with my phone. Of course she was so far away she looked tiny with whatever phone I had then, I think an iPhone 6 and it didn’t have zoom or anything like nowadays, so when I show people, they say, “That little thing?” Damn, I was scared, and my shins and knees were all jacked up from the fall, but I felt exhilarated, like I’d cheated death! (Edited for misspellings)
I encountered black bear cubs coming out of dense woods lakeside in the Canadian wilderness. We had packed up and fled a campsite in early morning due to a dense mosquito swarm - very unusual . So we portaged into the next lake and stopped on a flat boulder at the lake edge to cook breakfast. Dense woods came right down to the shore there. When the cubs popped out, sniffing the air and huffing, we knew Momma was coming any moment. So we put the breakfast fry pan and coffee pot straigh into the canoe (aluminum) , kicked the fire into the lake and pushed off just as Momma bear appeared. She waded in up to her shoulders, swaying and sniffing as we paddled across a small bay. We pulled ashore and finished breakfast while watching the bears walk along the shoreline (so cute!}. Then we realized that Momma bear was strolling over to us again. So we loaded up the canoes, poised to jump in, but waited for the bear to come around a big boulder sitting on the shoreline about 200 ft away. We thought we could just snap a couple of photos and jump into the canoes. But as all of us stood facing the boulder, from behind us we hear "Huff! Huff!" - and Momma bear was only 50 feet away having circled around past us and doubled back. A minute later we got good photos from the canoes of Momma and cubs sniffing and watching us paddle away.
Holy shite on both counts. 😮 One of my worst fears.
I was hiking by myself in Helen ga. It was after a hurricane so we had had tons of rain. There was a lot of trees down. I heard some rustling on my left side. Thought to myself it was a squirrel (for their size they make a lot of noise lol). It was a bear cub. Thought to myself it’s far away. I’m ok. Turned back around and the mama was like 100 feet ahead of me. Luckily she was not facing me. I was going to take a pic but just got the hell out of there. Never walked so fast in my life.
At least you were smart enough to flee. Many of today's woke morons would probably try to pet the bear cubs.
Great story, glad u made it out safely!!
As a cyclist I have had dozens of dogs chase and lunge at me. A vet told me years ago, wait until they are close (10' or so) and yell as loud as you can, NO!!!! It suprises them, stops them in their tracks and most times they run away. I have used this over 100 times over the years, and it works every time.
I know how you feel. I was a postal deliverer and I had terrible times with dogs.
Twice, I've had the owner send their dog after me, once a German Shephard and the other a Pit Bull. After the German Shephard, I started carrying a small cannister of pepper spray...for the owner. It's just another example of how f'd up and self-centered people are.
Pepper spray.
Definitely.
I've had a ton of run-ins with dogs and I've done this every time. I used to run a lot through the city and on trails. Dogs are everywhere! One time I even warded off two coyotes who were following me by stopping and yelling at them!
I've occassionally had that experience in earlier years, but it's been a long time since I came across a dog that was wandering a street or road and decided to chase my bike. Usually, it's enough if I give a dog a very upset-looking glare and do a few loud noises. Most of them are confused by that and remain standing, or sit down. Really depends on the individual dog, though. And I've thankfully never come across an owner dumb enough to publicly send their dog after me or another person.
Mine was a gut feeling. I had just entered the AT. I was less than half a mile up (it was super steep), and I just had this overwhelming gut feeling that something just wasn't right. I did what I've never done in my life and turned around and went towards my car. I was about 10 feet from my car and I turned around and some guy was coming around the gate I just left from and just stood there staring at me. NOT dressed in any way like he was there for a hike. My gut tells me I dodged a bullet that day. I'm a woman, and I carry 3 kinds if knives, and bear spray, but... it didn't make me feel any better.
Always stay strapped. Get training safety, first aid and some proper tacticle training. Maybe insurance as well. And above all always be situationally aware of your surroundings/environment.
Thats also why no drink, smoke, drugs etc. They blur/block your thinking and intuition. 👍
@dananorth895 I do own two pistols and a revolver, but I've never practiced with them so I have a hesitation when it comes to carrying them. I have to address that soon.
@@artalli7170yeah if you have them you really need to know how to use them.
😮
Never feel like a coward when trusting your instincts. I was robbed at gun point and I learned never to let anyone in my space.
The girlfriend tale sounds like the start of that movie Back Country. Fellas, if your lady doesn't have a lot of hiking experience, don't take her to anywhere challenging, she will not be impressed no matter how good you are. Glad to hear you both came out unscathed, I love your channel.
Yeah, that goes for skiing as well. 🙄
That goes for experienced people. Taking a dude who thinks they know how to survive just because they go hunting once a year, isn't a good idea. Don't ask me how I know.
Yeah, clearly that was one his main reasons for telling this experience since he basically said so at the beginning of the story.
I took a boyfriend who supposedly was experienced at long distance cycling and camping trips. He did so many things wrong, he had no idea.
And to top it off, he confessed he was scared of camping in the Australian bush - yet I had a tent & told him the itinerary!
And he waited until it was too dark to find a good spot & collect wood for a camp fire to cook dinner & relax while the sunset.
We were cycling about 80km per day & carrying everything.
When he insisted we should cycle an extra 80km in one day, (probably impossible anyway, since max on a fully loaded bike per day was generally 120km), I said "see you in the next town tomorrow, I'm pitching my tent here" .
Then he was too scared to cycle in the dark alone. So stayed with me & badgered me not to wait to light a fire for a warming drink in the morning - turned out he didn't even know how long it took to boil water on a camp fire & thought it would take 30 not 10 minutes.
Needless to say, relationship over after that trip.
I learned that lesson with my girlfriend. We were camping near Crested Butte, Colorado and went for a day hike. I warned her repeatedly about the altitude but she insisted that she was fine... Until we started hiking back out, up a long steep incline. She was ready to pass out but we got picked up by some strangers in a UTV.
Okay dog advice - I ran long distance for years - often in the country and almost always alone, here are two pieces of advice that really do work:
1.) pretend the dog is your dog and is being disobedient- now tell it to “get back to that house!” Do this while pointing towards the direction it came from. Like for real - get your butt back!
It only works if you say it with authority and again really pretend it is YOUR dog. Don’t ask me why - it works.
2.) this has never failed me - NEVER. Get a hand held taser. Make sure the batteries are charged. When that dog comes at you, start moving towards it and pop that taser. I have never had a dog or horse not literally lose their mind trying to get away from me with that. It terrifies them. My favorite was some kind of pit bull cross that was charging me at a full on run and I hit that snap, crackle and pop and that dog straight up pulled a you turn at the same speed he was charging. 😂
P.S. I have never had to actually zap the dog! And they may keep barking at you - but it will be from a good distance. ❤
Good advice. I LOVE dogs, and I've worked at three different doggie day cares.
One thing that terrifies me is trying to stop a dog fight.
I worked at a bad day care that took any and all dogs, and it was dangerous.
I watched up to fifty, yes 50 dogs by myself sometimes.
I love dogs, but some dog people are awful. Esp when they're in it for the money alone
@@rdred8693yikes! I can’t imagine trying to wrangle 50 dogs - that is an impossible task!
I agree with the dog fight perspective too - I have actually gotten bitten breaking up a dog fight before - they just go into total predator mode - it’s INSANE to me that anyone enjoys dog fighting! It is so traumatizing!!!!
@@rdred8693 That was a very foolish thing to do- at my shelter at any given time there will never be more than 3 dogs per person- that's all one person can reasonably be expected to handle. I've trained and kept dogs my entire life- I'm in my fifties, and I love them more than I love people- but any time you have more than 3 dogs together, their behavior will change. They become very dangerous in large groups- even usually well-behaved dogs are much more prone to aggression and acting out. And if 2-3 turn on you- all 50 will turn on you. Ppl have been killed by animals they had kept and loved for years because of this. They were once wolves- you put them in a pack, they begin to remember that- and it feels good to them.
Edit: We are a no-kill shelter by the way- for strays- in North Alabama.
Our neighborhood is terrible. There are always dogs running loose in groups. The taser is a good idea! I love to walk the hood, but so scared I’ll come across the dogs. I was told, don’t look them in the eye. They will take that as a challenge. 😱
@@Thetimecapsuletx That is true to a degree- but not the way ppl think. You have to be like mean mugging him and trying to be intimidating toward him- then he might see it as a challenge. But not if you just look at him in the eyes- in fact, dogs are much more prone to attack when you turn your back to them- never do that. Always face them, even if you're not looking in their eyes- look at them head on so they know you are ready and able to defend if they attack. The second you turn your back, if they're already wanting to attack- this is their chance and they know it, they will take it.
My experience with dogs or packs of dogs has brought me to this successful plan of action: As soon as you hear barking, whether near or far, get your flashlight out and turn it on. Turn toward the approaching dog(s) and stop walking. In a commanding, booming voice (not panic-screaming) yell, "NO!" Start this from as great a distance as possible. Don't wait until it's within close range to start shining your light toward their eyes and yelling your commands. The closer they are, the better they can assess your level of fear, which you don't want, if at all possible. Imagine that animal is YOUR dog and you're stopping it from doing something bad. "NO! NOOO!" Stand still. Don't challenge it by rushing it. Every dog understands NO!
Not mine. I trained her in German to idiot proof all our hard work.
Honestly, becoming competent at techniques that work to subdue animals is better than nothing, and hoping none of them will ever call your bluffs. Have a stick, survival tools, bear spray if you can; pay attention to animal attack stories and the things victims did to prevent bites. Accept the reality that animals do, on rare occasions, choose to fight.
@@alimclovinjr.9916nor in rural France ... I took to carrying a hefty stick
@@alimclovinjr.9916so if “no” doesn’t work I’ll try “ Nein!” 😂
I remember when the guy I was newly seeing made some remarks about not taking "girls" with him when he was camping. He camped rather regularly (as in, all summer long). When I'd press him on this issue, he would say some vague nonsense about how it's cursed. This unfortunately just made me more curious and I kind of insisted on going out there with him, deep in the woods, lots of bad decisions there. I've heard in a lot of hiking/camping videos that it's not very common for a bear to attack a tent.
5:45 am, the sun was just peeking up. I woke from my exhausted sleep (the kind you get from rigorous outdoor activities), thinking I had just dreamt of a loud sound. But my ears were actually ringing, the way they do after hearing a SUPER loud sound up close. I slowly sat up and heard it-- GIANT sounding footsteps, snapping twigs, that low growly-breathing... my boyfriend was already awake and on high alert. We sat stone still. BAM BAM BAM, the bear was almost knocking on the tent with its giant paws. It kept bumping up against the tent, walking around, and finally we could hear its footsteps going away from us. Something was wrong with my boyfriend too, he was white as a sheet and looked like he was struggling to breathe. I have no idea how long we sat there before he pulled his left leg up-- we were still trying to be silent at this point in case. I gasped in horror at the three DEEP claw marks on his bare calf. HIS LEG HAD BEEN OUT OF THE TENT. It wasn't bleeding very much either which was weird. He unzipped the tent and started vomiting... so much.. NO alcohol or substances were involved in this either. He told me to take various noise making things (a whistle, a pan and a spoon), said "I want to hear you screaming and making noise with these until you're out of the woods, please get help". I listened and RAN in terror making all the noise I possibly could, ended up getting help from an elderly man who was sitting on his front porch reading his paper. Still makes me shake just thinking/writing about it!
If a woman is in estrus, it can attract/excite predators. Mainly bear, couger and wolves.
@@dananorth895 I don't know where you learned about human reproduction, but a female human does NOT have 'estrus.'
@dana that is completely stupid. You obviously flunked human biology.
@@j.b.9581 lmao 🤣
@Tullythedevine.. he was definitely in shock from the injury..
Some of the best advice I’ve gotten regarding sleeping bags is that temperature is for survivability, not comfort.
also people should note that sleeping bags dont really make you warm. They are used to help trap the warmth that your body generates and keep you warm. If you get into a not warm enough rating bag freezing cold youre going to have a really hard time warming up. Good trick I use in winter hikes is to do some jumping jacks or squats or something like that to get a little warm (NOT SWEATY) before I want to get into bed and helps you kick start the process of warming up the bag to your body temp.
Packs of hand warmers that last for long periods of time can help restore body heat once the body’s core temperature has dropped too much for it to recover on its own. External heat is needed at that point. Stones heated from fire do not retain heat as long and are relatively dangerous by comparison, the hand warmers are really worth packing.
also a tip for girls or short people in general: if there’s space at the end it won’t be as warm!
@@KH-rt3efI was taught by the Navajo to "Move the fire". You start the biggest fire you can, when it gets small after a few hours you kick all the coals a few feet away, you wait a while until you can touch the ground where the fire used to be then sleep on that ground feet towards the new place the coals are. You will be warm all night. I have done it in weather below freezing and didn't even use a tent. In fact I crawled out of the bag because I was too hot and I was still warm in the morning laying there in the open, and the fish we caught the day before were about 10 feet away and were still frozen solid!
Carry the big bear sprays. Good for 4legged and 2legged predators.
The Lightning/Thunder trick works, if you understand the speed of light vs the speed of sound.
For us, the speed of light can be rounded to "instantaneous". And the speed of sound can be rounded to 1 mile per 5 seconds.
The lightning and thunder happen at the same time, but the light reaches us instantaneously, and the thunder much slower. If we start counting at the flash and stop when we hear the thunder, we can estimate that the strike is one mile away for every five seconds counted. "One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thou...*BOOM*" would be about 1/2 mile away.
Of course in the mountains the echos could play tricks on you.
That checks out with what I was taught using km! 3 seconds means 1 km, with a mile being 1.6 km, divide that by five and times three, we have roughly a km! Nice.
In large scale sound enforcement, we need to set audio delays the farther speakers are from the stage. That allows for the sound to be time balanced while you're walking around. For that, the thumbnail is "1ms per foot". Which, works out to 5280ms/mile, or 5.2 seconds. Math is cool! lol
I was looking for this comment!
Yup, it's very scientific in of itself. The only flaw is that there's no telling where in the storm the lightning is going to strike. Maybe in the front, then maybe in the back....
Also, if you can hear thunder, you can get hit, pretty much. Super rare, but not impossible.
Thanks so much this is what I've been looking for✌️
For the dog part of your video, the trail to bridal veil falls in NH, there is a property towards the beginning of the trail head. Twice, there were 4 aggressive dogs that came onto the trail angry and pack mentality was kicking in. Two of the dogs attacked our dogs that were on leash and tried to come at us. Our dogs broke off leash and it was game on for these 4 dogs attacking our dogs. I went after our dogs to get them safe and in the process became the subject of these dogs attention. The owner yelled at me to leave her dogs alone and get off her property. I yelled back to her that her dogs were about to get shot if they didn’t get away from me. She didn’t like that. Luckily it didn’t come to that as I’m a dog lover but not dogs that will readily attack. Also on the same trail, a guy that had property bordering the trail was shooting a rifle across the trail. Love the hike up there but not worth the hassle to do again.
Geez, so scary
How stupid of them! When their dogs act like that, the second anything happens and it's reported, their dogs would most likely be confiscated and destroyed by their local government. You weren't the one putting their dogs' lives at risk (and the lives of others too!)...that was 100% them. I wonder if those dogs made it to old age, or will. Something's bound to happen at this rate, unfortunately.
I always carry bear spray because the distance and width of spray. Works for dogs , people and other random attackers ! 😊
Was just thinking about that. I've definitely yelled with authority at angry dogs and they tend to give up the fight when they aren't actually trained to be serious guard dogs. The K9 cop kinds of dogs will not respond to a well worded NO, BAD DOG but the average dog that isn't rabid will
as does wasp spray, shoots almost 30 feet
I used to have problems with a neighbors dog when I lived in the sticks. A loud forceful "Go home!" followed by pepper spray was my tactic two or three times. From then on, all I had to do was hold up my fist (like I was holding pepper spray) and yell "Go home". He would tuck tail and run. This one did anyway.
If the owners aren't going to train their dogs to stay away from hikers, then we have to do it ourselves like this if there's a known problem dog near the trail. Just keep the command consistent through the community. "Go home" is usually the universal command of rural folks when someones dog comes on the property, so a lot of dogs already understand that.
A black garbage bag with head and arm holes has saved me a few times as has a pladtic bag between two hats even after getting soaked. I learned this the hard way almost 40 years ago when I was 15 riding a mountain bike from Washington DC to Harper's Ferry West Virginia and back with the friend who convinced to bring a few extra garbage bags. I still use the Hefty Hefty Hefty bag trick today when clearing snow or playing in the woods during a snowstorm.
Dave, Milton New Hampshire
Bread sacks make great vapor barriers over your socks!
3xhefty bag!!! Much heftiness indeed 🤣
Garbage sacks have saved me many a time but I will now be searching the shelves for the ‘elephant dimension’ sacks….
Great tips!
Lightweight, waterproof. Can be used as poncho, bivy, small tarp, to collect water/rain and takes virtually no space.
As a bonus you can haul out yours/others trash.
Poncho in a hurry coming right up!!! True about the bread sacks as well!
I really appreciated this video. Not many people will talk about the stupid mistakes they made or things they did to impress a girl or tag a bunch of summits in a rush. Well done
Like you were talking about climbing into your sleeping bag and still being cold, I have hunted in -15° weather, and after a hot shower and a warm hotel bed, we were still cold and shivering, this kind of cold is called chilled to the bone
Been there in a hammock in a wild thunderstorm. Been bitten by an unleashed dog. Met mushroom hunters that were scary weird. All part of long distance hiking.
Oregonian here. I know the Eagle Creek Trail well, especially that spot near Tunnel Falls. Two things: First, you would never catch my azz in a steep forest topography within 10 years of a crown fire that destructive. Everything that held the cliffs together has been burned away and erosion just keeps taking a bite every year. Sh!t falls down constantly--trees, boulders, landslides--it's not worth it. Second: Earphones? Dude, seriously? Never drown out or numb your senses in that sort of topography.
I want to hear the bears coming & will play aloud so the bears hear me coming and(hopefully) go the other way😂NC
Did eagle creek on the PCT last year 2023 and usually cautious and well researched; I'd not heard of this at all or seen any warnings about these issues on trail or online. Wouldn't have known...
Ex-Oregonian here. I hiked the 3 Fingers trail after a fire and it was a HUGE mistake. I didn't expect to have the ground feel like powder. I slipped around a lot and learned the hard way never to hike in a post-fire area.
my grandpa and I used to sit on the porch and count the storms in, ''one Mississippi, 2 Mississippi....." It works that's why the people who didn't have weather radio back in the day, relied on it :)
You're fortunate. Worst hiking I had was in the late 80's Washington State. 3 of my friends and I were hiking on a very narrow trail outside the town of Index. It was steep almost straight up, and I wanted to sit down a minute after just over an hour(i was city girl, not used to this). One friend stayed with me, while the other 2 went to look around the turn coming up, to see where we were headed to. A few minutes later, her and I THOUGHT some small rocks were being thrown from- where ever up above, but then we hear "Run run run!"" and the guys were coming down fast- running/sliding, kicking rocks ahead of them. We were being shot at, and were shot at almost all the way down that hill/mountain. The shrubbery was so thick (colorful too, as it was Fall), we couldn't see where the person was and never did find out. It stopped when we were almost to the bottom. We ran and didn't stop until we hit the parking area.
Later I was told that was very close to some claim someone had up there, so we were probably being run off. No signs posted or anything so who knows, who cares. I never went back, and wasn't into hiking after, except more well worn trails with humans around that were doing what I was doing. No more remote, out in nowhere crap.
But it took up over an hour hiking up, and I swear like 10 mins or less down. I don't even remember my feet hitting the ground, we were so terrified.
It's used by boy scouts also to track how close a storm is to you I believe every second is a mile so if it takes 2 secs for you to hear the thunder the lightning strike was 2 miles away
Sounds like some Deliverance kind of s***
Farout! That's scary as. Glad you got out of that 😅
dang... i have a gun story too. i lived at some hot springs for years. some asshole cholo dude came there one day, & he got so drunk & nearly fell & crushed my dog. this dude was so big hed have killed my dog or broken her to pieces... so i got maaaad. he was rude the whole day, so this was the last straw. i told him off. then he threatened me & came at me like he was gonna hit me. so i pull out a machete & some other dude who was there, he pulled out a buck knife & told this crazy dude to f off. this crazy dude left. but he came back an hour later w a gun. i was a bit aways goin to the bathroom in the trees, so i heard him come down & start screaming & shooting into the air. screaming for me & that dude. I KNOW UR HERE BTCH IM GONNA FIND U BTCH. so i grabbed my dog & ran to some nearby rock caves that no one but us locals know about.... & i heard him walking the trail i just was on... he didnt know i was off trail of course. but he did eventually leave. & i was so terrified i stayed in that cave for 3 hours. when night came, i got out of the cave but was too afraid to use my flashlight incase he was there still... so i creeped in the dark, got to the river, crossed the river, and went upstream to a lil hiding spot until the next day. and the next day i was too afraid to be there. for days i was afraid hed come back. but he never did. or atleast that i know of. fkn terrifying.
@@ToastyDanzigWhat a horrendous ordeal that must have been. I can't imagine going through that. I'm glad you lived to tell the tale 🙏
I was taught by the Navajo to "Move the fire". You start the biggest fire you can, when it gets small after a few hours you kick all the coals a few feet away, you wait a while until you can touch the ground where the fire used to be then sleep on that ground feet towards the new place the coals are. You will be warm all night. I have done it in weather below freezing and didn't even use a tent. In fact I crawled out of the bag because I was too hot and I was still warm in the morning laying there in the open, and the fish we caught the day before were about 10 feet away and were still frozen solid!
Before I get into your scariest moments - Mine was about 20 years ago, and I was on a walk in NZ - the clouds and snow came in ultra quick and it was a ridge walk with next to zero visibility and just following a path you could barely see with winds from both sides! Ended up spending two days in the hut on top of a ridge, before we could hike out! I'm glad I always over-estimate when it comes to food, fluids and fuel!
When I was around 17/18 I went on a white water rafting trip in May in Wisconsin. I didn’t realize how cold and long the rafting would be and when I went to sleep inside a sleeping bag and tent with layers of dry clothes and was shivering and couldn’t sleep I freaked out! I decided to leave the tent and go lay by the dwindling bonfire which helped a little until my bf realized I was gone and then made me get into his sleeping bag with him. His body heat saved me. I was hypothermic and it was the only thing that worked. It was kinda scary. I’ll never do that again! 😂
Whenever playing in near the water...particularly cold mountain runnoff, a fire is invaluable. A hot meal and drink keeps energy levels up. Hot coccoa is priceless there's a reason it's in survival packs! If you go to bed without a proper meal you'll shiver all night. A quality refective tarp/blanket is a life saver as well.
Bodies (bare skin) for heat transfer are common hypothermia fixes.
You needed some fire rocks. The ones you put near the fire that were too hot to touch with bare hands and you needed gloves/towels/leather scraps for. Warm rocks on or in your sleeping bag that can be removed if they are now cold or if you can't be comfy with them. Let them warm the sleeping bag before you crawl inside it. If you have a fire find some good rocks that can be brushed off and stand the heat w/o shattering/cracking and are not too heavy. Rotate to warm evenly by the fire and place on sleeping bag before bed. You will crawl into a warm bag.
Similar if you have a piece of stainless steel that can be enclosed fully aka has a lid as you used to put some coal from your fire in there to warm your feet. The issue is the being enclosed so it's not a fire hazard and won't get ash on everything.
@@blackdandelion5549 Boiling water in a nalgene bottle works well. One of the reasons I carry a nalgene bottle is because you can put boiling water in it even though I don't hike when it's cold. I do use microwaved heat pads to warm my feet at home though.
When I was a kid in my early teens, I was a paperboy, and on my route was this aggressive German shepherd that would chase after me every morning during my deliveries. It got so bad, that it would make me late for school in the mornings because of the long delays at this house. I finally got fed up and screamed at it while chasing it back to its house. It pretty much left me alone after that, and we eventually became friends. It took awhile, but it would later run up to me to say hello rather than bark and snarl.
Crazy stories man. Thanks for sharing. I ran into a grizzly in Canada and I would never wish that upon anyone.
I've had multiple flooded creek crossings that were waste high and fast flowing while holding my dog by the collar so she didn't get swept away as she was swimming. I got flooded out next to a creek once and had to abandon my hammock and lay on a rock underneath an overhang. The scariest was getting caught in a prescribed burn. I was told it was in the opposite direction I was headed. I was covering about 25 miles a day so I was moving pretty quick until I smelled smoke. Looked up and saw a wall of flame. My dog and I jogged back to a rocky outcropping where i was safe from the flames but was worried about the smoke. I ended up sleeping on a big flat rock again under an overhang. I could hear the coyotes super close running away around the edge of the bluff. I had a small fire going and started banging sticks against the rock to hopefully deter them from coming mine and my pups way. Everything was torched around me the next morning all smokey and small fires still burning here and there. My old lady dog Miss Penny is a badass. Oh and the cold lol. Therese been a few times I tried to get away with an SUL pack and froze my ass off to the point my feet felt like blocks in the middle of the night. That and putting on shoes that were soaked the previous day and froze overnight. Sleeping with your water bottles and filters so they don't freeze. The list goes on and on. Type 2 fun lol
I had a similar incident to your last, happen to me while hiking the Kalalau Trail in Kauai, HI. I had just passed the infamous Mile 7 going towards the beach, and had just made the turn that hugs the side of the mountain. Without warning, several large rocks (slightly larger than bowling balls) from above go flying across the trail. I look up and there are a family of goats or possibly feral pigs just prancing around, likely the ones that had kicked up the loose rocks. If any of the rocks hit me or the other hiking group members I was with, we would not only have been knocked out, but the force would have sent us into the 200 ft drop of the ocean below. I always check above when I pass areas that appear to have rock slides, and take out my headphones. It's still hard to know are definitely just freak accidents, but still take what you can get from understanding the environment.
hey there, talking about wild dogs. I did the northern camino all along the the bay of Biscay/the Atlantic ocean, then down into Santiago 800 kilometers and there were wild dogs all along the way and I helped this lady that used to work for green piece. She was screaming and yelling, and I walked up by her, and I told her to stop her movements and I started talking, harshly and looking at them and saying no and they were both malinois if you know what that dog is, I knew that dog to tear the holy shit out of my buttocks in her, since she was a short woman, but acting totally the way you’re not supposed to act, and then finally, the owners of the Farm came out and she said that I saved her life. I wanted to say no I just saved your legs. So I just loved your dog story and I know you had to be vicious and then I had another encounter. I’m just so glad that I used to train with some of some of the wildest dogs and I learned so much about dominance I had some good teachers here in Oklahoma.
The fact that youre willing to talk about your own shortcomings and embarassments shows how humble you are. Its a good thing to be able to accept that you made mistakes and learn from them, sadly not as many people nowadays have that.
I once found a good area to camp while hiking in NW Pa. in March. I took off my pack to search for that exact spot to put my tent- (haven't we all). It was snowing and late. I was so concentrated on looking for a resonable spot for my tent. I meandered further and further away from my pack. Once I found the spot for my tent, I forgot the way to get back to my pack. I was turned around and everything looked the same After an hour, I finally found my pack and just pitched my tent in the dark in the snowy and rocky area where I was. If I did not find my pack and wihtout a flashlight, lighter, or warm dry clothes in the wet snow it would have been, at best, a miserable night. I would have had to "swallow my pride" and flag down a car at a road or knock on someone's front door.
Hi Kyle, Your content is excellent! 1st off I am a lover of dogs. My dog is my best friend. That said you haven’t mentioned carrying any defensive weapons
No need to give your op-sec here but Bear-spray, a large hunting knife and a concealed compact firearm would be advisable. As they say to hikers in Montana … “You are not hiking through a zoo!”. God Speed Kyle!
I'm glad you're sharing these stories because the comments on other videos are SO HARSH. Everyone makes dumb choices sometimes but most people are lucky enough to survive them. It's just luck. There but for the grace of god go I or whatever
Kyle, glad you are honestly relaying these experiences to your audience, us!
My great grandfather Dumont would have loved to hear this, living in White River Junction and hunting in the White Mountains in the years after the Civil War. We inherited hundreds of his photographs taken in different formats during the 19th and early 20th centuries that depict these very places Kyle describes.
I took a 3000 mile bicycle camping trip with 3 dogs in a doghouse bicycle trailer, this summer. Southern NM to Southern Maine.
Im always solo with dogs.
Its very life changing, to take on the elements with animals like that. Its hard enough without.
My babies loved it, thats what matters. Lol.
It almost unalived me several times at least.
Dodge city Kansas had the worst eye of the storm I've ever been in.
making good bye videos and everything 😅
Be careful everybody. Be smart, be safe
Always watch all your videos Kyle. Still here after all these years.
Thanks for sharing your encounters, Kyle. The second and third stories you told could save someone from a miserable night or even death. Lesson 1: don't try to outrun a storm. Lesson 2: never try to cross an angry, swollen river. Lesson 3: bring a tent even if the desination is a backpacking shelter. Lesson 4: wear appropriate clothing for the weather. Lesson 5: temp ratings on cheap sleeping bags lie. I'm pretty sure there were more lessons in there, I just think those are the ones that will stick with me.
I have a good one, get a physical map, if you are hiking and get lost, turn back where you came from, never assume it is a loop. I made a terrible mistake hiking with my parents a few years ago. A 4 mile hike turned into a 10 mile hike. Fortunately my parents are in good physical health and we made it back to the car, dehydrated and with a few cramps, but we made it.
Animal behaviorist Ian Dunbar describes a technique to stop a dog attack in one of his books. I have used it twice and both times it worked! Both dogs were pit bulls owned by homeless people. The dogs were changing me and within ten feet. You turn your head , look down to the ground and yawn. It stopped both dogs. Dunbar is a dog trainer and vet and described imminent attacks on himself he has stopped. Apparently it's dog speak for "I'm no threat , you are the boss."
Interesting. I thought it was anxiety when dogs do that
Or that you are baring your teeth, but an interesting thought
@SatanenPerkele Dude they are man's freaking best friend! And every bad thing you said about dogs applies to humans a thousand times over. Dogs won't destroy this planet. Humans will. Dogs love and loyalty far exceeds any humans. I'd trust any of my pet dogs over any human I've ever known.
@SatanenPerkele Humans have murdered each other since the beginning of time . Wars killing hundreds of millions of innocents. Ghengis Khan was estimated to have killed 40 million which was 10 percent of the world's population at the time. And you are worried about dogs!
We were sailing on a cruise up the Mariana chain of islands, around 144E, between 13N and 35N. We passed the island of flies and ran spinnaker all day til we reached the Maug, granite towers hundreds of feet high surrounding an old caldera. At around 28N the trade winds kind of peter out and the weather settles into a bare whisper of a wind accompanied by great sunsets. But once it gets dark, out of nowhere the most horrendous thunder and lightning storms takes over. The rain pours so thick you can't see your hands in front of you. The lightning strikes are continous, 5, 8, 10 strikes, and punching the seas on either side of the boat, each strike causing steam to rise from the water. You wonder if the mast reaching 60 ft plus will attract one of these electrical bolts and what will happen to the hull. The thunder claps are so deafening that you wish you had foam plugs for your ears. Somehow you get used to it and check your heading every now and then. Hours later the day watch, which missed it all down below, will ask if anything notable happened, and you mostly just shrug, take your cup of coffee and logbook to the foredeck and jot a few notes about the horse latitude lightning storms in the springtime.
Doubtlessly expressed by others, but I love your honesty and your self-checking, not a hiker myself but appreciate you owning these lessons learned and also not really apologizing for it, they are just life learning opportunities...
I'm just a regular hiker, usually never going more than 8 miles on a day hike. I mostly just have to watch out and not slip, because that's my specialty. I've come home with a bruised forearm that went from wrist to elbow, but thankfully didn't actually break anything despite it hitting a boulder. I've of course been chased by bees (thankfully not allergic). And once in Washington state, I stepped into a covered hole that was several feet deep. That was the incident that reminded me I needed to let someone know where I was going on any given trip.
“I’m not going to lie to you!”
You say “I’m not going to lie to you a lot!”
😁
Thanks for the videos.
I've been so close to a lightning strike. I did not hear the thunder. Plus I've ridden my bike through some storms that was so bad, I figured I was dead a few times. Thunder Storms are not fun.
An older friend of mine has 2 adult daughters who went hiking with a friend. The lightning just took their friend so fast & so unexpectedly, she was walking right between the two sisters. I take thunder so seriously now. My friend was so grateful her girls were ok, and her eldest was pregnant with her first grandchild, but so devastated for the other family.
I was running around lake overholsen in OK whilst trading at the FAA center when I saw a wall of darkness approaching in the sky. I ran as fast as I could back to my car but the thunderstorm was faster than me. You definitely can’t outrun them 😂
Another time my friend, her daughter, her daughter’s friend and I were hiking in sc. Weather was great when we started. Got maybe a mile in and it started pouring. Kept going. Started lightening soon after. We made it up to the waterfall. Stayed for a couple minute. When we were going back the rocks were covered with rushing water. Only had sneakers on. Was not a fun hike back. Afterwards we felt awesome though. Don’t hike without hiking boots anymore.
My worst thunderstorm experience was in the Gore Range of Colorado. I was several miles into the wilderness on a backpack fishing trip, and this storm hit about 1 AM. I was camped on the valley floor, so probably about as safe a location as I could have been in such a storm, but there was a almost an hour of very close lighting strikes, just a few seconds apart, along with pouring rain. There was no way I was sleeping through that. I wasn't extremely scared. I figured the lighting was either going to hit me or it wasn't, there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it except stay in the tent, wait it out, and hope for the best.
You are a natural story teller...pausing in right places ... simple straight forward prose ... emphasis on right words ...lots of empathy for the people in your stories...well done.
I don’t hike or camp, but I love your channel. The stories are so interesting and I’m learning things about hiking I’ve never even thought about.
Like NOT going camping. Do many scary things
If you weren't telling me & showing me the pics of you at 18 I wouldn't have ever guessed that was you !!! Look completely different now budz 😂
I've been on the Eagle Creek Trail in that spot and it is incredibly beautiful but also incredibly dangerous. I'm so glad you and your buddies were okay.
HI FROM MN..I HAVE A SISTER WHO IS SO SCARED OF STORMS..WE WERE CAMPING AROUND LAKE SUPERIOR,,,FORGETING THAT HOW WINDY IT GETS RIGHT ON SUPERIOR.. IN THE ⛺️ 🎪 TENT,,WIND CAME UP SO FAST EVERY ONE WAS SLEEPING..,THE NEXT THING I KNEW MY SISTER CAME FLYING THRU THE TENT HEADED TOWARD THE 🚗 🚘. HAD NO IDEA SHE WAS TERRIBLE OF STORMS.... STILL A GREAT TRIP.
For charging dogs, I've seen The Hiking Rev (RUclips channel) has a little device that he used when he was on the Pinhoti. He got charged a few times by dogs, and he hit the button, and they turned around and ran back home! No harm, no foul to either human or canine. It’s an electronic thing, high pitched noise dogs don't like.
This is why its a blessing to have you in this venue to pass your hard earned lessons and knowledge to others. Who knows how many lives youve saved!
Flash-to-bang time is super useful. While not sounding super-scientific, it's good enough to estimate a storm threat.
Also, bear spray works on dogs.
Yes. 5 seconds from flash to thunder per mile is a great rough estimate tool. Works for distance from explosions, too.
@@saxonsoldier67 I used it for artillery and vehicle borne IEDs, sometimes.
@@electrontube I never thought it could be used for explosions, see how peaceful my life is!
I talked sweet to a mountain beaver once and it tried to attack me 😂 *this happened at home though. It was so mad it chased me, went right past everyone around me, and I had to jump over stuff in the yard. I got away but a little bit later i was standing in the house with everyone, facing the open sliding door, talking to someone in front of me, and I saw it behind that person, on the track of the door, watching me haha. Apparently they can hold grudges
THANK YOU from Quebec Canada!!! I tell people I’m more careful near beaver than I’ve ever been near coyotes. And they always think I’m crazy! But those buggers are mean!
I honestly learn so much from your channel. I hike, but I am getting into longer hiking / back packing slowly. I have done long day solo hikes. I feel like by sharing your mistakes, I learn what to do if I am in a similar situation. Thanks for opening up and sharing!
Dangerous alone. Why risk it?
Whew! I'm so glad you made it through those experiences. My scariest experience was coming up a trail in the black hills and right above my brother's and I was a mountain lion on a large boulder. It gave us a warning snarl. We slowly backed down from where we just came, and when we thought we were safe we ran back to our campsight. I assume she was warning us that her cubs were near.
For someone who hates hiking, you know a hell lot about hiking ...I think I love the click bait..keep it up bruv..!!😂
Your dog encounter reminds me of a time my pal and I encountered a couple of Bison on a leisurely day hike at Elk Island National Park in Ab Canada. I am from southern AB and am very well versed in mountain safety and wildlife. I had never been and didnt realize how close and abundant the Bison are at Elk Island, and also didn’t look up bison safety. We encountered two, first a big male eating beside the trail in front of us. And then a big female came out of the trees behind us. I named them Frank and Wanda and all four of us walked down the trail in that formation for a while. Then Frank buggers off into the woods out of our way, while Wanda keeps up her trail. We calmly talked to her and kept walking, but the kept charging when our backs were turned! We would hop to the side and turn to half face her and she would stop. We were reasonably a bit scared, but after she got bored of us she left the trail back to the woods. A bunch of families with children and old folks passed us going towards Frank and Wanda and we definitely warned them.
I really hate the outdoors, bugs , wild animals , sweat , cold , snakes and all the rest. I do not work hard to sleep on the dirt lol..I will never understand why people do it. But I love hearing all these stories!
Growing up in the country, I've never understood...and still don't...why people want to go camping, especially in a tent on the ground. I don't even want to go in a rv. I want a nice hotel room with people to do things for me. I don't want to go on vacation and have to WORK!
That dog story bothered me a lot. I love dogs, I have 2 now, and my last dog was with me for 17 years. The owners of that dog are doing neither the community nor their dog any favors allowing this situation to continue. If the dog is aggressive with the wrong person, it can obviously suffer violence, even death, either drawn out violence or a quick gunshot, either is horrific. Apart from that is the obvious risk to every person who passes the property. A child, an elderly person, or just someone unprepared, someone could be badly hurt, even killed. ❤ Glad you survived all those crazy adventures! We could be watching a story about a young hiker crushed by a freak rock fall!
Just to let u know, I have subscribed to u 3x. RUclips keeps unsubscribing me. It's not just ur channel but it might be hard to get to 500K when they unsubscribe a bunch of us at random. 🤬
Same!
I'm having this issue too!! You said that and I looked just to see I'm no longer subscribed. Weird
He would not unsubscribe you! He wants your subscription for more money. I might be you unsubscribing by mistake
Same here but I'm shadow banned too so nobody will see this comment as far as I can tell nor would I get a notification if someone replied.
@@Mt.Everest. I think RUclips is just randomly unsubscribing me. Not just from this channel either
It's annoying!. I don't think Kyle is doing it.
Worst holiday is camping and the more I watch about camping n hiking the more confirmed this option is. Just really enjoy hearing about crazy people and their C and H stories.
Li'l Baby Kyle looks nothing like Bearded & Seasoned Kyle!
The scariest thing that happend to me on trail was crossing a wide creek at the Sipsey Wilderness that filled up 14 feet overnight due to a flash flood, and it was 30 degrees out...we were .5 away from the car and it seemed like the only option was to cross it....i learned a valuable lesson on turning back around the loop for a safer path, and to sit and stay and not risk your life...if only we had rope
this is the best "find channel" in recent time :) thanks mate, happy recording :)
What's great about stories like these, besides the fact that the personal telling the tale is telling it, so you know there's a happy ending, is thag it provides everyone who hears it the chance to learn from the mistakes, especially when the storyteller gives an honest and humble assessment of their own mistakes and what they would do differently.
I was involved in creating policies and procedures for risk management in professional outdoor trip organizations and one of the most valuable ways to keep a program running safety is to do incident and accident reports.
Incidence reports are when something could have happened but didn't, giving often valuable insight into what actions prevented a worse disaster and what preparations made the difference.
The White Mountains are notorious for exteme amd unpredictable weather events, making them a timeless test piece for those preparing for major high altitude mountaineering who want to test their skills and decisions in extreme conditions without having to deal with altitude yet.
People should view the Whites that way all year round. They really can be like doing big mountains just without the altitude.
Great job, Kyle!! I hate hiking, too 😅
Your Trail Tales videos/podcasts are awesome! But I feel like this video on your Kyle Hates Hiking channel hits more personable. Keep up the great content my guy!
Nice of Kyle to share a breakup story with us(2nd story)😂
I'm not going to lie ... I am confident that your viewers believe what you say. You don't need to constantly tell us you're not going to lie. Please consider this as constructive criticism. Love your channel!!
Got to watch them squatches boulders are their favorite things
My kids are in their 40s now but they still talk about (with wide eyes lol) the time Grandma and Grandpa took them camping in a remote area of Eastern Oregon and a storm just like that encompassed their campsite. They were probably 6 and 8 years old. I am so grateful that they had these experiences with my very outdoorsy parents because it is not my cup of tea!
Kyle's precious baby face! I'm glad you survived these adventures.
Wow!
Thank you for this wonderful video.
I now know what kind of outdoor activities I would like to try my hand at.
All activities that have NOTHING TO DO WITH HIKING!! 🥶🥶
Dogs are actually the 4th deadliest animal to humans. The first three are mosquitoes, other humans, and snakes. I actually started carry a knife after several run ins with dangerous dogs.
A couple months ago I had a pack of hunting dogs attack me and my my dog thankfully my dog was unharmed but I had got bitten on my leg and hand and then having a group of hunters on horseback come up basically not giving a crap yell at there dogs at leave I’m left with no idea what to do because I’m miles from service and confronting a group with guns and dogs didn’t sound like something that would well Thankfully nothing was serious and I ended up fine.
Have you ever hiked in Graveyards Fields in WNC? really spooky! I hiked and camped there!
Nothing like a good thunderstorm in high altitude. Makes you feel humble. But if you’re not prepared, your going to have a bad time
You have movie star good looks! Hope you do more fishing vids, if you’re ever near nyc - I be helpful w-advice on camping and fishing
Your videos are so good. You'll reach a milli in no time! Keep up the great work!
Love your stories. They are so real & so true. I like that you don't present yourself as perfect. THANKS!
LMNT is going to be in sons football bags for sure. Especially during HOT summer camps and HOT games in late summer/early fall.
This is the second video of yours that I've seen and I'm impressed!! I am now a new subscriber. I see that you have 335 thousand subscribers and that's no joke!! 💜✌🏼️
Kyle, your humor and humility make these vids super fun to watch. Thanks for being a man who can admit when he's wrong. That's how everybody learns!
Hi Kyle, in the 'dog incident,' you did the right thing by using your trekking pole as a reminder\almost weapon to let the dog know that you were carrying a 'stick.' That may be why he didn't come any closer. He knew about sticks and poles.
~~ On to the 'falling rock' story. Dude, the Eagle Creek Trail is in a lava flow, at 20:23 when you point out the 'dirt cliff' to your left, that is basalt, a solidified lava flow. When volcanic lava solidifies into Basalt, it develops evenly distributed spaces in-between chunks of solid rock. It's dangerous at any time, but especially after a fire, even if years before. You are here 'by the grace of God.'
@Kyle Hates Hiking Take a ~ Electric Cattle Prod ~ with you for close encounters with animals. If it can put down a cow , it sure as heck could save your life. Great stories. Glad you made it!!!!
He’s an ultralight hiker who worried about ounces. I don’t think he’s going to carry a cattle prod! 😂
I always enjoy your stories Kyle. But, of the many I've listened to, in my opinion, you do by far your best story telling so far in these. I'm guessing because they are your very own personal stories . Thanks for taking me along, I was riveted.🌞❤🔥
30 minute vid! Let’s goooo
Aron Goss says that on his AT hike.😊
I always go solo.. Love it.
Winter ADK solo. Winter in the Whites solo. The quiet and solitude is so peaceful.
Good channel.
Good stories.
Good work 👍😁❤️🇨🇦🍻
One fourth of july weekend in yosemite we got snow while backpacking. We were a couple of days in and luckily we found a tarp that had fallen off someones pack. After that we would prepare for any weather anytime of year
the boulder story reminded me of something similar that happened to me... i was driving to my canyon hot springs. the road is narrow, cliffside, windy, boulders EVERYWHERE... the car in front of me had swerved & flipped upside down cuz a huuuge boulder came smashing down right in front of it. it rolled into the river. the thing is, these canyons, if ur a slow driver, u have to pull over into these lil spots to let faster cars go passed... but some drivers are assholes and dont do this. they just drive slow as hell & make everyone else clog up behind them. this was one of those assholes. but had this asshole been driving just a lil bit faster, that boulder wouldve fallen right on me. id be dead. so... guess he wasnt an asshole afterall. but had he pulled over in the first place, i never wouldve experienced any of that boulder falling.
I have been subscribed for a while now. I have not been unsubscribed as far as I know. Enjoying your videos from North Western Canada!
Rewind: 1984. My family and I were hiking the north slide on Mt. Tripyramid in the Whites. The party ascending before us had apparently dislodged several sizeable rocks. I will never forget my seven year- old self hearing my dad yell as we looked up, paralyzed in fear. One was the size of a dorm-sized refrigerator, the others equivalent to that of a small toaster oven. The largest was bouncing like a beach ball, just like the movies, gaining ridiculous speed with every inch of ground it covered. By the grace of divine intervention, the four of us were positioned in the scruff, right along the trails' fringes. No alert given before us, but we certainly vocalized to those below.
I had a very similar dog encounter in the Sinkyone wilderness. There's a private in-holding right next to a knife edge section of trail that skirts a 500' shear cliff that drops down to the Pacific ocean . Hiking in, I was accosted by an exuberant border collie who started jumping up and down like popcorn in front of me. Tho the dog was super friendly, I had to grip bushes to not be knocked off the cliff. The owner came out and got the dog who was called Arthur. A few days later on the hike out I prepared myself to again encounter Arthur. I'd just about passed the knife edge and cliff, when I heard a dog running toward me, only it wasn't Arthur , it was a snapping snarling German Shepherd. The encounter was very similar to yours. I had to keep facing it. It would lunge if I turned my back. I kept my poles between us. I told it to go home, every time I said " go home " it turned around and looked toward the house. I almost pulled out the bear spray. I finally got far enough off it's territory it did go home. It's enough to put me off hiking that section of the trail.
Had a friend freeze to death in the Sierras. Two friends seperate incidents attacked by vicious dog. After being biten made a 3 legged dog out of the once 4 legged dog. He sued owner and won. Other incident Monument Valley friend bitten by rez dog. Dog ran away. He had to take rabies shot. Worked incident of lightening fatality.
I live in Oregon and have been hiking Eagle Creek since I was young. It's a sketchy trail as it is! I'm glad you're here to talk about it though. Have you ever done Multnomah Falls?
See the flash, count to 5, lightning one mile away. So cold that the bottom of all your beer cans have bulged out. Your girlfriend "came along for the ride" but I don't imagine you got lucky that weekend Nar Nar. A rolling stone gathers no moss but plenty of unsuspecting hikers.
I admire your bravery in going on these hikes and sharing your nail-biting experiences.
I agree- in my experience, off leash dogs are the biggest animal danger by far. We have irresponsible dog owners to thank for this. I’m aware of a man in my city that adopted a pitbull, and decided to hike with the dog off leash- one week after the adoption. The dog bit a mountain biker that day. So irresponsible!
Oh great - about the dog thing - I live in SW Oklahoma and would love to go hiking in the eastern part of the state. The farthest I've been is Sulphur, but I would LOVE to go to Talimena!! One of the few things that's stopped me is I heard a story a while back about packs of dogs running loose up there. I have always been afraid of dogs do to many negative encounters with them in the past (things like being bitten by a trusted dog unprovoked). :V My fear has now been perpetuated. I think loose dogs and wild hogs are probably the animals that scare me the most out there. :)
At 7:31 you mention the "math" for estimating the distance of a thunderstorm by counting the seconds between flash and thunder. . . . .it is actually every 5 seconds (between flash and thunder) equals approximately one mile and is based on the differential in the speed of Sound about 720 miles per hour (or 1 mile per every 5 seconds) and the speed of light 671 million miles per hour (or nearly instantaneous). . . . .I know this in part to needing to look it up in early adulthood after experiencing a thunderstorm with a girlfriend's Family and a friendly, but intense discussion resulting with nearly everyone insisting it was 1second equals 1 mile and me swearing it was every 5 seconds equals 1 mile and no one knowing the actual math and everyone (myself included) saying that their understanding of the "calculation" was based on what they had been told by family and friends since earliest childhood with none of us ever questioning what we had been told or researching the numbers on our own.
We all have stupid decisions in our pasts. Thank God for grace and lessons learned.