[Music] [Music] all right we're [Music] off CL on we love you [Music] too there's you Falls way off in the distance then we're that's so far we're not going there we're about a half mile into the dere Trail only like uh 211 and a half miles left there's Brock way out there all the waterfalls down there wow data there's no service here anyway here's Rock All Right last chance for water right here huh here we go there think I don't think so I don't either but it's deep enough no what's waiting Vernal fall Nevada fall Half Dome half do 6 miles so we got to get there hopefully right around 1:00 for lunch stop and then we got another probably 8 miles after that right here rocking Dana right up there there's Vernal Falls turns out Dane's not such a Slowpoke he busted hump out of that so fast he's been up here for like 30 minutes waiting for old that look at him down there just kicking it by a tree not yet dude how did you get that so fast how long you been up here holy smokes let's take a break that's where we came from way down there in the valley and here's the top of Vernal Falls I was the first one up I'm the youngest one here coming up on uh Nevada Falls up here but my boys are down here on the bridge it's about 11:15 on day one we're about hour and 45 minutes hour 15 minutes into our hike we took a little Offroad trip and went down M Trail then we went off the John Trail didn't me to and took a detour down Miss Trail now I got out the staircases now we're back on track a little fishing Ro can you can you tells me my Crocs Daddy's caught another oh this one's a fighter oh yeah oh don't you hear it there it is splash splash splash whoa oh there it goes wow that's a big big boy little Rainbow Oh rainbow why little rainbow trout yeah it's fun good look little rookie Catch and Release have fun oh there it is MH here we are at the end of day one we put in uh put in just about 10 miles um we went from 3,800 ft to 7600 ft so that's almost 4,000 FT elevation and we're now at Sunrise camp for the night the boys just went over here down there filling up the water as long as there way I can be honest with you holy smokes oh man that first climb out of uh Happy aisle was oh my gosh that was that was a lot and then we took the wrong way to go up to um Nevada Falls we took the wrong way and ended up going all these steps and it was it was a shorter route by like3 miles but I'm sure it was harder because everybody else said it was harder then we uh kind of flattened out a bit we stopped and we fished for a little bit we have uh a bear who I guess has been around this uh campsite the last couple nights so we got to be super careful right around uh right around dusk um to make sure that our bear canisters are away and that we're done eating and stuff but the sun's still up you know so it's only about uh 6117 we have about an hour and a half yeah that's our check-in man nobody everybody do this if it was easy I did not expect it to be that hard though it was it was pretty rough um the kids actually did better than I did so yeah what does that tell you so we are done with day one and my food is great it's delicious and my feet hurt my legs hurt and everything else is pretty much fine this spaghetti is good than iated food those see behind me lean back that's half dome so we are planning to hike like four and a half more miles today than we did which is bad because now tomorrow we have to make it up and meet with our mom this is like 16 miles away we're having a hard time making it to see Shannon my wife at um TW Meadows cuz we have like 16 miles to put in tomorrow only 2,000 ft of elevation but I do think we drop back down a little bit and then we uh we go back up so he said it was 9,500 ft of elevation don't listen to him no idea what's going on a robot by the way I don't think I have much of an idea what's going on either tell her that we haven't seen any bears yet but there's one that's supposed to be hanging out here stealing food from campers did you just try to pinch your ear off at me you're such a lame talk to your mom all right this is all the stuff from our uh from our dinner we got made some more Gatorade for tomorrow I'm a table Sun's going down Dane's doing the dishes right now and then uh we're going to get all our trash put away in that bag put all that this stuff and that stuff in the bear canisters I'm going to go like way over there and put the bear cans over over there make sure they're not in a cliff so they don't get knocked down and then uh we're going to be moving our backpacks over against that rock just in case the bear smells something on him he likes that we're going to take ourselves and we're going to go right over there that tensy poo why not there why over there uh we're going to sign off for the night maybe we'll have one more post if these guys are being Knuckleheads we're being Knuckleheads which means let's get to Texas hold on poker day 2: in the morning we got up this morning about 600 planning on get up like 5:30 but we're kind of beat took extra half hour I thought it take about 45 minutes to get camp set up but took us about 2 hours cuz kids were doing things backwards and I messed up a few times too just cuz I'm not used to doing this right now but they were a good quarter mile back and I need to get up here and get the GoPro going cuz we uh charged the battery last night but I put the wrong one in so here we are thing one in thing too these kids are pretty badass check out the view behind me it's pretty awesome in the valley some big old rant slab down the side pretty cool but uh yeah we're going to go uh hopefully meet Mom up today we got about 14 more miles to get there look at that starting back again on day two it's about uh 9:39 a.m. told Dane to go ahead he's having a hard time this morning a little bit so figure if he gets a little head of steam going thinking he's in first place he'll just keep pushing for a mile or two and kind of get a little hump we're coming up on Cathedral path in just a minute well they say just the name but it's way up there we're going to go across this little Meadow here lot of elevation gained today we went from uh 7600 ft to 9711 ft then back down to 9300 ft then back up to 9700 ft over the P that we we're about to hit then it's uh all downhill to Wy Meadows good thing we have a lot of daylight in these days cuz I'm not sure we're going to make it even with that but at least it gives us some hope you see down here the horse tracks the horse track since we reach this gorgeous meal that we got before show you on video for a couple seconds there's also a lake there I stopped because honestly I don't like being alone hiking and those guys I just let him pass me so I've gone up really far I've been waiting for about 10 minutes and they still haven't shown so I'm just going to sit around and wait another 10 minutes until they finally come I just want to say that I'm faster than Dad this is why they call it Cathedral pass I guess got a whole bunch of mountains that look like Cathedrals all around what are Cathedral Cathedral is like a Catholic Church like a big you know pretty Church ornate thing over there okay it's our day three on the JMT yesterday we put in 17.4 miles and we just about died yes so Mom came and picked us up and got us Burgers took us back to Uncle Brad's house they're camping up at June Lake and we spent the night there and we took our time today trying to unload a whole bunch of weight but when I reweighted the packs they were about the same weight so we're making up good uh good time here and we're headed all the way down to the end of L Canyon Camp down at the base of uh Don H pass we're right past the beginning of L Canyon and there's a storm a pretty pretty darn bad storm little thunderstorm so much rain we've been walking through it for an hour and a half but yeah we're getting cold now that we stopped just need to stop and get some uh some water and some beef jerky maybe a cliff bar so that's it in our rain gear glad we brought it we're just before L forks and uh we got in about 715 7 :0 and we started booking it and uh got dinner done got everything done dishes washed every be canister thing away all that stuff and now we're in our tent and it's at 9:18 p.m. so we're planing on waking up at like 5:30 and getting out of here and getting over down pass this is the kind of work we have to do here we have draping clothes above the tent underneath the rain guard we got all of our Electronics over there got to close the gate now there's a bunch of mosquitoes in here I'm tired and I'm not very sore but my neck hurts and I'm writing to my mom and wait hold on I am too I'm reading and writing we all we all have the momy books we're just lame I famous we're just lame Hiers not yet I'm the famous one you guys are lame hikers oh that was so ridiculously gross all right morning day 4 we're about to go over uh old Don H pass in like I don't know a few hours so we got Camp pretty much locked down it's about 8:50 we're getting a little later start than we wanted okay this is our friend Damen he slept here last night with us and uh we're just packing up we should be out here in about 10 minutes and we're going to try to get to the summit by 11:30 or so where are we going right now we're going up donu we're at 9160 elevation which is only6 60 ft above where we started here's Dad what's up got halfway up almost he's dying yes with a 68lb pack and then we up here right over there yeah I'll try to get it where the bridges pretty awesome Bridges so this oh there's a MM you see that lmet that's a fat Marmet a lot of Marmet at higher elevations at lower elevations is squirrels higher elevations is fat squirrels Marmet this amazing across this though right here this is not an amazing yeah we can yeah promise oh let's go right here though this is a good idea that's what I'm saying here let me get your Crocs off we spot who and I'm my food is gone that's cute this be called drone cam just kidding that's elevation this is beautiful look you can see right into the water good [Applause] just that little but look at the lake down there look at all the different colors in the water we're at 10,476 FT of elevation we've already climbed 1512 ft today gone almost three miles or just about 3 miles and about 2 hours and 45 minutes it's just been uphill the whole way and it's elevation so it's kind of hard to breathe but we're having a good time right guys yeah out there that metal that's there what that's where we were this morning so right now here's the anel Adams Wilderness here's Wilderness so I'm in anel Adams I'm in anel Adams yuse wilderness [Music] where there's the Marmet like bra as hell where is that Marmet oh there it is I'm not going to give it any kind looks like a seal oh with legs look a fat squirrel the heck is wrong with this thing there it goes we're 1160 verticle fet right now we've gone 2175 vertical feet today how much is our miles 4.32 that's the pass we just came from way up there at the top yeah it's called Rock pass see no it's not it's called D pass and now we're down here in the valley we're about to go up Island pass probably camp at uh Island Lake why not oh got a lot easier when we started on The Descent it's still not easy with a big Pat coming down uh just kind of jolting every time but we're kind of in the flats now it's gorgeous out here totally changes once you get past Don Hue pass like you look back up uh up at yosity it's totally different and then you look out here and this is just it's just a totally different landscape and look at that big old Peak right there I don't know what that is but it's awesome got marmots running around all over the place or as Dane refers to them as chubby beavers you just step in the water come back from the dead yes that is the trail that's covered in water yeah go right there this is a beautiful River here it comes down that Little Rock jump right there I was able to do it but it's a little too far for the boys and I want to break it an ankle so they Chuck their shoes across the river and now they're about ready to come across here we go it's just water cleanest stuff on Earth go you're fine look at look at Brock use your poles yeah I can't just feel it out dang it all right I'm not going stop uhoh here goes the Croc we going to get a little help let's go you can do it come on Dane let's go Dane's over here trying to find an alternate route good good good job dude good job dude almost 30 more feet go it's gorgeous Thousand Islands Lake we have to get there trying trying originally to get G that's like 2 miles away let's go bu 7:30 got hurry up get set up just wow it's gorgeous go a better over here yeah all this Lake over here this this is Emerald Lake we just passed Thousand Islands Lake and we got 17 miles to put in today to get to breads tonight so we can have some real food for dinner and uh some showers do some sleeping in a bed sleeping in a real bed real food real shower get that dirt off Dan's face sorry elevation thing but look at this it's like a wasteland of sequoia trees just uprooted um I can only assume this has to do with the water shortage o almost fell I mean this thing that's 15t tall right there these are huge old trees they're just dead so yeah that's not fun and we're coming up on a really pretty Lake Brock says he's our Scout cuz he likes to be in front wow that is pretty yeah look it looks like there's no water at all like I looked at it and I was like whoa It's a deep hole it is pretty all right guys we got to hit it all right I was justed we're coming up on gr Lake which is right here this is fantastic wow look at that looks a lot like Thousand Islands I know that is the worst Bridge ever I don't think it's the worst well we had I'm kind of thankful for it I'm thankful for it too what is there fish right down there who that's pretty cool this is crazy cool wow gorgeous I think this is prettier than the one in the Yim here we are across the bridge nice little pool here beautiful you got these awesome calls look at that that's crazy cool got a little canyon shoot all right we're about 12 miles in today on day five got about four or five miles left and uh I want get to Red Meadow come get the fatest cheeseburger I've ever seen in my life know the boys are feeling the same way all of that's all we can think about right now up and down up and down up and down all how you doing der there's Devil's post pile right there we're not going to walk up to him or anything but we're walking by him right now it's about 4:15 and honestly a burger is much more appealing than a bunch of hexagonal rocks here we are we're waiting for the try or the the tram to get us back to the trail head the shuttle we're starting the shuttle yeah we're starting uh day seven here um we're about 64 miles in and uh we plan on doing about 11 or so miles today and uh it'll be another 3 days before we uh we see civilization again um if you see behind me this is Red's Meadow this is not really civilization this is a civilization as far as we we had like the best Suite in the house we did but it was a good rest day we had some good meals now we're all packed up and ready to go and uh day seven getting over the hump day is Thomas it's a lava rock I know I don't know I'm going to sit down my this used to all be old Sequoia all the way up Mountain there in the background all the way around all the way up up there and all the way and they just had something a few years back called the rainbow fire and it killed them all knocked them all out so this is what's left big bunch of burnt tree stumps we've been hiking for about 8 and 1 half miles and about 3,000 ft of Earth and uh this is the view we got at the top this is the the John Mir Wilderness it's amazing really really [Music] [Music] [Music] cool how is your feet they hurt blister underneath there you always have to bring um what's it called fu yeah I don't even know if this stuff works it's day what seven eight eight eight and where are we headed uh small Lake small Lake and miles away all right so this is purple Lake even though it's blue and greenish and there's said to be pretty good fishing here with this mountain looks cool here we go a big 12 in Rainbow yeah about 12 in is it a rainbow oh think brown brown TR beening today let's watch the big fat Trout Run watch him run hold hold him like this hold him like this okay look it hold that's so hard okay we're going to let him go okay there it is Dan's first fish of the trip Rock you're going to get yours right now all right Rock's first TR out there you go nice job buddy I'm going to all right now we got to go hike again Lake Virginia we're about 4 and 1 half miles in on today we stopped for about an hour and 20 minutes to fish earlier at uh purple Lake now we're probably going to stop here for a little bit and fish too and eat some lunch [Music] [Music] [Music] it's about 8:38 in the morning we're breaking Camp here about to leave uh Squad Lake it's about 600 vertical feet underneath uh silver pass and that's 1.3 Mi away so hopefully we're there in about an hour this is our buddy Doug we met him on H day three when he lost a boot and uh we were hiking we caught up yesterday so we camp last night we're halfway up to pass about and that's uh the view of the lake we uh we spent the night out last night that's pretty cool all the mountains and everything surrounding got this uh pretty cool little Trail we're heading up but right now we're at 10,450 FT happy 4th of July everybody it's day nine and we're waiting on a elevation to get up here there he is if you can see him there bottom of your screen the baddest 10-year-old ever to rule these Trails here come Bron and D to the top of silver crass poing in the snow there they are up here that's where we came from yeah yeah ,900 ft oh yeah 1099 from here where are we all the way down there yep and then some and that's where we're going we're dropping down to like 7500 ft today from 10,900 we do not have resupply at vvr there goes Brock down long downhill and and here goes Dane this behind me is silver pass Lake I said silver pass Lake was up there but I was reading the map a little backwards it was uh a little lightheaded after going up 600 feet in uh yeah in a mile in quarter Rock and Dan are up ahead kind of skirted out on the downhill but uh wow man nine days anyways I wanted to break apart from the pack a little bit here and get some time to talk to Brock and D when they watch this later I couldn't be more proud of you guys man this is ridiculous last night we got to this Lake um squa Lake where we camp and uh I was pretty much tuckered out and we we got the tent set up and they were like let's go fishing let's go fishing so pulled out the tar rods and went out there and nothing was biting so Uncle Brad let me borrow a spinning reel and I put a little little lure on it and uh they had the best time doing that it was pretty cool just watching them run around the lake after 11.3 miles of hiking man the amount of energy holy smokes they're having such a good time together too giggling laughing but yeah I'm uh I don't know man this has just been pretty peaceful nine days I mean it's hard work but it's the right kind of hard work it's really I don't know know it's freeing I guess I mean look at this it's just the air is nice and brisk the skies are clear you know everything's just uh really good and we've been fortunate and blessed not to have to deal with any major injuries I mean Dane's got some blisters and Brock and DNE both have like a massive amount of bug bug bites on their legs I mean deep does only so much and uh I've got some Cuts made a stupid mistake yesterday trying to Whitt a little bit when I was tired and Chi my finger a little bit but this is H kind of what you see here that's Dane down there going down really just the wrong path as you can see this is the trail and if I let these guys get too far ahead sometimes they do this a little wandering bit but what why wouldn't you I mean I want to get close to that Lake too I mean being up here for 9 days is really giving me a chance to just like reflect on life and just how fortunate you know I am and my kids are and how how fortunate I am to have the wife and kids and family that I have and uh friends and business and stuff like that I mean you get so caught up in the wheel when you're back home that it just ends up being monotonous even though you're in the middle of such a great blessing it's really hard to see it you know you feel like I know things are going great but gosh I still feel black and out here I don't feel blah I feel great um first couple days I didn't feel so great but it's coming around now I feel feel like I got my trail legs now and things are great so anyways it's all you guys watching this I love you and uh to Shannon thanks for letting me take the kids out I know you were a little opposed to in the beginning 10 years old and 12 years old I mean that's we don't we haven't seen any other 10 or 12 year olds out here I mean I think we've seen one other 16-year-old and we probably ran into 3 or 400 people anyways very grateful today and uh we're headed into vvr celebrate 4th of July and uh yeah I'll give a give Shannon a call Theon night and talk for a little bit being an actual Diner here we are at vvr and uh we got a ride across the ferry today kind of off Trail and we ended up getting this room it's called The Boat House for obvious reasons wish we had this house we got but I'll let Brock take it over for now we got so you got a room called the room M room and here's a fridge here's a like really rare wedge wood white styled stove stove whatever this is stove sink sink couch bed whatever closet bathroom this is actually pull out duck that's actually a pull out bed right here pull out bed this whole thing is about 220 sare ft but and this is the nicest Suite I've ever had I've ever laid my eyes upon in my life even the roof look at there the the rooms don't even separate just they got fans going all night's actually Diamond chandelier there's a diamond chandelier look at that Dane said Diamond chandelier is a diamond chandelier so what's your favorite part of this trip so far well I like I like the camping at night and kind of remember how at Duck Creek Duck Creek Pass where we kind of just got there early and hung out for a while mhm I really like just hanging out at the campsite and stuff Reds was cool so what if we got a fishing boat tomorrow and went out in the middle of Lake took a zero day that would be like heaven like heaven yeah I I want to go on a boat I but the guys say that the fish in the Creek's better Cold Creek biger the lake the bigger the fish you said that that's true in a lot of instances there's probably bigger fish in this Lake you want to go after those sure all right this is uh day 10 we're taking a zero day today we might go hiking up by the uh the hot springs or yeah something we're getting all our bear can stuff together for the next 2 days before we get to uh MTR we should be uh at MTR on the afternoon of my and here's my face yeah I got to deal with that all we long I was playing J rubing I was was at first and I went [Music] playe off playe off going to die what just happened bouncing this is crazy who who I'm grabbing on something there we're bouncing like crazy start of day 11 and uh we uh just got the the ferry across uh Lake Edison over here and we're uh got about 11 and half miles going today get to uh Bear Creek so anyways we're about to start already prayed everything's good to go and uh let's make some good times guys it's uh we're about 11 and 1/2 miles into our day it's about 5 got about a mile and a half left to we got three of these uh these uh Rivers across BR the reason you put these shoes on is because you're just going to walk through the river why don't you just right in it's not that cold one out of three are almost complete hey right here right here it's high stay over here look at look at how high it is it's not good go over there you hey if you fall here you're going in there and I don't want to swim it's uh into day 11 it's uh 5:57 p.m. and uh we went 13.3 miles today and uh we finally got a campfire you can only build campfires out here in existing fire pits under 10,000 ft in this area so we're at about 9575 ft right now and uh we got our tent up and it's only uh like I said about 6 o00 we're just unpacking our stuff we got the uh um Bear Creek over here pretty cool man we caught a whole bunch of little fish today and you know with our fly rods tomorrow we actually uh go over Seldon pass it's the third major pass we went through Donahue pass then we went through a silver pass and now we're going to go through Seldon pass so that's three of seven we'll have down we're going to get into me trail Ranch tomorrow and uh probably take a zero day then so it's gorgeous out here we're having a good time uh tomorrow will'll be the halfway point which is pretty exciting and uh yeah hopefully we can fry up some trout or uh grow up some trout sometime here soon the morning of day 12 and uh we're headed into MTR today we just uh just got done uh waking up and we're trying to put all of our stuff away from sleeping we're done we should be reaching halfway point we're going to have to cross the river before we can start which is really cold just terrible this is Marie lake uh we're about 300 50 ft below the pass and uh the pass is right up there we are leaving Marie Lakes headed up over uh Seldon pass we're about 10,860 ft so I should be coming up here any second and there's the view heartless L this will be our third pass we went over Don Hugh then silver now this is Seldon pass it's at 10,900 FT congratulations guys it's our third pass cap and elevation now we're headed down to uh M Trail Ranch which will be just over halfway for some we're coming up on the the the Marmet there it goes running across and that's where I got my name cuz the kid said it look like a chubby beaver and then they called me chubby Beaver that's my trail name chubby Beaver hey let's go buddy today is day 13 we're here at uh Mir Trail Ranch well right now we're headed up to the hot springs but here's a kind of the ranch you got the horses over there got all the hikers over there getting all their stuff hello we're going to get warm these are the natural Hot Springs here oh that is hot nice and warm oh over there is where you're supposed to bathe got a little soap and all that stuff so we'll be doing that you got a little window out here look down at the river one down there is one of our cabins is not a picture pretty [Music] awesome that is hot dang so this is kind of the top of the campground you can see the river down there as it goes through and you've got uh the lounge area which is its own separate cabin coming here and this is kind of where people hang out at night and we'll come up here and check it out tonight after dinner little General Store over here so guy sits back there and does all the reservations and then basically that's all they sell just basically your bare necessities and this is the uh the area over here where people are either trading food or you know cleaning out their baskets or buckets and refilling their bear cans and these are all the little cabins they have I'm wearing cabin number five right down here Little Brook River coming through you kind of come in and check it out got basically just a little cabin how's it feel to be halfway done it feels like I'm only halfway done like we still have to do like this again yeah we do and and the second half the second half is harder exactly hey look who it is I killed the fly I killed the fly good for you I am one of those Ninja Warriors so Dane how does it feel to be halfway good good all right M Trail Ranch all the horses are going up for dinner or something they look pretty excited where where are they going oh just go out there and graze and they come back uh so they stay out all night just gra and sleep the beginning of uh day 14 and this is where we start the second half of our trick trip track trip whatever um draw me a trail we hit the halfway point PE pass Hine Creek Pass draw your Wilderness silver sign it's magic it's a plastic sign it's magic plastic sign not as good as the wood one I'm happy we don't have to cross this and we got a big Target Bridge King Canyon's naal Park King's Canyon National Park 40 lb C down and there is the waterfall of milk one boot there's one boot or the singularity bet that boot was like two lbs you don't have a tra name yet do you Phoenix oh you're Phoenix what's yours I'm cap cap that's good elevation and then that's elevation that's chubby Beaver down there what what's what is he chubby Beaver chubby Beaver Mar Phoenix I got that pool right there that's just swirling around that's cool probably a fish that Som live this day yeah [Music] today's uh day 15 it's about I don't know what time is it 10:00 in the morning and uh we decided to sleep in a little bit cuz we're only going to go about 10 miles today up about 2,000 ft to Wanda Lake and then tomorrow we're going to Summit uh Mir pass or uh go over Mir pass St to fish a little bit today gardener snake here running away through the grass almost stepped on that little garer snake dude oh they bite you no they don't they don't bite coming up on Evolution Lake North for at 10,000 890 ft or so we got about another 500 ft to climb in another three miles till we get to where we're going to camp tonight W Lake this is the uh Far souths Side of uh Evolution Lake you see the Falls coming down up here and going all the way in the lake down around there that it goes on along way it's a big pretty Lake hey guess what look at danne's face he was crying he was crying yeah a while why were you crying Bud best case scenario [Music] [Music] got a new friend his name is JJ his Trail name is his Trail name is Pig p cuz he always dirty let's go see some ice like the water turned ice you see like a giant pile of snow down here uh Grandma wheezy's wheezy's actual name is Wanda Louise so this is her Lake all right it's the 16th day I think it's uh July 11th and uh it's about 8:50 a.m. we've already been in about a mile and uh we're going to head up there to uh me pass right there I'm excited I want to see Mir H Here We Go There It Is wow there's Mir pass Hut I think that's what it's called and that's where we came from 11,965 wow wow down inside check this there's Dane it blast up the snow it does yes oh yeah Dane Dan where you go buddy you got LeBron James wow oh that bad SM really bad in there yeah like awful that's me at the top of your pass we're at 11,965 FT right behind me you can see the Hut up on top of your path you look all the way back behind me down there kind of where we came from right back in there that is where we're going right down in there right down over the hills and down through that Canyon that's not rock on that's pretty [Music] dble [Music] [Music] [Music] so this is where we're going to stop and have lunch [Music] today all right we got Brock the tadpole Hunter [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it's day 17 we got up about 6 o' this morning broke camp and we're heading we got to get to the top of uh the golden staircase um by 12 between 12 and 1 and that's still like 3 mil away to the bottom and uh it's about 1, 1600 ft up and a mile and a half to Lower paliside Lake so we're booking it right now here we go got a waterfall let's jump in now just kidding El the top of the golden staircase all right let's go this is lower Palisade Lake there actually some fish in there lower Palisade Lake 8 Miles and 4 hours and 39 or 4 hours and 18 minutes that's average of 1.9 mph watch this uphill yep we went up 2684 ft and now we're just waiting for our resupply hold butt man I wouldn't I got two of the best Partners around there's no way I thought we were going to make it I thought we were be here at 1 130 great job dude a guitar great job Danner look at that b right over there we we are measuring our packs out to see who who's got the heaviest and Brock's got it by a little Dane's got the second heaviest JJ's got the third heaviest then it's a tie I think a toss up between these two guys over here Doug and John and then Yours Truly we're headed up there today over ma pass if you Noti we got about 1,400 ft to get there and then we're going down about 2,000 ft and up 1,000 ft 12 mile day how's that sound it sounds good before we get too much farther in here guys all right d you want free sure thank you for paring us for the last um 18 days on this Trail thank you for letting us be successful in this hike we thank you for protecting us and not letting dad hurt his ankles and Lord please protect us for today and uh keep us all healthy and full of energy let us get to our spot tonight find a good campsite and have fun in the process in your name amen amen all right guys all right get to the top of M path boys are already up here they resupplied yesterday so I packed pretty that was hard work fell what's up guys huh so what's up that was not easy yeah all right there's where we came from there's where we're going to totally different landscape look at that over every pass it changes like down there it looks kind of like a color colado yeah and then up here this looks like Mars so we're down from M pass about 500 ft that was right up there took those switchbacks they right over there and then all the way across over here and then back down here and now we're uh at 11,600 or so and uh come up on the boys this was lunch today hello how's it going guys how's it going Doug had a little peanut butter and jelly these guys over here are doing fancy stuff with some mac and cheese in there that Valley way way down there is where we're going and then we're headed back up to Lake margerie it's uh Day Day 18 and uh it's been uh a good couple days but my boots are really kind of broken down you can see how I'm kind of wearing them down on the inside which I'd never break shoes in that way for some reason I think that maybe just the combined weight of the packs and uh and then all the um other stuff being 300 lb on top of these These Boots um probably just made them break down a little bit more but anyways I mean all in all like this trip has been kind of a a metamorphosis like you start off off and you're tired and day two was really long and then you know trying to get your head back in the game and and stuff like that it's a it's a lot of physical you know uh strenuous stuff but I think now uh I'm starting to get to the point where I'm not uh I don't feel like I'm constantly in need of getting somewhere quick um I and I fought that a lot in the beginning of this trip is trying to trying to relax and just kind of go where we go and instead of having like destinations we had to go to too I think that getting our our last resupply yesterday kind of helped that because I don't have to worry about uh whether or not you know we have food you know that's going to arrive on that that day and we're not going to be there and they're going to leave so we're already resupplied for the rest of the trip and I feel like today I'm just a lot more uh lowkey and it's uh it's enjoyable we're here right by a little river and um headed up to go to Lake Margery today it's been a weird trip for me I mean just the the freeing experience of being away from everything all the technology you know cell phones work you know all the the pushes and pulls of everyday life like here it's just kind of get up and work hard you know and uh sometimes that's cool and sometimes it's it's a little bit more but all in all I mean I'm I'm super glad I did this this is the first real big trip that I've ever done um I've done some little backpacking trips here and there but I mean I did you know I did my work six months of research and stuff like that and especially with two younger kids but the reality is I I think that just getting away away from the grind kind of resets your mind it's total reset and uh I hope that I can hold on to this when I go back you know where I can still be a little bit more free with my time and not be uh so uptight I think yeah I think that has a lot to do with just the fact that I'm always thinking about what I got to do and out here I didn't have to do that and especially over the next 5 days and I really pray that that in the next 5 days I get the chance to just really just just take it all in because it's just gorgeous and watch my kids in act and uh you know watch them have have fun and and enjoy the the scenery and stuff but this is uh this has been a really one of the toughest things I've ever done uh going all the way back to December or January when I started planning it but just on J on June 26 when we started like being able to to to get through those first couple days and and to you know I don't know to make a a a conscious decision that we're just going to keep going and we've all had our issues blisters on the feet and backpacks that were too heav heavy and chafing and you know pulled muscles and stuff like that I mean we're dirty as dirty can get i' I don't think I've ever been this dirty before but wearing the same shirt that I've worn for like the last 10 days um but you know what I mean it's just it's it's awesome the one thing that I that I will say is that you do start to miss the people that matter most to you like my wife and uh my other two kids you know it's been uh yeah it's it's been hard you get a little homesick and uh missing them and I get to talk to on the sa phone every once in a while and so the kids but we'll we done in 5 days uh 5 and a half days and uh it'll be cool to be home but uh for the most part here man this you know I could do this for another three or four weeks and and be real happy Dane just had caffeine and some little and some lemonade so he's ready to charge we don't give the kids caffeine at home very much but there he goes yeah he had caffeine and now he's out of control JJ and D two packs and now they lost it dude after this cine wears off you're going to be so tired that's a whole black of orange lemonade cine where's your phone why you got a bloody nose I want to see what I look like what' you fell on your nose he fell on his nose he he had so much caffeine he ran full speed down the hill flipped over his stking Bol and flew through the air and hit face first onto the ground now he has a blood nose peanut butter and he likes peanut butter he's laughing back there D the caffeine wear off Nevers off not for JJ no way pancakes is going to have caffeine all the way CA pancakes Dane what about you you can I more for [Laughter] you are you laughing or crying oh and leaping like a frog oh no Cathy never wore off I guess oh gosh scary rossing oh my God oh my God me help he get away from you scar me man this is scary good morning it is the morning of the 19th day which is the 14th of July and there's Brock and there's Dane over there they're a little bit slow to get going in the morning just kind of Chill on the Rock letting the mosquitoes eating them this is our kitchen we're going to make some breakfast here in just a minute and this is the view this cool little Lake right here kid caught kids caught a whole bunch of trout last night on it surrounded by all these gorgeous mountains and everything we're headed about 10 12 miles today going over Pino pass about a th000 ft up about 2 miles from here and uh this is our group Big John already went up ahead so checking in it's up there somewhere I feeling it's around the left now pinch o our SL hey 12130 pincho he only did that 12 I got it that's what I'm saying right there head it down from pincho pass check all those little Lakes down there got about 3500 ft to descend in the next 6 seven miles and uh then we'll make a decision from there what we want to do who's going first this go ahead two three four five six seven seven here we go here we go feel like the edge is not the Edge 2 three 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 oh to the other side 11 to the other side this side hello here bro there's Dan there he goes oh it's a good skipper there three go I got a feeling for this one got a feeling for this one lots of skeers around here [Laughter] up over it's one at a time guys one at a time wait till we get all the way across I know all right here comes D or Brock go now it's wobbly I made it wobbly this is our campsite for the night this is the most crowded campsite we've had since we came our fire we're starting Doug's tent John and JJ's tent down beyond that I think you guys can see that there's other people camp down there it's right by the suspension bridge we got Brock and Dane and JJ in here playing uh Jen Ry and uh yeah so that's what's going on and then we got over here we got our fire going over here this is the last night we get a get a chance to have a fire cuz we're going to be above elevation for the rest of the trip so we got four more days with no fire and then uh here's the Moon looks like we're going to have close to a 3/4 moon this is what camp looks like at night got the kids got the tents sitting around a campfire hanging out it's day 20 we just rote camp about 8:30 driv was about 6:45 this morning headed to Ray Lake trying to get there early like 41 or so or noon so we can fish it's still fun but I am kind of looking more and more forward to a hot shower and a soft bed to sleep in and the first padded seat I sat in in probably 10 days tweaked my ankle a little bit yesterday therez my dumb boot but all in all it's a pretty been a pretty spectacular trip we're here at Dollar Lake watching the fish jump out of the water what do you have for R 1.9 you have 1.9 yeah I have 2.9 I hope it's 1.9 I think all look at that look at the fish jumping out of the leg jumping I think they're TR they're jumping up trying to catch the the Flies on top of the water like they see them outside the water and they're they're like trying to that's weird see look at this hey look at this these these fish look at these fish hey they're jumping out and they're trying to catch the flies that are flying over the water woo that one did that was a triple Luts isn't this part of Ray Lakes too though that's pretty cool hold on I wish we at 99.99 Brock hold up our bag of fish for the camera that's dinner tonight baby it's a lot of dinner if you feel like a little bite at the end that looks like a bite re there you go there you go pull it in oh yeah fish on yeah he does he's got a fish on hold it up hold it up oh it's too small losing his mind still the C is wearing out here's Dane um stop don't worry you cannot see your video pictures KN there's a Temple up there you see that Temple way up there awesome Temple hello everything is good a set it's so big it looks like it's from e [Music] day 21 remaining in our journey I didn't know how to say remaining in Spanish but anyways we got like a 13 14 M today and a 16 M tomorrow and a 15 or 16 M to finish get down to Whitney portal and see the fam there's the switchbacks right there they kind of go up up up up right there all the way up and way up there at the Top If you can see there's some people top that's the top of the path Glen path and down there you'll see like one big lake there and one big lake down there there's an island right in the middle and we camped right on the other side of that island and now we're coming to the top Glen pass 11,939 ft so far there we go are all right now we come up over [Music] it this is a skinny pass at a tight rope oh look at down there Dad yeah that looks like a steep descent it's a decent descent that is the bluest Lake I've seen so far on this trip I'm going to call it Blue Lake looks like uh my wife's favorite color little teal aquamarine kind of color gorgeous like this Lake we're going to come all the way down go down in there that's crazy we are yeah look at that mountain over there it looks kind of like half dome in the front not really but kind of big piece of [Music] granite there's a buck up there looks like he's hurt like a broken leg you can see him kind of hobbling he is look at him you see him yeah maybe we kicked some butt today today was our best day I think we went uh 14.3 miles and had like 4480 ft of um you know vertical ascent and then like 2600 ft of descent so we're here uh at this last Lake before we uh go up over the pass tomorrow and uh then we're going to be on for anywhere from 16 to 18 miles between here and guitar Lake I'm uh pretty stoked this has been a a huge Challenge and I know that for all of us it's been a huge challenge but just to be able to to be here I kind of have the like the excitement of uh just achieving it you know we're like every step we take from here is like that much closer so I I can't really explain it all that much it's just really cool to be this high this far along day 22 it is 7:20 in the morning we've been up since 6:30 just trying to repack all our bags and stuff and get everything in the right cans and uh we're going to Summit uh Forester here in about probably an hour and a half or so got about 300 ft and right down there is where we camped last night there's a little snow field over there there's some like spots you can see that are kind of carved out for camping um that's where we stayed and then over here's the lake we gotten filtered water from so look at this we're headed up uh pass right now Forester pass and it's a it's almost to the top you can see all the mountains in the background back there I mean we can see over everything almost that's the pass right up there seoa national park for to Pass elevation 13,200 don't fall down back there all right so you saw where we've been now you get to see where we're going look at that God's country well we're coming down from uh Forester pass and uh just this kind of long gradual kind of Trail in the middle of a valley it's just kind of rocks and a little bit of foliage but it's kind of sad right now like walking down out of here like the scenery is just it's gorgeous it's totally different than anything we've seen so far but it's just it was a lot of work man to get to the top of those Peaks you know and uh 22 days plus tomorrow so 23 total days you know to come out and basically just give yourself to something completely you know and that doesn't count the months of prep beforehand but it's just uh anytime something like that ends you have a kind of just a feeling of I don't know just a little sadness but I'm also excited to be done I've never in my entire life Taken 3 weeks out of my life to come be in a place like this where I can kind of take all my emotions and the things that I do and my reactions to things and boil them down to some basic you know uh you know core flaws and uh one of mine is that I think that a lot of times I end up getting a little bit too emotionally involved before I either have researched all the facts or know all the things that I need to know or um have given it time to kind of simmer down and settle down but the other thing that I think that I'm going to focus on and that I'm glad that I came here and learned was just to take some time and look around you know don't be in such a hurry all the time cuz I'm always always always in a hurry so um I'd like to slow down a little bit and just be more in the moment and more more involved with the people that I'm with at that moment you know about my kids I'm proud more than proud I mean I don't I don't even know what to what to say it's it's uh it's not even Pride it's I stopped being proud of them like day five you know and then it just became Amazed by them they're carrying heavy weight for their for their size and they just enjoyed this you know they all had their moments but they enjoyed this and they really stood up to this and didn't really complain too much just as time went on I became more and more kind of amazed you know by them and their resiliency their ability to do things they didn't even know they they knew how to do I mean Dane has literally not fallen on the water one time out of all these Crossings I mean I've accid accidentally stepped in the water twice Brock you know has fallen in the water a couple times uh but he's just really quick on his feet he's also super witty super smart um and very caring and all those things you know are uh are great I think that if there's one thing that I think he learned about himself this trip it was uh he has it in him I am super proud and impressed and Amazed by just how awesome he's done out here and then Brock Brock kind of maybe learned how to take himself a little bit less seriously I think Brock learned that um you know out of everything he doesn't have to really care about you know whether or not he looks funny when he does something it it's it's about the fact that he's going out and doing it and he needs to be secure enough in that to just continue with it you know if he believes in it enough he needs to just go do it the other thing is Brock is Uber competitive I mean Uber Uber competitive and sometimes that's a win I mean in a lot of way places that really gives you an edge um unfortunately in relationships it ends up being more of a you know more of a silent killer because you find yourself constantly at odds with you know the other person trying to one up them or you know whether it's a friendship or a relationship in the future but I think out here he realized that he didn't have to be all the time kind of let his guard down there at the end he had a you know a real smile he was really laughing at things he really thought were funny and it was just cool to see kind of that outer outer shell that careful cautious kind of person that he that he is sometimes kind of shed away after the first couple days and he really became a really cool dude and uh yeah I'm proud of him so both my boys they just uh absolutely utterly astonished me this trip I didn't know if we were going to make it I still don't know if we're going to make it we still got uh till tomorrow I'm about 28 miles or something like that but um I have faith that we are and been it's been a journey and I think that uh I had to do all over again yeah I think that uh I would do it the exact same way all right we got our first glimpse of Whitney one of these Peaks right up here is Whitney I don't know which one it is I'm going to guess it's the one over here to the right Guitar Lake okay right over there there's Doug there's a whole bunch of neighbors check that out 18.13 mi today 1.7 mph and that includes all breakes man that's our biggest longest day by about 7 miles and that was after we did 14 and something yesterday and a whole bunch of elevations so guys hey proud of you there's Mount Whitney we're Camp down here at Guitar Lake there's Dane over there JJ Brock's in the tent getting changed there's Guitar Lake we're going to get up at 5: in the morning and uh make this happen so yeah Mount Whitney here we come tomorrow last day here we are fre to rock and roll Trail you see down there that Lake that looks like a guitar see that green SP right to it right you were right there this morning rock and Dan through the ice wall getting to the top of Whitney they should fall that's where they go I can't can't keep up with them that's ridiculous running up the mountain at 14,500 ft all this from the top of Whitney wow [Music] [Music] we made it 212 [Music] miles yeah baby what an Epic Journey let's go into it's warm the warm lightning proof Whitney tent thing in myber here's Dane here's a beat up ceiling here's brick walls here's the wood floors and here's dad welcome to the shelter here here yay all right hey guys I want you to know how seriously how proud I am of you this was a big big undertaking I mean this is huge I don't I don't know any other kids your age that could have done it and I'm super proud to be your dad praise God holy smokes this was just an unbelievable 22 days and some odd hours tell your TR buby woo all right all right we're about a mile away from Whitney portal mom which is where where what Dan what's Whitney portal portal to what is that Whitney portal bur Mom oh it's been a long 23 days long I'm not sure what I think about it right now I'm not sure what it feels like you did it you did it so I'm so proud of you see that I'm so proud of you I didn't see you how were you look at youn hello so proud of you guys conratulations thank you hello sers look at those baby hey come here kid can I take off my I think you got more muscle let me get a picture stop right here my pict that was a tiny bit of C came [Music] is this thing on
