Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail - 70 Mile SOBO Thru Hike, Backpacking Pennsylvania

[@jefferybyard8429]

I help maintain the Allegheny Trail (311 miles) in West Virginia. I like to watch videos like yours to see how other trails are set up for hikers. This year me and another fellow volunteer is planning on backpacking the Foothills Trail and next year backpacking the Laurel Highlands Trail. Thanks for a great video.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks for watching, and for helping maintain the trail. I'd love to hike the Allegheny some day, or at least part of it. I've heard great things about the Foothills Trail too, and I can't recommend the Laurel Highlands enough. Take care!

[@Smokeybeesnatural]

Bravo, my brother! I enjoyed every minute! The comic relief sprinkled in was great! Thank you for letting me relive this adventure! On to the next! Oh Yeah, the BLOOPERS! The best yet!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you, Nick! I couldn't have it getting too serious for too long 😉 It's still fun reliving this trip, even after seeing every one of these shots about 15 times, haha. Thanks for inviting me along, and for all the support. I seriously wouldn't have done it without you.

[@Smokeybeesnatural]

@@beyondthecampfire thank you for getting me through my rainy tantrum 😅

[@beyondthecampfire]

@@Smokeybeesnatural I'm sorry about your camera.... 😥

[@Smokeybeesnatural]

@@beyondthecampfire it still works. That's a plus!

[@danalynnmiller8080]

I've been waiting for this one!

[@beyondthecampfire]

You should join us for the premiere!

[@Smokeybeesnatural]

WE ALL HAVE!!!

[@kenwbrenner]

Hi. Nicely filmed and narrated. Looks like a well-maintained trail. Impressed with the number of and quality of shelters provided. Will look at your channel for more hiking videos. Thanks!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks Ken! It's a rocky trail, but a very well-maintained one. I'd hike the whole thing again just for those shelters. They were the nicest shelters I've ever used. Thanks for checking out the channel.

[@amycoghill1413]

One of my favorite things in the video, aside of the colors, is the 2nd person narration! I noticed it right away and thought it was perfect. As you know, I also enjoyed the humor by the amount of times I laughed out loud. It’s looks like an amazing trip. Congratulations on such an accomplishment and for creating such a beautiful documentation of the journey. Amazing as always! ❤❤

[@beyondthecampfire]

You can thank Matt for the idea to do 2nd person narration! It was fun to write, too. It turned out to be the right video for trying it. You did laugh a lot! I've been trying to break up the seriousness with a little more humor lately, so I'm glad it's working, haha. Thank you for watching it with me and for being supportive ❤

[@littleBIGGRiggs]

Another great adventure. Beautifully filmed & edited. Spectacular views. Thanks for taking us along & have a wonderful day.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words and I hope you have a wonderful day too.

[@WanderingWaysOutdoors]

Let's GO!!! We have been wondering when Chad's next video would be out!

[@beyondthecampfire]

It's been a while, haha. Even I was getting impatient!

[@charlessullivan5370]

This video is well done on a multitude of levels. Congratulations on completing the LHHT! I will begin thru-hiking this trail in three days. Looking forward to it.

[@MaksimOutdoors]

Wow guys that was incredible! Just stumbled upon your channel researching the LHHT and this video was excellent, very well narrated and detailed so thank you! Also subscribed to ya gonna have a lot of catching up to do!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks for watching and for the sub! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful. I can't recommend the LHHT highly enough. You're going to love it.

[@agilegold]

I just finished this trail and loved this video. I think my hiking partner & I saw your signatures in the geocaching notebook!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks! It's a great trail, isn't it? I'd love to do it again someday. Really cool that you saw our names in the notebook. Was it the one at the halfway point?

[@agilegold]

@@beyondthecampfire Yes, it was in the 35.5 mailbox next to the big boulder.

[@cadleclan9]

Very good job on this video. Loved it and want to hike it.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks! I highly recommend the trail. It's worth every mile.

[@dianaroth9073]

The lake at 29 minutes is my favorite place to rest. Yes, the smell and feel reminds me of living by Lake Erie as a child.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Oh, it's interesting you say that. I grew up about 3 miles from Lake Erie!

[@dianaroth9073]

@@beyondthecampfire Did you live in the Cleveland area or Erie, PA?

[@beyondthecampfire]

@@dianaroth9073 I grew up on the Michigan side of the Lake, in a town that is also named Erie.

[@thunderkittie679]

If I was there and had time I might break out the little hand line I have for fishing. The string originally came with a kite You might catch your next meal in that small lake if you could find something like an insect for bait. You never know.

[@TheAntHill184]

Thank you for the great video. Keep em coming. You definitely help me “get out there”…

[@MVozar25]

Beautiful video! Thanks for sharing and for touching the mile markers 😊

[@beyondthecampfire]

It's funny how important it became to touch every one of those mile markers. Like some strange religion that we joined for five days, haha. Thanks for watching!

[@MVozar25]

@@beyondthecampfire My pleasure! Look forward to more of your videos!

[@SLeyh95]

I've been considering a thru-hike of the LHHT for some time now. Thank you for documenting your journey. Very inspiring!

[@beyondthecampfire]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I highly recommend the trail. It's not overly difficult, it's relatively uncrowded, and the shelters can't be beat. I hope you get a chance to hike it.

[@TheOutdoorNavigator]

What an awesome video!! Loved the videography, the narration, and the perspective. Thank you so much for sharing your trip!! So enjoyed watching this! I know you put in a lot of work on this - and it shows. Be very proud of your work!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you for watching, and for the great comment. I was joking around last night about how I spent more time editing this than I did hiking it - which is an exaggeration, but not TOO much of an exaggeration 😅 I'm glad to hear the work is paying off and it's a worthwhile watch!

[@stevewindover3171]

So well done.

[@totalwalker]

Thanks for sharing this amazing video!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you for watching it!

[@ervinslens]

Opening is done masterfully my friend. This whole place is simply breathtaking as well as editing! Love it 🔥🔥

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you! I almost cut the opening at the last minute. I'm glad I didn't! Thanks for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@pascalchavanon1930]

What a great job. Check out the Black Forest trail in central PA,another great one😎👍🇫🇷

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks! The Black Forest trail is on my radar for sure.

[@roselee_explores]

Fantastic video! It's a gorgeous area ... what a great journey.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you! It was my first time in the area, but definitely not my last.

[@roselee_explores]

@@beyondthecampfire yea I've not done any backpacking or hiking in PA. But now I'm adding it to my plans for next year! Do you think October was probably the best time of year to backpack there?

[@beyondthecampfire]

@@roselee_explores That's awesome! You won't be disappointed. I do think October was the best time, although we were probably a week or two early for peak color. The temps were mild, water wasn't too much of a problem, and we barely saw anyone else. It was pretty close to perfect.

[@moloko4]

I love the way this was done. Good job.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks for the kind words and the sub!

[@BluegrassBackcountry]

0:20 Wow. You probably know me well enough by now that I love “cold opens”, and this is one of my favorite ones, yet. The slomo of the leaves and the popping autumn color is a perfect way to get my head in the game for this hike. 1:00 I think I already mentioned this earlier, but this has got to be the most unique narration styles I have ever watched for a backpacking video. The 2nd person perspective is so unique, and gives me a glimpse inside your own head during a trip like this, while also making me visualize my own thoughts if I were in your shoes. Very immersive. 1:49 That is some THICK frost. That looks like a frigid morning! Definitely would wake me up and get me excited for hiking, too! 2:12 Sounds like the aura of my own Uncle Bill! I don’t think Ive ever met a bad Bill 😉 3:03 Love the contrast in this shot, with the dark foreground and the glow of the autumn colors in the background. Neat. 3:52 Love the tactile nature of this shot, with the fern frond literally hitting your lens. Something I have tried to do in the field but have failed. Well done! 4:17 Looks like some PMT views, right there! Y’all are at least a thousand feet up, right? 5:16 One of the beauties of backpacking. It’s almost a spiritual discipline: allowing your mind to slow down from the constant assault of thoughts, fears, and concerns life throws at us. I have a book that I still need to read and will want to lend to you if you haven’t already read it that speaks to this, entitled “Backpacking with the Saints”. 6:19 11 miles down! I would like to see those signs while Im hiking this, too. 6:42 This woman sounds like a master sage of the LHT 7:15 Don’t think Ive ever gotten water from a well while backpacking! That’s really cool. 7:57 Went with the trail runners as camp shoes instead of Crocs? I have questions 😉 9:39 Sleeping in those shelters at night sounds like absolute BLISS. I really need to get out there and experience them for myself. 10:32 22 miles! Dayum! Nicely done, brother. 22 miles is a TON, no matter who you are. Sounds like you are ready for some Jason Wish miles, soon! ;P 11:17 I remember having to do this tactic on both the River to River Trail and the Knobstone. My mind was really messing with me when I realized the sheer vastness of ground that I had to still cover. This is a great lesson! 12:20 That is wild that the trail takes you right in the middle of this rock tunnel. So cool. 13:39 Crazy that those are the shadows they produce for being so tiny. Great detail here. 13:36 The tremoring of this water with the fall colors from above is transfixing. Really great comp. 15:00 That’s a Big Chungus wooly worm, right there 😉 15:21 Bwhahahahahahahahahahahaha 16:38 Classic trail tribe fashion getting to camp just before dark! 17:13 Transcending the pain is such a fitting way to describe this feeling on long hikes. It’s so hard to describe. 17:44 It seems Divine to me getting to experience the body heal itself when you strip away all of the distractions of normal life so you can actually focus on how your body feels day in and out. 19:03 Nick wanted that horn so badly haha! 20:54 The mystery of Chad’s infinite pack continues. We may never know how he does it. 21:15 LOVE the color in this shot. 21:29 Never seen a white wooly worm before. Cool! 23:38 I agree with you in this section. The man-made parts of trails often become my most favorite, because it allows my mind to reset itself and remember that my toil isn’t forever, especially when great distances are involved. They feel like proper checkpoints along the way. 24:29 Many adventures would have been abandoned early if not for you two. Thanks, brethren! 25:10 A callback to a former BTC episode about “learning to love the rain”. Nice easter egg! 26:47 What a view. Wow. 27:02 Still can’t get over this slomo sequence. SO. FLIPPING. GOOD. 28:11 I need to start calling yall the “Titans of Tuna”. Y’all are stronger than I! (and nastier 😉 ) 28:52 Reminds me of feeling dangerously cold on the top of Birch Knob with y’all just a few months later. It’s no laughing matter, and should be taken seriously. 29:51 This does feel very Michigan-y right now. The colors are just exploding with the rain. 30:58 Another frameable shot here. That is a wall of a mountain. 31:45 The ambient sounds of someone splitting wood in the distance is such a great detail you picked up here. 32:20 That’s a very “gummy” worthy drawing, right there 😉 33:06 Slomo sun star FTW! 34:50 This is a fitting overlook for the final 3 miles. Had to be so rewarding. 36:01 Woohoo! You guys did it!! Proud of yall. Seriously. 36:58 I love that concept, wondering about the future impacts a trip will have on you that you don’t even realize yet. I think I still am discovering things about past trips the more I think about them. 37:53 One of the most awkward yet most hilarious bloopers yet. The “fist bump/high five/hug dilemma” 38:01 That bed didn’t look like it had much give to it haha! 38:31 This is worse than me pooping while on camera. That is some Fancy Feast if I’ve ever seen it. 38:41 The cold cut to you in the middle of the trail pant legs unzipped is pure gold. I busted out laughing both times! 39:04 TWSS 39:19 I have so many questions about this sequence. What even is going on, and who were yall yelling to stop?! Haha Bravo! Bravo! Well done on documenting this thru hike in such a beautiful and personal way. This makes me want to thru hike it myself even more, now. Sorry I wasn’t able to join you guys, but thank you for taking me with you through your lens! Thoroughly enjoyed this one. It’s already having me missing fall haha. Excited to get out on the trail…erhm, water, with you again in just over a week! See you then!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks again for taking the time to rewatch and leave such detailed comments. As I said, it really turned my day around yesterday! -This cold open is one of my favorites too. That was one of those "spray and pray" shots, and I was very pleasantly surprised with the way it turned out, haha. - I'm glad to hear you like the narration in this one. The choice of second-person started as more of a challenge from a friend of mine, but I ended up really liking the effect it has on a video like this - which you described well. - I'm pretty sure my shuttle driver for the PMT was also named Bill, so I've now been shuttled by at least three different Bills 😁 - I'd love to do more of those shots where the lens is interacting with the subject, but like you said, they are surprisingly hard to pull off. - We were reminded of the PMT at times! We were at least 1000 feet up, maybe closer to 2000. - Backpacking with the Saints sounds like it's right in my wheelhouse! - Ah yes, the trail runners as camp shoes decision 😅 I was still breaking in the shoes that were on my feet, and I was worried that they would start killing my feet halfway through the hike. So I brought the old Altras as a backup and they did double duty as camp shoes. I did not need them... - Those shelters are one of the best things I've ever encountered in my entire life, haha. They might entice me to do the whole thing over again if you ever decide to thru-hike it. But we'll get you out there one way or another! - It's very satisfying to know that I can do 22 miles because it means I never have to do it again if I don't want to 🤣 - I think we've talked about having to compartmentalize before, and man has it ever saved me many times. - I thought you might like that moment at 15:21 😉 - Is there anything more Trail Tribe than arriving at camp at exactly this time of the evening? 🤣 - Great point about the man-made sections reminding you that your toil isn't going to last forever. That's another reason to appreciate those parts! - Right back at you with knowing that I never would have finished some of these hikes without you guys. I'll pick this theme up again in my next video 😉 - I'm glad you caught the Easter egg! - Titans of Tuna 🤣🤣 I've barely eaten tuna since this trip. My tolerance is lower than Nick's. - The cold is no joke. Little did I know when I was writing this that it would apply even more to our Birch Knob trip. - The axe-splitting sound makes me want to do an ASMR style video like Nick's! - That is a gummy wizard if I've ever seen one! - Oh yeah, that view at the end was so freaking satisfying. - It is interesting how the memories and lessons of a trip change as time goes on. I can never tell at the time how important a trip is going to feel to my future self. I often find myself thinking a lot about moments that didn't seem significant at the time but take on a great significance later. - The fist bump/high five/hug dilemma was so funny that I almost left it in the main video, but in the end I decided it spoiled the vibe I was going for, haha. I couldn't leave it out though! - I didn't even catch the TWSS at 39:04, hahahaha - I'll explain the chaos of 39:19 when I see you in person 😂 Now that you mention it, this video makes me miss fall too. I can almost smell it when I rewatch this. I really hope you get a chance to hike some or all of this trail eventually. I'd love to do it again myself. You were definitely missed, but we tried to keep you there in spirit! We especially thought of you every time we ate tuna 🤣 I'm glad we could bring a little bit of the experience back for you in video form, though. Thanks again for all the thoughtful comments, and I'll see you very soon! I can't wait for some more yakpacking!

[@briansnyder136]

You’re not just a backpacker. You’re an artist.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you, Brian. I appreciate that.

[@tone5052]

well done once again!!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you!

[@TheBane1979]

another great video!

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to watch.

[@TheBane1979]

@@beyondthecampfire you’re quite the word smith, it adds to the peacefulness of your work. It also makes your stuff pretty unique

[@beyondthecampfire]

@@TheBane1979 That's very kind of you. I've been trying to find a niche to settle into, and peaceful and wordsmith-y is exactly my kind of thing!

[@hikingwithaaron]

I enjoyed your film so much. You sent me right back to when I hiked the trail a couple years ago. Feel free to check out the video I made if you would like. Everything about your film was amazing: the filming, editing, sound, music, narration and the script. Could you give me some info on the camera and lens that you used? I've been using the DJI Pocket 2 and I really like it but using a DSLR just makes it look so much more cinematic. I'm going to bring my Canon R6 with a 16-35 mm and an 85mm lens with me on my next hike in VA. I'm a little nervous about bringing that along. Do you have any suggestions on keeping it dry? I did buy the Peak Design capture clip. Thanks for any information and suggestions you can give me on filming. Again, your film was amazing. Can't wait to check out the rest of your channel.

[@beyondthecampfire]

Thanks for the great comment, Aaron. I appreciate you checking out the channel. I actually watched some of your Laurel Highlands videos when I was doing research on the trail! I'll go back and check out some more of your stuff too. I'm using a Panasonic GH5. The lens I use most often is a 14-140mm. It doesn't have great low-light performance, but I love having the focal range. Sometimes I'll use a little Olympus f/1.8 lens for camp shots in the evening. The GH5 is (supposedly) weather-sealed, and so far it has held up well for me in damp weather. Still, I try to keep it as dry as possible. I like to throw a gallon-sized ziploc bag over it in the rain, in such a way that it still slides into the Peak Design clip while also being protected from the rain. Sometimes I'll cut a hole in the bag so that the lens sticks out. That way, I don't have to remove the bag even while setting up a shot. I also use the (mostly waterproof) Zpacks multipack, which you can see on my chest in the video. That's where I store extra batteries, lenses, etc. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[@murph6730]

Doing this next Month. How close are we to the Highlands Market near 7Springs? thinking it might be a good place to get a sandwich and any resupply.

[@beyondthecampfire]

The market is very close to the road crossing, from what I understand. We decided to skip it for some reason, but we were told that it was no more than half a mile from where the trail crosses County Line(?) Road. If I was doing the trail again, I'd definitely check it out.

[@dianaroth9073]

I have passed the lady at 6:25 time stamp. I think she runs that trail often.

[@beyondthecampfire]

That seemed to be the case! She knows that trail well. I wish I would have gotten her name so I could have thanked her for all the information she gave us.