June 2019 • Nebraskaland 23
we had, and then there were a couple
key components that we needed to fit.
We had to think about w here we were
going to need help. Who was going to
join us along the way, when we needed
to be shuttled, when we needed to trade
bikes for backpacks, when we needed
to trade backpacks back to bikes, bikes
to canoe? Who was going to help us
and when? What were we going to eat?
Where were we going to sleep? What
gear were we going to bring?
We wanted to document this, but
we weren't necessarily thinking it was
going to be a documentary film. We
knew that we couldn't haul a big film
crew with, because they weren't going
to be able to do what we were doing.
When you watch the documentary,
most everything that you see there
is shot on phones and GoPro. We also
ended up having a professional film crew
from Platte Basin Timelapse and NET
Television meet us in a few different
places along the way, but they never
went with us anywhere.
Q: What were some of the
challenges?
The challenges were mostly physical.
I partially tore the meniscus in my knee
early on in the trip. But none of this was
wrought with all sorts of danger – we
were never all that far from help, and we
did stuff very deliberately. It was just
a matter of putting one foot in front of
the other every day, not worrying about
5 hours from now or 5 days from now –
just going.
Sun rises over a beaver dam along the Sweetwater River, the farthest west headwater drainage of the
Platte River watershed, fl owing out of Wyoming's Wind River Range.
