I lived in Green River during 1970 when I served in the Army at the missile site, and once co-owned a business in Moab during the 1980's. Don Swasey owned the High Desert Gift Shop in Moab. As we became friends I learned about the interesting Swasey family. Please keep making your wonderful videos. I love them all and especially enjoy them because I'm too old now to get out and explore Utah like I used to.
Thanks for sharing your personal insight. I almost made a correction to my video to clarify that there were actually several Swaseys and the various family members are represented via various place names. I lose track of which is which, but yes... definitely sounds like an interesting family. I visited Swaseys Leap on an previous trip at the Black Box -- cool site. Thanks for watching! ✌
Man Jamal I love the backcountry as much as anyone else, but I sure bet when you got to Green River and ultimately home that a good shower and meal was amazing after this hike! Sure there are longer trails, but the vast amount of backcountry non trailed travel you did is quite an accomplishment! You really have seen some of the most precious parts of Utah. Cheers to the finish line!
Really enjoy your journey on your long trips. You have a really positive attitude and no matter what the circumstances are you keep a good head about you. There was good rain and snow this winter in Utah and if you plan another adventure this spring you will find more water than the last two years. Many thanks for the new Vlog-style daily videos. Is it something that you might do again? It is probably a huge commitment but we love it!
Thanks! Yeah... I'm hoping this year won't be quite as dry thanks to the rain later in the season and deep snowpack. Glad you like the daily format -- it really was bit of an experiment. I thought I had enough material to make it interesting, BUT... wasn't sure if it would be TOO much for many people. I'm not sure what is in store for this year or what format it might take, so... stay tuned! 🌞✌
Water is such a burden. I was thinking about backpacking the Grand Canyon until I realized how much water I'd have to carry. I dream of a bright future with coast to coast mobile drone pizza + water delivery services
I think it was hiking in the Grand Canyon that I first learned the importance of water. I hiked it as a kid with my parents (R2R2R in August!) and the water was so heavy, but we had to have it. It made us really focus on the locations of confirmed sources and I think that mindset has stuck with me as my routes to this day are often dictated by where the water can be found. Thanks again for watching and the comment. 🌞✌
Love your hard made superb content! Could feel your toil and hard work being a solo mountain hiker. Great love and respect from a solo mountain hiker friend from the Hindu Kush Mountains Lower Chitral District of Pakistan!
Not much choices if it comes to restaurants in Green River. I was there in 1999. I hope things improved. In 2016 there were new places close to I-70 and a few restaurants. Before it was a stretch around 110 miles with no services. Same from Green River to Grand Junction , Co. It was scary , empty and beautiful. Very well said , you experienced unusual things. It’s sad we are finishing the hike soon.
I know you care Jamal, and I appreciate your concern and obvious stewardship. I guess I'm just jealous of my refuges and personal space. There's a lot of abuses of open space out there.
Yep -- I totally understand. I see some of those abuses out there and they worry me as well. I just hope that as visitation numbers increase the number of protectors outpace the bad seeds. Thanks for watching! ✌
I actually did that loop the first time I was in the area -- and I concur it's pretty great. I'd hoped to do side hikes into a few more of the canyons in this area, but alas... only so many hours in the day and I needed to keep moving! Thanks again for watching and the comment! 🌞✌
Thanks for watching and the comment. Yeah, I knew this stretch would be dry, but I still thought I'd find some water at the semi-reliable spots. It was such a crazy dry year. Cheers! 🌞✌
I think this was the shortest VLOG Day in this series. I am sure it was due to the heat and lack of water. Still another day to enjoy! Thank you for sharing.
There are a few days that were shorter, but you are right that this was definitely one of the shortest. Funny -- I'd originally guesstimated that each episode would run 10-15 minutes. Turns out that wasn't enough time for most days. This day in particular was definitely hot and overall just not filled with many interesting moments. I didn't show it in the video, but there were a bunch of rock art panels that I looked for but failed to find. Then had plans to look for more later in the day, but just skipped them because I wanted to keep walking toward the destination (and hopefully water.) Thanks again for watching! 🌞✌
That's true, but it actually rained quite a bit in this area later in the summer. The monsoon storms really kicked in after being semi-muted for a few years. Hoping the deep snowpack this winter helps for this year as well. Thanks for watching! ✌
Yes -- so Utah had a pretty heavy monsoon season last summer and the snowpack is now at record levels which hopefully means everything should be a lot less dry in 2023. Fingers crossed. 🤞 Thanks again for watching and the comment! 🌞
Jamal, I'd be curious to know what your "water mileage" and/or total daily drinking water consumption might typically be on a hot dry stretch like this. Minimum amount you feel comfortable? I always get a little nervous, because in my mind if a spring is unexpectedly dry, it has now suddenly become the halfway point back to the last known water source. I've done solo trips in the desert but never got a handle on what is realistic. I know it varies. Back in the day they used to take salt tablets as well. Any problems with leg muscle cramps? That's said to be dehydration caused.
Yep -- I think there's a mantra about desert hiking that goes (paraphrasing) one should always hike away from water and not to it (ie NEVER overextend yourself hoping you'll find water ahead.) My max carry is 7 liters and that's what I carried a few times on this trek. I started this day with a few liters and then my cache was a gallon. I can get by on a gallon a day, but it's tough and not enjoyable (especially if worried about the next source.) On rare occasion I'll get leg cramps, but it's rare. Thanks again for watching and the comment! 🌞✌
Yep -- not fun. It wasn't really a dire situation as I knew I could walk an hour off my route and find people, but I just kept going thinking/hoping I'd eventually find water. Most of the spots I was checking are considered semi-reliable (but... this was not a normal year.) Thanks again for watching and the comment! 🌞✌
I feel your pain! One of the few times I ever ran out of water was in the Swell. The water I filtered from Muddy creek made me gag! I’m glad your experience was better! Perhaps there was more run-off? Anyway, thanks for suffering through such difficult conditions. I continue to love your content, and I hope you choose to not change a thing! The simplicity of your experiences in terms of how you record them is marvelous. Then again, you could go from pizza to pizza accompanied by a “tasty” Busch lite… Cheers!!!
Yeah, I know a lot of people don't like Muddy Creek, but really it was fine for me (pre-settled and filtered). Not having ample water really is miserable. This wasn't a dire situation since I knew I could walk an hour off my route and find people if needed -- but I just kept thinking I'd eventually find water. Thanks again for watching and the comment! 🌞✌
Was hoping so much that Lost Spring would turn into Surprise! Water! Spring (and a new happy fun time). . . so sad when it was dry as well. Thank goodness you planned ahead with your water cache, and thinking positive thoughts that you find some on Day 37 (although, the preview did not look encouraging!). Thanks again for another great video.
Funny thing is... I've since learned that Lost Spring actually does frequently have water -- just not this year. Thanks again for watching the comment. 🌞✌
I like your videos. I love the area, I just can't help popularize it by liking, subscribing or supporting. This area needs less attention, visitation and exploitation.
That's cool -- the overcrowding in some areas of Utah is definitely a concern, but… just so you know my channel does not appeal to the masses. I volunteer admin a Facebook page for Zion and it gets more views in one day than my channel and website does in a year! Also, I like to think that for the few that I do inspire to visit spots in Utah, I hope they learn from my frequent discussions of LNT principles and how to respect the land as much as I do. In some ways I think these areas need MORE attention -- in the sense that people need to know how great they are so that they can help protect them. But... yes, it's hard to find the balance at times. And for the record... you are supporting the channel by watching and leaving a comment, so thanks! 😉✌
