Flathead friends plan epic road trip
The four people are as relaxed as you can be about a road trip that will take them months and thousands of miles.
Since they will be the first ones to attempt such a creative endeavor, they don’t have any preconceived notions of how it will go.
Jacob Ries, Jennifer Cobet, Aamon Jaeger and Kevin Trimm aim to be the first filmmakers to travel from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina — a route known as the Pan-American Highway — and make a documentary about the experience.
“People are so inundated with fear and negativity,” Ries said. “We want to go to these different countries, different communities and want to bring the voice of the people back.”
Ries, a former employee of The Garden of One Thousand Buddhas in Arlee, said the expedition with his three friends from Whitefish was one they had all been longing to do.
Several local businesses have faith in the project as well: Tree of Life Tattoo, Rocks and Things... Metaphysical, Specimen Specialist America and Wasabi Sushi Bar and Grill, all of Whitefish, have pledged support to the filmmakers.
A Denver-based organization has supported the group as well.
Cobet, an accountant, is the only one with film experience, but she is confident in the scope of the project.
“Our goal is to connect all these communities together along this road,” she said. “I believe there is this false image out there that we aren’t safe when we travel, that these borders mean anything. The human spirit is alive.”
The four plan to travel to the Arctic Circle at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, before cold weather makes it impossible. They took leaves of absence from their jobs to complete the trip, which could take the better part of a year.
The route will take them through Alaska via Fairbanks and on to Whitehorse, Yukon. From there the four plan to follow the Alaskan Highway into Alberta before turning south to Calgary and then back into Montana.
They will travel from Billings to Denver to Albuquerque and into Mexico via Monterey. The route then passes through Central America.
The only break in the route comes at the Darien Gap, a 60-mile stretch of rainforest in Panama and Colombia where there are no official roads.
“That’s just a wild area, with bandits and things like that,” Cobet admitted. “We thought about trying to drive through it, but decided to ship our car over the Panama Canal and onto Colombia.”
The route then follows the spine of the Andes mountains through Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina.
The trip will finally end in Ushuaia, Argentina, the gateway to Antarctica.
Ries said the trip is more than a race to the bottom of the world.
“We want to network and build support with this trip,” he said. “We hope to volunteer and work our way down and take time in communities. If we can work for a few weeks at an organic farm, or help build a school in Ecuador, we’re going to do it.”
The filmmakers are looking for anyone who feels drawn to their project to contact them. They believe the more support they have at home, the easier it will be when they are far afield.
“We love support like this,” Ries said. “Financial, open dialogues, prayers, thoughts, really anything. It’s been very well received so far. I think our message resonates with people.”
Cobet said they group plans to update the Flathead Valley along the trip. They would even be open to the idea of another person joining their quest, or people willing to meet them along the path.
She has Colombian and Nicaraguan ancestry, and wants to know more about the “sordid” history of those two countries.
“It’s our destiny work,” Cobet said. “We’re going to be working the entire time, but it’s going to be an amazing experience.”
To find out more about the project, visit www.facebook.com/Journeyintothegreatworkdoc or donate at www.indiegogo.com/projects/documentary-of-the-longest-road-on-earth.