About the DVD

Spectacular scenery accompanies dozens of trailside interviews in a new DVD by a longtime Sequoia-Kings Canyon backcountry ranger that touts the significance of spending time outside, especially in the High Sierra.

  The Kaweah Commonwealth, Three Rivers, Calif., Nov. 26, 2004

Over the past 30 years I’ve been a ranger with Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat’l Parks. For the past 26 seasons, I’ve worked as a backcountry ranger. It is an incredible job that involves spending four months in the wilderness every year. We are responsible for protecting the fragile high country environment and we are also there to assist the backpackers that venture into the wilderness.

Our season begins in June with a couple weeks of refresher training. Then it’s time to buy food and organize our gear for the season in the backcountry. The rangers will hike into their ranger stations so they can receive the helicopter that brings in the supplies. After spending a couple days organizing the station, then it’s time to hit the trail and go to work. We cover the area on foot and have radios to relay necessary information to other rangers or to headquarters.

The concept of making this documentary started about seven years ago. I felt there was an opportunity to make an awesome video because my job is so unique. While out on the trail I meet people from around the world that come to hike the John Muir Trail. The High Sierra is so magnificent and challenging, these hikers reflect the inspiration that the mountains give them on their arduous journey. Over 50 backpackers are interviewed each giving their unique insights as to what the wilderness experience is doing for them.

The video’s narration is woven into a story format. A variety of National Park Service employees are interviewed including: other backcountry rangers, a Park Service supervisor, trail crew workers, and a horse packer. The backcountry ranger’s job is described and conversations with six different backcountry rangers are presented. These rangers are sort of a unique breed of wilderness loving men and women that thrive off of hiking, climbing, helping backpackers and living in the wild for months at a time.

The backpackers are there to take on the challenge. These hikers like the physical challenge, the adventure and the simple way of life that it offers. It’s amazing the insights that people have in the wilderness. It appears that being away from the fast pace of today’s world allows them to look inside themselves and see what is truly significant in their lives.

The trail crew is the California Conservation Corps. They are 18 and 19 year olds that work in the backcountry for several months at a time. A lot of them are from the city and for many of them it is their first wilderness experience. I had a chance to talk to them at the end of their season right before they were getting ready to hike out.

Also, a sequence on John Muir is presented. He was regarded as the “father of our National Parks” due to his writings and efforts to promote conservation in the 1890’s and early 1900’s. Many proposals to dam and flood mountain canyons of the Sierra were stopped due to Muir’s efforts. As a tribute to his legacy, the John Muir Trail was named after him when construction began in 1915.

The video has an original musical soundtrack by singer/songwriter John Dillon. Parts of six compositions are interspaced throughout the video. The lyric based music beautifully highlights the video and leaves lasting memories of this story.

I hope you enjoy the “Message”,

Bob Kenan