Christian, Daniel, Jonathan, and Mitchel talk about their adventures post-holing, freezing, and bonding on a trip WestContact UsOur WebsiteInstagramFacebookEmail us hello@swayyhammocks.comRate and Review us, take a screenshot, send it to hello@swayyhammocks.com and we'll give you a shoutout on the podcast! Find us on AmazonOn This EpisodeSummer after Freshman YearSnowing and coldSummer break, Wyoming still cold3 main goals:Let's have a lot of funDo it cheapCold with not good equipmentAccomplished all three goalsJustin had “vehicle”, run off diesel and natural gas2 most abundant fuels in the westWe’re not rednecks . . .White 1990 SuburbanCouldn’t fit all gear, had to have a big rackHitch is not stable, always slightly tiltedLeft on a Monday, early in the morning, drove up through Ohio to outside ChicagoWhy was it so cold?That year was record breaking snowfall and cold for that part of the year mid-May6 peopleJeremyJustinDanielMitchelChristianJonathanNatural gas tanks were all in the trunk, so no inside storageTook the middle seats out of the car - only had front and back seats, middle where seats would be was filled with gearDisgusting limousineHad to pull over every 100 miles to add transmission fluid and coolantAlso had Jolene, Daniel’s carSpent night in Ohio, had only good meal of the trip, kept goingJust a guy's trip - 2014First night, driving out through countryside, hadn’t planned to stop, looking along the side of the road to stop (in the badlands)Driving in the middle of the night, didn’t know where they were, parked the vehicle on the side of the road, didn’t even set up tents, just laid out in the middle of a grassy areaNext morning was incredible, waking up was amazing with the huge sand dunesOut in the distance, there was a plateauNot sure how they made it through the night, woke up frosted, but not freezingChristian had not been to North Dakota, it was his 50th state, so he drove 2-3 hours over the border, took a picture, and came backJonathan is 3 states short, and ND is one of themBadlands were amazingTrying to hide from park security trying to climb the highest dunesIt got really hot that dayThe next day, they decided to go to the Black Hills (where Mount Rushmore is) and Mount WashingtonChristian met up with the gangGoal was to go as high up in the mountains as the Suburban could go with chains, so now they’re in snowWent until it got stuck, camped right on the side of the road, didn’t have a “let's go here”, more of “here’s a road with snow”Daniel’s car somehow made it in the Suburban’s tracks a way awayHiked in a bit further to a beautiful camping spotOnly time they’ve seen Mitchell not happy (Mitchel is always smiling)He was cold and didn’t feel good, but woke up the happiest they’ve ever seen himThere was no firewood, but they found a couch cushion that they burned, it burned well, but smelled terribleChristian said he wouldn’t go to the restroom in the woods(This story is embellished)So Daniel built a toilet out of snowIf you’ve got to dump in a water-based toilet, it’s just better, according to ChristianYou gotta do what you gotta doOn to WyomingThe next morning had a beautiful viewMcDonalds breakfastCody WyomingStopped at Sierra Trading Post, then to a gym to take a showerOnce a week whether needed or notThis trip confirmed Daniel’s theory that if you’re dirty for long enough you body self-cleansGot a chance to dry stuff out in the parking lotThe next night was their favoriteReally cool camping spot, between Cody Wyoming and YellowstoneRemote mountain road, maybe pass a car every 30 min, there was a plateau over the side of the road, everyone agreed it would be the perfect camping spotHuge valley, mountains in the background, like the side of a mountain with a rock table covered in grass with a beautiful viewBuilt a huge fire, pretty much put an entire dying tree thereAs much fire as you could possibly burnHad to hike down a ravine to access the spotMitchel and Justin took a different path, everyone else thought they were lost for a bitPeople thought to be police officers were concerned for their safety, but the crew was worried they were going to kick them out, so they were almost trying to hide their campsiteThen they got into a screaming match because they couldn’t hear each other“ARE YOU OK?”“YES WE ARE!”So the police walked away, the gang started cheering, but their cheering was mistaken for cries of helpYellowstone National Park - kinda the goal of the whole trip (from North Carolina)Next stop was “Mount McClannahan” - just chose a random tall mountain, 60 mile gravel road, hike up to the top and campJust found it on Google Earth and thought it looked goodDidn’t end up doing it because of an incoming blizzardSaw Old FaithfulGot passes to camp in the back countrySpent 2 nights in a valleyPark was mostly emptyBeautiful mountains in front of you, off to the left is a bunch of elk, and on the other side was a bunch of buffaloThey had to deviate from the path because of an angry buffaloThey are massiveAbout a 5-mile hikeSet up camp by a riverFound fully intact elk antlersAfter the first night, woke up to a buffalo by their fireHiked up mountain after mountain trying to find the topGot to a mountain that had a bunch of huge rocks, they just pushed them down the mountain (“mostly accidental”)At the top of the mountain, everyone checked their grades to see how they had doneVerizon had cell serviceAlso Swayy hammocks are great of Yellowstone has higher elevation, so it’s colder“Are you guys post holing”? No idea what that meantPark ranger told them 2 things: 1: they are the only ones wanting to camp in the back country 2: he did not want to have to hike in and get themThey got their passes and went on their merry wayAt first not too badOn the way back it started to snow, and it gets deeper, and deeper, and deeperLate afternoon, hiked about 3 miles, but felt so much longerEach step was gruelingPost holing: You take one stop, leg fully submerges in snow. Next step, also fully submerged in snow - each step is a “post hole” going down to the groundEventually their feet weren’t even reaching the ground because they had on backpacks, which increased their surface area and caught them a bitBy the time they got closer to the top, the 16 ft markers were at eye levelThey were looking forward to a fire and foodThey were soaked by the time they got to where they were goingThey had none of the right gearNo one had any idea how much danger they were actually in, but they all had fun“The Bowl” was different because it was protected from the sun by shade, so it was pure powder. It was more like swimming than like walkingFelt helpless because they couldn’t turn back, but it took foreverPark ranger was adamant about building fire in fire ring, but it was beneath 12 feet of snowFinally made it to the lake, but it was frozen over with more snow, so they could hardly tell they were thereThey had a hatchet, but couldn’t cut through the iceThey made a fire, but it would melt the snow and just keep sinking, and then it wouldn’t get as much air, so there wasn’t much heatThey didn’t bring much water because they figured there’d be a bunch of snow, but it was so dry that a whole pot-full of water would be a negligible amount of liquidTrying to boil snow to cook with and drink, but it’s stale snow with pine needles and stuff in itDaniel set up a tent he didn’t end up staying inJustin and Jeremy slept in their own tent, but Daniel abandoned his and joined the 4-personBody heat was crucialNever been so miserable everSleeping bag was a 30-degree bag, which means it’s probably comfortable around 60, butt his night it was in the teens, windyEveryone put their boots outsideChristian didn’t get much sleep, but he thought his feet were going to freeze and fall offThat was the only thing he thought ofTheir shoes were all in the vestibule, but Christian didn’t want to get up, so he unzipped the tent, and ate muddy snow trying to get some sort of hydrationThat was a bad nightProbably good for the immune system?Luckily the sun came out the next morningChristian couldn’t get into his shoes because they were frozen solid - just a block of iceThe lake was beautiful - snow covered, pristine, surrounded by pine trees, all Christian could think about was his feet falling offHe just started walking homeJeremy ate breakfastJustin wore dry bags over his socks to keep his feet dry for the rest of the tripAs they hiked out, it was fairly uneventful, the snow was still a bit crusted, so it was easier to walk outJonathan left his hat on a log, the next group came through, and there were huge bear printsIt was there right between the two groupsDaniel lost the charger to his tablet somewhere along the line, it’s now 2020, Daniel just now got the pictures, it was like a time capsuleMade it back to the vehicles, tried to dry off as much as possible, then off to IdahoWent to a hotel that nightAt some point, the Suburban stopped shifting, but they were able to fix it with zip tiesJonathan got a parking ticket while driving - middle of Wyoming, speeding a little bit, pulled over by a tribal police officer, he wrote a parking ticket, if they went to court, they would dismiss it. In Wyoming, they can put you on speaker on the phone, so Jonathan plead not guilty, and the ticket was dismissedIt was a $55 ticket - it was the principle of the matterIdaho falls, stayed in a hotel, got a good meal, crammed all 6 people into one room, Christian had to fly back to North Carolina for somethingDown to 5 peopleStarted driving to Idaho, where Daniel is from, which is why he brought his vehicle (stay the summer)Because there was so much snow, they were to a park called Craters of the MoonEveryone should go onceIt’s almost like you’re on the moon because of the lava formations - black broken up lava rocksIt is incredibly hard on shoes; they will wear
