You young MEN give me hope for our country, been around for 7o years, usmc, policeman for 30 yrs will definitively follow yoiur adventures.

I'm the only outdoorsmen in my family and nobody understands why I enjoy these videos as much as they enjoy the latest super hero movie. By the way, Wet Fire is a great product for making fire in wet weather :]. keep up the hard work, all of you. Thank you so much. I have to re-watch this video now...

I live on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains. It is the most wonderful place to grow up.

These are my favorite videos on KZfaq. I can't stop watching..getting lost vicariously in the wilderness you all explore.

Uphills are definitely less fun with mason jars in your pack! Haha great video guys!!

It’s a scary moment to walk alone in the forest but when you see the footage it’s a wonderful moment. It’s like saying to yourself, “Did I really do this?”

This is hilariously awesome, the moment Robbie and Andrew reunite and the theme song plays. Great stuff guys. Respect for Packing out the garbage

Mountains are calling and I must go. Thanks for sharing your journey. Totally beautiful.

Poor Andrew. That must have been a tough trek. but you had fantastic perseverance! You all did a great job!

You guys need a TV show.

Another fantastic production! This just goes beyond calling it just a video. The scripting, camera work and pace are all fantastic. I feel like I really connect with you guys when you talk about when you are demoralized by the weather and I feel lifted by your elation at a fire, the sun, good people and seeing each other again. I was watching it over lunch on my iPad and my dad couldn't help but be drawn in as well. He too had a huge smile on his face by the end of the video. Guess what, im humming the AA tune at work now! Thank you for making my day!

U know this video is 8 years old. 8 years ahead you all are so much stronger and would not feel this way like Andrew shared bc you all have gotten stronger over the years and more experienced in the hike :) So its good to see all Andrew's pain in this video.

Real, raw, human experience. Greatly appreciate this video.

One of the reasons I love your videos is that you express ALL of the emotions that can happen on a trip like this. It's rare to find that kind of authenticity in such a quality product. Thumbs up - again.

The Smokies will humble a person while at the same time wrap them in an unexplainable love. The Creator rests in these hills. Great video gentlemen

One of your best videos yet. Editing, music, dialog, all of it was top notch. I caught myself smiling when the three of you finally managed to meet up. Thanks for taking us along.

chuggerguy - thanks so much for the comment! KZfaq won't let us respond directly for some reason. I could've sworn we responded before but I guess KZfaq was glitching out. But that is an incredible story. I've definitely been that that point where I've just got to get out into the wilderness no matter what time it is. Can't imagine what it felt like reaching Mt. Cammerer and seeing the view there. Nothing better than being exhausted and hungry after a hike and being able to rest and eat. Thanks again for watching! -Andrew

Robby is hilarious when he is bored! I'm glad you met good people on the trail. If you guys ever want to trek around the MT. Hood area I can be your guide.

@AdventureArchives I watched this video awhile back and forgot all about it. We hiked Mount LeConte this past weekend and had an absolute great time. Just wanted to say thank you! Your videos have been a huge inspiration!!

This video reminds of why I wouldn't hike alone. To me, it is so much better when you hike with a group or just a few friends. I truly wish I can hike with you guys so that I can also experience and enjoy the fun you guys are having. I am really enjoying watching your videos, too. Good job guys and be careful out there.

robby's trail was beautiful. The creek and waterfall are gorgeous and he seems pretty enthusiastic about being alone...sort of.

It's kind of depressing watching everyone being alone but when they get together u can't do anything else but smile.

Yo Moma - Can't respond to your comment directly, but thank you so much for watching! You know, usually it's not too bad, but carrying that big tripod I think actually made the hiking even more exhausting than it would've been. I swear that thing added about 10 pounds (so I guess what they say about cameras adding 10 pounds is true, ha) Also, that's a very interesting video. I wonder if I am present oriented. I feel like, either because of all these digital distractions, or maybe just my personality, I have a lot of trouble focusing on some things unless I'm really passionate about them. But I definitely think a lot of society is organized to cater to future-oriented people like that video says I think. Thanks a bunch for sharing that video, and thank you for watching! -Andrew

What an absolute JOY your videos are! I will admit that I would probably be a little overcome with fear, being alone in the Mountains and running into strangers, which shows just how much damage has been done with all of us not loving eachother as we should. I am hoping I am able to reclaim that love and send it back out into the world, very soon. Then again. I have never travelled alone in the Mountain, so who knows?, maybe I would be just fine 🙄 Thank you for soothing my soul, so I can sleep soundly and with a heart full of wonder and excitement. God bless and keep, all of you 💛

Over so soon, I could of watched another hour. Great filming and music, the rocky's are beautiful. Cherish moments like these, they are memories for a lifetime.

It ain't about huggin' trees, but it ain't about bein' wasteful either. Ahaha, thumbs up.

Loved this! I was just searching for tips on what to do in the GSMNP and came upon this beautiful video. Thank you !

Still one of my favorite videos! I especially love the letter reading in the end. Nice try, Thomas. LOL!

When Robby mentioned Princess Mononoke my heart soared! One of my favorite movies growing up, and definitely helped start my love for nature. I'm taking my first trip to the Smokies in November with my sister, and I'm unbelievably excited. They look so magical. Even when raining it just seems like a fairytale. Loved the video!

This is my favorite AA episode! I have watched this one a couple of times. It's gripping and heart wrenching too!

The amount of time put into filming and editing must be incredible.

I have to say, Im really missing Thomas here!!! Its not the same without him. Hope you guys go with him on upcoming adventures!

Revisiting this video after a few years. This video convinced me to hike the Smokys a few years ago, and it was an unforgettable experience! Hope to hike it again the next time I'm in the states. Thanks for the Documentary!

My 2nd time watching. It just makes me happy to watch this. There's no other way to describe it. It amazes me how much work must go into this. I mean I guess you have to setup the camera, put your pack back on, then go back down the trail to come back up to get a shot of you coming up the trail. What dedication.

+chuggerguy Thanks so much for the comment! Get out there and do some hikes! I can't wait to head out on our next adventure too! Got some new gear I'm itching to try out. ~Bryan

Smokey DNA runs in my blood. It feels like home.

i am putting comments while watching..can't wait to see the time you guys will reunite in this episode

Such a beautiful nature. tough hikers. proud of you all.

Great video, boys. I liked the concept of the solo hikes - made it a lot more challenging. I'd say Robby lucked out on this trip. His leg was absolutely gorgeous with the swollen streams. Poor Andrew ... LOL! That was a LOT of hiking, but you made it. Good job, everybody.

I truly can't believe I just stumbled upon this video. I've been watching AA vid's for at least a year but, guys, this is by far one of - if not THE - absolute BEST! the creativity and result is aaaamazing! the idea of having the three of you go separate and place clips side-by-side and providing narrative along the way - STUPENDOUS! seems like one of your earlier works since it's 6 years old but I am completely entertained - thanks you so very much for all the hard work it took to put together.

Just now watching this video. Story telling is excellent. Great job weaving the individual hikes together.

you boys are the literal cutest

You guys make some of the best hiking video's I've seen. Thanks again!

I drove past the Smoky Mountains, only once. Ever since, it has been the one place I would drop everything to go back to! I am so excited to watch this video!!!

There's no two ways about it - I absolutely love this show.

This had a real emotional impact that drew me in and your editing helped create that. I felt like I was there with you feeling what each of you was going through. Andrew's despair really got to me, but he conquered, and your reunion was so joyful, I was moved. And even though it was miserable for you guys to be soaked I really loved that beautiful rain in that pretty forest, sounded so lovely. It was pretty sweet how you were able to arrive at a warm fire with lots of cheerful company and then end on a sunny note.

You guys are so great together. Thank you for filming this.

Wonderful job at storytelling. Not only do I want to hike the Smoky Mountains now, but I want to spend more time capturing my experiences when I do.

Wanted to tell the Adventure Archive Team, "Thank you for the great videos! All of you come across as great people and really good friends and family! Keep up the great work!"

Thanks for all the hard work in putting this together, it really makes for an enjoyable hour.

22 minutes… And some change… I know the feeling of truly questioning whether you are safe, or if you stick your neck out just a little too much, and then finding the light. It is glorious! I totally get it

I absolutely loved this video. I take a couple solo multi-day hikes in the Smokies every year and this video reminds me of the swing of emotions that the trails, scenery, and mountains takes you through. Keep up the great work!

I find your videos beautiful, well crafted, and at times poetic. But what I like the most is that you show the real side of the adventure. Looking forward to many more to come.

I just found this channel today and am so glad I did - I love backpacking and miss the mountains so badly right now. I hiked 600 miles of the AT and my hike through the Smokies was also memorable - getting rained, snowed, and hailed on in one afternoon on my way to Tri-Corner Knob is something I'll never forget. Thanks for sharing!

Once again, another great video. So glad all these places are close to my home in Indiana and that you guys inspire me to take my family on an adventure. Thanks for taking the time to put these together and lugging the extra weight for our pleasure.

kali hernandez - Can't respond directly to your comment for some reason, but thanks so much for watching! And I'm sure you will some time. We started out with smaller, easier camping trips at developed campgrounds, but every time we went out, we learned a lot. Thanks again! -Andrew

I really appreciate y'alls passion and general outlook. I also very much agree with your statement about mental landmarks Robbie. I really enjoy seeing the world through your lens.

Another incredible video, gents. I really enjoyed this one. I loved Robby's fire making, impressive mileage, the arc of all three of you camping on your own and then meeting up, and the beautiful shots in the nice and not-so-nice weather. Thank you!

Great job on this adventure video! Splitting up and rejoining made this one! Reminds me of challenging backpack trips I've been on in north central Pennsylvania (Black Forest Trail). Those who have not backpacked might not understand how tiring it can be going uphill with a big pack, and in the rain. Also on a trail you've not been on before. After the long winter too, I think everyone is not quite as in shape for backpacking. Thanks again.

I really enjoy these videos. I am getting ready to start doing a bit of backpacking and as I live in Ohio, it's nice to see areas close. Thanks!

Amazing video! I love watching earth, discover and calm down...

Awesome video! It was sad to hear, "There is no one to share the sorrow with you." Alone and Demoralized is the worst! So sorry for the purgatory...been there. Andrew! So glad you did make it!

I never did camping but getting tempted to start one soon after watching this...

This has become one of my favorite episodes over time. The despair on display is very real for many people that end up hiking alone including myself. The brain will tell you to turn back and you have to fight it because the reward is almost always worth it.

VERY well produced video guys! Thanks for taking us along. :)

Great guys! Great video. I did a little hiking in smokies around 1958. Great to see some great guys enjoying our Country! Jesus Bless you guys and your futures. Jim from Kentucky - now sick California.

Really enjoy the videos, as a kid into my mid-teens I lived in the woods practically loved it .

You guys have come a long way since this video. Nice to see the natural progress and experience shown throughout the years.

in April I travel first time to US from Europe, for a conference in Charleston... After watching your video, I feel I will just go for backpacking on the second week of my stay to the Great Smokies :) Really beautiful forest! :)

Really well done. Without being obvious, reveals many of the paradoxes of escaping into the wild versus civilization.

A good motivating video. I've been watching a few, trying to get psyched up enough to go do a few hikes this Summer. About 12 years ago when I was 40 years younger, I drove down from Ohio after getting out of work about 3 AM. When I got to Big Creek campground I decided to do a quick short hike before even getting a camp site. I grabbed my rain jacket and some water and headed up Chestnut Branch trail. I planned on just walking up to the top of the ridge where it meets the AT and coming right back. But when I get to the top, I turn left to go just a little bit further and before you know it I'm at Mt. Crammerer lookout. A challenging but rewarding destination hike. Heading back down I heard a growling, not a bear, but my stomach. I hadn't slept, had worked/driven all night, and hadn't eaten. I was so ravenous I ended up race walking most of the way down. Although hungry, I felt good. I remember meeting someone that gave me a granola bar, best tasting granola bar ever. :)

Perfect! I enjoyed your great adventure! I can’t wait to watch them all!

Your videos show the real America. We in other countries only see an impression of America that is inaccurate. The true America is very much like other English speaking countries.

*Alone!* 😥 The Bravery! The thought makes my skin tingle; with both the electricity of an inner challenge, and fear. Man, I just wish I had lived like this. To feel alive. I can't even imagine!

Great video guys! It looks like you had an awesome time. I hope you will all come back and enjoy the Smokies again!

Excellent video! God bless the three of you!

Now I want to see that action film lol! Thanks for the glimpse!

That was a great adventure to watch. I'm going outside now and will enjoy the sunshine and warm dry weather with additional appreciation :)

Rose colored glasses theory - so true!! I find myself doing that all the time.

This was so inspiring and beautifull to watch. As friends, and also on your own, you must have made some great memories to look back at. Thank you so much for sharing.

I love how thankful Andrew is to God for making it to the junction at around 23:00. I'm not a very religious person, but that's what happens when I'm on the trail. I always draw closer to the God of my understanding. It's why I always want to go back.

I really enjoyed this. Words fail me right now because I'm so tired, but I want to say I thought the 3 person solo was a great idea, difficult but made for a good watch. I hope I get the chance to do something like this (hopefully with you guys) in 2016.

Beautiful video, guys. Robby, you make me laugh so much! That facial expression in response to the bird call outside the shelter was priceless.

I don’t like to eat mushrooms (50+ year old woman that eats like a picky 5 year old child), but I love them aesthetically and these videos really make me want to study them. And I love all you guys do and am so grateful for your videos. I would suggest going to Isle Royals National Park: it is quite a long and expensive journey to get there, but worth it. I was with my mom and aunt so we stayed at the lodge. I did hike up to Mt Franklin. It was beautiful!

I love the editing, this is my first AdventureArchives video and I enjoyed it. Very humbling, not many can go and experience what you did and I like each ones point of view. Even the guy doing Excel spreadsheet.

great video. my favorite so far...

When I was 14 and a sophomore in H.S., 3 friends and I decided to climb the "Chimneys" two days after Chistmas, 1957. Without checking the weather forecast (what did we know?), we drove up from Knoxville to the Chimneys Campground in the Smokies and spent the night on the ground without tents (we didn't own any). One of us didn't even own a sleeping bag (we found out when preparing to sleep) so I volunteered to share mine with him. He was a friend of one of the other guys, so I figured I could help him out. I couldn't believe he came so unprepared. My family used to camp in the Smokies almost every weekend in the summertime, so I had some equipment and some skills. Anyway, I had very little sleep that night, since the guy sharing my gear was short, and I was close to six feet tall. This guy snuggled down in the bag and I was only able get my legs and hips into the bag. So it was a long, cold night for me. After I finally got to sleep (about 4 in the morning), I woke up at daybreak to 2 inches of snow covering all of us. It was about 25 degrees and I got up and started a fire in the circle of stones where we had built a fire the night before. That helped, and then we decided to cook some breakfast. But we only had the eggs I had brought, no bacon or sausage to go with them, and nothing else but my frying pan. And bread. So we made egg sandwiches without any dressing or cheese or anything else. Very slim pickins... The trail up to the Chimney Tops is one and a quarter miles, which doesn't seem like too much, but it's a very steep trail...I had hiked it before, in the summertime, when I was camping with my parents. But things were different on this day...it was difficult to stay on the trail, with all the snow, and eventually we lost it completely and wound up climbing right up the side of the mountain, pulling up thru the trees, which was horrible considering all our clothes became wet from the snow. I had brought cloth gloves, which was all I had at the time, and THAT was bad, because when they were soaked, my hands were freezing. And all the ascent was done in the shady side of the mountain, so we didn't get any warmth from the sun until we reached the upper region of the mountain. We hadn't brought anything to drink with us, so all we had to eat or drink on the climb were giant icicles, some of which were 3 and 4 feet long. We were just not prepared for this extensive a hike as we faced, but we just kept going, as kids will do sometimes. It took over six hours to reach the sun-lit tops of the mountain, but what a glorious feeling it was when we broke thru to the sun. At the top there are some steep and dangerous areas of rock that had to be negotiated to cross from the first chimney to the second 'main' chimney. At some points the way across was blocks of rock maybe two feet wide that we carefully crawled across, with a drop of hundreds of feet on either side (very precarious place to be, but at least it was dry and warm in the sun). Once we reached the furtherest point we could go, the view was phenomenal of the lower valley and the stream by the campsite we had used. We remained there for a good hour, warming up and drying our clothes as well as possible. Then the oldest of us, a junior in our school (the guy with the car) began goofing around and stumbled into the main chimney, falling 15 or 20 feet down, which shot him out onto the side of the mountain (the hole was shaped like an L) . We all scrambled down to help him, but found he had severely sprained his foot and ankle so badly that he wasn't able to walk at all. So we all rested there for a half hour or so until we realised that we had to get him and us down before dark, or we would be in big trouble. We decided that maybe the best idea was to go straight down the side of the mountain, using jumps to get down. We could just jump out toward the valley, and instantly go down 15 or 20 feet, due to the slope of the hill. And our crippled friend could manage that, too, on one foot. So we did that, jumping down the steep side of the mountain, but at least we were in glorious sunlight, which made it okay, even fun. And eventually we made down to the not-so-steep part of the mountain, and eventually found the river, and followed it down to the campground. It was the worst camping trip I had ever experienced, but we all agreed that it was something we would never forget. NEVER EVER !!

I'm about half way through this video and I must say this is awesome. I'm investing in some gear in a month or two and really am looking forward to backpacking. It's videos like these that have inspired me to go and commune with the wilderness.

Great video (again) guys! I've hiked the loop from Big Creek to Walnut Bottoms to Mt Sterling and back to Big Creek several times. It's a great 3 day/2 night trip. The weather really is so interesting there in the Smokies, especially as you gain altitude. Your commentary is entertaining and Andrews knowledge of the plants is pretty impressive and I think motivating for the rest of us to know at least a few useful things about the nature around us. I've been hiking some lately (usually my dog and I) , but the more videos like this I watch the stronger urge I have to get out backpacking. Thanks for the great video.

TrevAndDust Thanks so much for watching, and glad you liked it! Theres so many amazing places in that park to visit. Bald hill-tops with wild blueberries, water holes with waterfalls, breathtaking views, etc. If you do end up planning a trip and want some ideas, let us know! Thanks again --Andrew

I sure enjoyed the video you boys have posted! Watching brought your emotional highs and low to life. A widower, my hikes are all solo so far. I wanted also to thank you for sharing the adventure; sharing the notes below your video, and the vegetation data shared along the trails. It's noteworthy as well that you shared your original music! My daughter (now 40) shares my passion for the great outdoors. She was in this Thanksgiving (2015). She took me out in the bush (no trails)! I agree with your comment (I will attempt to recall it): Being in the wilderness brings out the best in people and also brings friends (and family) closer together. A hearty thanks!

another fantastic video. Thanks so much for all the great photography, glad you kept all your equipment dry!

It's so cool to see my home woods from someone else eyes. WNC and Tenn are some beautiful mountains

Easily one of my favorite episodes so far! It was great to see the quick interviews from your fellow hikers!

Great video guys!!!! I really enjoyed it! The Smoky Mountains are my back yard I live in Blount county so I get to enjoy them often!

awesome trip guys! I love hiking in the Smokies! excellent videography!

Hills wonderful hills...mountains even. For some reason we ended up watching it a second time. Fantastic hike through the forest guys. We really enjoyed that twice...ha ha. There were so many highlights. No mosquitos (we call them midges over here), the tree near miss, the water, the magic mist, your conversations apart, your tarp shelter (cool diamond set up) and the people you met. There was loads in there. A real joy. Thanks for creating. All the best from England....had to be a second time to get it all.

Thanks guys. What a lovely video, well-shot and well-edited. My wife and I plan to hike in GSMNP this April, and this was the perfect teaser to get us excited.

You guys are so brave!!!!!! I love nature and camping (except bugs and wild animals) but I'll never be able to do this alone!! Such a great video!!

"maps are a dollar on the honor system." Opens box grabs map and shuts it. 😂😂😂