- The high pointers is made possible by Burnsville North Carolina.

A small town with big adventures, big peaks and home to Mount Mitchell.

Information on hiking and more available at explorerburnsville.com.

(upbeat music) Acro ball, advanced ink pens engineered for extremes.

Pilot power to the pen Ohio Caverns adventure for the whole family.

See and discover formations year round.

More information at ohiocaverns.com.

America's most colorful caverns.

F R B O Bringing owners and renters together to find vacation rentals online.

Live local, feel at home.

FRBO.com Gossamer Gear makers of lightweight packs, trekking poles, and shelters.

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- This week we're visiting Campbell Hill the high point of Ohio.

- Welcome to the Buckeye State.

- We are the high pointers.

(suspense music) - My name is Brandon Bargo.

My brother Greg and I have been climbing mountains all over the world for years.

Our obsession is high pointing.

We find the highest natural point wherever we are and do whatever it takes to stand on top.

- Sometimes It's a mountain, other times a molehill.

We've learned the real excitement is found in the journey to get there.

So join us as we climb to the top of all 50 US states.

We are the high pointers.

- Greg, this is gonna be another good one.

We are here in Ohio, the birthplace of aviation.

- This is gonna be another mini mountain adventure so there's no hiking.

And in fact you can drive right to the top.

- We consider mini mountain adventures to be anything less than 2000 feet.

So this high point is not gonna be that difficult.

So it's not gonna be whether or not we make it to the top but it's gonna be what is the craziest way that we can get there.

And leave that one to me cuz I'm gonna find something.

- All right.

Well, that's gonna make my job easy.

But we want the shun list to become second nature.

So even with easy high points like Ohio we still want to go over location, elevation, precipitation gear identification, and regulation.

So the two important ones for Campbell Hill are location and regulation.

So first location Campbell Hill's located in Bell Fountain, Ohio and it's at the Ohio High Point Career Center.

It's on private property.

So regulation's important.

The nice thing is they let the public come visit free of charge.

You just have to show up at specific times.

But it's pretty straightforward.

So all you have to do is make this mini mountain and adventure.

- Okay.

Challenge accepted.

Ohio is the perfect place to go for an unexpected adventure.

It's ideally situated within the US with 60% of the American population, a day's drive from its borders.

And to get things started we're visiting the rock and roll city of Cleveland.

- So do you remember that one time when we climbed Denali and after we finished we found this breakfast place that served pancakes and it was all you can eat and we ate 32 stinking pancakes.

- Yeah, it was either, I may have even been 33 pancakes each but pretty sure that place wanted to kick us out.

- Yeah, it, they said it was all you can eat but there was definitely a limit.

(laughing) I think it was like 32 pancakes.

Well, for this high point, because you know it's not the biggest, I feel like sometimes you gotta you gotta find things that fill in the gap.

- Yeah.

- And since I think we both agree that breakfast is our favorite meal of the day, I found this local place called Grumpy's Cafe that makes local food.

And I think it's gonna be good.

- I mean, when you get hungry, you get grumpy.

So, makes sense.

- Well, you know, sometimes you just you gotta get a little hangry.

- I love places like this because you have local art, fresh food.

- When you have a high point that's not gonna take that long.

You can spend more time in a city finding local spots like this.

So.

- And it was It was kind of cool cause it's tucked away in this neighborhood.

And then you get here and it's like all our favorite foods.

- Jambalaya omelet.

- Oh, ah.

- Hey, thank you.

- That's awesome.

- Wow.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much.

- You're very welcome.

- Enjoying your stay in Cleveland so far?

- Yes, it is been good.

So, great.

- Well, thanks for coming in.

Welcome to Cleveland and - Yes.

- Have a wonderful day.

- Yeah, thank you.

- Thank you.

- Man this food looks amazing.

- Does look good.

- Let's fuel up from the high point man.

- Alright.

- Cleveland often gets missed in the list of top US cities, but once you visit you realize how much there is to see and do.

You can take in world famous spots like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or join the rowdy locals to cheer on some of the country's most popular professional sports teams.

Including the Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

( upbeat music) - But since Brandon and I have such a busy day tomorrow.

We're taking it easy today with some relaxing sight seeing and some good eating.

- One of the best things about the city is the spectacular views of Lake Erie.

And that's why we're finishing off today with the best view in town at bar 32.

(upbeat music) (crowd talking) - We had a full day in Cleveland doing some sightseeing rock and roll hall of fame.

And I feel like this is awesome.

- This is amazing views.

This, this place has a cool vibe.

- To me It's like, if we're high pointing, what better way than going to one of the highest buildings in Cleveland?

And it's like, look at this view.

- It's even cooler than I thought.

I mean, man, you got.

The stadium.

- Oh man, look at this food.

- Wow.

Thank you.

This is great.

- That's like the biggest pretzel I've ever seen.

Thank you so much.

- We appreciate it.

- All right, let's toast a Campbell Hill.

- Here we go.

(upbeat music) - Do you know why Ohio is the birthplace of aviation?

- Well, the Wright brothers were born here.

- That's true, and it's also the home of the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

And more astronauts were born right here in Ohio than any other state.

- Well, alright, get this.

So I have a surprise, it's an aviation surprise for you.

So the Goodyear Blimp is headquartered right here in Ohio and we are getting a personal tour of the hangar so we can see how they work up close.

- That's gonna be awesome.

- The Goodyear Blimp is based out of the historic Wingfoot Lake hangar just outside of Akron.

It's considered the oldest airship facility in the world.

And to help show us around we're meeting one of good years blimp pilots.

- Hey, good morning.

- Hey - Good morning.

- Hey guys.

- Joe, my name is Joe.

- Nice to meet you Joe.

We are, we are so excited.

- Alright, cool.

Well, we'll go ahead and get started with the tour.

- Alright.

- Yes - Alright.

Come on.

Alright, we'll start up here.

This is kind of where it all started, for Goodyear.

This blimp here was the first rubberized fabric envelope the Goodyear ever built.

It was in 1910.

We didn't build the blimp but we did build the fabric for it.

- And this was 1911.

- 19, yeah, 1911.

They built the fabric in 1910.

And then this.

- So did planes, did planes come before blimps?

Or were blimps before planes?

What came first?

- Well, really dirigibles balloons and stuff came well before airplanes.

Airplanes started flying around this time steerable blimps really kind of came about the same time a little after the airplane was invented.

- How did, how are they categorized, blimps?

There's, I think I've heard of Zeppelins.

There's all kinds of categories, right?

- So we have, so we have the blimps semi rigid air ships, rigid air ships.

We still call it the Goodyear Blimp because that rolls off the tongue lot better than the Goodyear semi rigid airship.

And this was all pretty much the same design from the fifties all the way up until 2014 is when they retired the last, GZ 20 at the time.

(upbeat music) - Hey Joe, this hangar is so impressive.

- Oh, it's It is, it's.

It's amazing.

- So this is where the action happens.

So how, I know this is a huge question for a blimp pilot, but how do blimps work?

- Well, I will start off.

Okay.

The blimp, when there's no, no helium in it it weighs about 19,500 pounds.

All, all the material, the, the hardware inside when we fill it with helium though that takes away most of that weight.

So that helium takes care of most of the lift.

But we have these engines on the side to swivel up.

We use those to help us take off and get going into the air.

And then once we start moving out of the air, through the air the actual shape of the blimp is like the shape of a wing.

And the air flows over there and causes lift.

So we get rid of that last 700 pounds of weight by using the lift that the blimp itself creates by moving through the air.

Well this one, we can hover in zero winds because we have this aft engine.

When we slow down and we lose any airflow over the fins we use that engine to drive our tail left and right and up and down.

So now we can, in zero wins, we can hover we can turn around the circles.

It makes it real.

It makes us a really good platform for doing TV events, especially stuff like golf.

And the director says, Hey, we want to approach shots on 16.

Okay, we're at 16.

We want T shots on 12.

- Okay.

- Over here on 12.

We can, we can move around and get that thing very precisely where we, where we want it.

- Well, we appreciate it, Joe thank you so much for showing us around this.

This is your job.

Yeah.

We get to be a part of it.

So thank you.

- Oh, it's my pleasure.

I really enjoyed having you guys here.

- Hopefully one day, We will get to actually take the blimp.

That would be great.

- That would be awesome.

We'd love to.

Yeah, we'd, we'd love taking people up.

Everybody enjoys it.

It'll be a lifetime experience you'll never forget.

- Yeah.

Cool.

- We, thanks again.

Appreciate It.

(upbear music) (cars driving) - That was incredible.

Getting to tour the hangar and be up close and personal to something I'm used to seeing, Way high up in the sky.

Well, we need to start changing our perspective because we're going from the clouds to the underground.

- Okay.

- We are headed to Bell Fountain.

It's home to the largest cavern system in Ohio, - Which is crazy cuz I didn't even know Ohio had Caves.

- Yeah, they're supposed to be beautiful.

And it's where we're meeting our guests.

Bill Steele.

Bill is one of the leading cavers in the world.

He's explored more than 2,500 caves in multiple countries.

He's written two books on caving and even has a spider named after him.

What he's most known for is exploring the longest, deepest most untouched caves on the planet.

- This guy sounds intense.

- I've actually gone caving with him a couple of times.

This one time we descend into a cave and I look up it's pitch black and he's gone.

- He just left you there.

- He just left me.

So yeah, this is gonna be fun.

Watch out.

(upbeat music) - Hey.

- Hey.

Good morning Bill.

- Good to see you.

- Yeah, you too.

- This is my brother Greg.

- Greg.

Hi.

- I've known Bill a long time.

We've done a few caves together.

Bill.

He's the legend of caves around the World.

- Yeah.

I'm excited to explore this cave with You.

- Well, I've never been to this cave before.

I grew up in Ohio, not that far from here.

This is my first time to come to this Cave.

- I'm not a cave expert like you but I was doing a little research on this cave before we were about to go in it.

And I, I heard this ancient local legend there's this vicious cave creature that just comes outta nowhere and attacks you.

So you, you guys just be careful.

- I don't think that's a real thing.

- Nah, I don't think so either.

- Well guys, I'm just saying you want you might want to be careful.

(screaming) (suspense music) (coughing) - Well, I've never seen that before.

- Can't breath.

(upbeat music) - All right.

Hold on man.

I just love caves.

You know that these are exceptionally beautiful formations white like that you don't see very often.

Rarely.

These are really good.

This is supposed to be the finest cave in the state of Ohio and I'm so happy to see it for the first time.

- You've done some of the toughest caves in the world.

Do you still get excited about coming into caves like this that are probably a little less intense?

- I, I just feel like this is the place I ought to be you know, and have since I was a little boy.

And my family always said I had caves in the brain and it just happened to me the first time I went in one, you know.

I thought, wow, I'm inside a rock.

You know, it's all around me.

It was all around.

And I put my cheek against the wall.

I remember that I was four years old and I felt cool and comforting and welcoming and I couldn't get in and.

- One with the rock.

- And I still like going in 'em.

And I've been in a couple thousand.

(upbeat music) This is the Crystal King.

It's the largest stalactite in the state of Ohio.

- Wow.

- And as you can see, it's exceptional.

- Yeah.

- It's pure white.

White, beautifully shaped.

- Bill.

In your opinion how does exploration seem attainable to the everyday person?

Why is it important?

- Well, in case of caves, water is real important.

We all need it every day.

And water goes underground.

So the more caves are explored the more we understand how water runs underground.

40 years ago I led the expedition, which explored the the first thousand meter deep cave in the world.

And that number is, is sort of equal to the tallest mountain in the world at 8,000 meters.

And as you know, there's 14 8,000 meter deep caves in the world.

Well, when we explored that cave a thousand meters deep 40 years ago, it was the seventh in the world.

Now there's 117.

- Whoa.

In 40 years.

So that shows you the pace at which exploration's happening.

And the same with longest cave in the world.

It's a moving target.

You know, I can tell you that what the longest cave in the world is, mammoth Cave Kentucky.

But I would say in 10 years it probably won't be.

One in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico will probably be in a few years.

Because it's being explored at that kind of pace.

And things are being linked together.

(tempo music) - We're always looking at it like what makes people successful, what makes 'em tick?

So in, in this case, since we're in a cave it could either be your high point or your low point because oftentimes your low point becomes your high point because you've learned through mistakes.

- Well, there's several caves of my life that are significant to me.

I'm a given leadership to the continuing expiration of the longest cave in Texas, honey Creek Cave.

And you've been there with me.

I would say that the most significant significant cave in my life has been the one in Mexico because it's just a remarkable place.

We determined fairly early on that it was world class and it was one of the most magnificent caves in the world and we just wanted to see what was there and map it explore it in its entirety.

And it's continued to pay off in a big way.

And we've found rooms in there that are half again the size of dome stadiums with exquisite formations.

And now we've been finding paleontological remains from the plicesine area.

You know, things that went extinct 13,000 years ago.

And there are the remains.

They fell into the cave entrance and their skulls or bones are still there.

But I keep doing it because you know I want to and it's there and somebody's gotta be doing it.

- That's right.

- Yeah.

- Bill, you're an impressive guy.

You're inspiring.

And it makes me want to go caving for sure.

And deeper and bigger caves - In between mountains.

Maybe.

- Maybe.

Yeah.

But I'm ready to see more.

- Yeah - You know, there are some caves where you climb the mountain and then go inside the cave.

(laughing) - Yeah.

- I like that idea.

(tempo music) - Moving through these passageways makes me think, what must it be like when you're caving in a buntlun that requires a lot of technical skill?

- Well, there's specific techniques for repelling and going back up cuz there can be incredibly long ropes.

And then you got a variance in the weight of the rope, which even matters on the friction that you have in your repelling device.

So there's different kinds of repelling devices and then it's easier to get downer rope than it is to get back up it.

So you really need to be practiced and the more practiced the better to get your technique down for climbing upper rope.

Cuz sometimes it could be hundreds of feet and the rope's not even against the wall.

It's hanging out in free space.

So you need to pace yourself but you need to keep moving and, and, and be confident that all's gonna go well and making it back up.

- It's kind of It's too bad though that we didn't, you know, cause Greg we love doing technical stuff.

It's too bad that we didn't get to do anything like that today.

And if you guys like to, to see how you handle particular types of spots in the caves.

I got a competition for you that we are gonna go do.

- Think that's sounds perfect Greg.

- It makes me a little nervous actually.

- Good.

- You should be.

- All right Bill.

Let's go see what you got.

- All right.

This is a squeeze box.

This is our competition.

Why a squeeze box?

Cuz caves have small places sometimes.

That's why claustrophobic don't go in there very often.

So this is a competition to see who can make it through what height.

And we've said it about what should be a challenge.

Now, the last time I went through one of these at a caver event, I forced myself through there smaller than I probably should have.

And I cracked three ribs.

- Oh my gosh.

So I hope you guys don't get hurt.

- So this sounds like a torture chamber.

- Yeah - I knew I should have been nervous.

- Well, it's all in your attitude.

- Okay.

So Greg, rock paper scissors for who goes first.

You ready?

(hands hitting) - So you go first.

- All right.

- Trippi Nation.

- You can dive if you want.

- Yeah.

(upbeat music) - Oh my God.

Oh Crap.

- Yeah.

Hopefully you're not claustrophobic.

I have to have one arm back.

- Oh, he's through there.

Look at that.

He could go smaller.

(upbeat music) - Are you ticklish?

- Good.

(laughing) - Well you both made it so that means it's not low enough.

So we need to go down a little bit more and see what you can't make.

- I will just say that felt like it's about as height as we can go.

- Well, we're gonna see.

- Okay.

- Think about butt is quite - I think I just bludge it.

(laughing) - Oh the pressure.

(upbeat music) - My butt won't fit.

(laughing) - Sure it will.

- My butt will not go.

The buttocks is stopping.

Nine four.

Promise.

All right, Greg, one butt zero.

- Yes.

- Well now you've experienced the squeeze box.

- Yes.

It's kind of like, it could be in a cave but imagine sometimes caves have long belly calls like that.

- That's all I was thinking about.

If this was actually a cave I don't know how fun that would be.

- Oh.

It'd be fun.

- Congrats Greg.

You got me on this one.

But it was mainly my, my glutes.

They're just too maxed out - Now you know which brother to take caving.

- The one with the smaller glues.

(laughing) - Typically this is a good time for a gear review but we have no altitude with this one.

So really we just need a road trip bag.

Just need some water, some snacks.

An extra layer, maybe something like a rain jacket.

And you're good to go.

Let's get in the truck.

- I actually, guys, I have the perfect most craziest idea to get to the high point.

It just came to me.

Follow me guys.

(upbeat music) - We're taking the to the blimp to the high point (cheering) (upbeat music) - All right Bill.

So we always start our high point trips with a high five and we finish with a high five.

Are you ready?

- Ready.

- Okay, let's do it.

(upbeat music) - If you're ever wondering what it feels like to ride in a Goodyear blimp, the best comparison would be being a passenger on a cruise ship or a sailboat.

Cause you can feel the air as you're riding over it with a blimp.

It feels just like if you were riding on waves.

The only problem is I usually get seasick.

So I'm hoping I don't get air sick.

(upbeat music) - Man.

Going from the caves and now being up here and looking around, I'm actually surprised by the beauty of Ohio.

I haven't spent much time here.

I'm impressed.

- I've kind of forgotten, I think.

And there's so much glass in here, you know, we really got a great view.

I didn't know what to expect but I didn't expect to see so well.

- Views everywhere.

- And something I keep thinking about.

I think we're a thousand feet off the ground.

I've been down a rope in a cave in Mexico that's a thousand feet deep.

- Are you serious?

- Golondrinas and you repel a thousand feet.

So I keep thinking about, repelling from up here.

You know.

- That's is an interesting perspective.

- This is absolutely.

The most unique way we've ever gone to a high point.

- This is pretty good.

It's gonna be hard to top this.

- Yeah.

Literally.

(upbeat music) - Yeah.

Woo.

Thanks guys.

Appreciate it.

(upbeat music) - Here it is.

Made it.

- We made it guys.

- High point, baby.

- Campbell Hill, Bill.

There it is.

- Boom.

Boom.

Yes.

- The most memorable high point.

I mean, we've done a lot of high points done Denali even.

And I think this might be the best one so far.

- Well, I'll tell you, I was born in Ohio and my family goes back in Ohio a long time, but I've never been here before, so I'm really glad to see this place.

I've heard of it all my life.

Never been here before.

- Well, we are we're proud to be able to do this with you.

So thanks for joining us.

Hopefully after you know, a two hour blimp ride you have a unique high five for us.

- Well, I've been thinking about that.

And instead of a high five since we went in a cave yesterday, I propose a low five.

So here you go.

- Okay, here it is.

- Yeah, That's it, I like it.

- All right, thanks Bill.

- Our visit to Ohio will forever be one of the most memorable of our lives.

What should have been a straightforward trip became one of the greatest high points we visited so far.

- It's important to look at things from different viewpoints.

Sometimes.

Like our friend Bill, it's exploring great depths and other times it's soaring from above in a huge blimp.

Gaining perspectives helps us understand people and the world around us in a more meaningful way.

So until next time - we'll see y'all on the on the next summit.

(closing music) - For more information on the Bargo Bros Highpoint Adventures visit us at thehighpointers.com or @thehighpointers on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.

- The high pointers is made possible by Burnsville North Carolina, a small town with big adventures, big peaks, and home to Mount Mitchell.

Information on hiking and more available at explorerburnsville.com.

- Acroball Advanced ink pens, engineered for extremes.

Pilot power to the pen - Ohio Caverns.

Enter for the whole family E and discover formations year round for information at ohiocaverns.com.

America's most colorful caverns F R B O.

Bringing owners and renters together to find vacation rentals online live local, feel at home.

FRBO.com - Gossamer gear makers of lightweight packs trekking poles, and shelters.

Take less.

Do more.