Backpacking Red River Gorge Kentucky Pt.1
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- čas přidán 30. 10. 2022
- Another fall backpacking adventure! Join Sara and I for three days and two nights in the always beautiful Red River Gorge, KY. I decided to edit this three-day trip into two different episodes. Part one will show us starting off at the trailhead for Rockbridge Trail.
Day one featured some beautiful geology, which is the main draw for the Red River Gorge experience. Less than a mile in we were able to see the amazing natural rock bridge sprawled out over the creek. The first couple of miles of this trail are pretty busy as it is close to a trailhead. If you merge onto Swift Camp Creek Trail the hiking traffic drops down to almost nonexistent after the rock bridge.
That leads me to Swift Camp Creek Trail. If I'm being honest, this was my least favorite trail I've ever done in Daniel Boone National Forest. There are definitely some cool rock formations to check out, but the trail itself is sort of a nightmare. The overall elevation gain and loss isn't bad, but the elevation changes are very steep in most spots.
The trail is very awkward because it follows the sides of hills most of the way, rather than walking on a ridge or in a valley. You feel like you're walking sideways the majority of the time. Combine this with the moist, fallen leaves walking over slippery roots and loose rocks and you end up with a very technical trail and don't cover much ground.
We ended up finding a site overlooking Swift Camp Creek and posted up there for the evening. We didn't record much footage day one as we moved much slower than anticipated and showed up at camp about 30 minutes before dark. We did record some gear talk over breakfast in the morning. I mainly showed off my new BRS titanium stove that I'm field testing as an ultralight upgrade over my old AOTU stove. We also discussed the pros and cons of having a one container cooking system.
Our day two hike started off by finishing the last few miles of the Swift Camp Creek Trail. The two main highlights of the day were the Angel Windows Arch and Whistling Arch. I've never seen these two arches before and they were super cool! Episode one ends with us eating lunch overlooking the valley atop Whistling Arch.
I liked this video very much and yes the geology is spectacular! Thank you you for sharing and look forward to your next video!!
Glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching!
WHAT AN AWESOME VIDEO THE ROCK FORMATIONS AND THE CAVE WERE BEAUTIFUL GLAD SARA DIDNT RUN INTO ANY BEARS IN THE CAVE ANGLE WINDOWS WERE REALLY AWESOMETHE CHANGING LEAVES WAS AWESOME LOOKS LIKE YOU TWO HAD A GREAT TIME WHISTLING ARCH WAS REALLY COOL GREAT VIDEO HAVE FUN ALWAYS ENJOY THESE VIDEOS
Yeah the hidden arch was a good find
Another great video! The rock formations are amazing. Even had a Good Samaritan with the gift of water...sounds like a story from long ago...
Haha, got some trail magic. Thanks for tuning in again.
Hi Ron!!
@@michaelbroyer3918 Hi Mike!
19:08 Poor gent ... the shock of the fall has decapitated him!
Gorgeous photography, as always. I feel like I've been rinsed out after a stressful day. Love that sandstone.
Glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching!
You did a nice job with your video! Glad you enjoyed RRG.
Appreciate it, thanks for watching!
Thanks for the video! I’m heading to the gorge this weekend to backpack 🎉
Are you checking out Hanson’s Point?
Omgoodness, we did the same route, it was brutal! Parked at the rock bridge and planned an out and back. All the campsites were taken, we had gone too far to turn back. We packed way after dark, thinking we might have to lean up against a tree and sleep. Finally found a site. Instead of going back the same way we opted to head to angels windows parking lot without a plan, ended up being our first hitch. Two nice gentlemen let us hop in the back of their truck, so grateful! It was beautiful and wild, but I'm glad to have the Clifty Wilderness trails checked off, lol!
It’s a really cool place to backpack. I wish they had more large loop options, lots of out and backs. I have four videos up on my channel showing the two trips I took there this year. Cool spot for sure.
Beautiful shots in your video. Been there several times but don't think I'd make it without hiking boots and poles.
I’m starting to warm up to trekking poles, boots I can live without though lol
Very cool area, man! Need to get down there sometime. Cheers!
Lots of good hiking, rock climbing and kayaking down that way. Thanks for watching dude
Nice Video, i left you a Sub. i like your hiking style :D
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed!
I am 100th 'LIKE' 👍 Great video! I live in Colorado and I want to come to Kentucky and see this! My knee surgeries will not take me back as far as you's went unfortunately.
RRG is fairly easy to day hike. They don’t have long distance backpacking trails, we combined a bunch of short day hike trails with some road walks for our route. Most of the points of interest we hit on this trip are within a mile of a trailhead.
@@Bacon_N_Backpacking Wow, thanks for replying. I hiked to the Chris McCandless bus on the Stampede Trail near Denali back in June of 2002, when my knees were in fairly decent shape. Not a very hard hike at all really, besides riding the muskeg, but with a couple of camping spots and two fast moving rivers to cross in between. We hiked all the way back from the bus to the parking lot near Healy in one day. That would likely be pretty tough for me these days but maybe still do-able.
I don't plan on going back to Alaska any time soon, with my older age now, but I am thinking of a possible move from Colorado to a location not too far from this Red River Gorge area . Maybe within the next year or so. Kentucky is an absolutely beautiful place. Moreso, I believe than the Penn's Woods state that I was born and raised in. Thank you for the tour!
@@dapperdingo Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed!
Hey! I enjoyed your video! Well done on the editing, and I really appreciate the wide video footage. I’m planning a photo trip near nearby in December and found your footage extremely valuable! Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you liked the video, I hope it helps with your trip, thanks for watching!
I don't think I've ever fallen as much as I did on the swift camp creek trail. Same issue, sideways and leaves!
Yeah I’ll never forget that. That trail looks simple on the map, but I spent half of my time with my feet sliding into the sides of my shoes lol. Got into camp at dark that day. Thanks for watching!
that is the stove i use. i want to camp this spring at Hanson's point. i hiked it last years and loved the view. and i have to use a cpap so right now that adds about 6 pounds to my pack. lol
My advice would be to get into camp early, or better yet, go during a weekday. It's prime real estate up there, tons of people.
@@Bacon_N_Backpacking i went labor day weekend last year and i only seen 1 other hiker at Hanson point. but alot of others around cloud splitter and Indian staircase which is not for fat guys with 55 pound packs. lol
My stomping ground I've been all over that place
Second time I’ve been there. I’ve only spent six total days in RRG but I think I’ve seen about 60% of the trails or so. I’ll probably make 1-2 trips back. Thanks for watching!
👍
Thank ya sir
Hi, do you have any trails in Kentucky of similar length that you would recommend more than this one? I'm looking for a 3 day 2 night trail for next week
No, because this is the only place I’ve backpacked in Kentucky 😂
What mic are you using?
Shure MV-88
That was the Horsehead arch that you called Angels windows …one right there might be, but the other your wife/girlfriend stood under was the horsehead arch. Just saying. 😉
The GPS app I use has it marked as Angels Windows, the US Forest Service website also says the same. Just went by what they said.
I don't want to sound like a know it all buddy, but for yours and your wife's safety, I would avoid burning a stove level with you or elevated. Accidents can happen and you could seriously get burned if it tipped wrong. Cooking on the ground is safer and preferred. And if you know this by now, my bad. Entertaining video though.