Returning to Natural Bridge Trail After Ten Years

rswfire is staying at a cabin near Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky, having traveled there from his RV. He's experiencing sleep difficulties and is in a physically demanding phase of reconnecting with places from his past. Weather conditions include forecasted rain and thunderstorms throughout the day.

Energetic Signature

determined endurance

Field State

capacity testing

Orientation

toward embodied sovereignty

01J4B59V3GAZFHBG7VJZ3C78XR

August 3, 2024

126:43

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Author

rswfire

Status

ARCHIVED

Type

TRANSMISSION (CAPTURE)

Temperature

0.00

[0:01]hi fellow humans that you're about to

[0:04]watch is pregnant with

[0:07]meaning I call it the hike because this

[0:09]is a place that has very deep meaning

[0:12]for me that I haven't been to in a very

[0:14]long

[0:16]time there are layers of messages in

[0:19]this thing for those who want to Bear

[0:22]witness it was not easy I

[0:26]struggled at the end of the video

[0:29]there's actually four miles more of

[0:31]hiking because I got on the got on a

[0:33]trail that did not take me back to my

[0:35]chief it took me back up to the Natural

[0:37]Bridge all the way back up the mountain

[0:40]then I had to go back down it by the

[0:41]time I was done I was so sore and

[0:44]questioning my ability to

[0:46]even even move but I kept

[0:50]moving got back to my gam I sat in there

[0:52]for 10 minutes just let the air

[0:54]conditioner

[0:55]go came back to the cabin and I crashed

[0:58]for 2 hours immediately when I got here

[1:01]I feel

[1:03]wonderful I needed to know I could do

[1:05]this this is a place I had been visiting

[1:07]for 20 years but in the past 10 years

[1:10]I'm not sure that I might have been

[1:12]there only once or twice I used to go

[1:14]there every

[1:15]weekend when I first moved to Kentucky

[1:17]20 years ago I discovered that place and

[1:21]it just has a very deep special meaning

[1:23]to

[1:25]me and I needed to reconnect with it I

[1:28]needed to I needed to know that I could

[1:32]quite a lot

[1:33]happened I'm sorry there aren't any time

[1:36]stamps I just don't have the time for

[1:39]that honestly I have to start packing up

[1:42]here at the cabin so I can go back to my

[1:44]RV tomorrow

[1:46]morning but I will try to do that in the

[1:48]future and just put it in the

[1:50]description so check there if you're

[1:51]watching this

[1:53]later there are especially in the third

[1:56]part there are a lot of um silent

[1:59]moments I

[2:00]just let the camera run while I was

[2:02]hiking through the rain it's very

[2:04]pleasant and

[2:06]meditative um I met a turtle it was a

[2:10]very special

[2:11]Turtle it was a special experience

[2:15]it I didn't just pass by this turtle

[2:18]that turtle and I had a little

[2:22]conversation there are layers of meaning

[2:25]in this thing that

[2:27]you may or may not pick up on if really

[2:30]depends how long you've been following

[2:32]my journey because for 5 months I have

[2:35]been deconstructing and reconstructing

[2:38]my identity and evolving on a personal

[2:40]level and this is the culmination of

[2:42]that I hope you enjoy

[2:46]this good morning fellow humans I

[2:49]apologize for the lighting just bear

[2:51]with me this will be a short intro and

[2:54]then you know the video keep going on

[2:56]and will'll be somewhere else so but

[2:59]it's 3:00 in the morning and I just

[3:01]wanted to say good

[3:03]morning and

[3:05]I've had a new

[3:08]realization I was thinking that my

[3:11]trouble sleeping

[3:14]was product of being in that RV but

[3:16]that's clearly not the case cuz I'm

[3:18]still not

[3:20]sleeping I came to this cabin hoping

[3:22]that I'd finally get some real sleep

[3:24]some deep sleep and I'm not getting that

[3:27]so I have to conclude something else I

[3:31]think it's just

[3:33]this stage of my life that I'm in right

[3:36]now

[3:37]because um I went to bed at 10:00 it

[3:40]took me a while to fall asleep but then

[3:42]I was dreaming and my conscious mind was

[3:45]still active like it knew I was

[3:47]streaming

[3:49]so

[3:51]um I guess I'm just going to have to

[3:54]tolerate whatever I'm going through you

[3:56]know

[3:57]and let the process out cuz there's

[4:00]really nothing else to be done in my

[4:04]opinion um I did get more sleep

[4:07]yesterday because I was able to take a

[4:09]nap after um between like some of my

[4:13]videos I I made quite a few yesterday I

[4:17]I was able to take a nap so hopefully

[4:20]that's enough I'm just going to get up

[4:22]now I'm going to make some eggs

[4:25]and um prepare my backpack for our hike

[4:29]today and then and we've got a whole day

[4:31]of

[4:33]hiking all right time to make some

[4:35]breakfast I'm going to just paced up on

[4:38]the screen what the weather is going to

[4:39]be today because it's going to be

[4:41]challenging and I just want to note that

[4:43]I know that uh the trail is going to be

[4:47]challenging to already to begin with cuz

[4:49]it is a difficult Trail and I'm not sure

[4:52]how long it's been I think it could be

[4:54]10 years since I've been on this Trail

[4:56]but I used to hike this Trail every

[4:58]weekend I've gotten lost on that trail

[5:01]with a friend once it was dark by the

[5:03]time we got out I broke my camera back

[5:05]then falling into a creek cuz I didn't

[5:07]see it

[5:08]there um it's not a well-marked trail

[5:12]it's very rugged it goes up into the

[5:14]mountains there's some very beautiful

[5:16]views

[5:17]so and I think that this just

[5:22]um

[5:24]it it's kind of like my internal state

[5:27]right now I'm in a very turbulent state

[5:29]where I'm just going through this

[5:31]intense Evolution

[5:33]and um my external world is going to

[5:36]match my internal world today so let's

[5:38]see where that takes us I guess I should

[5:41]just note so you know there's going to

[5:43]be rain and thunderstorms all day I

[5:44]didn't bring my GoPro stuff didn't bring

[5:47]my new camera cuz I don't know how to

[5:49]use it yet it's got so many buttons and

[5:51]things on it it is not a point and click

[5:52]thing so um just got my phone I'm going

[5:55]to try to you know I got to keep my

[5:57]stuff from getting too wet

[6:01]um but I'm going to do my best I really

[6:04]want to document this Ba's over here

[6:06]playing he doesn't play that much these

[6:09]days it's not his

[6:11]style but he's look at him you're so

[6:14]cute

[6:15]Bailey you're so cute you're cute so I'm

[6:19]making coffee and I'm going to make eggs

[6:21]and toast and maybe just warm up some

[6:23]ham with it don't have any sugar I only

[6:27]got one packet he didn't you know they

[6:30]left some of these here um for you know

[6:32]but there weren't very many I had coffee

[6:34]yesterday I didn't think to get sugar

[6:36]but I'm just going to make do still

[6:39]waking up normally I have three eggs

[6:41]when I make them um but I'm going for

[6:44]four today because you know I got a long

[6:47]day ahead of me I don't I won't have

[6:48]anything on the trail with me I don't

[6:50]think unless I can find something um on

[6:54]the way which that's not very

[6:56]likely um I haven't had fried eggs since

[6:59]I marked on this journey because I don't

[7:02]have any way to cook them so I always

[7:03]have to scramble them in the microwave

[7:06]and um that's pretty much it so I'm

[7:08]going to try to make scrambled eggs wait

[7:12]I'm not trying I'm trying to make fried

[7:13]eggs I don't know why yeah I'm I'm not

[7:15]awake all right this is the closest

[7:17]thing I could find to a

[7:19]spatula probably not wise to do this

[7:22]with with one hand um well I could only

[7:26]use one hand anyways I'm just you know

[7:28]while holding my camera here but we're

[7:30]going to give this a try and I'm no

[7:33]expert but we're going to give this a

[7:40]try meing stop

[7:44]that J that

[7:46]cat all right that's okay they're still

[7:49]you know they are what they are those

[7:51]ones weren't cooking so well

[7:54]so um they're still basically fried so

[7:57]I'm going to enjoy these all right don't

[7:59]look so bad get some ham going now I'll

[8:02]get my toast going cooking is not a

[8:04]skill I ever developed but I'll keep

[8:06]trying you know for however many years

[8:08]it takes cuz I'm not doing a whole lot

[8:10]of cooking my RV either but

[8:14]um didn't think to take butter out and

[8:16]melt that like overnight or something so

[8:18]I probably won't have any butter on my

[8:20]toast

[8:21]but H that's okay I'd say we ought to

[8:26]try that toast again guess whoever was

[8:29]here last legs burnt toast so I got my

[8:32]coffee it's actually pretty

[8:36]good one sugar one Stevia cuz I need a

[8:39]little bit more sweet in there

[8:42]this um this is what they just had here

[8:46]that's really good Duncan original blend

[8:48]like I don't need Starbucks this is

[8:51]really good I had it yesterday I really

[8:53]liked the yesterday too

[8:56]so yeah all right breakfast is served

[9:00]I'm going to try to um get a little bit

[9:02]of butter on there you know um maybe

[9:05]it's Essence will get on there you guys

[9:08]have advice on how

[9:10]to you know do something like this the

[9:12]butter situation I didn't want to put in

[9:14]the microwave cuz there aren't any

[9:15]plates here so um maybe there's some

[9:19]secret maybe you can put it in like hot

[9:23]water or something I don't

[9:25]know I don't

[9:27]know that's Bailey in the window that's

[9:29]a little cabin it's very dark can't even

[9:32]show you the Stars on this thing so

[9:37]really ah there I

[9:39]am so I just want to acknowledge I'm a

[9:41]little nervous I haven't done anything

[9:44]like this in quite a long time and I

[9:45]just need to know if I

[9:47]can I'm trying to be as prepared as I

[9:50]can and

[9:51]just EMB RAC this we're not far from

[9:55]where I'm going so and it looks like

[9:58]it's 15 minutes away

[9:59]and the sun rises in an hour so we're

[10:02]going to be a little bit early but I'll

[10:04]just hang out there so I think what's

[10:07]making me nervous is just cuz I know

[10:09]there's going to be thunderstorms today

[10:11]they are later in the day and we might

[10:12]actually be close to the end of the

[10:14]trail by the time they happen but it's

[10:16]going to be raining all day I've never

[10:18]hiked the trail in those conditions and

[10:21]I'm just more acutely aware of weather

[10:23]now since moving into my RV I know the

[10:26]tree branches fall all over the place

[10:28]like they're constantly

[10:30]I mean it's just I don't need that stuff

[10:32]falling on me right so you got to be

[10:34]real aware of your surroundings

[10:37]and

[10:40]um why I'm here and I want to do this I

[10:43]need to do this so I'm just going to be

[10:46]cautious

[10:47]and you know

[10:50]just just going to be cautious we're

[10:53]just going to head down to the lake

[10:54]while we wait for

[10:56]Sunrise we have a little Lake here

[11:00]it's been a while since I've been down

[11:02]there I don't remember how to get down

[11:03]there so we got to go find

[11:05]it spent many times at this

[11:08]Lodge I always love this rock wall here

[11:11]it's very pretty um generally this is

[11:14]where you start you just go past the

[11:16]lodge and there's the original Trails

[11:18]back there I think that might be how you

[11:21]get down to the lake too though those

[11:23]are the rooms

[11:25]there um they're not anything special

[11:28]nothing to write home about but it's a

[11:29]place to stay at the Natural

[11:31]Bridge it's coming up we're just going

[11:34]to hang out here until the sun comes it

[11:36]wouldn't be me without the Mountain Dew

[11:38]but I did bring plenty of water got my

[11:40]backpack so I'm prepared let me just

[11:44]show you what we're doing today so we're

[11:46]here we're going to take the original

[11:49]Trail to here and then we're going to

[11:50]get onto this Trail called The Rock

[11:52]Garden Trail I'm sorry let me try this

[11:53]again so here's the hemlock Lodge we're

[11:56]going to get on the original Trail then

[11:57]we're going to go to the rock garden

[11:59]Trail and then we're going to take this

[12:01]Trail called the sand capap

[12:03]Trail um The Rock Garden Trail is about

[12:06]2 miles and the sand Gap trail is 7 and

[12:09]1/2 miles that's going to bring us out

[12:11]over here on the road and we're going to

[12:13]have to go walk back to the Jeeps that's

[12:16]probably another I don't know maybe a

[12:17]half a mile so I'm thinking around 10

[12:20]miles

[12:21]today it's 6:30 in the

[12:24]morning and the sun is coming up so I

[12:27]think it's time to go Trails start right

[12:34]here doesn't take long to get to the

[12:36]Rock Garden trail from here and that's

[12:37]one of my favorites I do love the

[12:40]original Trail because it's just nice

[12:43]you can see they put a lot of work into

[12:45]it it's a nice little

[12:49]Trail I had forgotten how steep it is

[12:54]already i' had forgotten you had to take

[12:57]the battleship Rock Trail to the Rock

[13:00]Garden

[13:01]Trail

[13:03]so might be a little bit

[13:07]more um longer than I

[13:09]thought I did I forgot how steep this

[13:12]stuff

[13:13]is it's been a while since I did this

[13:17]it's impossible to show the scale on my

[13:19]phone but we're going way up there and

[13:23]that's where you'll find the Natural

[13:25]Bridge the namesake of this place then

[13:28]we're going to a whole lot further so

[13:32]most people come here to see the Natural

[13:33]Bridge it's you know we'll go up there

[13:35]and we'll check it out but that's not

[13:37]why I come here I don't know I love I've

[13:41]always loved the intersection between

[13:43]trees and geology but I'm not like a big

[13:46]fan of like rocks don't really inspire

[13:50]me which is why I don't think I would

[13:52]like

[13:54]um being out west but

[13:59]um I don't hate it either I do like it

[14:02]when they're when they blend together

[14:04]there's so much depth here that it is

[14:06]impossible to show you but that's why I

[14:10]love this place features like this are

[14:13]why they caught the rock garden Trail we

[14:15]already passed

[14:16]one but there's they're all

[14:20]over we're going to encounter a lot of

[14:22]obstacles like this on the sand Gap

[14:24]trail only much worse I definitely

[14:28]remember that

[14:30]so that should be

[14:44]interesting we're still waiting for

[14:46]daylight pretty much

[15:09]so we got one and a/4 miles to go to get

[15:11]to the top of the Natural Bridge that's

[15:14]where the sand gap tra starts

[15:58]got a about the low Gap trail I've taken

[16:00]that taking all the trails here though

[16:03]now we're

[16:05]climbing to rock garden

[16:35]I remember the spot um me and my nephew

[16:37]took a break

[16:38]here I had a little

[16:55]chat we climb up that little slit there

[17:01]my mother hiked this with me

[17:03]once actually

[17:06]surprised that was difficult for her I

[17:09]think it was on the way down though I

[17:12]don't think she climbed up it that would

[17:14]have been was on the way

[17:17]down this

[17:20]is

[17:21]um a little treacherous it's a little

[17:24]bit wet I have to put this down 7 in the

[17:28]morning up up up we

[17:31]go we got quite a way to go

[17:36]still these

[17:38]TRS they are not for the Fain of heart

[17:42]we're just going to rest for a minute

[17:44]I'm

[17:45]older definitely older I didn't take

[17:48]breaks before that's okay though do what

[17:51]you have to do layers and

[17:54]layers going down it's hard to see in

[17:57]the camera but

[17:59]that's a long hike

[18:00]up you can feel the temperature

[18:02]difference down there it's quite nice

[18:05]very

[18:06]cool pretty hot and sweaty up here

[18:09]already um you know part of a but part

[18:12]of it to my age but I don't think that's

[18:15]the main thing I think it's just that

[18:16]I've been

[18:18]inactive

[18:19]I I've seen men a lot older than me and

[18:25]women

[18:26]um I said men cuz there's one in in

[18:28]particular I'm thinking about saw him on

[18:30]a mountain once that man was

[18:36]inspiring still is do absolutely love

[18:39]this

[18:41]place with any luck we left early enough

[18:44]that we'll be the only ones at the

[18:46]Natural Bridge so might be a nice little

[18:54]experience imagine this place in the

[18:56]Autumn it's so beautiful

[19:01]spider

[19:06]we should be

[19:21]close looks like we still got ways to

[19:25]go y we do we still got to get up quite

[19:28]a

[19:29]Bo

[19:31]oo yeah we're about to do some climbing

[19:36]again go away

[19:41]Bean not that

[19:48]interesting all right

[19:50]oh what's happened here oh

[19:56]nothing up up up up we

[20:00]go this is a geologist

[20:03]Paradise I've always thought

[20:07]that we're not even close I don't know

[20:10]what I was thinking wish for thinking

[20:42]Everything feels the same here

[20:44]still this place is timeless

[21:09]those are some expans of

[21:12]rocks see if I can get a good view for

[21:14]you

[21:38]this always looked like a man to me and

[21:45]outside gave up

[21:48]there maybe

[22:21]we getting to all the interesting bits

[25:11]I guess where that's

[25:17]leading

[25:20]yeah up and up and up

[25:33]dripping

[25:37]waterfall it's just dripping right now

[25:40]it's crying I guess

[26:59]we found the sky

[27:03]left take you all the way up there to

[27:06]the Natural

[27:08]Bridge I've taken it once with my mom

[27:13]I'm so afraid of heights I right here

[27:17]contemplated jumping off of that thing I

[27:20]was like I think I can make that jump

[27:23]thing scared the crap out of

[27:25]me almost took it with my last boyfriend

[27:27]too like 15 years

[27:30]ago contemplated it and contemplated it

[27:33]just looking at it finally took another

[27:35]CL of pin and I was like let's do it we

[27:40]didn't have enough money to get on it so

[27:43]didn't work

[27:46]out yeah Miss is quite a trail

[28:05]we're getting there we're getting

[28:08]there this isn't going to be an

[28:10]introspective hike it's not what today

[28:12]was

[28:14]about I'm in a Lial state where I

[28:18]just I need to push myself physically

[28:21]I'm kind of mentally

[28:23]drained and I wanted to experience this

[28:25]place I haven't been here in so long I

[28:27]love it

[28:29]here

[28:31]so different kind of video for you

[28:53]today I'll probably be over on those

[28:56]Ridge lines if we take the sand gap

[28:58]go that's what it's like up on the ridge

[29:02]line got some fog over there very

[29:20]pretty still got a ways to go

[29:42]my younger self never noticed they don't

[29:44]put any park punches on these

[29:46]things oh we're

[29:49]here there it is

[30:59]fortunately we're not the only one I saw

[31:00]someone just walking up

[31:02]here it's always a tight squeeze

[31:20]here yeah a vot of me being Spider-Man

[31:23]between these

[31:25]things that was a long time ago

[31:31]the valy of

[31:35][Music]

[31:45]Youth many pictures there in my youth of

[31:48]course like every kid

[31:51]probably keep off here's my picture

[32:46]closed what's this I thought the problem

[32:50]taking

[32:51]though wild fire damage

[33:01]oh you can take it if you want to get to

[33:02]this s Gap tra we do have to go that

[33:05]way okay

[33:08]cool yeah I'm forgetting how long that

[33:10]tra is there's all these other TRS you

[33:11]have to take to get to

[33:18]it there someone out there hang on this

[33:22]tree he's getting bigger too I love that

[33:25]tree

[33:28]10

[33:34]years nice nice

[33:38]Sunrise

[33:40]fog very

[33:45]beautiful but yeah I know that

[33:48]tree I know

[33:50]you I know all of you

[34:00]yeah it's

[34:02]beautiful

[34:05]wow that is

[34:12]beautiful there's a Overlook over there

[34:15]where you can see the bridge

[34:19]from very far down

[34:42]wish my camera could show you the depth

[34:43]that is incredible

[35:01]he told me he took the original Trail S

[35:03]I beat me up here I didn't tell him I

[35:05]took the long

[35:06]one this is

[35:13]wonderful this is why people come here

[35:31]well we pked maybe 20% of what I had

[35:37]planned we are up on top of the ridge

[35:40]now though so it shouldn't be too

[35:42]bad I think I'll

[35:49]go I want my old self

[35:54]back I have to push myself

[36:08]we have much further to go my fellow

[36:10]humans

[36:38]right up here marks the

[36:50]beginning I always love this

[36:53]sign allow 5 hours to hike this Trail

[36:59]it's like don't be

[37:07]stupid okay we got 9 and a/4 miles to

[37:10]get back to where my Jeep is

[37:13]at all

[37:22]right you ready for this

[37:29]we're just getting started the Natural

[37:32]Bridge is right there you can't really

[37:34]tell um from my camera well maybe can

[37:37]see a small piece of it over

[37:41]there we got n and a quar miles to

[37:44]go so I wasn't kidding this

[37:48]Trail has its challenges I mean we're

[37:51]just getting started

[37:53]and we are going to have some challenges

[37:56]it's not super well marked

[37:59]Trail there's going to be debris

[38:03]everywhere and we're going to want to be

[38:06]a little

[38:08]cautious but we got

[38:11]this we got

[38:13]this I mean this

[38:15]is definitely a sign of what's to

[38:22]come going to be navigating some

[38:25]challenges these are my old stopping

[38:28]grounds I'm not giving up it's been so

[38:30]long I can't remember what that sign

[38:32]means um it's a different Trail I just

[38:34]forget the name of it and it's got

[38:36]something to do

[38:38]with

[38:39]um I don't think it's just the Red River

[38:42]Gorge I think it is a it might be a

[38:44]National Trail it goes quite

[38:52]far I think they Mark the trails better

[38:55]than they used to

[38:57]those orange triangles are on a lot of

[39:00]trees maybe it's a little more Mar but

[39:03]marked better than it used to

[39:04]be we'll find

[39:17]out so I've been hiking for 2 and a half

[39:20]miles through the forest just Forest

[39:23]hiking

[39:27]that's a third of the

[39:29]way I always like the spot it feels kind

[39:32]of like a

[39:42]jungle we are deep in the woods

[40:56]for

[41:26]for for

[42:15]there it

[42:26]comes for

[43:00]I know that tree

[43:58]maybe TR pry

[44:35]for

[46:34]for

[50:04]for

[50:34]for

[52:34]for

[54:26]e

[55:34]for

[57:56]for

[58:34]for

[60:04]for

[60:33]for

[66:03]for

[71:03]for

[73:39]there's a site you don't see every

[73:42]day think I might have heard that

[74:04]there's a turle over

[74:15]here hey buddy

[74:25]I don't want to bother you to keep

[74:30]going I don't want to scare

[74:34]you we pretty

[74:38]markings you can go

[75:11]is

[75:29]over

[75:36]here

[75:50]right it takes a lot of effort those

[75:53]guys

[76:06]there's the

[76:22]tree there it goes oh

[76:26]T

[76:29]down okay he's all

[76:39]right you're not stuck there

[76:44]buddy hope you're not stuck there yeah

[76:46]you'll be fine you go make your way out

[76:48]I can see a

[76:51]PA you have a good life okay

[77:05]big

[77:11]spider I know this F pretty sure I broke

[77:16]the camera here

[77:27]okay

[77:41][Applause]

[78:56]oh we still haven't made it to a ridge

[78:59]line that's what I'm hoping to get

[79:04]to my favorite spot is

[79:08]that I haven't rested yet it has

[79:12]been I don't even know 5 and 1 12 miles

[79:16]maybe I'm

[79:20]lucky quite

[79:22]exhausted physically

[79:29]um I'm in some pain my back

[79:36]hurts but I'm

[79:51]fine there's SP that's quite a big one

[79:57]all

[80:00]right do remember

[80:23]these Miss s of the weather that's hours

[80:28]away we'll be out of here before that

[80:34]happens probably have another hour hour

[80:36]and a half to

[80:46]go maybe longer if I take a break when I

[80:49]get to the ridge line which I'm probably

[80:52]going to do

[80:54]think CH there for a

[80:56]while I don't know if I'll ever see it

[81:02]again got to be

[81:16]close think you might be up

[81:21]here I've said that before though so

[81:27]this Trail runs

[81:29]through the middle of this area there is

[81:33]a ridge line it's

[81:34]just not where the trail is

[81:40]at yeah I'm moving away from it again

[82:10]oh H still end in

[82:14]oops my bad

[82:31]definely get my stamina

[82:34]back another month or two

[82:37]and that I feel a lot

[82:41]younger maybe I feel my age or

[82:51]something say I feel older than my age

[83:54]I have philosophy is to just push ahead

[83:56]always push

[83:58]ahead don't sit down you sit down you

[84:00]might not get back

[84:04]up can go at any Pace you need to

[84:07]go keep

[84:16]going eventually you'll get out

[84:25]this is a very meditative Trail it's

[84:28]long and it

[84:30]will Center you in your

[84:33]body and that's where your focus will be

[84:38]instead of in your

[84:40]mind your head

[84:44]and it's just a meditative state

[85:01]for someone like me I need

[85:03]that it's not very often my brain shuts

[85:07]off but it definitely does out

[85:10]here it says okay I get

[85:13]it you want me to shut

[85:16]up here's some back

[85:19]pain not how to do it

[85:28]my feet are sore too guess I haven't

[85:31]really been paying attention to what my

[85:33]body feels like right

[85:35]now I never used to get back

[85:39]but haven't slept one so

[85:42]long and I'm wearing a backpack which I

[85:45]don't often do that on a Day

[85:48]hike but I wanted to be prepared I

[85:51]didn't know what I'd encounter

[85:55]it been so

[85:57]long you know I used to just come out

[86:00]here single bottle Mountain Dew that's

[86:04]it for years I did

[86:07]that it's amazing when you think about

[86:09]it

[86:49]it would be nice to see a mile

[86:51]marker I have some idea where I'm at

[86:55]that but you just keep

[86:58]walking you don't

[87:00]stop and eventually you'll get out

[87:35]in reality they could have made this St

[87:37]a lot more difficult if they wanted to

[87:41]we should make an alternate Trail for

[87:45]that and this one's difficult

[87:49]but I think only because it's long you

[87:54]it's quite a hike just to get up to this

[87:57]Trail by the time you get here you've

[88:00]had a full

[88:14]workout I think the trail is a little

[88:16]more difficult going the other way I

[88:18]used to do that

[88:21]too it's not a circular Trail

[88:30]it's a little more uphill if you go the

[88:31]other

[88:33]way a lot more

[88:45]actually I do enjoy this

[88:49]though all my life

[88:54]all the way back to the Boy

[89:01]Scouts that was something I wanted for

[89:06]myself my father joined as an assistant

[89:08]scout

[89:10]master

[89:11][Music]

[89:13]which didn't really mind

[89:17]but I don't know I think that

[89:22]that's it's kind of self

[89:30]fish deserve to have my own experiences

[89:33]without my father

[89:41]there not part of growing up

[89:57]my socks are soing

[89:59]wet I did bring in extra

[90:03]pair this backpack is not

[90:06]waterproof not sure what the condition

[90:08]of my clothes in there

[90:11]are um I wasn't totally prepared I you

[90:14]know I did my best

[90:27]pole never know it's hiding in something

[90:30]like

[90:52]that all right feel like a lot of

[90:54]switchbacks

[91:04]really

[91:07]spider difficult to get around this

[91:11]one there is no spider there

[91:15]though all

[91:19]right oh I am sore

[91:24]very sore

[91:28]sorry got to get through

[91:57]the rain is

[91:59]nice it's

[92:04]Pleasant kind of want

[92:06]to um here some Thunder see some

[92:12]Thunder disappointed I'll be out of here

[92:15]before that happens

[92:47]challing

[92:55]that's what I came here

[93:00]for and it delivered

[94:10]this not pleasant I don't

[94:21]think as here

[94:26]oh

[94:28]oh I have hiking Roots

[94:32]WR I need to wash these

[94:36]off all

[94:38]right rest I could do

[95:08]all right

[95:53]ohly yeah challenge

[95:55]yourself there's growth and

[96:17]challenge you won't even see it like

[96:19]right away

[96:20]it's doesn't really work that way

[96:25]this

[96:27]hike leave me if I'm pretty exhausted

[96:30]and sore

[96:32]but I what it's doing for me as far as

[96:35]my fitness and my mental

[96:37]health those are all aspects that come

[96:48]later this was worth it

[96:55]there was a time this was not a very

[96:57]difficult hike for me but it was still

[97:01]challenging

[97:03]and I can see myself getting there

[97:07]again this is not killing me

[97:11]it's

[97:14]um it's really not that

[97:20]bad we're capable of so much more than

[97:22]we think we are

[97:25]we have these self-limiting

[97:28]beliefs that we tell ourselves the

[97:31]society tells

[97:33]us I'm 47 I'm not supposed to be doing

[97:42]this that's what they tell

[97:47]us you're not supposed to hike alone

[97:50]that's what they tell us

[98:05]I never felt like mob opinion is very

[98:13]useful it's like the opinion of lowest

[98:16]common

[98:17]denominator that's what my opinion is

[98:27]that's exactly why if TRS come to my

[98:30]channel start spamming it I'm like okay

[98:33]my mentality

[98:35]here most common

[98:38]denominator I see that all the

[98:42]time all kinds of

[98:47]contexts it's not worth listening

[98:49]to it's not worth engaging with

[98:53]it is worth

[98:57]criticizing shine a light on it and call

[99:00]it what it

[99:20]is I like trails that have all the pine

[99:23]needles old pine

[99:30]needles I don't know there's just

[99:32]something nice about

[99:40]it I really do love

[99:44]trees they're so

[99:52]special for

[100:40]just keep

[100:50]moving eventually you find your way out

[101:14]all these places have memories for

[101:17]me I remember them all

[102:27]I just remembered why the large is 9 and

[102:29]12 miles from the TR for 7 and a half

[102:33]think you have to take another tra to

[102:35]get back to

[102:37]itot about

[102:40]that extra two miles

[103:29]park ranger does maintain this trout

[103:30]pretty

[103:32]well they

[103:34]always clear the

[103:39]trees there's a couple though that you

[103:42]have

[103:43]to make your way

[103:46]around we haven't ENC well I guess we

[103:49]have encountered a

[103:51]few I'm not sure

[104:00]recording part of life in the forest

[105:01]for

[105:58]do have an Impulse to

[106:01]stop but I'm not doing that

[106:04]until I get to the ridge

[106:09]line I'll just take it

[106:13]slowly keep

[106:15]moving eventually you will get out

[106:31]what is a switch back

[107:04]thought it

[107:11]was

[107:13]definely

[107:16]traversing down the mountain

[108:14]keep

[108:16]moving eventually you'll get out

[108:25]Supply so many

[108:29]things supplies for my

[108:35]life I don't

[108:38]have I don't have a solid Direction yet

[108:42]I just have to keep

[108:44]moving and eventually I'll figure it

[108:50]out you know the are are

[108:54]here it's usually quite

[109:00]pretty I'm

[109:05]right just slippery out here even with

[109:08]hiking

[109:10]boots

[109:12]um wonder if I need some new

[109:20]ones like let's see that tree there and

[109:23]just put a little sign on

[109:27]it go this way under the

[109:32]tree Yep this is the

[109:35]area it's a

[109:38]creek quite dry

[109:41]now it's a whole point to rain though

[109:43]right

[110:42]I need a better fitting

[110:45]backpack that would certainly help

[110:57]and my upright device I want to make

[110:59]sure I'm working on my Pock

[111:04]here there in Hikes like this

[111:15]one I'd say I'm ready

[111:18]for some of the more advanced trails

[111:21]that are near where my RV is

[111:24]at explore some new

[111:32]places certainly like to find some

[111:36]near Cumberland

[111:39]Lake do love that

[111:42]place that's the place to be

[112:01]keep

[112:03]moving and eventually you'll get

[112:17]out I got to deal with this um table

[112:21]from char charging my phone I found a

[112:29]bridge doesn't look particularly sturdy

[112:32]like what is going on

[112:39]there I was thinking I'd take a break

[112:43]here it's just so wet

[112:46]everywhere hey I'm

[112:51]exhausted water sounds

[112:59]nice we better keep going I

[113:07]guess oh no you know what we're taking a

[113:10]break that's quite

[113:14]uphill need a break to get this backpack

[113:17]off of

[113:19]me gu we will hang out here for a minut

[113:26]that's

[113:28]nice I don't have to sit

[113:31]down just need like this there something

[113:34]up with my camera it's got there GD

[113:35]Vines I know what it's

[113:39]doing still doing it I don't know what

[113:41]that's

[113:42]about be some kind of

[113:44][Music]

[113:46]setting oh it's been a long hike no

[113:50]doubt about that

[113:58]that feels that sounds

[114:01]nice let's keep the mosquitoes away from

[114:05]me because boy are they nasty out

[114:11]here I have been spraying myself with

[114:14]until it started raining then it got

[114:16]better

[114:17]so but they're still out about

[114:25]it's only 11 did I tell you

[114:29]that

[114:32]so I guess I've been hiking for 5

[114:35]hours of course not just this Trail oh I

[114:38]don't know what time I started this one

[114:41]but I can look that

[114:47]up trying to fix

[114:50]this there

[114:52]I decided to just sit

[114:55]down I will get up so we're all

[115:02]good very pleasant

[115:10]day I

[115:13]just I don't know

[115:16]I feel listless I I got to figure

[115:20]something out with my life I can't

[115:25]can't be this

[115:29]like there's a bunch of different words

[115:31]going through my head none of them are

[115:32]the right ones

[115:35]so I just need a direction to be moving

[115:44]in I don't know what that is yet I just

[115:48]joke it a little

[115:50]while well my phone's at 18% and I can't

[115:53]charge it

[115:54]because

[115:56]um it's just giving me a moisture

[115:59]warning so I'm just going to power my

[116:01]phone down in case I need it so I'm not

[116:04]going to be able

[116:06]to well hopefully I'll be able hopefully

[116:09]it'll get better by the time I get to

[116:10]the ridge line because I really wanted

[116:12]to share that with

[116:13]you so I guess we'll find out it's 12:05

[116:17]I've been hiking for 6 hours and I'm out

[116:21]that is the end of the the

[116:23]trail I did not

[116:26]find the ridge that I was looking

[116:30]for no warning there they have to tell

[116:33]someone how long that is this one might

[116:36]I

[116:37]guess but I don't know if they modified

[116:40]the trail or what I'm very confused cuz

[116:43]that was my favorite place in

[116:45]Kentucky and I would not have missed it

[116:48]I would have known when I was there

[116:50]there was no rid line

[116:54]okay

[116:57]yeah I'm back in

[117:00]Civilization you can tell you can hear

[117:02]it

[117:04]um still have two miles to go to get to

[117:07]my Jeep

[117:09]though so which Trail is that I'm

[117:13]curious Hood's Branch

[117:16]oh it has been quite a

[117:19]hike hoods Branch Trail well I'll show

[117:21]you guys I gu FR you can go that way and

[117:24]it takes you to the Skylift area I

[117:27]think um so I guess we're hiking Hood's

[117:31]Branch now I'll check my um phone

[117:35]charger once I get to my

[117:37]Jeep I should have enough power to get

[117:40]back now plus if anything were to happen

[117:43]here

[117:44]it's really not as much of an issue it's

[117:47]back

[117:48]there oh that

[117:50]one that was a hike that was strenuous

[117:53]but I didn't I I did what I sat out to

[117:56]do quite proud of

[117:59]myself um the one conclusion I have from

[118:02]that hike is I need to keep hiking until

[118:05]I get back to the physical state I was

[118:08]in when I used to hike it in the past so

[118:11]cuz that's important to me and

[118:15]I that got pretty hard at the end um I

[118:19]almost had an accident there was a

[118:21]bridge and and it was very slippery I

[118:23]slipped thank God there was a railing

[118:25]there I would have tumbled

[118:27]down um the bridge right next to it

[118:30]didn't have one so I'm very

[118:32]lucky and I'm going to keep that in mind

[118:35]remember

[118:36]that St that away in my brain you

[118:42]know but this was important I needed to

[118:45]do this it had been so long since I'd

[118:47]done

[118:48]it and

[118:50]moving into my RV was all about

[118:54]reclaiming the best parts of myself and

[118:58]shutting all of the things that were

[119:00]holding me

[119:01]back this was another marker on that

[119:05]journey and I did

[119:07]it I'm very very proud of myself let's

[119:11]hope this is an easy two

[119:14]miles I'm pretty

[119:17]exhausted so that switch back took me

[119:20]down but then it took me up and then

[119:22]back down and then up and then back

[119:24]down that was strenuous there is a no

[119:27]like it doesn't matter what direction

[119:29]you go in that thing is going to give

[119:32]you a

[119:33]workout so I would say I just beat the

[119:37]bad weather it's noon I think it starts

[119:40]around

[119:42]1 I don't know but this afternoon we're

[119:45]going to have thunderstorms

[119:48]and I beat that at least I had to come

[119:52]today it's the only day I'm going to be

[119:53]here so just willing to have some

[119:58]risk um there an

[120:01]experience I have

[120:04]to just want to be more Brave

[120:07]I don't know where this fear comes from

[120:10]I have sometimes and it's

[120:12]like I don't want it I just want it to

[120:15]go away it's not acceptable to

[120:17]me I think I probably forgot about this

[120:21]Trail every single time I hi the sand

[120:23]gap

[120:25]through up and up and up we

[120:28]go very pretty though isn't it I love

[120:32]this

[120:33]place so

[120:37]pretty they rent paddle boats

[120:40]here if I wasn't so tired I would still

[120:43]do that right now I want to be on the

[120:48]water I still have dreams did I ever

[120:51]tell you guys I wanted to live on an

[120:54]island I just like to buy an island and

[120:56]live on an

[120:58]island and it's a pipe dream

[121:01]cuz you know that's hard to

[121:05]afford that's what I always wanted I was

[121:09]just willing to settle for land

[121:11]somewhere I want to live on an

[121:13]island by

[121:16]myself and fish and we have a boat

[121:23]oh you'd have to have a boat if you live

[121:24]on an

[121:26]island but I just want the

[121:36]island

[121:39]yeah this is such a long hike oh

[121:45]my if there's another Trail after this

[121:47]one I'm going to lose my mind

[121:52]I don't remember the HUD Branch Trail

[121:54]going straight to the parking

[121:57]lot I think it's close though I am too

[122:01]tired to pull the map out of my pocket

[122:04]is how tired I am no we have an

[122:08]obstacle I'm too tired for obstacles

[122:11]that's a big

[122:13]one

[122:14]what some people just walked through

[122:17]here too so how do they do I don't have

[122:21]oh

[122:22]no

[122:26]please

[122:31]fine over this big giant

[122:38]tree we did it we did

[122:42]it we can do anything

[122:52]well that's

[122:54]new what are

[122:57]you what that's that

[122:59]thing you have not seen you

[123:04]before W be somewhere to rest cuz I

[123:07]don't have it in me oh

[123:11]no I could rest

[123:16]there we

[123:18]mustn't we must keep going

[123:22]we must keep

[123:24]going this is always a pretty

[123:31]spot think that we're close

[123:34]now right on this little Bridge

[123:39]here we are not climbing up there I'll

[123:41]tell you that

[123:43]much if we have to do that I'm sitting

[123:46]down and not getting

[123:49]up of course that's a joke

[123:55]um please don't have to go up there

[123:57]though that would be

[123:59]terrible

[124:03]terrible I don't think so

[124:07]though oh I think we just keep going

[124:10]straight and eventually we reached the

[124:12]parking

[124:17]lot this was quite a day

[124:21]these are cute little

[124:26]Bridges very tiny though

[124:32]wow it's got his

[124:36]Stu we used to do stuff like this in the

[124:39]voice

[124:41]accounts those are good

[124:45]times oh it's sad

[124:48]that kids don't really do that anymore

[124:50]what's going

[124:52]here oh all

[124:55]right I am having trouble imagining that

[124:58]that was a large group of people who

[125:00]came

[125:03]by he had to have had these obstacles

[125:12]too they are probably new

[125:16]obstacles I have heard things falling

[125:18]down as I've been hiking

[125:25]how much

[125:27]further must we

[125:31]walk oh my socks are so

[125:41]wet keep going keep going keep

[125:44]going sad I didn't find my favorite

[125:47]place they had to have altered the trail

[125:49]or

[125:49]something super confused confed about

[125:54]that I'm going to see if I can figure

[125:56]that out though like maybe I have an old

[125:59]map and I can compare them

[126:01]and

[126:03]something something's

[126:06]different but it is more wellmaintained

[126:09]so they have done work on

[126:11]it um not a lot of mile markers like I

[126:15]only saw to the whole

[126:17]time but that was my favorite place I

[126:20]love just hanging out up there

[126:23]I'm going to wrap it up now I think my

[126:25]battery's pretty close to dead cuz my

[126:28]screen's not very bright

[126:31]so if you made it this far thanks for

[126:35]following along

Summary

rswfire embarks on a challenging 10-mile hike at Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky, returning to a trail he used to hike regularly 20 years ago but hasn't visited in approximately 10 years. He begins at 3 AM due to sleep difficulties, prepares breakfast at a cabin, and sets out on the Sand Gap Trail despite forecasted rain and thunderstorms.

The hike proves physically demanding as he navigates the Rock Garden Trail, climbs to the Natural Bridge, and continues on the 7.5-mile Sand Gap Trail through forest terrain. He encounters a turtle during the hike and has a brief interaction with it. Throughout the journey, he reflects on his physical conditioning, noting he's older and less fit than when he regularly hiked this trail.

After approximately 6 hours of hiking, he completes the Sand Gap Trail but realizes he missed his favorite ridge line location, suspecting the trail may have been modified. He then faces an additional 2-mile walk on the Hood's Branch Trail to return to his Jeep. The hike concludes successfully around noon, just before the predicted thunderstorms, though he expresses exhaustion and some disappointment at not finding his remembered favorite spot.

The experience serves as both a physical challenge and a reconnection with a meaningful place from his past, representing part of his broader journey of "reclaiming the best parts of himself" since moving into his RV.

Signal Analysis

Substrate

This transmission documents a deliberate return to embodied capacity through physical challenge at a site of deep personal significance. The architecture being held is one of somatic sovereignty - reclaiming physical agency and testing current limits against historical capacity. This is threshold work - using the body as both testing ground and integration site for the larger identity reconstruction process.

Dominant Language

keep movingeventually you'll get outI needed to know I couldreclaiming the best parts of myselfpush aheadchallenge yourself

Symbolic Elements

thresholdbridgemountainforestturtleridgewaterstorm

Ontological States

•
transitional
•
testing
•
embodied
•
sovereign

Subsystems

•
somatic
•
cognitive
•
emotional

Transmission Details

Source Type

youtube

Duration