Welcome to Vista Ventures! I started backpacking in 2014. For my first trip, we stumbled out into the woods in mid-January with way too much gear and far less knowledge. Since then, I have devoted a lot of time towards learning the do's and don'ts that can make backpacking much more enjoyable. I want to share my experiences and trips with you in hopes of inspiring people to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty nature has to offer. Get outdoors. Have fun. Embrace the uphill.
A really great hike. I like to park at the Red Creek parking area. Hike north to the upper Red Creek trail up to Dobbins and then back the way you started. It's a beautiful tour of the ecosystems. Great video, keep it up.
Neat idea! Saves £s/€s/$s. I have copied your method, but used an adjustable mini bungee cord in place of the shock cord loop. Works great. Am now going to add a length of plastic tubing, so I can sip without even having to tilt or grab the bottle.
Those big piles of dirt before town after the hiking the railroad bed. That is the dirt from the Turnpike extn over the mountain they made in the 60s to bypass what we know as " the Abandon turnpike "
Backpacking many years ago with my father, He would always dig a 2.5' section of small rubber tubing out of his pack. It weighed practically nothing. He called it his "Inspirator" he would use it to blow air into a stubborn fire. He never failed!! Your hollow tube brought back a forgotten memory!
I’ve been enjoying watching your hikes. Your channel has given me ideas… especially loops. Hike on! The mid state is a tough one. Straight up…. Straight down 😩
Mid state trail is a great basically unknown trail. It’s a challenging trail in sections that I’ve hiked have done sections 8,9,10,11,12,13 hoping to finish it all by next year . Good luck hiking man maybe I’ll see you out there sometime,
These first couple section are the most overgrown and hard to get too do maintiance. you have to hike miles in with your tools. it helps when game comm. opens gates for you. Tussey ridge is rockey are hard to little flat firetown in Rothrock.. then you start the roller coaster over the mountains to New York
Beautiful fall colors! I don’t remember if you mentioned it but is the trail measured in kilometers instead of miles? I’ve never been on the Mid State Trail but now I think I’ll give it a try. The trekking pole Bellows was genius… Lol i’m definitely doing that…lol Thanks for taking us along. 👍
@HiddenHollowOutoors yeah Jarrods are pretty cool. Especially when they show up with campsite chicken haha. I'd like to knockout some more sections but the southern end is definitely challenging logistically
There is a campsite that I remember at the junction of the STS and DHT right after you got water. No need to backtrack. I hung my hammock in a couple of those shelters. Looked it around the cross support beams and it was about perfect. The only thing, I was all set up and a guy came by who had hiked 30 miles and was planning on staying at Scovil. He felt bad and kept moving on to the next campsite as it was starting to rain.
@rickbeidleman1928 Yeah that campsite looked decent for tents at that intersection. It all panned out for us. Stinks for that poor guy who kept going. Happy hiking!
Live in MA but originally from PA and get down as much as possible to hike the PA Wilds. Did West Rim Trail and Old Loggers Path. Planned on DHT but getting a bit old for that hiking. Completed BFT, STS, Quehanna over the years. Heading out next week to do Thunder Swamp. Love hiking down there to get away from the crowds in the Whites. VT is under water again, muddy to begin with and floods like last year.
BFT is my favorite trail in all of PA. Looks like you hiked counter clockwise. Climbing Hemlock Mtn. about killed this 60 yr. old lady! But it is stunningly beautiful! Nice video!
@patticarey9016 yeah the BFT is probably my favorite trail. It was my first multi-night trip. Yeah Hemlock mountain is no joke but the views are spectacular!
@patticarey9016 thanks! Yeah the humidity was the biggest killer combined with wet feet. Overall it was still much better than what was forecast. Happy hiking!
lol. That log bridge was tricky. I’m surprised one of us didn’t end up swimming. I could have put on my rain pants. There was sooo much stinging nettle all through the trail. I’m just lazy. Really well done video. Your videography was amazing👍
Yeah it was definitely a wonder one of us didn't take a bath. Your approach to lean back was definitely the way to do it. The humidity and stinging nettle was in full force. Thanks Dan!
There is water at that shelter 😉 if you go behind fire ring down the little bank and keep going you will find it unfortunately one has to bushwhack to get to it …. Every time I’ve been there there has been water …
You are in my neck of the woods. Grew up in that area. Miss all the hiking my sister, cousin and I use to do there. ❤ really enjoying your journey. Familiar places ❤
Cool! Walked up on a coyote! Is there a tracing of the loop you did in AllTrails? Or can you list out each trail you were on? I didn't catch it all in the video. Nice videography!
Thanks! I'm not sure if there is a tracing anywhere or not. I think I just used the Quehanna East Cross Connector, the Quehanna, and Big Spring Draft Trail. If you get a copy of the Quehanna East map it shouldn't be too hard to make up this loop. It was a nice weekend get away. Happy hiking!
Glad to see you are still hitting the trails. If you ever decide to hit up trails in Allegheny national forest LMK its not to far from me and I know lots of good places to backpack
Good to see you back on the trails! I'd love to hike that part of Pa at some point; I tend to stick to my home-base in SE Pa but have been venturing further afield the last couple of years....Michaux State Forest and the Stony Valley. That cookie looked amazing!
Yeah the protein cookie with peanut butter was a clutch dessert for sure. I highly recommend you make it up to the endless mountains! Lots of beautiful country up there.
Very good videography! You two guys make it look so easy. 😁 I did the Link Loyalsock Loop trail with my Cattledog about 2-3 weeks ago and the Loyalsock Trail between Sone's Pond and World's End was just one mud bog and mud pit after another. Guess it was because of the wet spring we had. What month was this hike done? Thanks for sharing your trip! 👍🏻
Thanks a lot Patti! This hike was in mid-October. Yeah the Sones Pond section can definitely get mucky. This was a great hike. Dan showed me a bunch of different shot setups and they turned out great. Thanks a lot for watching!
As always great video. I've never seen you guys fish. If you did where would you recommend a place to be able to catch and cook and set up away from everything. Is there a good place in pa for that?
I can't say I'm much of a fisherman. I'm sure there are many places in PA. I'd just pick some bigger streams. The Loyalsock and Rock Run come to mind. Happy hiking!
Nice! I do this with a Nalgene bottle. I use paracord instead of zip ties, and I've secured it with the shock cord that's built in for trekking poles on my Osprey pack. I like your idea of adding shock cord to the backpack strap.
