[00:00:00] Tayson: Everybody welcome back to the Live Ultralight Podcast, powered by Outdoor Vitals today, we are going to be talking about something rather peculiar. We recently brought eight YouTubers out to Utah to do some backpacking with us in my oh my was it an experience. I've got Derek here on the podcast today to recap, this adventure with us. How you doing today? Derek,
[00:00:23] Derek: I'm doing pretty good. It's warming up outside and just can't complain too much right now. I have to take a little bit of a vacation, so,
[00:00:30] Tayson: yeah, morale is high jealous. You take a nice international flight to go, see some awesome stuff. So I'll be I'll be jealous all of next week while you're you're out. But yeah, I mean just the warmer weather is phenomenal for sure. And that's some good trips and some good outings over the last month that's been It's been awesome. So I mean, I do love winter, I do love backpacking in winter, but It's time. It's time for the sun to come out. Absolutely, and be warm but Yeah, I guess, before we jump into this silly recap, I guess you could say. Is there anything else like it's just going on in your world that we need to bring up or talk about? I mean, you are Director, after all,
[00:01:16] Derek: I'll give you a five, five second Pitch here. I guess if there's anything new to talk about five, second Pitch, well, and five seconds. Well, first and foremost, in my mind, just about every day is, I'm my wife and I were gonna have our first little baby here in about a couple months from now, actually. So, It's that's what we're gearing up for around my neck of the woods and I'm just really excited to be a dad.
[00:01:40] Tayson: It's gonna change your life. So, yeah, you guys are gonna love it though. Both, you guys are ready for this. So you go on this little baby moon and come back and, yeah, game time
[00:01:50] Derek: absolutely, it'll be into the thick of it right after we get back, I think. But for sure.
[Editor’s note: The vacation, pregnancy, and family-timing remarks are personal status statements made for the April 30, 2024 release; they do not establish anyone’s current circumstances.]
[00:01:56] Tayson: okay, well, for a few years now, I have wanted to bring YouTubers to Utah or bring him out on a trip and backpack with them. We years back, we worked a little bit with a media company PR Company and we did some backpacking trips with like some writers and stuff and that was it was awesome and amazing people. But you know, from the very beginning of Outdoor Vitals, I got onto YouTube early and started to do some education and how to take care of products. And then we did some torture test videos and it just kind of spiraled into our YouTube channel now and I've always just had one foot in YouTube and so meeting YouTube creators always felt like I was talking with people that I really understood spent a lot of time with and I always saw the value to of just what YouTube is, right. That's such a cool audience. It's such a cool way to interact with people and so you know we've actually originally brought our very first YouTuber to Utah to backpack with us in 2017 or 18. Yeah. And that was sintax77; that was sintax77 and we brought him out. We did some hiking in Zion National Park and it's really cool experience but it's, you know, it's like it's planning. It's time. It's it's all these things. So then later, you know, we've brought Dan Becker out a couple times. We've gone on trips with Justin Outdoors where we've gone on met him. We've had, we've been on trips with Devin Ashby. We've done some trips, right? But it was always like what if we created like did the whole itinerary planned all around YouTubers and and really specialized I guess the the Content and the use of that trip. So that it could not only be like trip with Outdoor Vitals. But also like a trip for YouTubers to collaborate, meet each other help each other with problems on YouTube, or help, you know, kind of go down this like, like where they can rub shoulders and build collaborations and Kind of this like pipe dream. And as we worked with this PR Company, we started to like, put together bigger trips for like, oh, we could totally do this for YouTube but its Manpower its time, its resources and so Fast forward a few years, we pulled it off. We finally just buckled down did all the planning did all the work to fly these different eight, different YouTubers to Utah, and do a trip. And so now let's see if I can recap all of the YouTubers that we brought and there's been some awesome videos out there. If you guys want to watch any of these that have already been published. But we brought Miranda out, we brought Elina Osborne, we brought Gordon, who is from Grim Granite. Grim Granite has got some of the most amazing shorts. You might not know him for longer-form YouTube yet, but he used to be Dan Becker's video editor and now he has a really cool YouTube channel called Grim Granite. We brought Bryce Newbold. We brought sintax77, Sean, back out. Justin Outdoors, Eric Hanson, Jeff Pelletier. Yeah, I think that's that's eight. That's, that's eight there. We had a couple others that we invited and were about to come as well but then last minute they had a couple family things or a personal Come up that prevented them from coming but well the funny thing is actually just [creator Kyle; exact channel name unclear], right? He was like the guy who kept bugging me. So when are we gonna do this, what are we gonna do this and stuff? Like he kind of like pushed me to push everyone else on the team to make this happen and then last minute he couldn't make it. And so he was kind of a the standing joke on the trip of like, hey, take a picture, send it to Kyle, what he's missing out on, but we'll get him out for sure, but So yeah, we we brought these YouTubers in the idea was yeah, I mean, obviously that we can get some exposure with just product for Outdoor Vitals, but it's also just to build relationships and have a good time. And so the, I guess the, the rough itinerary, where it was just a fly people in. We'd stay at an Airbnb for a night. We'd go out on trail for a night then come back to Airbnb and then people would fly out the next day.
[00:05:45] Derek: Yeah, well, what I think was really cool about this trip. Actually, it was you kind of touched on this before but in the outdoor industry is specifically. There's a lot of brands that will bring in influencers of some sort, right? They do these PR trips and they try to, you know, just get writers, editors, journalists. And sometimes YouTubers are just familiar with their brand or their product and that's fairly normal. However, when we started doing this, a couple years ago, we still didn't do it, I guess. A quote unquote normal way. A lot of a lot of YouTubers commented on this before, when we were out and writers. Journalists and writers as well. When we did this in the past and they said, this is, this is so unique, we're actually out hiking. We're actually out using the product. A lot of them are more used to, really, yeah, these PR trips. A lot of them were used to just, like, wining and dining. We'll see the product. They'll handle it; they'll get to kind of test it and see if it's something they want to write about or create some sort of content about. But they don't actually have the whole backpacking experience or
[00:06:49] Tayson: just some real nervousness of like, actually sleeping out on trail like with new gear for some of these people, right? Because it was just yeah, most most trips like if you're coming in from an apparel brand, let's say you go out on a on a trip for I don't know Arc'teryx, like Arc'teryx is likely going to put you in all the gear. You gonna go do something outside and you're gonna come back to your hotel at night.
[00:07:08] Derek: Yeah. And and part of our core values and just who we are as a team, as we like to be a little bit more personal we like to be authentic. and we like to just help people realize the performance that they're getting out of gear by using it right which you can't do unless you're actually out there using [gear] for what it was designed for. So this time what was really fun is taking that just a step further and Gearing this all towards YouTubers that already knew how to be outside. They already knew all this stuff, they were comfortable sleeping out on the trail and so that was just a lot of fun and and being with people that were just comfortable on the trail. Now we didn't have to worry about. We may have to dive into comfortable. Well though it's I would I would say that it is a general statement, but there were there were some things that maybe were less comfortable for a few people myself included.
[00:08:01] Tayson: Now you're 100% right though, like we when we were doing these, when we originally were put on these little trips for writers and stuff. It was like We don't want people to just like, see our gear and hold it in their hands and like us to just take him out to dinner. Like, no, we want to like, Go on trail and let them really experience it. Like, that's our, that's our brand. That's our values. Spent a lot of time on trail as a team and that's the experience we'd want to give. And so we did have to like, jump through some hoops and things to even put that on to begin with was like, we had to make sure people were very confident in what we were doing that, this wasn't some crazy idea that we didn't need like I don't know, say You know, a guide present or things like it's like, no, like we're the guys like we don't need like a guiding company just to like like you know what I mean? Like, we will take care of you and and so like yeah, it was, it was different to put that first those first ones on, but it was very felt very authentic, right? And so, yeah, as we as we like and that kind of comes back to this when we were doing those, I was like I did have that feeling of like, man. If I was to take Justin Outdoors outside, like, It would feel like he'd be confident, I'd be confident. It wouldn't be like as much of Like, you know, is this entire group like safe to do this? Is everyone feeling good? Like, am I pitching tents for people or yeah, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. Like like a lot of writers to be honest, a lot of writers, for whatever magazine right Outside magazine. Massive Publications, their writers way, before their Outdoorsman, they get into the writing scene by being writers, the writing for newspapers and stuff like that and then they slowly come into the fold. Now there's some other ones out there that are I mean they're dirt bags and I I love the dirt bags like they are dirt bags and then they then they become writers and those are like it's way. Cool you get all walks on that side whereas the YouTube you know you get your occasional princesses like Dan Becker but you know just kidding but like like for the most part like they're they're pretty much dirtbags or users of the gear. So so yeah I mean we took that same principle. We apply it to this scenario and I don't know. Like, what do you want? I mean, what do you want to go with this? People want to know what it's like to backpack with eight different YouTubers and we'll get into funny nuances of it and the little takeaways and stuff like that that are just Kind of comical and kind of behind the scenes I guess to to do. But I don't know before we like just jump into the trail itself. Is there anything you want to recap on people coming in or just what the whole experience is? Like, maybe day one.
[00:10:29] Derek: Well, I think for me, the one of the most interesting Parts was actually getting to see the authenticity of all of the YouTubers as well, we've touched on how that's valuable to us to be authentic. But then it's really cool to see other people in the industry and all these YouTubers were actually very authentic. And, you know, if you've watched any of their videos on their channels, you know, that's pretty much how they are their personalities, and a lot of a lot of cases and but there's more of it and you get to see a little bit deeply, wow, excuse me, a little more deeply when they're in person with you and that was kind of right off the bat apparent. The other thing that was cool is a lot of them are not from the western United States. With the exception, the exception of Eric Hanson. He actually lived in southern Utah for a little while. But seeing their reactions, I was the one picking them up from the airport and Tayson was out there, parked in the desert. He had his RZR ready to go. We had a trailer just kind of hang out because before we could get anybody into an Airbnb or anything to wind down after all their travels so we figured it. Yeah. Let's just play around for a while until we can get to the Airbnb and relax.
[00:11:35] Tayson: Yeah. So
[00:11:36] Derek: as I was driving them from the airport to where the trailer was parked. Everyone's just looking out the window and pulling out their cameras to film the Red Sand and you just all this kind of stuff. It's you know, taking for granted by us I guess and that was fun. And you know they're immediately cracking jokes just like they are on their channels just—that's just how they are. Really fun. So
[00:11:56] Tayson: yeah, I mean to speak to that authentic side. I think there's a there's a real thing. It's specifically in TV where like you have your TV personality. Well, like a TV personality, a lot of it is like Formatted by writers and directors too like yeah, we need you to be in this you know, authoritative position and kind of act this way and this and so then you meet like people meet those people off camera and they're like, oh actually we're not nice. They were complete jerks or like hey this guy you know was whatever it was like their personalities different off camera versus on camera. I think it's I think it is a little bit different with YouTube where actually I would say pretty much everyone on the trip. It almost any YouTuber I've ever met, they feel very similar to how they do on camera. Usually it's just It's funny to see like what parts of their personality, they choose to maybe bolster up a little bit or pull back a little bit but it is it is a part of them, right? So like like actually what's funny is like say with Eric Hanson, like that, dude is funny. I mean, he's just constantly constantly cracking jokes. Being just this goofball of a guy that's just it's so funny to be around him and then you like, watch his videos and he is a goofball in the videos but he actually tones it down. Let's just kind of interesting to me because like to me like that's a superpower he has and he does use it. But like, like so there's just little variations like that. You see in everyone where The like, maybe they'll lean a little bit into this part of their personality, maybe pull back a little bit, but it is still like, all very visible on their YouTube channels who they are how they act. Some of their mannerisms. Yeah.
[00:13:30] Derek: Yeah. It was, it was awesome. Just to get to know them, obviously, we emailed them and talked to him or texted him before or sometimes we some of them, we've actually talked on the phone with them before, but To meet them and person and to hang out a little bit. It was just fun. I think that's just simply put. It was just fun. Yeah, but it was really cool. I do want to also preface this. Say that we, we weren't sponsoring anything with them. We just pretty much how the invite went for this trip was, hey, We love what you do? Your Channel's awesome. I think you're cool. What we're doing is we're trying to get a YouTuber Meetup going here. We want to just get a lot of backpacking YouTubers together. Let's hang out, let's learn from each other and then also, since Outdoor Vitals is paying for this or flying everybody out. The only ask that we have is that you allow us to give you some gear and then use it when we're backpacking. And and everybody seemed to resonate with that really, really well. And and it was fun for us to it was kind of low stakes, little pressure, just they have questions about our gear. We can show it to him as we were hiking or using or setting up camp or whenever they needed it. And yeah, and it was just nice. So just want to put that little preface in there. This is not a sponsored trip, any videos or anything. You might see on their channels. We're not paying for those. We just really wanted to meet him and have them out here with us. So yeah.
[Editor’s note: The creator names, prior collaborations, videos, channels, invitations, funding, gear, sponsorship, authenticity, and industry-practice remarks in this opening run are April 2024 participant claims. In particular, “we don’t need ... a guiding company ... we will take care of you” is historical trip-planning speech—not a current guiding service, offer, safety assurance, or endorsement. The eight linked channels are exact source resources, not independent verification of biography, present channel status, partnership, or endorsement; Bryce Newbold’s resource is retained once under Bryce, not under the erroneous RSS attribution to Tayson.]
[00:14:50] Tayson: So so I guess to go back to day one and kind of move forward. You were picking him up, you're bringing them from the airport over to a camp trailer where we were hanging out with the RZR and just kind of chilling while we were waiting for the Airbnb. You know? Yeah, and that was a lot of fun right in Utah. It's very common for for people to be around or have side by sides and I happen to have one. And so I thought I'd just offer it up like, oh, if you guys want to go on a ride, I'll take you up on top of this. You see sand dunes, you get great views of Zion and Pine Valley and just see a different side of things. And I always questioned, like, whether people are just gonna be really nervous and scared, and it's just like, all right, we're just gonna go slow take like the Jeep Road. Essentially, and just go look at the views or whether they would like, want to like, You know, go like we're going on a trophy truck and like mob through the desert and and like, you know, which is always the right answer, which is always I was amazed every single person that had the opportunity wanted to go on the RZR, right? And every person that got on the RZR that at least they're saying anything was totally fine. Like just mobbing through the desert and just just going crazy. And so I had a ton of fun, kind of sharing that because I grew up doing that as a little kid. And so like that's like kind of a part of me that was like pre even backpacking was was doing some of that stuff. I grew up like on a dirt bike and and so there's a lot of fun to share that but man like I got so much enjoyment out of just watching their faces, you know, just hearing them, you know, scream or like get nervous and then have fun and just the smiles and there's some really good footage out there that some of these guys have put out, I think that's I think maybe my favorite footage that was captured was from Jeff Pelletier's footage. So if you could check out his video at the end of that video, got like me Miranda and Justin outdoors in the RZR and Jeff Pelletier, obviously, and he's got some 360 footage. And I mean, I had to like, slow the RZR down at times. Just so Miranda, could like catch her breath. I thought she was like pass out. She was laughing and screaming so hard, but man, as a great time and I think they just really enjoyed seeing like a different side of things and different side of Utah. Like it's just it is like Derek said, it's just it's crazy how different and diverse this this area is like so we're literally in the Sand dunes, we're on Red Rocks, we're crawling around. And then you can look over and you can literally see these massive mountains that just shoot up out of the desert and have snow across the top. And sit it, like nine ten thousand feet and that's literally, like, you're on the doorstep of that. So really cool to just share Southern Utah with them. Yeah,
[00:17:16] Derek: it was awesome. I mean whether or not you've been to Southern Utah. I think everyone can relate to at least this concept of if you've, you know, Seen location whether it's on a video or just kind of been taught about it in school. You have this kind of mindset of of what the epitome of that place is like and we got multiple comments, kind of about that. Or I did at least from the YouTubers like, well, this is like, the actual Southern Utah experience. They're like, everyone in southern Utah. The way I pictured, it just rides RZRs around in the desert and the sand is everywhere. And that's just what you do here. I'm like, oh, I mean, that's all we do. But yeah, we a lot of people do a lot of people think of Moab Moab when they think of Southern Utah but a lot of it is actually like [that]. Yeah. So, you know, so glad we could help kind of Give that experience to them the way they picture. The southern Utah experience being, but it was, yeah, it was a lot of fun. So that was the very beginning of the trip right off the plane. So, we take everyone, we go over to the
[00:18:13] Tayson: Airbnb and I think that's where just the shenanigans really begin. You get that many YouTubers all together and, like, cameras, just start coming out everywhere everyone's filming, everyone at all times. And it, it very much felt like this reality TV show was in progress, just kind of almost had to assume at all times. You were being recorded. Yeah. And it was just it was, it was very, very comical and it was so fun actually to watch Um these other YouTubers meet other YouTubers for the first time, right? Like some of these like like say sintax77 he's like he's like the OG like he's the, he's like the original guy out there has been making videos for 15 years. So some of these other guys are like, oh my gosh, it's It’s sintax77 like I I watched your stuff before I ever started my channel and like they're like, you know, there's like they are meeting their celebrity and like vice versa, and everybody was like
[00:19:02] Derek: acting like best friends even though they were meeting for the first time. Yeah, which was cool. It was great.
[00:19:07] Tayson: You like seeing enough of someone's life on YouTube that you feel like, you know? So yeah, the walls came down pretty quickly for everyone. And it just felt like we were all one big group, really, really quick and see. I mean, we hung out the Airbnb that night. Got out all their gear kind of, let him sort through things and and just had a pretty relaxing night and dinner. And then the next, the idea was that we'd get up the next morning have breakfast and then, basically head out onto the trail. So, I mean, that’s precisely what we did. So the next day though We gave him some info and this is kind of where I guess the the trip actually begins. As we know. We said, hey, we're gonna be going in. 7 or was it nine miles or so? I thought it was only seven. So, what we ended up
[00:19:55] Derek: hiking the first day was actually like six six. Yeah. But
[00:20:00] Tayson: I thought I was under the impression that it was nine in a video and I was like, “We didn't make them hike nine miles, did we? Was that my fault?” That was frankly, that was my fault.
[00:20:07] Derek: I was under the impression. After talking to Brigham, he scouted out like the route the week before actually a few days before and I think I just misunderstood or didn't listen. Fully the whole round trip was about nine or ten miles. Yeah. And I was like, oh yeah. That's that's what we're doing the first day.
[00:20:24] Tayson: Yeah. But we wanted to take everyone to have like an authentic experience and in southern Utah, like obviously Zion National Park is like the mecca of opportunity in the place. People want to see, but the problem with Zion is it's it's like an amusement park. Now, it's just rides lines for everything. It's it's it's it's a zoo in there, it really is. And it's It's a whole nother conversation. Right. So it's like we're not gonna try to like figure that out. And so we've kind of got these Little Gems and pockets of areas where we can get to that are not as busy. And so we went to a Wilderness that's just outside of Zion or get a little bit of slot-canyon experience. You can see similar Red Rocks and similar just beautiful Cliffs and things like that but that you know, wasn't in the zoo per se And but but some of the challenges at that hike is like it's really accessible, you know, permitting. All that kind of stuff is just way easy but like but to do this particular Loop that we were looking at like we were gonna have to dry camp and there's a little bit of climbing and to us, I guess. You know, we knew that there was some climbing but we were like, we have all day to do this. Like we got, we got plenty of time and So we told them, you know, hey, it's gonna be about six or so miles. We did mention, we would dry camp. But the problem is, with this big of a group and everyone who loves to talk, I don't know that every single person heard us all at the same time. So we tried to, like, tell people what it was and and let that like explain that to him. But it sounds like in some of these videos that have come out after that. Not everyone fully understood the itinerary at all times.
[00:21:57] Derek: Well, you have three different factors playing here and none of them are bad. But, you know, as you mentioned, there's a lot of people that love to talk and it's great. We have to stop a lot because, you know, getting the group to catch up to each other. It's a big it's
[00:22:14] Tayson: a big group and you got people pulling out cameras.
[00:22:16] Derek: Yeah. Obviously they want to film but the third factor is a lot of them are just from elevations that are lower, not all of them but a lot of these YouTubers that we flew out Flatlanders they're from areas of the us that are much lower in elevation and so we were starting at a higher elevation and then just climbing another thousand or 2000 feet or something like that, which Was hard, if you're not even used to any elevation at all. So that also enhanced kind of, you know, the time it took to climb up and out of this Canyon.
[00:22:50] Tayson: Yeah, so we give them, we give them. I guess the idea of what we're doing. We head out there and start climbing up this Canyon. And it was, it was fun. I mean, it was But right out of the gate it was just so it was just so comical. Right? Like I remember, like, in Gordon, I think it's Gordon's video like he, like, was the first one out of the van so that he could record everyone else getting out of the van and then different people like, hey, I want to get this shot. Like everyone line up this way and like, man, it was, it was just I mean, I just laughed the whole time like everyone else was just laughing too but it was it was a big group and it was it was just a it was comical. Yeah. Just it was comical but start up the trail. I mean, things are things are going smooth. We had everyone like weigh their backpacks and most people carrying like three liters of water. So so about six pounds of water. Most people were just a little over 20 pounds, so You know, they snuck some things in their backpacks when we were looking apparently. But for everybody, though, I will say was in between, I think 18 and 24 pounds. Yeah. [That 18-to-24-pound range includes] camera gear. A lot of them brought tripods have at least five pounds of camera gear. It seems like they're bringing big heavy, you know, camera and lenses and batteries and so Jeff Pelletier. So he is the
[00:24:04] Derek: the runner that Tayson mentioned before, his was by far the light, he's just running one of our fast packs, he had a really light setup didn't bring a tripod, but he's kind of used to running really light packs. He's done a lot of fastpacking before he's [more of a runner than] a traditional backpacker, like some of these other YouTubers were, so he's kind of used to running, be able to move, and part of that requires a lighter weight, to be able to run.
[00:24:25] Tayson: He was like the biggest, I don't know, camel in the group—meaning, like, he could get away with way less water. Yeah,
[00:24:33] Derek: that's true. That was a big part of it.
[00:24:35] Tayson: I think he only was carrying, like, a liter of water.
[00:24:37] Derek: He also is from Canada, which elevation wise. It's not as different he was. He's from the coast, though.
[00:24:43] Tayson: Oh, is he from the coast right on the water? He's right on the ocean [unclear transition]. So, yeah. He's I think he's just really efficient with water and obviously being a the machine that he is he he's comfortable with it, too. So yeah, I had a light pack at 18 pounds. I think it was the lightest and Anyway, so I don't know, we're going up the trail and, you know, we didn't tell anyone that they needed to film anything. But obviously like you get YouTubers together, like, they're gonna film things and so it was, It was kind of comical to like, I don't know. You'd look over and also like Justin's hiding in a bush and like filming you and you're like, what the heck? Supposed to look at the camera, might not supposed to look at the camera. Or like I don't know. You get to like a really cool Vantage Point. Like everyone. I'd like jump down for like the same shot at the same angle and it's like wait you were supposed to walk by the camera know I'm filming. You walk by the camera. Just I mean it was just it was it was awesome. It was really, really funny but I don't know, I mean, we climbed up the canyon and then we keep climbing and keep climbing, and I think you start to realize that that some of these guys realized, like, how much climbing it was and from our perspective as like, Like we plan on it being a lot of climbing, you know, a lot of climbing but like I guess like all like, we just anticipated like slowing down as much as we needed to. Well, I guess, going at a pace that worked.
[00:25:58] Derek: I was doing a lot of the communicating with with these YouTubers before the trip and in my mind, it really wasn't that much climbing. But we're coming, we're coming from, you know, having just done like the Colorado Trail last summer, doing things like the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim and it's like so much more climbing in a day than than this particular Trail relatively speaking. But if you're looking at this Trail objectively, there is a lot of climbing. And I just—with my perspective at the time, [the middle of this sentence is unclear]—didn't think [the group would have a problem with] that elevation. Yeah,
[00:26:30] Tayson: I think it was fine though. I think like, say we like we just had to like, I think the group, you know, we slowed down, we took breaks; there was no rush either. We got on trail early, we had all day to get there and so but we climb out, we kind of get to like the first vantage point, we stopped there for a break, get some good views like looking back, towards Bryce Canyon and back, you know, underneath this on the Canyons around us. Then we dropped down to really our only water supply or at least the only place we really got water on the trip. And we tell everyone like, hey, like get as much water as you can and we're dry camping tonight and there was like, three or four people look at us, like, what was dry camping, like, “What— what do you mean we’re dry camping?” In like camel up. We've said this, but So, you know, we spent some time there and then we hiked up to, like the White Domes and then we get the vantage point of Zion. And I think it was It was it was really fun for me to take people into this country because, you know, their eyes are just just this big right? They're just they're just bulging out of their heads like taking everything in the the rock formation and I mean just everything I mean they're picking up pieces of poop. Like, ‘What’s going on? What’s this? What left this?’, like it was just they were so curious but it was like, Commentary so much so many jokes just flying around the whole time. Good time.
[Editor’s note: The side-by-side/vehicle, route outside Zion, crowding, access, permitting, distance, elevation, climbing, dry-camp, water, heat, filming, pack/camera weight, and participant-performance statements in the preceding trip run are historical recollections and estimates. They are not current route, permit, access, vehicle, water, weather, climbing, navigation, medical, pack-weight, or safety guidance.]
[00:27:55] Tayson: Once we got up there, we headed over to camp and and we turn them loose to to set up poles and, excuse me, tents and I don't know. I mean, that seemed to go well. So this is like, like, okay, to get into some of the nuances of things. Like this is always the most interesting part for me. Is to like see people's personalities and then see where they choose to pitch their tents. I mean, I'm not saying you can learn everything about someone by where they pitch their tent but you can learn things about people where they pitch their [tents].
[00:28:22] Derek: Sometimes you're surprised about it too, like oh I would not have thought you would have done that.
[00:28:27] Tayson: Yeah. Like one time we did one of these trips and it was actively raining when we were setting up the tents and like human psychology for like this group apparently. And it was kind of like a group thinking, I think Activity where they're like, well, it's raining. Like, well, I'll just pitch my tent underneath this tree. Even though this is a difference, a different trip. Like and even though like when you pitch it under the tree like you may have like the worst plot of ground, like it may be a big bowl or it's gonna pool water. It may not be even at all, you may have a root in your back but like In the moment. You're like, oh yeah, that's a great idea. Like I'm out of the rain under here but like the reality is like you're still gonna get rained on it works its way through the tree but now you just put your tent—which is [your] rain barrier—in a bad situation. And anyways, it's always interesting to me to see where people pitch and so some people pitch on on Slants and some people walk around in circles forever and like find the most flat piece of ground, Some people want to pitch where there's the best view, like, regardless of pitching conditions. And then others kind of like go in between where it's like this is decent enough but I get this View and I don't know. I really just enjoy like walking around camp and seeing like all right, who Who picks, what, right? So like Elina Osborne. Like she's just a and an amazing hiker. She's done. The Hayduke Trail which is one of the most gnarly Trails out there. It runs through southern Utah and like she was just not afraid to, like, pitch her tent, right? Where she had this like amazing view. She's also like super comfortable. Like oh my tent comes down in the night. I'm not worried about it, right? Yeah. Like that was like the mentality. Like, she's like, just so easy going. And so like Comfortable out there, right? Whereas other people like they want their tent firmly planted pitched perfectly, you know, level ground. I don't know. Like and then and then you have like The Inbetweeners and and stuff. But I don't know like I'm just trying to like pull out some of the personality characteristics of what we're seeing there. I don't know if you at this point. Is there any other like personality characteristics that were just like Interesting to you Derek that were like, you know back to the point of this podcast, what it's like to backpack with a YouTuber, you know?
[00:30:44] Derek: I think just the same as what you're already saying. As people are pitching their [tents], you kind of see what their personality is like and and we've if you've watched any of our other videos or listen to other podcasts, I mean, you, you know, we've already had a bit of that Dynamic just on our team. There's Brigham who will, you know, find a stick and use it as a broom to sweep away every little pebble out of his little spot or, you know, there's me that's just gonna put it down wherever and I'm gonna be fine with it. You know. And, and that was kind of fun to see. That's just how a lot of people are too. It's just, I mean, everybody has on this spectrum of how much, you care about your tent site.
[00:31:21] Tayson: Yeah, you have some people, too. That would like, come get us to check the tent. Like, is this set up, right? Like others that like, wanted to do it? Like no, no. Like I need to do this 100% of my own and, like, figure this out by myself. And so there's like some Dynamics there. But, I mean, yeah. Back to your Point like this is the mountain range that like in the past. You cowboy-camped with no tent—just slept on your pad on the ground—and, like, the next morning you had a scorpion underneath your pad, right?
[00:31:48] Derek: Yeah.
[00:31:49] Tayson: Like, and that was—you’d just shrug it off. Whereas other people that would have been, like, most terrifying thing, but I think we mentioned that story and there
[00:31:55] Derek: was a handful of people like, “We gotta find a scorpion,” and, “I want to see a scorpion.”
[00:32:01] Tayson: They all left their tents pretty zipped up after we told that story.
[00:32:03] Derek: Well, yeah, I mean, that's that same Mountain where we were camping was where I, you know, camped and [found scorpions under] my pad in the morning. So it was likely, but it didn't quite get warm enough for that. I don't think the Scorpions were really out with how cool it got at night. So
[00:32:18] Tayson: you know we also just didn't think much about going hunting for him. I think it in the evening we were all Hanging out and relaxing. I didn't I didn't cross my mind until the next morning when I was like, oh man, those guys wanted to find a scorpion and we didn't even try Anyway, so we hang out some of us had dinner. Some of us didn't [eat], just because [we'd eaten] a little bit earlier and then we decided to walk another mile over to some Cliffs to just get some really cool Lookouts of these massive Red Cliffs. Before it was dark, like, right in that twilight hour and the cliffs are really amazing like about a 1000 feet tall. So just a thousand just picture, a thousand foot, vertical face, you can stand right on the edge of them. The sun was going down. It was just beautiful, beautiful time to be right on top of those Cliffs, too. It was really cool. And everyone again, had the cameras out, got to capture the sunset at the cliff with 1000 foot drop. But it was really cool. Yeah. Head back to Camp hang out that night swap stories and just just BS well into the evening and then go to sleep, get up the next morning. Well, before you get to
[00:33:30] Derek: that, actually, with that, with that evening hike, it was like a mile or so passed where we pitched our [tents], and this is going back to what we started with in the beginning where it wasn't comfortable for everybody. Hmm, unbeknownst to us. There were a couple of people there on the trip that actually had been suffering with a lot of pain throughout the day. They just hadn't told anyone about it. And so, they didn't actually quite make it to these Cliffs or the views. There was a big hill when we were, you know, almost to the cliff Then it dropped off. And you had to go down this really steep incline and so one of the guys, he had some bulging disc pain and other guy was coming off the knee surgery recently and and they saw that incline after hiking up all day long, and they were like, ‘Nope. I mean, if this is a leisure evening, I don't need to do it to get to my camp, and it was gonna hurt too bad.’ So I felt bad about that once I learned about their pain and we weren't aware of it. We didn't know; there was maybe some speculation that they just didn't want to walk down the steep face—maybe it was too steep for them—or, like, ‘What's going on? Where'd they go?’ So we came back, and weeks later we found out. Yeah, yeah. So They're just Troopers. They're tough. Both of those guys are really tough.
[Editor’s note: The tent, rain, Hayduke Trail, scorpion, cold-weather, cliff, drop, pain, bulging-disc, and knee-surgery remarks are historical anecdotes and participant descriptions. They do not establish current conditions, diagnoses, treatment, equipment performance, or a safe campsite or travel practice.]
[00:34:47] Tayson: Yeah. So another, like, I guess, just character nuance, that’s kind of funny is when we were hanging out at camp. Miranda was trying to teach everyone a pretty silly game and It was, it was rather silly and like, I'd say half the YouTubers, like jumped onto this game and like, we're totally game. The other half were like, no idea, no idea what's going on, no interest in it. But man, like, I guess just to go back to that, like, I would say, like to recap day one, like what? That was just like, was in a lot of ways. It felt like your backpacking. With a bunch of bunch of kids. Like, everyone was just a bunch of goofballs hilarious awkward in their own ways, weird in their own ways, totally normal in their own ways, like It really felt like, I don't know, like almost going back to like school age where like you've got a classroom and you've just got all types in there. But like everyone in this particular situation, like everyone liked each other and everyone was just constantly Just cracking jokes and and, and I don't know, like, everyone's just the flat out goofball. Yeah, it was, it was great. That was a lot of fun. Anyway, so we got to bed that night. It got pretty chilly, right around freezing, I think, was what we recorded. And then, next morning, yeah, our plan was to get up and essentially complete a loop and kind of go drop down another Canyon and out. Everyone was a little wary after [what we’d put them through] on day one that we had more hiking or climbing to do. So I did get a lot of questions that morning at like hey what are what, what's going on? What are we doing today? I can't trust Derek now. So what's going on in? Like no, no, like it's all downhill. Well, that's what you say yesterday. It was pretty, you know, it wasn't that much climbing. Like what does “all downhill” mean like, you know, so I came up with this term called “Utah flat” I think that became a bit of a theme for the the trip was like, oh yeah. It's Utah flat all the way back which basically means in my mind Utah flat means like Starting elevation and the ending elevation of the same. And you're gonna go up and down in between, because there's no such thing as flat in Utah, right? It's like, it's all gonna have some hills and some elevation or topography. And in this area, we were absolutely losing a ton of elevation but man, the second, we hit even like a 20 foot climb Tayson, you said it was all downhill. You said it was You so I had to eat my my words a little bit. I'm like, I specifically [didn’t say] “all downhill.” I said that it was “Utah flat” because that means there's gonna be a few Hills. Yes,
[00:37:26] Derek: you know, I've had that same problem over and over and over again. I try to take, you know, my in-laws hiking and stuff or, you know, on some kind of Adventure. And, and always ask me, you know, how far is it, or how much climbing is there and and, you know, the one time when I was dating my wife for, you know, or you either that or we were recently married, we went on a short hike and I said, oh yeah, it's just like a couple miles and then, you know, [partway up], they were getting tired because it was kind of steep where we were hiking, and I'd tell them, I don't know, like, “Quarter mile, half mile left to the top,” and it was like another mile. And so ever since then, they won't believe me and they gave me all kinds of crap. Anytime I'm like, even just barely off on anything, you know, when we're out doing stuff.
[00:38:09] Tayson: Yeah. And that does not to get on too big of a tangent, but it does remind me actually because I just was back doing rim-to-rim-to-rim, right? And I was remembering when I was going up the north rim, we were, there's a lot of us that just were like that first time that we did it when we were fastpacking it. we just really weren't ready for the level of exertion, and then we ran down the South Rim and it just really beat us up and Remember getting to a point where like we've got to be almost to the top and everyone was like in. Like like yeah we've got to be almost there. We've been climbing for hours, like almost got to be there and I pulled my phone out. To check like how high we were and how high the top of the trail was and everyone's like we've got to be like way under 1000 feet left and I looked at it and we still had 2,000 feet to the rim and I remember specifically lying to you guys in that situation. I was just like, I didn't even I did not dare tell you guys how far it still was because I was like, “I will crush [their morale].” But, hey, really, we made it. It's all right. I mean, I know no one held a grudge against me on that one so I I'm sorry that you had a grudge held against you. It's not too badly, just My wife probably brings it up the most often. Yeah, sometimes you just gotta you just gotta do that you know people don't people don't know what it takes to experience great things, you know? So that's gonna trick them into it so what you're gonna learn with your kids? Yeah, come in here. So yeah. Absolutely.
[00:39:35] Derek: So I mean we were we were crawling down this mountain and I'd actually never been on this this Loop option.
[00:39:41] Tayson: Oh you had
[00:39:42] Derek: no I've only come up, Water Canyon and come back down Water Canyon. So the other Canyon that we're going down during this day, two was called Squirrel Canyon, right? I never been that way. So people were asking me, you know, Outdoor Vitals were hosting this trip. You know, where we going? Or how far is it? Oh, I do I have never You know, on maps, I've probably seen it but I've never actually been down this particular Canyon. So I kind of actually in my head, pictured it to be more of a gradual just like slope, mmm, because that's kind of what it looked like. There were some steep slopes during part of that trail in the morning there.
[00:40:19] Tayson: Yeah, I hadn't thought anything about it, either. Like to me that was like a gradual descent and then when I was on and I'm like oh this is more steep than I remember and people people called me out on that. You said this is just a nice easy day to the car. But, no, the day before, where we were at, Like there is not much of a designated Trail because it's sand and rock. so sand can obviously get blown over so the trail like disappears and then on rock, the only [route markers] are stacked cairns, right and so there was like literally I don't know, 10 minutes where I was like off Trail, not really off Trail, but like I'm trying to navigate the trail on the map doesn't exist, like it is actually completely in the wrong spot like where it's drawn on the Forest Service maps. So you really just have to way-find your way and so started like this, kind of way finding all right, should we drop down here? Should we go a little bit further than drop down. Oh man, dude, I didn't hear the end of that. Like, he doesn't know where he's going. We're lost. We don't know what we're doing. Everybody's talking to their camera. You know, Tayson just brought us out here to eliminate the competition. Yeah yeah. Just gonna get rid of all these YouTubers. So his channel could be bigger. Oh man I heard it all but it was it was there were some squeaky Wheels out there like not like real squeaky like annoying but just comical squeaky Wheels. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, we cruised down the rest of that trail. It was, it was, it was a good day. I mean, started to get hot, but other than that, it was, it was just a really fun experience. Got back to the van and I think I think the consensus was like that was just I think everyone there felt like it was a really cool route. Got to see some really cool backcountry and just a side that felt very much. I think it I think we did accomplish the goal of like taking them more on a like a local hike, right? Like a not so much like a Zion hike or a national park hike or a super established trail that everyone knows. So he kind of gave him that local experience and got to show them some of that back country that that exists there, that, you know, a lot of people drive by with no idea it is there, right? Yeah. I had had another thought gonna lose it. Oh the other part, I was just going to say is this Trailhead actually starts out of city called Colorado City and I think that was half the fun too. Is this is like where there's a religion around here that everyone knows it's like polygamist, right? Flds group that's been made famous. Thanks to a Netflix documentary. And so everyone also, you know, enjoyed kind of driving through the town and trying to like spot people that were part of this religion and, hey, it's just little things like that. There were just normal to us, like they're just their neighbor's, you know what I mean? And, but on the Just take people through this this area and and connect dots because I think everyone had seen that. I mean if it goes on Netflix, apparently everyone in the world sees it. Yeah, I guess so. Um, Anyways, that was the day came back to Airbnb the dinner that night hung out. We did a few other things like specific to YouTube and then had a really mean late night ping pong match and that was that was kind of the end of the trip but so coming back to it I guess. Is there any other just thoughts of like man? What is it like to backpack? So let me just reframe the question like we started with like, was it like, what’s it like to backpack with eight YouTubers? Kind of answered that. We've touched on just some of the quirkiness, the fun, the weird side of it. But if I was just a simplified to like, what is it like to backpack with a YouTuber? If you're someone in the audience, right? Like you're talking to someone in the audience is just never backpacked with really anyone but like themselves, their own friend group, but they watch all these YouTubers. Like what would it be like for them to go on their very first trip with a YouTuber?
[00:44:09] Derek: I think one of the best ways I could answer that question personally is that it’s fun for a few reasons. If someone feels comfortable enough to Spend all their time making YouTube videos about something that activity is something they're very familiar with, they're comfortable with it and then they're gonna add another level of complexity by, you know, bringing cameras and starting to create videos, right? So backpacking with the YouTuber, it's fun in the sense that they're not stressed. They're not really worried so much about backpacking. They're pretty comfortable doing that activity and so that just it just makes it fun. It's something they obviously love and enjoy. You don't start a YouTube channel about something you hate, so they're out there having fun doing things that they want to do, which also enables, you know, me to have fun doing what I like to do. So yeah, it's just fun, they're confident, they're comfortable, they like being there and I think that, you know, checks all the boxes for someone you'd want to hike with. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:45:09] Tayson: I mean I I'd say I agree as well. I don't know. I feel like I feel like what you would find if you were to go backpacking with someone, at first it would be, you'd have like a celebrity type feeling, which is kind of funny, right? Because like, these people don't feel like celebrities but like in this little neck of the woods they're total celebrities, right? so like first, you kind of get that and then like the more time you spend with them, the more like human, they get And the more. yeah, like like just Humanize, they become the more. You realize they're just good solid people. Everyone that we were there with just felt like really good humans, you know, they're accountable, they're hard workers, they’re disciplined, they're trying to do good in the world like they're just solid solid people. And so I think I think like some of the stuff like you don't anticipate with them and some like it's interesting, right? Because some, like, are super technical, they want to like know everything about the gear test out specific things, other ones. They're they're more there for the actual experience itself, and being just present Outdoors, or being with the people, maybe they're really focused on people. But like, Yeah. And in the end, I guess I would just say is like it's not. And this is like anti-climatic, but it's not as crazy as you think. Like, it's it's like, they're not as Different as maybe just hiking with your own group of friends. Yeah, I mean I would say that totally aligns with even what I had said to. Like, I now that you say that I definitely agree because I would have just as much fun hiking with my friends. [We were friends after all.] So, just like backpacking and being outside, it's just, you know, the same. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think one of the big takeaways again, and this is something, we've, we've known for years, right? But like, maybe this can be applicable: when you take people out on trail together and you spend many trail miles together. You're walking and activating different parts of your brain and it makes conversation flow more freely. And so anytime you go out on a trip, there's a camaraderie and I never say that word, right? But you know what I mean? Camaraderie, camaraderie. I think I actually got it. I think that's it that develops that that I personally just cherish, right? So And I find that with anyone that I've ever backpacked with. In fact, like, Brennan Clark was just, yeah, texting me yesterday. And it's just like, man. That's like, it's someone who, like worked for us for a bit, but really, like, I didn't bond that well with him until like, we went backpacking together and, and, you know, just stuff like that. Like, we're real, bonds are formed. And so, I think, I think, like, anytime you can get your own friends or family out on trail with you, whether you [understate the distance], or whatever Derek said,
[Editor’s note: “Utah flat,” distances, elevation changes, Grand Canyon comparisons, Water Canyon, Squirrel Canyon, slope, heat, route-finding, Forest Service map, Colorado City, and FLDS/Netflix remarks are April 2024 participant speech. Both the earlier “sometimes you just gotta do that” / “trick them into it” / future-children exchange and the later friends-or-family / “whether you lie to them” restatement are historical banter about past companion management—not current guidance, endorsement, or a recommendation to deceive companions, friends, family, or children. None of this is a current route, access, navigation, weather, community, companion-management, or safety description or instruction.]
[00:48:13] Tayson: there will be a bond that's generated and you know, backpacking with these YouTubers, you know, you started, we started off with a bunch of strangers and I feel like we definitely left with a bunch of friends and they're all, you know, they're all quirky in their own ways and we love them for it. And we like just recognize that and it's and it's so fun, I guess to go from just not knowing people to feeling like you've got a real friendship at the end of it. So, So yeah, these people are real people. They’re literally just like they are on their YouTube channels. Yes, they are. And it's it's a good time. If you ever see them out there, Be sure to razz him. I gave you permission to go up and be like Hey, I know you Eric Hanson and just bug them. Like I think there's a lot of people that don't always say hi when you see these guys but like they like it, they like getting to know their followers and stuff. So don't ever hesitate to go, say hi. And none of them are mean. None of them will ever like shrug you off. I think they'll be appreciative that you follow them, that you support them in their careers and stuff. So, yeah, just all super, super good dudes. But Definitely. Okay yeah I don't know. I think I think that's all I had for backpacking with a YouTubers good time. Appreciate all of the YouTubers themselves that came out for sure
[Editor’s note: The closing statements about celebrity, personality, discipline, relationships, follower interactions, creators, channels, and who was publishing or active are the hosts’ subjective April 2024 impressions. They do not verify anyone’s current identity, character, availability, channel status, content, or likely response to contact.]
[00:49:35] Tayson: and Um, yeah, appreciate you guys, definitely following along. If you haven't yet, we'd really appreciate it. If you make sure to subscribe and leave us a review on the podcast that helps us and then just be tuned in. We've got a lot of things coming in the next month or two, you know, as far as just Trail efforts but also in terms of some product launches. So we do have our Skyline Trail Joggers coming out, which is a really interesting take on essentially a pair of pants or joggers that you're really gonna want to pay attention to. But that's that's coming down the pipeline. We'll continue to sneak some things out. You can already kind of get a sneak peek of that in our recent Colorado Trail documentary. So if you've got an hour to have a really awesome experience, hiking the Colorado Trail with us. Go watch that and some really awesome footage there. But you'll also get some sneak peeks of of us doing 100 miles in these joggers. And we've got that. We've got some other things going on, join the membership because we do have some things specific to the membership that will go on during the month of May. So, make sure you join that again. The membership is the ten dollar a month charge but it's ten dollars a month. That goes straight into your savings account at Outdoor Vitals. And then, you can spend it on OV gear or things like water filters, or backpacking food. That's all been marked down, you know, cheaper than you can actually get it in retail store. So, just a couple things to point out of what's to come. We've got some great content coming, we got some great sales and some great new products coming. So stay tuned. Really, really appreciate you guys tuning into the show today and with that, we'll sign off. We'll catch you guys out on the trail.
[Editor’s note: The Skyline Trail Joggers, Colorado Trail documentary, membership, $10 monthly charge/credit, May timing, savings, water filters, food, retail-price comparison, sales, launches, availability, and performance remarks are historical promotional speech from April 2024—not a current offer, price, product-status, availability, savings, or performance claim. Check present official terms before relying on any offer.]
