You should see the pic of Philip Carcia's toes after he finished the New Hampshire GRID in 2019. 576 peaks, almost 3000 miles and a million feet in elevation in 315 days! Quite the "feat" Luke.
I just want to say how much I enjoy your videos. I'm going back and watching all the old ones too. I am a 65 year old granny that gets out of breath walking from my recliner to the refrigerator. I have always been afraid of hiking for fear of getting lost. Even as a teenager. I never saw the beautiful sites because I was going as fast as I could to get back to my car. SO, I admire you guys so very much!!!! I love love love the humor!!!! The cussing! You make my day and I thank you! You're neat, cool and groovy dude (my words I used when I was young)!
FEET! I am a veteran and one of the first things we learned in boot camp was to take care of those feet. Clean socks, dry boots. I'd check my soldiers every day in the field. Its easy to get so tired, and just either forget about it, or put it off. Foot problems can be debilitating, and take a really long time to heal. I still have a pair of clean socks stashed in my vehicle at all times! Wool of course, but not green!
I’m a Vet, too and I carry two pair. One on my feet and one in my pack. DarnTuff. If one pair gets wet I hang ‘em off my pack to dry and switch to the other ones. I also use trail-runners which allow my socks to dry off super fast anyways.
@@SophisticatedDogCat Every hiking camping trip I go on, I take twice the needed amount. If camping for 4 days where its no big deal to have extra gear or weight I will have 8 pair. As far as mileage for hiking My 1st couple days were 10-14 miles but by day 3 I was already able to bust out 20 miles. My foot, leg and back musckes improved that fast. After my 220 miles in 14 day hiking trip I was amazed at how strong, my legs and back were. I even took on extra weight on the 4th day as my buddy tweeked his ankle a little bit so I took on 16lbs from his pack into mine for 2.5 days until he was good to go again. I also swapped some of his gear into my pack and put couple pounds of food out of my pack into his so it would get slightly lighter everyday for remainder of the trip to help him out a little. Luckily it wasn't a serious injury or a game ending injury it was just a little nagging painful injury for him
I'm one of the oddball outliers that actually reads when in camp. I reserve my phone for needed uses like a quick phone call at the top of a mountain or triangulation with satellite. I won't always bring a book, but if I'm going on a leisure trip where I'll be in camp for more than just sleeping, I will. I love sitting in my hammock, looking out at the views behind my book.
Why is bringing a book a mistake? Everyone I know who loves to read LOVES to read when they get to camp. Not all hikers are through hikers who get to camp exhausted at dusk. Some of us hike so we can lay in a hammock and read a book.
Good advice but I must admit I'm an avid reader and always bring a book, not a hard back though. As for the hanging of food, we don't have bears here in Denmark but I started hanging it after a fox got into my food bag, those scoundrels will eat anything.
Any time I take somebody backpacking with me, I make ABSOLUTELY SURE their feet are taken care of. In fact, I often tell them not to even bring socks, because I know they'll try to get away with cotton athletic socks. I buy them a pair of Darn Tough hiking socks, so I can be confident they won't be crying a few miles downtrail about their blisters.
In Europe (Alps) I learned to calculate that 400m elevation gain equates to 1 km walking. (roughly 2000ft of elevation gain is like hiking an extra mile), it works well until about 2500/3000m (8000 - 10000 ft) of elevation when altitude becomes a factor.
Actually, most hikers (I from the alps too 😊), use elevation gain to calculate the time, I.e. I manage 400m gain per hour, so hiking steep up with an elevation gain of 1600m will take 4 hours, for terrain which is still walkable, if climbing is required it changes. For terrain which is not really steep, normal distance/hour works and on terrain above T4 I apply 50% more time compared to T2. And you are right, the total elevation plays a role too.
I greatly appreciate reinforcing that people don't have to "go hard" or get "big miles." Especially starting out. I like going hiking for a couple hours with my kid. We're working up to day hiking and her learning backwoods bathroom stuff and the like so that we can eventually do overnights. But even then, a couple hours in, set up camp, hang out, do more hiking, whatever, makes for a low pressure and FUN approach. I appreciate the appeal of blasting through a trip, but people definitely gotta work it at their skill and fitness level and I've been glad to see lots of those comments by a lot of you youtubers.
I absolutely love your videos! I’m a beginner pretty much, so even these “Don’t Make These Mistakes” sort of videos are very helpful to me. Thanks for the time and effort you put into your videos! 😊
I ALWAYS bring a pocket book with me on a hike. It's very enjoyable to sit in my tent and read if it's a prolonged heavy rain. I really feel that these days far too many people rely far too much on electronics and electronic gear.
Years ago one big mistake I made was when I was thru-hiking the AT in NH and left my red bottle of white gas behind at a campsite and did not realize it until I was 10 miles on. Had to eat cold Dinty Moore stew out of a can that night. Not fun at all. GORP kept me going til I got into Gorham.
That story of you wearing dress socks on our first hike and having to split your toenail in half - I am surprised you didn't quit hiking after that, glad you stuck with it. Myself, was introduced to it with Boy Scouts and then the U.S. Army, but much better when you don't HAVE to hike like my soldering days lol. I'm NOT a light hiker (middle aged man, too) and I hike peaks around Maine. Many are very steep trails (Maine has some of the hardest parts of the AT). For me, thick wool socks with Merrell boots and the only thing not sore at the end of the hike are my feet believe it or not. These are the Merrell MOAB 2 8" Tac/C hiking boots. It feels like my feet were born into royalty. I may not be the fastest or furthest hiker, but I get there.
Great tips. often I watch these "tips for beginners" and they're very location specific (ie, only for thru hikers on trails with a lot of towns nearby and other people constantly around them) or just plain stupid information (such as "you don't need that half pound first aid kit! leave it at home!") Please people, especially when you're new at this, bring the safety, plan for the oopsies, enjoy yourself out there knowing that you can handle what is thrown at you. And STOP WASHING YOUR DISHES IN THE ALPINE LAKE
I've seen backpackers use soap in water sources on many occasions. In particular I recall seeing a young lady shampooing her long hair in a water source in a small lake on the east side of the Sierras a few years ago. I'm not sure if this is worse than washing dishes in a water source, but it probably is.
I think that bigger mistakes that rookies make in bear country are cooking in the campsite, eating in the campsite and/or snacking in the tent or having snacks in the tent. I've been told that in Grizzly country it's best to cook and eat 100 yards from the campsite. Some people even recommend changing clothes after eating and before returning to the campsite.
So in total, there are 17 videos of Kyle about hikers being stupid, looking stupid, preventing stupidity, or the gear being stupid. After watching all, I'm up 2 IQ points and I feel smart already! Keep the vids coming, more stupid hikers on the rise.
LOL! I knew someone would keep track of the videos & how many numerous ones are of the same subject matter! There’s no shortage of content for it, really!lol
Whew, good advice…My personal nooby mistake has been the understanding terrain elevation profile. It doesn’t take too many times. When I’m on my hands and knees in 6-8 inches of water, trying to unhitch my ruck and weapon from honeysuckle vines, inhaling mosquitoes, well, I was more careful thereafter.
My first hiking trip we went 15 miles in the day, it wasn't HORRIBLE but I was sore and wouldn't have been able to go much again, luckily we were only out for 2 nights with a base camp not too far from parking lol
On the feet issue I would warm people that if they are going to hike multiple days they should probably purchase shoes at least one size bigger than they normally wear. I learned this one the hard way. Your feet will swell and your feet will blister. This never happened to me on shorter three day trips.
You're hilarious, Kyle. Whenever I get notified of a new video, I get so excited 'cause I know its gonna be fun! Oh wait, except for all the missing hikers, lost hikers, dead hikers, and true crime while on trail hiker stories lol But they're great too. Your'e a good storyteller.
I have backpacked for decades and got into mountaineering & climbing and found that being successful at these endeavors all comes down to one thing and that’s enduring pain & discomfort. The rewards are great but they come at a price that you must be willing to pay.
#2 is ridiculous. Birds, bats, fish, muskrats, eels, turtles, salamanders, and beavers all pee and poop in streams. They also die there. A few crumbs of chilli con carne from my plate won't hurt anyone.
Most campsites in Canada and many highly travelled trails provide bear caches, a heavy gauge steel food locker for campers to collectively secure their food. Some sites provide a pulley system to store food metres above the ground.
I'm a trail runner, and don't quite understand why people barge into streams in their good shoes. I feel supported in this after seeing that Killian Jornet changed his shoes in Hardrock 100. They were ragging on him, but he was like 'why would i want wet feet this early in the race?' The three minutes to change your shoes in a 24 hour race might mean winning if you're the only one not miserable with blisters and trench foot.
I started backpacking when my son joined the Boy Scouts. I was in good shape at 55 yrso. NOT!!!! We did the Presidential Range in New Hamp. I was NOT in shape for that. My equipment was spot on because of the advice i got from experienced backpackers...wool socks and gobi liners and Lowa boots my feet felt great. BUT i did not train enough. I found that to be vital. OH! at the Madison Spring hut we had a presentation from an AT expert . He said if you thru hike the AT south to north when you hit NH you have traveled roughly 80 % of the AT , however 80% of the difficulty is ahead of you! sounds about right!!!!!! We summited Mt Adams with 50 mph wind gusts to 70mph, so i was told, WITH pouring rain that was perfectly horizontal. good rain gear and pack cover.....we all were soaked to the bone so was our gear..Wow what a trip.......BTW i love backpacking......hate hiking!!!!!!! fyi just found your channel today...binge watching
On feet: If you watch a lot of videos, you're often told to use trail runners instead of boots/hiking shoes. I think this is a mistake if you're not relatively light. My first big trip was on the Superior Trail, which is very rocky and rooty. Didn't carry a camp chair, but I was average pack size, and my feet would've benefitted from something more underneath.
trail runners are ubiquitous among thru hikers. You won't find a thru hiker who has hiked thousands of miles in boots anymore. They're all wearing Altras, Hokas, or Salomons. With enough experience, you quickly learn that you don't need that ankle support, and that it is likely even inhibiting your ankles from strengthening. Not to mention how long boots take to dry out in comparison.. Talk about bad for your feet!
@@luke_mckay Not all hiking boots are tall over ankles. You also really shouldn't give advice to novice or intermediate hikers based on the very expensive actions of hardcore hikers. Yeah, sure... if you spend $200 or more on trail runners, they are probably good for all conditions, but the difference between my 100 dollar Merrell low ankle boots and equivalent trail runners is MASSIVE, specifically when it comes to durability and stability under foot. I feel much more agile in the short-term with the runners, but the similarly shaped boots are leagues ahead of them for longer and more rugged distances.
@@tiggetty sorry, but my $80 pair of Salomons lasted 1200 miles on my AT thru, so... They were trail runners. Speedcross 4's. Altra generally last 400-800 miles, sometimes longer. Hokas generally last longer than Altras. Idk who's buying $200 trail runners, lol. If you know how to shop, you can get them for less than $100, lol.
I am well into my 60’s and I have long since given up hiking boots of any kind except in the winter. I use light weight hiking shoes. I also carry a very light pack.
@@mtadams2009 nice! Do what works for you, friend! I'm just saying that 99% of the people with the most hiking miles on their legs use trail runners. Theyre a staple. ✌🏼 Use whatever gear suits your needs, though!
Garlic supplements are how I keep bugs from biting me, screw sprays or whatnot, and it's good for your heart so it's not a bad thing to have in your system. Great videos, thanks for the info! Kinda curious why not to recommend the one channel you'd mentioned...?
Good points for day hikers, too. Unless you're really fit from the outset (and even then...) doing a 10-mile day hike on Connecticut traprock as your first day hike experience can be ... painful. 3-5 miles with nice scenery is way more encouraging. Set achievable goals and build up! My worst day packer rookie mistake was foregoing the hip belt just because it was a "day pack" 😬. Also, in Florida: water, water water and bug spray bug spray bug spray and sunscreen sunscreen sunscreen and alligators just need to be very respectfully detoured.
all good, but #1 problem ive seen from new backpackers is proper fitting footwear and pack. double down on the footwear part like you talked about. first long trip I lost a toenail and got a shitload of blisters even with some preparation. please guys have this shit figured out beforehand, otherwise your trip will be short and super suck
DO bring a book! A 300 pages paperback will weigh less than a Kindle, plus it does not use power, and you can burn or trash the pages as you move on, so it will weigh nothing in the end.
Def agree with the going too hard and underestimating elevation gain. Being from Ohio I'd never dealt with much elevation gain while I was younger. I went to a wedding in Vermont a few years ago and had a free day, so I decided to take the Long Trail up Mt Mansfield. I was in good shape, was used to walking 7 miles a day at work and being on my feet all the time. That hike wasn't terrible, 4.4 miles total out and back... 2,500ft of gain up and back down. That kicked my butt. I was also only 3 years removed from an ACL repair. Was a fun trip, but I was certainly not expecting a 4 mile hike to wear me out so much.
1. NO BOOTS/HEAVY SHOES - light weight roomy toe box trail runners at least 1/2 size bigger than normal 2. Take off socks and shoes at creek/river crossings - use crocks, light weight river shoes or just an extra pair of thick woolen socks then dry your feet and replace with your dry socks and shoes. When your trail socks get grimy, wash them or use them for water xings and swap to the woolens until your primary pair dry (in the outside webbing pouch of your pack) 3. On the AT (non grizzly trails): safest place I put my food bag on the PCT/2 AT thrus was under my head for a pillow every single night: never stolen, never messed with by mice bear squirrel or raccoons, and believe me I knew when my food was getting low and when I needed to resupply 4. MOST IMPORTANT: (two-for) a. For under $500 you can have a complete lightweight setup if you dare to stray from the popular herd and shop around. Heavy (30+ lbs) is fine but the less you lug the more you love. And… b. Having information is good and smart, but if the only time your phone is off and your earbuds out of your ears is in the shower or sleeping, you’re missing the biggest best reason the AT/PCT/CDT/Long trails exist. Get a physical thruhiker’s handbook eliminate pages as you go, limit your audiobook music podcasts to 1/2 your day and for ____’s sake, leave your external speaker at home. If you’re NOT constantly connected and communicating and seeking validation on Instagram, I promise you it’ll feel more like an adventure in middle earth instead of an uncomfortable trudge between convenience stops and wall outlets.
The point about elevation loss is underestimated. I am an experienced back country camper, accustomed to carrying 20-25 kilograms of gear, over several kilometres, over all types of terrain. Oddly, pushing uphill I have always found easier than descending. I have no knee or ankle problems.
The feet should be an emergency. I remember the story about the guy who stopped because his feet hurt. He flagged down a helicopter that was either touring or looking for someone else and asked to be lifted out. They said no because feet weren't an emergency but they offered to take his heavy backpack. They left it at a trail station. After it sat there for about for weeks, someone decided to check it out, saw that it was his and realized he was missing (because he COULDN'T WALK ON HIS HURTING FEET!). He wasn't found. Had the helicopter taken him out he would have been okay!!!!!
I totally can understand wanting to wash your dishes in the water and honestly never considered that some else might get a floating bean lol but what I'm curious about is would you consider it acceptable to dig a small hole and pour your dirty water/food scraps into it than fill it in with dirt? I know if sounds like alot more work than broadcasting it off but curious to see what your thoughts are on this. I don't hike but I grew up on a ranch and spent alot of time wandering around the local trails growing up. Where I live is also prime grizzly and cougar areas, it's fairly rural with alot of varied terrain. I'm sure you know the type of area where British Clomiba and Alberta meet on the Rockie mountains.
Dude's worried about a bean or food making it into the water when all sorts of wildlife have pissed and shit in that water...it is water that is OUTSIDE for gods sake 😂
Great advice as always. Thanks for getting my question in with Stephen on trail tales. I cracked up hard when you tried to say "gringovatoloco" 😂😂😂 big love bro!
This first one has me stressed. I have the most comfortable five finger trail runners that are stupid thin and a pair of heavy clunky hiking boots. Trying to decide between cramped warm toes and feeling every rock I step on with comfy aired out feet. A weekend shakedown trip is in my future so guess I’ll figure it out soon enough lol
In Australia, your food isn't safe anywhere. Hang it from a tree, possums and birds get it. Keep it in your pack or tent, Wombats, Dingos, Monitor Lizards and hiking partners get it. Then there's the drop bears and YOWIE's!
Foot care is paramount. I'm not a hiker, but having spent a career in the Infantry, include a couple of years as a Drill Sergeant, I've seen some "nice" examples of foot neglect. When working as an Observer-Controller for a couple of months at West Point, we had a female Cadet have to go back to the rear a couple of times, while a Midshipman sent over from Annapolis had feet that looked like ripple sole combat boots. Unlike Soldiers or Marines, civilian hikers have the benefit of buying specialized lightweight equipment, moving at their own pace and distance, and resting as long and often as they want. My days of 12 miles in under 3 hours are behind me, as are the 25-mile road marches, all with 35+ pounds not counting weapon and occasionally body armor.
@Kyle Hates Hiking it was OK. He was doing the walk wiv my son. Me n my mum were doing camping. We would drop them off at the start n we would then travel as near as possible to where they were finishing that day, set up tent, drop them both off the nxt day and we would dismount tent an travel to next place to put up tent... When he lost the sole, b4 dropping them back off, we found a hikers shop, so he brought new ones n we dropped them off where they had finished the day b4 and they continued their hike.
No.8 - Know how to read a map. Don't trust GPS to do the whole job. No.9 - Know how to correctly interpret a weather forecast. Outside of those, not a bad job.
On the bear hang point, first time out just wanted to relax and eat and take a dip in the lake. Set up my bear hang in the evening and it was getting fairly dark. I'd say a good tip is to set up the rope after you set up camp so at the EOD you can just run your food up the tree, instead of throwing a rope with low levels of light.
Due to the overwhelming number of requests I have received to tell about my discoveries and bizarre experiences in a cave not far from my home, I have created this web page. I will outline the events that happened to me during the past few months. Beginning with my journey into a familiar cave in December 2000 and ending… well, it hasn’t actually ended yet. I will use my caving journal as the text to tell about my recent experience. I will give them to you as I experienced them, in chronological order. I have included photographs that were taken during my many trips into the cave. I have also created a few illustrations to help the reader get a better idea of what things looked like in the cave. All of the photos were taken by me, or one of the few people I went into the cave with. I want to point out a few things before I tell about the events: 1- Most of the pictures were taken with a Kodak disposable-type camera. I took a better camera into the cave on one or two of the trips. Pictures on this site are all original photos and have not been messed with or enhanced, other than where noted. As a rule, I get my pictures put onto disc at the time of developing so I don’t have to scan them later. This ensures the best digital quality. 2- I will not reveal the names of the other people involved in this experience. If you know me well enough, you probably know them already. 3- I will NOT reveal the location of the cave to ANYONE for ANY REASON! So please don’t ask! I refuse to be held accountable for anyone’s life but my own. I will refer to the cave as Mystery Cave. That is NOT its real name. If you think these events sound far-fetched, I agree. I would come to the same conclusion had I not experienced them. I will try to finish the site as soon as possible. Check the date on the main page to see when I’ve made updates. To protect myself from people who might want to copy this site, I include the following: All text on this and following pages are my own words and copyright 2001. Ted I will divide the text into two colors for the sake of clarity. The plain text is taken directly from my caving journal. The italicized text is my comment as I reflect on the experience. I will do my best to convey the thoughts and feelings I had during the entire event. I will not use the actual names of the other individuals involved. I will include the entire relevant text of my journal. Only small parts of the journal will I skip. This will only occur when the entry has nothing to do with the experience in the cave, such as eating dinner after a trip, getting fuel or snacks, irrelevant details, etc. (My journal is fairly thorough) I will merely summarize what I am cutting out of the actual entry. In an effort to present this experience in as accurate light as possible I will type my journal as I wrote it: sans grammar check. Please overlook my errors. My additional comments will help to clarify the things I wrote in my journal. Caving Journal 12/30/2000 B and I decided to get in one more caving trip before the New Year, so we set our sights on Mystery Cave. Not a spectacular cave, but since neither of us had been caving in awhile it would be nice to go to any cave. There was a bit of excitement to this trip. There was a small passage in the lower portion of the cave that I wanted to check out to see if it was possible to get past it. It had a small opening, but lots of air blowing out of it. Even though it is way too small to climb through, I had never even checked to see what was inside the passage. We got our gear loaded up and hit the road by 3:00 p.m. We got to the cave in great time, since B likes to drive fast. We anchored from the usual tree and began to rappel into the cave. I went down first and got my gear together while B came down. I will refer to B many times. We have been caving together for many months now. He was injured in a caving accident a few years ago and was told he would never walk again. Through hard work and perseverance, he not only walks but can get around very well in caves. The trickier parts of a cave might slow him down a bit, but he can make it. He patiently works through an obstacle until he gets past it. As for the reference to the small opening in the cave, there is a saying among cavers: “If it blows, it goes”. Meaning, if a passage has a good flow of air, it is probably worth investigating. After we explored all of the usual passages we climbed down to check out the hole. The hole is located deep in the cave, near the lowest part of the cave. It is on the side of a cave wall, about three feet from the floor. To look inside the hole I had to kneel down to duck under an overhang of rock. The original opening. I put my glove in the hole for size reference. I used my backup mini-mag light and held it inside the hole to see what I could see. I was excited by what I saw. The wall around the hole was about 3-5 inches thick. It led into a tight passage. The passage opened up a bit just inside the hole. It continued back about 10-12 feet in a small crawl space. After that it seemed to really open up! Although how much we couldn’t tell. This could be a virgin passage. (Obviously, no one has passed through this route, but there could be a way into the passage from the other side.) To even get to the crawl space we would have to enlarge the opening. Currently, it is about the size of my fist. Once we get past the opening we would have a tight crawl back to where it opened up. It would take some work, but we thought we could do it. We sat down for a few minutes to rest and contemplate our plan of attack. While we sat there in the darkness we could hear the wind howling from the other side of the passage. It was a low, eerie noise. We could also hear a low rumble from time to time. No big deal, though. The cave is in the vicinity of a highway that has heavy trucks drive on it. We figured the rumble was the effect of the trucks resonating through the rocks. We determined that our best plan would be to haul a cordless drill into the cave to drill into the rock. Then we could take a bullpin and a small sledgehammer and break up the rock. It seemed pretty straight-forward. We would widen the hole big enough to squeeze in and see what was on the other side. The efforts to haul all of the equipment down to the hole would be a pain, but we hoped it would be worth it. I named the passage Floyd’s Tomb, after Floyd Collins. It seemed to look like the tight spot where Floyd spent his last miserable days on earth. A rough drawing of how the passage originally looked. Floyd Collins was a caver back in the early 1900s. He got stuck in a tight crawl space and was unable to free himself. It is an amazing story that is detailed in a book called, “Trapped: The Story of Floyd Collins” (I think that was the title. I don’t recall the author). Calling our passage Floyd’s Tomb was not only a tribute to Floyd, but a commentary of the size of the passage. Ha Ha! In retrospect, it is funny how simple I thought it was going to be. I figured a few hours work and we would be in. Had I known how long it was going to take I doubt I would have even begun the project. Had I known what I was going to experience in the cave I never would have returned. We gathered up our gear and headed for the surface. Normally I couldn’t care less if I ever came back into this cave. There is nothing special about it. But now I was psyched about getting back and getting through. We hadn’t even left the cave and we were planning our return trip. (The rest of the journal entry talked about the climb out of the cave, our dinner, and our trip back home.) January 27-28, 2001 B and I were both excited to get back into the cave and get to work. I figured with about 4 hours work we could be in and see what was on the other side. We had arranged to borrow a DeWalt cordless drill to bring with us. We also had masonry bits to drill with, sledgehammers (two) to break up the rock, bullpins to insert into the drill holes, and a few other tools that we ended up not using. Getting the tools down to the work site proved to be a challenge. One of us would climb down the rope and stop at a ledge or good resting place, then the other person would lower the tools. We kept repeating this routine until we got to the bottom of the cave. Then we had to drag the tools to the hole. It took about an hour to finally get to work. B took the first turn at the hole. After an hour of exhausting work, we could tell that we were not going to get through in one session. We kept trading off after we worked ourselves into a sweat. One would take a break and get some food and water while the other one went to work. The routine went like this: To begin work we had to get down on our knees and do our best to avoid smacking our heads on the ceiling. Working in this awkward position we would drill into the wall around the hole. That was difficult work. We really had to push on the drill, and it was still slow progress. Then we inserted the bullpin into the hole and hammered on it until the rock broke up. Then we would repeat the process. To give you an idea of how slow it went, the typical size rock that would break off was about fingernail size. If we broke off a large piece (about 1/3 the size of my palm) it was cause for celebration. From time to time, for variety, we would just wail on a cold chisel with a 5-lb. sledge. It was slow progress. The problem with the sledge was that we couldn’t take a good swing because of the tight quarters.
A small softcover novel is 15g lighter than a kindle, and does not need to be added to the list of things that need recharging. A coffee table book, text book, hardcover anything... yeah, that's a bit stupid but a book the size of a Mills & Boons novel is okay, as long as it is not a Mills & Boons novel. Actually, scrap that, even a Mills & Boons novel is great for lighting fires and using as toilet paper so...
As any backpacker knows, some sections are just slogs... or sometimes it's raining.. but it's examples like these where audiobooks are completely awesome. You can lose your mind in the story and just get the steps done.
I hope you know the draw of these videos is you talking about backpacking and the stories that come about from that and not necessarily the knowledge that comes from. Although that is very nice too. You're a good shit.
One of my first hikes in a long time, was a series of hikes in Utah, we did Angel's Landing and Fairy tale loop. And Fairy Tale loop...18ish miles at altitude...that last incline was murder Another mistake is read food packaging carefully and don't ACCIDENTALLY BRING SOMETHING YOURE ALLERGIC TO
Nope, sorry Kyle, I was hiking before you were born, and I never go out without a book of some sort. That's how I relax. Probably not a big ass hardcover, no. Might be a wildlife guidebook, might be a paperback novel. Preferably something disposable.
I don’t understand the bear bag thing; bears are incredibly competent tree climbers, especially black bears. I might be obtuse here, but I don’t think hanging your food 20 feet up a tree would dissuade them one bit.
Feet pics tastefully procured from only the most reputable sources. Including my own foot... Guess which pic is my toesies from the AT.
-Editor boi
You should see the pic of Philip Carcia's toes after he finished the New Hampshire GRID in 2019. 576 peaks, almost 3000 miles and a million feet in elevation in 315 days! Quite the "feat" Luke.
😂
We need a hiking shoe tier list lol
I just want to say how much I enjoy your videos. I'm going back and watching all the old ones too. I am a 65 year old granny that gets out of breath walking from my recliner to the refrigerator. I have always been afraid of hiking for fear of getting lost. Even as a teenager. I never saw the beautiful sites because I was going as fast as I could to get back to my car. SO, I admire you guys so very much!!!! I love love love the humor!!!! The cussing! You make my day and I thank you! You're neat, cool and groovy dude (my words I used when I was young)!
FEET! I am a veteran and one of the first things we learned in boot camp was to take care of those feet. Clean socks, dry boots. I'd check my soldiers every day in the field. Its easy to get so tired, and just either forget about it, or put it off. Foot problems can be debilitating, and take a really long time to heal. I still have a pair of clean socks stashed in my vehicle at all times! Wool of course, but not green!
Retired Infantry and AMEDD vet here, ABSOLUTELY AGREE.
I’m a Vet, too and I carry two pair. One on my feet and one in my pack. DarnTuff. If one pair gets wet I hang ‘em off my pack to dry and switch to the other ones. I also use trail-runners which allow my socks to dry off super fast anyways.
@@SophisticatedDogCat right on swag👍👍
@@SophisticatedDogCat Every hiking camping trip I go on, I take twice the needed amount. If camping for 4 days where its no big deal to have extra gear or weight I will have 8 pair. As far as mileage for hiking My 1st couple days were 10-14 miles but by day 3 I was already able to bust out 20 miles. My foot, leg and back musckes improved that fast. After my 220 miles in 14 day hiking trip I was amazed at how strong, my legs and back were. I even took on extra weight on the 4th day as my buddy tweeked his ankle a little bit so I took on 16lbs from his pack into mine for 2.5 days until he was good to go again. I also swapped some of his gear into my pack and put couple pounds of food out of my pack into his so it would get slightly lighter everyday for remainder of the trip to help him out a little. Luckily it wasn't a serious injury or a game ending injury it was just a little nagging painful injury for him
Correct you are sir, trench foot will literally kill you.
I'm one of the oddball outliers that actually reads when in camp. I reserve my phone for needed uses like a quick phone call at the top of a mountain or triangulation with satellite.
I won't always bring a book, but if I'm going on a leisure trip where I'll be in camp for more than just sleeping, I will. I love sitting in my hammock, looking out at the views behind my book.
Why is bringing a book a mistake? Everyone I know who loves to read LOVES to read when they get to camp. Not all hikers are through hikers who get to camp exhausted at dusk. Some of us hike so we can lay in a hammock and read a book.
He’s not exactly objective, is he? If I’m a nerd for reading, he’s a dumbass!
Ebooks are lighter lol
This is a good mantra, Everyone is different.
If you bring LMNT it's way to heavy, that powder for water is like carrying rocks
Huge waste of weight. Ever kg matters on a long hike.
Good advice but I must admit I'm an avid reader and always bring a book, not a hard back though. As for the hanging of food, we don't have bears here in Denmark but I started hanging it after a fox got into my food bag, those scoundrels will eat anything.
I hope this comment was worth it. It is now my life goal to import brown bears into Denmark, and make them a steadfast invasive species.
We have baboons and monkeys so food has to be in proper locked containers
Any time I take somebody backpacking with me, I make ABSOLUTELY SURE their feet are taken care of. In fact, I often tell them not to even bring socks, because I know they'll try to get away with cotton athletic socks. I buy them a pair of Darn Tough hiking socks, so I can be confident they won't be crying a few miles downtrail about their blisters.
In Europe (Alps) I learned to calculate that 400m elevation gain equates to 1 km walking. (roughly 2000ft of elevation gain is like hiking an extra mile), it works well until about 2500/3000m (8000 - 10000 ft) of elevation when altitude becomes a factor.
Actually, most hikers (I from the alps too 😊), use elevation gain to calculate the time, I.e. I manage 400m gain per hour, so hiking steep up with an elevation gain of 1600m will take 4 hours, for terrain which is still walkable, if climbing is required it changes. For terrain which is not really steep, normal distance/hour works and on terrain above T4 I apply 50% more time compared to T2. And you are right, the total elevation plays a role too.
I greatly appreciate reinforcing that people don't have to "go hard" or get "big miles." Especially starting out. I like going hiking for a couple hours with my kid. We're working up to day hiking and her learning backwoods bathroom stuff and the like so that we can eventually do overnights. But even then, a couple hours in, set up camp, hang out, do more hiking, whatever, makes for a low pressure and FUN approach. I appreciate the appeal of blasting through a trip, but people definitely gotta work it at their skill and fitness level and I've been glad to see lots of those comments by a lot of you youtubers.
I absolutely love your videos! I’m a beginner pretty much, so even these “Don’t Make These Mistakes” sort of videos are very helpful to me. Thanks for the time and effort you put into your videos! 😊
thanks for watching Rick! Hopefully you we're able to learn something
I ALWAYS bring a pocket book with me on a hike. It's very enjoyable to sit in my tent and read if it's a prolonged heavy rain. I really feel that these days far too many people rely far too much on electronics and electronic gear.
Years ago one big mistake I made was when I was thru-hiking the AT in NH and left my red bottle of white gas behind at a campsite and did not realize it until I was 10 miles on. Had to eat cold Dinty Moore stew out of a can that night. Not fun at all.
GORP kept me going til I got into Gorham.
That story of you wearing dress socks on our first hike and having to split your toenail in half - I am surprised you didn't quit hiking after that, glad you stuck with it. Myself, was introduced to it with Boy Scouts and then the U.S. Army, but much better when you don't HAVE to hike like my soldering days lol. I'm NOT a light hiker (middle aged man, too) and I hike peaks around Maine. Many are very steep trails (Maine has some of the hardest parts of the AT). For me, thick wool socks with Merrell boots and the only thing not sore at the end of the hike are my feet believe it or not. These are the Merrell MOAB 2 8" Tac/C hiking boots. It feels like my feet were born into royalty. I may not be the fastest or furthest hiker, but I get there.
Great tips. often I watch these "tips for beginners" and they're very location specific (ie, only for thru hikers on trails with a lot of towns nearby and other people constantly around them) or just plain stupid information (such as "you don't need that half pound first aid kit! leave it at home!") Please people, especially when you're new at this, bring the safety, plan for the oopsies, enjoy yourself out there knowing that you can handle what is thrown at you. And STOP WASHING YOUR DISHES IN THE ALPINE LAKE
I've seen backpackers use soap in water sources on many occasions. In particular I recall seeing a young lady shampooing her long hair in a water source in a small lake on the east side of the Sierras a few years ago. I'm not sure if this is worse than washing dishes in a water source, but it probably is.
Yep. Soap is pretty dreadful for aquatic life.
I am sure the fish were fine.
I think that bigger mistakes that rookies make in bear country are cooking in the campsite, eating in the campsite and/or snacking in the tent or having snacks in the tent. I've been told that in Grizzly country it's best to cook and eat 100 yards from the campsite. Some people even recommend changing clothes after eating and before returning to the campsite.
🎉
My buddy and I crack ourselves up looking at thru hiking setups we used when we first started. All part of the fun!
got that right!
So in total, there are 17 videos of Kyle about hikers being stupid, looking stupid, preventing stupidity, or the gear being stupid. After watching all, I'm up 2 IQ points and I feel smart already! Keep the vids coming, more stupid hikers on the rise.
You’re cringe as shit
Hahaha I love it
LOL! I knew someone would keep track of the videos & how many numerous ones are of the same subject matter! There’s no shortage of content for it, really!lol
Are you a true through hiker?
@@jayboley9683 No, I'm just a weekend warrior. I came here to spy for Dan Becker😅
Whew, good advice…My personal nooby mistake has been the understanding terrain elevation profile. It doesn’t take too many times. When I’m on my hands and knees in 6-8 inches of water, trying to unhitch my ruck and weapon from honeysuckle vines, inhaling mosquitoes, well, I was more careful thereafter.
So…..
Weeping, raw, blistered feet can go in a water source to cool down
But not the lettuce from your trail made Caesar salad?????
My first hiking trip we went 15 miles in the day, it wasn't HORRIBLE but I was sore and wouldn't have been able to go much again, luckily we were only out for 2 nights with a base camp not too far from parking lol
On the feet issue I would warm people that if they are going to hike multiple days they should probably purchase shoes at least one size bigger than they normally wear. I learned this one the hard way. Your feet will swell and your feet will blister. This never happened to me on shorter three day trips.
You're hilarious, Kyle. Whenever I get notified of a new video, I get so excited 'cause I know its gonna be fun! Oh wait, except for all the missing hikers, lost hikers, dead hikers, and true crime while on trail hiker stories lol But they're great too. Your'e a good storyteller.
I have backpacked for decades and got into mountaineering & climbing and found that being successful at these endeavors all comes down to one thing and that’s enduring pain & discomfort. The rewards are great but they come at a price that you must be willing to pay.
Embrace the suck
true, but there are ways to minimize the pain and discomfort that should be taken! thanks for watching
I guess I'm a backpacking heretic. A camp chair and paperback book or Kindle is mandatory equipment.
You realize there's fish and all kinds of wildlife in rivers right....
Green screen bit was funny as hell.
LOL Thanks, Harry! It was my favorite part to edit
#2 is ridiculous.
Birds, bats, fish, muskrats, eels, turtles, salamanders, and beavers all pee and poop in streams.
They also die there.
A few crumbs of chilli con carne from my plate won't hurt anyone.
It's the eco-system bro he just tried to come at it from a more relatable angle. You're not supposed to feed the wildlife.
Most campsites in Canada and many highly travelled trails provide bear caches, a heavy gauge steel food locker for campers to collectively secure their food. Some sites provide a pulley system to store food metres above the ground.
PCT in 2024 early start watch your videos there super funny, and very informational. Thanks for all the info buddy 😁
best of luck out there, thank you!
“7 Hiking Tips You’ve ALREADY Heard Before! (Don’t Miss The Last One)”
So, if you hike in Montana. Remember to thank the Back Country Horse Men. They are usually the first in clearing deadfall.
I'm a trail runner, and don't quite understand why people barge into streams in their good shoes. I feel supported in this after seeing that Killian Jornet changed his shoes in Hardrock 100. They were ragging on him, but he was like 'why would i want wet feet this early in the race?' The three minutes to change your shoes in a 24 hour race might mean winning if you're the only one not miserable with blisters and trench foot.
I started backpacking when my son joined the Boy Scouts. I was in good shape at 55 yrso. NOT!!!! We did the Presidential Range in New Hamp. I was NOT in shape for that. My equipment was spot on because of the advice i got from experienced backpackers...wool socks and gobi liners and Lowa boots my feet felt great. BUT i did not train enough. I found that to be vital. OH! at the Madison Spring hut we had a presentation from an AT expert . He said if you thru hike the AT south to north when you hit NH you have traveled roughly 80 % of the AT , however 80% of the difficulty is ahead of you! sounds about right!!!!!! We summited Mt Adams with 50 mph wind gusts to 70mph, so i was told, WITH pouring rain that was perfectly horizontal. good rain gear and pack cover.....we all were soaked to the bone so was our gear..Wow what a trip.......BTW i love backpacking......hate hiking!!!!!!! fyi just found your channel today...binge watching
On feet: If you watch a lot of videos, you're often told to use trail runners instead of boots/hiking shoes. I think this is a mistake if you're not relatively light. My first big trip was on the Superior Trail, which is very rocky and rooty. Didn't carry a camp chair, but I was average pack size, and my feet would've benefitted from something more underneath.
trail runners are ubiquitous among thru hikers. You won't find a thru hiker who has hiked thousands of miles in boots anymore. They're all wearing Altras, Hokas, or Salomons. With enough experience, you quickly learn that you don't need that ankle support, and that it is likely even inhibiting your ankles from strengthening. Not to mention how long boots take to dry out in comparison.. Talk about bad for your feet!
@@luke_mckay Not all hiking boots are tall over ankles. You also really shouldn't give advice to novice or intermediate hikers based on the very expensive actions of hardcore hikers.
Yeah, sure... if you spend $200 or more on trail runners, they are probably good for all conditions, but the difference between my 100 dollar Merrell low ankle boots and equivalent trail runners is MASSIVE, specifically when it comes to durability and stability under foot. I feel much more agile in the short-term with the runners, but the similarly shaped boots are leagues ahead of them for longer and more rugged distances.
@@tiggetty sorry, but my $80 pair of Salomons lasted 1200 miles on my AT thru, so... They were trail runners. Speedcross 4's. Altra generally last 400-800 miles, sometimes longer. Hokas generally last longer than Altras. Idk who's buying $200 trail runners, lol. If you know how to shop, you can get them for less than $100, lol.
I am well into my 60’s and I have long since given up hiking boots of any kind except in the winter. I use light weight hiking shoes. I also carry a very light pack.
@@mtadams2009 nice! Do what works for you, friend! I'm just saying that 99% of the people with the most hiking miles on their legs use trail runners. Theyre a staple. ✌🏼 Use whatever gear suits your needs, though!
Garlic supplements are how I keep bugs from biting me, screw sprays or whatnot, and it's good for your heart so it's not a bad thing to have in your system. Great videos, thanks for the info! Kinda curious why not to recommend the one channel you'd mentioned...?
Every time Kyle pushes drink lmnt, it makes me think of Coach Klein telling Bobby Boucher that Gatorade is better than water.
Good points for day hikers, too. Unless you're really fit from the outset (and even then...) doing a 10-mile day hike on Connecticut traprock as your first day hike experience can be ... painful. 3-5 miles with nice scenery is way more encouraging. Set achievable goals and build up! My worst day packer rookie mistake was foregoing the hip belt just because it was a "day pack" 😬. Also, in Florida: water, water water and bug spray bug spray bug spray and sunscreen sunscreen sunscreen and alligators just need to be very respectfully detoured.
Dress socks can be good if you have another sock, a hiking sock for instance over it. It was taught us that in bct for ruck marches.
Also a good advice is to not wear a freshly bought shoes on a hike. Pre wear them and get used to them.
Absolutely, I wear running shoes that are super comfortable in the city when I go hiking they won’t hurt me
all good, but #1 problem ive seen from new backpackers is proper fitting footwear and pack. double down on the footwear part like you talked about. first long trip I lost a toenail and got a shitload of blisters even with some preparation. please guys have this shit figured out beforehand, otherwise your trip will be short and super suck
losing a toenail is a rite of passage for backpackers. but also should be avoided if possible lmao
@@KyleHatesHiking ya it sucks ass
DO bring a book! A 300 pages paperback will weigh less than a Kindle, plus it does not use power, and you can burn or trash the pages as you move on, so it will weigh nothing in the end.
You should do the Oregon Coast Trail! I'm about to give it a go in June!
I will someday! Good luck!
@Kyle Hates Hiking thanks!
Def agree with the going too hard and underestimating elevation gain. Being from Ohio I'd never dealt with much elevation gain while I was younger. I went to a wedding in Vermont a few years ago and had a free day, so I decided to take the Long Trail up Mt Mansfield. I was in good shape, was used to walking 7 miles a day at work and being on my feet all the time. That hike wasn't terrible, 4.4 miles total out and back... 2,500ft of gain up and back down. That kicked my butt. I was also only 3 years removed from an ACL repair. Was a fun trip, but I was certainly not expecting a 4 mile hike to wear me out so much.
1. NO BOOTS/HEAVY SHOES - light weight roomy toe box trail runners at least 1/2 size bigger than normal
2. Take off socks and shoes at creek/river crossings - use crocks, light weight river shoes or just an extra pair of thick woolen socks then dry your feet and replace with your dry socks and shoes. When your trail socks get grimy, wash them or use them for water xings and swap to the woolens until your primary pair dry (in the outside webbing pouch of your pack)
3. On the AT (non grizzly trails): safest place I put my food bag on the PCT/2 AT thrus was under my head for a pillow every single night: never stolen, never messed with by mice bear squirrel or raccoons, and believe me I knew when my food was getting low and when I needed to resupply
4. MOST IMPORTANT: (two-for) a. For under $500 you can have a complete lightweight setup if you dare to stray from the popular herd and shop around. Heavy (30+ lbs) is fine but the less you lug the more you love. And… b. Having information is good and smart, but if the only time your phone is off and your earbuds out of your ears is in the shower or sleeping, you’re missing the biggest best reason the AT/PCT/CDT/Long trails exist. Get a physical thruhiker’s handbook eliminate pages as you go, limit your audiobook music podcasts to 1/2 your day and for ____’s sake, leave your external speaker at home. If you’re NOT constantly connected and communicating and seeking validation on Instagram, I promise you it’ll feel more like an adventure in middle earth instead of an uncomfortable trudge between convenience stops and wall outlets.
The point about elevation loss is underestimated. I am an experienced back country camper, accustomed to carrying 20-25 kilograms of gear, over several kilometres, over all types of terrain.
Oddly, pushing uphill I have always found easier than descending. I have no knee or ankle problems.
Hiking in the desert with diarrhea is bad.
...mmmkay
There's a story here.
The feet should be an emergency. I remember the story about the guy who stopped because his feet hurt. He flagged down a helicopter that was either touring or looking for someone else and asked to be lifted out. They said no because feet weren't an emergency but they offered to take his heavy backpack. They left it at a trail station. After it sat there for about for weeks, someone decided to check it out, saw that it was his and realized he was missing (because he COULDN'T WALK ON HIS HURTING FEET!). He wasn't found. Had the helicopter taken him out he would have been okay!!!!!
Oh wow that’s so sad!
I totally can understand wanting to wash your dishes in the water and honestly never considered that some else might get a floating bean lol but what I'm curious about is would you consider it acceptable to dig a small hole and pour your dirty water/food scraps into it than fill it in with dirt? I know if sounds like alot more work than broadcasting it off but curious to see what your thoughts are on this. I don't hike but I grew up on a ranch and spent alot of time wandering around the local trails growing up. Where I live is also prime grizzly and cougar areas, it's fairly rural with alot of varied
terrain. I'm sure you know the type of area where British Clomiba and Alberta meet on the Rockie mountains.
Dude's worried about a bean or food making it into the water when all sorts of wildlife have pissed and shit in that water...it is water that is OUTSIDE for gods sake 😂
Broadcasting is recommended by Leave No Trace principles.
@@SydneyReader thanks for answering my question about broadcasting much appreciated.
Id take the not washing your pots in the river because of downstream hikers coming across one of your beans with a pinch of salt
Fresh out the bag Poptarts do kinda suck but I toast my Poptarts like an adult so they’re delicious 😂
White Mountains: President Range, NH, figure 1 mile per hour.
Kyle's 174k followers have never backpacked before either so this content is on point.
yikes lmao
@@KyleHatesHiking I love that you basically made a copy of a Dan Becker vid, but with better content.
Great video! I laughed out loud at least 3 times 🙌🏽
Do a BT speaker review.
Which one is the best to listen to while hiking?
If you're too tired to hang your bag, throw it in your buddy's tent. He'll be your early warning system
Can we get examples of hiking foods to take along? I'm in a rut lately.
Can’t wait for the Kyle Hates Horses spin off channel
Great advice as always. Thanks for getting my question in with Stephen on trail tales. I cracked up hard when you tried to say "gringovatoloco" 😂😂😂 big love bro!
lmaoooo thanks for the question and for watching
Moleskin is your friend, spare socks and I squeeze in flip flops to give me a rest from the hiking boots, happy hiking everyone
I brought my kindle on the AT, A+ choice, would bring again
9:40 wow I never knew that and I knew animals smelled it but we never actually did anything about it. Good to know that method and thank you
No cleaning dishes but soak your feet there!😂😂😂
This first one has me stressed. I have the most comfortable five finger trail runners that are stupid thin and a pair of heavy clunky hiking boots. Trying to decide between cramped warm toes and feeling every rock I step on with comfy aired out feet. A weekend shakedown trip is in my future so guess I’ll figure it out soon enough lol
In Australia, your food isn't safe anywhere. Hang it from a tree, possums and birds get it. Keep it in your pack or tent, Wombats, Dingos, Monitor Lizards and hiking partners get it.
Then there's the drop bears and YOWIE's!
Foot care is paramount. I'm not a hiker, but having spent a career in the Infantry, include a couple of years as a Drill Sergeant, I've seen some "nice" examples of foot neglect. When working as an Observer-Controller for a couple of months at West Point, we had a female Cadet have to go back to the rear a couple of times, while a Midshipman sent over from Annapolis had feet that looked like ripple sole combat boots.
Unlike Soldiers or Marines, civilian hikers have the benefit of buying specialized lightweight equipment, moving at their own pace and distance, and resting as long and often as they want. My days of 12 miles in under 3 hours are behind me, as are the 25-mile road marches, all with 35+ pounds not counting weapon and occasionally body armor.
Not long found ur channel n I'm enjoying it. My dad lost the sole off his hiking boot halfway through a 20 day hike. We laughed 😂
damn!! poor dad
@Kyle Hates Hiking it was OK. He was doing the walk wiv my son. Me n my mum were doing camping. We would drop them off at the start n we would then travel as near as possible to where they were finishing that day, set up tent, drop them both off the nxt day and we would dismount tent an travel to next place to put up tent...
When he lost the sole, b4 dropping them back off, we found a hikers shop, so he brought new ones n we dropped them off where they had finished the day b4 and they continued their hike.
Just stumbled across this channel. At first i actually thought it was an entire channel set up by some guy as an homage to his hatred of hiking.
Don’t you just love the smooth transition from funny intro to gross feet pics 😂😂😂
Happy to be of service 👌
You didn't think you would like hiking. If you ever do ride a horse you will probably become a horse channel.
😂😂 best comment
Where is that? 10:32 it looks amazing
If you ever come down to VA let's go on a hike together
😂You worry about the bears😅while the bugs are tearing your a$$ up🤣🤣😂😂
Great video!!!
I read on hikes, trail rides, and when I horse camp. I enjoy a good book. I carry my supplies, not my horse, when we camp
No.8 - Know how to read a map. Don't trust GPS to do the whole job.
No.9 - Know how to correctly interpret a weather forecast.
Outside of those, not a bad job.
Can u explain the pop tart thing again? How many flavors should I bring?More than two? 1 strawberry. None??? I'm really unsure.
REALLY enjoyed your humor in this one. Before this, I had only watched your hiker dying stories…..you are funny!
On the bear hang point, first time out just wanted to relax and eat and take a dip in the lake. Set up my bear hang in the evening and it was getting fairly dark. I'd say a good tip is to set up the rope after you set up camp so at the EOD you can just run your food up the tree, instead of throwing a rope with low levels of light.
I’ve been catching up on trail tails.. found the RUclips by accident … gotta give props for the green screen duh duh duhhhhhm. Had me cracking up
LOL Thanks! That was my favorite part of the edit. 😂
Biggest mistake I made starting off was not learning to shit like a bear. But you're right on all points here.
A book, a teddy 🧸, a blanket.....I always learned that you might not NEED a certain item but if it makes you happy and comfortable BRING IT.
Protecting your food from bears is also important ecologically. You don't want bears to get used to raiding human camps or homes or cars for food.
“The frosted strawberry ones which are probably the best, let be honest, they still suck” 😂 true.
Another helpful tip is to stay hydrated and don't poop too hard cause you'll break your o-ring and then you'll need prep h or something.
"Had to have half of my toenail removed... It's hard to nail it." YOOO MY MANS SPITTIN
wow dude, feels like it was just last month you broke 100K, now you're knocking on the door of 175K? Congrats (again) on the channel subs.
Due to the overwhelming number of requests I have received to tell about my discoveries and bizarre experiences in a cave not far from my home, I have created this web page. I will outline the events that happened to me during the past few months. Beginning with my journey into a familiar cave in December 2000 and ending… well, it hasn’t actually ended yet. I will use my caving journal as the text to tell about my recent experience. I will give them to you as I experienced them, in chronological order.
I have included photographs that were taken during my many trips into the cave. I have also created a few illustrations to help the reader get a better idea of what things looked like in the cave. All of the photos were taken by me, or one of the few people I went into the cave with.
I want to point out a few things before I tell about the events:
1- Most of the pictures were taken with a Kodak disposable-type camera. I took a better camera into the cave on one or two of the trips. Pictures on this site are all original photos and have not been messed with or enhanced, other than where noted. As a rule, I get my pictures put onto disc at the time of developing so I don’t have to scan them later. This ensures the best digital quality.
2- I will not reveal the names of the other people involved in this experience. If you know me well enough, you probably know them already.
3- I will NOT reveal the location of the cave to ANYONE for ANY REASON! So please don’t ask! I refuse to be held accountable for anyone’s life but my own. I will refer to the cave as Mystery Cave. That is NOT its real name.
If you think these events sound far-fetched, I agree. I would come to the same conclusion had I not experienced them.
I will try to finish the site as soon as possible. Check the date on the main page to see when I’ve made updates.
To protect myself from people who might want to copy this site, I include the following: All text on this and following pages are my own words and copyright 2001.
Ted
I will divide the text into two colors for the sake of clarity. The plain text is taken directly from my caving journal. The italicized text is my comment as I reflect on the experience. I will do my best to convey the thoughts and feelings I had during the entire event. I will not use the actual names of the other individuals involved. I will include the entire relevant text of my journal. Only small parts of the journal will I skip. This will only occur when the entry has nothing to do with the experience in the cave, such as eating dinner after a trip, getting fuel or snacks, irrelevant details, etc. (My journal is fairly thorough) I will merely summarize what I am cutting out of the actual entry.
In an effort to present this experience in as accurate light as possible I will type my journal as I wrote it: sans grammar check. Please overlook my errors. My additional comments will help to clarify the things I wrote in my journal.
Caving Journal 12/30/2000
B and I decided to get in one more caving trip before the New Year, so we set our sights on Mystery Cave. Not a spectacular cave, but since neither of us had been caving in awhile it would be nice to go to any cave. There was a bit of excitement to this trip. There was a small passage in the lower portion of the cave that I wanted to check out to see if it was possible to get past it. It had a small opening, but lots of air blowing out of it. Even though it is way too small to climb through, I had never even checked to see what was inside the passage. We got our gear loaded up and hit the road by 3:00 p.m. We got to the cave in great time, since B likes to drive fast. We anchored from the usual tree and began to rappel into the cave. I went down first and got my gear together while B came down.
I will refer to B many times. We have been caving together for many months now. He was injured in a caving accident a few years ago and was told he would never walk again. Through hard work and perseverance, he not only walks but can get around very well in caves. The trickier parts of a cave might slow him down a bit, but he can make it. He patiently works through an obstacle until he gets past it.
As for the reference to the small opening in the cave, there is a saying among cavers: “If it blows, it goes”. Meaning, if a passage has a good flow of air, it is probably worth investigating.
After we explored all of the usual passages we climbed down to check out the hole. The hole is located deep in the cave, near the lowest part of the cave. It is on the side of a cave wall, about three feet from the floor. To look inside the hole I had to kneel down to duck under an overhang of rock.
The original opening. I put my glove in the hole for size reference.
I used my backup mini-mag light and held it inside the hole to see what I could see. I was excited by what I saw. The wall around the hole was about 3-5 inches thick. It led into a tight passage. The passage opened up a bit just inside the hole. It continued back about 10-12 feet in a small crawl space. After that it seemed to really open up! Although how much we couldn’t tell. This could be a virgin passage. (Obviously, no one has passed through this route, but there could be a way into the passage from the other side.) To even get to the crawl space we would have to enlarge the opening. Currently, it is about the size of my fist. Once we get past the opening we would have a tight crawl back to where it opened up. It would take some work, but we thought we could do it. We sat down for a few minutes to rest and contemplate our plan of attack. While we sat there in the darkness we could hear the wind howling from the other side of the passage. It was a low, eerie noise. We could also hear a low rumble from time to time. No big deal, though. The cave is in the vicinity of a highway that has heavy trucks drive on it. We figured the rumble was the effect of the trucks resonating through the rocks.
We determined that our best plan would be to haul a cordless drill into the cave to drill into the rock. Then we could take a bullpin and a small sledgehammer and break up the rock. It seemed pretty straight-forward. We would widen the hole big enough to squeeze in and see what was on the other side. The efforts to haul all of the equipment down to the hole would be a pain, but we hoped it would be worth it. I named the passage Floyd’s Tomb, after Floyd Collins. It seemed to look like the tight spot where Floyd spent his last miserable days on earth.
A rough drawing of how the passage originally looked.
Floyd Collins was a caver back in the early 1900s. He got stuck in a tight crawl space and was unable to free himself. It is an amazing story that is detailed in a book called, “Trapped: The Story of Floyd Collins” (I think that was the title. I don’t recall the author). Calling our passage Floyd’s Tomb was not only a tribute to Floyd, but a commentary of the size of the passage.
Ha Ha! In retrospect, it is funny how simple I thought it was going to be. I figured a few hours work and we would be in. Had I known how long it was going to take I doubt I would have even begun the project. Had I known what I was going to experience in the cave I never would have returned.
We gathered up our gear and headed for the surface. Normally I couldn’t care less if I ever came back into this cave. There is nothing special about it. But now I was psyched about getting back and getting through. We hadn’t even left the cave and we were planning our return trip.
(The rest of the journal entry talked about the climb out of the cave, our dinner, and our trip back home.)
January 27-28, 2001
B and I were both excited to get back into the cave and get to work. I figured with about 4 hours work we could be in and see what was on the other side. We had arranged to borrow a DeWalt cordless drill to bring with us. We also had masonry bits to drill with, sledgehammers (two) to break up the rock, bullpins to insert into the drill holes, and a few other tools that we ended up not using. Getting the tools down to the work site proved to be a challenge. One of us would climb down the rope and stop at a ledge or good resting place, then the other person would lower the tools. We kept repeating this routine until we got to the bottom of the cave. Then we had to drag the tools to the hole. It took about an hour to finally get to work.
B took the first turn at the hole. After an hour of exhausting work, we could tell that we were not going to get through in one session. We kept trading off after we worked ourselves into a sweat. One would take a break and get some food and water while the other one went to work.
The routine went like this:
To begin work we had to get down on our knees and do our best to avoid smacking our heads on the ceiling. Working in this awkward position we would drill into the wall around the hole. That was difficult work. We really had to push on the drill, and it was still slow progress. Then we inserted the bullpin into the hole and hammered on it until the rock broke up. Then we would repeat the process. To give you an idea of how slow it went, the typical size rock that would break off was about fingernail size. If we broke off a large piece (about 1/3 the size of my palm) it was cause for celebration.
From time to time, for variety, we would just wail on a cold chisel with a 5-lb. sledge. It was slow progress. The problem with the sledge was that we couldn’t take a good swing because of the tight quarters.
Does anyone have sock allergy work around tho cuz hives aren't in my plan
A small softcover novel is 15g lighter than a kindle, and does not need to be added to the list of things that need recharging. A coffee table book, text book, hardcover anything... yeah, that's a bit stupid but a book the size of a Mills & Boons novel is okay, as long as it is not a Mills & Boons novel. Actually, scrap that, even a Mills & Boons novel is great for lighting fires and using as toilet paper so...
Nothing like a used bean floating in my water….🧐🤢
gotta love that!
@@reeseoutdoors7491 🤣🤣🤣
As any backpacker knows, some sections are just slogs... or sometimes it's raining.. but it's examples like these where audiobooks are completely awesome. You can lose your mind in the story and just get the steps done.
I hope you know the draw of these videos is you talking about backpacking and the stories that come about from that and not necessarily the knowledge that comes from. Although that is very nice too. You're a good shit.
One of my first hikes in a long time, was a series of hikes in Utah, we did Angel's Landing and Fairy tale loop.
And Fairy Tale loop...18ish miles at altitude...that last incline was murder
Another mistake is read food packaging carefully and don't ACCIDENTALLY BRING SOMETHING YOURE ALLERGIC TO
I bring a book with me every hike!!
You can wash your dishes down stream. 10-15 feet is enough. Come winter the creek cleans it's self
Nope, sorry Kyle, I was hiking before you were born, and I never go out without a book of some sort. That's how I relax. Probably not a big ass hardcover, no. Might be a wildlife guidebook, might be a paperback novel. Preferably something disposable.
They underestimated how much weed to bring
I don’t understand the bear bag thing; bears are incredibly competent tree climbers, especially black bears. I might be obtuse here, but I don’t think hanging your food 20 feet up a tree would dissuade them one bit.
Luke! Way to not quite get the bleep to cover up all the f-💣s. My favorite word, BTW
The perfect censor is barely a censor at all.... 😜
No, you stop! 😂 J/k just found this channel and love it 🎉
Finally. A Dan Becker joke. Too soon? Nope.