Hello! I'm Brian Goodman, a professional photographer and an outdoors obsessed dude, living in beautiful Lawrence, KS. This channel will feature videos about the wild and woolly life as a freelance photographer, adventures in backpacking, kayaking, and everything else that happens when you grab a camera and step out your front door.
I like the Prairie Spirit Trail...usually ride about 14 miles around Garnett...then eat at that Dutch Cafe in Garnett...I did the whole thing a couple times...Its real peaceful
Great video. My wife and I are planning the C&O and GAP trail this fall. It appears that you guys have the Big Agnus Copper Spur HV UL? And I’m looking at getting the same tent. Did you opt for the 2 person or 3? Thanks again for your wonderful video.
We did our trip in the first week of October. There are campsites every 10 miles and most nights, we had the campsite to ourselves. I think October is the best month to do it. Good luck and happy trails!
My self guilt is not being with my kids every second I can. I feel wrong when I'm away from them. I feel this way because of lack of a good father figure growing up. Great video by the way! I enjoy making videos myself. Mine are not nearly as smooth as yours though lol. I just like to take pictures . ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kC7zan0Us00.html
Wonderful video - you two have such an obviously wonderful relationship, and the piano music is so evocative and sets the vibe so well. Thanks for this - I'll be back east to ride the C&O again one day soon. Happy riding to the both of you!
Wow. Thank you for the kind words. I'm lucky to have a girl who enjoys adventuring with me. We're itching to get back out there to do the GAP next. Thanks for watching and happy trails!
@brain goodmen Hello Brian, great vid late to view but glad I found it. myself and a couple friends plan to float from Lawrence to KC do you have any tip or tricks?
Hey Kai! That will be a great float for you and your friends. The most important thing is to know the river’s flow rate. If it’s too low, you’ll be dragging and if it’s too high, there won’t be any sandbars to camp on. I was out on it last weekend and it was flowing at 6500cfs and it was perfect. Anything above 8000cfs and there won’t be any sandbars. The Friends of the Kaw website(www.kansasriver.org) is a great resource. They provide a link to a map that shows up to date flow rates as well as a map showing all of the river access points and hazards. At mile 14.8 there is a low-head dam that requires you to carry boats about 100 yards to get around it and back on the river. Other than that, it’s an easy relaxing ride down stream. Let me know if you have any other questions. Always happy to chat about kayaking the Kansas!
Sure can. There are spots all along the trail where people have been camping for years, so there are established rock fire rings and the ground is a little cleared out from people setting up tents, but you can camp anywhere within the wilderness area.
Brian very nice and peaceful ride, like the pace both of you had on the trail, looks like you enjoy every afternoon and every morning relaxing with your coffee. I told my wife about this, and she like it. Thank you.
Brian , what a wonderful presentation .. Plan on doing the Rock Island to St. Charles on the Katy Trail first this fall . You and your partner just gave me the motivation to go on the C & O as my next trip . Just need to workout the logistics from Cumberland to DC . Taking the Amtrak is a wonderful idea ... Thanks for showing me this treasure ... Leo ,from O'fallon mo.
Thanks for watching Leo! We love riding the Katy. It's a real gem of a trail. The Amtrak was the icing on the cake for that C&O ride. Good luck and happy riding this Fall!
Hi, Great video can you please tell me where you parked your car and was it secure this is what I will be doing this year but wanted to know where to park my car. Thanks for your time. Michael
Hi Michael. There is free long term parking at the Howard Street Parking lot under I-68. We left our car there for a week and everything was fine. It’s got plenty of spaces and is literally across the street from the C&O. That’s where we’ll be parking again this fall when we ride the GAP!
I see the sore back, I am 73 years old with 2 pins and 6 screws in my lower back. I don't miss the back pains, shoulder and neck pains or wrist numbness, and sore ass that would have lots bruising. I got a Trike and will never go back to the bicycle ever again, also don't miss the balancing issues or slipping off the pedals and landing on the straight bar. My Trike is the Catrike Dumont and I love it but there are others out there, so try a Tadpole Recumbent Trike.
Happy [belated] Birthday Brian! I've watched several of your videos on the Big Piney and am heading there in a few days. Would you say this is a trail runner or hiking boot type trail? Thanks and I hope to enjoy it as much as you have. From a fellow Over 50 hiker :D
Hey thanks! The Big Piney trail is really rough and a lot of it is covered in big loose rocks that are totally hidden by leaves. It's full of ankle-breakers! I'm a boot guy in general when I backpack and I'm sure there are plenty of folks who have no problems in trail runners, but my boots have saved me from many o' sprains out there. My wife and I are possibly heading there this weekend, so maybe we'll cross paths...Happy hiking!
So boots it is, thank you! I only have time for one night, so I'll likely be camping on the connector to cut it a bit shorter. I really appreciate your videos and input, it's helped a great deal in planning my first trip here. Enjoy your hike!
Thanks for the video. I'm also from east Kansas and I am currently planning a backpacking trip with my boys. Colorado is a bit of a far drive for a weekend trip, so this is great!
The C&O was my first bikepacking ride many years ago. I’ve done the Katy, the Erie Canal, and many shorter ones since, but the C&O has remained my favorite.
Glad you enjoyed it. I did give all of the details about this ride in the video description. I personally don't think every video needs a bunch of talking, but to each their own. Cheers.
We are looking to do this Memorial Day weekend. Can you speak on how you handled showering and what the bath house situation was like? Were the camping sites close to bath houses? Was there a line in the am for showering etc? Thank you ☺️
Hi Lissa, happy to help. We camped in the hiker/biker campsites which are primitive. They are spaced out about every 10 miles along the entire trail, making it really easy to find camping and they are right next to the trail, right on the Patomac River. Most of them have a couple of picnic tables, sometimes a port-a-potty, a hand pump water spigot, but no showers. We used the spigots to freshen up, but it wasn't quite shower fresh! We're backpackers as well and are used to going days without showers, so having those spigots did kind of feel like a luxury for us. I think there are some pay campsites along the way that may have showers, but they'd be off trail a bit and I don't know how many or how far apart they are. We stayed at an Airbnb in Harpers Ferry for two nights to rest/site-see and that's really the only time we were "clean" between Cumberland and D.C. We were pretty grimy when we rolled into our hotel in D.C., but for us, it's part of an adventure and you sure do appreciate a good shower afterwards! Sorry for the rambling, hope this helps some. Good luck!
I have plans of biking on sections of the Great Alleghany Passage Trail and the C&O Canal Trail in 2024. Throw in the Western Maryland Trail also. I hiked on sections of these trails in the last few years and wanted to do more than 6 miles, turn around, and go back. I will go 20 miles, turn around, and go back with a bicycle. I like Little Orleans area. Putting it on my destination list for the trip.
I live about 10 min from Hawn State Park. It's a beautiful pine forest with nice backcountry sites. We love hiking into their sites. If you're in the area, it's worth checking out
