Exploring Natural Tunnel State Park // Why We Had To Take A Break From Truck Camping

WE'RE BACK and boy does it feel good. This episode is a doozy. I'll explain why we've been offline for 4 months, we'll meet up with family in the mountains of Kentucky, and finally we'll take a trip down a chairlift into Virginia's beautiful Natural Tunnel State Park. Thanks so much for sticking with us and expect more videos soon!
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Big thanks to Tara ( / full.swoon ) for her video contributions.
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[@davidherdman6181]

It’s very nice to see you both doing well again after Joe’s health scare.

[@Twobarpsi]

Thanks for sharing the story about your great grandparents. I don't have memories of even my grandparents. I see why you do what you do.

[@ChrisSalmonYYC]

Came to this channel 9 years ago for DIY hammock tarp ideas .... Really good to see you back Joe.

[@BackcountryBanter]

It's hard to believe it has been 9+ years haha! Thanks for keeping up. Feels good to be back.

[@PeteGeniella]

Great to see you back! Thankfully they were able to make a diagnosis quickly! Best wishes for your continued health

[@C_C_SEA]

Grateful that Joe's been properly diagnosed, is receiving care, healing and recovering nicely. Just Lovely to see y'all both anew after the involuntary hiatus. Roll on to best ability ❤️🏔🏕🚚💨

[@barryethridge568]

Yay! So glad you two are back.

[@bdlagain]

So glad you're back & feeling better! The wife & I missed you two!

[@teddgram]

I missed you 2 so I went through all your DIY videos. I never realized you did some of that. Pretty cool stuff.

[@woodchip2782]

Missed you two!!!♥️

[@b.k.691]

Great to see you guys your back with some new videos! Take care of each other.

[@JC-tn8zh]

Glad to see you back and healthy. As usual another great episode!

[@erikgiggey4783]

been following you since your first AT videos, So glad you got your health taken care of.

[@Jtotheoshify]

Missed your videos Joe! Glad to see you guys are safe.

[@PeterFreakinPan]

Glad to see you guys back! If you’ve noticed an uptick in your WRHR video views over the past month it’s because I can’t stop watching them. Thanks for the inspiration, you guys keep on truckin’.

[@BackcountryBanter]

I can't wait to get back out to the winds.

[@PeterFreakinPan]

@@BackcountryBanter it seems like y’all got the best weather imaginable. I’m trying to plan a trip for 2022 so I hope we get something close to that.

[@meonisbonus]

Happy to see you both back on the road. Good luck with taking care of your health.

[@BackcountryBanter]

Thanks Matt!

[@notquiteultralight1701]

YAAAAAAYYYY!!! So good to see a vid again!!

[@briancswartz6411]

So glad to hear you're getting a handle on your health. That's that bid deal and absolutely priority #1. Thanks for the vid! As a backpacker who struggles with my own health issues (hypoglycemia and weak knees), it's comforting to hear other people overcome their own struggles to achieve their adventurous goals.

[@BackcountryBanter]

If only we could combine our powers to achieve normal blood sugar levels 😂

[@briancswartz6411]

@@BackcountryBanter would that be Captain Glucose or Blood Sugar Twins? As you continue to learn how to balance your diet with your diabetes, I’d be very curious to see how that “weighs” into your backpacking food resupply strategies.

[@BackcountryBanter]

😂😂 Yeah, much like my blood sugar I am now worried that my pack weight is about to reach new highs.

[@briancswartz6411]

@@BackcountryBanter Keep exploring your options. One thing you said in one of your past videos which I often quote: “You can never discover your boundaries if you never push your boundaries.” I found a key snack food that sustains my hypoglycemia (Nature Valley Oats N Honey granola bars). I always budget 4 of those snacks for every day I’m on trail. Hopefully there’s a similar lightweight food option that suits your needs.

[@briansaucy4871]

Glad you're better (new videos or not) enjoy your lives. Cheers

[@jeffr3787]

Glad to have you both back at it! Glad you are doing ok Joe!

[@BRP42]

Sounds scary, but I’m glad you figured it out.

[@TievelaneyWest]

Great to see you are both doing well. Take care of yourself!

[@pleasantfiction]

So glad you guys are back! Definitely missed your smooth videos. Sorry you’ve joined the diabeetus club - my onset was similar to yours, except I was downing lots of sugary drinks before I knew what was going on. That place looks awesome - we used to swing on vines too! Don’t know how we survived our childhood. 😆

[@BackcountryBanter]

Beetus buds! 😂 Yeah, I often look back on the things I did growing up and wonder how I was never seriously injured or worse. We'd swing out on the vines over the side of the mountain and would be hovering near 20' in the air sometimes. Seems a bit dumb now though I guess kids are nearly invincible in some ways.

[@tanyadeleeuw]

great to see you back!

[@VideoIconic]

Sorry to hear about the diabetes. Glad to hear you have it under control. Lots of hiking in your future. I definitely missed your vids. I even thought the worst! Glad your back.

[@BackcountryBanter]

Glad to be back!

[@kmcgoeshiking27]

I’m sorry to hear of your health problems. It sounds like you have a plan to take care of them so that you will be a better health. Hopefully this allows you to get back on the trail and do the things you love so much. Take care I wish you well!

[@BackcountryBanter]

Thanks!

[@billevans59]

Great news about your health! I had grown concerned since your last video along the gulf coast. Be well, and safe travel.

[@barbarahalcomb6353]

Wonderful video. You did a great job telling your stories. Love you.

[@barbarahalcomb6353]

Joe. And Tara, Pop really loved your video. brought back so many memories. Keep up the good work and take care of your health (first).

[@BackcountryBanter]

Glad to hear it. Thanks Nan!

[@JiTiKeRo]

So glad and grateful that you and Tara are back to it and that your health has improved! I wish you both good health and amazing adventures this year!

[@taraohais.973]

Thank you, Robin!!

[@littlebighead15]

Happy to see you both are doing okay. Hope Tara is doing well too.

[@taraohais.973]

I am, thank you! Good to be back 💜

[@littlebighead15]

@@taraohais.973 :)

[@notquiteultralight1701]

Great great watch! I just saw it pop up earlier but i was busy. So so glad you two are back at it and were able to isolate what was wrong with Joe. KZbin needs Joe and Tara, it just does!! Potatoes are GREAT starches for you Joe! My wife had gestational diabetes during our first childs pregnancy and potatoes are a great food!! This video made my day! Thank you thank you!!👍🏼😃

[@taraohais.973]

Thank you for sharing the good info and the good energy 💜 soo nice to be back.

[@notquiteultralight1701]

@@taraohais.973 so… correction. Mom(my beautiful wife🙂) informed me that potatoes are ok if they’ve been cooled prior to consumption as in a potato salad. 👍🏼 just wanted to pass it on.

[@taraohais.973]

I remember that from nutrition class in massage school, so weird! Thank you 🙏

[@Jobrewerful1]

Home sweet home! The Halcomb family homestead…

[@hermeticallysealed]

thunder on a chairlift plus one to ways to expire list Tara

[@RyanNiemer]

I love this. Everything about this.

[@bicyclethief]

Great to hear your health is in order! Will be interested in seeing how you handle eating on thru-hikes with your new diet restrictions. Seems like a big challenge!

[@BackcountryBanter]

Much like my blood sugar my pack weight might be going up.

[@jhonyermo]

Just checked your photos on IG Very great stuff. So I am re-watching. Also did not mention dinosaur // giant LEE-ZARD on top of camper before. So now I did. Very spiffy 🦎 , 🐱‍🐉 😀 .

[@BackcountryBanter]

Haha, thanks. Tara designed the thumbnail and snuck it in 😁 I'm liking the surrealist twist she's been putting on the recent thumbnails.

[@taraohais.973]

My favorite small creature, so had to make a cameo 💜

[@hike2bhuman110]

Very much enjoyed, so glad to hear that you and Tara are doing well, I have been on my Keto journey for over a year now, I was told I am pre-diabetic and since i've gone whole Keto have felt better than I have in decades. I sure hope what you were saying while standing in front of that sexy Red Tacoma wasn't important, all I heard was blah blah blah.. 🤣 Thank you for the flash back, I spent my summers at my grandparents in Eastern South Carolina, your Grandmother's voice stirred up memories of my late grandmother. Happy safe travels friends!

[@taraohais.973]

So cool, thanks for sharing. Has the keto diet helped maintain and/or lower your numbers? So glad you feel better!

[@BackcountryBanter]

I remember when you first started posting about a Keto diet. The meals you share have always looked delicious. I'm glad you're feeling better too. Do you find it challenging to remain on Keto now or has it become sort of second nature for you?

[@hike2bhuman110]

@@taraohais.973 At first it was an experiment to see how I would do, I lost 40 lb & and kicked my addiction to sugar I don't crave carbs, bread, pasta & sugary treats anymore. Last time I got tested everything was in the good range except for my cholesterol but it's getting lower as well.

[@hike2bhuman110]

@@BackcountryBanter it really has become second nature when I was watching you cook potatoes in the pot I was thinking oh oh I can't eat that, same thing with the s'mores, I think it all fits in to having a better life to adapt and overcome, it doesn't mean that you can't have those things You just have to eat them and fractions of the size you had before.

[@BackcountryBanter]

🙌

[@naturecallsoutdoors]

Good to see you back. Been seeing the Instagram stuff and love the outdoor table cooking. Glad that you are living in the modern day. My son go the late onset and the new monitors and app have been great. What do you think on top quilt baffles? I have done long ways a lot, but am thinking widthwise is the better call.

[@BackcountryBanter]

Yeah I have a monitor that I wear and it is soo much nicer than pricking my fingers all the time. Plus I can test how foods affect me. I've changed my mind on top quilt baffles over the years. I used to be all-in on karo-step because it allows customization of where your down is distributed. But the inconvenience of having to re-distribute your down before bed can be annoying. Then I was pro long (head to toe) baffles to keep down from migrating around the edges of the quilt. Now I think a hybrid system might be best. Long head to toe baffles near the feet (where the curves of the quilt around your body are most extreme) and wide shoulder to shoulder baffles on the top torso part of the quilt (where it lies mostly flat.) Or you can use any method and just add in some micro baffles to keep down from shifting around too much in a long baffle. My best advice is just overstuff the quilt so as the down compresses over time it'll still be able to fill the baffles and won't leave bare spots.

[@davidsixtwo]

Glad to see you're doing better and you guys are back on the road!

[@blackedoutgst]

Dude this is where I live. Hope you went and checked out devils bathtub.

[@BackcountryBanter]

Nice! And we didn't... but it sounds like something we need to see when we pass back through! What is it?

[@masonandleigh]

6:45 - future Tara and Joe

[@BackcountryBanter]

🤗 One can hope.

[@taraohais.973]

😂 couple goals 😂

[@ImTheDudeMan471]

I was wondering when Joseppi and Tarashina would escape the secret Blofeld Scaramanga Goldfinger Island of sharks, pointy missles and lasers. Let us know how MeHap managed to get an escape submarine crewed with go-go dancers in hotpants. That CIA/KGB/MI6 story should be interesting. (That was my creative mind's fun story of why you were on milk cartons).

[@taraohais.973]

😂😂😂

[@randomthoughtsfromacrazedm3372]

Diabetes is serious business. I saw a report on a pair of twins that had lived into their 80s with diabetes and they checked their blood sugar multiple times a day and kept it in check. All the best.

[@BackcountryBanter]

My plan is to live to be 100 😬

[@miguelteixeira1979]

Sad to hear about you type 1 diabetes. Take a look into rhonda patrick's interview to valter longo about his r&d regarding reverting auto imune diseases thru the use of fast mimicking diet. Hope it helps.

[@BackcountryBanter]

I'll check it out, thanks!

[@lordtoranaga]

I am glad you are alright. I thought you might have been abducted

[@mcmick6294]

Joe, please consider that insulin levels are a Rollercoaster, even in insulin stable persons. Levels change drastically Depending on diet, exercise, (not geneological) etc. And assumptions are made on the spot. Monitor your glucose levels daily and get a third opinion, always. You may see that your diagnosis was a little ' misguided'.

[@mcmick6294]

Please also consider,,Adrenal levels play with insulin levels. A cortisol / adrenal test can be ordered by a doctor, The kit is sent to you, you provide the urine and saliva over a 24 hour period, Mail the kit to the lab and get results back in a week or three. You pay the Lab directly a few hundred for this (not big pharma or insurance companies) . Your cortisol levels will tell volumes about Sugar, stress, hormone levels, reaction to diet during your daily routine. This is 'functional medicine. (Not wholistic, natural, etc.) Btw- i'm an avid hiker, architect and fan of yours way back. Mick

[@johnschmitt3083]

Did they try to give you some explanation on what triggered it? Genetics? Did you eat a lot of sugar? You look like the most healthy person. I read this some time ago. "More than 34 million people in the United States have diabetes, and 1 in 5 of them don't know they have it. More than 88 million US adults-over a third-have prediabetes, and more than 84% of them don't know they have it." Get well!

[@BackcountryBanter]

Thanks! No they really didn't even try to explain what may have caused it. Because it's autoimmune, I assume genetics played a large role but who knows. When I was off trail I'd say that I didn't eat much sugar or at least much less than average in America. No sodas or anything like that. Of course on thruhikes I was eating a lot of carbs.

[@allenfackler]

Glad to see you back. Can't help but wonder if your diabetes onset was after the jab? The experimental shot wreaks havoc on your auto-immune system. Stay strong.

[@BackcountryBanter]

No it was happening long before (apparently longer than I knew.) It did allow me to get earlier access to the vaccine though which was a bonus.

[@allenfackler]

@@BackcountryBanter Thanks for the reply. The scientist in me was curious, not judging your decision :)