David Gray's video: Dolly Sods West Virginia Backpacking - May 2022

View and purchase my photos at: https://davidcgray.smugmug.com/ Bailey and I got together with Travis to do the third hike of the 2022 season in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. Dolly Sods is Travis's 'home turf' as he grew up in West Virginia and has hiked there many times. It's also a special place for me because it is where I met Travis for the first time when we did a hike there in 2017. Sadly, I decided to leave my old trail companion, Jaden, at home for this one. Jaden can still handle our daily three-mile hikes, but I knew this one would be a bit too much for him. I wasn't sure how Bailey would handle being separated from Jaden for the hike - it was a bit of an 'experiment' - and, frankly, Bailey didn't handle it well. She was 'off' from the time I put her in the car to leave until we arrived back home. It seemed like her heart wasn't in it this time, which is very unusual for a dog that lives to be on the trails with me. The plan for the hike was to start at the Bear Rocks trailhead and do about 20 miles in 3-days /2-nights. We wanted to stay at different campsites than the ones we used in 2017. Travis knew of a 'primo' campsite on a branch of Red Creek upstream from the popular 'Fork' area - that would be our destination for night 1. For our second night camp, we planned to stay at Lion's Head or perhaps down the hill from Lion's Head (near water, and day hike up to Lion's Head). Weather-wise, it looked like it was going to be hot. The forecast for Davis, WV (the nearest town to where we would be hiking) was for temperatures in the 90s - not ideal, especially for the dogs. Fortunately, with the higher elevation at the Sods and a constant breeze blowing, the temperatures never got that warm, and hiking conditions were pretty good. For those who have watched my other videos, this one is done in the same style - a bit under an hour in length, intended to bring the audience along for the 'ride,' and with a still picture slide show with music at the end. If you just have a few minutes skip to the end and enjoy the pictures. Equipment / Gear List: Still and Video Camera: Nikon Z6 https://amzn.to/3Q3Gsco Lens: Nikkor 20mm f1.8 Z-mount lens https://amzn.to/3znpOP7 Lens: Nikkor 24mm f1.8 Z-mount lens https://amzn.to/2QZqNOo Tripod: Sirui T-025X carbon fiber tripod https://amzn.to/3bH3Rvg Camera shoulder clip: Peak Designs Capture clip system https://amzn.to/2wRdusp Video Editing Software: Vegas Pro 16 https://amzn.to/2X5dKyu Pack: Zpacks Arc Blast 55L Tent: Zpacks Triplex Sleeping Bag: Zpacks 20degF Sleeping Bag Sleeping Pad: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir X-Therm https://amzn.to/2yjrUlj Sleeping Pad: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite https://amzn.to/39zju6v Pillow: Exped Air Pillow UL https://amzn.to/2WYE5hZ Stove: JetBoil Flash https://amzn.to/3azKRi7 Stove: MSR PocketRocket 2 https://amzn.to/3dPtOL5 Pot: MSR Titan titanium 0.9L kettle https://amzn.to/3bF1RDB Headlamp: Black Diamond Spot https://amzn.to/2R0JvoW Buff: Merino wool Buff https://amzn.to/3dCYHSC Recharging Battery: Anker 3500mAH ‘lipstick’ charger https://amzn.to/2URI7G3 Camp Chair: Helonix Chair Zero https://amzn.to/2xzbwgh Camp Shoes: Xero Shoes Z-Trek https://amzn.to/3bA3X7I Wet Wipes: Survivorware Wet Wipes https://amzn.to/2JwbQ2e