I can say from experience that your true self will surface when the healing is complete. You're in the right place, my friend. Being still in nature is powerfully grounding. Keep up the great work on yourself! ✌️

I really appreciate all the times you set up your camera so we can watch you hike forward and then editing out when you go back, pick up your camera, and hike the same portion again. It seems exhausting but I appreciate it. It adds to the videos.

As an East Tennessean, I love hiking on Roan Mountain. For those that may not know, Jane Bald: Local lore attributes its name to a woman named “Jane” who supposedly died of milk sickness while crossing the mountain.

Always enjoy following your journeys and how transparent you are. Abandonment is a deep issue to deal with and I trust that on your journey to find inner peace you will discover how very loved you are, designed for relationship, and worthy to be loved.

it has been fun following along. Regarding your internal quest: You are all of those personas. However if you want to boil it down, there 3 things which are important: first and most importantly is reaching that conclusion will probably not offer any closure, 2nd some of those personas are identitary (not sure that is a word) and lastly apply this technic: back in the era of analog cameras, in order to take pictures of cities without cars and people, they would use a very low sensitive film with a really long exposure. That way, only the permanent things will pass on to the photo. Do the same with those personas.

This is my favorite quote by Ani Pema Chodron. I hope it helps "WE ALREADY HAVE everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves-the heavy-duty fearing that we’re bad and hoping that we’re good, the identities that we so dearly cling to, the rage, the jealousy and the addictions of all kinds-never touch our basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really are. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake" Embrace the groundlessness of each moment. Hike on.

Awesome hike. Can't believe you had that whole waterfall to yourself!

Outstanding ambience man, this was truly atmospheric experience!

LOVE this place. You on the Path. Beautiful video❤️

Keep hiking your hike, keep inspiring people

I think water weighs more when it’s in your tummy though. I hear it might weigh around 5lbs. I’m never wrong.

Rhodos are my favorite, I have many and grew up with many. I have slept under them too. I am always at peace when near them. Some nice deep talk today. Yes, we have to be our own best friend first. Then we can embrace others, and yes it is all impermanent. This impermanence is the tough part. You had to deal with it at an early age which was difficult but nobody gets a pass as it creeps up on us all. The only permanence is each of our souls (I hope is true).

Beautiful! Also thank you for the great tips on waterfalls and swimming!

Thanks for mentioning the undertow at Laurel Falls👍I appreciate all safety tips.

Young bears have large ears. As they age they grow into them. So if you see a bear with seemingly small ears it will be a older adult. Bears are like huge raccoons.

Enjoying the scenery!

You had some nice weather, and great views!

Tom Butler-Bowdon’s, “50 Spiritual Classics” and “50 Philosophy Classics” were great to listen to on trail in terms of exposure to a broad range of spiritual and philosophical ideas and concepts etc.

Thanks for the info about cramping in water! I wasn't aware of that. Are you sick of ramen yet?

Heres a fun question to ponder during walking meditation. Who is seeking? Who is asking the questions? Alan watts had a neat way of talking about this he said "its like trying to bite your own teeth." Looks like youre having a good time out there man, keep it up!!

Hello, I really enjoy your videos and I also love your quest for finding yourself and achieving peace. I too tried to find peace in many things of this world… the military, career achievements, fitness, adventures such as backpacking, alcohol, drugs, and relationships through a ten year marriage… and you are absolutely right. These things are fleeting. They all fail, they all degrade, they all go away. Creation itself will fade, but the creator, who lovingly designed us, and made a way for us to have peace will never fade, fail, or degrade. I pray that your quest one day leads you to the foot of the cross, where you will find the same purpose that myself and millions of others have found. A reason to live, love, experience joy that surpasses all understanding, and most importantly a relationship with our good good father! 🙏 God bless you! Thanks for making great videos.

Thank you for another great video!

The essential key to life is to ground oursleves in our human nature. The part that connects us with everything. The part beneath all of our conditioned characters we play to interact with the world. Spirituality is what a large majority of humans have lost connection with. I'm not religious. I find religion as confining as these other characters I play. But I am deeply spiritual and will be exploring those depths until death. Please read (listen to) "The Creative Act" by Rick Rubin while you're hiking. To me, it's like a modern day Tao Te Ching. It points to the source. I hope your journey keeps presenting you with the deeper meaning/connection you seek. 🤘❤🕓

Great video pal 👍🏼

2 years ago this week I started my SOBO AT thru hike. Seems like ages ago I touched that plaque on Springer. Soo, yea, I'm jealous. Enjoy

To add some veg to you foraging supplementation You can eat those daylillies( the big orange Lilly) The flowers are yummy or the buds before they bloom are tasty boiled or sautéed.

I often think of remoteness when hiking. I often hear that nearly half of the US population lived within 50 miles of the AT. In 1999, the US Forest Service sites 2/3 living within a day's drive (whatever geographic distance that is, 400 miles?). The BBC sites the most remote place in the lower 48 is 21.7m from a road. After an hour of scrolling the AT on google maps, I didn't find a section of trail that was more than a mile and a quarter (by the crow) from a road (this does not include gated fire roads which may not appear on google maps). My most remote days were the three following 9/11/01, when there was no air traffic- no contrails, no roar. That was magical. How is the L1 shirt holding up? I really want to replace my merino base layer tshirts- they hold too much sweat and I lose a lot of skin on multi-day hikes. Oat meal and ramen. Am I missing something? At 56yrs, I hiked the Long Tail in 14 days and went from 173# to 158# and that was on 4200 calories a day (yes, that's a planned deficit of ~1000cal/day). (The equivalent of 12 bricks of ramen, 2# 4oz pack wt). I've tried to tweek this diet over my section hikes from Amicalola to Maine Junction, but can't get in much lighter or cheaper. I eat a diverse, well balanced (per my dietician colleague) cold soaking diet on trail. I can't get it under 1.6# or $9.30 a day (part of the cost is wt reduction). drop a 5 day total diet in the text below... Thx. stay dry, stay cool, stay safe. See you in the SNP?

Unfortunately for that young bear, it will become habituated because people leave food for it, and it will probably have to be euthanized 😢 Hikers need to be more conscious of what they're leaving behind out there. Poor wee bear. I can't wait to see the Roan Highlands for myself when I hike the AT. I will most likely be going thru earlier in the year, though, and I won't see all the flowers, but it's all still very pretty.

Hey mt house cans are on sale and free shipping. I especially like the Mexican rice and chicken i always add corn chips to set it off but the rice and chicken can is even cheaper. You could buy a few and have them delivered to different hostels.

Treat yourself as the seed mate that’s where home is maybe you are the beginning of a root system completely fresh and new best of luck

Have you ever listened to Mooji or Eckhart Tolle? Also, Deepak Chopra’s ‘the way of the wizard’ is a great book. Thanks for sharing this budget thru hike, it is so inspiring, showing thru hikes are possible!! 🙏🏼💜

I’m interested in knowing what podcasts and books you are listening to.

I mean the weight in your backpack vs weight in your stomach is just where you want to put it

Stay safe and take care my friends 🙏🏻God Bless 🫶🏻 Appreciate you!

You're still carrying the water, just differently :)

How have you felt after taking psilocybin? Hope it works out it's not 100% a permanent fix That and THC are 2 of my favourite substances both make you feel your emotions 😍

quad, whats the name of the microdose company? couldnt quite grasp what ya said. thanks

By the way, like you said, we missed Laurel Falls last year because we ended up going the wrong way and went to the shelter… I regret missing it.

Ear plugs at the falls?

So was that guy (who had his civilisation realisation) eating a block of cheese just like that? Impressive.

Hiking nekkid makes for easy tick checks😂 👍🐿👍

Audiobook "the kyballion"

I grew up through the hippie era. In the 60s and 70s I saw a lot of people play with all kinds of drugs. In most cases, it was just simple experimenting. But, in some tragic cases, they died or destroyed their brains and lives. I got hurt bad on active duty. I was transferred to Walter Reeds' ICU as a total quadriplegic and on a ventilator. The pain was horrible but, because of extensive liver damage they couldn't give me pain killers. My fiancee(an Army Nurse) had a psychologist come in and teach me self hypnosis to escape the pain. It started slowly but with practice I was able to escape the pain for hours at a time. Don't play with drugs, learn to use your mind to explore what you seek. I think that self hypnosis, meditation, and day dreaming are all basically the same thing but controlled differently. You seem to be very self controlled so it may be a slight adjustment to try. Happy Trails. Good Luck, Rick

If you carry a litre of water in your pack or your belly, does it really weigh less? 🤔

There’s no ‘spiritual’ world or ‘material’ world. Just THIS world. There’s mystery to the world. But there’s a lot we know about it too. We are animals and a part of nature, but a peculiar part of nature that has the power to radically transform nature. Like beavers x 1000. Searching for answers is a healthy curiosity. But perhaps liberation isn’t in any answer but in the renunciation of the search. The hankering for answers shouldn’t become another rat race.

Have you heard that our guts can only absorb so much water at a time? Not sure if 1 liter is in excess of that amount. It probably depends on the person and if the stomach is empty or full.

Your poor feet, ditch those shoes! lol.

Quadzilla, I commend you on your quest for spiritual fulfillment but why think it would come by way of a physical substance that affects the physical (not spiritual) elements that comprise you? Consuming a physical substance that affects the physical aspects of your being does not seem to be a promising way of making actual spiritual (non-physical) advances and if my suspicion is correct then it would seem that there is a risk of encountering a self-caused placebo effect no? No judgement, just curious at the theory behind seeing spiritual renovation through physical means.

Warren Doyle, who has hiked the AT 18 times and created the Appalachian Trail Institute, used to promote eating off the “leftover menu” for budget conscious hikers. Basically, when you’re in a restaurant, if a diner leaves and there’s a half-eaten plate of food on the table, it’s open game for the thru-hiker. Just another example of how many opportunities to save money are out there, and how far you still have to go before you truly have embraced the “Hiker Trash” lifestyle. As a “Yankee,” I can’t stand grits. I get them with my breakfast on a side plate when in town and never even touch them. An excellent example of a leftover menu that isn’t disgusting to think about. If I see thru-hikers around, I just walk up to their table and offer my grits up.