40 Miles Alone on the Timberline Trail

the Timberline trail considered by some to be one of the best hikes in the US I was going to be in the area for the Portland retro gaming expo so I decided to stay a bit longer and do this 40 mile trail that circumnavigates Mount Hood got three days to do it let's go [Music] [Music] so it would seem that the first campground that I picked out it's actually closed that's disappointing this is like a really nice campsite man one thing that didn't occur to me and it just occurred to me is that maybe the campsites are closed for the season I might need to find another place of accommodation so we'll see okay so all the campsites are closed so my plan II was to just start on the trail and then camp wherever first things first I got to get to the trailhead get hiking just go a little bit in [Music] so not exactly my ideal start time I'm gonna go find a camp spot get a fresh really good start tomorrow I'm not gonna go very far at all tonight so this is my start right here at trailhead nice Halloween pumpkin let's move out go back so I'm gonna head to the Pacific Crest Trail first and then tomorrow we'll start the hike for real so far trail is fairly straightforward got Mountain Hood to my right at this beautiful sunset to my left I think I'm gonna focus on the trail a bit here make sure that I don't trip on anything this is very exciting I'm very excited to see this trail coincidentally our good friend T Bryce Ryan literally just hiked this days ago and he said conditions are fantastic and is beautiful just as I'm coming out of the trail it should start raining so with any luck I'll have good weather for the majority of the trip I'm actually not too sure what this is right here it says Timberline cabin site there must have been a Timberline cabin at one point here well I guess I could camp here but that's right Pacific Crest Trail Timberline trail Paradise Park so it would seem that it's pretty steep here it's probably no trouble but I found what looks to be a pretty good nook back there so I think I was going to set up camp over there [Music] beautiful night can you hear how quiet it is a little wind in the distance it's already starting to get quite cold so I'm not gonna waste any time I'm gonna go right to bed get started early I'm so excited for this this is gonna be great catch you guys in the morning [Music] so I had heard before that sleeping naked in your sleeping bag is better and you'll be warmer I had always wondered if that was true or not and last night I slept with my underwear in a t-shirt let me tell you it is absolutely not we got down to about 37 last night that was freezing I put on all my clothes I slept like a baby after that where as many clothes as you can [Music] this path right here is what I was contending with last night I really don't want to do that in the dark today though [Music] [Music] so the goal for today is to get as many miles as I can get today and tomorrow I've got 40 miles total I've got Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and Friday morning to do it but according to the weather it should rain on Thursday so I want to be mostly done before then oh wow that would have been a nice campsite last night so I'm hoping 15 today 15 tomorrow and then 10 on the final day but if I can do more today tomorrow then what I'll do so far though this is an incredibly beautiful serene morning this is the greatest feeling that's meaning greater once I'm hungry enough for lunch Hidden Lake Trail Paradise Park is not hiding I believe Mike it still says the PCT Pacific Crest Trail he imagined if you were doing the PCT and you got to Timberline Lodge over here just like a mile away how glorious that must feel hiking for days on end you dehydrate meals and eating five pizzas at the lodge be pretty great [Music] I sometimes wonder if people think I'm being hyperbolic when I start saying it's like oh my god but I can assure you I am NOT being hyperbolic about places like this this is just oh come on son what on earth actually this is gonna be kind of problematic because without other people to hike with it's gonna be a lot harder to stop myself from just continually stopping in awe anyways up ahead I can hear some Falls I think it's Stephen Falls will confirm once I get there but amazing landscape and just incredible actually I was wrong Stephen Falls is back that way must not be running right now down here is just a stream or whatever so it looks like be curving all the way around there going across and up over that Ridge and I think that's when it starts to zigzag back and forth on the map son it's still barely up perfect weather so do it [Music] one of the things that got me really excited about the outdoors was Bear Grylls show and the first episode I ever saw was his first episode on the Sierra Nevadas and that landscape was just so alluring to me and this is very reminiscent of that episode yes Rocky Mountains beautiful evergreen trees are these pines unfortunately I don't have my resident botanist with me well yeah just landscape is just very reminiscent of when I first got excited about the outdoors and to actually be out here and in it a man it's amazing man this is definitely the type of moment in life that you live for got to shed some clothes getting hot enough now I don't need all this extra protection so she said he thought I was gonna forget that one no this trail feels a lot like when we hiked Mount kuhmo toady and man it's like I don't know what it is but this environment just speaks to me so much I didn't grow up in an environment like this so I don't know why look at this very reminiscent of the forests of Japan fortunately not nearly as cold as it was I for one would just like to drop a quick word of appreciation for whoever came out here and built that for us very nice of you thank you this trail is lovely I will recommend it to my friends and family [Music] heading down further into the valley I'm assuming that one of my first river crossings is coming up and I'm almost done with the zig zags I've been zigzagging back and forth down this whole time definitely working up a mighty hunger too so I might snack [Music] looks like this is my first stream crossing doesn't look too difficult lots of good spots to cross actually so yeah let's just get to it I'm liking this one not bad for a first stream crossing let's hope that they're all that easy which my good friend T Bryce Ryan who reminds everybody to keep on sharing and caring said that the stream crossings aren't bad at all so let's keep moving no fires beyond this point so I actually have a decision to make here I could continue on to the Pacific Crest Trail this way or go this way on to the Paradise loop trail Paradise Park loop would be 2.5 miles going around this one if I take the Pacific Crest Trail it's gonna be 2.2 so it's about the same this looks like it's higher elevation though it would be real easy for me to say let's go ahead and do it and let's adventure but this is a forty mile trail I think it's important to pace myself so let's take the shorter route 2 miles down today hopefully we can get another 13 in so I brought some nuts and a bunch of dehydrated meals and I also got a bear box from everything I've read you don't really need it but you do need something to keep the rodents away from it because we've had experience with that before it'll just chew right through your backpack but one thing I forgot about with the bear box it doubles as a chair [Music] I'm pretty sure that Ridge right there is where I was I saw that great view of Mount Hood a beautiful landscape I am the only person here though I haven't seen anybody else except for at the lodge I've seen one chipmunk and a couple mosquitoes and I've run into a couple spider webs but other than that it [Music] so I believe that's Mountain Jefferson in the distance majestic is all get-out man really is pretty crazy how similar this hike has been to the hike in Japan just the landscape there like blue purplish haze in the distance a big mountain in the distance just pine forest one thing I found as I've gotten older is that sharing stuff whether it be through like the videos I create or like the experiences you have with other people is infinitely more entertaining and valuable and worthwhile to me than the things that I just do for myself like simple example buying a new phone that's just for me man and the feeling always fades okay another Junction here I'm going to continue on the Pacific Crest Trail here I'm gonna keep moving to these supplies they're coming out I've actually also got this theory that childhood is for soaking in as many experiences as possible whether that be doing things watching movies and cartoons and TV shows and playing video games and for me at least as I've gotten older taking all of those experiences that I've had and using them to create new things provides me the same enjoyment that I got as a kid out of consuming things like consuming things now is not nearly as interesting man although I will say having new experiences and traveling to new places that's only gotten better with age I didn't like traveling when I was a kid certainly didn't like the outdoors like I do now [Music] [Music] as I continue on here very piney smell here man just like perfect time of year to do this I don't know if it's like that every single year because I've heard that late October is not the best time because it starts to get really cold and wet this year the leaves have changed color a lot later so I feel like the seasons a little bit farther back this time so it's like perfect maybe most years early October would be great ah man quite a hike quite a hike indeed nice looking campsite down there far too early for me to camp yet obviously this I could have lunch but also not particularly hungry right now so let's keep moving so I think over here is Ramona Falls meeting actually almost missed this this little side trail wow dude [Music] [Music] [Music] I'm assuming I'm gonna see many more cool sites like that feel like I'm making okay time but I need to get a few more miles under my feet before I can relax today got a lot of miles to do it's amazing how different it is hiking out in the West versus in the Midwest at home it's like trails are very rarely this nice and smooth just hiking out west is a lot easier I feel like [Music] okay is it lunch time I eat lunch I don't think it's time for lunch yet but I will check my progress it's about 1122 so got plenty of time I think I've made pretty good progress just check it out I'm right here on the map looks like we're gonna continue down this little Gulch here and then circle back up a four plus miles once I hit that Junction so so a little past there will be a halfway point I need to make probably a bit more time than I'm making three hours I've done approximately four miles let's get some nuts in and let's continue on pretty uh curious trail here take a nice and slow and smooth that one guy who used to play for the Pacers who I can't remember as much as nameless like LaSalle Thompson or something big smooth sometimes that's probably just rushing some giganto mushrooms here oh mama look how big that is like I said earlier though I don't have my resident botanist with me andrew is the resident botanist Thomas is the resident timekeeper to make sure we're on track I don't know what Brian is haha maybe Brian is the resident one to tell us when to take a break but that token I don't know what I'm there for either oh I'm the archivist I film everything I believe this is where I would have came out from had I done to Paradise Park loop Pacific Crest Trail continues over here alright keep going [Music] this would make for one heck of a campsite dude so far trails living up to the hype [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's 12 14 I think now is a good time as any to cook some lunch don't feel particularly hungry but the thought of eating food sounds so good that I think I'll be worth it so while I was in rei buying the bear box one of the clerks was telling me that what he does is he takes all of his dehydrated meals and then he just puts them in plastic bags saves a ton of space and you just saved like two of the bags so you can actually cook in them so the only ones that have bags are now actually Mac of beef so I don't want to take forever there's a tendency sometimes to just take a long time for lunch so we got a lot of miles to do days so somewhat brisk Wow this bear fall doubling as a chair you wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference but it's nice to have a chair out in the wild from the lowliest peasants to the mightiest kings who doesn't enjoy a good sit [Music] [Music] I'm not sure how you would go about going down there but I bet that would be really fun to just like camp down there maybe not camp down there but to go splash around when it's really hot skinny-dip with us woman's or you can just hike 40 miles by yourself that's fun too good job on the consistency today too perfect it's not crunchy at least now that is the second wind if I've ever felt one according to my phone traveled six point seven miles it's gonna be a little bit deceptive though because it's counting my steps once I get on the Timberline trail it's gonna be 29 miles or so back to the Timberline Lodge so at the very least I need to get on the Timberline trail and then do as much as I can before it gets dark give myself plenty of time to set up make sure I'm prepared for rain it's gonna rain tonight and also make sure my bags all ready because I don't want to have to deal with that after it's already started raining so I'm gonna be very conscious of that but now the goal is to just get a bunch of miles in so let's do it [Music] this trail has been weaving in and out of the forest into one incredible view after another I don't know if I would ever do the entire Pacific Crest Trail but I can now say I've done a portion of it yeah this is one instance where I feel like I'm back in the Midwest man this is just big Smokies rock recent huh it's quiet forest I think I'm the only thing lurking though nothing else is around it's kind of chilly I've got plenty of warm let's continue on [Music] Wow it actually feels like it's sunny now look at that it's weird man like I'm miles away from anything like if I want to get out I'm gonna take me miles and hours to get out but when you've got like a well maintained trail it just feels like the most natural thing in the world that just keep walking on it but for me I've been saying it for a while and I love it this feeling of having everything you need on your back and just keep moving forward and having this sense of freedom it's kind of silly because is it really freedom I don't know but there's definitely a part of him that just feels really like it's at home when I keep moving that make any sense hopefully that makes some sense it was good it was good in my loins [Music] [Music] there's some very nice campsites down there and as tempting as they are it's just before 2 o'clock and I still need to make quite a bit more distance man you know fire there there's already got chairs come on son well maybe we should check how much distance we've covered because if we can't stay although I do somewhat feel like the presence of a downed log right there maybe does not make this the best campsite then put your tent over there good I'm fairly positive that I haven't covered in enough distance yet today but we'll take a look so if you're wondering about my sari that I've made out of my damn coat this is the perfect amount of warmth that it's not like I'm blazing my own trail or doing anything like magnificent but just hitting that trail man and just moving ok let's say that's two miles two point four two point eight three point four three point two oh yeah I haven't even covered even close to enough yet I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to do why should I kind of have to do 13 miles a day don't like guys this is a long trail huh okay let's talk [Music] what a landscape oh my goodness man - great - great it's Karen over there Karen over there it was a Karen over there - actually crap there's one right here I'm gonna head towards that one see how that leads me it's some really cool rock here or is this just sand is this sand Wow so I guess water flows through here at some point pretty sure that's where I'm headed over here I don't know this looks like way more intense over here oh those look pretty good we'll try those out name of the game here is maximum caution and safety if it doesn't look a hundred percent crossable not even going to try it up there maybe this is not right here that's very bad yeah I'm not liking any of these yet still not like in any of these either kind of like in this spot if I put on my other shoes to just go through the water none of these actually look too great Oh over there maybe oh okay yeah here we go got Karen's indicating to cross over here they got a nice bridge fantastic really doesn't look super secure I don't know if I like this this might be alright yeah I'm not going to step on any of this because use it as a hand hold put this over here and then get over onto this rock okay whoa okay not bad I don't know if I'd risk that that seems a little little dodgy Karen there's one over there yeah you know if I didn't have this offline GPS map it actually be a little bit tricky to find a trailer right now but a lot of paths here so I know hard to tell what's what nope that's not our trail yet going around here we go okay back to hiking [Music] I'm guessing somebody didn't want the tree to get cold Thomas you're here in spirit that's interesting I think that stock is horses so hikers may continue to use the trail but should exercise caution [Music] hmm let's see the Falls up ahead whoa Wow Wow whoa [Music] oh my god dude [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] while it's really funny because I was expecting to be kind of cool but this may be the coolest waterfall I've ever seen in my life Wow dude I would love to stay and gawk at it but I gotta keep moving [Music] it's really weird this thing's here 24/7 365 always doing its thing it's like how much of the world have we not seen just as individuals you know it's effectively a hundred percent not counting maybe movies or something oh and rain forests or straight uphill [Music] first people I have seen the entire trip so first people since like six o'clock last night for all I know the world could have ended it's not sure I had cell signal [Music] [Music] [Music] just about three o'clock sent out a GPS signal just to make sure I'm still alive [Music] you know I think our capacity to be giving towards other people is much better than we give it credit for she remembered one time I ran into somebody I hadn't seen in a long time I wasn't in a particularly good mood but I remember just saying hi and being friendly because it's like the right thing to do brighten somebody else's day up theirs with a simple hi and a recognition you know we also don't know what small gesture we make how that can affect somebody and how much it can mean to somebody okay my timing is not terrible it's not great though either the next section of the trail is not gonna have any campsites because it's gonna be like kind of steep it's 4.7 miles it's 315 right now and sunset is at 6 o'clock so I'll probably get done with this section of the trail right around sunset fortunately you still get quite a bit of light after sunset yeah Yocum Ridge Trail goes up this way and then over here is the trail and I'm gonna take obviously the Timberline trail I'm assuming that's what that sign used to be clearly not anymore [Music] [Music] there is a good chance I'm gonna be walking across that in a few hours the trail continues around this way I'm pretty sure up along that Ridge that looks impossibly far away but I guess we'll see won't we so I think that this probably Bald Mountain one thing it looks bald and I know I'm going to Bald Mountain this is a trail right yeah good news is it doesn't look nearly as far as it did before so I'm definitely making progress [Music] okay starting to round the bend I've been on this side of the valley the whole time that's the valley I think we're coming up around the corner now okay wow that's a big tree haven't looked at my map in a while but I'm pretty sure I have to cross that water and I don't like water crossings they're always kind of dangerous there's never like an ideal spot it sounds really fast I don't know we'll see when we get down there maybe it's better off the head who knows maybe I won't have to okay well hold the phone just found a campsite campsite there something back here - okay I consult my map because I may stay here see how many miles I still haven't left out here this whole thing is for point seven so I've probably done about half of that I probably have like 2.5 maybe left think it tomorrow I'll beast out this 2.5 in the morning and then go all the way to copper spur shelter should be twelve point four miles total then on Thursday head Cooper spur shelter all the way down to somewhere in this area from here to there is like four or five miles so I could do that in the morning easily get to my car be back in time on Friday anyway this is a fantastic campsite I don't think I can ask for much better I'm certainly not gonna find anything better until I get to the top so you like apply like a flower or something is that a same bird in the hand is worth two in the bush I don't know we're setting up you know the term happy camper right I'm pretty sure it was invented four times just like now man good mileage today perfect campsite perfect timing could not have gone any better ever since the car had started watching over us and Greedo was shot by han Solo I got Luck is turning shooting Greedo but as I mentioned I took out the dehydrated meals out of their packages I saved this one I used earlier I'm gonna use it throughout I've got lots of different flavors we're just gonna pull the first one out at random cuz I don't really care which I guess this is like chicken noodle beef stroganoff baby yeah I think this is beef stroganoff last time I had beef stroganoff like with elementary school this trip kind of like exemplifies how you want most of life to be where you want it not too hard but not too easy at the same time this is a forty mile trail I could take ten days to do it right do four miles a day but then what would I do with my rest of my time it'd be too easy I could do 20 miles a day and do it in two days but I'd be so exhausted and tired I wouldn't enjoy it then you want to find that happy medium I think I hope I found I was hoping to have one extra day but maybe this will be perfect I don't know Mountain House makes some good stuff man not a sponsor huh probably not very healthy but man [Music] the fun thing about hiking so many miles is that when it's time to go to bed there's really time to go to bed playing on the internet or on my phone doesn't even sound appealing oh I feel so good to lie down good i right at the crack of dawn and henna I was kind of hoping this to be the case that there would be water right out here so I left my water outside the filter and this looks like a very easy stream to cross excellent starts in the morning also good morning Mount Hood Wow I'm gonna follow this path continue along this Ridge here get to Bald Mountain go around the other side follow this Ridge back all the way around continue continue continue on the other side of the ridge and then Mount Hood over there I'm gonna be on the northeast far side 13 some miles yesterday today's eleven point four your problem let's head out wow man it's not every day that you wake up with an incredible mountain right in the distance beginning hikes like this is just that's a great feeling I actually had a neighbor last night I said hello but he didn't even say anything back he just acknowledged me so I don't think he was in the social mood but it was funny because last night right before I was getting to my camp I'd been alone for so long usually literally started talking to myself to pass the time started practicing my Japanese I found out my Japanese is not very good I can get along actually speaking it smoothly as a whole another matter [Music] and this section of the trail is just beautiful perfect soft trail nice steady incline this is what I live for man [Music] [Applause] [Music] Bald Mountain won't be long now it's crazy how far in the distance that seemed yesterday now we're right there [Music] [Applause] [Music] I'm here already what cut off trail oh so I'm right here and normally you'd go all the way around go back here but there's a cut through right there bald mountains right there i'ma leave my pack here go check out Bald Mountain and come back and cut through huge time savings well I would say that was worth the 30 second walk Wow [Music] all in all I'd say not a bad start to the morning beautiful view got a shortcut that's a shortcut man heck yeah great shortcut Wow that was literally like 45 seconds I probably would have taken me at least half an hour to do the other route I'm going that way on the trail right there I didn't know about that one lot of uphill here actually some signs of life - birds and stuff some good news is after this uphill I'll be on the ridge line for a long time so hopefully I have a nice smooth sailing of a hike today after this intense up [Music] oh my god that was the last of that pill the smooth in the downhill has to be God it's cold up here no oh man more uphill crap [Music] unfortunately I spoke way too soon this uphill is kind of never-ending the neverending story one foot in front of the other [Music] that is that heck of a sight man oh yeah that was a lot of uphill - oh my goodness just to kind of give you a sense of how far I've come I started on the other side of that Ridge somewhere over there hiked all the way on the other side other side came around here went down into that Valley camp somewhere down there last night hiked all the way over here went around and then came around to the other side of the ridge and now we're here and now we're gonna keep going this way hike on the other side of Mount Hood wrap ourselves around back to the Timberline Lodge somewhere over there we're going to the Northeast today to camp so it's weird how sometimes things look really far away and then it doesn't take that long to get much closer and then other times it looks far away and it seems like you're never getting any closer but I'm going to just thank my lucky stars that I'm on the good side of things today [Music] I've actually started using my tripod his Walkingstick quite a bit here because there's just so much uphill man toughest part of the trail so far I would say trail is nice and smooth but uphill after uphill [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] finally some downhill oh my god that's so nice and an amazing view to boot I was gonna wait until I got to the next Junction to cook lunch but seeing as this is the first meadow it's a very nice I think this time this is a sort of chicken beans and rice yesterday and the entire 13 miles I climbed 90 floors according to my phone today I've hiked 5 miles and I've already done 76 Wars the amount of uphill today has been brutal so my aunt Brian and Andrews mom I don't know if it was something that she just bought and was pre-made or she added it herself but whenever she would make spaghetti who would have green peppers in it and now the flavor of green peppers is immediately nostalgic to her spaghetti huh we're just funny because I didn't really like it as a kid green peppers on anything but now I like it a lot put it on a supreme pizza oh man it's weirdly overpowering but good at the same time all that being said there were green peppers and whatever I just ate and it was [Music] nice meadow I just love big open areas mixed forests like this so cool [Music] [Music] oh man that is fairly incredible sight Oh finally just been doing uphill all day today oh man guess I'm a smooth kind of downhill McNeill points not going that way [Applause] well looks like a fairly simple string crossing thankfully these are the bane of my existence you know what that means war uphill dude a ghost town for trees what happened forest fire I assume but damn why there is a definite eerie feeling in here it's over there - wow that whole side of the mountain it's just as far as I can see all the trees wiped out what is this huh sure that would be a nice little cabin to stay at campsite up there - still a ways off from where I need to be so gotta keep going [Music] thankfully another easy stream crossing let's hope the Picard keeps giving me these easy ones [Music] it's funny like sometimes when I'm on the trail I have all sorts of thoughts but then sometimes there's trails like today where there's so much uphill all of my energy is going to my muscles and my brain is just like we just shut off for a while you don't really need to think about anything [Music] [Music] you know I'm really thankful for YouTube because it gives all of us an opportunity to share and see more things that we would never get to see on our own so isn't it cool that one person can come out here and kind of capture some sort of facsimile of it at least bring it back to you guys because man [Music] [Music] [Music] there's a town down there isn't weird how everybody's lives are just going on despite whatever else is happening so all those people in that town it's very likely I do not know a single one of them and me hiking this trail is just it will never factor into their existence now somehow we're all doing our own thing and just eventually turns into what we call society [Music] [Music] [Music] I think it's pretty fair to say this is the hardest hike I've ever done in my life distance uphill downhill time limit definitely the hardest ever feels good though that's pretty sure I'd be able to do it and so far so good shot camp here it seems like a dangerous place to camp but there is a nice camp spot right there I still would like to get some more distance in camping in a grove of dead trees it's kind of asking for a tree to find you it is 355 I'm gonna make one more good push this last hour pretty much the whole trip my pace has been a around 1.5 miles per hour I almost hit to my bill to hit some sort of animal poop they're not sure what animal though although now that I think about it there's fur in that poop so must have been a meat-eating animal maybe a coyote or something I don't like bears have to poop like that right yeah man [Music] assuming that's cloud caps saddle I don't really know what that is but it was on the map oh man new campsite pretty soon here forests getting pretty tired I just rode on the side of this hill the whole time [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so here's the situation sometimes you get trapped into a corner when you can't find good campsites so this is one of those times if I don't find a good place down there in that ravine I'm gonna have to hike all the way up that to find another campsite and I don't think I have it in me today to do that entire thing let me rephrase I do have it in me but I'll have to eat dinner and take a break for a little bit and just hike in the dark because that looks daunting than a mug gettin down to the ravine now this looks slightly more promising but we'll see okay I think this looks good but in the off chance that there's something better I'm gonna go just a little bit more ahead but I'm gonna remember this because I can definitely fit my tent in there looks fairly safe as far as treats go away from the water in case it rains I think that should be good but we'll check just a little bit of further ahead this doesn't look bad either [Applause] okay how's this it looks kind of like somebody peed there but notice spot was slightly bigger let's go back thank you the Picard saved my bacon obviously this is not ideal but under the circumstances I'll take it dude it is so crazy how quickly once you realize that you're gonna stop your body's like it's done like no energy sorry we're stopping we're stopping obviously that's not ideal for now really need to eat I'll go straight to bed after this exhaustion I think I did more mileage today than I did yesterday even though I thought I was gonna be less now so I realized I only have two meals left I'm gonna have to make sure that it's a short hike on Friday I'm like God dude I have needed this just like chicken and dumplings or something [Music] today biggest hurdles are the cold possible rain and that uphill right there best - sleep by far this night [Music] so as I mentioned earlier I got to go up that uphill and there's a great spot to fill up water right here but I'm gonna take the risk and not do that because I've got only a little bit of water left which significantly lightens my load so once I get past is uphill I'll look for another stream on the other side but hopefully it's not too bad [Music] okay I made it down I'm across up there yeah this actually looks not too bad despite the sound of it and the look of it [Music] you know besides that first stream crossing with all of the rocks what was that the second I don't remember they've all been not too bad thankfully these were the one things that I was worried about before I started the trip funny story actually first time we ever went backpacking we went to the Smokies there were certain sections of the trail that were closed because the string crossings were too dangerous somehow we missed that notice and we get to one of those points and it's just like a rushing river and in our inexperience we actually were contemplating trying to cross that river and the thing about that was even if we had made it across that one there would have been more after that luckily our rational minds prevailed we said that is one of the worst ideas we've ever come up with so we detoured yeah we learned a lot that trip wow I'm not looking forward to these uphills we're just going to be zigzagging [Music] all the way up oh my goodness slow and steady slow and steady maybe halfway there [Music] holy cow dude you know I never would have made it here last night it would have been way too much hiking for me but if I had made it here this would have been an awesome campsite I think this is like the cloud cap in up here or something [Music] well since I'm here OOP okay so this road pretty sure leads up to the cloud cap in I don't have a ton of time but I do have enough to go at least go around the bend here and see take a look yeah I'm gonna assume this is closed for the season that this is indeed cloud cap in elevation 6,000 feet I don't know what this is right here snowshoe cabin okay holy bejesus you know it's not a particularly good way to look at nature I'm not particularly proud of it but I love it when I'm the only person out I know I just feel so much more adventurous and like I'm Conan the Barbarian running across the field with tsumetai close behind and the Sun setting in the distance good times last bit today is going down here going through there there there I'll camp somewhere over here and then the final morning I'll hike out to the car so that's the Tilly Jain trail taking the east Timberline trail take me back south now it's Thursday today I could just hike out all the way to the car but my plane doesn't leave until Saturday well I do have to get the car back on Friday I don't have any place to stay on Friday either so we shall see [Music] that's interesting wonder if that's a shelter like an old mine or something as expected a ton of uphill today well we're kind of missing in the modern world is a challenge against nature you know like all of our challenges nowadays are they're self-inflicted or challenges from other people but a challenge from nature you don't take it personally because you know that nature is not doing it just despite you which is always kind of in the back of our mind when somebody else is challenging us but with nature you get a challenge and it's a completely impassionate master that's just no I'm just doing what I'm doing you can take it or leave it and because food shelter all that is taken care of for us already we miss out on like that primal part of us that was necessary for so many years of our development as human beings at least that's what it feels like when I come out here feel like I'm being challenged but this is like very positive challenge [Music] ooh that fog is not looking so nice giving a slight misting now oh man am i cresting that whole Hill today is definitely gonna be the toughest hiking unfortunately and stuff is yesterday was I hope that's not a great it's just a trail marker it kind of looks like there's another trail that goes off over there but I'm very positive that this is my trail [Music] wonder what they're doing down there [Music] silly Jane Trail to the left Cooper spur to the right mountain hood completely covered in fog and one of the most amazing views I've ever seen in my life some strong wind I don't even see that cabinet over there earlier that might be Cooper Spurs shelter actually so according to the GPS it won't be too long now before I reached the highest point that I'll do in the hike it's gonna be like seventy seven seventy six hundred feet it's a very different section of the trail right now unlike anything I've done yet on this trail still got a ways to go though those trail markers they're just trail markers but I could totally see them being graves too that pill is just brutal man and this high altitude the wind is whipping you mess with it would be good feels a little like the winds about to knock me over I must persevere almost there [Music] I can barely hear myself think the wind is so strong it almost blew me off the trail just now I think that's the highest point least I'm hoping all right let's just get out there do you remember 21st of September remember like 20 signposts to go I said I hope that's the top still at the top all right this time I'm fairly positive that is the time any luck on the other side of this will be a lot of downhill you got to be kidding dude at least one more wolf the only thing I can do is keep going [Music] when you're a kid it was like I wonder what it's like inside of the cloud and then when you get inside of a cloud it's just like oh it's nothing [Music] touch water not a moment too soon [Music] a couple thoughts one it's good there's no smellivision because I smell terrible and two I thought it was just me but up in this area I don't know what I'm smells kind of bad [Music] that's what I'm talking about son what have you [Music] I think this is just the cloud misting and it's not actually raining okay actually I think this is just straight-up rain I'm gonna try to make some progress try to get to the forest or something it was getting pretty intense well the Sun is trying to poke through [Music] [Music] so I'm gonna go down the left side of this Ridge here with any luck it'll block some of the wind Oh already it seems whoo mama oh my god dude people who climb mountains you guys are crazy it's a nice little oasis from all that wind no wonder there's no vegetation over there okay let's continue I think someone was uh building a shelter or maybe shelter collapse or something and getting off the top of that Ridge over there is very relieving Oh check that out full rainbow dude my face actually feels kind of like numb from the wind whipping it well that had to have been like 100 mile-per-hour winds good guy dude whoo this is very peaceful here [Laughter] I love valleys like this where it's just is this a valley this is not a valley whatever this is called these nice clearings in the forest beautiful trees surrounding you nice dusty path I really think I might be the only person out on the trail right now today's journey is like half way over already feel like it's coming to an end already it seems quick man being in that whipping wind for so long it's really weird to get back down here then it's just quiet actually let's take a look at the map real quick and see how much farther we have so I camped there last night went up hill that's where I found the cloud cap in and all that stuff keep going this way that was where that one shelter was at then the wind got super hard right there kept going that was the Butte where that knock down shelter was kept going now I'm here I'm thinking I'll camp somewhere along this one the exits right here that would leave just like one and a half miles for tomorrow morning okay let's go [Music] it looks like we got another stream crossing my least-favorite well that's looking a little rapid let's hope there's some slope id's up ahead you are not my son I'm not really too sure where the trail on the other side is it doesn't look like that maybe a little bit some Karen's right there okay well I guess priority number one is to just cross here at a safe place on the staff around and cross all right I'm liking this one that rock to that rock to that rock home free this is not a two legged operational this is all fours okay made it now to find this trail according to the GPS I should be heading this way I went so far upstream I think that the visible trail is kind of gone so I actually think they made that see if you cross there but I don't really trust those branches if you're not too agile maybe that would be a good choice but anyway I found the path that's a little weird well I can scarcely believe it but this is actually the last major uphill section of the trail hard to believe this is the third day already when you hiked that many miles in a day every hour of sunshine is precious so you don't waste it pretty much moving the whole time not too much left today it's like 2:30 two-and-a-half solid hours let's go oh good rain just suddenly came out of nowhere just literally this one's gonna take us to the Timberline Lodge we just did one point two since the last Fork three point three to the next one and then we'll stop for the day well just like that it's that must have just been missed from a cloud finding luck I'll get to my campsite before it starts raining tonight it's not supposed to rain till like 9:00 p.m. I think [Music] [Applause] the ski lift right there something goes up there I've never actually been skiing but I bet it'd be really nice to just sit on that ski lift and wait for it to take you to the top [Music] these glacial stream crossings are not my favorite man I was concerned about them before I started the trip they've all been manageable so far but they definitely are the most dangerous part of this trail you definitely have to be vigilant and make sure you're being safe oh this one looks really easy though [Music] the tricky part of these sometimes it's not crossing it's just finding out where the heck is the trail on here we go found it pretty quickly you should be too bad but the man I don't like these river crossings yeah if you did that wrong that would definitely be curtain so definitely pays to be safe I'm not sorry I gotta take a quick break eat some peanuts boost my morale just take it forever man [Music] I'm kind of guessing at this point that it's not gonna stop raining it's not very hard it's mostly just like we're in a cloud but yeah next campsite I see I'm just gonna go ahead and take it I can be smote out tomorrow morning but I've already done over 200 floors today oh and about 10 miles so it's pretty good [Music] this feels a bit like if I was exploring the wasteland after all civilization was gone it's like one of those post-apocalyptic stories where the character imagines how fun it would be to ride the ski lifts and imagine like kids laughing do I keep going or do I stay here because we would leave quite a bit to hike tomorrow Oh me not that much let's check out the map the problem is I don't want to be stuck in another situation like yesterday where I don't have a good campsite okay I'm gonna go for it it's four o'clock which gives me two hours of daylight still it's not raining very hard and I feel like if I stop not just be kind of bored so let's keep it moving I'm sure we'll find something else definitely a kind of eerie feeling going through here without any of this stuff turned on this is a nice ending to the hike well there's a truck there Wow well that was very surprising and no less eerie hmm okay well I could come to regret that decision I made because it's raining a little bit harder now I'm gonna just keep going but it'll make tonight a little bit less comfortable literally could not have asked for a better campsite tents but cooking spot it's going to be a great night son [Music] oh man this is my final meal and I think it's lasagna hopefully I saved the best for last dude it's hard to believe that the trip is already over got about three miles back to the car of it there should be nothing hmm I've seen seven people in one dog this entire time but I haven't felt lonely a single time I also haven't felt bored at all either and I wonder if that's because of just how many miles I did everyday it's funny you'd think after doing this epic 40 mile trip there I have something more profound to say but it's weird as almost seems like this is just like the most natural thing in the world well I'm going to eat this dinner maybe tomorrow I'll think of something profound captain's log stardate 10 to six point two zero one eight point six to five the rain has continued unabated throughout the night Bowl integrity is at 70 percent about one hour until the enterprise can leave this system and not a moment too soon that doesn't sound like my car like everybody's okay it's a little before 7:00 I'm gonna get packed up and out of here because I think it's not gonna stop raining it's all May or so so I've got about 30 minutes until full light and so hopefully by the time I finish packing I'll be ready to go so tearing down camp was roughly as miserable as you might expect but I'm all packed up the Sun is just starting to come out very foggy morning though let's get the heck out of here [Music] I'll tell you one thing this type of weather is a very strong motivator for just to keep on moving because even if any of this was especially beautiful and amazing I would not be stopping to admire it [Music] I'm running desperately low on batteries so I'm gonna try to hike out I'm about to hit the PCT soon we'll see what happens move yo bear turkey or something [Music] now that is an ominous looking landscape thank goodness seems possible up here I found the trail up there wow this is if I wasn't just doing this one crossing and going home I would definitely turn around because if there were any more crossing like this that would be way too unsafe let's go do it Wow yeah just cross that okay let's get out of here [Music] those were rocks heavy huge rocks tumbling down that water he's safe on those glacier crossings Wow I would never have cross that if I didn't think it was feasible and safe at the time the area I was in will calm enough and there was no flowing rocks but man definitely got to pay attention to that because if those rocks came a-tumblin down while you were crossing that would have been real bad okay I finally made it to the PCT Timberline Lodge this way I'm gonna waste no time to get right to the lodge [Music] that's gotta be the lodge right there right do I go straight around yes we'll find out [Music] I'm not even sure I'm on the path they're not seeing the lunch and I'm just going to keep walking towards it to make sure it's not a variety [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] not like on the trail but [Music] [Music] [Music] maybe you'll have some idea just based on the fact that I can't stop laughing [Music] it wasn't my car still there thank goodness that is true toy right there son [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: AdventureArchives

Views: 1,742,454

Rating: 4.8881369 out of 5

Keywords: bushcraft, backpacking, hiking, camping, wilderness, outdoors, travel, survival skills, ray mears, nature videos, the timberline trail, solo hiking, best hiking in the us, best backpacking in the us, best hikes in the us, best portland hiking, portland hiking, hikes in portland, best hikes in portland, mt. hood, climbing mt. hood, hiking mt. hood, bear grylls

Id: pOEbUUS4APk

Length: 90min 5sec (5405 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 29 2018