A Speck By Comparison

Happy Wife. Wrapped in the arm of another man. Not just any other man. Recognize him? No, it’s not Sam Elliot. A fair guess though, we noted the resemblance too. This man, he told us some things, while he tipped back a few fingers of bourbon at the bar where we met him last night. Once he got going there was no stopping him, one of those times when you just sit back and listen because there isn’t anything that’s happened to you lately ever that can trump this. And so we did, just sit back and listen. Fascinating. He believes something about his son — and by believe I mean you can cut my right hand off if you can prove otherwise believe. I think he actually said that. His son, he said, is thee most traveled person in the world. At least on a bike. A few years ago his son left Alaska for Portugal. There he started off on his bike, solo, unsupported by any adventure outfit, and pedaled east, through Spain and France, through Italy, Croatia, Serbia and eventually into Turkey. He continued east pedaling through all the -stan countries — his father rattled them off in order, counting them on his fingers as he went — eventually turning south and pedaling over the Himalayan highlands where his father said he suffered some punishing bouts of frostbite. Alas, since he’d summited Denali (aka McKinley) three times before his twentieth birthday (and his father 17 times — so far) he was no stranger to severe cold. He passed into Tibet illegally, was eventually arrested, but let go when the authorities asked him, “Where did you come from.” His son calmly said, “Portugal,” and pointed to the bike. Evidently amazed by a short synopsis of his journey they fed him and let him go. He continued pedaling, into China, south into Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, then back up through those same countries eventually turning west. In Africa somewhere he was pulled off his bike and thrown into the back seat of a car between two enormous black guys — here his father paused briefly, grabbed my arm and said, “I assure you I’m no racist” — where he was robbed at gunpoint. By then his father was tearing up and I lost track of the story. Evidently his son is now in Tanzania trying to get back home. He has Malaria and likely two other serious viral infections. He is sick, needs medical attention, and may die if he doesn’t get it soon.

Oh, the man, the father? That’s Marty Raney. One of three members of the all-Alaskan Mountaineers team who competed in seasons 1 and 2 of Ultimate Survival Alaska, a reality TV show put on by National Geographic. Season two, which finished in August, is scheduled to air on NatGeo beginning December 15th. Marty was in Anchorage giving a talk about his experience. The only thing Marty said which I found untrue was that his son was so low key about his adventure he didn’t have a blog or nothing, only late in his adventure had he turned to posting on Facebook. But I found a blog, and a good reading one too, I thought so anyway. It appears his last entry in the blog was August 2011. Fantastic photos.

After about forty-five uninterrupted mesmerizing minutes Marty tipped back the last of his second bourbon, set the glass down and asked us, “So what do you do?” Made me feel like thee most insignificant speck in the entire friggin’ universe.