Completing Challenging Forest Trail Hike

rswfire is in Kentucky, hiking alone through forest trails in wet, rainy conditions. He is wearing a backpack and hiking boots, dealing with moisture warnings on his phone and physical exhaustion. He appears to be in a transitional period, having recently moved into RV living and seeking to reclaim previous fitness levels and life direction.

Energetic Signature

methodical endurance

Field State

capacity restoration

Orientation

toward embodied sovereignty

01J4AN6KSRSRZJD6ATT1Z06XVH

August 2, 2024

90:46

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Author

rswfire

Status

ARCHIVED

Type

TRANSMISSION (CAPTURE)

Temperature

0.00

[0:10]we have much further to go my fellow

[0:13]humans

[0:41]right up here marks the

[0:53]beginning I always love this

[0:55]sign allow 5 hours to hike this Trail

[1:02]it's like don't be

[1:10]stupid okay we got 9 and a/4 miles to

[1:13]get back to where my Jeep is

[1:15]at all

[1:25]right you ready for this

[1:32]we're just getting started the Natural

[1:35]Bridge is right there you can't really

[1:36]tell um for my camera well maybe can see

[1:40]a small piece of it over

[1:44]there we got 9 and a/4 miles to

[1:47]go so I wasn't kidding this

[1:51]Trail has its challenges I mean we're

[1:54]just getting started

[1:56]and we are going to have some challenges

[1:59]it's not

[2:00]super well marked

[2:02]Trail there's going to be debris

[2:06]everywhere and we're going to want to be

[2:08]a little

[2:11]cautious but we got

[2:14]this we got

[2:16]this I mean this

[2:18]is definitely a sign of what's to

[2:25]come we're going to be navigating some

[2:28]challenges these are my old stopping

[2:30]grounds I'm not giving up it's been so

[2:33]long I can't remember what that sign

[2:35]means um it's a different Trail I just

[2:37]forgot the name of it and it's got

[2:39]something to do

[2:40]with

[2:42]um I don't think it's just the Red River

[2:44]Gorge I think it is a it might be a

[2:46]National Trail it goes quite

[2:55]far I think they Mark the trails better

[2:58]than they used to

[3:00]those orange triangles are on a lot of

[3:03]trees maybe it's a little more Mar but

[3:05]marked better than it used to

[3:07]be we'll find

[3:20]out so I've been hiking for 2 and a half

[3:23]miles through the forest just Forest

[3:25]hiking

[3:30]uh that's a third of the

[3:32]way I always like the spot it feels kind

[3:34]of like a

[3:45]jungle we are deep in the woods

[4:58]for

[5:28]for for

[6:18]here it comes

[6:29]to

[7:03]I know that tree

[8:01]maybe can pry

[10:37]for

[11:59]for

[13:37]for

[14:07]for

[16:36]for

[17:06]for

[19:36]for

[20:28]for

[20:45][Applause]

[21:57]for for

[24:06]for

[25:58]for

[28:28]for

[33:05]for

[34:35]for

[37:05]for

[37:41]there's a site you don't see every

[37:44]day think I might have heard that

[38:07]there's a tur over

[38:17]here hey buddy

[38:28]I don't want to bother you let me keep

[38:33]going I don't want to scare

[38:37]you you pretty

[38:40]markings you can go

[39:13]is

[39:32]what's over

[39:39]here

[39:53]right it takes all effort those guys

[40:09]there's the

[40:25]tree there it goes

[40:27]oh T

[40:31]down okay he's all right

[40:42]oh hope you're not stuck there

[40:46]buddy hope you're not stuck there yeah

[40:49]you'll be fine you go make your way out

[40:51]I can see a

[40:54]PA you have a good life okay

[41:07]big

[41:14]spider I know this F pretty sure I broke

[41:18]the camera here

[41:30]okay

[41:44][Applause]

[42:58]oh we still haven't made it to a ridge

[43:01]line that's what I'm hoping to get

[43:07]to my favorite spot is

[43:11]that I haven't rested yet it has

[43:14]been I don't even know 5 and 1 12 miles

[43:19]maybe I'm

[43:22]lucky quite

[43:25]exhausted phic

[43:32]um I'm in some pain my back

[43:38]hurts but I'm

[43:54]fine spider that's quite a big

[43:59]all

[44:02]right do remember

[44:25]these all right M the wor of the weather

[44:29]that's hours

[44:30]away we'll be out of here before that

[44:36]happens probably have another hour hour

[44:39]and a half to

[44:49]go may be long enough I take a break

[44:52]when I get to the ridge line which I'm

[44:54]probably going to do

[44:57]think CH there for a

[44:59]while I don't know if I'll ever see it

[45:05]again got to be

[45:19]close think you might be up

[45:23]here I've said that before though so

[45:30]this Trail runs

[45:32]through the middle of this area there is

[45:35]a ridge line it's

[45:37]just not where the trail is

[45:43]at yeah I'm moving away from it again

[46:13]oh I'm still zoomed in

[46:16]oops my bad

[46:34]definely get my stamina

[46:37]back another month or two

[46:40]and that I feel a lot

[46:44]younger maybe I feel my age or

[46:54]something say I feel older than my age

[46:57]sh

[47:56]yeah My Philosophy is to just push ahead

[47:59]always push

[48:00]ahead don't sit down you sit down you

[48:03]might not get back

[48:07]up you can go at any Pace you need to

[48:10]go keep

[48:18]going eventually he'll get out

[48:27]this is a very meditative Trail it's

[48:31]long and it

[48:33]will Center you in your

[48:36]body and that's where your focus will be

[48:41]instead of in your

[48:43]mind in your head

[48:46]and it's just a meditative state

[49:03]for someone like me I need

[49:06]that it's not very often my brain shuts

[49:10]off but it definitely does out

[49:13]here it says okay I get

[49:16]it you want me to shut

[49:19]up here's some back

[49:22]pain that ought to do it

[49:31]my feet are sore to guess I haven't

[49:33]really been paying attention to what my

[49:35]body feels like right

[49:38]now I never used to get back P

[49:41]but haven't slept well in so

[49:45]long and I'm wearing a backpack which I

[49:48]don't often do that on a Day

[49:51]hike but I wanted to be prepared I

[49:53]didn't know what I'd encounter

[49:58]it been so

[50:00]long you know I used to just come out

[50:03]here single Bott on Mountain Dew that's

[50:06]it for years I did

[50:09]that it's amazing when you think about

[50:12]it

[50:52]it would be nice to see a mile

[50:54]marker I have some idea where where I'm

[50:58]at but you just keep

[51:01]walking you don't

[51:03]stop and eventually you'll get out

[51:38]in reality they could have made this St

[51:40]a lot more difficult if they wanted to

[51:44]we should make an alternate Trail for

[51:48]that and this one's difficult

[51:52]but I think only because it's long you

[51:56]know and it's quite a hike just to get

[51:58]up to this

[52:00]Trail by the time you get here you've

[52:02]had a full

[52:17]workout I think the trail is a little

[52:19]more difficult going the other way I

[52:21]used to do that

[52:23]too um it's not a circular Trail

[52:32]it's a little more uphill if you go the

[52:34]other

[52:35]way a lot more

[52:48]actually I do enjoy this

[52:51]though all my life

[52:57]all the way back to the Boy

[53:04]Scouts that was something I wanted for

[53:08]myself my father joined us an assistant

[53:11]scout

[53:13]master

[53:14][Music]

[53:15]which didn't really mind

[53:19]but I don't know I think that

[53:24]that's it's kind of

[53:32]selfish deserve to have my own

[53:35]experiences without my father

[53:44]there part of growing up

[54:00]my socks are soing

[54:02]wet I did bring in extra

[54:05]pair this backpack is not

[54:09]waterproof not sure what the condition

[54:11]of my clothes in there

[54:13]are um I wasn't totally prepared I you

[54:16]know I did my best

[54:26]the

[54:30]pole never know what hiding in something

[54:32]like

[54:55]that all right I feel like a lot of

[54:57]switchbacks

[55:07]really

[55:10]spider difficult to get around this

[55:14]one there is no spider there

[55:18]though all

[55:22]right oh I am sore

[55:27]very sore

[55:30]sorry got to get through

[56:00]the rain is

[56:02]nice it's

[56:06]Pleasant kind of want

[56:09]to um here some Thunder see some

[56:15]Thunder disappointed I'll be out of here

[56:17]before that happens

[56:50]challenging

[56:58]that's what I came here

[57:02]for and it delivered

[58:13]this not presentant I don't

[58:24]think as here

[58:29]oh

[58:31]oh I have hiking Roots

[58:35]though need to wash these

[58:38]off all

[58:41]right best I could do

[59:11]all right

[59:55]oh we challenge

[59:58]yourself there's grow and

[60:19]challenge I won't even see it like right

[60:22]away it's doesn't really work that way

[60:28]this

[60:30]hike oh will me if I'm pretty exhausted

[60:33]and sore

[60:35]but I what it's doing for me as far as

[60:38]my fitness and my mental

[60:40]health those are all aspects that come

[60:51]later this was worth it

[60:58]there was a time this was not a very

[60:59]difficult hike for me but it was still

[61:04]challenging

[61:06]and I can see myself getting there

[61:09]again this is not killing me

[61:13]it's

[61:17]um it's really not that

[61:22]bad we're capable of so much more than

[61:25]we think we

[61:27]are we have these self-limiting

[61:30]beliefs that we tell ourselves Society

[61:34]tells

[61:36]us I'm 47 I'm not supposed to be doing

[61:45]this that's what they tell

[61:50]us you're not supposed to hike alone

[61:53]that's what they tell us

[62:08]I never felt like mob opinion is very

[62:15]useful it's like the opinion of lowest

[62:18]common

[62:20]denominator that's what my opinion is

[62:29]it's exactly why if TRS come to my

[62:33]channel start spamming it I'm like okay

[62:36]my mentality

[62:38]here most it's common

[62:41]denominator I see that all the

[62:44]time all kinds of

[62:49]contexts it's not worth listening

[62:52]to it's not worth engaging with

[62:56]it is worth

[63:00]criticizing shine a light on it and call

[63:02]it what it

[63:23]is I like trails that have all the pine

[63:26]needles old pine

[63:33]needles I don't know there's just

[63:35]something nice about

[63:43]it I really do love

[63:47]trees they're so

[63:54]special for

[64:43]just keep

[64:53]moving eventually you find your way out

[65:16]all these places have memories for

[65:19]me I remember them all

[66:29]I just remembered why the lodge is 9 and

[66:32]12 miles from this Trail to 7 and a half

[66:36]think you have to take another Trail to

[66:38]get back to

[66:40]itot about

[66:42]that extra two miles

[67:31]park ranger does maintain this Trail

[67:33]pretty

[67:35]well they

[67:37]always clear the

[67:42]trees there's a couple though that you

[67:44]have

[67:45]to make your way

[67:49]around we haven't ENC well I guess we

[67:52]have encountered a

[67:54]few I'm not sure I was

[68:03]recording part of life in the forest

[68:33]for

[69:03]for

[70:01]do have an Impulse to

[70:04]stop but I'm not doing that

[70:06]until I get to the ridge

[70:12]line I just take it

[70:15]slowly keep

[70:18]moving eventually you will get out

[70:33]what is a switch back

[71:06]thought it

[71:14]was

[71:16]definitely

[71:19]traversing down the mountain

[72:17]keep

[72:19]moving eventually you'll get out

[72:28]Supply so many

[72:32]things supplies for my

[72:38]life I don't

[72:41]have I don't have a solid Direction yet

[72:45]I just have to keep

[72:47]moving eventually I'll figure it

[72:53]out you know this area

[72:57]here it's usually quite

[73:03]pretty

[73:08]right just slippery out here even with

[73:11]hiking

[73:15]boots I wonder if I need some new

[73:22]ones like let's see if that tree there

[73:25]and just put a little sign on

[73:29]it go this way under the

[73:35]tree Yep this is the

[73:38]area it's a

[73:40]creek quite dry

[73:43]now it's so quite to rain though right

[74:45]I need a better fitting

[74:47]backpack that would certainly help

[75:00]and my upright device I want to make

[75:01]sure I'm working on my

[75:07]posture there and Hikes like this

[75:18]one I'd say I'm ready

[75:20]for some of the more advanced trails

[75:23]that are near where my R is

[75:26]at explore some new

[75:35]places certainly like to find some

[75:38]near Cumberland

[75:42]Lake do love that

[75:45]place that's the place to be

[76:04]keep

[76:05]moving and eventually you'll get

[76:20]out I got to deal with this um table

[76:24]from charging my phone I found a

[76:32]bridge look particularly sturdy like

[76:35]what is going on

[76:42]there I was thinking I'd take a break

[76:46]here it's just so wet

[76:49]everywhere hey I'm exhausted

[76:55]sounds

[77:02]nice we better keep going I

[77:09]guess oh no you know what we're taking a

[77:13]break that's quite

[77:16]uphill need a break to get this backpack

[77:20]off of

[77:22]me we will hang out here for a minute

[77:28]that's

[77:30]nice I don't have to sit

[77:33]down just like this there something up

[77:36]with my camera it's got there grid lines

[77:39]I don't know what it's

[77:41]doing still doing it I don't know what

[77:44]that's about it's be some kind of

[77:47][Music]

[77:50]setting it's been a long hike no doubt

[77:53]about that

[78:00]that feels that sounds

[78:04]nice let's keep the mosquitoes away from

[78:08]me because boy are they nasty out

[78:13]here I have been spraying myself with

[78:16]until it started raining then it got

[78:18]better

[78:20]so but they're still out and about

[78:28]it's only 11 did I tell you

[78:32]that

[78:34]so I guess I've been hiking for 5

[78:37]hours of course not just this Trail oh I

[78:41]don't know what time I started this one

[78:43]but I can look that

[78:50]up trying to fix

[78:53]this there

[78:55]I decided to just sit

[78:57]down I will get up so we're all

[79:04]good very pleasant

[79:13]day I

[79:16]just I don't know

[79:19]I feel listless I I got to figure

[79:22]something out with my life I can't

[79:28]can't be this

[79:31]like there's a bunch of different words

[79:34]going through my head none of them are

[79:35]the right ones

[79:38]so I just need a direction to be moving

[79:47]in I don't know what that is yet I'm

[79:50]going to just joke it a little while

[79:53]well my phone's at 15% and I can't

[79:56]charge it

[79:57]because

[79:59]um it's just giving me a moisture

[80:01]warning so I'm just going to power my

[80:04]phone down in case I need it so I'm not

[80:07]going to be able

[80:09]to well hopefully I'll be able hopefully

[80:11]I'll get better by the time I get to the

[80:13]ridge line because I really wanted to

[80:14]share that with

[80:16]you so I guess we'll find out it's 12:05

[80:20]I've been hiking for 6 hours and I'm out

[80:24]that is the end of the

[80:26]trail I did not

[80:28]find the ridge that I was looking

[80:32]for no warning there they have to tell

[80:36]someone how long that is this one might

[80:38]I

[80:40]guess but I don't know if they modified

[80:43]the trail or what I'm very confused cuz

[80:46]that was my favorite place in

[80:48]Kentucky and I would not have missed it

[80:51]I would have known when I was there

[80:53]there was no Ridge line

[80:56]okay

[80:59]yeah I'm back in

[81:03]Civilization you can tell you can hear

[81:05]it

[81:06]um still have two miles to go to get to

[81:09]my je

[81:12]though so which Trail is that I'm

[81:15]curious Hood's Branch

[81:18]oh it has been quite a

[81:21]hike hoods Branch Trail well I'll show

[81:24]you you guys I gu bran you can go that

[81:27]way and it takes you to the Skylift area

[81:29]I

[81:30]think um so I guess we're hiking Hood's

[81:33]Branch now I'll check my um phone

[81:37]charger once I get to my

[81:40]Jeep I should have enough power to get

[81:43]back now plus if anything were to happen

[81:45]here

[81:47]it's really not as much of an issue it's

[81:49]back

[81:51]there that one

[81:54]that was a hike that was strenuous but I

[81:56]did I I did what I sat out to do quite

[82:00]proud of

[82:02]myself um the one conclusion I have from

[82:05]that hike is I need to keep hiking until

[82:08]I get back to the physical state I was

[82:11]in when I used to hike it in the past so

[82:14]cuz that's important to me and

[82:17]I and that got pretty hard at the end um

[82:21]I almost had an accident there was a

[82:23]bridge and and it was very slippery I

[82:26]slipped thank God there was a railing

[82:28]there I would have tumbled

[82:30]down um the bridge right next to it

[82:32]didn't have one so I'm very

[82:35]lucky and I'm going to keep that in mind

[82:38]remember

[82:39]that St that away in my brain you

[82:45]know but this was important I needed to

[82:48]do this it had been so long since i'

[82:50]done

[82:50]it and moving into my RV was all about

[82:57]reclaiming the best parts of myself and

[83:01]shutting all of the things that were

[83:03]holding me

[83:04]back this was another marker on that

[83:07]journey and I did

[83:10]it I'm very very proud of myself let's

[83:13]hope this is an easy two

[83:16]miles I'm pretty

[83:20]exhausted so that switch back took me

[83:22]down but then it took me up and then

[83:24]back down and then up and then back

[83:27]down that was strenuous there is a no

[83:30]like it doesn't matter what direction

[83:31]you go in that thing is going to give

[83:34]you a

[83:36]workout so I would say I just beat the

[83:39]bad weather it's noon I think it starts

[83:43]around

[83:45]1 I don't know but this afternoon we're

[83:47]going to have thunder storm

[83:50]sand I beat that at least I had to come

[83:54]today it's the only day I'm going to be

[83:56]here so just willing to have some

[84:00]risk um was an

[84:03]experience I have

[84:06]to just want to be more Brave

[84:09]I don't know where this fear comes from

[84:12]I have sometimes and it's

[84:15]like I don't want it I just want it to

[84:17]go away it's not acceptable to

[84:20]me I think I probably forgot about this

[84:23]Trail every every single time I hi the

[84:25]sand

[84:28]gap up and up and up we

[84:31]go very pretty though isn't it I love

[84:35]this

[84:36]place so

[84:39]pretty they rent paddle boats

[84:43]here if I wasn't so tired I would still

[84:46]do that right now I want to be on the

[84:50]water I still have dreams did I have

[84:54]tell you guys I wanted to live on an

[84:56]island I just like to buy an island and

[84:59]live on an

[85:01]island and it's a pipe dream

[85:04]cuz you know that's hard to

[85:08]afford that's what I always

[85:10]wanted I was just will to settle for

[85:13]land somewhere but I want to live on an

[85:16]island by

[85:19]myself and fish and we have a boat

[85:25]oh you'd have to have a boat if you live

[85:27]on an

[85:28]island but I just want the

[85:42]island this is such a long hike oh

[85:47]my if there's another Trail after this

[85:50]one I'm going lose my mind

[85:54]I don't remember the HUD Branch Trail

[85:57]going straight to the parking

[86:00]lot I think it's close though I am too

[86:04]tired to pull the map out of my pocket

[86:06]is how tired I am no we have an

[86:11]obstacle I'm too tired for obstacles

[86:14]that's a big

[86:15]one

[86:17]what some people just walked through

[86:19]here too so how do they do I don't have

[86:24]oh no

[86:29]please

[86:34]fine over this big giant

[86:40]tree we did it we did

[86:45]it we can do anything

[86:55]well that's

[86:56]new what are

[86:59]you what is that

[87:01]thing he have not seen you

[87:06]before won't be somewhere to rest cuz I

[87:10]don't have it in me oh

[87:13]no I could rest

[87:19]there we

[87:21]mustn't we must keep going

[87:25]we must keep

[87:27]going this is always a pretty

[87:34]spot think that we're close

[87:37]now right on this little Bridge

[87:41]here we are not climbing up there I'll

[87:44]tell you that

[87:45]much if we have to do that I'm sitting

[87:49]down and not getting

[87:52]up of course that's a joke

[87:57]um please don't have to go up there

[88:00]though that would be

[88:02]terrible

[88:05]terrible I don't think so

[88:10]though oh I think we just keep going

[88:12]straight and eventually we reached the

[88:14]parking

[88:20]lot this was quite a day

[88:24]these are cute little

[88:28]Bridges very tiny though

[88:35]wow got his

[88:39]St we used to do stuff like this in the

[88:42]voice

[88:44]accounts those are good

[88:47]times oh it's sad

[88:50]that kids don't really do that anymore

[88:53]what's going around

[88:55]here oh all

[88:57]right I am having trouble imagining that

[89:00]that was a large group of people who

[89:02]came

[89:06]by they had to have had these obstacles

[89:15]too they're probably new

[89:18]obstacles I have heard things falling

[89:21]down as I've been hiking

[89:27]how much

[89:30]further must way

[89:33]walk oh my socks are so

[89:43]wet keep going keep going keep

[89:47]going sad I didn't find my favorite

[89:50]place they had to have Walter the trail

[89:51]or something super confused about

[89:56]that I'm going to see if I can figure

[89:59]that out though like maybe I have an old

[90:01]map and I can compare them

[90:04]and

[90:06]something something's

[90:09]different but it is more well-maintained

[90:11]so they have done work on

[90:14]it um not a lot of mile markers like I

[90:17]only saw two the whole

[90:19]time but that was my favorite place I

[90:22]love just hanging out up

[90:25]there I'm going to wrap it up now I

[90:27]think my battery's pretty close to Ed

[90:30]cuz my screen's not very bright

[90:34]so if you made it this far thanks for

[90:37]following along

Summary

rswfire undertakes a strenuous 9.25-mile forest hike on a trail he used to frequent, documenting the physical and mental challenges throughout. He begins at Natural Bridge, navigating through dense forest with minimal trail markers and encountering wildlife including a turtle and spiders. The hike proves more difficult than in the past due to his current fitness level and back pain from wearing a backpack.

**Physical challenges intensify** as he pushes through exhaustion, wet conditions, and slippery terrain. He maintains a philosophy of continuous forward movement rather than stopping to rest. The rain creates muddy conditions and moisture warnings on his phone, preventing him from charging the device.

**Disappointment emerges** when he fails to locate his favorite ridge line spot, suggesting the trail may have been modified since his last visit. After completing the main trail, he discovers he must hike an additional 2 miles on Hood's Branch Trail to reach his Jeep.

**Reflection on life direction** occurs during brief rest stops, where he expresses feeling listless and needing to find a new direction in life. He connects this hike to his broader journey of reclaiming the best parts of himself after moving into his RV.

**Navigation obstacles** include fallen trees, slippery bridges, and unclear trail markers. He encounters other hikers' footprints but hikes alone throughout. The hike concludes successfully after approximately 6 hours, with him expressing pride in completing the challenge despite the physical difficulty.

Signal Analysis

Substrate

This transmission documents a deliberate somatic reclamation process—using physical endurance as a tool to rebuild embodied sovereignty after institutional disconnection. The architecture held is one of methodical self-testing and capacity restoration, where physical challenge becomes the vehicle for cognitive quieting and structural realignment with authentic self-capacity.

Dominant Language

keep movingeventually you'll get outpush aheadreclaiming the best parts of myselfI need a directionwe're capable of so much morelowest common denominator

Symbolic Elements

trailridgebridgeforestislandwater

Ontological States

•
transitional
•
embodied
•
sovereign
•
integrating

Subsystems

•
somatic
•
cognitive
•
infrastructural

Transmission Details

Source Type

local

Video Quality

1920 × 1080 @ 30fps

Duration

90:46

Bitrate

4391 kbps

Codec

avc1.640028