Amtrekker

Hey Team,

I’m done.

That’s the first time I’ve ever had the chance to START a post with that line. Yesterday was completely surreal. Driving up to my house my stomach was filled with butterflies and I was even shaking with anticipation. As we pulled up to the gate of the two acre parcel my folks live on in Middle-Of-Nowhere, CA Ron Fairbanks walked up and blocked my entry.

Apparently, in my absence a vote was taken and I wasn’t even going to be allowed on the property where the homecoming party was being held until I found the final geocache. Eventually a horde of people gathered around and suddenly I was practically onstage wandering around in circles following a GPS I had never used before…poorly. I thought, “Geez, all these people are here just to watch me find a geocache…this is pretty intimidating. I guess I should at least make a show of it.”

Near ground zero according to the GPS was a small DSL box with the wiring running down a post. I figured I might as well look in a few places it was OBVIOUSLY never going to be hidden just to keep things interesting. I opened the DSL box and…Ka-KOW! The cache fell out onto my foot!

Everyone cheered. I continued to shake and my heart continued to pound. Hugs all around. I walk toward the house hugging my mom and smiling too big for my head not to come unhinged.

The rest of the day was a blur of telling stories and faces from the “past.” And more importantly, trying to come up with an answer to the question, “Now what?”

I know you guys are all wondering the same thing so here’s the best answer I’ve been able to come up with so far:

I have enough footage of awesome adventures and I’m far enough behind on the editing that Amtrekker.com will continue to post new episodes for a few more months as “Tales From the Wayback Machine!” It’s going to be exciting to be able to sit down and put a little more effort into the production of these so keep a weathered eye out. The party podcast will be up in a couple days then we’ll start traveling backwards.

There’s a book proposal to be written and I have to choose between a handful of excited literary agents so things are looking good on that front.

There may be an opportunity to start producing some segments for a syndicated television show that hopefully I can say more about after next week.

AND…I’ll be shooting the “pilot” for a new web series similar to Amtrekker but with the focus on YOU GUYS instead of this old dog (of course by “old” I mean “young” and by “dog” I mean “super cool dude”). I think it could be really special and a LOT of fun. It may not appear for several months and it’s also going to be a very low budget independent undertaking but I’m super stoked about it. So send in your fifty lists and maybe we can make some magic happen!

I’m done! (kinda)

Brett.

Just for the record. Bookingbuddy really is a pretty rad website if you’re looking to plan a trip. It actually allows you to search most of the top websites from one location. Pretty handy! But more importantly…our new affiliation with bookingbuddy.com means all you have to do to help out Amtrekker is click on one of their ads and sign up for an awesome newsletter filled with travel deals! Thanks everyone!

Thanks!

Hey Team,

Lots of news…how to make it all interesting…? Oh well, I guess I’ll just use the same approach I use in life. Jump in headfirst and hope for the best.

This week was the week I finally killed Oregon’s status as one of the few remaining states on the list I need to geocache in thanks to a little help from Superfriend Katy and a spontaneous roadtrip to Crater Lake National Park. What a beautiful place, the water is SO crystal clear and pure. I don’t care how many amazing Caribbean beaches or out of the way lagoons you’ve been to, you’ve never seen anything like this. (My camera is out of commission for the duration of the trip but Katy took plenty of pictures that I’ll be able to share in the near future.)

Making it down to the water isn’t the nature walk I expected it to be though. It was actually very similar to the first 1.5 miles from the top of the Grand Canyon. It was steep, dry, dusty and hot…and MUCH more crowded. In fact it’s probably a pretty good barometer for hiking the GC. If you manage Crater Lake and think you can do the same thing six more times with an extra 25 degrees of heat and 30 more pounds strapped to your back…okay, I give up. I guess it’s not all that similar.

Crater Lake is a dormant volcano that last erupted around 4000 years ago so there are also plenty of those wacky formations you’d expect to find laying around after volcanic activity. The Pinnacles are a formation of tall spires of super hard minerals that were created inside the lava flow as gases trying to escape created these conical features that over time where the only bits not eroded by the creek flowing through the area. Most are completely hollow and I was assured it wasn’t a good idea to try to climb down to them to touch one while wearing bicycle shoes (or ever. Spoilsports.)

After a short search for the world’s greatest campsite we stumbled across perfection without even trying. A campsite fairly removed from the rest of the campers, well shaded from the hot sun, even ground, good fire pit and bear locker AND right next to the creek! We jumped on the opportunity trusting we would never find better in the crowded park and started to set up camp.

I pulled out the tent and jumped immediately into bragging about the site and how great it was going to be sleeping next to a burbling creek. That was right about the same time I felt a little pinch on my leg. Naturally dismayed but completely realistic about the situation I looked down expecting to see a mosquito.

Instead I found a huge flock of mosquitoes. (I would say “swarm” but that just paints the wrong picture.) These guys were organized. They knew what they were doing and they were willing to wait their turn in line for the Brett buffet. It was a calculated and never-ending attack. I felt like Gulliver in Lilliput. These guys were going to take me down if I didn’t do something quickly. Bug repellant is a game of numbers and numbers were on their side. There were too many to stop. My solution?

Sulk in the tent like a coward while the mosquitoes enjoyed nature. Not the highlight.

The next day we ditched the park and headed up to Bend, OR where we finally managed to hunt down a geocache after one solid failure and minimal complaining from Katy (who incidentally did an awesome of finding the second geocache and saving the day).

Bend was one of those small communities I always find myself wishing I could be a part of but with the personal understanding that I wouldn’t be able to hang for long before I got bored. The town was VERY similar to the college town in California where I went to school. Bicycles everywhere (which I LOVE), plenty of outdoor activities (also awesome) but Bend definitely has Davis beat in the views department. Nestled right in the middle of spectacular snow capped mountains even in August it’s tough to beat the sights from downtown.

Sadly, I couldn’t get sucked in knowing that it must get ridiculously cold during the winter…I don’t like being cold.

I better wrap this up, Team. I’ve still got plenty of video work to do before I can get this week’s video up.

I’m done.

Brett.

Thanks again for all your help, everyone!

Thanks!

Hey Team,

It’s been a pretty exhausting week. I can’t imagine a worse way to clean up all these geocaches that I’ve missed in my multiple trips across the country than via a series of long bus rides where no one wants to talk unless they’re already talking to themselves followed but stints of wandering through strange cities long enough to get tired but not long enough to make new friends.

But in the positive column it’s nice to see the map fill in with states I don’t have to continue to worry about. The geocaches are definitely coming along and more importantly I’m on my way to Michigan and Indiana now not just to geocache but to head up to the second most photographed lighthouse in America which ALSO happens to be coming up on its 150th anniversary. You can imagine how excited I am just to sleep somewhere where I’m not sitting upright in a disturbingly undersized and uncomfortable seat so it’s doubly awesome that I get to cross another one off the list at the same time in such an epic place!

I better go jump on yet another bus with a painfully few (i.e. no) outlets at my disposal. I think Charley is starting to get cranky with all the sitting around not being used. Sorry, buddy!

I’m done.

Brett.

If you want to help out with the cause (read: buy me food) click below!

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

Today started out pretty typical. I had a clear-cut goal I wanted to accomplish. I had the means and the wherewithal to make it happen. And I was well rested. Then the universe decided that today was the day I got my comeuppance.

Someone, somewhere, decided now was the time to punish me for some unknown but obviously terrible transgressions that I’ve made in my past.

The plan was to swing through Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware (at least) to clean up some missed geocaches before heading westward for a couple bigger list items. I had laid things out pretty well. (Not to pat myself on the back it’s just that you guys know it’s kind of a big deal when I manage to plan anything at all. So, yeah. I was a little proud.) First stop was Hartford, CT and there was a cache that was less than half a mile from the bus station AND another bus leaving for New Jersey 45 minutes later. Plenty of time to hop off, grab the cache and make it back to head out for the next one.

But my batteries died. And as it turns out there’s no such thing as an open store in downtown Hartford on a Sunday. An hour of walking later I finally stumbled across an open Walgreens. I started out .4 miles away from the cache…now I was 2.8 miles away.

Now suddenly I was two hours deep into this 45-minute adventure; I found the geocache without much trouble. But finding my way back to the bus station was another matter. I knew it was near the freeway so I made my way in that direction and made a point of staring blankly at the expanse of concrete once I got there. I had no idea what to do next. Eventually I saw a greyhound drive up an onramp and assumed I needed to go in the opposite direction he was headed.

That’s when it started POURING rain. The streets became rivers almost immediately. After only five minutes of walking towards the nearest shelter I was soaked. No dry spots on my body so I just gave up and continued fording the streets in the pouring rain.

As soon as I made it to the bus station I went to change out of my wet clothes to discover that my bag isn’t quite as water resistant as it once was.

Another bus to New Jersey was on its way.

“Could I get a ticket for Newark please.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Newark. Newark, New Jersey.”

“What was that?”

“I’d like to go to Newark, New Jersey please!”

“Ah! Of course. [*smile*] 4:15, gate 5.”

It was about 4:14 when I was standing in line in front of gate 5 that I stopped to read my ticket more carefully. My ticket to “Newton, MA.”

Turns out I had missed the bus to Newark while I was waiting for the bus to Newton and had to wait ANOTHER hour.

This meant I was lucky enough to catch the bus that sat around in New York City rush hour traffic for hours until I missed my connection to Delaware in Newark.

Which is why, in a nutshell, I spent last night wandering around the streets of 1996’s titleholder for Most Dangerous City in America in the cold and rain. Because suddenly I was stuck in a town I knew nothing about, where I knew no one and it was too late to make new friends.

Sorry if this post is a little jumbled and bitter. I’m pretty exhausted right now. But on the upside today can only be better!

I’m done.

Brett.

If you like following along and laughing at my occasional pain why not donate?

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

Here’s this week’s video starring your friendly neighborhood Amtrekker.

“Amtrekker travels to the Chattooga River in South Carolina to river kayak, get soaked and try not to die.

…that’s pretty much what happened.

(Scenes from Deliverance were roundly avoided.)”

And here’s the YouTube link.

Thanks everyone!

I’m done.

Brett.

If you enjoy the podcasts…why not donate?

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

I managed to avoid not only banjo music but also any opportunities to see if I’m half the actor Ned Beatty is in what was easily one of the coolest experiences of Amtrekker so far.

Here’s the quick back-story: About a month and a half ago I got an email from Carolyn at www.wildwaterrafting.com saying they wanted to help me out with #31 on the list. Wild Water Ltd. operates on five rivers but the one I couldn’t wait to get out on was the Chattooga River near Long Creek, SC.

“But why the Chattooga, Brett? Kind of a silly name don’t you think?”

Well, welcome back, Disembodied Voice. Haven’t heard from you in awhile. But thanks for asking! (And, you’re right, kind of a silly name.)

The Chattooga is the same river that James Dickey was writing about in his book “Deliverance” AND, it’s the same river they used to film large portions of the movie, (you guessed it…) “Deliverance!”

So as soon as I got the message I called dibs on Burt Reynolds’s character and set things up for the next time I was near South Carolina, a.k.a. now.

(My thoughts always get kind of disjointed when I get excited so you may have to bear with me.)

The Chattooga is, no joke, one of the most beautiful rivers I’ve ever been down. It was designated “Wild and Scenic” by the government and definitely qualifies as both. I felt completely isolated from the rest of the world nearly the entire time I was trying to maintain my balance and avoid finding myself floating bottom up dragging my head against the river bottom.

Larissa, my instructor/guide for the day, started with a quick rundown of all the ways I could kill myself if I decided to act dumber than usual and then spent the next twenty minutes with me in a calm stretch of river showing me some basic maneuvers. I learned how to brace (using the paddle to not flip over) and how to escape the overturned kayak if I fail at bracing…but we decided to skip the “Eskimo roll” in favor of more time on the river. In hindsight I kind of wish I had tried it once just to get a feel for how difficult it is, but I made it through the day without flipping anyway so no big loss on the short term.

Even looking back with an imperfect memory it was still a great day. Amazing weather, good water temperature and a boatload of fun. I’m not sure how much of it was Larissa trying to boost my ego but I was assured I was “kind of awesome” and that it was unusual for a first timer to make it all the way down the river without flipping.

The rapids were a blast! And after awhile we stepped it up a little bit and started practicing catching the eddies behind rocks. By the time we reached the end of our set Larissa was sufficiently impressed to allow me to run the last half of Bull Sluice (definitely not the first half). This particular rapid was in one of the early canoe scenes in “Deliverance” and the Wild Water Rafting folks were kind enough to get a couple awesome shots and some footage of me not dying.

But did the awesome end there? Nope! Carolyn took me up to North Carolina and the rafting company’s Nantahala digs and set me up in a yurt for the night! Almost as cool as the kayaking itself was the amazing campground I had all to myself. So there I was after having crossed off yet another item from the list and already having a fantastic day when suddenly I get a hot tub in the woods to myself and a huge comfy bed to sleep in! It still blows my mind how kind people are everywhere I go. Carolyn and Wild Water Rafting treated me MUCH better than I deserved and I can’t thank them enough.

The next day I even talked her into going down the Nantahala with me in an inflatable kayak. (That was about the time she tried to talk me into sticking around and becoming a river guide.)

(Lot’s more pictures in the Photo Album!)

In other news: I just found out I have a warrant for my arrest out in Utah!

I’m done.

Brett.

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