Hello. My name is Glenn. I'm a backpacker, thru-hiker and outdoor enthusiast! I have created this channel to share my life and my passion for hiking. Please consider subscribing to my channel and enjoy my content!
@@midwayxray I had gone mid October starting around the 15th. Just be mindful of weather patterns in the Shawnee and keep your eye on temps weeks in advance. Cold fronts are guaranteed to ruin your thru-hike if your not properly prepared for below freezing temps. Otherwise, if your able to plan your thru-hike around the temp changes, you CAN have an amazing fall hike experience! I look forward to seeing your adventure!
@savagetraveler thank you so much for the reply!! I was planning early October but man I would love to see those tree colors, I may have to take couple week delay weather permitting!
@@tridudyonthetrail thanks!!! My first book is available for free: www.rivertorivertrail.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023_Glenn_Lawrentz_from-west-to-east-STANDARD.pdf
This is a very powerful story… I’m sincerely so sorry for your loss. I also am very appreciative of the memorial for your loved ones. What a beautiful and amazing place… thank you for sharing and bringing us along. Prayers for you and your loved ones!!
@@MurvFisher-gs2ui i printed the maps from the trail guide into a smaller size. I think 3x5, so as many as 3 to 4 maps per page. Then I cut them out, put cardboard in between and poor man laminated two maps together so that they'd be double sided and correspond from one map to the next. I still have the original maps I made, I'd be willing to send them to ya. By the time I'm able to get back out on the R2R for my solo thru-hike it may be another year or two
@@MurvFisher-gs2ui i never really used the maps anyway, I relied on the Avenza map app on my phone which was very accurate, always showed where I was on the map and never failed me
Ive been bingeing your videos. Im in Illinois as well. I used to live near Waterfall Glenn but now i love in Plano Illinois. So im still only 50ish minutes away and about the same away from Starved Rock. Id be down to do some hikes/thru hikes with you if you wanted company.
I didn't have a chance to really explore that area and when I came through it was rather quick in the early morning. But the lodge restaurant was definitely worth the stop. Delicious food and fuel for the hike.
@@dianefreeman7194 I've wanted to try their fried chicken dinner so badly, the three times I've come to this trail I've missed it... perhaps whenever I return I can plan it right to where I make it to one
@savagetraveler I live at the very top of Illinois, so driving 7-8 hours for a meal is too much. But the Giant City Lodge has better food than 90% of restaurants I ate at during my travels. Best biscuits and gravy, beating most southern places. Now I have made myself hungry!
@@dianefreeman7194 🤣 i totally understand. I live near Chicago. Is definitely a drive, but when I have plans to make it down there its definitely a must stop and yes their Biscuits and gravy are delicious! Along with there chicken fried steak and I think one year I had a prime rib sandwich that was out of this world. Darn. I'm hungry now too 😆
The Shawnee national Forest is my backyard the river to river trail has always been a dream on mine. I need to get lost in the woods, and find my heart and soul again. I need to start working towards this.
I would like to say that it is more than worth the experience. I live hundreds of miles away. It takes me the better part of half a day to get there. But the feeling and experience I receive on the trail brings me back every single year. I'm addicted to this trail!
@@savagetraveler I've done segments of it from time to time mainly just day trips life is just so busy it's hard to squeeze that much free time to do the whole thing at once. I live about 3 or 4 miles north of giant city state park. I really enjoyed your series on this hike gave me motivation to try just a little harder.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have another series from the year prior where I had a failed attempt. I'm hoping to return this Fall to reattempt my solo westbound thru-hike of the River to river
Fantastic!! Congrats to you both! I really enjoyed following the adventure... When I make the time to do this, I may reach out and ask for any advice. Also, you really put together a nice story with the narrations, credits, and all that. I could learn a lot from how well you put your videos together (I'm just really lazy!). Anyway, thank you for sharing this!
Great trail! I think I completed it the day after you guys started. That's funny. What is funnier is that is my white van parked in the Crooked Creek parking lot with all the stickers at the start of the video. Lol. Weird to see it on here.
Yes. We've collected the stickers from road trips throughout the years. Mostly with our kids when they were younger. A good way to decorate up the otherwise church bus!
Thanks Mark! Glad you enjoyed it! Would've been great to have you along, we'll all have to team up and plan on another adventure together! Hope all is well.
Awesome! Hope you had a great time! Which direction did you travel? I completed last week. 46.5 miles in 2.5 days. My day 1 will be uploaded soon. Thanks for watching!
Nice!! Got a couple new ones to catch now!! I personally loved “A Walk in the Woods” but I know a lot of people think Bill Bryson’s humor is super smug and condescending. Personally, I love the sarcasm. “Wild”, I agree was super great. I read the book too and it was a pretty wild adventure. Thanks for sharing and look forward to catching the ones I haven’t seen yet!!
Thanks for watching Mark! Let me know when you finally see "Happiness for Beginners", I thought that one was hilarious. And Emile Hirsch was great in his role depicting Christopher McCandless in the movie "Into the Wild". I'm curious what you think of these movies so get back to me and let me know. Good to talk with you!
@@savagetraveler So… I literally just finished watching “Happiness for Beginners.” I’m a sucker for rom-coms, but this was awesome! Movies that literally make me laugh out loud are the best! I’ll totally watch that one again! Excellent pick!!
Cheers mate, great video, cool tips and nicely put together 🙂 Good luck with your adventures and all the best with you channel, I know how much work you have to put in to get these upload, subscribed ✌🏻
Thank you! I appreciate you! Also subscribed! 👍 Australia has such beautiful country! I look forward to watching your content! And thank you again, for checking out my channel!
Great video Glen! If you want to add on to the hike at Herrick Lake, you can start at Leask and Butterfield (I park by the Oberwies) and walk through Danada forest preserve. It connects with the Herrick trails.
Savage, did you have any planned camp sites along the Fox River trail? I have biked the entire length several times and I can think of a few sites where one might stealth camp (not sure if legally), but I never really considered it. So, any insights would be helpful because it might be fun to walk sometime. Thanks.
I understand what you are getting at but it is physically impossible to hike a trail like the Appalachian Trail without taking a day off every so often. I totally agree with you on trail conditions.
I'm not talking about those who take zero days or rest days, most of those people remain on trail during those days. I'm speaking to those who skip sections of a trail during a thru-hike, or those who take a car ride instead of hiking to avoid miles they need to complete during a "thru-hike".
Peeps who do that are only cheating themselves. I can only assume that they don't feel the same sense of accomplishment, which is priceless in my book. And to those complaining about trail conditions....where's your sense of adventure???
@@savagetraveler yeah. I've done it twice. Once before the sock barn and once after, now that it actually ends in Brown County state park. Not nearly as rugged as KT, but fewer campsites and trailheads.
Nailed it! Not gonna lie, number 10 hits home. I almost stayed out in a hurricane on the JMT because I was too stubborn. My wife would have killed me (if I didn’t die!) 😂 Loved your River to River trail hike too (hopefully already told ya that though). Knobstone trail, my friend, let’s make it happen! Cheers!
Thanks for watching! And I hope you enjoyed my R2R adventures. Heading back out on the R2R in October and I mught be heading out on the Tecumseh this March/April!
@@savagetraveler Heck yeah, I enjoyed those adventures! Because of you, it’s on my list! Tecumseh is on my list too! Wishing you all the best, my friend!
My favorite is your 2023 RTR thru-hike full series video. All in one spot and having hiked the Garden of the Gods area some myself, it was really cool to see more of the area. Thanks for the videos. -Steve C.
Glenn - Good work on documenting your adventure! I’m considering a thru hike next month. I’m curious, what do you have for a power bank? Do you remember the locations where you were able to recharge?
I have a Anker 20,000mAh bank... fully charged before I started my hike and then I charged up at Giant City State Park, Hilltop Campground, Acee's in Goreville, Shotgun Eddys in Eddyville and an outside outlet at High Knob Campground. I never ran out of battery on my bank.
Thanks for watching my video, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also wrote a book on the thru hike which covers a lot more that is not detailed in the video. U can read it for free on the trail stories section on the River to River Trail site, www.rivertorivertrail.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023_Glenn_Lawrentz_from-west-to-east-STANDARD.pdf
I noted you had your water cached along the way. Did you use a filter at all? I’m considering doing the hike at the beginning of February, and am trying to figure out the water situation.
