Episode 171 - Allie Skelley, Boston Spinal Cord Injury, Stacey - Hurricane Helene Update, Wildcat Ridge Hike

[00:00:08] Here is the latest Higher Summits forecast brought to you by our friends at the Mount Washington Observatory.

[00:00:18] Weather above treeline in the White Mountains is often wildly different than at our trailheads.

[00:00:25] Before you hike, check the Higher Summits forecast at mountwashington.org.

[00:00:31] Weather observers working at the non-profit Mount Washington Observatory

[00:00:36] Write this elevation-based forecast every morning and afternoon.

[00:00:41] Search and Rescue teams, avalanche experts, and backcountry guides all rely on the Higher Summits forecast

[00:00:48] to anticipate weather conditions above treeline. You should too.

[00:00:53] Go to mountwashington.org or text FORECAST to 603-356-2137

[00:01:08] And here's your forecast for October 12th.

[00:01:12] Friday, in and out of the clouds with a chance of a wintry mix trending towards mostly in the clear under partly cloudy skies

[00:01:19] with a high rising to the upper 30s.

[00:01:22] Winds will be northwest shifting west at 55-75 mph with gusts up to 85 mph.

[00:01:30] Windchill will be rising to 10-20 above.

[00:01:33] And then Saturday, in and out of the clouds with a chance of a wintry mix.

[00:01:34] Friday night, in and out of the clouds early,

[00:01:37] in and out of the clouds early,

[00:01:38] with rain showers early,

[00:01:40] transitioning to a wintry mix late.

[00:01:43] With a low in the upper 20s.

[00:01:46] Winds will be west at 55-75 mph.

[00:01:50] Shifting northwest and increasing to 85-100 mph late with gusts up to 120 mph.

[00:01:59] Windchill will be falling to 0-10 above.

[00:02:02] And then Saturday, mostly in the clouds with a wintry mix early,

[00:02:06] transitioning to a chance of snow showers late.

[00:02:09] So it begins.

[00:02:11] The high will be in the upper 20s early, dropping to around 20 degrees.

[00:02:15] Winds will be northwest at 80-95 mph early, decreasing to 65-85 mph with gusts up to 95 mph.

[00:02:26] And the windchill will be 0-10 above.

[00:02:28] So it's here people.

[00:02:30] So make sure you're safe out there and pack appropriately.

[00:03:12] Testing from the Woodpecker's studio in the great state of New Hampshire.

[00:03:16] Welcome to the Sounds Like a Search and Rescue podcast.

[00:03:19] Where we discuss all things related to hiking and search and rescue in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

[00:03:26] Here are your hosts, Mike and Stomp.

[00:03:47] Okay, Stomp, we are live.

[00:03:51] Taking it live.

[00:03:52] What is this, 171?

[00:03:53] This is 171.

[00:03:56] And not only are you interrupting my below-deck viewing time,

[00:04:04] but you're also interrupting my Northern Lights time here.

[00:04:11] Wild.

[00:04:12] Yeah, from what I hear, it's exploding right now as we are strapped to our microphones.

[00:04:18] Yeah, yeah.

[00:04:18] So what's going on?

[00:04:19] I've never seen the Northern Lights.

[00:04:21] I mean, I saw the Northern Lights actually, I was doing Reach the Beach one year and the Northern Lights were out.

[00:04:26] But it was very dull.

[00:04:28] Tonight was just stunning.

[00:04:29] Stunning.

[00:04:30] Mmm.

[00:04:31] That's wild.

[00:04:32] All the way down in Amesbury.

[00:04:33] Yeah.

[00:04:34] Yeah.

[00:04:34] But it was...

[00:04:35] Oh, not only Amesbury, my brother's in Woburn.

[00:04:38] He got it.

[00:04:39] But it's pink.

[00:04:42] Yeah.

[00:04:43] It's pink.

[00:04:43] Not green.

[00:04:46] But look at even Jakester, he's in Middleborough.

[00:04:49] He, he's posting that he got it.

[00:04:52] So yeah, it's really cool.

[00:04:53] And it wasn't even, it was coming from like the east in the north a little bit.

[00:05:01] So it was fascinating.

[00:05:03] Yeah.

[00:05:03] I don't know, I was gonna go to Iceland and stomp to see this and now I don't have to.

[00:05:07] Yeah, you don't have to.

[00:05:08] Now you can hang out with your neighbor.

[00:05:10] Why are the Northern Lights all of a sudden, like I never remember the Northern Lights being

[00:05:13] around and it seems like the, like once every two months the Northern Lights are around.

[00:05:16] What's happening?

[00:05:18] I think, but I'm not 100% sure that it's related to solar activity.

[00:05:22] Yeah.

[00:05:22] It's aliens, I think.

[00:05:24] Well, yeah, it could be that too.

[00:05:25] Yeah.

[00:05:26] But according to MUR, Channel 9 up here, they were saying that there was some solar flare

[00:05:31] that was related to it.

[00:05:33] So that might be part of it.

[00:05:34] But after the, after we record, I might go up to Sandwich Notch Road.

[00:05:37] There's this one little farm up there with a viewpoint north.

[00:05:40] You could see Welch Dickey and Sandwich Dome and it's a straight shot north.

[00:05:45] I might see if I can catch it before it clouds up again.

[00:05:49] It's pretty cool.

[00:05:50] I've never seen it.

[00:05:51] I have a question for you not related to the Northern Lights.

[00:05:54] There was, somebody had posted a picture.

[00:05:55] I remember us talking about this when we hiked Welch Dickey last year, but there's

[00:05:59] a guy that's building like a castle.

[00:06:02] Yeah.

[00:06:03] And he's been building that thing for like 20 years.

[00:06:05] Like, do you know who this guy is?

[00:06:07] We need to get him on the show.

[00:06:08] I want to understand what's going on here.

[00:06:10] I can ask some of the locals, but it's, it's at a standstill.

[00:06:14] It hasn't progressed at all.

[00:06:16] Well, there's a website.

[00:06:18] Yeah.

[00:06:19] There's a website that you can go on where he posts pictures from every year.

[00:06:23] And it's interesting because it looks, I was looking at the pictures and he's using, I

[00:06:27] was at the Freiburg Fair this weekend and I'll talk about that a little bit, but there

[00:06:30] was like construction material and he's using like the styrofoam, like the styrofoam things

[00:06:38] that you use.

[00:06:39] And then you just put like the rebar and then fill them with concrete.

[00:06:42] Okay.

[00:06:43] Um, so, so he's using like newer technology to build it or newer building materials.

[00:06:48] But yeah, you're right.

[00:06:49] It's sort of like not going anywhere.

[00:06:51] So it's, but my understanding is one guy just doing a passion project.

[00:06:55] Interesting.

[00:06:56] Yeah.

[00:06:56] Last time I started was probably three years ago, but whenever I do the loop, I look over

[00:07:00] there and it seems like it's just status quo.

[00:07:02] So yeah.

[00:07:03] Yeah.

[00:07:03] And what's me and Sampa talking about is when you hike up Wells Dickey, there's like a,

[00:07:08] on a, like across the way, there's a house that's being built on a hill that's built.

[00:07:14] It's going to be a castle, but it's only like halfway built.

[00:07:17] Yeah.

[00:07:18] So yeah.

[00:07:18] Best way to see this when you're coming down Dickey, you'll see it straight ahead

[00:07:22] on Cone Mountain.

[00:07:23] It's like this big white blotch to the left of the cliffs.

[00:07:27] Yeah.

[00:07:28] Interesting.

[00:07:28] So you'll have to send me that website.

[00:07:30] I'd like to check that out.

[00:07:31] Yeah.

[00:07:31] I'll post it in the show notes.

[00:07:33] I'll have to remember.

[00:07:34] Matter of fact, I'm going to add a note on there about a Wells Dickey house.

[00:07:39] Interesting.

[00:07:40] But yeah, I've never seen the Northern Lights, so we'll see.

[00:07:44] Yep.

[00:07:44] So the Northern Lights are out and then Stomp, I wanted to just start the show off.

[00:07:49] This is, we're going to hit you up for donations in a couple of hours.

[00:07:51] We got like a bunch of donations we want to hit people up on, but I wanted to just give

[00:07:56] a shout out to my friend, Peter Gibney.

[00:08:00] Peter is a friend of mine that I met through hiking.

[00:08:04] I actually have never met him in person.

[00:08:06] We just met through social media and we stayed in touch and we've been in like a chat group

[00:08:10] with a couple of other hikers for like the last six or seven years.

[00:08:15] And he's a very prolific hiker, hiked all through the whites and he had like a lot of knowledge.

[00:08:21] And a matter of fact, I relied on him a lot for advice in my early days.

[00:08:25] I just asked him about a certain route or a mountain.

[00:08:28] He had been there, done that.

[00:08:30] So, but Peter's fallen ill.

[00:08:33] He's unfortunately had some sort of a seizure situation where he's been, I guess, under,

[00:08:42] he's been on a ventilator and he's been in intensive care and he hasn't been awake.

[00:08:48] And to the point where his wife, Shannon, and he has a young son, Miles, that's I think six.

[00:08:56] To the point where she, I mean, she's making plans for his funeral and things are not looking good right now.

[00:09:02] They did take him off of the ventilator and he is breathing on his own.

[00:09:05] So there's been some promising developments.

[00:09:09] But no matter what happens here, like, you know, Shannon and Miles are going to be, I think,

[00:09:14] financially in a difficult spot with medical bills and whatnot.

[00:09:18] So I just wanted to ask the listeners, I'll include this in the show notes and I'll put something on our social media.

[00:09:25] But if you, you know, even if you can spare a little bit, anything would help for Peter.

[00:09:32] And, you know, our thoughts and prayers are with Shannon and Peter and Miles right now.

[00:09:37] So tough situation, Stomp.

[00:09:39] Yeah, that's awful.

[00:09:40] Yeah, we can see if the listeners can help out.

[00:09:43] This is sort of a somber show, wouldn't you say?

[00:09:47] Well, yeah, I mean, I feel bad that there's going to be, there'll be a, yeah, we'll get into some of the details here.

[00:09:54] But I think Peter, you know, great sense of humor.

[00:09:56] Like he'd be laughing, listening to us talk about him for sure.

[00:10:01] But, you know, young guy, 43 years old.

[00:10:03] And right now he's, like I said, he's off a ventilator.

[00:10:07] He is breathing on his own.

[00:10:08] They're trying to get him into hospice care.

[00:10:11] And, you know, I'm praying for a miracle.

[00:10:12] I hope that he's going to hop back on the chat group one of these days so we can keep going.

[00:10:17] But, you know, who knows?

[00:10:19] But it's just another reminder to Stomp that you've got to live your life like, you know, focus on the important things because you never know when things take a turn for the worst.

[00:10:29] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:10:30] All right, Peter, we're praying for you.

[00:10:32] But welcome to episode 171 of the Sounds Like a Search and Rescue podcast.

[00:10:37] This week we have two guests, Stomp.

[00:10:40] We've got a double bonus here.

[00:10:41] We've got Allie Skelly.

[00:10:43] He's going to be joining us for a segment later in the episode to share his personal story of spinal cord injury.

[00:10:50] And we're going to talk to him about his fundraising efforts, which involve hiking New Hampshire's White Mountains to raise funds for the spinal cord injury Boston's Travis Roy legacy grant program.

[00:11:03] So he's raising money to help with spinal cord injury.

[00:11:06] And he's a hiker and an interesting guy.

[00:11:09] He's got an interesting story.

[00:11:11] But to start the show off, we're going to be joined by Stacy Manny, who is a friend of ours.

[00:11:15] She's going to share her experiences working in Western North Carolina to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts.

[00:11:22] So she spent a week up there volunteering.

[00:11:25] So we're going to hear from her, get her perspective on what's going on down there.

[00:11:30] Plus a story about technical advances in drone search technology.

[00:11:34] I'll share a review of a recent hike on Wildcat Ridge Trail, which includes the steepest mile on the Appalachian Trail.

[00:11:41] Plus, we've got some recent search and rescue news.

[00:11:44] So I'm Mike.

[00:11:45] And I'm Stomp.

[00:11:46] Let's get started.

[00:12:06] Let's get started.

[00:12:07] All right, Stomp.

[00:12:07] So why don't we go right into the segment with Stacy?

[00:12:11] So just to tee this up for people.

[00:12:14] So Stacy is a friend of ours.

[00:12:15] She used to be a New Hampshireite.

[00:12:17] She moved down to, I think, North Carolina, South Carolina a couple of years ago during COVID.

[00:12:22] She works as a firefighter, EMT.

[00:12:24] And she spent a week volunteering in and around the Asheville, Hendersonville area of Western North Carolina to help out with wellness checks on elderly victims or people that are living in the area.

[00:12:40] So she's just going to break down sort of her experience for the last week or so, give us some perspective about what's going on with the repairs, the search and rescue, and just a general idea of sort of how the citizens down there are doing.

[00:12:55] So let's move into that, and we'll come back out on the other side.

[00:13:00] All right.

[00:13:01] Do-do-do.

[00:13:03] Do-do-loo.

[00:13:06] All right, Stacy.

[00:13:07] Welcome back.

[00:13:08] You haven't been around some northerners in a while.

[00:13:10] So nice to see you.

[00:13:13] Hope everything's going well.

[00:13:15] Yeah, it's not bad.

[00:13:17] Awesome.

[00:13:18] So we wanted to just connect with you.

[00:13:20] So for a little bit of background, Stacy is a friend of ours.

[00:13:26] So we've done some adventuring up north in the past, and you had since said goodbye to New Hampshire and have moved down.

[00:13:33] Are you in North Carolina, South Carolina now?

[00:13:36] I'm in Charleston, South Carolina area.

[00:13:38] Beautiful, beautiful.

[00:13:40] So Stomp connected with you.

[00:13:42] Stomp, why don't you just give the listeners a little bit of background on how you guys connected again?

[00:13:46] Oh, geesh.

[00:13:46] We go way back to the hiking social media days, and we've since become good friends, and we've done a lot of floating on the Pemi together, and you were up here in Campton for a while working.

[00:13:58] Yeah, so you just became a really good friend.

[00:14:00] So when all this happened with Helene, I thought I might reach out and see what was going on.

[00:14:06] And you actually responded to one of my posts on Instagram, too.

[00:14:09] I did, yeah.

[00:14:10] Yeah, I thought this would be a really great way for listeners to get caught up to speed as to what's going on.

[00:14:15] What is it, a week out now, 11 days out?

[00:14:18] I think we're two weeks out.

[00:14:20] Two weeks out, okay.

[00:14:21] Because it was Thursday night when the storm hit initially.

[00:14:25] Okay, so why don't you just tell the listeners briefly about your background and what you're doing down there in terms of your occupation and EMS involvement.

[00:14:34] I'm a firefighter for Folly Beach.

[00:14:36] I'm a career firefighter there.

[00:14:39] Got my, cut my teeth in New Hampshire.

[00:14:41] I was on the squad in Hebron, New Hampshire, and then I was there, a call member there, and did part-time at Campton Thornton, and worked side by side with the conservation officers and some of the search and rescue personnel.

[00:15:00] And then COVID hit, and I decided I was tired of winter and couldn't find a place to live because it was pretty expensive, you know, with all the city folk coming up and working their remote jobs.

[00:15:14] So I'm like, oh, I'll move to South Carolina and see if I can, you know, buy a home down there.

[00:15:19] It's cheaper.

[00:15:20] It's not cheaper, by the way.

[00:15:22] Um, just, just for everybody found out.

[00:15:25] Right, right.

[00:15:25] Well, I think everybody tried to move down here at the same time and, you know, there go the prices.

[00:15:30] Um, but I initially worked for Charleston County EMS, um, full-time and said, nope, don't want to do this full-time.

[00:15:39] I want to do it part-time.

[00:15:40] Uh, so I got the job at Folly Beach Fire.

[00:15:43] Um, so I worked, uh, four jobs for a while.

[00:15:46] It was Folly Beach Fire, part-time EMS for Charleston County, part-time EMS for Berkeley County, and, uh, worked in the, well, right now I'm at, uh, James Island Emergency Department.

[00:15:58] So I work as a tech here.

[00:16:00] And so you're already pretty busy.

[00:16:02] So, um, obviously the, the hurricane came in, hit Western North Carolina.

[00:16:06] Can you talk about how you ended up getting involved?

[00:16:10] So we wanted to just give the listeners, we talked a little bit about it, I think a week or two ago, sort of about the lay of the land, um, in, in that particular area and, you know, how the flooding had impacted some of the higher elevation communities in Western North Carolina.

[00:16:23] Um, and obviously there's some, there's been a lot in the news about sort of the, the, the response and how quickly things have been able to get out to people that are in need.

[00:16:33] So you, the reason we wanted to connect with you is that you've been involved in, um, getting out into that area, helping with some of the, um, some of the efforts to get people back on their feet.

[00:16:43] So can you talk a little bit about how that came to be?

[00:16:45] Uh, well, I was initially trying to get on with, uh, Berkeley County EMS.

[00:16:49] Um, and they were only taking full-time employees.

[00:16:52] I'm a part-time employee there.

[00:16:53] So they were like, Oh, you can backfill, you know, here, here at home.

[00:16:56] And I'm like, no, I really want to go up North.

[00:16:58] Uh, my fire department was trying to send a crew with our reserve engine.

[00:17:04] Um, and unfortunately they were only going to do it.

[00:17:06] If we had three people, we, we could only get two.

[00:17:09] I was one of them.

[00:17:10] Um, so Folly Beach wasn't able to send an apparatus up.

[00:17:13] Um, so one of the nurses that I worked with here in the emergency department, um, we were talking, we were on shift Wednesday and Thursday of last week.

[00:17:22] And, you know, she wanted to go and I was like, well, you know, I've, I'm on duty this weekend.

[00:17:27] I don't know if I can go.

[00:17:28] She looked at me and said, why don't you see if somebody can take your shifts?

[00:17:32] And I'm like, well, I can definitely try that.

[00:17:34] And things kind of came together.

[00:17:36] Um, I found, uh, there was a person that posted online, uh, that they had a place to stay and they were going to connect with their church group.

[00:17:46] And so I took a screenshot when I came into work on Thursday, I showed Kim, I said, what do you think?

[00:17:51] And she's like, let's do it.

[00:17:52] She called him.

[00:17:53] And, uh, so we kind of got her, she got off duty at 7am the next morning.

[00:17:58] I got off duty 11 o'clock that night.

[00:18:01] So I went home to start a packing.

[00:18:02] Um, but it was all contingent upon whether or not I can get a dog sitter.

[00:18:06] So, you know, it, it was serendipity.

[00:18:09] There were so many serendipitous moments that, you know, things fell into place and we were able to go.

[00:18:14] Um, and we got up there and, you know, as medical personnel, that was going to be our focus.

[00:18:20] Um, taking care of people, doing welfare checks, um, setting up a clinic.

[00:18:24] Uh, things were already in place, but there was, um, it was kind of chaotic because people were dropping off supplies and, um, you know, they were just dropping them off and there was nowhere for the stuff to go.

[00:18:37] So Kim and I just kind of took the initiative and just started sorting through things and getting it into more of a, a controlled chaos.

[00:18:46] Um, so that was.

[00:18:48] Yeah.

[00:18:49] And you're, when you're going up there, you're, you're going through, uh, is it a volunteer organization or are you going through like a government agency or how does that work?

[00:18:56] We were kind of riding on the coattails of this couple that we met, um, online, uh, that said they were going up and they were connected with a church up there.

[00:19:05] Okay.

[00:19:05] So they recommend that you don't go up as individuals just because, you know, they want to make sure that they're, um, checking people out, making sure that they're not going to be, you know, in the way they're going to be helping and not becoming a hindrance, which is entirely possible with situations like this.

[00:19:20] People mean, well, there are some people that don't mean well, and you know, there's a lot of imposters out there too.

[00:19:26] So, you know, as far as like medical personnel, they got to do, um, you know, a quick check and make sure your licensure is up and, you know, it's, it's legit.

[00:19:34] Um, so that was, that was a, uh, a major concern.

[00:19:38] Um, we were going to go up as individuals, but knowing that we have licenses, you know, we were going to try to connect with one of the organizations up there.

[00:19:47] There is, was an app that we signed up on, uh, when we ultimately, uh, connected with the West Yancey, um, fire department.

[00:19:55] And, uh, that, that was a big hub up there for supplies and, um, getting providers out to do wellness checks.

[00:20:02] So you're going around doing wellness checks.

[00:20:05] Did they have like a set list where they needed to go in and find people or like how difficult was it to make your way around once you got into the, the area where you were, you were helping out?

[00:20:14] Well, there were areas that were really hard hit.

[00:20:16] There were roads that were washed out.

[00:20:18] There were some sketchy, uh, sketchy journeys for sure.

[00:20:21] Um, where there was traffic going both ways and you were literally on the edge.

[00:20:26] Um, when I was going into Pensacola, which was one of the harder hits, uh, areas in Yancey County.

[00:20:33] Um, we were like hanging on the edge of this roadway.

[00:20:37] There's a crack down the center lane and, you know, parts of asphalt were already into the river.

[00:20:43] And, um, we had traffic come in the opposite way and it was extremely tight.

[00:20:47] I had video and you could just about slip a piece of paper between the two vehicles.

[00:20:51] So it was, uh, it was gnarly.

[00:20:54] So this area, it's a little bit north of Asheville that you make your way into.

[00:20:58] Did you get into Asheville at all?

[00:21:00] Uh, we were, rode through, we were around, um, we were on 240.

[00:21:05] So we got around Asheville.

[00:21:06] Um, it sounds like there's a lot of, um, there were a lot of crews that were available.

[00:21:12] There were a lot of volunteers to help in Asheville.

[00:21:15] And the main concern was the, uh, more rural areas that were hit and, you know, less population density there.

[00:21:23] Um, so people were kind of more spread out and, uh, they didn't have as much access, um, to amenities.

[00:21:30] And, you know, so, and there were a lot of elderly that we needed to check on.

[00:21:34] Um, so that was the main concern.

[00:21:36] That was why we went out to the outskirts.

[00:21:39] Wow.

[00:21:39] So, so this is, you get there like a week and a half after the main storm hit and then, but they're still going out looking to, um, find people that might not be, um, accounted for.

[00:21:51] And then there's a lot of elderly that are just kind of on their own where they may not have air conditioning, electricity, supplies that they need.

[00:21:57] And medications.

[00:21:58] Yeah.

[00:21:59] I mean.

[00:21:59] And medications.

[00:22:00] There's a, uh, a large amount of people that are still missing.

[00:22:04] And, um, the search and rescue teams are, are out day and night, you know, trying to find these people.

[00:22:10] And, um, they're finding people that have washed away.

[00:22:13] You know, they have confirmed locations from family members saying that this is where they were, you know, at this, at their home, at this intersection.

[00:22:21] I know for a fact they were, and they're finding them nine miles away, you know, in the river, riverbed rather.

[00:22:27] So.

[00:22:29] Wow.

[00:22:29] And then when you were there, like, cause we, me and some, we talked about this before.

[00:22:32] Like there's these reservoirs that are higher up, like, you know, 4,500 feet elevation.

[00:22:37] And then you get down to Lake Lure and it's like 1100 feet of elevation.

[00:22:40] So all that water is just going thousands of feet down and taking, you know, taking everything with it.

[00:22:46] Did you see all the damage to the land?

[00:22:48] Like I've heard that there's like a permanent damage to some of these areas that are completely changed the topography.

[00:22:54] Oh, absolutely.

[00:22:54] Um, there are river or there were creeks, uh, the cabin near where we stayed, um, or the cabin where we stayed, there was a creek.

[00:23:02] That ran alongside the, the main road or it's not really a main road, but it's a, um, it's a country back road.

[00:23:09] Um, but this creek used to be 12 feet wide and, um, we drove up.

[00:23:14] It was dark.

[00:23:15] Uh, it was about 10 30 at night when we first got to the cabin and we couldn't really see the extent of the damage.

[00:23:20] And then the next morning when we got up, we drove down the hill and it was just absolutely mind boggling.

[00:23:27] Um, the creek that was 12 feet wide was now in some places, several football fields wide.

[00:23:33] Um, it had wiped out everything in its ass.

[00:23:36] Uh, there were overturned cars and buses and tractor trailers that are in this creek bed, you know, flipped over.

[00:23:43] Um, it just, it, I'd never seen anything like it.

[00:23:47] Um, hopefully I never do again.

[00:23:50] I mean, it was just awful.

[00:23:52] Um, the people that you, uh, the people that you were helping out, like that went through this, did they give a lot of them like open to talking about it?

[00:23:59] Or did they want to just focus on probably like just getting a little bit more comfortable or getting their, their daily needs or how were they processing everything?

[00:24:07] Incredibly.

[00:24:08] I, it, it was, it was amazing to see the sense of community.

[00:24:12] Um, they were, you know, they're, they're salt of the earth.

[00:24:16] They're blue collar.

[00:24:17] They're, they're like a lot of people from New Hampshire.

[00:24:19] You know, their, their families have been there for generations and they, you know, their neighbors have been there for generations and they're all about taking care of each other.

[00:24:26] You know, there were times it was like, um, you know, you have a, a meal or, you know, maybe a cup of coffee or something and you're like, um, or, you know, a bag of medications, you know, like, Hey, I understand your, your house got wiped out.

[00:24:41] Here you go.

[00:24:42] Let me, let me give this to you.

[00:24:43] I'm sure you're in need.

[00:24:44] And they're like, no, no, no, give that to Joe Smith down the road.

[00:24:47] He needs it more than I do.

[00:24:48] I mean, that was the, that was the attitude of so many people.

[00:24:52] They were, they were like, you know what?

[00:24:53] I have all my family here.

[00:24:55] I'm blessed.

[00:24:55] You know, they're just so humble and so kind and, you know, just looking out for each other, the sense of community.

[00:25:02] I would love to see it spread like wildfire, you know, amongst society.

[00:25:07] Uh, it was just, it was bittersweet because it was horrible to see all the damage, but it was heartwarming to see how people came together and helped each other out like true Americans.

[00:25:17] You know, it's, we've gotten so far away from that in, uh, in most cases in life.

[00:25:23] And, you know, it was renewed my faith, you know?

[00:25:29] Yeah, it's tough.

[00:25:30] Yeah.

[00:25:30] It's tough sometimes, you know, you see these tragedies pull people together, which is, it's unfortunate that we can't just pull together, um, without the tragedy piece of it.

[00:25:36] But it certainly, you know, it, it, it, it, it's communities needed in times like this.

[00:25:42] Um, and it certainly, you know, it's, it's great that you and your friends were able to get out there and help out.

[00:25:47] Um, there's a lot of talk about sort of the, the response for government agencies, local agencies, federal agencies.

[00:25:53] And I know, I think it, it's very difficult as a fog of war type of thing in the first week or two to get things organized.

[00:26:00] And I think that, um, this is a unique area.

[00:26:03] You probably have a much better sense of it, the lay of the land than I do.

[00:26:06] But like, it's my sense is that like you talked about, it's like a really, uh, a difficult area to navigate just even without the, the, um, the weather situation and the, and the catastrophe that they dealt with.

[00:26:18] But like, you add to that, all the roads are blocked, the bridges are taken out and it's, it's impossible to really mobilize anything at scale right away.

[00:26:26] But did you get the sense that things were getting in, in motion as far as like a more organized approach?

[00:26:33] Yeah, thanks to the locals.

[00:26:35] They're the ones rebuilding the roads right now.

[00:26:37] They, you know, they know that their, their neighbors down the street need food and they need water.

[00:26:43] Um, I mean, there's utility poles and wires down everywhere as a firefighter, you know.

[00:26:49] One of my, one of my least favorite scenes is when I roll up and, you know, there's power lines down, you know, that always, it's a little nerve wracking because you don't know where it's energized, what it's touching, you know, where it's going to be safe to walk.

[00:27:02] And when you roll up, you know, into these people's yards, you know, you see all these poles down and in order to get to them, you got to walk all over these.

[00:27:10] Obviously the power is out.

[00:27:12] Um, but they're in the process of trying to, you know, there's tons of linemen there and they're doing an awesome job trying to get the power back.

[00:27:18] Um, some of these people are going to be without power for six to nine months is what the estimate is.

[00:27:23] So, because there's just so, the extent of damage is just, you know, crazy.

[00:27:29] Um, but yeah, I mean, there, there's so many, uh, blue collar people that are in the area and, you know, a lot of them have excavators or bulldozers or, um, you know, um, steamrollers.

[00:27:43] You know, whatever they have, you know, they're, they're deploying it and they're building back these roads.

[00:27:49] Um, we were stuck on a road for about 20 minutes or so, 25 minutes waiting for an excavator to dig all these rocks out of the creek bed or river bed and, um, put them, you know, up against the road to kind of build it up a little bit.

[00:28:04] So, uh, the next day they were going to come through and try to pave it.

[00:28:07] But these are all the people that live, you know, there in the mountains.

[00:28:09] It's not, not government and, uh, you know, they're doing a phenomenal job trying to help each other and, you know, it's what they do.

[00:28:17] How's the state doing in terms of, yeah.

[00:28:20] How's the state itself doing in terms of response as opposed to the federal?

[00:28:24] We did see the national guard out.

[00:28:26] And from what I understand, I really didn't have a lot of interaction with them.

[00:28:29] Um, but it sounds like they're being helpful.

[00:28:31] You know, they're going where they're needed and, you know, moving trees and helping people clean up their yards, which is, which is great.

[00:28:38] Um, you know, there's, there's not a big, uh, the people in that area are not fans of federal government.

[00:28:45] You know, they feel like they're in the way and, you know, they want to be able to take care of their own.

[00:28:50] And, and they're, you know, the, the people from that area are really good at that.

[00:28:54] But, and, um, you know, there's been, I don't like to get political.

[00:28:59] That's not my thing.

[00:29:01] Um, you know, I, I had a few people try to pull me into, you know, these conspiracy theories.

[00:29:06] And I said, you know what, I'm here to help.

[00:29:08] I'm here to try to stay positive and upbeat for the people that, that need it.

[00:29:13] Um, you know, I'm, I'm here to support them.

[00:29:15] I really don't want to get caught up in the politics.

[00:29:17] So, you know, what, what can I do for you?

[00:29:19] What do you need?

[00:29:20] You know, I don't want to have this discussion.

[00:29:23] So, yeah.

[00:29:24] And did you, uh, at the time that you were there, did you fall into like a daily routine

[00:29:29] eventually?

[00:29:30] Is it just a matter of like, you were just going to look for people that needed, um, wellness

[00:29:35] checks or was it, did it change every day?

[00:29:38] Well, the first day, um, like I said, we had gone up with this couple, uh, who was connected

[00:29:42] to a church up there and we drove an hour to Hendersonville.

[00:29:46] And when we got there, they were like, oh no, we have enough people.

[00:29:48] We don't need your help.

[00:29:50] So it was like, okay, now what do we do?

[00:29:53] Um, so there are several apps you can, uh, go online and just type in, uh, hurricane relief,

[00:29:59] you know, um, in North Carolina, Western North Carolina or whatever state you want to go to.

[00:30:04] And there are apps where you can actually sign up and they'll dispatch you to where they

[00:30:08] need you.

[00:30:08] And that changes.

[00:30:09] It's, it's a dynamic, uh, situation because there are going to be areas that needed it

[00:30:15] initially.

[00:30:15] And now they're, they're doing pretty well.

[00:30:17] They have all the supplies they need for now.

[00:30:20] Um, so it's like, there's another area that they couldn't get to before, but that's, that's

[00:30:24] where the need is.

[00:30:25] So, um, instead of going in and just trying to figure out where to go, you really ought

[00:30:29] to sign up online and, um, you know, volunteer your services that way before you head up,

[00:30:35] which is what we eventually did.

[00:30:37] And we went to Hendersonville and found that we weren't needed.

[00:30:39] So we, uh, we signed up on a nap and went back to the fire department about, uh, four

[00:30:45] miles from where we were staying.

[00:30:47] And we've stayed in that area ever since.

[00:30:50] So, um, yeah, my, matter of fact, my family friend had, um, uh, 86 year old, um, aunt that

[00:30:58] was, um, missing in Hendersonville for a couple of days.

[00:31:01] They couldn't get in touch.

[00:31:02] They finally located her, but, um, yeah, it was scary.

[00:31:05] They, they were just trying to like, just try to get information and it's just tough because

[00:31:09] that area, like you said, powers out and it's a tough area to navigate.

[00:31:13] So yeah, internet just body at best, you know, and that's normal.

[00:31:16] That's a normal thing for the mountains.

[00:31:18] So, um, there were a lot of cell towers that were taken out.

[00:31:21] Um, so I, any of the, um, it seemed like most of the, uh, fire departments had, uh, star

[00:31:29] links.

[00:31:29] So that was really helpful.

[00:31:31] Oh, that's good.

[00:31:32] Yeah.

[00:31:32] I had heard that they got down there.

[00:31:34] Um, as opposed to physical assistance, how can the listeners here help?

[00:31:39] You had mentioned, uh, was it Samaritan's Purse or was it Mike picking that up from somewhere

[00:31:44] else?

[00:31:45] Samaritan's Purse is a good organization.

[00:31:47] Um, are there any others you can suggest?

[00:31:50] Uh, there's a nonprofit that I dealt with directly.

[00:31:53] Um, one of the guys that is part of this organization is called Heroes for Humanity.

[00:31:59] It's a nonprofit.

[00:32:00] It's run by former military.

[00:32:02] Um, and they, they have, uh, search and rescue, um, teams that go out.

[00:32:08] They have, from what I understand, they have dogs as well.

[00:32:11] Um, he didn't have a dog, but he was connected with people that, uh, would bring the cadaver

[00:32:15] dogs out and, and search for bodies.

[00:32:18] And, um, you know, this, from what I understand, the gentleman who started this, uh, his name

[00:32:23] is Dennis.

[00:32:24] Uh, he works three jobs to kind of support this.

[00:32:27] Um, you know, he was former military and, you know, was deployed all over the world.

[00:32:32] And he was like, why don't we do this kind of thing for our own country?

[00:32:35] So that's why he started this organization.

[00:32:37] So if you can find it, I don't have a link.

[00:32:40] Um, I just literally got back.

[00:32:42] No problem.

[00:32:43] Two o'clock in the morning.

[00:32:44] We'll find it.

[00:32:45] And, you know, was asked to work today.

[00:32:47] I was exhausted yesterday.

[00:32:48] So, um, but Heroes for Humanity, you know, you can donate to them and support their cause.

[00:32:54] It'd be awesome.

[00:32:55] Well, you're a hero for humanity and we really appreciate you coming in and chatting with

[00:32:59] us.

[00:32:59] No, really?

[00:33:00] I mean it.

[00:33:00] Um, and maybe, uh, I'm just a Patriot man.

[00:33:04] Yeah.

[00:33:04] Well, I mean, so she's always been a hero because like, uh, the first time I met you,

[00:33:09] I remember we were doing the float on the Pemi and like, I'm sitting there like I am clueless

[00:33:15] and all of a sudden like Stacy's running and I'm like, what the hell's going on?

[00:33:19] She immediately like, cause there was a car accident.

[00:33:21] There was a motorcycle guy that got hit by a car.

[00:33:23] I had no clue what's going on.

[00:33:25] And she's like off like a, uh, running like a bat out of hell.

[00:33:29] And I'm like, uh, meanwhile, like I would have been run over by something cause I had

[00:33:33] no clue what's going on.

[00:33:34] But that's the difference between like you and me is that you, you know what's going on

[00:33:38] immediately and run to it.

[00:33:39] And then me, I'm just clueless.

[00:33:41] So, you know, I, I wasn't surprised when Stomp said you were out there being a hero.

[00:33:45] I have no self-preservation, I guess.

[00:33:49] Exactly.

[00:33:49] No sense of self-preservation.

[00:33:50] It just, just go at it.

[00:33:52] Right.

[00:33:53] Remember that?

[00:33:53] Remember that guy though?

[00:33:54] Remember the motorcycle accident?

[00:33:55] It was crazy.

[00:33:56] Yeah, I do.

[00:33:57] I do.

[00:33:57] Now that you, yeah, now that you mentioned it, I'm like, yep.

[00:34:01] I'm not allowed to recreate.

[00:34:02] I found that out.

[00:34:03] Cause it seems like every time I try to have fun, somebody had a medical event.

[00:34:07] I was tubing up here in, um, on the Edisto river.

[00:34:10] Uh, I think it was probably about two years ago and we were all connected.

[00:34:14] We're all having a good time.

[00:34:15] I have a couple of drinks and one of this 12 year old kid just sitting there, he's like,

[00:34:19] my mom's friend isn't doing too well.

[00:34:21] And I'm like, Oh God, here we go.

[00:34:22] So I look over and he's out cold.

[00:34:25] Can't get him, you know?

[00:34:26] And he was a known diabetic.

[00:34:27] And I'm like, so I grabbed, grabbed his tube and started swimming.

[00:34:31] And, uh, it was like a mile and a half down river, um, to get them to a spot where the

[00:34:36] ambulance could get to.

[00:34:37] And thankfully a jet ski came along.

[00:34:38] Um, so I jumped on the back and just, you know, we towed him in and got the, got the ambulance.

[00:34:43] Um, it happened to be a friend of mine and he got off and he's like, Hey, I'm like, Hey,

[00:34:47] I'm like, we've got a sick patient here.

[00:34:49] He's like, get a blood sugar on him.

[00:34:50] I'm like, gotcha.

[00:34:51] Yeah.

[00:34:52] Um, but yeah.

[00:34:52] Oh boy.

[00:34:53] Your memoir is going to be great.

[00:34:54] You know, are you going to write it?

[00:34:58] Cause I don't have time.

[00:34:59] And I always, I've said, I think I've said this before, but if, if I ever have to get

[00:35:03] carried out of a burning building, I want it to be you carrying me.

[00:35:07] I still, I still stand by that.

[00:35:09] But listen, um, do you think you could come back maybe in a couple of weeks and give us

[00:35:13] an update if you're up for it, if you have time?

[00:35:15] Well, I would like to, um, I am trying to get back up to, uh, North Carolina in the next

[00:35:21] couple of weeks.

[00:35:22] Um, I've got a kind of a heavy duty work schedule right now, but I'm going to see if I can swap

[00:35:26] my schedule around a little bit more.

[00:35:28] Um, I am collecting if, uh, it might be, it might be tough for, um, somebody to get it

[00:35:35] down to me, but maybe they can run it themselves.

[00:35:37] Um, I'm doing a collection for, um, uh, cold weather gear.

[00:35:42] Uh, cause a lot of these people are going to be without.

[00:35:45] Without power and, you know, without heating sources.

[00:35:48] So, um, we're doing a drive here at my emergency department, collecting coats, boots, hats,

[00:35:52] gloves, all that good stuff.

[00:35:54] Um, I'm also looking at area fire departments to try to get, um, bunker gear, helmets, boots,

[00:36:01] um, set hose.

[00:36:02] I mean, apparatus, uh, appliances, uh, hand tool, power tools, because some of these departments

[00:36:08] have lost everything.

[00:36:09] So we're trying to get them back up and running.

[00:36:11] Well, keep us posted.

[00:36:12] Send me links.

[00:36:13] Um, if there's any places people can send things or donate, just keep us abreast and,

[00:36:17] uh, we'll do our best to, to keep everybody informed.

[00:36:21] Right on.

[00:36:22] Appreciate it, guys.

[00:36:23] You're the best.

[00:36:25] Awesome.

[00:36:26] You did a, you did a whole podcast.

[00:36:27] This is the first time you've done a podcast, right?

[00:36:29] I'm just talking.

[00:36:29] Look at this.

[00:36:30] That's all I know.

[00:36:31] That's all I know what to do, man.

[00:36:33] Impressive.

[00:36:34] All right.

[00:36:34] Thank you, Stacey.

[00:36:35] All right, guys.

[00:36:35] You take care.

[00:36:36] Be safe.

[00:36:36] All right.

[00:36:36] Bye.

[00:36:37] All right.

[00:36:38] Bye now.

[00:36:41] Bye now.

[00:36:42] And we are backstomped.

[00:36:43] So pretty good.

[00:36:44] You know, Stacey's down there getting her volunteer time in.

[00:36:48] It's impressive.

[00:36:49] Monumental effort underway.

[00:36:51] And hopefully she'll come back and give us a little update soon.

[00:36:54] But nice work, Stacey and all the volunteers.

[00:36:58] Yeah.

[00:36:58] Yeah.

[00:36:58] It's got to be rough down there.

[00:37:00] I mean, it's like you live your life.

[00:37:02] You're in a daily routine.

[00:37:03] And then like something crazy like this happens.

[00:37:05] And then, you know, for the next six to 12 months, they're going to be cleaning up

[00:37:08] and trying to get electricity.

[00:37:11] Yeah.

[00:37:12] Amazing.

[00:37:13] Yeah.

[00:37:13] What do you think, Stump?

[00:37:14] Would you stick around if a calamity happened in New Hampshire?

[00:37:17] Or would you just head somewhere else and move somewhere else?

[00:37:22] I would stick around for sure.

[00:37:25] We're surrounded by really capable people up here that are more than capable to survive

[00:37:32] if something bad happened.

[00:37:34] So I think I'd be pretty comfortable up here with the resources and the community itself.

[00:37:38] How about you?

[00:37:39] I would run immediately.

[00:37:41] I don't blame you.

[00:37:42] A bunch of baristas, man.

[00:37:44] Run from the baristas.

[00:37:45] They're not going to help you.

[00:37:46] I would run.

[00:37:47] I would say, get me to someplace that's comfortable with electricity.

[00:37:53] Oh, man.

[00:37:54] No, I don't know.

[00:37:55] I mean, I don't know.

[00:37:56] I was talking to my parents.

[00:37:57] Like they just went through the hurricane down in Florida last night.

[00:38:00] Yeah.

[00:38:01] And, you know, they're in center state.

[00:38:03] And luckily the tornado, the hurricane, sorry, the tornado, went a little bit south.

[00:38:09] It just, it bumped a little south at the end to hit Sarasota instead of Tampa.

[00:38:14] And then went like a little bit below them center state.

[00:38:18] So it worked out.

[00:38:19] 19 tornadoes.

[00:38:21] 19 tornadoes, dude.

[00:38:23] Those tornadoes, that's the thing that's crazy is that those tornadoes hit like Port St. Lucie.

[00:38:28] So the tornadoes hit basically the southeast section on the other side of the state.

[00:38:33] So they were, when the hurricane was hit in Tampa, Port St. Lucie, which is on the eastern side of the state, that's where all the tornadoes popped off.

[00:38:43] It's sort of like that leading edge on the southeast side.

[00:38:45] So it hit Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, and then there was one at Vero Beach, which is where my father-in-law is.

[00:38:53] But those tornadoes are crazy because you can have a tornado that rips through an area, and one house will be standing perfectly fine, and the other one will be disappeared.

[00:39:03] Amazing.

[00:39:03] Yeah.

[00:39:04] Yeah, I'll tell you all about Mrs. Stomp's storm-chasing adventures because she's down there.

[00:39:08] She's at Lake Buena Vista.

[00:39:10] Oh, she is.

[00:39:11] Oh, she was right in the heart of it, yeah.

[00:39:13] All right.

[00:39:13] Well, all right.

[00:39:14] We'll get into that shortly.

[00:39:17] Good stuff.

[00:39:18] Mrs. Stomp's a storm-chaser.

[00:39:20] Right.

[00:39:21] Okay.

[00:39:21] That's cool.

[00:39:22] So I think here, Stomp, where are we on the script?

[00:39:28] All right.

[00:39:28] Oh, I have a really cool story about drone usage for search and rescue.

[00:39:37] Slasher's Hiking Topic of the Week.

[00:39:45] What you got?

[00:39:46] So this is out of the British Mountain Rescue team.

[00:39:53] There's an article on wired.com that talks about a homemade drone software that finds people when search and rescue teams can't.

[00:40:32] It was interesting.

[00:40:33] They were talking about this mountain rescue service in Britain where most of the people that are involved in this are older.

[00:40:43] They're in their 50s, 60s, 70s.

[00:40:44] And there's a very small number of younger people that have come in.

[00:40:49] But one of the younger guys is like, I guess he's into drone technology.

[00:40:54] And he had had this idea that he was like, you know, well, we can use drones to search for people.

[00:41:01] So there had been a case of a 56-year-old, they call them hill walkers, but we call them hikers, that had been out peak bagging or whatever.

[00:41:16] They call these Munroes, I guess, is the Scottish mountains.

[00:41:21] So this guy was out and about.

[00:41:24] He just talked to his girlfriend.

[00:41:26] It was late at night.

[00:41:27] He had just talked to her.

[00:41:28] Or it was later in the evening.

[00:41:29] He was talking to his girlfriend on the phone.

[00:41:31] He was like, oh, yeah, I'm a little bit behind, but I can see the lights of like this parking area that I'm going to get to.

[00:41:38] And actually what ended up turning out happening is that he didn't see the lights of a parking area.

[00:41:44] He saw the lights of like this farm equipment.

[00:41:48] So he thought he was in one particular area and that he could go kind of right towards this parking area.

[00:41:55] But what he ended up doing, he was going through the lights of this farming equipment and he was in the wrong area.

[00:42:00] And apparently he fell down like this gully and he ended up dying basically.

[00:42:05] But nobody knew this.

[00:42:06] So this guy was like everyone was looking for this guy.

[00:42:09] And they obviously knew that it was going to be a body recovery after a certain amount of time.

[00:42:14] But this member of the search and rescue team had been working on a drone technology.

[00:42:23] And he had sort of like he hadn't really he had done the software, but he hadn't really elegantly like coded it so that it would work as well as he wanted.

[00:42:33] But he had gone to like an annual meeting and he was talking about like his idea around like drone technology and how we might be able to apply it.

[00:42:43] And there was another search and rescue guy that was in the audience that had actually built a map software program for search and rescue that had allowed the search and rescue team to track all.

[00:42:58] So if they're out on a search, this map software allowed them to do in real time, see where every search team member was located on a map area.

[00:43:08] So that basically like the command center could see like, OK, there's 25 people out on a search.

[00:43:13] Here's where they're all located using GPS coordinates.

[00:43:16] So he had the map software and so the old this is an older guy that had like coded this up in like the 2010s or the early 2000s.

[00:43:27] And he was like, you know, I think that we can use the platform that I've built for my map technology.

[00:43:33] Take the software that you've built that that's tied into the drones and then we can pair up together and then we can basically build like there's I think there's like three pieces to it.

[00:43:48] The way that the article lays it out is one is building the software that allows for flying the drone in a way that photographs can be taken like most effectively.

[00:43:57] So essentially they need to take like I think nine photographs or nine frames of each area and ensure that they have like enough overlap so that every object that gets picked up has at least nine frames on average.

[00:44:13] And then they also needed to program in LIDAR data data that underpins like the contours of the maps and then also program in to ensure that the drone never leaves sight of the user.

[00:44:27] And then after that they can build software that calculate calculates like a grid and analyzes the pixels of an image.

[00:44:37] And essentially what they do is they take a look at the most prevalent pixel colors and then that's sort of like the background area and then they look for anomalies.

[00:44:48] So they say like okay in this particular grid there's all the pixel colors are the same or they're like different shades of green and brown.

[00:45:01] Then if you see something that's like a little bit different than that's how you pinpoint and then it'll analyze it and say like this might be a hit that you can look at and then it'll show the user take a look at this photo.

[00:45:12] And then I think the last piece of it is you know just basically ranking the anomalies in a way that gets the user quick enough.

[00:45:25] So essentially they took this out they had tested it on their own by putting like different colored jackets and fields and it had worked really well.

[00:45:32] So they finally they were like let's go out to this area and see if we can find this body and within an hour they went out there and they were able to use the drone technology.

[00:45:43] I think it was like the second zone that they searched for it immediately came up.

[00:45:48] They were able to take a look at the picture zoom in and they boom they could see the guy's body and he was wearing clothes that were like very similar to the color of the surroundings like brown and green jackets and clothes.

[00:46:00] But it was a different enough pixel color that stood out that they could say like yep that's where he is and he it turned out he was in a gully and they had the search and rescue team had covered that in a grid search like weeks ago.

[00:46:12] And they were within like 20 feet of the guy.

[00:46:15] Yeah so it sounds like a digital hasty search.

[00:46:18] Exactly.

[00:46:19] It's basically just like they very quickly able to get the surface of an area identify the color patterns on the pixels and then look for anomalies and then those anomalies are what they they're pinning on to say like okay this is what's most likely different.

[00:46:35] Now this wouldn't work in the whites that well because you're talking about you know you got the tree cover but an area like Scotland.

[00:46:41] That's where LIDAR comes in.

[00:46:42] Yeah.

[00:46:43] LIDAR can I don't know how it does it but LIDAR does somehow with laser get past that canopy barrier.

[00:46:52] Yeah so maybe.

[00:46:53] So it's very cool technology for search and rescue but I was thinking about it stop like this is scary technology from the perspective of like military applications because think about this.

[00:47:03] Oh god yeah.

[00:47:04] Like I've been I see some of these like drone videos of like what's going on in Ukraine and stuff.

[00:47:10] Nightmare.

[00:47:10] Nightmare but like you could you could definitely use this apply this to like military for nefarious purposes like it's a little bit scary when you that.

[00:47:19] At first I was like this is so cool and then I was like wait a minute.

[00:47:22] They could use this to like really pinpoint people's like you'd have to figure out how to get invisible clothes or something.

[00:47:30] Yeah it's impossible.

[00:47:31] I mean the AI can actually see angular like an elbow.

[00:47:35] It can identify these weird things that stand out from nature too.

[00:47:39] So it's a whole new technology here.

[00:47:42] It's wild.

[00:47:42] We're living in black mirror.

[00:47:44] But I mean for search and rescue it's super cool.

[00:47:46] But hopefully they don't use it for military applications.

[00:47:50] But I think I think they probably are already at this point.

[00:47:53] Yes.

[00:47:55] Unfortunately.

[00:47:56] Yeah.

[00:47:56] Scary.

[00:47:57] But anyway we'll keep an eye on that.

[00:47:59] But I thought it was a good story and I'll link that in the show notes.

[00:48:01] And then Stomp you had shout out to Matt Morse.

[00:48:06] I think he he's your mole right.

[00:48:07] He's your version.

[00:48:08] You're Al.

[00:48:10] Apparently so.

[00:48:11] Yeah.

[00:48:12] Well thanks.

[00:48:12] Yes.

[00:48:12] We appreciate it.

[00:48:14] Sure do.

[00:48:15] Good.

[00:48:16] So Matt sent over this story.

[00:48:17] Tracy Metcalf became the first U.S. woman to scale all 14 of the world's 8,000 meter peaks.

[00:48:23] She did so by summiting Tibet's Shishu Pangma.

[00:48:29] Pangma.

[00:48:31] Good job.

[00:48:32] Shishu Pangma.

[00:48:34] It's the lowest of the 14.

[00:48:37] And she's 50.

[00:48:39] She's a 50 year older.

[00:48:40] Okay.

[00:48:41] Excellent.

[00:48:41] Yeah.

[00:48:42] That's young.

[00:48:42] That's impressive.

[00:48:43] What's the big deal about that?

[00:48:45] Well I thought this would have been broken already by some spry 20-ish year older or something

[00:48:50] like that.

[00:48:51] But apparently that's not the case.

[00:48:52] Yeah.

[00:48:52] 50 is the new 20.

[00:48:53] So she's from Vail, Colorado.

[00:48:55] So I would have thought that a New Hampshire right would have broken it.

[00:48:58] But anyway we'll take Vail, Colorado.

[00:49:01] But she said that they had a heavy snowfall at about a meter of fresh snow at the base

[00:49:08] camp.

[00:49:08] But the snow was very heavy and wet which bonded nicely and made avalanche risk much lower

[00:49:13] than last year.

[00:49:15] So she was very happy.

[00:49:17] And there's a video on here of her arriving at the summit and the view looks absolutely

[00:49:22] amazing.

[00:49:22] But she's all geared up like you would see like people climbing Mount Everest.

[00:49:25] She's got the oxygen mask and all that stuff on.

[00:49:27] So good for her.

[00:49:30] Congrats.

[00:49:31] Pretty epic things that people do.

[00:49:33] Yep.

[00:49:33] So first female to finish all 14 of the world's highest peaks.

[00:49:38] Mm-hmm.

[00:49:39] Very good.

[00:49:39] All right.

[00:49:39] Now Stomp.

[00:49:40] This is the story we're all waiting for.

[00:49:42] Mrs. Stomp is in Florida breaking news.

[00:49:45] So she's going to come on and break down how she survived Hurricane Milton.

[00:49:49] Yeah.

[00:49:50] It's pretty wild.

[00:49:50] So she was on vacation for the last few weeks.

[00:49:52] She at Disney?

[00:49:54] Yeah.

[00:49:55] So this is funny.

[00:49:56] So we enjoyed some time last week together and did a ton of kayaking and stuff like that.

[00:50:01] And then she bolted down south just as this Melvin was brewing.

[00:50:06] She had enough brew.

[00:50:08] Well, she opted for a hurricane over me.

[00:50:11] Imagine that.

[00:50:12] She would rather go and hang out in a hurricane than hang out with you.

[00:50:17] Right.

[00:50:19] So the day before landfall of Melvin, she actually got a good day at Disney and wherever else

[00:50:25] she went.

[00:50:26] You know, the Disney Day Drinkers Club and all that crazy nonsense that kids do.

[00:50:31] Uh, but as things started to intensify, it got a little interesting because she was at

[00:50:37] Lake Buena Vista, which is what?

[00:50:38] Outside of Orlando?

[00:50:40] Which is essentially where that tornado, uh, ring was heading northwest towards.

[00:50:46] So it was an interesting night last night.

[00:50:47] I checked in on her quite a bit.

[00:50:50] But, uh, yeah.

[00:50:52] She's a new storm chaser.

[00:50:54] Look at that.

[00:50:54] She's just like, yeah, wild.

[00:50:56] She survived.

[00:50:57] Was she in a hotel?

[00:50:59] Uh, staying with friends.

[00:51:00] Yeah.

[00:51:01] Okay.

[00:51:01] She's having a great old time, but she'll be back this weekend to give us the gory details.

[00:51:04] Oh.

[00:51:05] But she is in one piece.

[00:51:06] Thank God you didn't tell me she was down there.

[00:51:08] I would have been a wreck.

[00:51:12] I was a wreck for a while watching the news.

[00:51:14] Like, damn, it's getting bad.

[00:51:16] Yeah.

[00:51:17] I got a lot.

[00:51:17] I mean, my parents are in the down there.

[00:51:20] Um, I got an uncle that's in Sarasota, which took the direct hit.

[00:51:23] He's like 80, he's like 80, my aunt's like 86 years old.

[00:51:27] So, um, yeah.

[00:51:28] But yeah, it's a little scary down there, but, um, Florida's nice though.

[00:51:32] I do enjoy it.

[00:51:33] Oh yeah.

[00:51:34] Gator Nados.

[00:51:35] Shark Nados.

[00:51:36] Shark Nados.

[00:51:37] I mean, what else can you get?

[00:51:40] There's this guy that, uh, he's so fantastic on social media.

[00:51:43] They call him Lieutenant Dan because.

[00:51:45] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:51:46] Yeah.

[00:51:46] Oh, you saw, you know this guy?

[00:51:48] Oh, sure do.

[00:51:49] Yeah.

[00:51:49] Lieutenant Dan.

[00:51:50] Is he moored to a little boat?

[00:51:51] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:51:52] He lost it.

[00:51:53] Yeah.

[00:51:53] I guess he said, he's got a great origin story.

[00:51:56] He was, when he was 16, he was going to meet.

[00:51:59] He, so first of all he had to buy a gold chain and he was like, after he bought his

[00:52:03] gold chain, he was going to meet his girlfriend and they had agreed that they were, he was

[00:52:07] going to lose his virginity that day.

[00:52:10] So he, he took a scooter, motorized scooter and Lieutenant Dan's on his way to lose his

[00:52:16] virginity and he crashes into a car, breaks his leg and the break was so bad that they

[00:52:21] amputated his leg.

[00:52:23] And from there he became like, I guess he got mixed up in drugs and he became homeless.

[00:52:28] I don't know if he ever lost his virginity, but somehow he's became homeless, but he's

[00:52:33] living on a boat in Tampa Bay and this guy refused to leave his boat.

[00:52:40] Now it's a, like a 20 foot sailboat and he's got the thing tied up and it's like the, you

[00:52:44] know, the storm surge is coming in and the chief of police is asking him to leave.

[00:52:49] The mayor of the city's telling him to leave and he's like, I'm not leaving.

[00:52:52] I'm not leaving.

[00:52:53] Yeah.

[00:52:54] And he survived.

[00:52:55] Last I heard, they had forced him to leave.

[00:52:58] Is that true?

[00:52:58] Nope.

[00:52:58] Nope.

[00:52:59] That was a lie.

[00:53:00] Yeah.

[00:53:00] Okay.

[00:53:01] He stayed on.

[00:53:02] There was some kid going out there filming him.

[00:53:04] So he survived, but people are crazy.

[00:53:06] Wow.

[00:53:07] That's intense.

[00:53:08] Yes.

[00:53:09] Wow.

[00:53:09] Does he know how to sail in case he had to?

[00:53:12] I don't know.

[00:53:12] I don't think so.

[00:53:13] Probably not.

[00:53:14] Wow.

[00:53:16] Wow.

[00:53:16] Interesting stuff.

[00:53:17] I'll link some videos of Lieutenant Dan.

[00:53:20] See all these, all these great stories of survival.

[00:53:23] Mrs. Stomp, Lieutenant Dan.

[00:53:25] Yeah.

[00:53:25] Yeah.

[00:53:26] It's just are inspiring.

[00:53:28] Grandpa and Grandma Mike surviving in the villages, protecting their golf cart.

[00:53:33] The villages.

[00:53:35] Oh God.

[00:53:37] So good.

[00:53:37] All right.

[00:53:38] Well, Stomp, continuing the theme of sort of a, you know, maybe some sad stories here.

[00:53:46] So we wanted to just give a shout out to, well, why don't you do this one, Stomp?

[00:53:51] Like I think you had more of a connection here than I did.

[00:53:54] Yeah.

[00:53:55] We unfortunately lost a fishing game officer.

[00:54:00] He passed away unexpectedly, quote unquote, just this past week.

[00:54:05] And the, I mean, you may know him from Northwood's Law.

[00:54:10] If you go to the memorial website here at the Bryant Funeral Home, there's a place you

[00:54:16] can put comments in and you can read the comments and there's literally thousands of

[00:54:20] comments of people that saw this individual on Northwood's Law.

[00:54:24] But I had the fortune of sharing a bunch of missions with him and just, he was just a

[00:54:30] great guy on trail, just a hard worker, but always smiling.

[00:54:35] And, but apparently, you know, he had his demons.

[00:54:38] So we're going to miss him.

[00:54:39] And it's just sort of a shock to the community and condolences to the family.

[00:54:45] And, you know, I'm sure that the family will be taken care of, but it's a big loss for

[00:54:50] sure.

[00:54:50] Yeah.

[00:54:51] This is conservation officer Levi Fry, by the way, just, just.

[00:54:54] Levi Fry.

[00:54:55] Yep.

[00:54:55] So.

[00:54:56] Yeah.

[00:54:57] Yeah.

[00:54:57] So he passed away 30 years old.

[00:54:59] I think he was in, on the fishing game for about six or seven years.

[00:55:03] He had been on Northwood's Law.

[00:55:06] I definitely remember him on a couple of episodes.

[00:55:08] So yeah.

[00:55:09] Sad story.

[00:55:10] But he was an avid outdoorsman, hunting, fishing, working outside.

[00:55:16] So passionate about animals.

[00:55:18] So he, it's just a sad story.

[00:55:21] Yeah.

[00:55:22] He leaves behind a young one and his wife apparently.

[00:55:25] And if, if anybody wants to make donations, you can do it in his memory through the New

[00:55:31] Hampshire Conservation Officers Relief Association.

[00:55:34] Checks payable to CORA, C-O-R-A.

[00:55:38] And that's care of the New Hampshire Fishing Game Department, Law Enforcement Division, 11

[00:55:42] Hazen Drive in Concord, New Hampshire.

[00:55:45] Yeah.

[00:55:46] So just so you know.

[00:55:48] Yep.

[00:55:48] And I'll put this in the show notes and, you know, thoughts going out to the fishing game

[00:55:53] community.

[00:55:54] I'm sure that it's always difficult for them to lose a friend and a great officer.

[00:56:00] That's right.

[00:56:02] All right, Stomp.

[00:56:03] So moving on.

[00:56:05] I did have a note here to just check in on foliage.

[00:56:07] So the foliage situation, I was up there last weekend and it was, it was prime time.

[00:56:13] So I'm assuming it's, it's probably going to be prime time this weekend as well.

[00:56:17] That's it.

[00:56:17] Yeah.

[00:56:18] It's at peak and it's beautiful.

[00:56:19] It's really popping.

[00:56:20] Yeah.

[00:56:21] Like a lot of red this year.

[00:56:22] I feel like this is a good year compared to a couple of years, last couple of years.

[00:56:27] Yeah.

[00:56:28] My favorite thing is when the snow hits, when the snowy tops are contrasted with the foliage

[00:56:33] on the bottom and that hit already.

[00:56:35] So as we're recording today, there's four inches on top of Mount Washington and you got

[00:56:41] to listen to the forecast if you haven't heard it or look it up on higher summits, but they're

[00:56:44] looking at high winds and more precipitation over the weekend.

[00:56:48] So it's definitely time to get ready for the snowy conditions up high.

[00:56:54] Yep.

[00:56:54] I am.

[00:56:55] I'm ready for the snow, Stomp.

[00:56:57] Yeah, me too.

[00:56:58] Absolutely.

[00:57:05] Ready for Slashers gear review.

[00:57:16] All right.

[00:57:18] So Stomp, we're going to talk about gear review here.

[00:57:21] So you purchased that Plasma.

[00:57:24] Plasma lighter.

[00:57:24] So you're going to be torching everything.

[00:57:27] Yeah.

[00:57:28] Here it is right here.

[00:57:30] Let me show you.

[00:57:31] Look, here's the little plasma arc.

[00:57:33] Ready?

[00:57:34] Woo.

[00:57:34] It's like the X-Men.

[00:57:36] Well, I got a different one.

[00:57:38] I didn't get the one that actually shoots the torch up.

[00:57:41] That thing was pretty crazy, but I just got a standard one and it works like a charm.

[00:57:45] Windproof, waterproof.

[00:57:46] It will light no matter what because it's not reliant upon.

[00:57:49] So wait a minute.

[00:57:50] So press that button again.

[00:57:51] It just turns into like a little X.

[00:57:52] It's USB charged.

[00:57:55] It's electricity.

[00:57:56] It creates plasma.

[00:57:58] A plasma arc between.

[00:57:59] So then if you put, then you put that on a leaf and it'll burn.

[00:58:03] It'll light it right up.

[00:58:04] Oh yeah.

[00:58:05] It's amazing.

[00:58:06] So it's a nice idea for backpacking and camping if you want to get that wet fire going for sure.

[00:58:13] So I'm really happy with it.

[00:58:14] It's great.

[00:58:14] I would have got the torch myself, but that'll do.

[00:58:18] Yeah.

[00:58:19] So I also stumbled upon this tactical hiking pole.

[00:58:25] We've done this before.

[00:58:27] Have we?

[00:58:28] Oh yeah.

[00:58:28] I don't think.

[00:58:29] I don't recall it.

[00:58:30] But anyway, it's funny as hell.

[00:58:32] It comes with tools, knives, compasses, everything built into a hiking pole.

[00:58:35] So you can check it out.

[00:58:38] Yeah.

[00:58:40] So what Stomp is talking about is it is a multi-tool trekking pole.

[00:58:46] So this is like one of these deals where it's like a black metal pole and then it's like

[00:58:51] you can unscrew it and there's like, there's a bayonet.

[00:58:55] So you can literally like just absolutely kill someone with this thing.

[00:58:59] Yeah.

[00:59:00] There's another stabby tool.

[00:59:03] Fire starter.

[00:59:04] There's a fire starter.

[00:59:06] There's a Phillips head screwdriver.

[00:59:08] Like this thing is like, this has no practical application for hiking whatsoever.

[00:59:12] I suppose.

[00:59:14] Yeah.

[00:59:14] I suppose.

[00:59:15] You never know.

[00:59:16] You never know.

[00:59:17] You never know.

[00:59:18] You never know.

[00:59:19] But I'll include this in the show notes.

[00:59:21] And if anybody, if I see anybody out there hiking with this thing, I'm going to mock

[00:59:24] you endlessly.

[00:59:26] But it's made out of aluminum too.

[00:59:27] I wonder how heavy it is.

[00:59:29] That's the one thing I couldn't find on the description.

[00:59:32] But anyway.

[00:59:33] Yeah.

[00:59:34] Yeah.

[00:59:34] That's what I am thinking of here.

[00:59:36] They sell like corporate kits.

[00:59:40] I don't know what that is.

[00:59:43] Not really sure.

[00:59:44] Hold on a sec here.

[00:59:45] Wait a minute.

[00:59:46] It says, well, retaining a total trekking pole late of just under one pound.

[00:59:54] Oh.

[00:59:55] I call it.

[00:59:55] That's heavy.

[00:59:56] Well, that's.

[00:59:58] That's super heavy.

[00:59:59] I'm suspicious.

[01:00:00] But yeah, it's got.

[01:00:03] Here's the attachment.

[01:00:04] It's got an outdoor knife cutter, a double head screwdriver, a fire starter, a can opener,

[01:00:09] a saw, a bottle opener, a fish scaler.

[01:00:12] What is a fish scaler?

[01:00:14] It removes the scales off of fish so you can cook it up.

[01:00:17] I know.

[01:00:18] But like, what does it look like?

[01:00:21] Serrated.

[01:00:21] I guess.

[01:00:22] I guess.

[01:00:22] A whistle and a compass.

[01:00:24] And it's adjustable.

[01:00:27] So I think the good people in North Carolina need a bunch of these.

[01:00:33] We've got to send a bunch down.

[01:00:35] This lady's hiking.

[01:00:36] She's got two of them.

[01:00:36] And she looks like super happy.

[01:00:38] But okay.

[01:00:39] Well, I'm sure her arm's a jack too.

[01:00:41] Right?

[01:00:41] At a pound.

[01:00:42] So it's $85.

[01:00:44] So I guess somebody buy this.

[01:00:46] Yeah, it's cheap.

[01:00:48] I might buy this for Dave Schitts in the woods and have him do a gear review for us.

[01:00:54] Yeah, he'd be down.

[01:00:56] We all know that hiking a mountain can be hard at times.

[01:01:00] So here's a corny dad joke to help you get over it.

[01:01:05] Ba-dum-bum.

[01:01:08] All right, Stomp.

[01:01:08] This is the part of the show where we do a dad joke.

[01:01:10] So shout out to who was that that sent in this dad joke?

[01:01:14] Was it Anna?

[01:01:16] Let me look quickly here.

[01:01:18] I think it was Anne Tellier.

[01:01:22] Okay.

[01:01:22] Well, shout out.

[01:01:23] Thank you, Anne.

[01:01:24] Stomp.

[01:01:25] How do trees grow on the...

[01:01:28] Oh, how do trees go on the internet?

[01:01:31] How?

[01:01:32] They log in.

[01:01:35] I like it.

[01:01:36] I like that one.

[01:01:37] That's a good one.

[01:01:38] Thanks, Anne.

[01:01:39] Stomp.

[01:01:40] Stomp.

[01:01:40] Why did the bike fall over?

[01:01:44] I have no idea.

[01:01:45] Because it was too tired.

[01:01:48] Too tired.

[01:01:50] Too tires.

[01:01:51] Get it?

[01:01:51] Anyway.

[01:01:52] That is...

[01:01:55] That is the dad jokes for the week now.

[01:01:57] Stomp.

[01:01:57] Pop culture talk.

[01:01:59] You've got to hear the Joker part two.

[01:02:00] I don't know anything about this.

[01:02:02] Yeah.

[01:02:03] Joker.

[01:02:03] I don't know.

[01:02:04] Joker was a smash billion dollar hit.

[01:02:07] Joker 2 came out and it's getting panned.

[01:02:10] Mr. Stomp and I saw it when it came out.

[01:02:12] A matinee show in Lincoln.

[01:02:14] And it actually blew us away.

[01:02:16] People are complaining about two things.

[01:02:18] The musical aspect of it.

[01:02:20] It's like...

[01:02:21] It's basically like a musical...

[01:02:24] It's in his mind.

[01:02:25] It's a musical.

[01:02:25] But that totally connects to the first movie.

[01:02:28] I mean, music was such a big part of the first movie.

[01:02:30] Second complaint I'm hearing is that it's focused more on Arthur Fleck.

[01:02:34] But, I mean, what can you focus on with Joker?

[01:02:38] You know that he's just a maniacal murderer.

[01:02:41] So, the Arthur Fleck thing was fascinating.

[01:02:43] They really deconstruct Arthur Fleck.

[01:02:47] So, we gave it two thumbs up.

[01:02:49] It was amazing.

[01:02:50] But it's getting panned.

[01:02:51] But for those pure Joker fans out there, I think you're going to enjoy it.

[01:02:55] All right.

[01:02:55] That's my stomp review.

[01:02:56] Okay.

[01:02:57] Well, I'll never see it.

[01:02:58] I can guarantee you that.

[01:03:01] No interest.

[01:03:02] Two snaps in a circle, stomp.

[01:03:04] Yeah.

[01:03:06] All right.

[01:03:07] Next up is sponsor CS Coffee.

[01:03:10] All right.

[01:03:10] CS Instant Coffee.

[01:03:12] Do more.

[01:03:13] Wait less.

[01:03:14] CS Instant Coffee.

[01:03:17] You can get that at csinstant.coffee.

[01:03:20] Some of the best backpacking instant coffee you'll get.

[01:03:22] It's really tasty stuff.

[01:03:26] Ba-ba-ba.

[01:03:26] Moving on.

[01:03:27] We have, let's see, the old free sticker update at Ski Fanatics.

[01:03:30] And congratulations to Spinner's Pizza Parlor where you can also get your stickers.

[01:03:34] Their 30th anniversary is today, Friday, the day of the release for the episode.

[01:03:40] So, congrats to Dolls and Pops for 30 years of some of the best food in Andover region

[01:03:44] off of Dascom Road in Massachusetts.

[01:03:48] We have some coffee donations this week.

[01:03:51] If you want to show your support for the podcast, donate at the Slash or Buy Me a Coffee site

[01:03:56] off of the Instagram link tree.

[01:03:57] And we have five coffees donated by Jennifer B. Lynn Sublime.

[01:04:04] Thank you, Jennifer.

[01:04:05] Mr. Todd Fish also donated five coffees.

[01:04:10] And then Mel in Maine donated five.

[01:04:13] So, the donations are rolling in and we really appreciate it.

[01:04:17] Thank you very much, everybody.

[01:04:19] Thank you.

[01:04:19] Thank you.

[01:04:20] I feel like there's always new equipment to buy.

[01:04:22] So, I think that we'll be spending in as quickly as it comes in.

[01:04:26] So, we appreciate it.

[01:04:28] Yeah, absolutely.

[01:04:29] Are we buying?

[01:04:30] Do we have a new?

[01:04:31] I feel like you wanted a new piece of equipment.

[01:04:33] You had said something.

[01:04:35] Yeah, we just got a new podcast recording system that we're going to bust out for the

[01:04:40] Reckless show on November 16th.

[01:04:42] Which, again, is sold out, but you can sign up on a waiting list if anybody's interested.

[01:04:46] Okay.

[01:04:46] Yeah.

[01:04:47] So, you'll be happy because you'll be able to wear headphones and actually hear what

[01:04:51] you're saying.

[01:04:52] I like it.

[01:04:53] That's going to be nice.

[01:04:54] I like it.

[01:04:55] All right.

[01:04:55] Stop.

[01:04:56] This is the part of the show where we normally talk about beer, but we're sober October-ing,

[01:05:00] I think.

[01:05:01] Sober October.

[01:05:02] And Dave wants to let us know that, a little reminder here, he said basically that after

[01:05:08] Sober October is Bender November.

[01:05:10] So, drink up, boys.

[01:05:13] Well, I have a problem coming up this weekend because I'm going to like a festivus party

[01:05:18] and they have like a big, we have, I think it's called Big Rig Barbecue, the guy, that's

[01:05:24] fantastic, but like, it's going to be tough.

[01:05:26] It's going to be tough, stop.

[01:05:28] I might slip.

[01:05:29] Well, you get a cheat, you get a cheat, but hey, a quick shout out.

[01:05:33] There's a new cider brewer in Campton here, actually Thornton, and it's right up on Route

[01:05:39] 3 in Thornton and it's called Crucial 10 Craft Cider.

[01:05:44] And they're having events like every weekend.

[01:05:46] Last weekend was this giant press fest where they had music and, you know, you can get like

[01:05:53] a flight of different ciders that they're brewing custom at this place, so I've yet to go, but

[01:05:58] it looks really great.

[01:05:59] So, I just wanted to give them a little shout out.

[01:06:01] Support local business.

[01:06:03] Very good.

[01:06:04] Yeah.

[01:06:04] Very good.

[01:06:07] All right.

[01:06:07] Where are we on the show?

[01:06:08] Oh, this is the part of the show where we do recent hike stop.

[01:06:11] So, have you done anything recently with Mrs. Stomp?

[01:06:15] No.

[01:06:16] No.

[01:06:16] We've been kayaking.

[01:06:17] We picked up a cheap kayak for me and we've just been hitting everything.

[01:06:21] We hit Mirror Lake, Wellington State Park.

[01:06:24] That was amazing.

[01:06:26] Perch Pond, Upper Halls Pond, and it's just been great.

[01:06:29] A lot of fun.

[01:06:30] You just throw the kayaks on the back of the truck and off you go.

[01:06:33] It was nice for the foliage because you could just zip out to the other side of a pond and

[01:06:39] turn around and see, you know, Mount Prospect and it's great.

[01:06:42] It's really cool.

[01:06:43] Avoid the crowds.

[01:06:45] I love that.

[01:06:46] I get out on our little lake.

[01:06:47] We bought these cheap kayaks at Marshalls years ago.

[01:06:52] Okay.

[01:06:52] And I just hop on those things and I go out the other side of Paquacca Pond and I can

[01:06:56] see Burnt Meadow and I watch the sunset.

[01:06:58] Oh, my God.

[01:06:58] It's awesome.

[01:07:00] It's so cool.

[01:07:01] Yeah.

[01:07:01] Yeah.

[01:07:01] Cheap fun.

[01:07:02] Yeah.

[01:07:03] It's a blast.

[01:07:03] But I got out to Wildcat Ridge.

[01:07:06] So, Caroline, my daughter, had to get some 4,000 footers in.

[01:07:10] So, we banged out.

[01:07:11] Wildcat was at A and D, I think.

[01:07:13] So, we spotted a car at 19 Mile and then drove back up to Pinkham Notch.

[01:07:18] And then I had a crew with me.

[01:07:20] I had my nephew.

[01:07:22] His trail name is Hawaiian Punch.

[01:07:25] Yeah.

[01:07:25] He's made an appearance on the show before, I think.

[01:07:28] And then I had Caroline's boyfriend.

[01:07:31] We call him the Camel because he drinks a lot of water on the trail.

[01:07:34] Yep.

[01:07:35] How did Hawaiian Punch get his name?

[01:07:39] Because when we, the first time I took him hiking, he was, we went to the store and he

[01:07:48] was, so he was joking about the Appalachian Trail and I was telling him all about it.

[01:07:52] I'm like, people get trail names and blah, blah, blah.

[01:07:53] He's like, what's your trail name?

[01:07:55] What's my trail name?

[01:07:56] And I was like, well, it'll just come to us.

[01:07:59] So, we were getting drinks.

[01:08:01] I got a Gatorade and I was like, what color do you want?

[01:08:06] And I was like, you should get green because that's the best kind.

[01:08:09] And he's like, no, I like red.

[01:08:11] And then I was like, oh, I'm like, oh, you like Hawaiian Punch.

[01:08:15] And then that became his name.

[01:08:17] So, anyway, but we call him Hawaiian Punch.

[01:08:21] So, I had Hawaiian Punch.

[01:08:22] I had the Camel and Caroline and then me.

[01:08:24] So, we started at Pinkham Notch.

[01:08:28] It was great.

[01:08:28] I hadn't done that hike since we did it years and years ago in that blizzard.

[01:08:32] Right.

[01:08:32] So, the blizzard hike of death.

[01:08:35] Yeah, it was good.

[01:08:35] So, I was like hyping them up.

[01:08:37] I was like, this is the steepest mile on the Appalachian Trail.

[01:08:40] So, Hawaiian Punch was like the whole time.

[01:08:42] He was like, hey, Uncle Mike, this is the steepest mile on the Appalachian Trail.

[01:08:46] So, he.

[01:08:48] Adam Hoyt quote.

[01:08:50] Yes.

[01:08:50] Yeah.

[01:08:51] No, it's true.

[01:08:52] Yeah.

[01:08:53] I noticed that you guys went to the favorite overlook.

[01:08:57] That overlook's in Two Carter Notch.

[01:08:59] That's where Mr. Stomp and I took this iconic picture.

[01:09:01] It was like a long day and we've got to that moment and we had a rainbow behind us.

[01:09:06] I'll never forget that moment.

[01:09:07] That one overlook?

[01:09:08] Yeah.

[01:09:09] Oh, Two Carter Notch.

[01:09:09] You look right down into the.

[01:09:10] Matter of fact, there was.

[01:09:12] It's amazing.

[01:09:12] Yeah, there was.

[01:09:13] I got spotted there.

[01:09:14] Someone was like, you look really familiar.

[01:09:16] And I was like, oh, boy.

[01:09:17] Oh, boy.

[01:09:18] Really?

[01:09:19] Yeah, very nice.

[01:09:20] You know, it was nice chatting with them.

[01:09:21] But we had a weird thing happen to us.

[01:09:24] Stomp.

[01:09:25] This was, I didn't know.

[01:09:26] I was caught off guard.

[01:09:27] So, I always have extra candy bars with me just in case I see a through hiker.

[01:09:31] I give a little trail magic.

[01:09:32] All good to go.

[01:09:34] So, I had my candy bars ready to go.

[01:09:36] And sure enough, we're like 3,000 feet.

[01:09:39] We're going up a steep section of Wildcat.

[01:09:40] And I see this guy coming down.

[01:09:42] And he looks like a homeless through hiker, honestly.

[01:09:46] But the thing that was interesting is he had his backpack on.

[01:09:49] But then he had two shopping bags.

[01:09:52] So, this guy's coming down like the steepest section of Wildcat Ridge with a backpack.

[01:09:57] And then two shopping bags.

[01:09:59] And he had full.

[01:10:00] Different.

[01:10:01] I was like, oh, hi.

[01:10:02] How you doing?

[01:10:03] And he's like, hi.

[01:10:03] He's like, do you know where I can get food?

[01:10:07] And I was like, yeah.

[01:10:08] Well, you can just head down to Pinkham Notch.

[01:10:11] I said, there's going to be food there.

[01:10:12] And I said, you might be able to catch a ride into Lincoln or North Conway.

[01:10:17] And he introduced himself.

[01:10:19] So, he was like, I'm the first.

[01:10:23] He immediately starts breaking out his resume.

[01:10:25] I gave him a candy bar.

[01:10:26] Then he broke out his resume.

[01:10:28] He's like, I am the first homeless Filipino through hiker to complete the Appalachian Trail.

[01:10:37] And I was like, okay.

[01:10:38] That's cool.

[01:10:38] I'm like, I guess he hiked it last year.

[01:10:41] And now this year, he's just living on trail.

[01:10:43] So, yeah.

[01:10:45] It was interesting.

[01:10:46] I mean, he had his camp set up.

[01:10:49] And so, he wasn't like just coming through.

[01:10:52] He was going down to Pinkham.

[01:10:53] And then I think he was coming back up to stay.

[01:10:56] But it was interesting to meet him.

[01:10:58] He was a nice guy.

[01:10:59] But he freaked out a couple of the other hikers.

[01:11:01] Because when we got up to a ledge, some of the other hikers said to me, they were like, did you see that guy?

[01:11:05] Like, was everything okay?

[01:11:07] And I was like, yeah, I think he's okay.

[01:11:08] He's just hungry.

[01:11:09] Should have sent him to Market Basket Case.

[01:11:12] Yes.

[01:11:12] Yeah, I could have.

[01:11:14] So, but yeah.

[01:11:15] So, if you see.

[01:11:16] That's a little odd.

[01:11:17] What's he going to do for winter?

[01:11:19] I don't know.

[01:11:19] Hopefully, he'll head south.

[01:11:21] I hope.

[01:11:22] I hope.

[01:11:23] So, that's what I said.

[01:11:24] I was like, oh, it's going to get cold soon, pal.

[01:11:26] But we did see.

[01:11:27] I saw like two or three other through hikers.

[01:11:30] I feel like people are probably flip-flopping.

[01:11:34] Like if they get, you know, like time's running out on Katahdin.

[01:11:37] So, they're probably like up at the Katahdin the last couple of weeks.

[01:11:41] And then coming down and finishing up like the northern part.

[01:11:45] So, anyway.

[01:11:46] We also saw a fight between two dog owners, which was funny as hell.

[01:11:51] Oh, that's always fun.

[01:11:52] Oh, it was so good.

[01:11:53] We were on top of Wildcat.

[01:11:56] First of all, like I like had this joke teed up and I thought it was going to be so funny.

[01:12:01] And it just died on the vine.

[01:12:03] Like this guy sitting there with his little dog.

[01:12:06] And I like walked up and I was like, oh, I've been trying to reach you about your extended warranty.

[01:12:12] Which I thought was hilarious.

[01:12:14] And he got nothing out of him.

[01:12:16] Nothing.

[01:12:17] Zero, huh?

[01:12:18] Yeah.

[01:12:18] No, he was like, I don't get it.

[01:12:19] And I was like, you had to be there.

[01:12:21] And he was like, okay.

[01:12:22] But then I was talking to this nice guy.

[01:12:24] But he had a little off-leash dog.

[01:12:26] And the dog's fine.

[01:12:27] I had no issue with the dog.

[01:12:28] But then some other guy comes walking over.

[01:12:31] He's got his big dog on a leash.

[01:12:33] And the little dog starts like barking at the big dog.

[01:12:37] And I'm like, I mean, the stones on this guy.

[01:12:41] The guy with the off-leash dog says to the guy that has his dog on a leash, he says, you need to assert yourself more.

[01:12:55] Like you need to be more assertive towards my dog so that my dog won't bark at you.

[01:13:01] That makes sense.

[01:13:02] I'm like, this makes no sense whatsoever.

[01:13:04] And my daughter's there.

[01:13:05] We're like, holy shit.

[01:13:06] And the guy that's on the leash is just like, just get your dog, dude.

[01:13:09] Like enough with the Cesar Millan dog whisperer bullshit.

[01:13:14] But he's basically like, yeah, if you composed yourself in a different way, then my yippy-yappy dog wouldn't bark at you.

[01:13:25] And you wouldn't have to worry.

[01:13:27] I'm like, this makes no sense whatsoever.

[01:13:30] It sounds like a paw rescue about to happen.

[01:13:32] I don't know.

[01:13:33] I mean, I think the dogs are fine, but I was just like, dude, just put your dog on a leash.

[01:13:38] Yeah, that's wild.

[01:13:41] Yeah, it was entertaining.

[01:13:43] Yeah, I'm sure.

[01:13:44] I was like, oh, this is going to be a fight.

[01:13:46] Time to move on.

[01:13:48] Yes.

[01:13:49] Anyway, but yeah.

[01:13:51] But otherwise, it was a very fun hike.

[01:13:54] It's steep going down from Wildcat D to the Carter Notch.

[01:13:59] Yeah, and it sort of wraps around to the right.

[01:14:02] Yes.

[01:14:02] I remember that.

[01:14:03] I have fond memories of that in the winter.

[01:14:04] Yeah.

[01:14:05] Because it was just that snowshoe canal, and you're just zipping right down.

[01:14:08] Yeah.

[01:14:09] Yeah.

[01:14:09] Good stuff.

[01:14:10] But it was great.

[01:14:11] Yeah, there's a million overlooks in Wildcat.

[01:14:13] It hits that, like we talked about, getting a view down into a notch is the perfect scenario.

[01:14:20] So there's like three or four different outcroppings that you can get to at the beginning of the hike.

[01:14:25] Even like you didn't have to do the whole thing.

[01:14:26] Like you just get to, you know, go up to three, four thousand feet and you can see all kinds of views down into Pinkham Narch.

[01:14:32] So it's a great fall hike.

[01:14:35] Yeah, it's a good idea.

[01:14:36] Yeah.

[01:14:36] Yeah.

[01:14:37] It looks towards what?

[01:14:38] The Wild River?

[01:14:41] Well, the beginning of it, it looks down into Pinkham Narch.

[01:14:45] So you can see straight up.

[01:14:46] Like you can see the boat mountain range perfectly, and then you can see Chikora.

[01:14:51] But from Carter.

[01:14:52] You're looking, you can look towards Jackson, I think, from Carter.

[01:14:55] On the backside, yeah.

[01:14:57] When you get to D, but like, that's all.

[01:14:59] That's like later on.

[01:15:01] Like the beginning of the hike is where the real good views are.

[01:15:04] Oh, sure.

[01:15:05] Sure.

[01:15:05] So did your back get sweaty?

[01:15:08] No, not at all.

[01:15:09] I was, I was, wasn't even a glistening stomp.

[01:15:13] Wow.

[01:15:13] Well, if it did, we've got news for you because Volkluse Gear has a ventilation frame for you.

[01:15:20] So does your backpack get, ooh, not provide enough ventilation?

[01:15:25] Does your back sweat too much when backpacking?

[01:15:27] As you know, sweat can be extremely uncomfortable on the trail.

[01:15:31] Plus sweat is a serious risk factor in both hot and cold climates.

[01:15:35] As your clothes get wet, your core temperature can dramatically fluctuate.

[01:15:38] And this can result in hypothermia, heat exhaustion, dehydration, and let's not forget, just very uncomfortable.

[01:15:45] Today's your lucky day because we have good news for you.

[01:15:47] Two, there's a piece of gear that solves the sweat and ventilation problem, making your backpack more comfortable.

[01:15:53] It's Volkluse Gear's ultralight backpack ventilation frame.

[01:15:56] This ultralight frame is a backpack accessory that easily installs in your favorite pack size 15 liters to 45 liters

[01:16:04] and creates a ventilating airflow gap between you and your pack.

[01:16:07] It's also ultralight weighing around 3 ounces.

[01:16:10] That's equivalent to a pair of wool socks.

[01:16:13] So whether hiking in hot or cold temps, the ultralight backpack ventilation frame from Volkluse Gear is a real game changer regarding airflow and ventilation.

[01:16:22] So visit them at VolkluseGear.com to order an ultralight ventilation frame today

[01:16:27] and use promo code SLASER to enjoy a $5 discount and let them know that Mike and Stomp sent you.

[01:16:33] Very good.

[01:16:35] Yep.

[01:16:42] It's time for SLASER's notable hike of the week.

[01:16:45] If you want to be considered for the hike of the week, simply tag SLASER on your social media post.

[01:16:54] Now as a part of the show where we do notable listener hike of the week.

[01:16:58] Yeah.

[01:16:58] Yeah.

[01:16:59] If you want to tag SLASER on your adventure, do so.

[01:17:01] And we'll consider you for hike of the week.

[01:17:03] This week we have Steve Eats Shit.

[01:17:07] That's a nice name.

[01:17:09] 67 finish with a parentheses question mark on Abraham.

[01:17:14] I think that was his finish for that.

[01:17:16] That's a lot of sandwiches.

[01:17:18] And the 52 of the view on Roger's Ledge.

[01:17:22] So that's a completion of two lists.

[01:17:24] It's pretty impressive.

[01:17:26] Yeah, yeah.

[01:17:26] And Steve is a great guy.

[01:17:28] We ran into each other in the parking lot on a winter hike in the cars.

[01:17:31] And we've been hiking buddies ever since.

[01:17:33] We've gone out tons and tons since then.

[01:17:36] And he has a little thing where he takes scenic pictures of food.

[01:17:41] And I think it was on Roger's Ledge.

[01:17:43] He took a full rotisserie chicken.

[01:17:46] And he took a bite out of it.

[01:17:47] And he took a nice mountain photo with the rotisserie chicken.

[01:17:51] With the numbers, the candle numbers on top.

[01:17:54] Yeah.

[01:17:54] So that was his 67 finish, right?

[01:17:57] Yes.

[01:17:57] Okay.

[01:17:58] All right.

[01:17:59] Just checking.

[01:17:59] Yep.

[01:18:00] All right.

[01:18:00] Let's see.

[01:18:01] We have Fit to Hike 603.

[01:18:03] Hiked North Twin to Zealand and then to the Bonds.

[01:18:07] Gingerbeard Keen did a 21K Pleasant Mountain Trail Race hosted by the Loon Echo Land Trust,

[01:18:14] who visited the podcast about a month or so ago.

[01:18:17] Nice job.

[01:18:18] Nice.

[01:18:19] Jennifer Collins, 5678, completed the 52 of the view list on Roger's Ledge.

[01:18:26] And let's see.

[01:18:27] Dutchess 3663.

[01:18:30] Hiked North and Middle Sugarloaf for 22 out of 52 of the view.

[01:18:37] And I think that's it.

[01:18:39] I do have a note here.

[01:18:40] Let me just see if I can find this last one for two seconds.

[01:18:43] I don't know if I'll be able to, but it's Overton.

[01:18:48] Shame.

[01:18:49] Oh, you know what?

[01:18:50] Shame.

[01:18:51] This may have been an email submission.

[01:18:54] Shame.

[01:18:54] I honestly can't remember what it was.

[01:18:58] I apologize.

[01:18:58] Shame.

[01:18:59] Yeah, that is a shame.

[01:19:01] We'll get it.

[01:19:02] We'll get it next week.

[01:19:03] Yeah.

[01:19:04] Oh, I found it.

[01:19:05] Wait a minute.

[01:19:06] I got it.

[01:19:06] I found it.

[01:19:07] Here it is.

[01:19:08] Long time listener.

[01:19:09] Emailed you guys.

[01:19:10] Bah, bah, bah.

[01:19:11] I don't have social media, so I wanted to let you know I finished up the 52 of the view

[01:19:15] on McGalloway.

[01:19:16] Ooh.

[01:19:17] Nice.

[01:19:18] Nice work and nice recovery by Stomp.

[01:19:21] Nice.

[01:19:22] That's very good.

[01:19:22] So we have three 52 of the view finishers this week.

[01:19:27] That's a big list.

[01:19:29] That's a hard one to figure out, huh?

[01:19:30] Yeah, yeah.

[01:19:30] So I'd say shout out to Jennifer, shout out to Steve, shout out to Liv, and then Steve

[01:19:36] with the 67 finish.

[01:19:37] So very good.

[01:19:38] Notable hikes.

[01:19:39] Yeah.

[01:19:40] Everybody's a winner.

[01:19:41] Yes.

[01:19:41] Everyone gets a trophy.

[01:19:43] And there was much rejoicing.

[01:19:46] All right, Stomp.

[01:19:47] So we're going to move into our next segment here.

[01:19:49] So I got a chance to sit down with Allie Skelly, who is an interesting guy, a New Hampshire

[01:19:55] guy.

[01:19:56] He's done a lot of hiking.

[01:19:59] He just finished up a fundraising hike that he's doing for the spinal cord injury of Boston

[01:20:05] organization.

[01:20:06] I got a friend from high school that had reached out and gave me a heads up about Allie, and

[01:20:10] I was like, oh, let me get him on the podcast.

[01:20:11] So had a great conversation with him.

[01:20:14] Interesting story.

[01:20:14] So let's get into that, and then we'll come out the other side and wrap up with Search

[01:20:18] and Rescue News.

[01:20:20] All right.

[01:20:21] Titter-titter-titter.

[01:20:22] Boop-ba-doop-ba-doop.

[01:20:41] It's time for Slasher's Guest of the Week.

[01:20:45] Very cool.

[01:20:46] Very cool.

[01:20:56] All right.

[01:20:57] We're live, Allie.

[01:20:59] Allie, have you ever done a podcast before?

[01:21:01] First time.

[01:21:02] First time?

[01:21:11] Just tee this up for the listeners, and I'm going to give a little bit of rundown on SCI

[01:21:15] Boston, and then I'll let you introduce yourself.

[01:21:18] So just for the listeners, I got connected with Allie through an old high school, actually

[01:21:25] elementary school friend of mine, David Estrada.

[01:21:28] So shout out to David if you're listening to this.

[01:21:30] So David had connected me with Allie because he knew that I was into hiking.

[01:21:35] Allie's recently completed a hike of some 4,000 footers that is a fundraiser tied to Spinal

[01:21:43] Cord Injury Boston.

[01:21:44] They're Travis Roy Legacy Grant Program, so he's raising funds for that.

[01:21:49] So I wanted to have him join, tell his story, and talk a little bit about hiking and fundraising.

[01:21:53] So just for the listeners, some background on SCI Boston.

[01:21:58] So their mission is to work to reach, inspire, support, and empower all those affected by

[01:22:04] spinal cord injuries and disorders through their peer visitation program.

[01:22:09] So staff members and trained volunteers who've successfully navigated post-SCID life serve

[01:22:15] as mentors to help the newly injured and their families to better understand what happened,

[01:22:20] transition back into the community, and meet their goals of leading a fulfilling life.

[01:22:25] So SCI Boston was founded in the early 90s by several individuals affected by spinal cord

[01:22:31] injury.

[01:22:31] They wanted to assist other individuals and family members affected by this traumatic injury

[01:22:37] and show them that they can continue to live meaningful lives despite their injuries.

[01:22:42] So every year, about 300 individuals in Massachusetts suffer a spinal cord injury or disorder.

[01:22:47] It can happen to anybody at any time.

[01:22:50] We'll talk with Allie about his story.

[01:22:53] So it is both physically and emotionally devastating to the individual, the family members, and loved

[01:22:58] ones.

[01:22:59] The newly injured and those around them must learn to cope with this traumatic change and

[01:23:03] gradually adjust to post-injury life.

[01:23:05] Today, more than 30 years after the Boston chapter was founded, SCI Boston has supported

[01:23:10] thousands of individuals.

[01:23:11] So great organization, Allie.

[01:23:14] I appreciate you taking the time to come in to talk to us a little bit about this.

[01:23:18] And we'll talk a little bit about the fundraiser and the hiking stuff.

[01:23:21] But why don't you start off by introducing yourself, talk a little bit about your early

[01:23:25] life.

[01:23:25] I know you were a college hockey player, and it looks like you went into some outdoor

[01:23:29] activities when you were younger.

[01:23:31] So why don't you just introduce yourself and talk a little bit about those early days?

[01:23:35] Yeah.

[01:23:35] Thanks, Mike.

[01:23:37] And thanks for having me on.

[01:23:39] This is, again, this is my first podcast.

[01:23:43] So it's exciting.

[01:23:45] So I grew up in New Hampshire.

[01:23:48] I actually live in Rhode Island right now.

[01:23:52] Oh, what a downgrade.

[01:23:53] I know.

[01:23:55] No, I live on Aquidneck Island down by Newport.

[01:24:01] Oh, well, that's not that bad.

[01:24:02] Yeah.

[01:24:02] No, if you like the ocean, it's a beautiful area to live.

[01:24:07] And I have three young kids, two boys and a girl, nine, six, and three.

[01:24:13] Um, and, uh, uh, my wife is actually originally from New Hampshire as well.

[01:24:20] Um, but yeah, so I grew up in Wolfboro, New Hampshire.

[01:24:23] I'm more of a lake person than I am an ocean person.

[01:24:25] Uh, my wife grew up, um, in Stratum, New Hampshire.

[01:24:29] So she was a little closer to the ocean.

[01:24:31] Um, so she feels a little more at home around the ocean.

[01:24:35] I feel a little more at home, um, on a lake or in the mountains.

[01:24:39] So you compromise and live near the ocean.

[01:24:41] Yeah.

[01:24:42] Yeah.

[01:24:43] Exactly.

[01:24:44] That's how it works.

[01:24:45] I think I got the short end of the stick there.

[01:24:47] That's the way it works.

[01:24:48] Yeah.

[01:24:48] But we're not, you know, we're not far away and we're, we're, we spend a lot of time in

[01:24:52] New Hampshire.

[01:24:52] Both of our families are still there.

[01:24:55] Um, but yeah, you know, I grew up, um, uh, you know, obviously when you grow up in New

[01:25:00] Hampshire that you have a special connection to the, uh, to the outdoors, there's really no,

[01:25:05] no, um, you know, no way around that.

[01:25:09] Um, but I, you know, interestingly enough,

[01:25:11] I didn't really grow up, um, hiking.

[01:25:13] Um, I was, um, I love sports.

[01:25:17] Um, sports were kind of my, my thing.

[01:25:19] Uh, that was, that was my life growing up.

[01:25:22] I played every sport.

[01:25:24] Um, I was really competitive.

[01:25:26] Um, I did a lot of skiing, um, growing up.

[01:25:29] I, I did, I skied, uh, ski race competitively.

[01:25:32] So my winters were spent, you know, on the mountain skiing.

[01:25:36] And then I just remember my parents, you know, I do my, my two runs or whatever, and they'd,

[01:25:41] I'd meet them at the bottom of the mountain.

[01:25:43] We'd jump in the car and then we'd rush, you know, self to, to a hockey rink.

[01:25:47] Um, you know, and I, and I would, uh, play in a hockey game.

[01:25:51] That was kind of our weekend.

[01:25:53] Um, so, you know, I don't, I don't know how my parents did it.

[01:25:56] I was the oldest of three kids.

[01:25:59] Um, and, uh, it was just a massive commitment on their part.

[01:26:04] Um, but yeah, so that was, you know, and obviously in the summertime, um, you know, growing

[01:26:17] just playing outdoors, um, you know, everything under the sun.

[01:26:21] Um, so.

[01:26:22] And you, you developed a strong enough hockey game where you were able to play in college.

[01:26:27] Yeah.

[01:26:27] So I was, uh, you know, the, I got to a point, um, I think I was, it was middle school where

[01:26:33] it was kind of like, all right, what are you going to do here?

[01:26:35] Are you going to go after the hockey thing?

[01:26:36] Are you going to, um, you know, continue to ski and, and play hockey?

[01:26:41] And it was a pretty easy decision for me.

[01:26:43] I, I, um, you know, like I said, I'm, I'm a big sports guy, but I love team sports and,

[01:26:50] um, you know, you'd finish a ski race and, you know, there's nobody to high five, right?

[01:26:56] There's nobody to, you know, be excited about it with.

[01:27:00] So I, I was, I love team sports.

[01:27:02] I love being part of a team.

[01:27:04] Um, so I, you know, that's when I really, uh, um, you know, went hard after hockey, but

[01:27:10] I played in high school.

[01:27:11] I played football, um, in the fall hockey in the winter and then baseball in the spring.

[01:27:17] And I did that right through high school.

[01:27:19] I went four years of public school.

[01:27:21] And then I did a postgraduate year at, um, at Phillips Exeter Academy, which is a private

[01:27:27] school in, uh, Exeter, New Hampshire.

[01:27:30] And I played all three sports there.

[01:27:31] And really my intent with the, um, with the postgraduate year is that I wanted to play a

[01:27:37] sport in college.

[01:27:37] I just didn't know which one it was going to be.

[01:27:41] Um, and then once I got there, I had, uh, you know, a pretty successful hockey season

[01:27:47] and, um, you know, had the opportunity to then move on and play division one college

[01:27:52] hockey at St.

[01:27:53] Lawrence university.

[01:27:54] So, yeah.

[01:27:55] Yeah.

[01:27:56] And then, uh, so you're, so for people that aren't familiar, St.

[01:28:00] Lawrence is a, it's not as well known, like it's a specialized sort of hockey school for

[01:28:05] sure, but it is a D one there, you know, they make it into the NCAA tournament pretty

[01:28:09] frequently.

[01:28:10] And, uh, they've been in the finals a couple of times in the past as well.

[01:28:13] So it's a legit program.

[01:28:15] So how did you, uh, how did you adjust it?

[01:28:17] And it's an interesting story because nowadays kids don't take the path that you took where

[01:28:22] they, they're playing all three seasons, different sports.

[01:28:24] Like it's a lot more specialization now, which I think is, it's got its benefits and it's

[01:28:28] got the drawbacks for sure.

[01:28:29] And I think there's probably more drawbacks than benefits, but, um, the skills they develop

[01:28:34] are probably a little bit deeper now, but otherwise I think that it's, uh, it's just

[01:28:38] your path isn't, isn't the normal one that you see today.

[01:28:42] Yeah.

[01:28:42] It doesn't happen anymore.

[01:28:43] I mean, I, I, um, I work at a private boarding school now and, and, um, you know, I work in

[01:28:48] the admission office and I also coach the boys hockey team and, and, you know, we have

[01:28:53] a really successful program, um, at St.

[01:28:57] George's where I'm at.

[01:28:58] And, um, it's, uh, the kids basically just play hockey, you know, they do strength and

[01:29:04] conditioning in the fall, which, uh, and then they play fall hockey and then that leads them

[01:29:09] right in, right into our season.

[01:29:10] So my, um, you know, so my path doesn't exist anymore.

[01:29:14] Um, you know, it just doesn't happen.

[01:29:16] You got to play junior hockey now.

[01:29:18] And, and I, you know, I agree that there's, there's more drawbacks.

[01:29:23] There's more, there's more negatives than positives.

[01:29:25] Um, if I was going through that process today, I don't know if I could do it, to be honest

[01:29:30] with you.

[01:29:31] Um, man, I love the sport of hockey.

[01:29:33] Um, but it's, uh, it's, it's, um, it's more like a job at this point.

[01:29:38] Um, but to get to your question, I mean, it, it was a big, it was a big jump.

[01:29:43] I mean, we, when I was at Phillips section, we won the new England championship.

[01:29:46] So we had, um, you know, the best, um, prep team in, in new England, which is arguably

[01:29:51] the best league in the country, high school hockey league in the country.

[01:29:55] Um, but it was a massive jump.

[01:29:56] You know, I found myself on the, the St. Lawrence team, um, you know, a bunch of Canadian guys

[01:30:03] at that time.

[01:30:03] We were about, we were probably about 60, 40, uh, 60% Canadian, 40%, um, uh, American,

[01:30:12] you know, mostly new England guys.

[01:30:14] We had some guys from Michigan as well.

[01:30:16] Um, so it was, you know, it was a totally, it was an eyeopening experience.

[01:30:21] I redshirted my freshman year, uh, which was really good for me.

[01:30:25] Um, and, uh, you know, really tested my, um, my passion for the game and, and, and, and

[01:30:33] how bad I wanted to play at that level.

[01:30:36] Um, and, you know, um, I was able to, to work on my game as a, as a freshman, as a redshirt

[01:30:43] freshman, and then found my way into the lineup as a, um, uh, as a sophomore.

[01:30:50] And then at what point, so you, you got injured, uh, playing hockey at St. Lawrence.

[01:30:55] So what, what year did you end up having the injury?

[01:30:57] Can you describe what happened?

[01:30:59] Yeah.

[01:30:59] So it was, um, it was my senior year.

[01:31:01] Um, of course I still had my, my fifth year.

[01:31:05] Um, you know, if, if I had been, if I had been healthy because of that redshirt year, um,

[01:31:11] I was, I was one of the captains of the team.

[01:31:13] So I sort of worked my way, um, you know, up into a leadership role, which I was really,

[01:31:19] really proud of, proud of.

[01:31:21] Um, yeah, it was December, Friday, December 13th.

[01:31:24] So it was Friday the 13th.

[01:31:26] Um, it was, uh, 2002.

[01:31:30] Um, and it was, uh, it was my senior year and we were playing Lake Superior State University

[01:31:35] in a home series.

[01:31:37] So we were playing them on a Friday night and a Saturday night.

[01:31:40] And it was a Friday night game.

[01:31:41] It was pretty early in the first period.

[01:31:43] Um, I played defense.

[01:31:45] Um, I was on the blue line in the offensive zone and, and cut to the net as one of my,

[01:31:52] um, teammates was kind of curling out of the corner with the puck and he passed it to me.

[01:31:57] I was going full speed.

[01:31:59] Uh, the pass was a little out in front of me.

[01:32:01] So it got tipped to the end boards.

[01:32:03] And so I went in, you know, again, skating pretty hard and, um, you know, the defender

[01:32:09] just cross-checked me from behind.

[01:32:11] I lost my balance and really flew headfirst into the boards.

[01:32:15] Like it wasn't, uh, it wasn't a pretty, um, a pretty sight.

[01:32:20] I mean, I had the opportunity to watch it on, on video.

[01:32:24] Um, I actually, I, I, I think I might've watched it once or twice.

[01:32:28] It's not, it's not something that I, uh, really care, care to see, but went, went headfirst.

[01:32:35] My, my head was down.

[01:32:37] Um, I, I, I just remember, um, it was, you know, I, I knew, uh, so I was knocked out.

[01:32:46] For, you know, a short, short amount of time.

[01:32:48] I came to on the ice.

[01:32:50] I was laying on my back at that point.

[01:32:53] Um, you know, I may have had some teammates around me.

[01:32:55] I think the doctor and the trainer had, had got out there at that point.

[01:32:58] And, and when I opened my eyes, you know, I knew, I knew something had happened.

[01:33:04] Couldn't, didn't have any feeling in my, uh, you know, couldn't feel anything.

[01:33:08] Um, you know, but I, in my head, I was kind of just thinking that that was why I got hit

[01:33:13] really hard.

[01:33:13] I've never been hit that hard before.

[01:33:15] Hit my head.

[01:33:16] Um, you know, that was a concussion, you know, in my dreaming, like I'm in la la land.

[01:33:22] Um, and then, uh, again, couldn't feel anything.

[01:33:26] And then, you know, pretty quickly, uh, after I opened my eyes, everything started to tingle,

[01:33:31] um, you know, in my hands and in my legs.

[01:33:35] Um, and that was the feeling, you know, coming back.

[01:33:40] Um, you know, and again, I just kind of thought that was, that was normal.

[01:33:45] You know, I, again, I just never been hit that hard.

[01:33:48] So the doctor and the trainer, they're trying to evaluate me.

[01:33:51] And of course my, you know, the one thing I'm thinking is like, all right, like get me

[01:33:55] off the ice.

[01:33:56] And yeah, you got your bell rung and you know, you'll be back.

[01:33:59] You know, so I, I kind of talked them into the fact that I was fine.

[01:34:04] I, I got up and they let me skate off the ice, um, which in retrospect was probably, um,

[01:34:11] not smart, uh, to do, um, and would never happen today.

[01:34:16] Um, you know, that, that would never happen.

[01:34:19] Um, but did I, and, and, you know, so they got me in the training room and then I remember

[01:34:22] the trainer coming in and being like, you know, how do you feel is, you know, do you feel

[01:34:28] better?

[01:34:29] You know, coach wants to know you're coming back or not.

[01:34:31] And, um, and I just remember thinking, you know, there, there was something in my head

[01:34:38] that said, you're, you're in trouble.

[01:34:41] Like you're, this is not good.

[01:34:43] And I, I remember distinctly wanting to say, yes, I'm good.

[01:34:50] I'm coming back, but no came out.

[01:34:53] And it was, it's like this weird, you know, it was this weird thing that happened.

[01:34:57] Um, and thank God because, um, the, the doctor came in and sort of reexamined.

[01:35:04] And then next thing I know, you know, the ambulance is there and I'm, you know, strapped

[01:35:10] down on a board.

[01:35:10] And it was more at that time still, I think for precautionary reasons.

[01:35:15] And then once I got to the hospital, they took x-rays and, um, and, you know, again, at that

[01:35:20] point, like I'm, I'm thinking, you know, I'm, I'm okay, you know, I'll be out maybe a week

[01:35:24] or something.

[01:35:25] And I just remember the x-rays came back, doctors and nurses just ran in and there's like

[01:35:32] strapped me down and said, don't move.

[01:35:33] You can't move.

[01:35:35] And, um, uh, the game was happening at St. Lawrence.

[01:35:39] Again, I'm from New Hampshire.

[01:35:41] My parents weren't there, but my grandparents were, um, and, uh, you know, decisions were

[01:35:47] starting to be made.

[01:35:48] You know, we gotta, you gotta go to a trauma center and you have to have, you know, emergency

[01:35:53] surgery and all these things and everything's just moving really fast at that point.

[01:35:58] So that's, so you're, we talked a little bit about like our age, you're a little bit

[01:36:03] younger than I am, but like, I think almost everybody that anybody that was in the sports,

[01:36:07] like I was, I'm the opposite of you.

[01:36:09] I'm like, I'm, I'm an individual sports guy, the wrestling track, like, I don't like, I'm

[01:36:13] no I in team for me, unfortunately, but I've gotten better.

[01:36:16] But, um, but like even anybody that pays attention to sports paid attention to Travis Roy in the

[01:36:23] mid nineties, you know, getting, getting injured.

[01:36:26] So, um, is that going through your mind at that point?

[01:36:29] Or are you, or is that, that's probably in the back of a lot of hockey players' minds,

[01:36:32] right?

[01:36:33] Yeah.

[01:36:33] You know what?

[01:36:34] I, I don't know.

[01:36:35] I don't know if I was thinking that at the time, you know, again, like I was young, naive,

[01:36:39] um, ignorant, uh, you know, you could whatever, call me whatever.

[01:36:43] But I like, again, you're thinking like, all right, like, I don't know why all these people

[01:36:49] are making such a big deal about this.

[01:36:50] Like I'm, I'm going to get up and walk out of here and you know, I'll be fine.

[01:36:54] Um, but then, you know, I think, you know, as the minutes passed, the reality starts to

[01:37:01] set in.

[01:37:01] Um, and when they started talking about airlifting me to a hospital, like I was like, all right,

[01:37:07] you know, this is something's, something's going on.

[01:37:11] And then I remember my coaches had made it to the hospital at that point and they walked

[01:37:14] in and you could see it in their face that, you know, they, um, knew something was serious

[01:37:21] and, and I wasn't just, I wasn't able to, uh, mentally wrap my head around that at that

[01:37:27] point.

[01:37:27] But I mean, I had fractured and dislocated my C five, six and seven, um, uh, you know, so

[01:37:34] high up in the, in the neck.

[01:37:36] And, um, you know, it, the way the doctors explain it to me is just like, a, you're lucky

[01:37:44] to be alive.

[01:37:45] And then B like, you should 100% be in a wheelchair.

[01:37:49] Like there's, I mean, there's, uh, somebody, some, somebody was on your side.

[01:37:56] Um, and, uh, you know, so, um, just real, feel really fortunate.

[01:38:02] And even just getting from one hospital to another hospital and then getting to that hospital

[01:38:06] and, you know, having a surgeon come in and the early morning hours and be able to perform

[01:38:12] the fusion.

[01:38:13] I had all three vertebraes fused together.

[01:38:17] Um, and having that, um, uh, be a successful process.

[01:38:22] Like I just had a lot of luck on my side and that's really the only way, the only way I

[01:38:28] can, um, um, you know, again, just sort of, um, it's the only, it's, it's the only way

[01:38:35] I'm, I'm able to do what I can do today is, uh, you know, it's for some reason.

[01:38:40] And, um, you know, I, I make sense out of it by just saying I was lucky.

[01:38:46] And how long was the, uh, the overall recovery?

[01:38:49] So you had to say, basically you had to get, um, surgery, they fuse your, your vertebraes

[01:38:54] together and that, did that, that worked for you or were you, were you, um, in a long

[01:38:59] rehab after this?

[01:39:00] Yeah, no, I, I, I had the neck fusion.

[01:39:02] I spent, um, I think I spent probably about a week in the hospital.

[01:39:05] This was up in Burlington, Vermont.

[01:39:07] Um, they actually, they took me to Burlington because it cut the travel time and for my parents

[01:39:13] in half essentially coming from New Hampshire.

[01:39:16] So, um, so I went there and, and, and had that, um, had that surgery.

[01:39:21] I was there for about a week and then, um, you know, it happened right before Christmas.

[01:39:25] Uh, so made it home for Christmas.

[01:39:28] And then, you know, I was, um, my neck was immobilized for, I, I, I gotta say a month, a

[01:39:36] month and a half, um, before I could really start doing any, any type of rehab, um, you know,

[01:39:44] on, on my neck to get the mobility back.

[01:39:46] And, um, you know, so it, it, it, it was, um, you know, I don't remember it being, you

[01:39:56] know, I've kind of blacked a lot of that out to be honest, honest with you.

[01:39:59] Um, and, uh, and at that point in time I was, I was pretty angry.

[01:40:04] Like, I think looking back on it now I can, you know, again, I was, I was young and, um,

[01:40:10] um, you know, I was pretty angry.

[01:40:13] Like I was kind of, I kind of had the, why me, uh, this isn't fair.

[01:40:18] Um, um, which, you know, again, I, looking back, I was, I was a little bit of, a little

[01:40:25] bit ashamed of, but, um, you know, I think those are just part of the emotions that people

[01:40:30] go through when they, um, you know, when, when they suffer trauma.

[01:40:35] So, yeah.

[01:40:36] And I can, I can only imagine like that, you know, the version of Allie that's walking

[01:40:41] around on December 12th is a D1 hockey player going into your senior year.

[01:40:45] You got another year of eligibility, you know, you're, I remember I wasn't, I didn't do sports

[01:40:51] in college, but I felt invincible when I was in college.

[01:40:53] So I can only imagine, you know, and I was friends with a lot of guys that did sports in

[01:40:58] college and, you know, it's, you do feel invincible at that age.

[01:41:00] Yeah.

[01:41:01] Yeah.

[01:41:01] You don't think about, you don't think about it.

[01:41:04] Right.

[01:41:04] Like you don't think about, um, you know, is this going to be the last time that I tie my

[01:41:08] skates?

[01:41:08] Is this going to be the last time that I put on, um, you know, my, my game Jersey?

[01:41:14] Um, you just, when you're that age, um, uh, and you're living your dream, you know, I was

[01:41:21] living my dream.

[01:41:22] Um, you just, you don't think about the, the, the what ifs.

[01:41:25] Um, and that's really like, that's really what I try to do today is instill, you know,

[01:41:32] in the kids that I work with that, you know, don't, you can't take things for granted.

[01:41:37] Um, you know, because, um, you know, life is, life is so short.

[01:41:43] We're here for such a short amount of time.

[01:41:46] Um, you know, it's, you have to, you have to make the best of, of the opportunities that,

[01:41:53] that, that you're given.

[01:41:55] Um, and, and, and, uh, and you have to work for those, um, because, uh, you know, things

[01:42:02] aren't just given to you.

[01:42:04] Um, and so, you know, that's, that's kind of my message a lot of the time, but when I was

[01:42:09] to get to, to get back to your original question about Travis.

[01:42:12] So when I was in the hospital, somebody gave my mom, um, a copy of 11 seconds, which was

[01:42:17] Travis's, the book that Travis wrote.

[01:42:20] Yeah.

[01:42:21] And just for the listeners, if, if the listeners aren't familiar.

[01:42:23] So Travis Roy was, uh, um, I think he's about 20 years old.

[01:42:27] He was a kid from Maine that had, he was a highly recruited hockey player in Boston university.

[01:42:33] And I think it was his first, was his first, first time on the ice with BU.

[01:42:37] And he had a similar injury to you, but he was wheelchair, wheelchair bound after that

[01:42:43] injury.

[01:42:43] So yeah, it was his, his, his injury happened in, in, in his first shift in the first 11

[01:42:48] seconds of his, of the shift.

[01:42:51] So he lasted 11 seconds on the ice.

[01:42:53] Yep.

[01:42:54] So, um, so that's why like a lot of hockey plays around that time, like, you know, it's,

[01:42:59] it's people look to Travis Roy story about like just sort of the, the, the risk of playing

[01:43:06] hockey.

[01:43:07] Yeah.

[01:43:07] Yep.

[01:43:08] Yeah.

[01:43:08] So, so you, um, you came somehow, you got connected with, um, with the spinal cord injury,

[01:43:14] um, Boston chapter at some point.

[01:43:17] Yeah.

[01:43:17] So, uh, um, to make a long story short, um, yeah, so I, I, I was, um, you know, I eventually

[01:43:23] was connected, uh, with, with, I connected with Travis, um, and got involved with the Travis

[01:43:30] Roy foundation.

[01:43:32] And, um, I actually, my first job out of college was at a boarding school in New Hampshire,

[01:43:37] the Holderness school.

[01:43:39] And there was, uh, one of my players there was Travis's cousin, um, young man named Brendan

[01:43:46] Collins.

[01:43:47] And he, uh, he was the one who kind of made that, made that connection for me.

[01:43:54] Um, and, uh, you know, again, I was, uh, you know, I was still, you know, I was still going

[01:44:01] through the emotions of, um, you know, this, this injury.

[01:44:07] Um, and, you know, while I was going through and feeling all these different emotions, I

[01:44:12] didn't know really what was going on quite honestly.

[01:44:16] Um, and, uh, you know, I, I would, I, a lot of nights I would, you know, I couldn't fall

[01:44:22] asleep because, um, you know, I get, again, I had this, this anger, this, um, you know,

[01:44:29] wide knee, um, and, and looking back, you know, I, I think for me it was, it was, it

[01:44:34] was a lot of survivor's guilt.

[01:44:37] Um, especially when I started, when I met Travis and I started to work with his foundation

[01:44:41] and I was able to meet other people who had suffered, um, you know, really less injury,

[01:44:48] you know, their injury was, was maybe just a one vertebrae where mine was three.

[01:44:53] And I was like, what, like how, like, how am I not, how am I not there?

[01:44:59] Like I should be in the wheelchair.

[01:45:00] You know, why is this person in the wheelchair?

[01:45:03] And, you know, that really makes you look at yourself in the mirror and be like, like,

[01:45:11] you're lucky.

[01:45:13] What are you, what are you going to do to pay that forward?

[01:45:15] You know, how are you going to make a difference?

[01:45:18] Um, and I struggled with that for a long time because I was kind of like, I was, I was kind

[01:45:23] of like, how I want to make a difference, but I don't know how to, you know, I don't

[01:45:27] have a lot of money.

[01:45:29] Um, you know, I, I don't have, uh, you know, social media was kind of just, you know, blossoming

[01:45:34] at that point.

[01:45:34] I don't have a big presence on social media.

[01:45:37] Like, um, you know, how am I going to do this?

[01:45:40] I got involved in the Travis Roy foundation.

[01:45:42] I did a lot of work for them, you know, over a long period of time.

[01:45:48] Um, and then, you know, uh, when Travis is, when Travis passed a couple of years ago,

[01:45:54] the decision was made to, um, you know, essentially for his foundation to, um, to shut down, um, you

[01:46:02] know, to, to, to liquidate.

[01:46:04] Um, and you know, again, I found myself shoot, like I, I, I, I found my, I found my place.

[01:46:12] You know, and, and where I can, where I can give back and feel like I'm making a difference

[01:46:18] and now it's gone.

[01:46:20] And I spent, you know, some time talking with the, the leadership at the Travis Roy foundation,

[01:46:25] trying to figure out like what the next step is for me.

[01:46:28] And, and, you know, maybe I can start something.

[01:46:30] And then all of a sudden out of blue, I got a text message from a former teammate of mine.

[01:46:35] Um, and said, Hey, I'm going to this.

[01:46:38] I know you did a lot of work for the Travis Roy foundation.

[01:46:40] I'm going to this, this gala, this, uh, SCI Boston gala.

[01:46:45] Um, and I love for you and your wife to, to, to be my guests.

[01:46:50] Sorry.

[01:46:51] Sounds great.

[01:46:52] Um, so we went up to Boston and I, and we went to the SCI, uh, annual spring gala that

[01:46:59] they have and I was like, bingo.

[01:47:05] I just, you know, I just looking around again at all the people who had suffered spinal cord

[01:47:09] injuries, meeting some of them, speaking with them, speaking with the leadership there.

[01:47:14] They're just like the best people.

[01:47:16] Um, they're, um, they were more than willing to, you know, talk to me and, and help me out

[01:47:23] with, uh, and help some of my ideas come to fruition.

[01:47:28] Um, so like, I, I feel like I kind of just stumbled upon SCI Boston.

[01:47:34] Um, and now, um, you know, the last two years I've been able to, you know, my fundraising

[01:47:40] efforts have, have been able to go to SCI Boston.

[01:47:44] And it's a similar, you know, now, and now they've come up with a Travis Roy, um, legacy

[01:47:50] grant program, which, which is where my money goes.

[01:47:53] Um, which is like, which is awesome.

[01:47:56] Yeah.

[01:47:57] Yeah.

[01:47:57] It continues on his legacy.

[01:47:59] Yeah.

[01:47:59] Um, and then you were, you so prior to that, the work you did, you did fundraising for Travis

[01:48:04] Roy.

[01:48:04] I was reading an article about you.

[01:48:05] So for, it looks like a couple of years you were doing like long distance paddle boarding

[01:48:09] around Winnipesaukee.

[01:48:11] Yeah.

[01:48:11] So I've got, so yeah, I'll just rattle off a couple.

[01:48:14] So, um, I think the first thing I did for Travis was run the Boston marathon.

[01:48:18] Um, and that was actually the second time that I had run it.

[01:48:21] I had run it prior for, um, um, for a cancer charity.

[01:48:26] And then I ran it for the Travis Roy foundation.

[01:48:28] And then, you know, I was like, and then like, again, you're starting to think like, I

[01:48:32] don't have a lot of money.

[01:48:33] You know, I know, I know a decent amount of people, but I don't know what, like a ton

[01:48:37] of people, I don't have this big social media presence.

[01:48:39] So like, what are my strengths?

[01:48:41] What are my weaknesses?

[01:48:42] Um, you know, I, I like, um, staying physically fit.

[01:48:47] I like being outdoors.

[01:48:48] I'm competitive.

[01:48:50] Um, you know, any, anything athletic, um, I'm, I'm all about it.

[01:48:55] Um, and then I started thinking, you know, I want to start doing things that no one else

[01:49:01] has done or that no one even, no one else even thinks about doing.

[01:49:06] Um, and you know, I did the Boston marathon was one of the coolest experiences I've ever,

[01:49:12] ever had.

[01:49:12] Um, it is just like, it's, it's the best.

[01:49:15] Um, but I want to do, I want to do, I want to do start doing stuff that no one else has

[01:49:19] ever done.

[01:49:20] So, um, we did early on, we did, we hiked, um, we hiked, uh, Katahdin, Washington and Mansfield.

[01:49:29] So the three highest peaks in Maine, um, New Hampshire and Vermont.

[01:49:33] We did that in 24 hours, um, which is really cool.

[01:49:37] Oh yeah.

[01:49:38] That's a, that's a grind.

[01:49:39] Yeah.

[01:49:39] We, we, we did Katahdin first and then we, and then Washington and then Mansfield and we

[01:49:44] summited Washington and the sun was coming up.

[01:49:48] It was, you know, one of the, one of the coolest things I've ever done.

[01:49:52] Um, I mean, you know, you, you, I'm sure you've been on Washington a bunch.

[01:49:55] Like nowadays you hike up Washington and, you know, there's people smoking cigarettes up,

[01:50:00] up top and, and, uh, in street clothes.

[01:50:02] It's kind of, it's a little bit of a bummer, but yeah.

[01:50:05] Go in winter.

[01:50:06] You do it in winter.

[01:50:07] Yeah.

[01:50:07] In the winter.

[01:50:08] Yeah.

[01:50:08] Yeah.

[01:50:09] Um, but this was like there, I mean, it was dead quiet up there and the sun was starting

[01:50:15] to, it was, it was just a once in a lifetime, um, you know, hike, hike for us.

[01:50:20] So, and then, you know, and then I think the next year I paddleboarded, uh, 20 miles from

[01:50:25] the Northern part of Winnipesaukee to the Southern part.

[01:50:28] Um, and then one year I combined paddleboarding and hiking.

[01:50:33] So we, we paddleboarded the 20 miles of Winnipesaukee.

[01:50:37] Then we hopped on a bike and rode 74 miles to the base of Washington.

[01:50:42] And then we hiked up the Tuckerman ravine trail.

[01:50:45] Um, so we did that, which that was, that was one of the, that was a really neat day.

[01:50:52] Um, I mean, it was a grind again, but it was a really, um, fun day, um, for us.

[01:50:58] So, um, and then, um, one year we did, we tried to, I, I, I like to incorporate the numbers

[01:51:05] 11 and 24.

[01:51:06] So Travis war number 24.

[01:51:09] Obviously he lasted 11 seconds.

[01:51:11] His book is named 11 seconds.

[01:51:13] So we tried to hike the 11 highest 4,000 footers in New Hampshire in 24 hours.

[01:51:21] Oh, that's aggressive.

[01:51:23] Yeah, it, yeah, it was aggressive.

[01:51:24] We struck out.

[01:51:26] Uh, we last.

[01:51:26] I'm trying to think about this.

[01:51:27] So hold on.

[01:51:28] So if I was going to do this, so you got 11 highest.

[01:51:31] So you got to do a Prezi traverse.

[01:51:33] Yeah.

[01:51:33] That's what we started with.

[01:51:34] Then you have to do the, you got to get into the Pemi and you got to get Lafayette, Lincoln,

[01:51:41] Flume, Garfield.

[01:51:42] But, um, what throws it for, it's got, it's Carrigan, right?

[01:51:45] It's floating out there by itself.

[01:51:47] No, well we did.

[01:51:48] Um, so we did, uh, we did the Prezi.

[01:51:51] Prezi's first.

[01:51:52] We banged out, I think six there, right?

[01:51:54] Six.

[01:51:56] Um, and then we went, uh, and then where things started to head south is, uh, Carter

[01:52:02] Dome.

[01:52:03] Uh, well, when things started to head south is trying to do anything after a Prezi

[01:52:07] tour.

[01:52:07] But no, I get it.

[01:52:08] Oh, Carter Dome.

[01:52:09] That's right.

[01:52:10] Yep.

[01:52:10] And then, um, and then we're going to try to do the twins after that.

[01:52:14] Oh yeah.

[01:52:15] And then, um, and we had to skip over those.

[01:52:18] So those are the two we, we, or, or one of the twins, I guess, I think, is it north

[01:52:22] or south?

[01:52:22] It's higher.

[01:52:23] I think south.

[01:52:24] Yeah.

[01:52:24] So, um, but then we finished, we did, um, Lafayette, Lafayette and Lincoln.

[01:52:31] So we went up Lafayette and we were hiking all, this was probably, this was probably

[01:52:36] like four, you know, started, started the hike at four in the morning and we were just

[01:52:41] like spent.

[01:52:42] And, uh, and we got up to, we got up Lafayette, went over to Lincoln and again, like the sun

[01:52:48] was coming up and it was just, it was, it was a really neat experience.

[01:52:52] But yeah, so we, we struck out on that one.

[01:52:54] I, I, it, part of me would like to try it again, but you know, after this year we did

[01:53:01] the, we did the six, um, Prezies first again in this year's challenge.

[01:53:06] And we all like looked, so I do it with these two other guys who actually do a lot of search

[01:53:10] and rescue and they do in the whites.

[01:53:12] Um, and, and, uh, they're endurance guys, they're billy goats.

[01:53:16] And, uh, and after we did the six, we looked at each other, we're like, why, why do we even

[01:53:22] think we could, you know, bang out, uh, you know, whatever, five more mountains after,

[01:53:28] after doing this?

[01:53:29] Cause you're, you know, your feet are just, your feet are never level up there and like,

[01:53:35] you know, your feet and ankles are just aching.

[01:53:38] I just want to get to the dairy queen and be done after doing stuff like that.

[01:53:43] I know.

[01:53:44] Yeah.

[01:53:44] Um, but no, that's impressive.

[01:53:45] So this year though, you, so this year it's 24 11.

[01:53:49] So is you do the 24 highest 4,000 footers?

[01:53:52] Is that?

[01:53:52] Yeah, we did.

[01:53:53] So, so, um, one year I did, um, we did the, um, what did we do?

[01:53:59] The, the 11, um, 11 highest ski mountains in New Hampshire in 24 hours.

[01:54:07] That was really cool.

[01:54:09] I really enjoy hiking the ski mountains because I spent a lot of time skiing them in the winter.

[01:54:14] And when you see them in the summertime, it's totally different.

[01:54:16] It's interesting.

[01:54:17] And I like, I hate going down.

[01:54:19] I could go up all day long.

[01:54:21] I have a little bit of that, um, you know, crazy, uh, gene in my head.

[01:54:27] And I think part of that is, is from, from the neck injury, but I love going up.

[01:54:32] So I love that just straight up and you know, there's no, you know, you're not winding around.

[01:54:37] Um, you're just going straight up.

[01:54:39] And, uh, so we did that.

[01:54:41] So this year, yeah, we did 24, um, you know, high peaks, um, uh, and try to do it in 11 days.

[01:54:48] We ended up actually doing it in seven days, which was quicker than, than we originally thought.

[01:54:54] It was mostly the 4,000 footers, but we worked in some, um, some ski mountains, you know, some of the, some of the big ones.

[01:55:01] Um, uh, like we did Loon, Waterville, um, and I think Bretton Woods, we were going to do more ski mountains, but we ended up, um,

[01:55:12] um, we ended up pivoting.

[01:55:15] Um, part of that was weather.

[01:55:17] Um, and part of that was, uh, I don't know.

[01:55:21] We just, I think we were feeling good.

[01:55:23] Yeah.

[01:55:23] And we don't talk about like Loon Mountain that much, like for, as a, as a hiking destination, but I've been up there a couple of times.

[01:55:29] Like it's, it's a tough hike.

[01:55:31] And then they have that cool little cave system up a little bit below the summit, but, uh, that's, that's a, that's a fun place to go.

[01:55:37] And there's a plenty of good food and beer selections when you're done.

[01:55:40] Yeah.

[01:55:40] We, we, we hit up an ice cream place, uh, right after, um, I can't remember what that day looked like, but Loon was kind of in the middle of the day.

[01:55:49] And, uh, yeah, we went right to an ice cream place right after, right after that.

[01:55:54] That's my, that's my move as well.

[01:55:56] So now are you the planner or are you got, you see, you had a couple of friends that you hike with.

[01:56:00] Do you consider yourself like the, the planner and the organizer, or do you just mostly have them deal with it and you kind of jump along?

[01:56:07] Usually the way it goes is, you know, after like late, um, whatever, maybe mid spring, I usually, you know, start thinking about this.

[01:56:16] Like my wife will say, so what, what are you doing this summer?

[01:56:21] You know, what's, what's the challenge going to be this summer?

[01:56:23] And, uh, and then I'll text my, my, my two buddies, um, Randy Hausman and Nick Lawrence.

[01:56:31] They both work at a holderness.

[01:56:33] So they're up there.

[01:56:34] So they live up there.

[01:56:34] And they're, like I said, like they're endurance athletes.

[01:56:37] Like these guys are their machines.

[01:56:40] And, um, so yeah, I'm the planner, uh, which is a little bit scary and I'm the organizer, which is scary again.

[01:56:47] And they're, and they're, they're like, um, they're like my safety net.

[01:56:52] Like I feel, I feel invincible out there with them because I know they just have so much experience out there.

[01:56:59] Um, and, uh, so all I have to do is really hike, you know, we're never going to get lost.

[01:57:03] Like I'm never going to get lost with those guys.

[01:57:05] They've, they've been everywhere.

[01:57:09] Um, and you know, I'll usually say like, Hey, can we do this?

[01:57:12] Be like, you know, this year we wanted, we did, um, North twin, South twin, and then the bonds.

[01:57:19] So I'm like, all right, let's do this.

[01:57:21] And then they'll spit back the mileage to me.

[01:57:24] And I'm like, well, can we do it?

[01:57:25] And they're like, yeah, we can do it.

[01:57:26] So that's usually the way it goes.

[01:57:28] Yeah.

[01:57:29] Yeah.

[01:57:29] That's a fun hike.

[01:57:30] That is.

[01:57:30] Yeah.

[01:57:31] That's a good day.

[01:57:31] So are you, uh, so for the listeners here, so essentially like you, you set this up, it's a fundraiser.

[01:57:37] So people can donate to, um, to your efforts and it's through like the, on, if you go to the SCI Boston website, it pops right up and says like, Hey, you can donate to Ali's, um, 2411 hiking initiative.

[01:57:51] Now you've already done it, but you're still taking donations.

[01:57:53] So I think you've, you've raised about seven or eight grand right now.

[01:57:56] So if the listeners want to donate, like I'll include the links in the show notes so that they can take a look at it.

[01:58:01] And then, um, we should definitely stay in touch.

[01:58:04] Whatever your plan is for next year.

[01:58:05] You should tell your buddies to figure something out with the, uh, the terrifying 25 list.

[01:58:09] Okay.

[01:58:09] You could do like a 24 out of the 25 terrifying 25.

[01:58:13] I like that.

[01:58:14] Yeah.

[01:58:14] Like they're always talking about.

[01:58:17] They're, they're, um, uh, they're talking about one.

[01:58:20] Um, so what is it?

[01:58:21] It's, it's, it's part of the, or it's not part of the prezzies, but, um,

[01:58:26] it's maybe on the side of, uh, Madison.

[01:58:29] It's on the side of Madison or Adams.

[01:58:31] Oh, the dry river.

[01:58:33] Yeah.

[01:58:33] It's, it's something like that.

[01:58:34] Oh, uh, the great Gulf you're talking about.

[01:58:36] Yeah.

[01:58:36] I don't, I don't know.

[01:58:37] I don't, I don't know.

[01:58:38] I'd have to, but they, whenever we do that, they're always talking about the, the scary

[01:58:42] and I'm scared of heights too.

[01:58:44] So, okay.

[01:58:44] But I, I like, I mean, I'm still going to do it, you know?

[01:58:48] Um, but you know, when we're up on, uh, what was it?

[01:58:51] Bond cliff, you know, that outcropping there.

[01:58:54] Yeah.

[01:58:56] I don't want anywhere near that.

[01:58:57] Like, yeah, that's, that's not, that's not the way I'm going to go out.

[01:59:01] Um, but do you have any, do you ever get any pain in your, uh, in your injury at all

[01:59:06] when you're doing this?

[01:59:07] Uh, yeah.

[01:59:08] Yeah.

[01:59:08] I mean, so we did the, we did the, we did the six, um, six Prezis first.

[01:59:16] And then the next day we were, we were getting right back after it.

[01:59:19] And I remember waking up that next morning and like my, everything felt pretty good.

[01:59:24] Um, but my neck was just, it was, it was, you know, it's just, it's, I don't know if it's

[01:59:30] a mobility thing or, or, you know, I don't know what it is, but you know, again, it's, it's

[01:59:35] like one of those things where, yeah, my neck hurts, but like, like I'm, I can do this,

[01:59:40] you know, I'm, uh, I still have my mobility.

[01:59:43] I'm, I'm not in a wheelchair.

[01:59:45] Um, so, you know, suck it up and, and get after it.

[01:59:49] Um, but yeah, I mean the, the, the, I've raised 8,000 right now.

[01:59:53] I usually aim for about 10, 10 grand, uh, 10,000 a summer.

[01:59:57] And I've been able to, to hit that.

[02:00:00] Um, you know, I have some wonderful, I have wonderful family.

[02:00:04] I have wonderful friends.

[02:00:06] Um, you know, my, you got all those hockey parents too.

[02:00:09] That's a good, that's a good thing.

[02:00:11] Hit them up.

[02:00:12] They got money.

[02:00:12] Yeah.

[02:00:13] No, you're, you're, you're not wrong about that.

[02:00:15] Um, but I, I, you know, part, there's a part of this that's raising money, right?

[02:00:20] Like that's, that's something that can, you know, directly help, um, these people who

[02:00:25] have suffered spinal cord injuries, but it's also the awareness part is big for me.

[02:00:29] Um, you know, cause when I knew when I, when I was growing up, like I didn't, I didn't

[02:00:33] know what a spinal cord injury looked like.

[02:00:35] I didn't know it could just happen to anybody.

[02:00:37] I didn't really know what could happen in playing a sport that you love.

[02:00:41] Um, so, you know, the, the awareness part, I'm always looking to see like, Oh, who's that

[02:00:47] that donated?

[02:00:48] You know, I don't, that's, that's somebody new.

[02:00:50] Um, you know, that's, I have my, my people that donate every year, um, that sort of follow

[02:00:55] me on social media.

[02:00:57] Um, but then I have, you know, some new people every year and that's, that's like what makes

[02:01:02] me feel really good.

[02:01:04] Um, is that where we're, we're reaching out and we're, we're spreading the, um, the awareness

[02:01:11] piece.

[02:01:11] Cause I think that's really, it's really important.

[02:01:14] Yeah.

[02:01:14] Yeah, it is.

[02:01:15] And we'll do our best to try to get the word out.

[02:01:17] And, uh, we're always down for like talking to people that are doing fundraisers for good

[02:01:21] causes.

[02:01:22] And, you know, I've been friends with, um, my, you know, my friend David, who's been involved

[02:01:26] for, for many, many years.

[02:01:28] Um, he's on the board of directors.

[02:01:29] So I was happy to connect with you.

[02:01:32] Um, and he knew I had any interest in hiking with the podcast and everything.

[02:01:35] So I appreciate you, you coming on.

[02:01:37] And I think, like I said, I'll, I'll get the message out to the listeners, to the, through

[02:01:41] the show notes and hopefully you'll pick up some donations and then whatever your plan

[02:01:45] is for next year, come back in the spring and we'll, we'll talk about it.

[02:01:49] Um, but you're going to have to tell your buddies, like you guys got to come up with something

[02:01:52] unique, you know, I'll, I don't know, maybe you do something with the terrifying 25 or you

[02:01:58] do something crazy in the great Gulf.

[02:02:00] It'll be, it'll be curious to see what you come up with.

[02:02:02] Well, I'm, yeah, I'm open to ideas because it's getting, you know, every year it gets,

[02:02:06] it gets harder and harder to, you know, to, to come up with something, you know, new.

[02:02:12] So I'm open to ideas.

[02:02:13] If, if you or any of your listeners have, have any ideas, I'd love to, I'd love to hear them.

[02:02:18] All right.

[02:02:19] Yeah.

[02:02:19] I'll think about that for sure.

[02:02:21] I actually liked that 11 and 24.

[02:02:23] Like, I feel like you guys could do it.

[02:02:24] Yeah.

[02:02:25] Um, it's just logistically like it's, the thing about that one is that like South twin,

[02:02:31] Carter dome and Moose are the difficult ones.

[02:02:34] But if you do the presidential traverse and then you bang out, um, Lafayette and Lincoln,

[02:02:41] you do the Franconia Ridge, then it's just becomes like a driving.

[02:02:45] And that's, and that's what, that's what bit us last time is that we had.

[02:02:50] So, yeah, we, we dropped a car at the base of, uh, whatever we came down Eisenhower, I

[02:02:55] think, because we went from North to South and then, um, you know, then we got dropped

[02:03:00] off.

[02:03:00] And, and so we started the traverse and then we got down and for some reason we decided,

[02:03:06] so then we had to drive from there all the way back around to Carter dome.

[02:03:11] So, and that's, that's like an hour and I don't know, hour and 15 or, or something like

[02:03:17] that.

[02:03:18] Um, or maybe it's, maybe it's under an hour, but still that was, you know, when you're doing,

[02:03:23] when you're trying to do that much, muscles start to tighten up and it was all down from

[02:03:29] there.

[02:03:29] But it's hard.

[02:03:30] Yeah.

[02:03:30] I feel like you start with Carter dome, bang that out in the middle of the night and then,

[02:03:34] and then start with the Prezi traverse.

[02:03:37] So, um, but yeah, think about it and I'll definitely, we'll get the word out to the listeners

[02:03:41] too, and I'll stay in touch.

[02:03:42] And if we got any ideas, I'll, I'll send them your way.

[02:03:44] But, um, but I'll, like I said, I'll include the links to, um, to donate to your current campaign.

[02:03:50] And, um, it was great talking to you and I appreciate you coming on.

[02:03:54] It's a cool story, man.

[02:03:54] I think that, um, you know, like you said, it sounds like you had a little bit of this sort

[02:04:00] of bitterness and, and anger, but it's, it's awesome that you, you turned

[02:04:04] it around and, and you, you took that and, and applied it in a, in a positive way.

[02:04:09] Yeah.

[02:04:10] No, thanks.

[02:04:10] I appreciate that.

[02:04:11] Thank you.

[02:04:12] Yeah.

[02:04:12] Thanks for having me on.

[02:04:13] It's been, uh, hopefully the first podcast, uh, hopefully it's been a successful one.

[02:04:18] So I appreciate it.

[02:04:19] You killed it.

[02:04:19] You did amazing.

[02:04:21] I mean, I may hire you as the cook, my new co-host, get rid of stomp.

[02:04:24] My other buddy.

[02:04:26] So.

[02:04:26] All right.

[02:04:26] I'll, yeah, I, I, I, I'm, I'm expensive though.

[02:04:29] Okay.

[02:04:30] Well, okay.

[02:04:31] Well, maybe we'll have to talk about that, but all right.

[02:04:33] Well, thank you very much.

[02:04:34] Thanks Mike.

[02:04:35] Yeah.

[02:04:38] All right.

[02:04:39] Stomp.

[02:04:39] Cool story.

[02:04:40] Yeah.

[02:04:41] That's amazing.

[02:04:42] Yeah.

[02:04:42] Good for him.

[02:04:43] I was reading his, uh, uh, information on the website as well.

[02:04:48] And his, it really went into detail about his injury.

[02:04:50] That's a close call.

[02:04:51] Yeah.

[02:04:51] Yeah.

[02:04:52] Yeah.

[02:04:52] But we have to think through, like, we have to come up with some ideas for his next,

[02:04:56] like, um, his next achievement.

[02:04:59] Maybe we can have him do, um, like 24 lodge to dodges or something in a month.

[02:05:05] I'm sure he could handle it.

[02:05:06] Yeah.

[02:05:07] Right.

[02:05:07] It sounds like he can.

[02:05:09] Yeah.

[02:05:09] So.

[02:05:10] Nice job.

[02:05:12] It's a great, great cause.

[02:05:13] All right.

[02:05:13] Well, thanks Allie.

[02:05:14] And like, I'll, I'll put the, um, the details of his fundraiser in the show notes as well.

[02:05:19] If anybody wants to donate, that'd be great.

[02:05:21] All right.

[02:05:22] Very good here.

[02:05:23] Stomp.

[02:05:24] So now we are going to wrap up the show here.

[02:05:26] We got a couple of search and rescue news stories here.

[02:05:29] We've got one that happened in your backyard, uh, 25 year old hiker from Salisbury, Mass.

[02:05:34] That is my neighbor right next door.

[02:05:37] Um, was hiking with some friends when she injured her leg that, and this prevented her from being

[02:05:42] able to continue to hike.

[02:05:43] So her group had gotten together and tried to get down the trail, but realized they weren't

[02:05:48] going to be able to do it without hike, without help.

[02:05:50] So they called in the Pemi Valley.

[02:05:53] Well, they called search and rescue.

[02:05:54] They called the conservation officers.

[02:05:56] And then Pemi Valley search and rescue team showed up along with Campton's Thornton Fire

[02:06:01] and Rescue, um, and the conservation officers of fishing game.

[02:06:06] So they all responded and call came in at two 20.

[02:06:10] They started up the trail at three o'clock and they got to the hiker around four o'clock,

[02:06:16] got her in the rescue litter and carried her down.

[02:06:19] And we were at the parking lot by five 45.

[02:06:22] So about three hours to get her down.

[02:06:25] Um, fishing game statement says that the hiker and her companions were well prepared for

[02:06:30] the hike.

[02:06:31] Uh, but they want to remind people that, uh, you gotta be aware of the changing temperatures

[02:06:35] and shortened period of daylights.

[02:06:39] So be aware, stomp.

[02:06:42] That's right.

[02:06:42] And that was a, that was a bit challenging.

[02:06:44] She was actually up on the, um, the ledges.

[02:06:47] So if you're familiar with that, it's no joke.

[02:06:49] She was on the, so remember when you took us like off trail a little bit to those far ledges

[02:06:55] where you use the lookout, was she over there or?

[02:06:57] Well, you get to the lookout and it was between the summit and the lookout.

[02:07:02] Okay.

[02:07:02] So ways up past that lookout, which is no joke.

[02:07:05] Yeah.

[02:07:06] It's pretty, pretty gnarly up there for rescuers.

[02:07:08] Yep.

[02:07:09] Yep.

[02:07:09] So, um, nice work.

[02:07:13] Yeah.

[02:07:13] That's very good.

[02:07:14] So thank you to everyone for their help.

[02:07:16] And then the next one here, they've got a young, a young whippersnapper stomp that,

[02:07:21] um, was out hiking in Webster, New Hampshire.

[02:07:25] Um, so they were on the hiking trails near Mutton road near the Salisbury and Webster town line.

[02:07:33] Uh, they had no lights and only a cell phone capable of making call the nine one one.

[02:07:37] Um, this young hiker called nine one one for help when they were overcome by darkness and became confused.

[02:07:45] Conservation officer responded to the area and located the lost hiker.

[02:07:49] So eight 30, the call came in.

[02:07:51] They were able to locate the hiker at nine 55 near a power line off trail.

[02:07:56] They had fallen in a brook, making them cold and hungry.

[02:07:59] Um, and they've been out since five o'clock that day.

[02:08:02] So, uh, no details.

[02:08:03] It just said a lost youth hiker.

[02:08:08] So we're glad that you were found youth hiker.

[02:08:11] That's right.

[02:08:12] Remember it gets dark.

[02:08:14] I've had some adventures when I was young at power line stomp.

[02:08:18] So I get it.

[02:08:18] I get it.

[02:08:19] I've definitely been known to do some shenanigans around power lines when I was that age.

[02:08:24] So, oh, I see.

[02:08:26] I see where you're going with it.

[02:08:27] Like no good ever came from being near the high tension wires.

[02:08:30] I feel like, like that you were either burning something or you were smoking something or

[02:08:35] you were hiding something or you were just doing bad stuff.

[02:08:38] So it's true.

[02:08:39] This kid was good though.

[02:08:40] He's just hiking, getting in his exercise.

[02:08:42] That's all.

[02:08:43] That's all.

[02:08:44] Young Mike was not doing that when he was near a power line.

[02:08:46] It was trouble.

[02:08:48] Yeah.

[02:08:48] Did you ever wear a headlamp when you're out there causing trouble?

[02:08:51] A headlamp?

[02:08:52] Hell no.

[02:08:53] We would have, we'd be looking for the, the, the, the bonfire would find, we'd find

[02:08:58] our way to the bonfire.

[02:09:00] Yeah.

[02:09:01] We would go to, we would go to parties in like the woods and we'd be burning like rubber

[02:09:07] tires and we would come home completely covered in like tire oil or I don't even know what

[02:09:12] we were covered in like soot.

[02:09:15] My goodness.

[02:09:16] And we loved it.

[02:09:18] You guys are rebels, huh?

[02:09:21] That's back when North Reading had woods.

[02:09:24] Every corner has got to make mansions on it now.

[02:09:27] It's not like the old days.

[02:09:28] Oh, that's true.

[02:09:29] Yep.

[02:09:30] Wow.

[02:09:31] All right, Tom.

[02:09:31] So again, we're going to end the show on a bad note here.

[02:09:34] So on Saturday, October 5th, conservation officers from Fish and Game located a missing

[02:09:42] man submerged inside of his vehicle in the Connecticut River near the Mount Orney covered bridge.

[02:09:48] So Lancaster Police Department patrolled this area following up on information received about

[02:09:57] a 41-year-old from Littleton, New Hampshire who hadn't been heard from in a week.

[02:10:04] Officers were checking the area.

[02:10:06] They located a set of vehicle tracks that crossed a hay field and ended at the bank of the river

[02:10:12] adjacent to Route 135.

[02:10:14] And they looked at these tracks and they asked Fish and Game if they could do a specialized

[02:10:21] search of the river.

[02:10:24] So on Sunday, the next morning, I wonder what it goes through these guys' heads when they

[02:10:29] so you're the diver and you get a call on Saturday and you're like, hey, well, you got to go out.

[02:10:34] It's too late now, but you got to go in.

[02:10:35] Like, I don't know.

[02:10:36] I could sleep knowing what I got to do in the next morning.

[02:10:41] But anyway, they got out at like 8.30 in the morning and a conservation officer used a drone

[02:10:49] located a vehicle in the river near where the tracks ended.

[02:10:53] So additional officers were able to view and search the vehicle using a specialized tool

[02:10:58] known as a remotely operated vehicle.

[02:11:01] This confirmed that the vehicle was registered to the missing individual and that there was

[02:11:07] an individual inside.

[02:11:08] So it looks like they didn't even have to use a dive team.

[02:11:12] They just used a drone and an underwater vehicle for it.

[02:11:16] Incredible.

[02:11:17] Yeah.

[02:11:17] So they got a heavy wrecker that was brought to the scene.

[02:11:20] And then they did get divers.

[02:11:21] So the divers hooked up cables and then the vehicle was winched out of the water by about

[02:11:28] one o'clock.

[02:11:29] And then they had confirmed that there was a single individual within the vehicle and they

[02:11:34] identified it as the missing man.

[02:11:36] So sad story.

[02:11:38] Crazy.

[02:11:39] Interesting.

[02:11:40] Yep.

[02:11:41] Wow.

[02:11:42] So that's like something you never hear about in my area, but like in New Hampshire and

[02:11:46] Vermont, like that's, it's much more common because you've got a lot of these small little

[02:11:50] ponds and people can just, you know, like the car, something goes wrong with the car.

[02:11:54] They've been out, who knows what happens.

[02:11:56] So they end up in these ponds and it's tough.

[02:12:01] If you don't get out, you're in trouble.

[02:12:02] I had a really fascinating talk with a conservation officer about that whole process.

[02:12:08] You know, generally they're, they're not necessarily tethered to a line, but they're, they're on

[02:12:14] a line holding on as a, as a boat drags them up river.

[02:12:18] And they're, they're, they're gear is incredible.

[02:12:22] They can communicate.

[02:12:23] So they have these full masks that are compartmented so they can breathe with their mouth and then

[02:12:29] they have the eyes, but they can talk.

[02:12:31] Yeah.

[02:12:31] So they're in constant contact with the boat and their partners to the left and right.

[02:12:35] And they just get dragged up river and looking for objects and they, you know, they pray that

[02:12:42] it's not murky.

[02:12:43] I mean, it's an incredibly difficult job.

[02:12:45] It's amazing what they have to go through.

[02:12:47] That's a lot of training too, to pull that off safely.

[02:12:49] Yeah.

[02:12:50] Yeah.

[02:12:50] It's definitely a tough job, but, but at least the family gets some closure and, you know,

[02:12:56] I have so many of these cases you hear about, they're like, oh, you know, they were

[02:12:59] never found.

[02:12:59] So it's, it's good that they get some closure, but speaking of closure, stop, we're going

[02:13:04] to wrap it up.

[02:13:05] Ooh, nice segue.

[02:13:06] Yes.

[02:13:07] Yeah.

[02:13:08] It's a wrap.

[02:13:10] Until next week.

[02:13:11] Yes.

[02:13:11] See you next week.

[02:13:16] Thank you for listening.

[02:13:17] If you enjoyed the show, you can subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, YouTube,

[02:13:25] or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[02:13:28] If you want to learn more about the topics covered in today's show, please check out

[02:13:32] the show notes and safety information at slasher podcast.com.

[02:13:38] That's S L A S R podcast.com.

[02:13:42] You can also follow the show on Facebook and Instagram.

[02:13:46] We hope you'll join us next week for another great show until then on behalf of Mike and

[02:13:51] Stump.

[02:13:52] Get out there and crush some mega peace.

[02:13:57] Now covered in scratches, blisters, and bug bites.

[02:14:01] Chris staff wanted to complete his most challenging day hike ever.

[02:14:05] Fish and game officers say the hiker from Florida activated an emergency beacon yesterday

[02:14:10] morning.

[02:14:11] He was hiking along the Appalachian trail when the weather started to get worse.

[02:14:16] Officials say the snow was piled up to three feet in some spots and there was a wind chill

[02:14:20] of minus one degree.

[02:14:23] And there's three words to describe this race.

[02:14:25] Do we all know who they are?

[02:14:27] Oh,

[02:14:27] Lieutenant James Nealon,

[02:14:31] New Hampshire fish and game.

[02:14:32] Thanks for being with us today.

[02:14:34] Thanks for having me.

[02:14:36] What are some of the most common mistakes you see people make when they're heading out on

[02:14:39] the trails to hike here in New Hampshire?

[02:14:40] Seems to me the most common is being unprepared.

[02:14:42] I think if they just simply visited hikesafe.com and got a list of the 10 essential items and

[02:14:48] had those in their packs,

[02:14:49] they probably would have no need to ever call us at all.