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Hey thanks for this! I'm new to hiking, and the AP is my big goal to go for while I do smaller treks around England to practice. After watching a number of 'big' CZcamsrs I have to say that, while they've been great, the videos like this seem to be way more useful. There's no brand allegiances, it's literally all just personal experience from the trail. After worrying about equipment it's very refreshing to see the reality of what the trek can actually look like - I honestly thought you were joking about the crocs to begin with, but hell yeah if it works it goddamn works. The poles too! It's pretty funny, I'm a total newbie who's been researching into hiking poles, the different handles types, folding vs telescoping etc etc - and then I run into you, a dude whos *actually* done it, who's like "oh yeah, I didn't even pick these ones, I just found some poles and used them" and they're seemingly not even the same type! Two random-ass poles thrown together, but if it works, it works!

The Bear Cannister he showed is most likely flawed. If that is the one that you can open with your hands without a coin or screwdriver bears can get into it. In the Adirondacks I saw a sign telling hikers not to use that type and they had one that was ripped up. The Rangers there do not want you to use that type. I use the old fashioned one where you need to you use a coin, keys, screwdriver to open. My Bear Cannister has claw marks all over it but no real damage.

Good video, but Kevlar wasnt worn by knights, it was only invented in 1965

Whatever happened with that snake?!

If your mother loves you and you love her, be bear safe. Don't be lazy.

Im guessing all that ultralight shit is why people have to buy new packs. Thats ridiculous

Great tent

I’ve heard too many stories about having to search the woods for the can in the morning after bears played soccer with it all night. If I had to carry a canister, I’d still want to put it in a bear box or hang in anyways. Totally understand why certain areas make you have one, but they do suck. I’m a dry bag guy myself.

Beautiful

But aren’t the bear canisters not odor proof? Just bear proof from stealing your food right?

Where do you get resupplies sent ?

@packandsoul , I dropped my camelback and opted for the system that fits into a bottle with a bite valve because I hated that I had to unpack all my gear to remove and replace the bag when I need water, it’s just a hassle

Cold soaking 🤢 Not quite the crotch pot but gross none the less

Wish it only took 5 mins!

❤

This was super helpful. Thanks

Unbelievable sight! So hard, so fun

The most special part = the magic!

More videos!

This would probably be the part that I’m most nervous about hiking solo. 😮

Can’t wait to watch this!

Otis has such a good life

Backpacks are not designed to accommodate bear cans and bear cans are not designed to fit in backpacks. Putting bear cans on top of the pack raises your center of gravity a lot, causing instability.

Im planning on a 2025 flip flop starting at Rockfish Gap. I get Social Security since I am a widow and I'll be 62 when I start, but after bills, I'll have less than $400 a month once everything is paid. I hope to have $5000, or as close as possible before starting. Hopefully that, along with what is left out of my check each month will get through. Thanks for the breakdown on costs. I already have Farout AT guide, the Awol guide, and transportation to and from the trail, but still a few pieces of gear to finish purchasing.

This is exactly what I hoped for in a AT documentary. It's obvious you understand story, which is a nice change over the list/narrative form of a hike most people's documentaries. Fantastic ❣️

great video!

cold/warm makes a HUGE difference with the lock

I love mine. The spoon shape not only is great for side sleeping and tossing and turning without feeling like you’re in a straight jacket, but I can bend my knees up while the wide bag supports them upright, which feels great on the back before falling asleep.

Love it! Love your family. As a 61 yr old woman (62 today!) striking out on my own after 4 kids and 30 yrs (still married to that city guy 😊) in Florida, I have watched 100's of videos of every kind of build over the last several years. I was appalled at the soaring cost of these builds, as I view creativity and resourcefulness as an integral part of van life. I certainly think folks who do professional builds deserve to be paid for their craft, but I'm most inspired by personal builds like yours, and some other super creative solutions. I got a Westphalia out in NorCal, as a longer-term project. We'll see how it goes :) But I'm becoming more inclined to do a minivan or small track/empty shell camper build rather than utilize a full-size van until I finish with the Westphalia (which could take a bit.) I need a driving vehicle. I have my tent. I don't need a full-size van. My vision for this phase of my life has been informed so much by videos like yours. I love to see people create solutions rather than buy them. Enjoy your travels! I love Otis! What a magnificent, lovely dog. Kudos to the fine work done by your brother, and Sarah's cozy interior work. My family thinks I'm a bit mishegas, but they back me in a kindly way, and at least I'm crazy in the Redwoods. One of those things that had to happen :)

Get that dog a job in a writers room asap!

Man I'm learning allot. I want to through hike the AT. I have never done anything even close. I am 350lbs. I am 7 foot 2 though. I think I can do it. I will try something smaller first. Maybe a 3 week trail. Or something like that. Though I havnt hiked any major distances. I have camped probably 20% of the nights of my life. I'm kindof a working by choice homeless person lol. I'm not paying rent I'm not doing it, or hotels gtfoh. Maybe once in a while... I've climbed quite a few 'small' mountains. I'm saying. I think I can do this. It's gonna be a battle against myself to keep going. I know I'll lose weight. That'll be the challenge though. All the camping and stuff, I got it. But this video is very helpful I'm making a list. I may cut things may add things. I want to do the AT in 2026. I can save up enough money by then to quit my job and that gives me next year to do at least one shorter one. I'll probably take a month off next year to do something. Idk what trail. I definitly think I should do something shorter to get a better understanding first haha. But anyway thanks for the video

I have blister pads just in case I get blisters.

The first time I ever summited Mt. Washington, I was teaching in NH. My coworker said we should do it this one day because the weather report looked great. This clown was looking at the wrong day. Ten minutes after we crossed the trail head, it started pouring. It poured the whole damned time. We were even told by someone I assume was a maintenance worker that we shouldn't be hiking that day. We were young dumb men, so we ignored it. But about twenty minutes from the top, just as we were starting to finally question just how stupid it can be to have a male ego and think one is indestructible... the rain stopped and the sun came out. The summit was MAGNIFICENT. I've hiked it four times (all back in the late 90s), and that was the ONLY time there was even a shred of sun at the top. Moral of the story: Maybe you have to walk through the storm to reach a sunbathed mountaintop. Maybe.

Dedication!

Living the dream! Love to see it 👏🏼

Awesome! ❤

❤

What was the hardest part about it? Did you have batteries?

Dope dope dope

When’s it coming out?

What a cool way to spend 5 days. And a luxury to be able to take the time off :-)

Heck yeah! That’s awesome

"SIT AT YOUR TYPEWRITER AND BLEED!"

I couldn't never hike something like that my idea of hiking is walking trails in a park that's just way too much for me

A quick question about the pain relief gel/lotion you mentioned - is it more for muscle pain or for joint pain? I hardly ever have a day when my knees don't have some pain (too much hiking and basketball as a young man), and if I'm gonna actually fulfill this dream you rekindled in me thanks to your AMAZING documentary series, I'm gonna need something that knocks out the knee pain at least a bit. If the one you mentioned is primarily for muscle pain, does that company also make anything for joints? My god, I sound like a damned Boomer these days... :(

good info!!!! thank U 😊

Thanks for your input

I just finished the 7pt series... with tears in my eyes. Not a crier, so I'm not real sure what's behind that reaction. I was born with a condition that's super rare, and usually kills in infancy and always results in a noticeably deformed sufferer. When I survived, I had YEARS filled with dozens of surgeries and YEARS filled merciless bullying in school. I ended up throwing myself into physical and athletic endeavors as a teen, mainly out of spite against those who said I couldn't, be they classmates, parents, or doctors. I played basketball (the great joy of my life), football, soccer, hockey, and even learned martial arts, all after being told as a child that I'd probably never even be able to tie my shoes. As I transitioned out of high school, I eventually ended up a wilderness survival instructor for juvenile corrections programs. Through that, I discovered the AT in Jersey, then the AT in NH, even the AT in Rocksylvania, but never had the right time for a thru-hike... something that immediately became a dream of mine the first mile I ever walked the trail. All told, I've done around 120 miles of it, if you put it all together in one... but that's nothing compared to the dream. Then I got sick when I was 30, and spent a decade with my lungs full of fluid to the point that I couldn't even walk without gasping like I was drowning. For the first time in my life, I felt like the cripple everyone called me in childhood. I knew I'd lost out on any chance of fulfilling that AT dream. Hell, I'd lost out on what semblance of normal life I had built for myself. When I was 40, they found the cause of the problem and fixed it with a major surgery on my spine, and within a week, I'd lost ten pounds... of fluid from my lungs. But it had been a decade of being barely able to walk from the bedroom to the kitchen without coughing, wheezing, and choking, so I quite literally forgot how to live a normal life. I've been physically "healthy" for about five years now, but other problems are cropping up from the massive amount of physical abuse I put on myself as a young man, and it's in that context that I found your videos. I've watched a good dozen of other AT thru-hike videos, and each one looked so fun/hard/crushing/triumphant... but yours was downright moving. I don't know if my body can do it anymore. I don't know if my heart can be apart from the love of my life or our furbaby cats. I don't know how I could ever justify the expense. I DO know that I have to try. YOU DID THIS TO ME. SIR. (yelled with love and appreciation, of course) It was this morning, after finishing your finale and wiping away these inexplicable tears that I realized I have to do it next year. I don't know how... but I have to. I've magically formed this conviction that I need to hike every mile, and play basketball in every state along the way. It sounds dumb, but it just clicked immediately when the need to hike materialized. They always told me I wouldn't live a normal life, so I set out to live hard. It's damn time I get back to that. If you read any of this, I'm sorry. If you read all of it, I probably owe you some money on top of the apology. I couldn't just leave a "Hey, nice vid!" Your work is deserving of so much more than that, and so much more than even this rambling diatribe I typed out... but for now, that's all I got. Well, that and.. thank you. SO MUCH. Now I have to figure out how the hell to do this thing...

I was given an Atmos 65. How can I tell if it's a medium or large. I'm 6'2" and feel as if it's a touch short.

Statistics always make you feel safe...until you become one !!!!