loader from loading.io

Wrangell Interview with Alaskan Tour Guide and Adventure Traveler

NatParkStories's podcast

Release Date: 03/19/2019

Alaska Interview with The Skoolie Owner Dean Chytraus show art Alaska Interview with The Skoolie Owner Dean Chytraus

NatParkStories's podcast

While in on the Kenai Peninsula, I parked near a big built out bus on the side of the road.  It seemed like the perfect place to camp for the night, with a gorgeous view of the water and the surrounding mountains.   The brown bus nearby had black trees painted on it and “The Skoolie” written on the side and although signal was hard to come by, for about 5 minutes I had signal on my phone, so I googled the name of the bus. I found the instagram account and send a message to Dean Chytraus, the owner of the bus.   I asked him if he was interested in chatting over margaritas,...

info_outline
Wrangell Interview With Arkansas Lawyer Road Tripping with 12 Strangers show art Wrangell Interview With Arkansas Lawyer Road Tripping with 12 Strangers

NatParkStories's podcast

“If I could tell anyone to do anything, it would just be to do an experience like this. You know, meet 13 strangers and see the world.”  -Lizzy McSpadden   When I met Lizzy, she was on a road trip with more than a dozen strangers, on day 9 of an Alaskan tour.   Lizzy decided that she wanted to see Alaska before she started what she calls her “big girl job”, working as a lawyer in Arkansas, so she booked a trip with Trek America.   She is on a quest to visit all the National Parks and on a mission to get her travel companions to start saying “y’all”.   I...

info_outline
Wrangell Interview with American Adventures Tour Guide  show art Wrangell Interview with American Adventures Tour Guide

NatParkStories's podcast

“It’s wild up here. You’ve got to be ready for everything.” -Ashley Gamble     I am so excited for you to hear this episode.   Ashley Gamble is a tour guide for a company that takes adventure seekers on ROAD TRIPS to National Parks and cities.   As you will hear in the interview, she drives a 15 passenger Ford Transit full of tourists to various places all across America.   Trips last anywhere from 7 to SEVENTY FIVE days.   Imagine it, you and 14 strangers road tripping, camping, hiking, fishing, eating, and adventuring together for weeks at a time all...

info_outline
Wrangell Interview with Adventure Blogger in Alaska show art Wrangell Interview with Adventure Blogger in Alaska

NatParkStories's podcast

People often ask how long my interviews are and I ask them how long a conversation is. It can be one minute or three hours.    This is a really fun episode because it gives you a real peak into what actually happens on the road… a conversation that turns into an interview, and goes off in different directions, as new people are introduced, and new conversations start.   It’s only an 8 minute episode simply because at the end of it, another person I knew pulled up and soon the conversation became hard to follow as we all bonded and connected and told our stories.  ...

info_outline
One Man's Three Month Trek from Maryland to Alaska show art One Man's Three Month Trek from Maryland to Alaska

NatParkStories's podcast

“This is my first time in interior Alaska and it’s just phenomenal. It won’t be my last time, that’s for sure.” - Andrew Aughenbaugh   I met Augie, in a very hilarious way… By being stuck in a ditch in the largest National Park in the country.    I cannot begin to capture the relief I felt when this big truck with a towing rig right on front and Maryland plates, pulled up to my rescue.    Augie had been on the road for three months, driving all the way from Maryland to Alaska, tent camping every night.   I was shocked when he told me that. ...

info_outline
Wrangell Interview with Alaskan Tour Guide and Adventure Traveler show art Wrangell Interview with Alaskan Tour Guide and Adventure Traveler

NatParkStories's podcast

"Wrangell is often referred to as the Park without handrails."   Brendon Seaholser was such an interesting interview because of his honest and blunt demeanor, as well as his love of the park and adventures of all kind.    During this interview, we talk about what brought him to Wrangell St. Elias, one of the month desolate and isolated parks in the country, a story which starts in Vermont, and winds through many continents. We also talk about how unbelievably vast the Park is, and the possible consequences of going into this wilderness unprepared.    You’ll hear him...

info_outline
Wrangell Interview with Owner of 80 Acre Campsite in National Park  show art Wrangell Interview with Owner of 80 Acre Campsite in National Park

NatParkStories's podcast

"I'm fairly well traveled and this is the best place I could find." -Jim D.      As you can probably tell during the beginning of this episode, when I first met Jim, I thought uhhhh, okay this is going to be an interesting interview… And I was right. But I had no idea how much I would enjoy spending time with him.    You can tell with his first sentence that he is a goofy guy, but what you probably don’t get is how he goes out of his way to help anyone and everyone that comes down that long winding 66 mile drive and finds themselves at the end of the road, at the...

info_outline
Kenai Fjords Interview with an Alaskan Travel Expert show art Kenai Fjords Interview with an Alaskan Travel Expert

NatParkStories's podcast

“It just makes you realize that you’re not the only person out here, you know? Think about everybody else. You’re the one person living your life but there’s so much more… there’s so many people and we’re all experiencing it.” -Heidi Goheen   Heidi Goheen a really fun interview because we got along right away and were able to have a conversation about not only the Kenai Fjord National Park, where she’s visited more than a dozen times, and about the bummmppyyyy boat ride we were on, but also about the other Parks she’s been to, what drew her to the Park, why she takes...

info_outline
Kenai Fjords Interview with the Ship Deck Hand show art Kenai Fjords Interview with the Ship Deck Hand

NatParkStories's podcast

"I think everyone should explore their parks... I've gotten to go to quite a few and there isn't anything quite like Kenai Fjords National Park.”  -Josh Grove   During the ride to Kenai Fjord National Park, I talked with a deck hand on the ship, Josh Grove, who has been working out in Seward for a few years.   During the course of his interview, we talk about what brought him to this National Park, and he gives some really interesting information about what a fjord is and how the glaciers have receded just in the few short years he’s been at the Park.   You really feel...

info_outline
Interview with Safari Leader in Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park show art Interview with Safari Leader in Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park

NatParkStories's podcast

“I’m from Tennessee where in the winter time, it can get to mid-80s... and I love the heat and I will sacrifice all that just to be here because it’s so impressively cool.” -Mikey Martin   Mikey Martin is a Safari Guide that I met on the boat ride to the Kenai Fjords National Park.   In his two summers in Alaska, he has done that boat ride about 80 times. And as hard as it is to believe, each time provides a new and unique experience.    And it would have to… What else would bring a Nashville boy who loves the warmth all the way up to the icy glaciers of Alaska...

info_outline
 
More Episodes
"Wrangell is often referred to as the Park without handrails."
 
Brendon Seaholser was such an interesting interview because of his honest and blunt demeanor, as well as his love of the park and adventures of all kind. 
 
During this interview, we talk about what brought him to Wrangell St. Elias, one of the month desolate and isolated parks in the country, a story which starts in Vermont, and winds through many continents.
We also talk about how unbelievably vast the Park is, and the possible consequences of going into this wilderness unprepared. 
 
You’ll hear him talk about the stories of going into the wild, about the dangers he’s witnessed, and the magic too, the unreal beauty of the largest Park in the country, and one of the largest pieces of wilderness in the world. 
 
One of my favorite things about this interview is the awe that you can hear in Brendon’s voice as he talks about the Park and especially, the mountains. 
You can hear how much love and respect he has for this place, and it made me feel it too. 
 
When I walked out of the tiny one room visitor’s center where I’d met him, I felt a chill of excitement to be in such an incredible place. I felt so grateful to be witness to this Park that had created such awe in this man I’d had the pleasure of meeting. 
It gave me a new way of looking at, and respecting, this unfamiliar place. 
 
As you hear me mention in the interview, earlier that day, I’d had a few hiccups on the main road, namely ending up in a ditch, being towed out by strangers, then later having a flat tire, which I describe at the end of the interview.
At the time, I’d questioned why I was even there, in the middle of this wild and overwhelming place, until this interview that made me so incredibly aware of how fortunate I was to be there and how precious this Park really is. 
 
I really can’t wait to share this one with you!
 
Want to see more?
Check out Nat Park Stories on Facebook and Instagram or on the Patreon Blog.