Thanks again for all of your support. It is exciting and making me want to finish up those 51 trip reports. I also enjoy the side photos. Head-that photo of Bondcliffs brings back great memories of Yankee Dog taking photos of me in the same spot during the Whites challenge. During a speed attempt, I usually do not stop for photos, but how can you refuse Frodo. Darren-that is a stunning kayak photo. BorealChickadee-is that Colden in the background? Pilgrim-I hope you are okay.
Beverly-The theme song is a bit much. I have to admit that I am not quite sure what to make of it. I am not sure, but I think that the song and the voice over was by a bluegrass singer from the South that is friends with the producer. The amazing thing is that this narrator had not seen the show. He reads the scripts and makes sure that he hits key words at certain time stamps. I am not in the production side of the show. But I have found the process fascinating.
OLN’s feedback email is:
[email protected]
Duofold’s can be found at:
http://www.duofold.com/contactUs.asp
One of the aspects of this process that I have learned is that the success of the show is not rated so much on whether it is good or bad. It is rated on how it is perceived to be received. There is nothing that is more likely to give me another crack at this than if OLN and Duofold started getting emails asking for more. I doubt that the fishing shows that “Live Your Passion” was straddled by get tons of emails asking for more views of a person’s back standing in a boat waiting for the next fish. Even a few emails could make the difference. “Live Your Passion” is cram packed, and there is so much more to offer.
Dan Schwachter, the cameraman, is a three time Emmy award winner. We are so incredibly lucky to have someone so overqualified. It kills me that his amazing pans of the stunning scenery get hacked because each state can only average about a minute of footage. Each show has 22 minutes, 26 seconds of content. Since the first show covered only 9 states, the next two episodes will cover 21 each. I would not want to have the editor’s job. There was almost one hundred hours of footage shot, and Dan was very economical on what he shot. That means for everything that you see, there is ten times that amount of footage still waiting to be seen. I feel they should make a feature length documentary or a full TV series out of it. It kills me to find out that Wisconsin only gets twenty seconds. We hit the Ice Age Trail in prime fall colors.
If you did not get a chance to see the show, tell them you heard it was good and you want them to repeat it. If you saw the show, tell them you want more. Believe me, you could make a difference in this case. This is new territory for them, and they are trying to decide if it was worth it.
I am starting to get too verbose again; however, I wanted to write a bit more about Dan. He took a huge pay cut because he believed so strongly in the project. His longest hike before this challenge had been 12.5 miles. His first day with me, he hiked 32.5 miles and ended up taking a trip to the hospital. No worries, nothing too serious, he had fluid in his knee. He just did a few miles in Washington but then 25 miles is Alaska. That amazing footage of Alaska was taken through some absolutely excruciating pain. The doctors told him that he must stop hiking and the show would have been over. However, he refused. He continued on hiking with an immobilizing split. His knee eventually got better but the trials remained. He lost most of his toenails, acquired some of the biggest blisters known to man, and a horrible case of poison ivy. And he never once complained, not even a little bit. He was having the time of his life. His goal was to hike 500 miles with me. That came and went effortlessly. So, he upped his goal to 600 miles and ended up with 680 miles, all the while carrying camera equipment over mountains, through bogs, into the forest, and across lava flows. I hiked with Schwach Dog (or he know goes by Under Dog) more miles than anyone else in my life. I feel I have gained a true friend.
Drewski-Under Dog and I noticed the cleared out section of our route on the AT-VT. We both commented at the time how much harder it would have been for us if we had to clamor over all that blowdown. There were a lot of small trees downed. It must have taken you an enormous amount of time to clear the trail. We are both very appreciative. I wish that we would have connected. We got a bit of a late start because of our long drive from central Pennsylvania. We also took a lot of footage of me running along fallen trees along the side of the trail that took a fair bit of time. I usually took a time check at noon. If I remember right, we had only done about seven miles by noon and around thirteen by 3:30 pm when Under Dog parted. I picked up the pace after that because I did not want more than half of the day’s endeavors to be in the dark. I barely made it because I had to pull my headlamp out shortly after 4:15 pm. I was surprised because I had made it much later the night before in PA.
I would love to see the DVD of the Whites, if I still can.
Is there a way that I can put a photo with this text?
Frodo-If there is anything else I can do to get you to the Kalalau Trail, let me know. It was one of the best days of my life.
Rik-This challenge was so huge and had so many logistics that I never had much time to think passed it. Besides, my next project will depend a lot on the success of the show, which is still being determined.
Spencer-I know of no clips online. It is a good idea, suggest it to OLN.
Eddie-I am trying to get a DVD version made, no word yet.
Mr. X-I had a great time with everyone on Katahdin. I hope to get back there to do the knife edge that the authorities would not allow us to do the day we were there.
What is a double green square?
Live the Dream,
Cave Dog
I will DEFINITELY watch the next 2 shows! Can't wait!
