Plan to Backpack Camp Dolly Sods? Watch This First! Howling Coyotes and Getting Lost at Lion's Head!

that was incredible i have chills all over my body when a bear just climbs up there and takes our food it's probably about two and a half miles but in reality it's probably seven that's right because we're not good at this but we're learning and we're taking you with us hit that like and subscribe onward [Music] the what you gotta kick your foot out oh [Music] oh i forgot to press record now you do it again are you ready dear oh we must be sure there's no turning back once we're off the door leave your message here on the telephone cause we've no idea when we're coming home we just came to our first intersection on the hike we've been hiking for about a half an hour we're at one mile one and one tenth mile so we're not even that far in and this intersection our junction is a little more uh there are more paths than we expected we're gonna continue on straight but we definitely recommend printing out a map it's in waterproof ziploc bag also waterproof shoes the trail this entire time thus far has been wet soggy our feet like maybe like halfway up have been submerged quite a dozen times waterproof shoes and a compass we brought one it's not the most trusty it happens to be on danielle's tripod otherwise we don't have one so come piss it out we're professionals trust us i mean so far the signs aren't bad they're not the best like everybody else says there are no trail blazes but it's definitely a beautiful hike so once you get to this point we are exactly four miles in so depending on your gps tracker or your watch keep looking for around four miles and you'll get to this point aubry makes the best protein balls in the world very good quick oats i use coconut almond butter um maple i can actually put the recipe for this in a link or description below they're awesome and then i get the whole salt flakes um i'm sorry like the little cubes of salt not like regular table salt and you hit a pocket of just salty chocolate chippy goodness slap so hard yeah yeah yeah [Music] [Music] we just walked like not even 20 feet off the trail and there are these beautiful campsites all along the trail we keep saying that's a nice sight that's a nice light look at this fire ring it's like perfect they're pine needles to make your tent sleeping area nice and soft a lot of room for a nice hammock some of them have like rock chairs this one even has a retaining wall it's like the nicest campsite it's protected from the wind and the rain it's great back here we're home for the night we just found a camp spot we're gonna have a little snickers cheers would we do like almond butter 23 000 steps i think it's a little over 10 miles right yes yeah so it's three o'clock we've been hiking since roughly nine o'clock we found a great spot right by this creek and right when we were starting i don't say we're losing hope but we really needed water so we stopped and grabbed water and we just needed to find a camp spot and we passed a few that were already taken so this spot is beautiful we're surrounded by pine trees there's there's rock chairs we're gonna set the tent up if we have a hammock it's gonna be great get some dinner here cheers honey good job since we don't have a hamburger i grabbed a rock to pound on our steaks [Music] foreign this is by far one of the nicest campsites we've ever stayed at i don't think i'm gonna leave this hammock for a while so relaxing it is well worth the 10 11 mile hike on the way in from bare rocks trailhead to this campsite tomorrow morning we shouldn't have too far of a hike on our way up to lion's head i'm going to make some dinner aubry's collecting firewood which a lot of the firewood is pretty damp so she's on quite a mission to try out her new flynn steel we'll see if she gets one started i think she can do it [Music] we need more like like twigs and and straw like things that will just like catch fire everything's wet that aren't wet yeah everything's wet yeah but you can still do it i believe in you keep going i'm trying to get this little stick on fire and then have a little nest of stuff for it to start smothering and then we can have a fire because i cut down a tree put some elbow grease into it there you go get it get it get it get it who got the fire started i got five started that's very michael scott [Music] good job babe honey look at that fire yes now we need something to put on it three bean chili mac for me chicken alfredo pasta babe is that good for you yeah that sounds great babe yeah there we go just breaking her in oh my god if we fall move on it'll be pretty funny i'm sorry i'm is [Music] i don't think we're gonna make it up too much later food bag rope we're gonna go hang our bear bag this is not a professional knot that's an anchor knot [Music] hey awesome job good job babe that's my boo bungled up and now look at it what are you doing this is like the 2020 political presidential election show are you sure that's a good night so i tie my lures when a bear just climbs up there and takes our food we've never had to tie our food up in a tree we probably should have but we didn't [Music] we are very tired this has been a beautiful beautiful day amazing campsite aubry's a little bummed she can't keep her fire burning but to be fair everything here is wet like all of the dead trees are wet we snap some branches that were basically dead but still in the trees we're using fat wood it's none of it's staying lit so one thing we forgot was a lighter this is all you get 10 5 minutes of a [Music] fire good morning [Music] to all our viewers out there you're right this hat never comes off [Music] i feel like we slept for like 12 hours last night we were exhausted we went to bed as soon as it got dark the creek babbling right next to our campsite helped us sleep just it this is such a nice campsite so if you come to dalysads this was just our first night so we pushed a little harder we hiked about 10 10 and a half miles maybe to this point and we're really close to lion's head so we're going to hike on this morning check that out just enjoy the day i think we're going to cram try to cram in another 10 miles so at the end of our hike we only have a couple like three miles on the way out so this morning we're gonna make some oats aubrey's getting strawberry i'm gonna go for a banana first time trying these so we'll see how they are a little strawberry breakfast seal that up for five minutes and breakfast is ready these patagonia meals are pretty expensive same with the other ones that we bought at rei so you could actually just bring a little bag of oatmeal and then pour the water inside the bag of oatmeal and stir it up and that's like 25 cents per pack versus this is probably like six dollars per pack so that's a good way to keep cheap food on the trail i've seen people eat spam ramen noodles you can really get creative what you bring out here as long as it's lightweight and heavy in carbs we normally don't eat this many carbs like this bag alone has 42 carbs but we're going to be hiking so much we need carbs on carbon carbs on carbs i already like the other breakfast meal better because this is too high maintenance i like being able to cook it in the bag but i'm gonna shut off my fuel just to save it let it sit for nine minutes patagonia you need to add more sugar to your oats this is america we like our sugar we just figured out why aubrey's taste so much better in this entire bag there's only 16 grams of sugar and her entire bag there's what 45 45 45 grams of sugar this needs a little something we're using the sawyer water filtration system i don't know if you can see this but the water is still a little bit red and to be honest it tastes a little bit like pennies but i think it's fine aubry's a little skeptical of it but when you make breakfast with it or make coffee you can't taste it at all so we've been drinking it just filter it first because there's some nasty foam floaties in the river the only thing we regret not bringing bagged tea like decaf tea because it would be really nice to drink something hot at night and it doesn't weigh anything and then you can burn the paper a lighter because we only brought our flint and steel and this might sound a bit extreme but having a saw would be really nice we have like this teeny little hand saw that's part of our like cat hole shovel is there anything you wouldn't bring um your makeup bag no extra clothing more snacks really your snickers weren't enough aubrey said bring extra snacks it is really nice to have like a snickers bar after a long day of hiking and the other thing i always think we brought the bare minimum of clothing but i feel like we always pack too much because i'm gonna wear the same clothing that i've been wearing because we're already dirty aubry's yelling that we should have brought werther's original i think we're gonna do another 10 with lion's head being really close so i think we'll probably hike about two get there check out the scenery and then head another eight miles up the um trail to uh our next camping spot [Music] if you like the look of the camp that we stayed at we just walked like 10 paces and saw we're right at the junction it's right before the junction of big stone coal and duncan barger so right to the left right before that this sign was right about 10 paces ahead of our camp so right before that on the left is right where we stayed so one of the reasons why we're on this hike right now is for our four-year wedding anniversary aubry treated me to a really nice resort one weekend and i'm treating her to the wilderness and as part of that and this is a great idea if you are hiking with someone and you just want to get to know them better or just to pass the time when you're on the trail i printed out the new york times 36 questions to fall in love with someone so we've been asking each other these questions and what number are we on i think four no we already did that one five six yeah if you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30 year old for the last 60 years of your life what would you want that is so pretty this trail is like changes constantly it's like you're on the plane with this beautiful view on the top of a mountain you get down in the valley and it looks tropical with a bunch of rhododendron bushes and a beautiful waterfall [Music] so we're on rocky point trail and we're looking for there's supposed to be a little spur trail that juts up to lion's head trail and i think we may have passed one but we just ran into a really nice couple that said it looks like this might be one so you can kind of see there's a worn path and there's really no marking though so we're gonna give it a try and see if this is it this goes up let's do this then let's do what keep going going up yeah but there aren't it doesn't look like what we're looking for it looks like more just foliage all the like foreseeable up that doesn't look like an actual outcropping of rock oh honey it's like up though i'm gonna guess we're going the right way because there's this little can here kind of telling us to continue and there's one here it's a pretty steep climb yeah with these packs on too you gotta be really careful because your center balance is off so you don't go backwards would you recommend sticks oh yeah these are big time for me they help a lot twice yesterday i almost fell and like right last minute i could put this down and use it to catch my balance otherwise i'd be super muddy three or four cans like clustered and you follow that trail down and then just look for cares like there's a bunch of different trails i think they all take the same place okay [Music] [Applause] if you make it up here and you find the trail there's some really beautiful campsites look right over here a lot drier too but you downside no water i don't always like the lounge when i'm looking for lion's head but when i do i like to do it on my stone couch this is a sweet campsite lighter up after you come up from the trail you're gonna see a series of campsites in a field there's not a really clearly defined trail through that field but just keep walking through these tall beautiful trees and you'll see campsite after campsite to you what it looks like you're coming to the edge of those tall beautiful trees and you'll start finding these cairn outcroppings there's a couple different trails that have them but this one has four so i think that's telling us this is the main trail you want to be on five let's go watch it'll just lead us back down [Music] okay no matter what you do don't ever give up because we just searched for at least what 40 45 minutes yes looking for these cairns currents and if care ran and if you go the wrong way you're in these woods and you're like where the heck am i i don't see a trailer path there are several camping spots and there's a big field of wildflowers to your left you go to the end of that and turn go to the right as much as you can and if you're in a wooded area with like a piney soft fern looking floor you've gone the wrong way so make sure you find the cairns and you'll be walking over rocky area and then all of a sudden there's this viewpoint where you see lion's head and it felt so rewarding it did and then you follow another the storm is on our heels we didn't have the easiest time finding this but we ended up finding it other people found it really easily but they also came from a different direction so depending on which direction you come and if you really want to find it you'll find yourself here and trust me it is absolutely worth it it is breathtaking up here looks just like a lion's head awesome so we just ran into a few couples and it seems like everyone was taking different routes up here it seems like there are two ways up here and i would highly recommend downloading the all trails app because it shows exactly not not just the main trails but the trails up to lion's head which for us we only have a map we don't have any gps or anything like that so it's been really challenging but someone recommended all trails that he showed us his map and it shows two ways up to lion's head so that is probably super helpful we didn't have that that's why we spent 45 minutes over in the wooded section where the ferns are growing and all that so we're going to try to go down a different way than we came to kind of cut off the corner and head back to toward the forks and we're going to find a spot to camp we just came down from lion's head that trail is very tucked away i guess we're going to continue down this and hit the main trail rocky point trail danielle and i camped here this morning we found a trail that led up to what we showed you guys so we are still in rocky point but we cut off that corner we're over here now do you any advice on finding your way down though if it looks wrong it probably is a lot of people online were complaining that trails aren't marked and all that but it's actually fun if you look at it like it's kind of like the geocache app like you're looking you're looking for clues so if there's moss on rocks if there is some kind of fungus on rocks that means people haven't been walking on it so don't go that way yeah definitely stick to the more worn out looking rocks you can kind of tell there's almost like a dirt pattern on them so yeah and then look for these there aren't that many and they aren't that good but keep an eye out [Music] i couldn't find exactly on a map where the forks area is it's supposed to be some of the best camping in this in this whole loop and we just crossed a pretty decent sized creek and i think we're at the forks so we came from lion's head which is somewhere in here we hiked up here and i believe this is the forks area it should be there are probably a dozen tents here so it's a super popular area but we're going to continue on because we want our hike out tomorrow morning to be relatively short is oh how would you rate this hike thumbs up thumbs down okay out of 10. [Music] i think we need to stop and grab water and snack have not taken a break since we are at the top of lion's head so it's been taxing we're taking a little break close to dobbin grade and then we're gonna cut off and head to raven ridge because if you continue on dobbing grade we just ran into some folks who know the trail pretty well and they said dobbin grade is like waist high they said dobbing grade is like waist high marsh water so we definitely don't want to deal with that today we're gonna fill up our water because we think where we're camping tonight won't have a water source or we won't be sleeping next to a creek a lot of what i read said don't wear hiking boots i think i would not want to be wearing just like my trail running shoes right now because they're just like big ankle breaker rocks today we spent a lot of time on a trail that was just like ankle breakers for at least it felt like two miles it's so crazy because on this route this 22-23 mile route the terrain changes so often i think that's the best part of all this in one minute you're in the pines and it's cool and beautiful and the next minute you're in this just grassy it just it's amazing and then you're kind of scrambling we are bouldering today or scrambling scrambling bouldering scrambling we're climbing up big rocks i think we both need to eat we need to drink we've been in the sun all day but my whole point is to say definitely i would recommend boots my boots are waterproof yeah my feet are sweating but i'm so much more comfortable in these than i would be in trail runners [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] my biggest tip right now is if you feel tired if you're getting hungry and you need to stretch your body stop and do that because we got to a point that was just way too far we didn't take a break we didn't eat anything and we weren't drinking enough water and it just you lose the ability to really enjoy the present moment when you're taken out of it with pain and hunger so do that but now we just stopped at the creek right behind the sign we were on upper creek trail and we're making a right on dauvin and then dobbin is the one that's supposed to be very marshy very like hard terrain to go through because it's so wet so we're gonna jet off that we're gonna jet off and go left up we forget so we crossed the creek right here is where we rinsed got water and that sign that i was standing by you guys telling you all the good bits and news and then we're going to jet off into raven ridge up here and then tomorrow morning we're going to camp somewhere right here all we have left is this right here it's probably about two and a half miles but in reality it's probably seven that's right because we're not good at this but we're learning and we're taking you with us hit that like and subscribe oh i forgot to press record now you do it again yes i did you gotta kick your foot up anyway what do you mean and you go like this on the top so squishy i guess one of the big disadvantages to not having to have a permit is if you hike all day and you wait until after around 3 pm most if not all of the good camp spots are going to be taken so we push through with the power of teamwork positivity and i was getting a little anxious because it's probably an hour until starts to get dark we found this little piney area and a really nice couple's behind us and unfortunately the spot that we found that was open because we passed a lot of spots that were not open because someone already had set up camp there's garbage i actually just picked it up so whoever left their can of chunky soup i'm coming for you just kidding i'm not but take it with you better leave no trace but we're gonna hustle to set up camp cook some dinner probably not gonna hang up the hammock tonight although i think we should because it's our last night well it's either hammock or fire and i'm taking off these nasty shoes cause they are squishy the single most important thing that we packed a salty and sweet snickers for after a really long day tonight for dinner mushroom risotto [Applause] and spicy chili it actually looks really really good i'm pretty sure it's lit babe i think i think you need to eat honey you're hungry time to breathe to retire it's 6 15 p.m it's not it's 8 30 and we are beat with considering lion's head we probably did around 12 or more miles today and so we are very exhausted and we are ready for bed so good night if you enjoyed this video which we hope you did please subscribe like and get notifications we can be your new bestest of friends we'd like that and if you saw some things you liked this video or didn't like we're always down for some constructive criticism and some viewer feedback so please leave a comment interact with us we love hearing from you and uh hopefully we'll catch you on the next adventure but thanks for watching this one you say good night to camera good night camera [Music] [Music] so it's our last morning on the trail we woke up at about 6 30 as the sun was coming up some of the squirrels and the trees woke us up i think they were like hissing at us but this morning we had some coffee just a quick protein bar that's our squirrel friend and we're gonna hit the trail and we're not quite sure exactly how many miles we have left but we did a lot the last two days because we wanted to get out of here early because we have a pretty decent drive home so we're gonna pack up the rest of this and get going this is a double nest hammock it's amazing it can hold both of us it beats sitting on rocks on pine it is so nice after a long day of hiking to sit on this it seriously is the best luxury item it's a very quick setup too super quick setup we bought these two straps lightweight lightweight straps these are 150 pounds each so between the two of us we won't tell you how much we weigh but it supports us this is how small it packs down i'd say it only weighs maybe maybe two pounds it's really really nice totally worth packing it was an amazing trip we're still trying to talk a little bit more quietly because there's campers somewhat near us both campsites were amazing the trail was beautiful i highly highly recommend this hike and for us to do it on our anniversary it was a wonderful opportunity to get away from the daily distractions and just be with each other and talk and do something challenging and push one another but also just be able to bond and really reflect on their last four years of marriage and it was wonderful the diversity of the terrain here is amazing this has been overall a beautiful hike it really makes me appreciate west virginia in a different way so just go out there find your adventure and uh thanks for coming along on this one with us and remember it's an adventure don't get frustrated if you can't figure out your way just be prepared have a map make sure it's waterproof yeah be safe yeah and if it starts to get dark try to find a camp's campsite as soon as possible we have gone exactly two tenths of a mile and we're already at our intersection here to go connect to bare rocks where we parked our car and started our wonderful journey so we'll probably have like at most two miles on this trail and we'll be back at the car and it's 8 15. let's go [Music] i have james oh my god that was incredible i have chills all over my body you do does that mean they just ate something or someone like was there's a fight maybe it is crazy how you have no idea what's in the woods until you know what's in the woods [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] like and subscribe thanks again for coming on with us and we'll see you in the next one bye bye that was so embarrassing this is a woman no i feel like that's even worse i just went to the bathroom in the woods and somebody totally walked right past me that's my mountain call to you come here you're gonna end up falling backwards trying to twerk with your backpack we forgot some important tips one load your hair up with dry shampoo it says here for maximum oomph spray onto roots and back comb it hold your breath for maximum back home oh yeah look at that i'm just gonna leave right there you go now back home oh my god that comey baby perfect time to go tip number two fill up your water before you leave the hotel room or your house we filled up both of these plus our camo bags there is water out on the trail and we do have filters but you never know what kind of water you're going to encounter so we're going to take these with us last but certainly not least always remember to take some toilet paper we already kind of stole some from the hotel

Channel: Early Dawn Travels

Views: 293

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: q1XIdnWse1I

Length: 35min 58sec (2158 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 06 2020