The Backcountry Manifesto – Détails, épisodes et analyse

With over 1.3 million Youtube subscribers and counting, Dan Hurd of Dan Hurd Prospecting might be the world’s most popular prospector. This week, Dan swings by the Backcountry Manifesto Podcast studio with some amazing gold, gem and mineral specimens. Whether you’re a Dan Hurd Prospecting fan, a seasoned prospector, or even a first time 49er, stay tuned – this prospecting podcast is solid gold.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Dan’s background
• Claims & Mining
• Gold, Gems, & Treasures
• How to become a prospector
• Top things to prospect for in US & CA

• Dan Hurd’s Youtube, Instagram, and Online Shop

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch
• Join the TBM Patreon Community

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com! Promo code coming soon!
• Special thanks to our partners (except Grady) at Out Yonder Company! Use code BACKCOUNTRY 15 for 15% off site-wide!

• Featuring Dan Hurd
• Produced By Andrew O’Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Production Assistance by John Stock
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

Legendary climber John Long swings back by the TBM studio to unpack an infamous chapter in Yosemite climbing history -- the story of Dope Lake. Joining him is his buddy and fellow Stonemaster, Vern Clevenger.

In the spring of 1977, a twin prop plane carrying around 6,000lbs of high-grade Mexican reefer crashed into Lower Merced Pass Lake, a small alpine reservoir nestled deep in Yosemite’s backcountry. When the climbers at Camp Four hear about the crash – and the plane’s contents – a second California “goldrush” begins. Chaos ensues.

You may have heard versions of what Men’s Journal dubbed “The Legend of Dope Lake,” but you’ve never heard it like this. This is a deep-dive into the story of the plane crash that turned a ragtag band of climbers into pot-slinging pirates – complete with never before heard details – as told by those who lived it.

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch
• Join the TBM Patreon Community

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com! Promo code "BACKCOUNTRY"!
• Special thanks to our partners (except Grady) at Out Yonder Company! Use code "BACKCOUNTRY 15" for 15% off site-wide!

• Featuring John Long and Vern Clevenger
• Special thanks to Stonemaster Books
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Production Assistance by John Stock
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

In the 1970s, a pirate group of climbers descended on the big walls of California’s Yosemite National Park and changed the world of rock climbing forever. They dubbed themselves “The Stone Masters.” This week, we’re talking to the original Stone Masters, John Long and Rick Accomazzo.

In this episode, we talk about: 

• Rick’s new book “Tobin, the Stone Masters, and Me”
• The Stone Master’s Joshua Tree genesis 
• Yosemite’s infamous Camp Four 
• Feuds between climbers and rangers 
• John as the pioneer of free-solo climbing
• Daring rescues/Rick and Dale Bard’s attempted rescue of Bob Locke
• Ascents that pushed rock climbing to new heights 
• The life of Rick’s friend and arguably the greatest climber of the era, Tobin Sorenson 

We hit all that and more, plus a sneak peak at Rick’s new book, available right now at Stone Masters Press! Climber or not, you won’t want to sleep on this.

• Order Rick’s book here!

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch
• Join the TBM Patreon Community

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com! Promo code "BACKCOUNTRY"!
• Special thanks to our partners (except Grady) at Out Yonder Company! Use code "BACKCOUNTRY 15" for 15% off site-wide!

• Featuring Rick Accomazzo and John Long
• Special thanks to Stonemaster Books
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Production Assistance by John Stock
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

Astronaut Loral O’Hara recently returned from 204 days in the International Space Station as part of Expedition 69 and 70. During that time, Loral conducted important science, worked out a surprising amount, and along with her best friend, fellow astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, completed a six hour EVA, commonly known as a “spacewalk.” And now, for whatever reason, she’s hanging out in the TBM studio to talk about the ultimate backcountry – space!

In this episode, we cover: 

• Job applications for astronauts and astronaut basic training 
• An astronaut as the head of HR
• Getting selected for a mission to space and mission-specific training
• The events leading up to launch 
• Spaceflight 
• Day-to-day life on the ISS 
• Drinking purified urine
• Conducting an EVA, aka a “spacewalk” 
• What is awesome/what sucks about being an astronaut
• Putting international politics aside in space
• Returning to Earth and throwing up (a lot)

If you’re into science, adventure, space flight, or have just always been curious about what life for an astronaut is really like, this episode is for you. 

• Loral and Jamin’s EVA

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch
• Join the TBM Patreon Community

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com! Promo code "BACKCOUNTRY"!
• Special thanks to our partners (except Grady) at Out Yonder Company! Use code "BACKCOUNTRY 15" for 15% off site-wide!

• Featuring Loral O'Hara
• Special thanks to NASA
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Additional Graphics by Andrew O’Neill
• Production Assistance by John Stock
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

Our topic today is deep sea exploration, and our guest is researcher and explorer Molly Curran.

Molly is an engineer at the Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institution's Deep Submergence Laboratory. In her work, she designs and operates incredibly advanced submersibles to explore some of the world’s most difficult-to-access environments, like the fjords of Greenland and the depths below arctic sea ice. Molly is at the forefront of exciting science, particularly when it comes to broadening our understanding of geologic features like hydrothermal vents, deep sea volcanos, and glaciers. 

She also happens to be one of Hayden's very best friends. He's been lucky enough to share many conversations with Molly going back to their high school years, and now it’s our great pleasure to share one of our conversations with you.

Links

Tour the research vessel Molly lived aboard -- RV Celtic Explorer -- right here.

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch
• Join the TBM Patreon Community

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com! Promo code "BACKCOUNTRY"!
• Special thanks to our partners (except Grady) at Out Yonder Company! Use code "BACKCOUNTRY 15" for 15% off site-wide!

• Featuring Molly Curran
• Special thanks to WHOI
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Production Assistance by John Stock
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

On September 8th, 2023, outdoorsman and navy vet Rudy Noorlander was tracking a wounded deer when an encounter with a grizzly bear changed his life forever. On this episode of the backcountry manifesto, Rudy recounts the attack and his miraculous recovery.

• Alpine Adventures Montana
• Alpine Adventures Montana :: TripAdvisor Reviews

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com - Use code “BACKCOUNTRY” for 10% off at checkout.
• Special thanks to our partners at Out Yonder Company! Visit OutYonderCompany.com and use code “BACKCOUNTRY15” for 15% off at checkout.

• Featuring Rudy Noorlander
• Additional Graphics by Andrew O’Neill
• Production Assistance by John Stock
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

Today, Laz Lake is in the studio talking about the Barkley Marathons. The Barkley Marathons is the most notorious trail race around, and Laz Lake is the semi-evil genius behind it. Runner’s World has described it as “Five Loops Of Death” and “Arguably the craziest race in the world,” and it was even the subject of a full-length documentary called “The Race That Eats Its Young.” 

The Barkley Marathons is a five loop, approximately 125 mile race held annually in the Tennessee backcountry, specifically Frozen Head State Park. Over those 125 miles, finishers will have experienced a vertical gain equivalent to climbing Mount Everest TWICE. The cutoff time is just 60 hours. There are no formal course guides or aid stations, and the runners are forced to navigate by their own, hand drawn paper maps. Since 1986 only 20 runners out of more than 1000 have finished the Barkley Marathons. 

• The origination of the Barkley Marathons
• How to apply for the Barkley Marathons
• Veterans and virgins
• Laz’s bad habits
• Finish rate of the Barkley Marathons
• Athletic Achievement in endurance sports
• Jasmin Paris’s Completion of the Barkley Marathons
• Other backyard ultra-marathons 

• Full Documentary “The Race That Eats Its Young” 
• Tamara Reynolds Photography 
• David Miller Photography

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit https://SharedPour.com - Use code “BACKCOUNTRY” for 10% off at checkout.
• Special thanks to our patterns at Out Yonder Company! Visit https://OutYonderCompany.com and use code “BACKCOUNTRY15” for 15% off at checkout.

• Featuring Laz Lake
• Special thanks to Tamara Reynolds for her photography
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Intro and Animations by Barry Thompson
• Photograph Contributions for Animation by Carver Weeks
• Additional Graphics by Andrew O’Neill 
• Production Assistance by John Stock 
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

This week on the show, we have Duke University’s Dr. Steven Churchill swinging into town to talk about early man as the ultimate survivalist. Dr. Churchill has been part of discovering two important early hominids and when it comes to neanderthals, he’s certainly among the most knowledgeable. One thing he knows for sure? Early man was on the strugglebus, but pushed through to become the ultimate survivalist. 

We talk about:

• Some of Dr. Churchill’s research at Duke University
• Homo Neledi 
• The Rising Star cave system
• How to say “Cro Magnon” the sexy (and correct) way
• Steve’s book, Thin on the Ground
• How everything wanted to kill early man
• Neanderthals being hybrid into oblivion 
• Hunting habits and tools
• Why living in “the fertile crescent” sucked 
• How cave bears were vegans, but would happily unalive you

• Steve’s Book: Thin on the Ground: Neandertal Biology, Archeology, and Ecology (Foundation of Human Biology)
• Steve on Wired’s Tech Support

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com - Use code “BACKCOUNTRY” for 10% off at checkout.
• Special thanks to our patterns at Out Yonder Company! Visit OutYonderCompany.com and use code “BACKCOUNTRY15” for 15% off at checkout.

• Special thanks to Dr. Steven Churchill for the extra photos
• Featuring Dr. Steven Churchill
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Intro and Animations by Barry Thompson
• Photograph Contributions for Animation by Carver Weeks
• Additional Graphics by Andrew O’Neill 
• Production Assistance by John Stock 
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

Does Bigfoot exist? Dr. Jeff Meldrum – a professor of anatomy and anthropology specializing in primate locomotor adaptations and bipedalism at Idaho State University – believes Bigfoot is real (and probably prefers the term “Sasquatch”). Today on the show, Dr. Meldrum drops by TBM HQ to talk all things Sasquatch, as well as his life-long fascination with the controversial “relict hominoid.” In our conversation, we cover: 

• Bigfoot vs Sasquatch 
• The origins of Bigfoot
• The Bluff Creek Site
• The Patterson Gimlin Film 
• Bigfoot footprints
• Pressure ridges and anatomical characteristics
• Why it's so hard to fake a footprint
• Bigfoot Skeptics 
• Bigfoot Range
• An estimate of the current Bigfoot population
• Why we haven’t found a Bigfoot body
• Dr. Meldrum's experiences hunting Bigfoot
• The biggest question: Will we ever find Bigfoot?

All that and more in this episode. If you’re a Bigfoot nerd or just interested in an academic’s perspective on the mystery primate, this episode of TBM is for you! 

• Jeff Meldrum's Book: Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science
• Gareth Patterson's Book: Beyond the Secret Elephants
• Relict Hominoid Inquiry

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com - Use code “BACKCOUNTRY” for 10% off at checkout.
• Special thanks to our patterns at Out Yonder Company! Visit OutYonderCompany.com and use code “BACKCOUNTRY15” for 15% off at checkout.

• Featuring Dr. Jeff Meldrum
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Intro and Animations by Barry Thompson
• Photograph Contributions for Animation by Carver Weeks
• Additional Graphics by Andrew O’Neill 
• Production Assistance by John Stock 
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA

Who is DB Cooper? On November 24th, 1971, an unassuming middle aged man pulled off the only unsolved skyjacking in US history, parachuting out of the back of a Boeing 727 somewhere over the pacific northwest with $200,000 in cash strapped to his chest. He was never found. Today, some 53 years later, DB Cooper investigator Eric Ulis sits down with us to tell the whole story of DB Cooper, including new developments. We talk about: 

• Eric Ulis, a pro blackjack player turned cold case investigator
• Hijacking a Boeing 727
• $200k cash ransom
• DB Cooper's successful evasion of the law
• The cash discovery at Tena Bar
• Flaws in the FBI investigation
• Eric's new theory on where DB Cooper landed
• Summer diatoms
• The necktie
• Eric's lawsuit against the FBI
• The metallurgist suspect

All this and much more. If you're a nerd for unsolved mysteries, you're going to love this deep dive into all things DB Cooper.

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com - Use code “BACKCOUNTRY” for 10% off at checkout.
• Special thanks to our patterns at Out Yonder Company! Visit OutYonderCompany.com and use code “BACKCOUNTRY15” for 15% off at checkout.

• Featuring Eric Ulis
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Intro and Animations by Barry Thompson
• Photograph Contributions for Animation by Carver Weeks
• Additional Graphics by Andrew O’Neill 
• Production Assistance by John Stock 
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA