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Zack Badger Davis
In today's episode of BACKPACKER Radio Server, the trek brought to you by Topo Athletic. We are joined by Caleb Meatball Adcock, a professional photographer and thru hiker who completed the AT last year and is currently midway through the CDT doing it almost entirely alone. Caleb walks us through how he built a career shooting for brands like Hyperlite and Jetboil while through hiking, why authentic trail photography looks so different from what brands used to put out getting Lyme disease on the AT and spending four days at the Yellow Deli sleeping on a pool floaty for four days on the at what it's actually like to hike the CDT almost completely solo for months at a time what he's learning about himself in that solitude and the time he was charged by an angry mama moose multiple times near Leadville. We wrapped the show with my review of the popular Kettle Mountain no Fry sun hoodie, a complex core question of the day involving depriving access to the rest of the world's meal access or cooking appliances. The triple crown of ways you'd behave differently if there were no ramifications. Why you should never take gear advice to heart. And many tears are shed as this is Traunce's last BACKPACKER Radio studio visit as a Colorado resident. But first, a backpacker's most important piece of gear is their footwear. You can have the rest of your pack absolutely dialed in, but if your feet aren't happy, you aren't happy. And you that's why we're thrilled to introduce today's sponsor, Topo Athletic. If you tuned into our footwear episode with Dr. Courtney Conley, a physician specializing in foot and gate mechanics, you already know that Topo Athletic was on her short list of brands she recommends for hikers. That's because Topo Athletic makes trail runners with a zero or minimal drop and a roomy toe box. The minimal drop promotes a more natural gait, while the wide toe box allows
Caleb Meatball Adcock
your toe toes to fully splay.
Zack Badger Davis
Thru hikers have caught on the topos as well. According to the Trek's AT Thru Hiker survey, Topo went from not even cracking the list four years ago to being the second most used brand in the Trek's most recent survey, narrowly missing out on the top spot. Topoathletic is beloved by thru hikers for their superior durability and grippy outsoles. In addition to the minimal drop and wide toe box, our gear reviewers have reported getting anywhere from 6, 600 to 1,000 miles out of a single pair of topos before needing a replacement. This can save you not hundreds, but more than $1,000 over the course of a single through hike. All Topo shoes utilize their Vibram outsoles, which is both grippy and durable, a rare combination. Typically you have to pick one or the other. Chance and I have both been rocking Topo Athletic. Chance were the pursuit twos for the full Northville Pasta trail and many miles. 6 Since I put in hundreds of miles in my pursuit twos over the last couple of years, including a through hike up Tour de Mont Blanc without even an ounce of foot discomfort. All right, here's the part you've been waiting for. The Discount Backpacker Radio listeners can score a 15 discount by using code Trek15Topo at checkout@TopoAthletic.com Again, use code Trek15Topo all one word and the number 15 at checkout@TopoAthLetic.com for your new favorite pair of trail runners. This discount is only valid on full price items and is only good for a limited time, so do not wait. If you've listened to BACKPACKER Radio for any amount of time, you know that Chaunce and I are big fans of gossamer gear, and today I want to talk about their newest pole, the FT3 trekking poles. These are ideal for fast packing and trail running, where the terrain changes fast and you need to go from pocket to pole and back again in seconds. No more choosing between carrying poles you don't need and scrambling for poles you can't reach. Stash them, grab them, go. At just 6.2 ounces per pole, carbon fiber shafts and a custom molded EVA foam grip keep every swing light. They're a variation of the best selling LT5s, dialed in specifically for when speed is the priority. If you're putting in big miles and the trail keeps throwing different terrain at you, the FT3s are your go to discount time. Backpacker Radio listeners can score a $20 discount off these polls or the popular LT5s by using code backpackerradio at checkout@gossamergear.com Again, that's code backpacker radio all one word@gossamergear.com for $20 off your new favorite set of UL Trekking poles. And this deal is only good for a limited time, so do not wait.
Jackson Storm
To go.
Zack Badger Davis
Welcome to Backpack Radio, presented by the Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic. I am your co host, Zack Badger Davis. Sitting to my right is.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Hi, I'm Juliana Chauncey, AKA Chance.
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, we almost made it one minute.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I'm Fine.
Zack Badger Davis
So to paint the picture, I'll. I'll say the words, because I have a feeling you might just want a second to. To not speak me one of those guys.
Jackson Storm
Are we looking?
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, yeah. This is Chaunce's last in studio moment as a Colorado residence. And how does it feel? This is a. This is an impromptu processing.
Jackson Storm
It's so fun.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm really enjoying it.
Jackson Storm
It's. It's. It's great. Thanks for asking.
Zack Badger Davis
Caleb was not prepared for this when he was asked to come on a backpacking podcast.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
He had no idea until about five seconds ago. But I have been clearing the shel of anything that's mine, and I selfishly decided that I want to take the bottle of Maker's Mark that says Backpacker Radio. I think it's a fair compromise. And so you can have anything you
Zack Badger Davis
want aside from the sign.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And the bottle gets a company.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You sign over the track.
Zack Badger Davis
It's not a physical thing.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And so we're going to start with a shot. Yeah.
Jackson Storm
How else am I supposed to do this?
Zack Badger Davis
Ooh.
Jackson Storm
Okay, great.
Zack Badger Davis
I think that might have been more than a shot.
Jackson Storm
I better give it you extra.
Zack Badger Davis
Yikes. Good. How does it feel?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You already asked that. You have to do reminders of any guy.
Zack Badger Davis
We do want to do reminders.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yes, do reminders. Don't look at me.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay. Okay. We can do more processing in a bit. Reminders is if you want the best from the Trek. The place to get that is the Trek's newsletter link will be in the show notes, but this is where we post new job opportunities. And I've been teasing this, but I hope to have one before the end of the year. This is where we get exclusive gear discounts. We recently just ran one with a footwear brand, not our title sponsor, so I won't say it. And we get. We put out our best content of the week each week via the newsletter. So this is the place to get the best of everything that the Trek does. If you're not on this, I highly encourage you to do this. This is also the place to go to learn about live podcasts. This is. Now we're time traveling because we haven't, as of this recording, haven't done it. As of this release. It has happened. But I'm sure there were more tears. Definitely more alcohol.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I would like to hope that I keep it together really well. And I'm just going to manifest that.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Whether or not
Zack Badger Davis
Jaunce is so ready to be done with the podcast that she's unplugged herself. This is Jabo all over it on this part right here. There you go.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Sorry. Unplugged myself prematurely. I don't remember what I was saying.
Zack Badger Davis
Live podcast.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, yes. I don't know. I would like to think that I can be composed. I. Because this feels more real, you know, like this was my last commute. This is my. Can't keep talking about this. It's. This feels more real.
Zack Badger Davis
When did we start? What was our first in the studio podcast? I know we just did the reminiscing, but I can tell you, I'm going to guess. Was that 19 or 20?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I can tell you, but I can't
Jackson Storm
tell you that fast.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But I can tell you I'm just going to have to wait until I buffer.
Zack Badger Davis
Where are we on you pull that up. I'm going to go to the next reminder.
Jackson Storm
Yep.
Zack Badger Davis
The next reminder is. This is our brand new YouTube channel, the Trek on Trail. This is our vlogger series as it goes with through hikers. Sure. Caleb knows all too well about this. Things happen. So a few of the people that we've signed up have already gotten off trail. So as of this recording, it's just Morgan, our British all star, out on the pct, rocking the channel solo. There's a chance that he'll have some friends on the channel here soon, but Morgan's awesome. And this will be the channel to go to to get Trek vlogger updates. And it's in full swing. So if you're not subscribed, you're probably not brand new channel, hard to find. The link will be in the show notes. We would love for you to subscribe and support our crew. So what was the year?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
November 2019.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That was when the walls were white and yeah. You were holding something and you had put that one little sign. I just closed my thing out. You had put that one little. That one little picture. Because remember, you ordered the print and you thought it was going to be a really jumbo print and then you got it and it was like the
Zack Badger Davis
size of it was a sticker too. It wasn't even a print. Right.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. And so you just stuck it to the wall. Here, I'll show you.
Zack Badger Davis
It is impressive.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This is you explaining it. Oh, yeah. There you go.
Zack Badger Davis
It's funny how far we've come and in some ways regressed.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
The studio has gotten better.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yes, the studio has gotten better. I have less hair. I mean, I did cut it, but you probably have less hair too.
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, I definitely less hair.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
And yeah, yeah, it was during an episode that was removed. Someone commented that it was. The only thing more shocking than the subject matter was the fact that I wasn't wearing a hat.
Jackson Storm
Oh, yeah, that's true.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You do wear them a lot. But then again, I wear them a lot.
Zack Badger Davis
Maybe I'll go hatless for the live podcast as a send off a present to you.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Imagine you show my thinning hair and all of a sudden it was just like you had no hair and you just had been hiding it so well.
Zack Badger Davis
Just shaving my bald spot in.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, like you actually just balded.
Zack Badger Davis
Distracted.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But no one knew. Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying it's about me in general. He had to prove it. He didn't look for Lucy's. He has to prove he's proving to YouTube that he has it.
Zack Badger Davis
Since you gave me a shot, I've lost at least three to five hairs, though.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, but I lose three or five hairs.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, but you've got a lot more to lose.
Jackson Storm
Yeah. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
On that note, last but not least. Certainly not least. Patreon.com backpackerradio this is the place to go to get the continued Juliana Chauncey experience. I've been reluctant to finalize what exactly that looks like from a content plan because I don't want to stress you out. You'll be in the middle of a move. I don't want to burden you with stuff, but I suppose after this podcast we should definitely have that conversation.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, it's. It's one of those that has to be had, but it makes things more final. So I think putting.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, I think it also makes things more continued.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Well, yeah, but like if, like, but like, then like it's just more like living in, in that world.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You know, bpr.
Zack Badger Davis
Bpr.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yes, bpr.
Jackson Storm
Bpr.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So yeah, I think putting it off is good because we, we can just let this sit and sit and then when I unpack, we can un.
Zack Badger Davis
But yeah, also the place to go to get every episode advertisement free. And yeah, we are grateful to all of our Patreon supporters. We've been getting more comments and messages and yada yada through Patreon. So thank you to everyone who is a Patreon who's communicative. We are always receptive to the feedback that we get. We got some notes about like requesting specific show notes and just stuff like that. So everything that you send we read and take to heart. So if you want to get through to us, that's a good place to do so again. Patreon.com backpack or radio. Okay, let's get to our interview. Caleb, thank you for joining us. Caleb Adcock is a through hiker and professional photographer after completing the AT last year. This year he is partway through the cdt. I know. Is your trail name Meatball?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Is that something you. I. I feel like it was a little bit buried on your Instagram. You don't advertise Meatball.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. It's not like front and center all the time.
Zack Badger Davis
Is that you trying to separate your professional self with your dirt bag?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, not at all. It was just kind of like, I don't know, it was one of those. Those trail names that I didn't get until super later on in the at.
Zack Badger Davis
And how late are we talking?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Like, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. And so were you hiking with Jamie at this point? Yes. Okay, so Jamie had started a week ahead of me.
Zack Badger Davis
And then did you guys make it a pact to dodge trail names?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, it.
Zack Badger Davis
Cause I know.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, she, like, took forever to get one too. But it kind of. We got to a point where there were so many people that would just, like, be so frustrated.
Zack Badger Davis
They'd be like, what do you mean?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
You don't have a trail name? And just like, people on trail, people off trail. And so it kind of got to a point where we were like, we just have to pick one. And so. Yeah. And like, at the beginning, I feel like as on every trail, everyone's just trying to give you a trail name right off the bat.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so we were like, no, because I was hiking. It was me and two other guys that I met on day two that essentially hiked most of the trail together. And so we were like, we need to wait for this kind of experience. And essentially it turned into this thing of like, okay, we just need to pick one just to appease people.
Zack Badger Davis
So you picked your own.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So I kind of did pick my own. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Is it rooted in any sort of story or anything?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
We were in, I want to say, Pennsylvania, and we had all, like, set up our tents to face each other. And it was so hot. I remember it was legit, like 90 degrees, 85% humidity, and no breeze whatsoever. And the mosquitoes were awful. And so we had set up our tents kind of across from each other and eating dinner in our tents, but could still have conversation. And I had packed out like pre cooked meatballs from Walmart.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Smart.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And it was like one of those things of like, I love my camp stove through and through. I am not a cold soaker whatsoever. But with this, it was just like so hot that I couldn't eat anything hot, so I was just eating meatballs cold.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I was like, guys, you should just call me Meatball. Like, it's kind of trashy. Like, it's kind of like off. Like, kind of random. And they were like, no, no. Like, we need to wait for, like, a real, like, experience for you to get your trail name. And then so like a week went by, and then I, like, someone else referenced it and I was like, yeah, you're right. Like, maybe we shouldn't do Meatball. Maybe I'll wait. And then they were like, no, that's it. That's it. And so then one of the guys I was hiking with, Dylan, he was. He literally kind of came up with this thing that was like, my slogan is keep on rolling or just rolling through. And so any kind of like trail log or book that I sign, it's. It's usually just rolling through or keep on rolling, that kind of thing.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You draw a meatball with it.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I don't. I usually put a little heart somewhere, but yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
There's that song about meatballs rolling. Do you know it?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I don't think so. Do you think rolls off the table?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I don't remember it. I had to play it on piano. But there is a song. It could be your theme song if
Jackson Storm
you learned all the words.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I have to look it up.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
I was thinking of the cartoon with meatball and fry. You know what I'm talking about?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yes. Hated all those genre.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm gonna. You know the meatball song? The meatball that rolls off the table.
Zack Badger Davis
Yes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Meatball rolling off table song. On top of spaghetti all covered with cheese I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed I rolled off the table. It rolled onto the floor. Oh, I clicked it. And now it's a music ad. Okay, well, that's the song.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I'll have to look it up.
Zack Badger Davis
My poor meatball. Then somebody.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, of course.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
This is gonna be my new, like, Ridge walk song. Double headphones in. Meatball song.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It will be stuck in your head.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And technically it's a camp song, so
Caleb Meatball Adcock
it'll be like a party trip. Yeah. I can bring it out, do a whole performance.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
People will love that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay, I'm gonna keep that. Yeah, I'm gonna take that from you. Thank you for that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You're welcome.
Zack Badger Davis
How long was this pre cooked meatball sitting in your pack before you ingested it?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, it was like all sealed off. Like, this wasn't like I scraped meatballs off like a Sub and decided to take them with me. So, yeah, I mean, give or take four days.
Zack Badger Davis
So I still feel like that's a new violation. I don't know how much the factory ceiling will help you.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, but you're here to tell the story. Yeah. So, yeah, it wasn't anything crazy, but it. That's what I ended up with. And, yeah, it's just kind of stuck.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So do you like it?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I do like it because it does feel like a little trashy of just like. And also the amount of people that I had because once I kind of. We got further north and I had, like, started going by Meatball, there were a few hikers ahead of us, and as we started encountering Sobos, they'd be like, oh, we met so and so. And they told us that, like, Meatball and JJ were going to be coming through, but people would be like, you are not what I was expecting Meatball to look like.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Meatball is like the twerp on every show.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so it was kind of just like this funny thing of, like, my name started to get ahead of me a little bit too. And so then it would that really just, like, nail in the coffin kind of deal.
Zack Badger Davis
And so your name's getting ahead of you. What is your reputation?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Hopefully a little less trashy than Meatball sounds. But no, I think, you know, I don't know. I feel like I've lived, but anyone who's hiked a long trail feels like they've lived 18 different lives while they're out there. And also, just like, the cool part about the trail is, like, you meet someone and then they get ahead of you, and two months later, you see them down the trail. And so, yeah, it was kind of like this. This thing of, you know, the two guys I had hiked a lot of the trail with up in New Hampshire and Maine, they were. Had gotten a few days ahead. And so, yeah, just interacting with the soos coming the other way.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And then also, like, in New Hampshire and Maine, some people would recognize me from Instagram, which was mortifying and terrifying. And. And it was just like this, like, oh, my gosh, that's the Instagram guy. Or I've seen your videos. And it was like, so, like, took me aback just from, like, this feels like, so weird because I just. I started initially started posting just for, like, my friends. I think I started the trail. It was like 1500 followers, maybe. And so, yeah, and then it just. The audience kind of started growing, and then people in real life started recognizing me and so it was just kind of like this, I don't know, almost that like Internet Instagram tick tock guy. And usually I, I, my kind of initial response is, I'm so sorry for what you've seen on the Internet. Like, it's probably been very chaotic and unhinged in a lot of different ways.
Zack Badger Davis
Do you not match your online Persona?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, I feel like I do, but, and, and my friends can attest to that too, but I think it's just kind of like I, I initially had been posting for my friends and so it was kind of like that. I don't know, it wasn't the, the perfectly cut, put together beautiful trail photos or videos or like, disagree with that.
Zack Badger Davis
Your photos are spectacular. I get what you're saying. You weren't after becoming like an influencer type.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Your photography is outrageous. It's really good.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I was gonna say, I, I thought like, if you're a professional photographer, don't you want tons of people to see your photos?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
For sure. But, and I think because a lot of kind of like I, I fell into this pattern of like a weekly update and so I would kind of just post these like one off videos during the week and then like the end of the week would be like a set of photos, but it was always a mix of like iPhone photos and camera photos and iPhone clips. And so it was kind of this combination of like this professional side of like, yes, people can see some really cool imagery that I'm putting out, but also like, I, I didn't want it to be this like almost out of touch or like this picture perfect of like this, this through hike is like the most beautiful, incredible thing, which it is, but there's also the other side to it of like, this is really hard and sometimes you're sitting on the side of the road eating cereal out of your pot and like getting like blasted in the face with dirt from cars that are driving by. Like, and I wanted to kind of have that balance of like, it's not just this crazy beautiful imagery, but it's this full experience that encompasses so many different things. And so I think that was kind of that balance of like, I'm gonna post the really high quality imagery, but I'm also gonna post the like shitty iPhone photo that is, I look literally like someone beat me with a stick kind of deal. Because I feel like that was just like the most accurate way to share what a through high could experience is like.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
As a professional photographer, did you ever worry that if you posted a shitty photo and someone found it and saw it that they would think that you were a shitty photographer.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I think I, I think so for sure. I think I kind of got to this point where a lot of the content I was posting photos and videos, like, I, I thought it was funny or I thought it would be fun to share. And so it kind of almost like took a step back from that, like, professional front of like, I am wanting to, yes, have this, like, professional photography, but I'm also just posting as a normal person that's out hiking, doing it through hike. And I think that, you know, there's a lot of like, that goes into that balance between professional and just like posting for fun. And I think it was also like, around the time too, like, a lot of people were starting to take Instagram and that kind of posting a lot less serious. And so these kind of like photo dumps and you know, you do your monthly photo dump and it's just like everything from like, really cool, like, beautiful imagery to like the funny stuff that you might post in your close friend's story. And so that was kind of the concept is like, I want, I'm posting this because I think it's cool imagery and also funny imagery. And I'm posting it for my friends to see, like people that I know. And then that kind of turned into like, oh, people that I don't know are also seeing this. And that was kind of that, like, spooky spot of, of with brands and, and for the most part, like, the brands that I did get to partner with on the AT and even with the cdt, I, like, had a few calls with them and I was like, they were like, super excited because a lot of people were relating to the type of content that I was posting and I was like, kind of not embarrassed, but I was like, oh, like we're going to talk about some of the videos that I've posted. And that's like, terrifying because I was sitting in a professional space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What's the least professional thing you've done in one of these videos?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Gosh, I don't know. That's a good question. And I'm gonna. Yeah, I'm gonna have to think about
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
it if you don't tell me. I'm thinking, like, full frontal nudity.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, no, no, no, I've got the. No, nothing like that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Safe.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I think it's just kind of like that, like, rat summer mentality of like, kind of unhinged, kind of dirty, like, stuff that people might be like, oh, that's kind of gross. Which, like, unless you're in the backpacking world, like, you get it, but like doing certain things, like some people are like, oh my gosh. And I can't think of like one specific thing right now.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, it's funny, we get remarks, like comments and emails from time to time about people being upset that we refer to people as hiker trash. Like, it's a mean, demeaning thing. Like, you have to be in the know to know that a. That's a term of endearment.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I had friends when I got back from the pct. Be like, you're not trash. You need to have better self esteem. I'm like, I. I promise you that's not what I mean.
Zack Badger Davis
Is there anything frustrating about because you are a talented professional photographer, the pendulum has swung or is swinging back to like that more like authentic style? Like. Yeah, I feel like all the tools that during a period of time, maybe a couple years ago, were trying to make everyone look more professional and all the stuff that stands out, like people talking to the camera in their car, trying to come off, like they're not scripting it or something like that. Is that frustrating for you? Someone that is polished and professional trying to break through?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I don't think it is. Just because, like you said, it is shifting to this, like, more authentic style. I think which professionally, it makes my job a thousand times easier because people are wanting the real stuff. Right. Like a few years ago and maybe even 10 years ago, it was, it was kind of like the professional imagery. In order to be a professional, it had to be this perfectly clean cookie cutter photo where everything's perfectly staged. And now it's moved away from that and it's like brands from what I've worked with just want authentic photos and authentic imagery. And I think, you know, that's one thing I bring to the table, is I kind of am a lot of these outdoor brands, like, target demographic and so existing on the professional side as well as existing in the demographic they're trying to target, it's kind of like, you know, like I understand what looks real and what doesn't look real and what looks staged. And I just remember seeing some imagery a few years ago and it was like this whole setup and a beautiful imagery, beautiful imagery. But the, the models in the shoot looked like they'd never spent a day outside. And like, the way the tent was set up was like sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and like a lantern beside it. And I was like, this is not even close to like, My camping experience, like, let alone through hiking, but like a camping experience. And so I think I've kind of taken or tried to take that mentality into the professional side of, like, you know, what would this scene normally look like? Like, if there wasn't a camera here, like, what would this scene look like? Or working, you know, with people in the outdoor space on different shoots and, you know, having an idea of what we want the image to look like, but just kind of taking a step back and being like, hey, like, you exist in this demographic, whether that's bike packing or. Or through hiking or, you know, we have this camp set up. But I want you to make this, what, the best way that you feel would look the most accurate to how you would be existing in that. Naturally.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. We've hired a number of photographers for the Trek store. And, yeah, I now try to make it a rule that I only hire through hikers just because, like, I don't have to coach them as, like, what the aesthetic is. They know what it is. Because we've had some, like, very talented photographers who just, like, you could tell day hiking was probably as deep as they got in.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
It doesn't portray the image that I think the Trek.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. And people well.
Jackson Storm
And.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. And I think that's kind of made, like I said, my job a lot easier is. Because it's not perfectly staged and it's not cookie cutter, and it's like those.
Jackson Storm
I. For you,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I've got so much on the ground over here.
Zack Badger Davis
I wasn't planning on drinking, but I
Caleb Meatball Adcock
don't know how it's.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I know.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know.
Zack Badger Davis
The conflict between me being old and trying to celebrate are.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Sweet.
Zack Badger Davis
Sweet chance.
Jackson Storm
The.
Zack Badger Davis
The ladder's winning. Yeah. Sorry I cut us off with my alcoholism. Oh. Just. Yeah. Just like, the authentic thread of, like, trying to represent the brand.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
In the truest way. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I think that also just comes from, like, in the professional space, working with people, like, bringing people into model who already exist in that space. Right. It's not. It's not like you're trying to make someone who only lives in the city look like they've, you know, are a triple crowner. It's bringing in the triple crowner to be in your. Your photos, your imagery.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And also just, like, the credibility that goes with that of, like, seeing that imagery that was perfectly staged with the people who had looked like they'd never been outside. It was kind of like. I don't know. There wasn't any credibility for me. Of like, oh, that I see myself in that situation or I relate to that scene. Like there was a pretty hard divide with that. And so I think that's kind of like, yeah, that balance between professional and also just that realistic content and imagery that that kind of the marketing side of things has shifted towards that.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Which of your photos has gone the most viral?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
This is also a great question.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Photos, you could take it in a different way if you'd like.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. There's one video that I made a reel that I made and we were still in North Carolina on the at last year and I had taken a nerd cluster and I went up on this fire tower and I put it between my fingers like a cigarette and I videoed it like literally. I think I videoed it on like Instagram or Snapchat or something. Like not clean camera or anything, but something I could flip the camera but it was essentially like something to take the edge off. And it was me on this fire tower and then I flipped the camera around like I was smoking a cigarette. But it was a nerds cluster. I think it's like almost up to like 2 million views really. Which is like I've got to find. It was so stupid too because it's like that's the thing with, with social media. It's like the best ones are. Yeah, well. And like you like put time and effort into this like high quality content or whatever it might be. And then you post like a video that took me 10 seconds to make and I don't even think I edited it. I literally just like put the copy on it and uploaded it. And then the next day I like woke up and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so dumb.
Zack Badger Davis
Like yeah, there's something iconic about the nerd cluster though. I feel like this is something the new era of thru hiker knows all too well. I don't even know when through hiker when nerd clusters came out, but the bulk of my through hiking career they did not exist. And I think I was first introduced to them on the San Diego Trans County Trail by jolly. Holy fuck. Are they good? Yeah, they're so much better than nerds. Yeah, it's like reimagined nerds.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
What was your like nerd cluster if they, if they weren't out? Like what was the candy question?
Zack Badger Davis
I'm more of a chocolate guy, so I'm maybe not the most qualified, but I know Traunce is big into the sour gummy worms.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm just trying to. I'm trying to think of what would be relatable to nerd clusters. Pre Nerd clusters.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Some kind of like. Like starbursts or like some kind of individually wrapped chewy candy.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I'm always more of a chocolate guy. Oreos even in the M M's.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Hot, hot. Like, it's melting everywhere. You're, like, licking it off the wrapper kind of deal.
Zack Badger Davis
I usually get the share bag of the M&M's. So they all melt. They lo color. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Are we asking, like, what our. Our specific personal equivalent would be or what at the time we hiked, the equivalent to it would have been?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I think kind of both.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, good question. My equivalent would probably be, if I'm on trail, sour gummy worms. But not always the gummy worms. Sometimes I don't want that taste. The octopuses sometimes are the preferred gummy. Other times it's different. So just I'm excited by that at
Caleb Meatball Adcock
the time because I also feel like my alternative is, like, the sour patch watermelons.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And that's what I take, like, if just kind of interchangeably with nerd clusters.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You know what? When I was in the at, I think that was around when the sweet chili Doritos came out. And I think I learned about them on trail, and they were, like, as tasty as they are off trail. They were so tasty on trail, they made it into every resupply. And, like, we would each buy a bag. So I think that would probably be the nerd cluster of it.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
They've since lost their luster a bit.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I think I'm losing taste buds from them.
Zack Badger Davis
Your enthusiasm for this sweet chili has definitely rubbed off on me. I. Before knowing your appreciation for them, it was always nacho cheese, cool ranch. And I would never.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Wait, is this the purple bag?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay. Yeah, I agree with the purple because there's, like, a red bag that's, like, also a chili. Not the, like, OG Red, but there's like a maroon or something. Oh, I haven't had this one that's like, oh, that's. That's similar. Some chili something. But the purple's unmatched for sure.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Sweet chili.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm definitely not an early adopter when it comes to chips. I always have to wait for the recommendation because I've got my staples and I stick to them. Okay, let us back up a little bit. Where in your career arc did you get into photography?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I just kind of stumbled into it, really. I feel like I started. I got my first camera when I was in college. In like 20 gosh, 2017, 2016. And yeah, I just started shooting for fun and shooting a lot of like landscape and just stuff in the outdoors. And I really didn't start pursuing brand photography for gosh, probably not until like 2021. 2022 was whenever I was like finding myself in these outdoor situations with product and realize that I could shoot a basic photo that could potentially make me money. And so I literally was like shooting on the most basic camera Nikon makes for well into my photography career. And it was just like one of those bundles you could get for like 500 bucks that comes with like two lenses from Best Buy. And yeah, and so I just kind of like started combining that, that landscape photography, starting to photograph people more and people with product. And yeah, I didn't go to school for it. I didn't have any friends that were in that space space and in the marketing space. Like, it was all very new to me. And even just down to like talking with clients and how to make an invoice and an agreement and like all of that stuff that goes into running your own business. And so yeah, there wasn't kind of like one clear cut entry point. It was just kind of like stumbling through and I feel like I've definitely like gone back and forth too of, you know, going full time freelance is like, when it's on it's great and when it's not on it's miserable. And so kind of this balance of like having another job while trying to do photography and, and make those connections and, and kind of build that portfolio and so yeah, it's just kind of slowly developed through the years and, and also just like a balance too of, you know, not turning something I love just into work and making sure that I don't kill that kind of desire that I, the reason that I got into it.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And, and then you add on, you know, freelance stuff and, and financial instability that comes with freelance work. And so it was kind of like this back and forth of like, I don't want to kill this thing that I love doing on my own time just in order to pay the bills. And so yeah, it's kind of, it's kind of been a process that's like slowly developed throughout the years coming into it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So green, how did you determine your pricing in a way that like you could feel confident about was fair to you and the company?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. And thinking back to some early days, what I charged, how little I charged for what I delivered is, is kind of crazy.
Zack Badger Davis
Do you remember your first Pay job.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I do. I. My first, like, brand gig, it was for this, like, little clothing company in Montana. And I think I delivered a hundred Images for like 150 bucks. Like, it was like, I'll hire you
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
to follow me around.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Like, it was. And I was like, oh, my gosh, like $1 an image. They have all of this, which it was just like, in house product photography. And. But I remember being so stoked because I was like, I don't have to clock into anything. I don't have a boss. I can do it on my own time. And I'm literally like, pushing a button and the editing on the back end. Like, it's all on my own time. And so I was like, so excited about it. That was probably like, one of the biggest, like, I don't know, it just like, I was so excited to continue building that. And looking back now I'm like, oh, my gosh, that company got a lot of imagery for very little cost.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
But, yeah, in terms of, like, setting pricing, it's. It's an ongoing battle. I feel like, like anyone in the creative space is. Everyone's pricing is different. And, you know, I, I kind of learned with my pricing, I scale it based on the value that I'm giving a company because at the end of the day, like, this is a business transaction and what I give them, they will also make money off of later. And so, yeah, just kind of, you know, I, I work a lot of my photography strategy, marketing strategy in building these projects and campaigns around what kind of problems I'm solving. And so, you know, a company comes to me and they're saying, hey, we have a disconnect with this demographic or we want to target this demographic, or for some reason, this product didn't do as well we had hoped in the marketing side of things. And so it's kind of like looking for these holes between the product they're selling and their, Their target demographic and figuring out a way to creatively fill that space and then scaling my pricing accordingly. Of, like, if I am solving this massive problem for a company who makes tons of money, I should not be charging them the same price that I charge the mom and pop shop that I, you know, I do some marketing stuff for. But I think it's, It's. It's always a thing that's kind of changing. And understanding the value that you're giving a company and what you're offering, not just imagery, but the problems that you're solving with that imagery is, Is kind of where I'VE learned to base some pricing from.
Zack Badger Davis
How did you break in with the bigger brands? Do you want to name any of the brands that you've worked with?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, I work with Hyperlite. Hyperlite and Jetboil are kind of like my core. They were like my core brands on the 80 and now on the CDT. And so much of it is just like networking and like, you know, there's so many talented people out there who can shoot such creative imagery. But it kind of goes back to that, that thing of like, I am their target demographic, I know what their consumers are looking for and what looks realistic and relatable and what doesn't. And so that I feel like is part of that value that I include into my pricing of like, this is what I'm giving you. It's not just imagery, but it's imagery that's going to relate to who you're trying to market to.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, it's so niche that. Yeah, you don't have a lot of people competing with the service that you offer.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and sometimes, you know, that's like the flip side of it of I worked with a paddleboard company one time and, and their main marketing demographic was people who live on the coast because they were based out of Australia and like ocean paddle boarding. And so I sat down with them and I was like, hey, like, being in the US because they were just opening up a distribution center in the US And I was like, you can market to all these people on the coast, they will use your product. But living in Montana, like, there are so many people who are paddleboarding on freshwater lakes that aren't on the ocean and if they never see your product and their environment, they're never going to buy it.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so, you know, that's kind of like that problem solving mindset of like, you shift and, and it's like, okay, I'm not just selling imagery, but this is the problem we're solving with that. And then I'm going to price it accordingly. Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
It sounds like you'd be, I know you're through hiking now and it sounds like probably for the foreseeable future, but you'd be a great asset to like one of these bigger brands, not only from your photography standpoint, but like, you explain that perfectly. Like you're not representing their product in the way that the customer sees themselves. Like, you're just missing a massive opportunity.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, I think it, it once again, it goes back to like, I'm in the outdoor space, I'm like, even whenever I'm not posting or shooting for a brand, like I'm out backpacking or I'm going to take a beer down to the river, like, I'm. I'm in these spaces and I, I'm seeing other people in these spaces. And so it's, I feel like it's kind of like a cheat code of like, I know what looks real and what works and what doesn't. And, and so, yeah, kind of conveying that in, you know, what works for the brand and what they're trying to accomplish and what product. And, And I think, like, as I've kind of scaled my business too, I've also been okay with saying no to some companies of, yes, I could shoot this imagery, but you know, the way you want it shot or what you're, how you're wanting to market this. As someone who exists in the outdoor demographic, I know that, like, I'm going to see that and it's going to be a red flag if that pops up on my Instagram and be like, so it's, it's kind of one of those things too, of building some confidence with that of like being like, you know, I don't think we're a great fit and I don't think I can give you what you need, which took me some time to get to. And definitely, like, there were a lot of times where just growing my business, I was so nervous to under deliver with stuff, and now just through experience, it's kind of shifted of like, I'm saying, no, not because I don't think I can deliver, but because I don't think this is a good fit for what you're trying to accomplish.
Zack Badger Davis
It's a good place to be.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It is, it is. And not that, yeah, I do not make a lot of money, but it's kind of like, I don't know, it's just one of those of. I also know on the back end, if I were to get myself into a situation where I'm shooting something that I know my heart's not in it or I don't feel is authentic or accurate, it's going to be a lot more work for me to do and to try to fake that, and that's just not something that I feel like in the world of marketing where everything does feel kind of gimmicky, it's like, I'm not, I don't want to sell someone something just to sell it. Like, you know, and that's, that's kind of the brand partnerships that I'VE gotten to work with is like, with jetboil, like, I had a jet boil probably like eight or nine years before I ever started working with them. And it lived in the back of my truck, and I took it on every backpacking trip. And so it's kind of like, yeah, slow and steady. Of building these relationships with brands that I actually believe in and feel confident of. Like, I can shoot this, but also, like, I'm standing behind this and what you guys are doing because I believe in your product. And yeah, I think it takes some time to get. Get there.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. With that, I've been hogging the cues.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Nice. Okay, if you were to pick an example of an ask that has been a no for you. Are there any, like, entertaining ones where you've just been like, lol?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I don't. There was a one. A brand had reached out to do a partnership while I was on the cdt. And it was kind of this thing of they were going to send a product. It was a clothing brand, and they were going to send a product. And I was like, great. They wanted some very, like, authentic, kind of like, intense content for this campaign that they were building. And I was like, thinking back through all of my videos and, like, all the downpours and, like, the wind and just like, all of those kind of crazy experiences you have on trail when it comes to the weather. And I was like, this would be great. This would be, like, an awesome fit because I know the CDT is going to be insane. And so anyway, we kind of, like, go back and forth. And then, long story short, it was kind of like they needed me to be head to toe in this. This brand. And I was like, oh, so, like, are we talking, like. Because I had mentioned something. They had sent a gear list, and I had, like, made some selections. And they were like, you don't want to make any more. Like, you don't want any more products. And I was like, well, no. Like, I have to carry everything. And, like, I want to actually use what you're sending me. I don't want it to just be extra in my backpack. And then they were like, oh, well, if your backpack's not this brand, like, the backpack can't be in the video or the shoes can't be in the video. And then I was like, kind of like, oh, so it kind of like, had to take a step back of, like, your backpack and shoes are kind of a. Through hikers, like, two top two, I would say, like, main pieces of gear that you just have to Figure out what works for you. And so it kind of went into that, that side of talking with the agency of like, these people haven't threw hiked. They don't. Haven't had an experience based on what they're telling me of how a through hike works and wanting me to just change all of this gear on the fly to be able to incorporate their product. And so that was kind of like it was. It would have been a really cool experience in a different setting. And so that was kind of one of those of like, you know, once I'm done with the trail, I'm backpacking back in Montana this fall. Like for sure, like we can rip it then, but like it just. I can't do that on the CDT because I have to carry everything with me.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so then it's kind of like that's one of those kind of red flags in my head of like, oh, do these people exist in this demographic that they're wanting me to promote? And what does that look like moving forward and how much work does that take for me while I'm out on trail? Because I feel like, you know, hiking itself is a full time job and then you add on work on top of that and it's, it's kind of. Yeah, I feel like that's, that's just kind of one of those places that you have to be a little picky with.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. I don't want to talk all photography and business, but I think two relevant questions for anyone listening that wants to break into the space is you mentioned you, you did not go to school for this.
Jackson Storm
Correct.
Zack Badger Davis
Did you go to college?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I did, yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
What for?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I have a bachelor's of science in parks and rec management.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I have a bachelor's of arts and Spanish.
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, wow.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay. So not even remotely.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Really not remotely close. Not even marketing.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
So being self taught. How did you self teach?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I feel like some like YouTube videos, but it was really just getting out, getting out there and shooting and it, it's such a trial and error of, you know, you go out, you shoot a scene and you're stoked about it and you get it back to edit and you're like, oh my gosh, this is out of focus. Or, you know, this part is blurry and I don't know why or the, you know, the shadows or the highlights are blown out and I didn't catch that whenever it was like in the camera body. And so you kind of, it's, you know, it's one of Those things of like, after you do it once and you're kind of a little scarred from it, then you're like extra. Almost hyper aware of it. And so I feel like it's kind of like a muscle of like, you go out on a shoot, you do a shoot, you might see something in post that you don't like or that you wish you would have done differently. And then the next shoot you go out on, that's in the back of your mind of like, okay, this is what I did wrong the last time and I'm going to change something this time to, to make sure I don't do that. But it is such a. Yeah. Trial and error of just get out there and shoot a bunch of photos. And, you know, I shot three or four years before ever even thinking about doing any kind of brand work or being paid for any kind of imagery. And so I was just doing it for fun because I loved it and. And you just kind of learned those little things in between.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, I feel like with like on trail, especially when people start to get the kind of traction where the brands will reach out to ask, you know, for those types of exchanges, especially early on, a lot of the offers aren't monetary. You know, it's like, hey, I'll give you this piece of gear. Exciting. You get it for free and you give me back all these things.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Having gone through what you went through, are there tips that you wish you knew from the jump that would be helpful to someone that finds themselves in your shoes?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Oh, gosh, that's a good question. I, I think not. I think, I think just going back to understanding the kind of value that you're giving a brand, sometimes it is just like, hey, post this on your story or tag us if you, you know, whenever you post in this kind of product, whatever. I think it's different for everyone and I think it's different for, you know, depending on how big of a following you have. I, I kind of go back to now being like, from the business side of photography as well as like dipping my toes and kind of like the influencer social media stuff. It really is like how much value you're giving that brand because the social media stuff is more of like they're wanting you to post because your following is their demographic that they want. Right. And so ultimately that's going to make them money. That's the point of this. And so, yeah, I think it's just kind of like looking out for each other too. Of like, I've got a few friends who are much bigger influencers than me. And it's like if I get a message from a brand and, and these, they kind of lay out these, these guidelines or, or requirements for a partnership. And then I'm asking them like, hey, what do you think about this? Or like, what would you do in this situation? Or is this fair? Because there's, there's also some brands unfortunately out there that are trying to kind of go after the people that are up and coming, but don't quite have that base yet. And so it's like, oh, maybe we can get them to give us more that someone with a larger following wouldn't.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's kind of what I was thinking because you mentioned like in your response, it's about the value, but if you're new to it, how do you quantify the value?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, that's a great question. I think that's just kind of like, you know, one being in community of other people, of just being like getting an outside perspective of like, hey, what would you do here? Should I charge for this? Should I say no or yes to this? And that's not always like as concrete as it sounds, which I think social media, once again, I feel like social media is so funny and it's just like such a stupid thing that like, anyway, so I take it very unseriously in a lot of aspects. And so even like reaching out to people that maybe you just follow each other and you don't know each other in real life and you're like, hey, I have a question about this. And I feel like 99% of the time other creatives and people in the brand space are more than willing to share any kind of experience they have. And, and especially like in the outdoor creative sector, like everyone's so laid back. Everyone's kind of just a little dirt baggy. Like it's like, it's, it's less professional within a community, which is nice because you can just be like, I know we don't know each other, but like, could you give me some feedback on this? Or like, what would you do in this situation? And most of the time people will have some form of a response that is beneficial for you or helpful with moving forward. And I think sometimes like you are just going to get burnt unfortunately of like it's a guessing game sometimes, and pricing and how much value you give and learning how to scale that. I took in 2021, I think it was, I took a, like a creative entrepreneurship course and so that kind of laid a lot of foundation for building A business. And so even just like, invoicing or how to talk to clients, or like, you get on a call and like, what is that? What are you supposed to talk about? Like, yeah, you want to shoot photos, but, like, what are you doing? And so, like. And from that, I met a lot of people who are also in the creative and brand space and even, like, the crossover between. I have friends in the wedding photography space that I'll, like, send messages to and be like, hey, what would you guys do here? Or like, from your perspective as someone who's making money in the photography industry, like, what would you do here? Just to have an outside perspective. And so I think it's really just kind of like talking to people and asking and. And sometimes you win and sometimes you lose and. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. I think your point of being aware of the value that you bring to a company is the most important one, because we've gotten pitches from very talented photographers for a rate that's like, it would. It'd be twice the margin if we sold through all of the hats that we get. For instance, like, our store is a very small thing compared to, like, Hyper Light or whatever it might be. And in that case, like, you know, the rate is correct. It's just like, we're not the right partner for sure because we don't have the system in place to move merchandise, like their brands. So.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It's just.
Zack Badger Davis
It's being aware of, like, the brand that you're working with.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
And the value that you're providing.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I also think, you know, it's not always that, like, the brand is bad or the. The creative is bad. Like, sometimes it's just not a good fit. And whenever you kind of learn to not diminish yourself. If a brand partnership doesn't work out, it doesn't mean that your imagery is poor, and it doesn't mean that what you're giving them is bad. Sometimes it's just not a good fit. And. And that kind of goes back to me saying no sometimes to some brands of, like, I don't think I can give you what you want. It doesn't mean that the imagery is going to be bad or poor quality or inauthentic. But, like, I don't think based off what you're wanting, I don't think I'm the right person for that.
Zack Badger Davis
Sure.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
But yeah, once again, that takes. It takes trial and error, and sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. And, yeah, that's just kind of how it goes.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Sometimes the product's just not very good. We've learned that we've gotten some amazing photos and like it just doesn't sell because people don't like the thing. So it definitely don't take that personally as a photographer. I mean I guess they wouldn't know but maybe that's more at the business owner side.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I was going say we've had some things where it's, it's just been expensive.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You know, it's like great product. It's just too expensive.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's tough. Like you know we're not going out and sourcing the original product in China or Vietnam like some of these companies are. It's a very different ball game.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But taking things back to trail.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yes, yes, definitely.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's just a fun segue to get there. You mentioned that when you got to like the whites and north on the trail, you grown enough of a following where people started to recognize you and that was uncomfortable. What is your funniest interaction that you had?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It was probably in the whites and Jamie and I were up kind of near like just before Mount Washington and we were like finishing out the day. We were talking a lot about the CDT and she was just saying of like, you know, there's so many evenings on the CDT where you're, you're finishing a 25, 30 mile day and you're up high on this ridge line and you pop in both your headphones and it's just like you're on top of the world kind of deal. Meanwhile we were hiking like 11, 12 miles to the whites at the time. So it was just kind of like we, we had reached this point in the evening where she was like here I'm just going to put on my like CDT Ridge walk song from the previous year and you're going to have this moment up here like high up in the whites. And what was the song? Oh gosh, I couldn't tell you. I can figure it out. But yeah, I had, I don't even know if I had heard it before. But anyway and I had put both headphones in. She was hiking behind me. I was like going along, having my moment. Like loud music, can't hear anything. And we're passing some day hikers and they like I kind of see them like stop and they kind of like looking at me but I'm like okay, we're like stinky and we're having these big packs. Like there's so many day hikers in the whites. Like there's you're Always having conversations about what you're doing. And so I, like, didn't think anything of it. And just like, they had stepped off the trail. I kept cruising in my own world. And whenever the song finished, I, like, took out my ear, my earplugs and gave them back to Damon. She was like, yeah, like, did you not hear the two girls? And I was like, no, sis. Like, I was in my own world. And they were like. One of them apparently was like, oh, my gosh, that's like the guy from Instagram. And then they, like, tried to say hey to me, but I had, like, already was like, halfway by them. Didn't see, like, you're just so much better than them. No, no, no, no, no. I was in my own world. And anyway, so it was just. I was like, I felt so bad because I was like, I'm an influencer. I completely ignored some people who. Anyway, But I actually saw one of those girls. She was like, working at one of the huts that I went into further down the trail in the whites. And she was like, oh, yeah, you passed us the other day and like, you had your headphones in and we tried to say hey. And so anyway, it was just kind of like a full circle moment of like, I was like, I'm so sorry. I had no clue I was in my own world. But yeah, there were kind of just like those one off interactions of. Of, yeah, people are people usually. And I've never had any kind of negative interaction with people, which has been great, but it is always just like kind of taken aback of, like, this is so weird. Like, I just post stupid videos on Instagram and TikTok, and now we're here. So.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
So how did you get into backpacking through hiking?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So I grew up in North Carolina, in western North Carolina. So the Appalachian Trail was essentially in my backyard. And so have you been to Raleigh? I talked about this pre show. Yeah, I have been to Raleigh only a handful of times.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That makes one of us. Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so, yeah, I grew up in a pretty outdoorsy family and, you know, we went on a few family backpacking trips. My two sisters are not really into backpacking after those trips, and I was the one that kind of like ended up enjoying it the most. And so through, like, middle school, I remember specifically my mom would pull me out of school for like a week and we would go and, and do a section of the at. And so, yeah, we like, went and did the Smokies and up in the Shenandoah. And like, we would essentially Just take time, a week at a time, and probably like one or two trips a year. And so over the course of, I don't know, five or six years up into high school, we would do these trips and, yeah, hiked a little over 600 miles, I think of it together, which was cool.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
When you're a middle school slash high schooler, is it cool to get to do this because you're missing a week of school, or is it lame to do this because you're with your mom?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
You know, I never. Which. This is not scripted. I never thought it was lame to be with my mom, which I mainly think just because, like, she enjoyed backpacking so much that it was just kind of like, oh, I get to go and I get to do this cool thing. Like, yes, I get to skip school. But my mom and I are very similar and we get along very well. Very similar personalities. And so it was just kind of like this very natural feeling to get to go out and to do these things and. And, you know, we were hiking the same pace and same mileage and that kind of thing. And so, yeah, I have all of these, like, old photos that I had taken initially, which maybe this was the entry to photography, but from my, like, Fujifilm Walmart camera that I had saved up birthday money for, and it was a digital camera. And I have, like, all of these old photos from us on the at, which is so fun now, too, to like, be in the photography space to have through hiked the AT and like, look back at, like, some of these. These photos that I took while I was in middle school of my mom and I. And then just to be able to, like, revisit those photos at those different sections on the AT for context.
Jackson Storm
How old are you?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Oh, right now?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
28. I was, like, in middle school, I
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
was like, it's a big sigh.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I was like, I don't know.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, that's fun. Yeah. So a lot of reminiscing through hiking this time around.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Did your mom come out and hike with you?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So she started on Springer with me, which was really cool. She drove me down and we, like, hiked up to Springer together, which was just kind of. Yeah. Like a full circle moment.
Zack Badger Davis
And up the stairs or the backtrack.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
The backtrack. Well, yeah, just like the parking lot. That's like a mile up a while back. Yeah. If anyone asks about Emma Colola, I cannot say I didn't do it either.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. All the greats.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
This is a safe space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Excuse me. I did it. Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. And then so she lives like kind of outside of Asheville and so she was able. There was a few, few, few different points where she would come out in the evenings and like meet us at a Gap or she came out for dinner in Hot Springs and, and we got to eat dinner and, and before I hiked out of town. So yeah, that was, that was kind of cool and just kind of like a full circle moment of both of us being out there and being on the Appalachian Trail in a place that we had spent so much time and, and even just like going back for trail days in Damascus. Like we had done that section through Damascus together and so she didn't end up. She wasn't able to join four trail days. But just like being back in Damascus. Yeah. Brought up a lot of cool, cool memories and fond memories on the at.
Zack Badger Davis
Do you realize you're in rare company having at least your mom on board with your through hike? Like usually that's a pretty tough sell for someone.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, my mom there was never like any kind of negative or like are you sure you want to do this? It was always like 100 support from the get go and just like such a cool thing of like we had a good family friend of ours that had through hike the AT and when he was through hiking we had put up a map in our house and tracked him as he went went. He went soo and just kind of as he went down anytime he would check in we would like mark further down the trail. And so yeah it was kind of. I don't know, it's just a really cool like it was so much of my childhood and backpacking and being on the AT that it was kind of less of if I would through hike the 80 more of a win. And so I think my mom was kind of. She always knew that at some point it was going to happen. So. Yeah. So why.
Zack Badger Davis
So you're 28 now, so that means 27.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
What was the career gap or like what was the opportunity that made last year the year?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I'd kind of found myself in a situation where I was doing quite a bit of photography. I worked for myself and, and had a super flexible schedule. I had established some relationships with some brands that I could potentially continue to work with on the at and it just kind of felt like it was one of those of like in college I thought about doing it after college, you know, just after graduating I thought about through hiking and it was kind of one of those of like it, it just feels right. It Feels like the right time to do this and understanding and recognizing, like, so many people kind of blow up their lives in order to be able to do something like this. And I had a lease that was ending and flexibility with my job. And so it was just kind of one of those. Of, like, things lined up and I kind of got. I started kind of putting feelers out like the Christmas before. And I was like, yeah, I'm thinking about maybe doing the 80 this upcoming summer. And then it was. People would ask of, like, oh, yeah, like, are you still doing that? Or. And I'd be like, well, I'm like, 50% convinced. And then I kind of, like, every time I talk to someone, that person has just moved up and up and up. And I kind of got to the point of, like, 85%. And I was kind of, kind of got stuck there for a bit. And I kind of realized as someone who can be an overthinker and loves to kind of, like, have things planned out or just, like, understand what I'm getting myself into, that 85% was kind of the, that's the most convinced I would have ever beat to do something like this. And, you know, it was like, it, it was safe enough of, like, you know, being 85% in on something feels, like, pretty confident in your ability to do something. And it doesn't exclude, like, there's, you know, the other 15% of unknown and of, of, you know, the chances of something going wrong or you not finishing or all that kind of stuff. But I kind of realized that was the point that I just kind of had to take that leap. And, and there were so many things that fell into place that felt right, that once I got to that 85% mark, I was like, I, I, I don't have enough bad reasons to not do this. Like, the good reasons outweigh so much, and I'm just going to have to figure out the other 15% along the way, and that's okay. I don't think it makes that decision any easier, but it, it puts it in a very logical way that my brain can kind of digest it in a way that feels safe but also, like, scary and, like, the unknown and, you know, even just, like, having hiked and backpacked a lot already, it's kind of like that most imposter syndrome of, of I'm, yes, I know what I'm doing, and I have experience doing this, but, like, this is to a whole different level and a whole different scale and whole different commitment. And so, yeah, that's Kind of.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's interesting because you don't seem like someone afflicted with imposter syndrome and you seem to know your value from the, you know, 30 to 60 minutes prior.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
You know, I think it. After I turned 25, my frontal lobe fully developed some of that kind of settled and I've, I've gained some confidence in that. But yeah, it's, it's, it's. And you know, maybe that's part of it is just like working in the creative brand space and then the photography space of, you know, seeing all these other incredible artists put out really beautiful imagery and sometimes feeling like I do not match up in any capacity to that or who the brands are getting to work with. Like the level that they're creating that is not the same level I'm at. And so, yeah, I think it just kind of like takes time and I think I have built some confidence of, I mean, as you guys know, of like you come out of a through hike and you do have kind of this different sense of confidence that's not built in arrogance, but it's built in like dedication to completing something and that long haul experience and that translates into so many different aspects of life.
Zack Badger Davis
So having so much experience. Before landing on the at, did you have any early fuck ups? Like was there any sort of learning curve or.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Gosh.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Well, when he says gosh, I.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So I. The day I started on Springer was complete downpour and continued for the first like 48 hours on trail, like non stop, just soaking wet, everything.
Zack Badger Davis
Welcome to the AT.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Literally, I. Baptism by fire. And after that 48 hours ended, I was literally. I'd met the two guys that I hiked most of the trail with at that point and we were like, it can only go up from here. Like, this is crazy. But the first night I set up my tent, the tent pads were just like packed dirt and it like splattered. I think I've made a video of it somewhere, but it just like splattered and the whole like mesh of my tent was covered in dirt. There was dirt inside my tent and now it's just like mud is kind of everywhere and so I think it's like new. It was not new.
Jackson Storm
Okay?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, I had had it for a season already.
Zack Badger Davis
All right, that makes it more fun if you take out your brand new tent and just instantly it's just a mud.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think it was just kind of like little things like that of like understanding. Okay, like if it is pouring, like maybe don't set up on the dirt patch that's like eventually going to turn into a bowl of mud. Like, just like, I think little things like that that you, you can learn on weekend trips or week trips, but until you're like in it every single day. Because then it's like, okay, my tent gets dirty tonight, then I'm gonna have to deal with it in the morning and then I'm gonna have to dry it out and then rinse it off. It's just kind of like you understand what it's going to take to get things back to square one.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And it's just stuff that you can't, can't learn, I feel like until you're out there doing it.
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
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Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
We often hear the debate between section hiking versus through hiking and rarely do we get someone who has done both on the same trail in the quantities you've done. So with about 600 miles of section hiking on the AT under your belt and a through hike of the AT under your belt, can you give the pros and cons of each? Objectively? Yeah, with that. Because yes, we've heard the pros and cons, but from that background, right, like you've done both, so you gotta know that like there's good in each and there's bad in each beach.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, for sure. I think with through hiking it's just like the mindset is so different of, of like even, just like hiking in the rain or like shitty weather. It's like you, you don't really. Your end point isn't in view. So it's like even days that like you come out of town and it's raining and you have to get back on trail, it's like, yeah, you could wait a day, but like it could be raining the next day and like you're gonna have to hike in it anyway. And so I think that the sometimes like, mentality with poor weather of a section hike is almost more difficult because it's like, oh, I know in three days I'm gonna have a hot shower and be back in my bed and not have to be out here. And so then it's kind of like you're working towards that goal versus like a through hike. You're like, the end is so far away. Like I'm just trying to make it through the day or whatever it might be. I think with, with section hiking,
Jackson Storm
you
Caleb Meatball Adcock
know, you just have so much more time to like be at camp and to be like, take time at at overlooks or like an extra long lunch or a nap in the afternoon versus like through hiking, it's just kind of like, go, go, go. Like you had to have this rhythm and you have these miles to make and not that you can't enjoy those miles, but it's like you've got, you know, deadlines or a town to be in or, or you might be meeting up with someone or whatever it might be. And so you kind of have to, to push these miles. And it's probably my one qualm with through hiking of like, I just want to lay in my tent in the morning, like if the sun's out, like, I don't want to get up and hike or like I'm laying in the sun in the afternoon, like at lunch, like, I just want to take a nap. But it's like, no, I have, you know, 15 more miles to do and I don't want to be hiking in the dark. And so, yeah, I think it's, you know, it's especially like if you're getting into backpacking, you know, more than just an overnight is a great introduction to what it feels like to be on trail for multiple days without the commitment of like, okay, I'm coming out here for four, five, six months and I'm living outside. And I think that was like one of the things that shocked me the most on the AT was how many people hadn't spent more than three nights outside before. And even just like in my head I'm thinking, okay, like the cost of gear, the cost of this through height, the cost to get here, like the commitment, the jumping off point for them feels like a lot more intense than it did for me. And so it's kind of like, yeah, the, the section hiking is such a great introduction to figuring out your gear. And even if you like, like being on trail for multiple days, like, I kind of, I don't know, like at the end of the day, like if, if being on trail for more than two days, three days, like, isn't fun for you, that's okay. Like you don't have to go and do this crazy through hike in order to enjoy backpacking. Um, and it's just such a thing like I think across the board of like getting into backpacking, section hiking through hiking, of there's like all of these specifics that people have and it just gets so overwhelming for people who have never done it before of how to get into it. And I think really what it comes down to, it's is it's just those people's expectations of what they want their through hike or their section hike to be and intermittently get put on. Other people of like, oh, well, I'm doing this many miles a day or I have this backpack or I have this piece of gear, whatever. You know, I'm doing a through hike or I'm just doing a section hike. Like it's, it's. Everyone does it differently. And I think like, you know, going out for a section hike is so different than going out for a through hike. And that's okay if you like one and not the other. Yeah, Jamie, Jamie mentioned one time, she's like, after you do a through hike, like all other small backpacking trips are going to be ruined because you just like have that mindset of like get up and go. And I like, I knew she wasn't lying, but it kind of like hit me in full force of. I did a backpacking trip after I finished the at like a couple weeks after and it was just like a two day thing. And I was like up at 6:30, like tent pretty much packed up, tweaking literally. And then I was like, you know, like, I don't have to be like this, like go, go, go. And so yeah, it was kind of like this for this weekend out of like, I'm like so wired at that point to be on this system that it's like, take a breath, take a beat. Like you and your friends don't have to be pushing everything.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
They all wake up and your shoes are laced and you're sitting there just
Jackson Storm
like jittering like, please, I need you
Caleb Meatball Adcock
guys to back up. Let's go. And we have like three miles to do that day anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Speaking of the experience that needing to be the same for everyone, I've got a note here about you use an unconventional sleeping pad for the better part of the month on the at.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yes, yes, yes. Um, did this note come from Jamie?
Zack Badger Davis
I felt like, I think this one came from your Instagram.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Oh, okay. Yeah, I had like a, a whole situation where I had a sleeping pad that got a hole in it. I had ordered a new one. And then it was the tale as old as time. Didn't get to the tiny post office. I think this was in like Port Clinton in Connecticut. Didn't get there in time. Bumped it, bumped it, bumped it. I slept on the ground. I slept blowing up my sleeping pad for like six or seven times in the middle of the night. I slept on a pool floaty eventually that I got at Walmart.
Zack Badger Davis
How long were you on the pool floaty for?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
The pool floaty lasted about four days and then it got holes in it and I was patching those holes.
Zack Badger Davis
Was that comfy while it lasted?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It honestly it was pretty nice cuz it was one of those with the built in pillow. So it was like the like bed lounger from Walmart that was legit. $3 I think.
Zack Badger Davis
Was it like a fun animal or anything?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, it was just blue.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And yeah, cuz I was like. It was also raining so much and at that point my tent wasn't really waterproof on the ground anymore. And so I was like, I cannot just be sleeping like in a damp tent. So yeah, slept in the pool floaty, it got holes in it. Had to get rid of the pool floaty. Slept on the ground some more. I ended up with this like accordion pad from Walmart after I think it was the third or fourth bump from the post office. Took a zero in town. It was in Delaware Water gap. We ended up taking a zero because it wasn't there. Because we were like, maybe it'll come tomorrow. Didn't come that day.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm surprised you didn't give up hope on it. This was three and a half weeks.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so. And you know, with those like small post offices too, you're like, can you just bump this up and they're like, well, maybe, yeah, if it ever gets here. And so, yeah, that eventually I was able to get my new sleeping pad in. It was like the best, most luxurious addition to my backpacking setup.
Zack Badger Davis
Was it the same sleeping pattern or did you.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, it was a different pad.
Zack Badger Davis
You went from what to what?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I went from a climate.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I don't remember the name. It was the orange one.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
To a thermal rest. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, I was very grateful to get. Get that under wraps. And I think that was also like, happening at the entire, like during the time I was figuring out I actually got lime.
Zack Badger Davis
I was gonna ask about that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, so that was kind of like the. The, like everything happening in the same go.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm sure being sleep deprived does not help your immune system in that circumstance.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, it's not a great. It's not a great problem to have whenever you're also trying to fight off time.
Zack Badger Davis
So did you find the tick?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No. So I actually, I never found the tick. I never had any kind of bullseye from a bite. And are you wearing shorts?
Zack Badger Davis
What. What's your clothing?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I'm wearing shorts. I am wearing like gators over my socks, but yeah, shorts, short sleeve, button up shirt and yeah, that was kind of it. But I never, you know, we. We had found ticks on us, you know, a few ticks, like a day at one point, but never anything that was like. Like never found a bite or anything attached. And so it was kind of one of those things of. All of my symptoms were essentially like, kind of at the same time that you might experience similar things from a through hike. So, like, totally, really crazy, like, exhaustion, some fatigue. You know, I wasn't super hungry and I was like, oh, this is just because I've been eating the same thing for like three and a half months now. Like, so they were like kind of these things I did. Really. The main kind of telltale sign for me was a fever and night sweats. And it kind of got to a point where I was just like, so miserable and like, I was so exhausted that there was one day that I literally just like pulled off at a shelter and took a nap, like, slept for an hour just on the wooden planks.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so, yeah, it took a bit to figure out actually, like, oh, like, I need to go get tested for Lyme.
Zack Badger Davis
I went through almost the exact same thing. And in my case, I actually did assume it was Lyme. I got tested twice for it.
Jackson Storm
Whoa.
Zack Badger Davis
It turned out to be West Nile virus, but I still think West Nile virus sucks.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
I would still probably take it over Lyme disease, knowing, like, how badly Lyme disease can progress for some people.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
So how bad did it get for you?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So, thankfully, like, it didn't. I mean, like, it long term, it. It's not something that I'm still really feeling the effects from, which I'm very grateful for. I got into town, I got tested, and they'll start you on the doxycycline before your results come back, but the. You won't feel any kind of benefit from that antibiotic. And for, like, four or five days.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So then it was kind of like this thing of, like, do I keep hiking? Do I take time off? Like, what do I need to do here? What did you do? I got. Well, so I was. I got tested in Rutland, Vermont, with the yellow deli. And so I ended up spending the colts testing you for literally four days in the vortex of the yellow deli. And because it was kind of at that point, I was like, you know, I am not really backpacking anymore. Like, I'm literally just trying to survive each day of. I wake up and I feel awful, and I feel awful all day long, and I'm just trying to get to camp to lay down. And so it was kind of a conversation at that point with myself of like, is this worth staying out here? Because I didn't know at that point if I had Lyme or not. And so, you know, is it worth staying out here, or do I get off trail and, like, try to figure this out? Like, it just. It kind of got to that point. And, yeah, thankfully, Rutland, as interesting as that town is, it's where I did. Yeah. Start taking my. In a box. And I started feeling way better because I think.
Zack Badger Davis
Did you get the test result pretty instantly?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It was honestly, a whole thing. No. So it took, like, a week to get the results back.
Zack Badger Davis
Did you start the antibiotic right away?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I did. I started the antibiotic. I took. That's a good lecture. Yeah. Three more days after that, off in Rutland, Jamie and the two guys I was hiking with, they headed out of town, and the goal was to catch them kind of before the whites. Obviously, there was the possibility of, like, if I were to get off trail or stay longer, like, I'm gonna have to go to the whites alone. But it was also one of those of, like, I've heard about the whites. I've never hiked in the whites. And if I'm feeling this shitty, like, I do not want to be hiking in the whites.
Zack Badger Davis
That's the wrong place to be. Feeling like a bag of dicks.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. Yeah. And so anyway, I thankfully, yeah, started feeling a lot better. And it was kind of like, once the antibiotic really kicked in, it was like, oh, I've been hiking at 50%, like, for the last, like, three and a half weeks. Like, it's like. Like, that's how bad I felt. And so, yeah, I caught up with Jamie and Hanover, So a couple days out of Rutland, and then. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
So how long did it take for you to feel back to yourself?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Probably like a week or so once I, like, started the antibiotics.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And, yeah, we had a fortunate case
Zack Badger Davis
of it because some people can take the full course and, like, not recover fully.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Especially because I think false negatives in the early stage of Lyme disease is pretty high, too. So the fact that yours even flagged positive is another lucky thing.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Getting Lyme disease is bad luck, but there's other narrow rabbit holes in there where some of that was pretty lucky, for sure.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, and I also learned that, like, Lyme disease is essentially a collection of results that yield a positive or negative. It's not just one test. And I had started my doxycycline, gotten back on trail, had gotten into the whites before I ever got a call about my test results. And I got my results back, and I'm, like, looking at them. There's like, three pages of results, and I can't read these because I don't know any of this lingo. And so I call the urgent care back at, like, this high point in the whites when I have service, and I'm like, what the fuck does this mean? No, literally, I'm like, can someone read this? Like, can this doctor that prescribed, like, the doxycycline, like, interpret this for me?
Zack Badger Davis
It is crazy. They just send you that test result with no explanation.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Literally, like. And then they were like, well, like, the doctor's, like, busy right now, but they could call you, like, sometime tomorrow. Do you have, like, a time that works for you? And I'm like, I don't know if I'm going to have service at 3pm tomorrow, guys. Like, this is. And so essentially, it was just kind of like, the main concern with that is the way, as it was explained to me is that essentially if one of those test results had a come back positive, it would have indicated this certain strand of Lyme that would require a different antibiotic than doxycycline. And so which they Told me they were like, yeah, you would have to start that because the doxycycline is not going to touch that strand. And so. But they didn't tell me which. Which result I'm looking out for.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so anyway, then that was kind of like the main concern of, like, am I. Is the doxycycline what I need to be on based off of these test results? And so, long story short, I never got a call from a doctor. I never got the results read, but I was feeling so much better that I was like, okay, the docusign is kicking in, it's working. And then I'm just going to do a follow up with my primary once I get done with the trail, because at that point, you know, you're almost into Maine and then. Yeah, and I'll just cross my fingers and hope I don't have the long. The long haul of it.
Zack Badger Davis
I feel like if your body can handle 15 miles per day through the whites, like, that's a pretty good indication.
Jackson Storm
But.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, yeah, no, that. I mean, that's scary. That's. I know people love to hate on AI, but that's one circumstance where I'd be very grateful to have AI interpret this, like, nonsense medical jargon for me, because, yeah, to your point, if you don't even know if you're taking the right antibiotic, just getting some sort of direction from something would be relieving.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, and it was crazy, too. There were, I think, three other hikers that I had met with and hiked for with a, like, for a period of time who ended up testing positive for Lyme that season as well. And I essentially just like, sent all my information because one of the guys was literally getting into Rutland and he was like, what are your symptoms? Where did you get tested? And I was like, go, here, you want this test? These are my symptoms. Like, blah, blah, blah. And so, yeah, it was crazy. It seemed. I don't know if that's normal. I mean, I grew up on the east coast, but like, and we, and we knew about ticks, but it wasn't like something you were afraid of or like something that you were, like, crazy concerned with of, like, I'm not gonna run through that field or I'm not gonna go, like, play in the woods because of ticks.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, just.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I used to play in people's compost piles.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You know, like, I remember my parents pulling ticks off me and, like, putting them in, like, the film canisters from the old cameras and, like, nailing them somewhere. Like, that's kind of crazy that you
Caleb Meatball Adcock
guys are doing that a Santa Claus movies.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But it was never enough of a thing where it was, like, compelling enough to keep me out of the compost posts.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, no, I am famously paranoid. I'm the person that you're describing. That doesn't exist.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Even as a kid.
Zack Badger Davis
No, I didn't know about it until
Caleb Meatball Adcock
the at cuz as a kid, I'd
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
scuba dive in leaf piles.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I didn't know. I didn't even know ticks were a scary thing.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, that's what, that's what I'm saying.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I did find some on just outside of Creed on the CDT that I, like, set my backpack down to, like, take off a layer. And it was, like, pretty grassy. Like, one of the first times in sections that I'd been out of snow since getting into Colorado. And I, like, put my backpack back on, and I was like, felt something crawling, and I looked down. I had three different ticks on my legs. Whoa. And then I found one like, it fell out of my jacket in my tent later that night. And then I found one, like, the next day or, like, two days later whenever I was, like, up high again and, like, in snow, and I, like, saw it and it was, like, barely moving, and I was like, this is what you get for hitching a ride up to the high alpine when you
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
find that many ticks on you. Are you having a friend check your butthole?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, there's no one else out there with me, so it's just me.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And did you check your butthole with a phone? Like, with a camera?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, I didn't.
Jackson Storm
Wow.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So maybe right now.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I'm not offering. I'm just saying, like, I, I, I chose you. How I check. And I didn't find any ticks. No, I found, like, one or two, but not on the butthole.
Zack Badger Davis
We are gonna have to call that the chance method. We're gonna have to start planting your legs.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Common sense. They say to check everywhere.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
If there's no name for the method, that's fertile ground.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Apparently they like it there. That's what I've heard. I'm just gonna cross my fingers exactly how I'm remembered. But the, the ones in Colorado aren't as scary.
Jackson Storm
Right.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Because they don't carry Lyme.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, but they carry the fever.
Zack Badger Davis
There's other bacteria. It's, in my opinion, less scary, but not not scary.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Nothing that makes you not eat red meat, though.
Zack Badger Davis
I think alpha gal does exist out here.
Jackson Storm
Really?
Zack Badger Davis
I think from Rocky Mountain that might
Caleb Meatball Adcock
be my worst fear. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Same. Which is like, okay, she's had a soft life, but I am like that would, that would really put a wrench in things.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. Well, I'm definitely much more like hyper aware now of like if I feel something on my legs and just like after being on the at, and then
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
you can imagine being the person that goes to a steakhouse and gets like the sea bass.
Zack Badger Davis
Nope.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
There's a person that does that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It could be me.
Jackson Storm
It.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It could.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I mean, I'm gonna knock on wood. I. Yeah.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That'd be really scary.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No good.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, I feel like the other, like the fever one too. Which, which one did you. You had spotted mountain fever.
Zack Badger Davis
I had West Nile virus, so.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Mosquitoes. Just kidding.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Never mind. Yeah, well, I've heard the. Yeah, the. Whatever the ones out here carry. I think it like comes on a lot faster. Like it's almost like this like, like the incubation period or whatever is like you kind of get hit and you, you feel like everything all in one go versus mine. Kind of like slowly came on through these different like symptoms versus like. Yeah, you just like one day you feel fine and the next day you feel like you're dying.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Most common tick borne illness out here is Colorado tick fever, which I've never heard of. Key symptoms, flu like symptoms including fever, chills, severe headaches and muscle aches. It has a biphasic pattern. About half of infected individuals experience a distinct biphagic fever, meaning they feel sick for a few days, recover completely for a short period, and then suffer a second wave of fever and symptoms. The second most common is tick borne relapsing fever. This bacterial infection is the same, blah, blah, transmitted by soft tics, high fevers, joint pain, muscle aches. Similar to ctf, it features a telltale pattern where a high fever lasts about three days, clears up. So sounds really similar.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So a fever, if you get the chills, if you get bad, good and
Zack Badger Davis
then bad again, go to the doctor.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
That's maybe that'll be good to know when as I move. Move further north.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And really in our tick territory.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. But ticks are all the rage right now.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm gonna give us a little swerve because it's my last in studio day and I can do what I want.
Zack Badger Davis
Yep.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I'm also being very self serving with questions that I like to listen to, answers to. Do you have any fun trail hookup stories?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I do not. I feel like I'm kind Of like on the trail. It's just one of those. Of like, I feel so dirty all the time.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You never hooked up with someone on trail?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Ever?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No.
Jackson Storm
Wow.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Sorry to be a downer for your last episode.
Jackson Storm
I know.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's like the worst thing ever.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I just, I feel like mainly probably because I'm just so tired all the time. Like, I'm literally just going to get in my ton. I'm going to go to sleep. But I also. I feel like an old 80 year old man on trail, so.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, well, we could just.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Sorry.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Just cut that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Sorry to be a disappointment for your big question on your.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's fine. It was only the last time I can ask that in studio. I didn't want a story there. Oh, gosh, I love an Easter.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Gosh.
Zack Badger Davis
It's a drink every time he does.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, fine. But then you have to drink every time I cry. I've thrown four tissues on the floor. What do you mean, real tear? What other tears have I cried?
Zack Badger Davis
You're so good at trying to screw me over that I feel like you could fabricate tears.
Jackson Storm
This.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
On my last day in studio, you're gonna accuse me of faking tears to get me.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, well, I would.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Wait, can you. Yeah. Can you cry on demand?
Zack Badger Davis
What do you think about.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't think about anything specific, but like, I. I hesitate to say no because growing up, like, if I was pissed off my brother, tears were shedding and like, he did something, you know, I don't know what it was. Like, he probably didn't. But like, your girl could cry. I haven't had to utilize that in life as an adult because typically people don't respond to that the same way.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
But I love that though, is like, people just get uncomfortable. Like, like if you needed to get out of any situation.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And you could just cry just to make people uncomfortable.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But you can't do that in a work meeting. Well, you know, have you tried? I mean, technically not. I guess you're not wrong. Yeah, cool. It's fine. I didn't want to know. When's the last time you cried?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Is it bad that. I don't know. I. I wanted to cry like whenever I first got into Colorado, but I was like, once again too tired to cry. And like, also, like, my tears are just gonna probably freeze.
Zack Badger Davis
Caleb's too tired to emit liquids of any kind.
Jackson Storm
No.
Zack Badger Davis
Literally.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No more questions, your honor.
Zack Badger Davis
Last at question, this one comes specifically from Rachel. Are you obsessed with hot dogs? Your Instagram captions frequently mention them.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yes, I Love a good hot dog.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I feel like that's kind of that, like, trashy side of things of like a gas station hot dog or a gas station corn dog might be the, like, bottom of the totem pole for a lot of people. Look, it's happening right now.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
A gas station corn dog is the top of my totem pole.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay, that's good. I thought this was going the other direction.
Jackson Storm
No, no, no.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
A little nervous.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, if someone's looking, I won't.
Zack Badger Davis
No.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But if no one's looking up at
Caleb Meatball Adcock
the totem pole, well. And I feel like that's just kind of like people are like, oh, you're going to get something from the gas station. But I feel like it's just like
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
it depends on what you're eating. Like, if I get like one of those fruit trays with the fresh fruit, probably.
Jackson Storm
Yeah, yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But a corn dog is not real food.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That is not. You cannot look at that and tell me that there is any actual food in that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Exactly.
Zack Badger Davis
And so dogs, the top of your totem pole, you might be a hiker trash, maybe.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But I'm saying, like, you know, like, they have the salad aisle where there's like two boiled eggs.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Ye.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
In a tin. I'm not trusting that. Give me the corn dog.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I do. One of my favorite trail magics from the at was I literally. We came up, this guy was like, sitting. I don't even know if there was, like a parking lot nearby, but he had this cooler. And literally on the top of the cooler, there was just a sign that said hot dogs. And he had, like, pre made and wrapped all of these hot dogs and had like two camp chairs, like, set up just like on the side of the trail.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I was like, this is what actual dreams are made of, is you walking down in the middle of the woods, coming across trail Magic 1. But the trail magic being hot dogs is, like, the best thing that could possibly happen.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. No. I've had a resurgence recently with hot dog. This happens to me every summer where, like, I go several months without a hot dog and then I have one, and it's like the best borderline orgasm. Memorial Day weekend, and we just grilled up some big ballpark dogs and fudge.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's so good growing up. Not as an adult, but growing up because I feel like as an adult, your tastes change.
Jackson Storm
Right? Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
As a kid, were you, you're at a pool party, you get out of the pool.
Zack Badger Davis
I was not a hot dog person.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Dad's at the grill. He's like, are you a hot dog or a hamburger?
Zack Badger Davis
I was probably bratwurst or hamburger.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
They're serving bratwurst at children's birthday parties.
Zack Badger Davis
I grew up close to Wisconsin, so.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay, okay. That feels pretty on brand. I'm a hot dog friend.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Hot dog.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
All in all, I don't think I even like, really wanted a hamburger.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'd go for a second hot dog first.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Oh, yeah, 100%. How would. Okay, what do you do with hot dog if it's like ghetto?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If I. Okay, what do I do on my hot dog? I do a strip of ketchup on one side, a strip of mustard on the other, and then I roll it like a little rotisserie chicken so it gets all over it and then I eat it.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
This technique is so.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Because otherwise you get a bite and it's like half of my mouth is all mustard and half is all ketchup. And like, I'm confused and conflicted, actually.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
This is so great. This is. Brought up. My most recent beef.
Zack Badger Davis
No pun intended.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No pun intended. Is gourmet hot dogs.
Zack Badger Davis
I was just about to recommend biker gyms.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That was one of the first places I went to when I moved here.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I went into a brewery. I don't even. I don't remember if it was like in Salida or somewhere in Colorado. And there was a gourmet hot dog on the menu for $19.
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, get the fuck out.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I said, what? First off, gourmet. Okay. This is a hot dog we're talking about.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Second off, we're charging $19 for a hot dog. I want a hot dog that's like $3 max.
Zack Badger Davis
And the reason I go to Costco.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, exactly. I was like, where did we get. We're at this point now.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What does the world come to as a fellow hot dog enthusiast? If you ever find yourself in Vancouver, there's a subway station that's near that pointy thing that looks like a white needle. And right outside that subway station, every time I've been to Vancouver has been there, so I assume things haven't changed over time. But there has been like a little food stall truck called Japadog. And it's like Japanese food infused hot dogs where it's like hot dogs with kimchi or like crazy shit on them. Spicy mayo.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Do you guys have like one of those, like. Okay, gourmet, but it's not gourmet. It's still a 3, $4 hot dog, but that's specific to a place like a Seattle dog.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like In New York. Put me in the city.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
New York.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Get me to any of those guys.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
New York.
Zack Badger Davis
I mean, the Chicago dog is the
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
best dog over in New York.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
What is the Chicago dog?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know.
Zack Badger Davis
Chicago dog is onion, tomato, sport pepper, celery, salt, pickle, spear.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Lost me there.
Jackson Storm
Yeah. No.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So for me, I'm still just asking for a hot dog, and I'm gonna do my strip of ketchup and my
Jackson Storm
strip of mustard, and I'm gonna.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's like screen printing. You know, you gotta mix, like, the ink together.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
The Seattle dog is like a. Like a jalapeno cream cheese or something. Yeah, that's good. But I don't want to pay $19 for it, so I will just be using. I'm gonna try this. This twisting technique.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It makes it, like, the ratio is great. Also. This could be, like, because I'm from New York, but. Or because I think everything's, like. Only has to do with me with the pizza.
Jackson Storm
I.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
When I moved to Denver, I learned that there wasn't just, like, deep dish and regular, but there was, like, Chicago style, Detroit style, XYZ style. Like, there's all these different styles. He's listing off, like, a Chicago dog, a Seattle. I'm like, there's fucking different hot dogs. I thought you just got a hot dog in New York, and that was what everyone dreamed of.
Zack Badger Davis
There's a Sonoran dog, which think has. It's like bacon wrapped with cream cheese, and memory serves, maybe some other stuff on top of it. Yeah, there's a whole genre, but I
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
just thought, like, you know, it's a. It's an attraction. When you go see the Statue of Liberty.
Zack Badger Davis
Sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And it's delicious.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But all these places have variations. Same with the pizza.
Zack Badger Davis
They got to make it interesting somehow, because otherwise it's tough to differentiate a hot dog. Really?
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I mean, you can get your own food and, you know, do something different,
Zack Badger Davis
but I still think that, like, you go to Costco, you're having one of the better dogs.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Do you get the Costco burps, though? The hot dog burps? The Costco dog burps, probably. This is a thing that I've recently learned, because I didn't grow up with Costco. I grew up going to Sam's Club.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And they have hot dogs there. But apparently the, like, Costco dog, like, really makes you burp.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Which I've had a few, and I've never had, like, a bad experience with it, but I could definitely see where. Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
I Don't know if I'm such a sicko. I probably enjoy that burp. It's not like a fish burp. Like, get to taste it again.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It just goes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The house we're moving into is five minutes from a Costco, and I've never really been that close to a Costco, so I'm really excited to become a Costco person.
Zack Badger Davis
You're gonna find yourself going there more than you should be going there.
Jackson Storm
Good.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I found an account called a Costco Hot Fines or something.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And apparently they're selling a Lazy River. It's like a 62 foot laser.
Zack Badger Davis
Is that a real thing? I thought.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know. The problem that Garrett has with me is I apparently, like, really badly can't recognize AI from real reality.
Zack Badger Davis
This goes back to you being very gullible.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I keep showing him videos of, like, an alligator eating someone or, like, a guy sleeping on a lawn chair and a mountain lion crawls on his chest.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And he's like, in what world do you think that's real? Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Now you're getting old very quickly.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It looks real.
Zack Badger Davis
No, I. At a certain point, you just have to shift your default to, like, everything is fake and fake pessimistic enough.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. You know, like, I've. I. I'm trying to unpessively, honestly, just
Caleb Meatball Adcock
live in the whimsy.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. That's what I'm trying to do.
Jackson Storm
That's what.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
When he tells me that stuff, I'm
Jackson Storm
like, why did you.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Why'd you. Same thing with that docu or that movie I saw.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
As long as you're not just reposting on Facebook, though, Right. As you get older, it's going to get worse, and maybe we need to nip that in the bud. So maybe just don't go down that road.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, but live in the whimsy.
Zack Badger Davis
It's better to be a skeptic than a fool. Feels like a quote.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know if that's Zach Davis. Abraham Lincoln, Michael Scott.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay, you hiked the at. You did the thing, and then you weren't sitting on the sidelines too long because you're currently in the middle of the CDT here. Why did you settle on the CDC next? Because obviously most people go at pct. Cdt.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, not always, but often. I feel like after the 80, with how urban the 80 was and how busy it was, I was like, I miss being, like, in the woods and being out there. And boy, has the CDT delivered with that one. No, it was just like, I remember Being. Yeah, and kind of like that mid Atlantic area. And. And it was like, so hot, so humid, and just like we're walking through someone's backyard. And I was like, like, the trail just goes through someone's backyard. And I was like, this does not feel like I'm out there. Like, I feel like I shouldn't be backpacking at this point. I should be swimming in the neighbor's pool. And so it was kind of like, yeah, a few different reasons, but mainly just for the ruggedness and the. The wilderness aspect of it. And just like, you know, I kind of make a joke of. Of any time anyone asks me about, like, how I'm feeling in terms of the difficulty between the two. It's like, well, there's less humidity and less bugs, and so I'm off to a great start. And so, yeah, that was kind of the draw to the CDT of if it's this thing that it's not as popular, there's not going to be as many people, and you're in some, like, really rugged terrain that is beautiful. And it's. It's. You know, I'm so excited to be back in the west for the summer.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The natural progression from the AT for most is the PCT and then the cdt.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Why did you not do that?
Zack Badger Davis
That's what I just asked him.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I think. No, you said no, you said, why did he go from the 80 to the CDT?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, but I.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I'm saying different. I'm saying why specifically not the PCT?
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, he's saying he went from the 80, the 80 to the CDT because it was less crowded, there were no bugs, it was drier, etc. Okay, my question is more specific towards the pct. Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. I mean, probably just like, the less people, like, I remember being, like, on the at and I've been, like, so overwhelmed, especially, like, moving through the bubble. We never really, like, hiked with the bubble, but when we started, we started on the back end of the bubble and so moving through it. And I understood how many people do the PCT and that it is not probably as social as the at, but still very social. And so it was kind of like that. That break too, of like, I want to be out in the middle of nowhere, and I don't want to have to feel like I'm, like, around all these people all the time. And so I think just kind of like the overall wilderness aspect of the CDT is what caused me to choose that next and just kind of like pushing the boundaries of what I had done. Like, logistically, the CDT is kind of a nightmare. And like the mapping and, and figuring out which routes to take and how to get into towns and it's just so much more complicated than the AT or the pct. And I feel like that was kind of an area that was new to me and not really a skill that I practiced on the AT just because also hiking with other people, it was kind of like other people were also looking at the map. So I didn't need to always be so focused on how far we were going or what was coming up or that kind of thing versus the cet. It's like it's just me and I've got to make all the decisions and look at the weather and the snow and, and X, Y and Z. And so I think it's going to set me up nicely though, whenever I eventually do do the PCT to be like, ah, this is nice backpacking and I'm not fighting for my life every single second. And yeah, so, yeah, a little bit of everything.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So you're not anti PCT?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, no, no. The PCT is coming and I'm 100% ready to open, like welcome it with open arms and enjoy the well maintained trails. Yeah, yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
I think you mentioned this in your Instagram post that you've had a lot of solitude on the cdt.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Which obviously is the contrast from the at.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Walk me through what it's like going from that to. Because, like, you can have a more social CDT experience. It sounds like you're not having that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
What is that like?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, it's. Which, it's. It's funny because if you would have asked me on the AT if I wanted to hike any section of the AT alone, I would have said probably. Yeah. I think I might have spent only like seven or eight solo nights, if that, on the AT and every other night I was camping with someone. And so, yeah, it's kind of one of those of like, that was a draw to the CDT of like, I get some alone time and I have, I do have a very loud internal dialogue which really keeps me in conversation with myself. But it definitely has been like one of the main challenges that I'm learning how to navigate on the cdt. You know, I, at this point, whenever I got off trail a few days ago, I haven't seen another CDT hiker in over a month.
Jackson Storm
Whoa.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's a long time.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
That's unique.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And so, you know, the overlap of the CT and The cdt, like there were like three, maybe four Colorado trail hikers going south that I would pass in like a 10 minute, you know, chat. And then Colorado's been much more social just with day hikers, but in terms of like, you know, I'm camping alone and you really only see the day hikers whenever you're like near a trailhead or a 14 or like that's kind of how it goes. And then you're back out there on your own. And so they were kind of like it's been pretty consistent of going three or four days without seeing anyone. And then you pop out and there's a day hiker there or a trail crew or I think in New Mexico there was a six day stint that I didn't see anyone.
Zack Badger Davis
And you find that you're hungry for interaction, conversation after those.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which I think is part of the reason of like taking a few days off here in Colorado of like, yes, getting to see some friends, but also just to kind of reset and kind of refill that social battery for this kind of second half of the trail. Because it is, I am a very social person. I enjoy, enjoy hiking with other people and, and being with other people. And so it's kind of one of those things that I've learned that it's like really high highs and really low lows of, you know, whenever you're having a good day or you're doing the ridge walk at the end of the day or you've crushed miles, it's, it's like, yeah, I feel like a badass out here. Like I'm doing this on my own and I'm carrying an ice axe and micro spikes and like I did this big traverse all on my own. But then like, your shitty days are like really shitty of like, what am I doing? Like, I'm, I'm out here, I haven't seen anyone in three days. And like I'm like having this really hard section of trail that I'm not going to have anyone to talk about it with that evening at camp or to laugh about in the moment. You know, I think one of the things I loved about the AT is, is kind of like you find yourselves in those moments around other people where it's like so shitty that you just have to laugh about it. Like it's like so absurd of everything that's happening and the chaos that's ensuing that you just laugh about it. And as someone who like finds a lot of motivation through being externally motivated, it's like, like I'M now having to find that N word. And that really, like, comes out on those shitty days of, like, what am I doing out here? I'm all alone. Like, there's no one even here to, like, laugh about how shitty this is. Which has been something to navigate and something that's been. I've kind of learning, like, yes, different big people have different experiences on the CDT of. Of. You know, some are very social. And I've talked to other people who have done the cdt and they're like, I was so socially deprived at the end of it because I just hiked for four and a half, five months alone. And so, yeah, it's kind of like one of those things is like. And as you guys know, with any through hike, it's. It's really completing a through hike is just how many times you get back up and how many times you decide to keep going. Like, it's. It's when people go, oh, my gosh, I could never do what you're doing. Like, listen, I love a hot shower in a cozy bed just as much as the next person, but it, like, I do love being outdoors, and that, I feel like, is kind of the base ground of it, and it really is just, like, how many times you. You pick yourself up. And I've found with the cdt, yes, it's physically challenging, but that mental aspect of picking myself up mentally to keep going has been one of the toughest challenges I've had that. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
How do you keep yourself motivated and happy hiking when the isolation and the loneliness are, like, gnawing at you? Because I think isolation and loneliness take a lot of people off trail.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Do you have tips for. Not just, like, in general around it, but, like, when the minutes feel like hours and, like, everything is just, like, feeling worse than it should be?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. I think for me, kind of going back to that external motivation, like, verbalizing out loud to myself. Like, I remember the southern section of Colorado. I just gotten into Colorado when that snowstorm came in at the beginning of May and dumped a bunch of snow. And the next week was essentially just like, knee, thigh, hip, deep post holding, like, 12 hours to go 11 miles kind of deal. And it. I remember just, like, literally verbalizing out loud of, like, get back up, like, pull myself out of this hole and keep going. And like. Yeah, it's. I think it's. I don't know. It's. It's a. It's unlocking, like, a new perspective and like, a new internal drive that sometimes takes an external motivation To. To come out.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
Maybe that is an answer to the question I was just going to ask, but what are you learning about yourself?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
That I wish I could cry more because I feel like there are times where I was like, so and like, so upset about it. I'm also, I think. I think I'm kind of learning, like, for a while everyone. Not everyone, a lot of people would ask, like, oh my gosh, how much are you, like, are you loving the cdt? Is it so much fun? Is it such a blast? Like, no, it sucks. Like, it's so shitty right now and being like, okay to say that and being upfront with that because I think a lot of people see this as the cool experience that it is, but they don't see the other side of that coin. And I think that kind of goes back to just like posting on social media of like, it's not all summoning 14ers on the CDT and it's not all ridge walks. Like, I've had really hard days where I. And like, I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this. And so it's. It's. Yeah, I think it's just kind of like that internal reflection and being okay with not. Not being okay, but just like struggling. Like, that's. It's okay to struggle. And this isn't supposed to be easy. And, and also dealing with that, like, you know, when people are like, oh my gosh, are you having so much fun? Like, should I be having more fun? Should I be doing something differently? Am I experiencing this the right way? Like, of have all these thoughts and whenever you're out there alone, like, there's no one to bounce these thoughts off of, they just kind of circulate. So it's. It's kind of like, yeah, I'm learning a lot about that internal motivation and, and. And also like, you know, finding that reason for why I'm out here. You know, everyone with their through hikes has or figures out or learns why they're out here doing it, and that's what keeps them going. And I think Even, you know, 1200 miles into the CDT, I'm still figuring that out of, like, I love being here. I love being in the mountains. I love moving through the mountains. I love waking up and doing something hard every single day. But also, like, it is hard. Like, it's like I'm two months in and it's gnarly, and every single day is a challenge.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So 600 miles a month is pretty freaking good. You mentioned A bunch of hard days on trail so far. What is a specific hard day that you could recount for us?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I think it was coming out of trauma. After that snowstorm came through, I was in the South San Juans and I got an ice ax and micro spikes and it was one of those kind of maybe even like the imposter syndrome of like I am about to be moving through some serious terrain and all the things that I have to consider and make decisions about that I, I have to do alone is a very intimidating thing. And so I think that just kind of like naturally stressed me out of. Like okay, I'm out here, I'm gonna have to use my ice ax. Like if I were to slide off this mountain or if I have to self arrest, like there's no friend that's going to come and help me get back up on trail. Like it's me out here. And then with the new snow and it was like, okay, what is the avalanche terrain like? Like am I going to be moving through avalanche terrain? What's the snow situation like? And there's some pretty decently steep traverses through that southern section that now have new snow on top of old snow. And there's at that point I think two people ahead of me. And so the beta for what the trail was like was pretty minimal. It was just a lot of frozen over water sources and that was kind of it. And so it was kind of like the weight of this. I have to make these decisions on my own that yes, I want to do this really cool thing, but I also have to be very realistic with my ability, my knowledge, what's in over my head. And you know, I've learned more of like just having your bailout routes and like where can I get off trail if something were to happen? And, and I carry a garment and that kind of stuff. But kind of like those new skills that I didn't have to practice on the at I'm now having to practice and implement. Like it's in a very real time. And so I think that kind of week between Chama and Wolf Creek and like the Pagosa Springs area, like it was such hard, difficult hiking in the snow. But also like mentally and like the decision making, it's just kind of like overload all the time.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, it drains you way faster than just the hiking by for sure. So sounds like you're ahead of the bubble then.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, the bubble of 10 people.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Is this a slower year in the CDC? I mean I know the CDC is never busy Per se, but, like, you can find people if you really try to.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Are you now considering slowing down and trying to meet up with some folks or where are you at from that standpoint?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. So I think with Colorado, too, it was kind of like, there's so many different alternate routes through Colorado that if I had the option to keep moving north, I think, and obviously, I have kind of continued to do that. And so, you know, some people will flip up to Wyoming and hike the basin and give Colorado some more time to melt. But right now, you know, like, the solitude, I don't love, But I also, you know, once I kind of spit out into Wyoming, will be a little bit lower in elevation and be able to move a little easier. And so I think Colorado being, like, such the mental game as well as the physical game, that difficulty will kind of mellow into Wyoming, where I'll feel a little. A little better about continuing to move north solo. I think there's the bubble of 10 people is. Is like 3ish weeks behind me. And so I remember someone who follows me on Instagram who started the CDT a few weeks after me. They were like, yeah, like, there's like, a good group of 10 of us coming through. And I was like, 10. Like, I haven't seen another CDT hiker in weeks. Like, that's crazy. And so, yeah, and then, like, all the. The questions with that, too, like, in my head of. Of like, did I start too early? Should I get off trail and wait for people to catch up and kind of like that. That am I experiencing the CDT in the best way, or am I doing something wrong? And so, yeah, I think it just kind of like taking it in stride. If I get to, you know, meet another hiker, they catch up to me or I catch up to them or whatever. Like, that would be great. But I've also kind of, like, leveled a bit with, like, okay, if I hike the full CDT alone, I'm gonna be okay, and I can do it. And it is going to be hard, and there are going to be moments that I wish were shared in community.
Zack Badger Davis
But also, there's no question in your head if you maintain the same social cadence. Yeah, you're finishing the trail.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is also, like, comforting in a sense of, like, it kind of, you know, to have and. And maybe not just have, but, like, to be able to find and expose that confidence within yourself is something that I think is a. A very valuable skill that I might not have dug out until this trail. And so Just I think that the outlook of it too, of like everyone's experience is so different. And me comparing my experience to people in the past or even people who are, you know, still south of me, it's like you can't do that or like to another trail. Like, it's just you've got to take it in stride and for what it is. And when your expectations are nothing, you can't really be disappointed because you're just taking it as it comes. And so I think that's kind of the mentality of, of that I'm taking on moving north.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I think that's an awesome perspective. And regardless of how the remainder of your hike plays out, I think that in the rest of your life this will be a source of like strength and pride for you that you were able to be in the moment, recognize that it was hard and be like resolute that like, I can do this.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Because the next time you go through something hard, it frankly is probably going to pale in comparison to like being socially isolated at the top of a ridge, hiking through snow.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Like, yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Most likely that's going to be one of the harder things that you're ever going to confront.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. And it already is. Of like any time I'm having like in this section of like central and northern Colorado of like a rough day, I'm like, well, I could be postholing. I'm not postholing. And so just like little things like that too. Of like. But whenever you're alone, like, you have to be the one to remind yourself of that. There's no one else.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Else selling you that. And so. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Have you wanted to quit?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, seriously though, not just like, I
Caleb Meatball Adcock
mean, I think I remember having a moment in New Mexico. I think I was like maybe four days in and it was one of those, those moments of like whenever you start a thru hike where you're like really excited but also kind of terrified. And like you have, you're on mile 40 of, you know, 3,000 miles. Like it. Like you feel the weight of everything. And I remember having a thought of like, okay, even if I don't stay out here, I've just got to do New Mexico. Mexico. Like it's not even like New Mexico into Colorado. Like, I've just got to finish New Mexico and then if I want to get off, like, I'll get off.
Zack Badger Davis
I think it's good.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'll edit it.
Zack Badger Davis
We're back.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Great. Okay. Well, this has been a very productive break because we just thought of content yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Chance is never nothing about content.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
She's on her way out the door and she's still producing for you.
Zack Badger Davis
You run a really good rant about.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yep. That thing.
Zack Badger Davis
Just dealing with the social isolation and.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Quitting.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Quitting.
Zack Badger Davis
That was it.
Jackson Storm
Yeah. Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I think, you know, Colorado, like, it was just. It was so much to take on at one go. Like, it literally came into Colorado, and then it was like, decision making and new snow and. And being alone and solo, and so it was just kind of like compounding and it. And it took a while to figure out how to navigate that, and it's, like, not something that happens overnight. And so it was like, you know, two weeks to figure out, like, how do I keep myself going?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, what's the secret?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And. Yeah, what's the secret?
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What did you figure out?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I don't know.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You said it took you two weeks.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I mean, I don't have any stubbornness. Maybe pull yourself up by the bootstraps, type B. I don't know. I, like, I don't have a. I don't have a golden ticket.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, let me rephrase. It took you. You said verbatim. It took me two weeks to figure it out. What did you figure out?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
How to navigate keeping, like, the mental. How to pick myself up, how to tell myself keep going.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
How do you do that?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I. Externally telling myself, literally, out loud, just out loud, keep going, get up, keep going.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Is that the only difference between intrinsically and externally? Is it being out loud? Because I thought that had to come from other people.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I mean, maybe, like, is it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But it doesn't sound like intrinsically if it's out loud.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I don't know. We're getting so specific now.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I know, but that's.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I know, I know.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If you. Internally, extrinsically.
Jackson Storm
Right.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Different opposites.
Zack Badger Davis
Internally, externally.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
The opposites would be intrinsic.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Fine. Those two words. Is it the one that starts with an E? If he's saying the words out loud but still alone, or is it the one that starts with an I? Just out loud.
Zack Badger Davis
Need more context than that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You're motivating yourself by saying, like, how he was saying. He says the things out loud. Does that make it extrinsic or does it still. Is it still intrinsic?
Zack Badger Davis
I would say it's intrinsic.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
you heard it here first.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay, I've been backed into a corner here. How do I do that? I also. I feel like maybe the. The resets in towns, like, taking a zero day and, like, resetting the mental aspect of what it takes to get up and go every single day.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What do you do to reset? That's not like, go to the grocery store and.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Although I did go to a workout class yesterday.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Shut up.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
But.
Zack Badger Davis
And he went for.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
On a zero day. You went on a workout class and a run.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
We're on zero number, like three. That's mad of like, in Denver. So.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I'm kind of going, sir. Crazy.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What kind of class was it?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It was a berries class.
Zack Badger Davis
I know what that is.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It's like Pilates. It's like a. It's like a cross between. You do like, half the time on a treadmill and half the time, like, on the floor, like, with weights. So it's like a cross training type.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Thing.
Zack Badger Davis
That's good.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Were you worried you would lose shape?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, this was not for that. That, like, in shape. This was more for like, I. I feel like whenever you walk 12 hours a day for two months straight and then you get off, you, like, I feel like I don't know what to do. Sure. Now, mind you, I've taken a few zeros leading up to this where I am not going to a workout class and I'm sitting on the couch. But this is day. Yeah. Like number three, that I've been off trail.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I just needed to move.
Zack Badger Davis
Like taking the workout on a more chill side.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Jackson Storm
Okay, good.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I'm not trying. This is not for, like, I'm worried about losing fitness or trying to grow muscle. This is, for one, the social aspect of, like, it's a group class, being around other people. And it's something that's like, active.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
How is this doing for your socializing?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
This is great.
Jackson Storm
Is it?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. This is. I. I feel like someone asked me the other day whenever I got into town, we went and took dinner to the park and they were like, is this weird that I'm talking to you right now? I'm like, no. Just because of, like, coming out of the woods and like, not being overly social. But they're like, are you overwhelmed? Are you overstimulated? And I'm like, no, this is great. Like, I. I needed this. This is that.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
How you keep going for me is like taking time off trail. Because I think some people do kind of get like, locked in the mindset of, like, I've got to keep going, not stop. If I stop, I'll think too much about what I'm doing and then get off trail. And so I've learned that, yeah, like, taking time off trail is arguably equally as important for like the long haul, because this is like such a track.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So if we're thinking things that could be replicable for people that are listening, that want to take advice from this. If someone is on trail, in theory, struggling with loneliness, isolation, those qualms.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Would it be beneficial for them to try taking a zero day, going to the town bar and just talking to everyone until they can't stand it anymore?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I would say, yeah. I like, I feel like my. Because I, I am very in the middle, extrovert, introvert and I do run out of social battery. But I've noticed that since I've been alone for so much time at this point, any kind of social interaction is, is. It just kind of like takes you out of that world that you've been in of isolation, which sounds funny, but until you're like literally in the middle of the woods by yourself for multiple days, just having a simple conversation with someone who picks you up on a hitch or someone on the bus, it really does go a long way. And so. And I find myself like seeking those conversations out more than I might otherwise do if I were hiking with someone else.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Do you warn them? Are you like, hey, just a warning. I haven't talked to anyone in a month, so I might be a bit chatty.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, I don't. Usually they're like super interested or they have no clue what I'm doing and they're like, New Mexico, I feel like was all like, like, what do you mean you're walking across the country? And so then it was like this whole explanation. I try to be mindful of it though too. Of like, okay, I am talking to them, but I don't want to talk just at them and like also engaging them in the conversation too. But I also feel like that's like part of through hiking is like the people you meet along the way. And so those conversations of, of your hitches or whatever in town, like, those are the people that you're going to remember from the hike.
Zack Badger Davis
Do you find that on this hike you feel a greater sense of presence? Because for me personally, when I'm hiking more socially, it's fun, but it's a totally different experience where I don't feel like I get to like that Zen out moment. With how isolated you are. Do you feel like you're reaching some level of Zen or maybe not at all?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, I think so for sure. And there's definitely, I think those are kind of the moments where I'm like, okay, this is why I'm out here and it's the moments, you know, eating dinner at sunset or the moments when you can, like, feel like you can kind of catch your breath, where, you know, the elements or whatever it is. The hiking isn't terrible or hard or draining. And you do feel just kind of like almost like this, like, flow state of, like you feel like you're exactly where you should be. And. And yeah, I think with the solitude too. Sometimes I feel like I get into like this almost like this mental vortex of I get going with my internal dialogue and I remember one night I was like, hyper fixated on getting this, like, burnt rice piece out of my pot. And I was like, scraping, scraping, scraping, scraping, like, probably longer than any normal person would have, like, put effort into this. And then I took something and like, threw it into my food bag. And the noise of, like, it hitting in my food bag, like, pulled me out of this, like, hyper focus. No, literally. And I was like, oh, my gosh, is this what, like, crazy people feel like whenever they say they're going crazy is like you're so zoned in and there's no one else there to pull you out. But on the flip side of like, the crazy, like, there are some really sweet moments where it's like, okay, I feel like I'm right where I should be and. And that those are the moments that I feel like keep me moving north.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You mentioned at the start of the show that you've never had a bad encounter with people on trail. Have you ever had any spooky experiences?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I did get charged by a moose.
Jackson Storm
I would call that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So that's not with a person. But yeah, it was like 2ish weeks ago. I got charged by a moose. Terrifying.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
A big one. Did he have the.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, it was. Turned out to be a mom and she had a calf, which is. Yeah, I was like, climbing. This was like just before, like, Twin Lakes, Leadville area. And I essentially had this like. Like, it was like a seven or eight mile climb, like kind of like all late afternoon evening. I was going to be working on this climb and I had a big climb the next day. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna get most of this one out of the way tonight and then I'll take care of the. The one the next day. And it was probably like around 6, 6:30, and I had. I was probably like five miles into the climb at this point. A really nice, beautiful evening. I had like one headphone in. I didn't have both ends, so I wasn't like completely oblivious, but had one Headphone in was just kind of like in a cruisy little pace, going uphill. And I was topping out this hill into this, like, meadow area. And I had like, looked to my right because I heard a noise or something, a squirrel or something. And then I looked back in front of me, and when I did, there was a moose that was like, ears pinned back like full speed ahead.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Was your first moose sighting?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, I had literally seen a moose earlier that day.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That was your first moose sighting?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, I had seen. I. This was like moose number four.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
That I've seen since getting into Colorado.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Are you accustomed to moose at this point or are you still like, ah,
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I'm not scared of them, but there's moose in Montana and I've learned the respect for them is equal, if not greater than grizzly bears. And that they'll come at you for absolutely no reason, like, very territorial. And I essentially had stepped into this mom and her calf's area where they were at. And yeah, it was probably. I saw her running at me and it was kind of one of those. I like took like two steps back and I swung myself behind this pine tree. And from the time that I saw her to when she was probably like 15 yards past me was maybe 5 seconds. And it was kind of like one of those of like just a reaction. Like, I didn't have time until after I was like behind the tree and she had already come by, like, to process, like, oh, I just got charged by a moose.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What do you do? She's going to come back, right? Like a bull, where they come back across the little.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Literally, it was. It was such a spooky feeling. And I've never had an encounter with a moose to this extent before, but to be the main target for them coming after you is such an odd feeling. And she turned around and she. It took like 20 yards for her to stop. Like, that's how fast she was. She was coming down the trail, turned around and was just standing there. And so I started backing up my way up this like, little knoll on the side. And of course there's like. It's like shin deep snow and blowdowns that I'm like tromping through. And it was probably like maybe 20 seconds go by and then she beelines it back at me again. And so I like take off kind of up this knoll and behind some more trees. And essentially she came around the knoll and then came up on top. And there was a point where I was. There was literally like, me to you Looking at her through like three trees.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
A quick interjection. Yeah. They tell you to go behind a tree and like, don't be afraid about running if it's a moose. But the part my brain always breaks is I, I think if I'm going to stand behind a moose, then it's like when the person chases you and they're going to curve behind. Or if I'm going to stand behind a tree. Sorry. It's like the person chasing you where then they curve behind the tree.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And now we're chasing each other around a tree.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
When you're describing it, it sounds like it's like a bull where you move the red blanket and you go behind the tree and it just keeps going straight and it doesn't know how to turn.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, well, so it's, it's which, mind you, this is my own right.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
We're not scientists for sure, but I
Caleb Meatball Adcock
grew up with horses and like big horses. And essentially if a horse was coming at you, if you get behind a tree, they can come very quickly head on, but they can't make those sharp corners. So they're gonna have to go down past you and loop back around.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Really.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So whenever you stand behind the tree, you just get to where they can't.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's like those big trucks on the road where it's like wide turns, turning left and you can't go in the load.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Wide load coming down the track and
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
you can't go in the lane next to it because when it turns it's going to clip you.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Exactly. So it's like, it's one of those of like when they're on a beeline. When a moose is on a beeline, like they can move but their agility side to side and quick turns aren't really a thing. So that's why I had this like run out zone. And then it turned around and then came back again. But at that point, whenever I was looking at it through the trees so close, it was kind of like which, like, you know, with bears you're always taught like, don't run. And with moose it was just like, I've got to get the hell out of here. And so I dropped my pack because it was just like I'm walking through snow and blowdowns and I've got my pack on and I had bear spray and I grabbed my bear spray, dropped my pack and I was like, I've just got to book it across this meadow. And all I could think about was like the moose running behind me, like almost like, and, like, a movie. Like, it's like, literally a movie scene of this thing chasing you.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Literally, just keep thinking about you having to go back for your pack.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, it.
Jackson Storm
It.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I. So I get across the. The meadow and behind a set of trees, and moose don't have, like, great eyesight. And so it was. It turned into, like, a whole hour, hour and a half ordeal of me sitting behind this tree because the moose wouldn't get off of the knoll. It would come down, and then it would go back up.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What's the baby doing?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Well, so I didn't know there was a baby at this point, and it was bedded down in some tall grass in the meadow. But I think what was happening is that even though I was gone, it was smelling my backpack and thought I was still around. And so at this point, it's like 8 o'. Clock. The sun is setting. I'm, like, just above 12, 000ft. I'm. I have my, like, rain shell on and shorts, and I'm like, if this moose doesn't leave, it's gonna get dark. I don't have my headlamp. Like, I'm not gonna be able to see where it's at. My layers are in my pack. Like, this could turn, like, pretty serious pretty quick. Thankfully, the mom came off the knoll and the baby, like, came out, and they were, like, hanging out in the meadow. And then they started kind of, like, walking essentially, like, directly up the hill out of the meadow. And so as they were moving up and as they were moving behind trees, I was kind of moving down and around to my backpack, and I kind of got within, like, 10 yards of my backpack, and I was like, I've just got to make a run for it because, like, I'm getting cold. It's getting dark. Like, I need my pack at this point. And I had my puffy that was just strapped on top. And so I, like, made us. Made a run for my pack, grab my puffy and put it on, because I was like, if I get separated from my pack again, like, I need another layer.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Picturing in the Hunger Games where they, like, come up to the cornucopia and they're running, and, like, you know that scene where she grabs the package, she keeps running?
Jackson Storm
This was me.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I never thought about that. But that is so.
Jackson Storm
Isn't that, like, exactly it?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Oh, that's literally it. And so then I grab. I put my puffy on, I throw my backpack on. I run over and grab one of my poles that I had dropped Initially, whenever I jumped behind the tree and you could actually see there were tufts of hair in the snow where the moose had like, clipped the side of the tree and it ripped out chunks of hair. Like, that's how close it was, was it was coming by the tree.
Jackson Storm
Wow.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And then essentially it. The. The moose saw me and it turned around again and started coming back down the hill. And at that point, like, I had everything and I literally just like beeline like over the hill that I had just hiked up into the meadow.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Dude, you have no one to tell about.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, you go, you get to camp,
Jackson Storm
and you have no one to be
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
like, dude, you'll never know what happened.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No. Literally, was that torture?
Zack Badger Davis
It was.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It was more of kind of like a realization of how quickly situations can happen. And I remember having I keep my garment in my, like, fanny pack. And I was so grateful that I did because a lot of people I've seen just like, keep their garment on their pack. And. And all I could think about is like, if this moose gets a hold of me, like, there's a good chance I'm going to have to call for help. And if that my Garmin were on my backpack, like, like, my backpack's 50 yards away. And so it was kind of one of those of like, I don't know, just like a realization. But the moose started coming back down and I was like, you've got to be freaking kidding me. Like, at this point, would it be so bad if the moose got me? Like, we, we'd get it over with. They would go about their business and then I would go wherever.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Make it quick. Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Literally just present your head on the ground. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
So you could do that interaction over again. Would you have still dropped your package?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I think so, yeah. Because I don't think I would have been able to move as quickly as I needed to, especially tromping through snow and blowdowns to get away.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, with all these trees you're hiding behind, has any part of you in this adrenaline filled moment, thought, climb up?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yes. But the trees that were initially between me and the moose in that, like, on that knoll were pretty dead and just kind of like lodge poly.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So they weren't locked down.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. And it was just like. That was the other thing too, is like, it's not like mama moose is taking the trail. Like, she's just gonna run through whatever is in her way to get to me. And that was kind of the part where I was like, okay, I've got to get out of here. And that's when I drop my pack. I'm just like, I can't be this close because she's not leaving until I leave, and she's gonna keep coming after me until I leave.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Is that your spookiest real moment thus far?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I think so.
Zack Badger Davis
It's pretty good.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. I'm definitely, like, much more aware of, like, going around corners and the possibility of a moose. I kind of, like, check, like, these, like, beelines almost of, like, where could a moose run straight at me from? Yeah. Just because, like, there's so many tight, blind corners that you can't see that, like, the moose is on the other side and they're pissed. Like, you're kind of done. So.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, everyone's afraid of grizzlies, but I hear more terrifying moose encounters.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Very good. Is there anything else about the CDT that you want to relay?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Gosh, there I go again. Now I'm going to be thinking about that too much.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Let them start ripping. This is our last in studio for a minute.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Just slide the whiskey over.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
All right, fine. I'm going to start crying.
Jackson Storm
Yeah, I don't.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I think it's just kind of like, you know, if. If you're wanting to do a through hike or. Or the CT or any of the trails, you know, it's. There's so many different ways to do it, and, like, there's not one right way to do it, and a lot of people get caught up in kind of, like, how you're supposed to do it, and there's. It's just, like, you got to figure it out for yourself and also, like, be okay with that being different from someone else, because I think a lot of people, too, will be like, oh, no, you have to have this backpack or this setup or whatever in order to do it, or you need to be hiking this many miles or, I don't know, just kind of that mindset of, like, just go out there and do it the way you want to do it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Can you think of anything that screams, I don't know what the I'm talking about? Less than someone being like, you have to do it with this backpack.
Zack Badger Davis
That is definitely like.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, like, we advertise, and it's like, we enjoy these backpacks. We like this backpack. We like the features of this backpack.
Jackson Storm
Backpack.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But for it to be like, you. If you want to do this trail, you have to use this backpack.
Zack Badger Davis
I don't think there's a single piece of gear. What's the thing that I feel like is the most universal.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I would say maybe, like a Sawyer filter, but even that is debatable.
Zack Badger Davis
Highly. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe like, socks or.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But then there's the inflatables. Yeah. Darn tough socks, maybe, but smart.
Zack Badger Davis
There's other good merino socks, too.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. To your point, there's not one thing
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
that works perfectly for everybody except for, like, backpack radio.
Zack Badger Davis
Duh.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, I feel like I try to. Like, anytime I'm giving any kind of, like, recommendation, it's like, this is what works for me. That doesn't mean it's going to work for you. And, like, you're going to have to try this out. Yeah. And also, I feel like that just breaks down the barrier to a people wanting to get into backpacking or camping or, like, not even if it's a through hike, but a section hike or an overnight. It's like, yes, you can have all of this gear, but you don't have to have it in order to still be able to do it. And obviously, like, certain things with, like, safety and your safety and other people's, but, like, for the most part, like, you can do it however you want to do it. And I think that's just the beautiful thing about backpacking.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. I do have one oddball question before we get to the sponsor question, which is, if you were the DP of this studio, what would you do differently?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Ooh, dp. Good lingo.
Zack Badger Davis
Thank you.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah. Can I. Someone who's never been on a podcast.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Dp, Director of photography.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Director.
Zack Badger Davis
I think it's more of a film thing.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
See, this is the.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This is the professional.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know people who shoot on set.
Zack Badger Davis
I wanted to sound like I knew what I was talking about.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You did.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If anything, he sounds like he's faking the professional part of his job title.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
No, this is where I'm telling you it's not. It's professional. But also, you know.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, no, I don't mean any of that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Seriously, what would I change about this set?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
You know, this is my first podcast, so I can't say I have a whole lot to compare it to.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's such a weird way to say, keep Johnson her seat.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, gosh.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What do you mean, oh, gosh?
Zack Badger Davis
Trying to get you to drink.
Jackson Storm
Oh, okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. All you have to do is ask.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
God.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You want to give me another?
Jackson Storm
I'll do.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'll drink another.
Zack Badger Davis
Good. Okay. Well, we will wrap with the sponsor question. This is the peak performance question brought to you by Topo Athletic Use code. Oh, shit. Trek 15. Topo.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Or is it I believe so, or it's Topo 15 Trek.
Zack Badger Davis
We'll pull it up.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The 15's in the middle.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, we'll pull it up if you keep talking.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'll look it up. I'll look it up.
Zack Badger Davis
For 15% off@topoathletic.com do you have a top performance enhancing or backpacking hack, something you do that makes your experience outdoors that much easier?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I feel like I actually just did one for Jetboil, but it. It, I. I used it. I explained it to a day hiker the other day, and I realized how much I actually stand by it. But being at high altitude and in the cold, my fuel canister is. If the fuel gets cold, the stove will burn much less efficiently. And so throwing the canister in your puffy or sleeping bag before you use it, even for like two minutes, just to warm it up a bit and it'll rip as if it's. It's completely hot outside kind of deal. Yeah, that's what I feel like. Because sometimes, like, once it gets cold, it takes forever to boil. And if you just throw it in your sleeping bag or puffy for a few minutes and warm it up, it'll rip like normal.
Zack Badger Davis
Love that. That's awesome. It's a good one. Code is track 15.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Topo found it faster. Yeah, well, the last two episodes, neither were Topo. I thought we did every others.
Zack Badger Davis
I think we do.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
59 and 60 didn't seem to be. Anyway, that's neither here nor there or my problem. So let's keep going.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, Caleb, thank you so much for making time in the middle of your CDT through hike. Awesome to meet you. You've got a great perspective and.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Enjoy the remainder of the trail. Let people know obviously where they should go to follow you on Instagram, your website, anything that you want to plug.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, my Instagram is just at Caleb Adcock and my tick tock is Howdy to Rowdy is the username.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like T o Rowdy. Like Howdy to Rowdy.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Howdy, the number two.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, okay.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Rowdy.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Also, I found it. It was separated by an infeed ad.
Zack Badger Davis
Those things. Awesome. Caleb, thank you so much for joining us here on backpacker Radio.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah, thanks for having me on
Zack Badger Davis
Dreams. We learned about dreams.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Dreams.
Zack Badger Davis
Epic dreams. Do we need an impromptu processing?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, because I can't talk. If I talk about it, I'm gonna cry. I'm such a fucking crybaby. I cry all the time.
Zack Badger Davis
Do you? I mean, I've seen You cry, but not, like, frequently. I'm gonna grab a water real quickly. Do you want anything?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Where are you getting a water? No, I have my Canada Dry Spin Drift. And I have my. No, I've got my Sunny dm. My Canada Dry.
Zack Badger Davis
This is your last chance of the listeners for a minute in the studio,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
so stop saying the last. The last. Oh, my God. She's fine. Now I'm getting hot. I've got to take all these off. I'm sweating. Oh, overheating. Now. There's something in this. Oh, no, it's a tag. No, I don't need to process out loud. I'm just. Every time, like, when it's like, okay, now we're gonna ask our peak performance question or Goodbye, guest. Now we're starting the segment. We're just inching closer to the end. And I unfortunately, don't have a brain that smiles for it happening. I have a brain that cries for what could have been. You know, like, again, she's a pessimist.
Jackson Storm
But
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
no, because if every time I think about it, I think about where we are in this current recording process of tonight, and then my brain says, you're this much closer to never being here again. And then I look at something like that light, which means nothing to me, and I think, remember that view, because you'll never see it from this angle again. And I just. I don't think I need to do that to myself. But that's typically how I handle things. So I. I make it worse.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Because I don't want to forget things. So then I go in with the nostalgia, and then I am sad.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. So when does Garrett start his coaching?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know. It's not his day job. The. The second week of September. Okay. Not the weekend of the seventh, but the weekend after.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay. Well, any of them.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Well, that's when his games are. They might coach earlier, I would imagine. Probably.
Zack Badger Davis
This is. This is club hockey, or this is.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, club. It's his first coaching job.
Zack Badger Davis
Will any of this be, like, streamed? Can people watch Garrett?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No idea. I have no idea. I know they wear suits. They told him that, and he was like, great, I've got suits. I don't know anything else.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm sure we'll sprinkle in some processing as we go here, but let's get into some Trek propaganda. I'm going to go to the second story. Very sad but straightforward. This is teen hiker dies in Grand Canyon national park amid extreme heat. Just going to read the first part here, which is the relevant an 18 year old hiker has died following a heat related emergency in Grand Canyon National Park. According to the National Park Service, the incident occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd when park rangers received reports of a young man experiencing symptoms of heat illness on the Bright Angel Trail. Upon arriving at the scene, rangers located the teen approximately 30ft below the trail near Garden Creek. Blah blah blah. Despite immediate life saving efforts and emergency helicopter extraction, the hiker could not be saved. So hearts go out to the loved ones of this it's always sadder when it's a young person. Every death is sad obviously, but like 18 year old still had a lot of life.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, that's really sad.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Less sad is we have a new contributor at the Trek. Izzy Wagner recently wrote a piece for us, why you should never take gear advice to heart. This is a subject that has popped up a lot in the last couple of episodes. It just seemed very fitting. Izzy argues that you shouldn't take most gear advice as gospel, especially for certain gear categories. Two of the categories that she outlines, and I believe there's five in this piece. One is stoves, because the online hype can push you toward bulkier, pricier options like the Jetboil, Although we just learned that the Jetboil is a favorite of some recent hikers when a cheap, secondhand basic stove may work just as well. Personal preference, weight, cost, boil, speed and the other category this is very appropriate for today's podcast is backpacks, because your pack basically becomes your shell and you need to get your specific measurements shoulder width, torso length, frame rather than whatever brand seems to be trending amongst through hikers. So if you want to hear which gear categories you should not just copy and paste from someone else's gear list, head on over to the link in the show notes to get Izzy's full piece. Well done, Izzy. Question of the day. I think this is Elise, right?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It must be. Yeah, it has to be, I think, because it wasn't me. I thought it came from you. No, usually you're the food or the poop.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, that's not quite what this is.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This is a food one.
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, I thought you were saying is between food and poop in the question, but okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, usually when you come up with a question of the day, it has to do with food or poop.
Zack Badger Davis
That's a fair assessment.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I've calmed down so I can put my leg warmer back on because now I'm getting cold again.
Zack Badger Davis
Would you rather a Every time you eat a particular meal, the rest of the world loses access to this meal for 24 hours. People know about this. These better. You pour, and I get to choose which cup.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Fine.
Zack Badger Davis
People know about this. People lose access to this meal for 24 hours. People know about this. You may receive threats, but you are protected. Or B, anytime you use an air fryer or microwave, all others on earth become unusable until you finish using it again. You may receive threats, but you are protected.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Easy answer.
Zack Badger Davis
That was a pretty good pour.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, well, because you're gonna choose. I was gonna make them even. Yeah, I knew you weren't choosing the last time, so I gave you an extra.
Zack Badger Davis
You know, I would have guessed that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's proportionate to our bmi.
Zack Badger Davis
That's fair.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Well, bmi Know that we could have the same bmi, but it's proportionate to our weight.
Zack Badger Davis
My BMI is also higher.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, but maybe not.
Zack Badger Davis
No, it is.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know.
Zack Badger Davis
You're not overweight.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I haven't fit into a lot of clothes recently. It's stress eating, not moving a lot, and drinking. Yeah, that too. It's also contributed.
Jackson Storm
Yes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Never helps. Yeah, the. The. Yeah. Clothes aren't fitting the same. Cheers. I'm not answering until we do this little shot that I poured us. This is a plug for the YouTube if you want to watch us take shots and me cry.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. I'm only doing this for you. I was not prepared to drink today,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
but I'm only doing this for me, too. I wasn't gonna drink today. Yeah, if it wasn't my last day, I wouldn't.
Zack Badger Davis
Good.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Cheers.
Zack Badger Davis
Cheers.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You won't have to do this anymore. I hope you get someone really boring who doesn't like to do anything fun, but I also don't because I want
Zack Badger Davis
the show to succeed. I feel like your brain's got to be primed for what's going in. It was not there. So that hit. Not the best, but we're good.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I didn't pry my brain.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay, so I have some hypothetical or I guess some clarifying questions about this one.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I've just got a strong take. Okay, which do you want? Do you want to tell me your clarifying questions and get into it slowly and then I drop my bomb, or do you want me to just.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, let's set the groundwork so we're working with the same rules first.
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
My biggest question is how specific is this meal? So, for instance, my most common breakfast is a version of avocado toast where I make toast, avocado, and then I also put an over easy egg on top of the Toast. Is that qualified as avocado toast? Is that eggs? Does it have to be the specific combination?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I would say that style, but not. Not so specific that it's like if you put onion powder and someone didn't. It's not the same. But toast, avocado, egg. Like, the general structure of it. Like, if you have a BLT sandwich, someone else can have an lt. Yeah. But they can't have a blt.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So if you have an egg avocado toast, they can have an avocado toast, but they can't have an egg avocado toast.
Zack Badger Davis
What if I add a slice of cheese at the bottom of it?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Then they can't do that.
Zack Badger Davis
They.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
They can do it without it.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Because it's different. A hamburger and a cheeseburger are two different menu items.
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's not the same. They don't make one menu item for hamburger, and then they put. Add cheese. $2.
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's hamburger, cheeseburger.
Zack Badger Davis
In that case, I would feel confident in my ability to tweak a meal enough that I'm not impacting enough other people. If we're saying spices don't deviate enough, but, like, other ingredients do, I feel like I could get. Because one thing I do from time to time is I'll put, like, deli turkey on my avocado toast with egg just to up the protein.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yep.
Zack Badger Davis
And I feel like that there can't be that many people that are eating that specific meal. In which case I'd be happy to fall on that sword. Even though it's not the best combination, I do it often enough. I would probably choose the food option because I can eat some really bizarre food combos. For instance.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Zach, they're both food options.
Zack Badger Davis
I know. I'm just saying I don't think anyone's eating avocado toast with.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No. Which A? A and B are both food options.
Zack Badger Davis
I mean, the specific meal.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
A. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
Not the way it's cooked specifically.
Jackson Storm
Why won't you say the word?
Zack Badger Davis
Well, I'm considering, A, The. The food option, and B, the cook option. The one is what you're eating. The other is how you eat.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Maybe you're not firing some pottery in the kiln. That's not what you're cooking. You're cooking food.
Jackson Storm
Both food options.
Zack Badger Davis
I understand, but we use the microwave so often for the kiddos that it would be really rude for, like, multiple minutes every day, someone else or a lot of everyone not to be able to access their microwave.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yes, I understand your logic. I What I'm. What I'm saying is the way that you are wording it, you're hard to follow.
Zack Badger Davis
They're both food options. I'm just.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So when you say the food option, I don't know what you're picking. And as a listener to your words, it. I have no clarity.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm saying one is the meal, the other is the preparation.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Right, right, right. Yeah. Okay, so you're a, A easily. I'm also a B. Would be really easy if I was like, fun, clean eating garden girl that you had a bunch of and never needed a microwave or an air fryer. Like, oh, to be so healthy. That would be.
Zack Badger Davis
Are you air frying often?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I air fried today. It's not my air fryer. It's my housemates.
Zack Badger Davis
But you'll have one soon.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I have a toasted air fryer. I haven't opened it yet because all the nice wedding stuff I didn't open because I want it to be nice and not used by other people. But I don't know how that one. I don't know. It looks like a toaster oven. Like, you pull the door down. I don't know how that air fries. I actually don't even know how air fryers air fry because you close the basket and you don't see what happens inside.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, it's just a. It's a marketing term. It really is just a glorified microwave convection oven.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So it does that.
Zack Badger Davis
It just means it circulates the air.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And a microwave does what? Different.
Zack Badger Davis
Microwave uses microwaves to heat the food.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This is like when you say shit, and it's like, I like. I mean, saying words. They don't mean anything. Yeah, not you specifically, but, like, the words you're saying, like convection oven, microwaves.
Zack Badger Davis
I understand a convection oven better than I understand how a microwave works. But a convection oven really just means it's circulating the air.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I can follow you as you're saying it. My brain will never, like, process enough to store that info and differentiate. And I don't think it's from a lack of ability or a lack of able to do something smart like store that knowledge and remember it. I just don't see it as necessary. Maybe a deep down. Not when you say it. When you say that I'm not like, what you say doesn't matter. But deep down, I think that my brain says this information is not crucial. And so we're going to store it in the temporary drive, and it's going to fleet.
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
We have very different Brains that way, like, you latch on to history facts much easier than I do. I like cooking a lot, so, like, this stuff is a little bit stickier.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Or ask me where something incredibly small, minute and random is in the house.
Zack Badger Davis
House, yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And as long as no one's tidied up, I can tell you exactly.
Zack Badger Davis
Sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I used to get so mad when I was growing up because my mom used to like, go in and clean my room when I wouldn't. And I'd be livid because I'm like, I knew where everything was. And now that you've done this, I don't know where a single thing is. Don't know how that relates. Anyway, my answer is A. Now that you've checked the time visibly.
Zack Badger Davis
No, no, no.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's pushing me out.
Zack Badger Davis
I always have the fear that I haven't started the recording. That's what I'm doing.
Jackson Storm
Okay. Fair.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You don't want to hear about epic dreaming again. My answer is A.
Zack Badger Davis
Why?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Because I think that there's a way to game the system with A. As someone who. I wouldn't say I'm like, naturally shifty. I think that's like a very bad way to describe oneself. I just like, how would you describe. I like when I get like a question like this where it feels like both is a lose in a certain way. I like to try to find a loophole where it could be a win.
Zack Badger Davis
I think that's what I was trying to do with like the. Making the meal more obscure each time.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. I feel like. I feel like definition. That's shifty. But. But I'm not shifty in that, like, I'm going to go into a car that's not locked and steal my friend's purse.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
It's a loophole.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. Right. I look for those.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And it makes me really unbearable in like, work settings because, like, if we have like, like rules of engagement where it's like ownership accounts, like who owns what accounts, I really study those. And if there's a loophole, I'm like, that's a loophole.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Jackson Storm
So I.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Really great thing about current job is it goes based off zip code. The last one previous to that was based off of all these complicated rules and all I had to do was study them. And if someone slipped up, just not great. But that's my brain anyway, so I choose A.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And the reason why I think I could game the system with A is because the rest. Every time I eat a particular meal, the rest of the world loses access to this meal for 24 hours.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Think about like the richest people in the world and the shit they like to eat. I won't eat that. If you buy my meal, you buy it. How about whatever you're craving tonight? You're craving a steak and potatoes tonight? Sure. Why don't you buy me a chicken and broccoli and then I won't eat them tonight. Tomorrow you want a chicken broccoli.
Jackson Storm
Great.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Buy me steak and potatoes.
Zack Badger Davis
You're blackmailing the world.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I'm not blackmailing the world. I'm selling my. I'm selling my meals.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm saying, hey, if you don't want this to impact you and you have enough you money to just throw it around and not give a where it goes, why not give it to me?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I won't eat what you want to eat that day night.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And it's not taking advantage because these people have too much money that they don't know what to do with and could like literally put it anywhere else. And they will. They probably.
Zack Badger Davis
Would you go, would you? They probably canned sardines.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, because all I have to do is not eat what they're eating.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's not like I have to eat money.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, then you get into a bidding war. This is a way to make money.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Exactly.
Zack Badger Davis
Whoever. Whoever pays you the most.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Am I eating chicken or steak tonight? Well, chicken's in at X amount, Steaks in at Y amount. Cutoffs in 20 minutes.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Is chicken gonna barter back? Yeah, you know, like he's got a hot date with a girl at this restaurant and the chicken's really good. Does he want her to not be able to order it?
Zack Badger Davis
Yep. He drops 10 grand.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So that's what I'm like. I'm gonna gamify it and make it really fun for me because I now
Zack Badger Davis
this is a better money making scheme than the going to the bathroom and gas stations.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. Because I don't feel bad exploiting billionaire. And I also don't think I'm exploiting them. Like if. Have you ever seen the about Taylor Swift where it's like if she dropped X, like if she dropped a check for a thousand dollars, it would cost her more money to pick it up than it would to just leave it. Or if she. If, like if she dropped a thousand dollar bill, if one exists.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It would cost her more money to pick it up to stop her day and pick it up based on what? Like if you break down her earnings per second than it would for her to keep walking and for People like that, I don't think, I don't think it's the same way. I think it's like me spending five bucks at McDonald's is the way that they would view it. You know, it's like that. It doesn't, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to them. So if I could say, hey, conglomerate of billionaires, what do you want to eat for dinner tonight? Great. Who doesn't want to get fucked over? Great. I'm going to eat one of these meals. Which one should it not be? That would be fun. Yeah, I would say for me, I don't really care for them. They have enough fun at my expense. Yeah, yeah, it'd be fun for me for once.
Zack Badger Davis
You could probably retire in like three months doing that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. But it's just like. So that's why I choose A. Because I think, I think the wording of it says that there will always be a way for me to take it and be like, I'm not choosing what to eat because then I'm the bad guy. I will let you guys choose and I will just like, I'll take out emotion and I'll just give it to the highest bidder.
Zack Badger Davis
What if in the hypothetical you're not allowed to communicate with the outside, outside world about your intentions for food?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That would be a incredibly different life.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, definitely.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, we can't coordinate brunch plans or plan a date.
Zack Badger Davis
What I'm saying is you can't coordinate with these so called billionaires about like the meals that you're between. Like you just had to decide what you're going to eat.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If I can't talk to anyone and I don't hear any feedback, I'm just going to eat what I would normally eat and go about my daily life because I would never hear any feedback from.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, let's say that you just can't profit off of it. We'll say that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Just like the man trying to get me down again. Why not?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I'm seeing if it changes your answer.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, no, I. Here's the thing. I don't microwave or air fry often, but I, I do like leftovers. I could put them in the oven.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, that's definitely the.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I would. If I couldn't profit off of people, I would probably choose B. And I don't mean profit off of people as in like the average everyday person. Like, I'm not trying to exploit people. I am talking about the Jeff Bezos of the world. I would take all his money if I could. Yeah, Right. Like, I don't know, like, how is this gonna get twisted against me? You know? That's what I'm trying to think of right now. I don't think it can.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Would you not take.
Zack Badger Davis
I don't know if I would take all of anyone's money.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No. Okay. That was figurative. If. If you could overcharge Jeff Bezos for something, but, you know, comparatively to his net worth, it's the difference between a dime and a quarter.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I mean, of course.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Right. That's what I'm saying.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This, like, I'm talking about what would be the equivalent of a dime or a quarter for someone? They won't pick that up from under the couch. I'm not doing any major damage. I'm just choosing my selections based off of something that means nothing to someone but could be life changing for me.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Food ransom.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Why not? It makes it fun. It makes it exciting.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, good.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So that's mine.
Zack Badger Davis
We aligned in different ways, but we aligned. Okay. This one is mine. This is the triple crown of ways you'd behave differently if there were no ramifications. I'll start. Because the one that inspired this is. I just. I love the feeling of being in the sun, which is so not good for me. As I've learned, unfortunately. If there were no ramifications, I would love to just go outside and spend all day in the sun without a sun hoodie, without sunscreen, I would just fucking soak up vitamin D and be tan and be awesome. So that'd be my top one. Is just exist in the sun without worrying about it or having to protect myself from it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yep. The inner fat child in me again. Remember the listener? We do this for the listener. Yeah, the listener that's listened for a while. They remember. We did ugly winter. I cut all my hair off. I stopped embracing cute things. I had ugly winter. It was my time to be my caterpillar self. And I would come in the cocoon and I have cute girl summer wearing cute girl summer. You saw me Lizzie McGuire shoes. They're cute.
Zack Badger Davis
What season are you going into in North Carolina?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Cute girl summer.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Told you. That comes after ugly winter.
Zack Badger Davis
I wasn't sure if it was actually season based or if it was, like, life circumstance based.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, it is season. It's season based because she's seasonally depressed and so not in a way of, like, she's not normally afflicted with depression. We are. And not in a way where she's cutely talking about it. Medically diagnosed, not cutely Talking about it not stretching a scenario, but it does afflict more in the. In the winter times.
Zack Badger Davis
Do you suspect that will decrease in North Carolina with warmer winters?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's the reason we chose.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The area. Like, we.
Jackson Storm
If.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If it wasn't for the cold, I would be moving to New York.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Actually, no. That's a lie. I'd be moving to Vermont or New Hampshire.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Those are the two places I tried to push with Garrett. Yeah. And he didn't say no to out of winter, but he didn't say no to Vermont or New Hampshire because he doesn't. He's not open to it. He was like, you will hate it.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I was like, no, I'll love it. He's like, well, you'll love it for three months. And he is right. So I do think it will improve.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm looking forward to it. I'm also comparatively to like 6 months ago, more regulated. She's on an accurate dosage that she's taking regularly. She doesn't usually do that. You know, like, we're good. Thank you.
Zack Badger Davis
That's awesome.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Thank you.
Jackson Storm
Oh, my God.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Thanks. So, yeah. Ways I would behave differently if there were no ramifications. I just had the first one, and it was a really good one in my head. Oh, my God.
Jackson Storm
Yes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The fat kid. I would eat everything.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Thank you for remembering that. I would eat everything.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I would eat everything. I would eat until I was too full to eat, and I would keep eating. Yeah. Because I have some sort of oral fixation where even if I'm not hungry, I want to be chewing something. And that is how you get, like, overweight.
Zack Badger Davis
Sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And for anyone who's like, don't forget, you don't know I have the. Do you want to see my fat photo?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, my God. I'll show it to you because it's our last day.
Zack Badger Davis
How old?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This is from 2013. I save it in an album on my phone that's easily accessible. So I can always remind myself, hold
Zack Badger Davis
it up for the camera.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I mean that it's. The sentence itself is like, she's got some problems. She's always. She always has. This one's a really good one, though, because people doubt it. Like, okay, my bachelorette last year, I was looking at photos because I was packing. I looked so good. Tan, thin. Could see my ribs. Loved it. Yeah. It was a spray tail. Who cares?
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It looked great. I was smiling. In a photo, you can see, like, three ribs. Yeah. It was a good thing. But no, for me it is for me. It was delightful. I loved it. Call me unhealthy. I'm just telling you what's. I'm telling you what my heart speaks. I'm not saying it's healthy or right or not triggering. I'm just telling you what my internal monologue values.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And that's it. And that's only it.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But I've got to find you this photo. Here we go.
Zack Badger Davis
Does it matter to you that I think most guys would prefer not?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No care. It's not for men.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If I did it. If I did it. No, it's for me.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's.
Jackson Storm
I.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's how I feel good when I wake up and look in the mirror. And it's also like when you walk. Like, have you ever put on a 40 pound pack and walked? And then you're like, wow, each step feels heavier quite a bit. Okay, well, if you gain 40 pounds, guess what? Those are your elephant steps, you know? So when I. When I'm walking and it feels more difficult, I'm like, oh. Anyway, I could go about all day with this, but here's my fat photo. So whenever someone doesn't believe me, I show them this. And then they say, oh. And I will tell you that a good friend's twin sister at the time referred to me to her, which for some fucked up reason, she told me as a roly poly bug. So when I see this photo, I think of a roly poly bug.
Zack Badger Davis
It's a little bit bigger than I was expecting. But that's not like it's bigger than you were expecting. It was bigger than I was expecting.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I prepped you. Yeah, I prepped you for big.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, it was 13.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. So that's where. When I'm. When I'm not fitting in my pants.
Zack Badger Davis
Camera. Someone's gonna pause it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's fine when I'm. But when I'm not fitting in my pants and I'm like, this is tight. This shirt's tighter than it usually is. That's in my brain.
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, that's what I look like.
Zack Badger Davis
I mean, I was bigger than that by a lot at one point.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, but that was when you were like five.
Zack Badger Davis
No, you said it was like middle school. That was like early high school, late middle school.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This was my adult life. My arm. My arm is around a guy that I was seeing that, like, wouldn't lock it in because I think he was ashamed, which I don't blame him for. But you zoom out and it looks worse.
Zack Badger Davis
I could tell by your Posture. You're not like, the happiest with the
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
physical setup, but she takes heavy steps.
Zack Badger Davis
I don't know how to react right now without getting in trouble.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know how he got to. Oh, because the Blaze, I behave differently. I never everything. Yeah, I've got an inner fat kid. I have an oral fixation. I want to chew on things.
Zack Badger Davis
And do you have a specific vice,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Blow pops, or what? They've been good for me lately. I've got the sweet tooth, too. And I've got these, like, thoughts in my head that don't turn off, where it's just constantly just thinking about what could I eat or what could I be eating? Constantly never ends. You finish putting something around and do what could I eat next? Yeah, like, can you stop? Silence doesn't happen. Blow pops.
Zack Badger Davis
Definitely not for you. But what you're describing, that would be good for. I think that's what I've heard is the benefit of the GLP ones. Is it, like, turns the brain portion off.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I have heard that. But, like, every time we sit here, you always talk about it and you're like, I would never go near that. Which makes it sound really scary because you're supplement guy.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, if I was, I would say 40 pounds heavier. I would have no problem. The issue I take with is, like, if someone like you right now went on a GLP1, I don't think that's good.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I think you just recommended it.
Zack Badger Davis
No, no, no.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You said something I think would be good for you.
Zack Badger Davis
No, no, no. What I said specifically is not for you, but for the, the circumstance of the. The food thoughts is.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, I thought you were saying for me.
Zack Badger Davis
No, no, no, no, no, no. Specifically, I'm telling you, Juliana.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Chauncey, why not?
Zack Badger Davis
There's, it's. The. The analogy is picking up pennies off of a train track, like, the risk reward scenario of, like, getting hit by the train is not worth picking up the penny. But if you can pick it up, like a million dollar bill, you do that because you're not, like overweight. The risk of taking one of these drugs where we don't know the long term effects for people that are not diabetic, and there's already some speculation of the ways that it is negatively affecting people. If you're just doing it for an aesthetic improvement, that I don't think that's worth it if you're doing it, like, because you're obese. There's so many known health issues related to being obese that the risk of taking the Drug is. I, in my opinion, I'm not a medical doctor by any stretch. I think is far less. Yes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I've also heard it's like wildly expensive.
Zack Badger Davis
I think pretty soon it's going to be a commodity because it is so popular. But I think at large for society, GLP1s and similar compounds are a good thing. The thing I take specific issue with is, like, when people are just trying to like lose 5 or 10 pounds to look good in a beach situation. I don't think. I think you're putting yourself at risk that you don't fully comprehend.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay. Well, that was my first one, which is. I would eat everything and I'd be happy about it too. And then my next one,
Jackson Storm
I just
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
had it in my head too, and then I forgot it. Hold on. The memory thing's not going well lately.
Jackson Storm
Shit.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Hold on.
Zack Badger Davis
Don't mean to go.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, because that's cheating. I had. No, I had it in my head.
Zack Badger Davis
I had in my head trying to buy your time.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't want to be bought time. I want to remember my thought.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's why I write shit down. Oh, I would dress like Adam Sandler every day. That was it. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
I feel like you had a moment in the podcast or often you do.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I think those are when I'm heavier.
Zack Badger Davis
No, I mean, like.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, it is you.
Jackson Storm
You.
Zack Badger Davis
I. I think it's an admirable quality. You look very comfy. I think that's cool.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Today I wore the Lizzie shoes cuz I wanted to look cute.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Cuz I thought it's the last day. She should put in some effort.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. No, I dig your. I dig the comfy vibe.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Thank you.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So it shows that I dress like Adam Sandler is what you're saying.
Zack Badger Davis
I. It's just I've. I've seen you notice, like at the live podcast, you dress very differently than when you're in the studio.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
People are looking at me. Yeah. That camera is not real in my brain. There's no windows in here. No one's looking at.
Zack Badger Davis
I totally agree. I totally agree.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, that's the weird. Like there's such a weird thing about when you post on Instagram because then people like tune in, like, give their takes on. And I'm like, you weren't. That wasn't a conversation with you. That was just like, you know, friends behind closed doors.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. So, I mean, I live in the comfy vibe. Like, this is dressed up for me,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
but guys get away with it so much easier.
Zack Badger Davis
Fair.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like a guy's T shirt is naturally loose, you know, so you could bloat and you don't notice if I bloat. I'm like, I look pregnant. And I'm at a phase in my life where people think I'm going to be pregnant soon. And then I have to be like, I need people to visibly see me, drink a beer so they know I'm not. You've probably never had to think that.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I don't think I've ever had to worry about something insane. Yeah. But I mean, I've had people look at me and know that I was fat. So I know that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
That feeling.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm not crazy. When I was in sixth grade, this new girl transferred to school. We were in tech class. I told you this Spanish girls didn't speak any English. Yeah, not saying Spanish girl for any other reason apart from differentiating that she did not speak any English. Comes up to me in tech class. She was sat at our. It was like a wood block table. There's four people to a table. She's sat at my table, looks at me, points at my stomach, makes a cradling motion. And then like a. And I'm like, no, I just like snacks. And I will never forget this moment.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. I learned that you were especially sensitive to that because in the New Hampshire episode, I made the pitch that. Because she was like eight and a half months pregnant. Eight and a half months pregnant. And I made the pitch that we show up to the interview with like, pillows stuffed in our shirts.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, that wasn't cause of that. That's cause like, people that have trouble conceiving that you shouldn't make like an April Fool's joke about. They were. Maybe we talked about, like an April Fool's joke around it, but I think it's very.
Zack Badger Davis
No, specifically for that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
It was for that interview.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What I've gathered from the Internet, as someone who has not been trying to conceive long enough to know any sort of struggles, is that, like, women that struggle with fertility and struggle to get pregnant, like, it's already hard enough to see that around them that, like, when someone fakes it, it's almost like extra offensive. So that's why I've understood that you shouldn't fake pregnancy stuff.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I. I pitched the idea to my wife and her friends and they were not offended by it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, really?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Maybe I'm just like, extra cautious.
Zack Badger Davis
And maybe in the grand scheme you were right. It was not even that funny of an idea. It's just like, that was what came to mind there.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. Yeah. I think that is. I think the reasoning there is slightly different, but nonetheless, I would dress like Adam Sandler every day. Like, for work. I work from home. My desk is in a room next to my bedroom. I wake up. I want. When I go to bed, I take off my shirt and my shorts, and I put them down next to the bed. And then I get in bed. When I wake up, I want to put those same ones back on and walk back over to their desk because I really have no reason to change them, but I can't, because if people see I wear the same thing every day, that doesn't look good.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But if I could do it without repercussion, I'd be wearing the same shirt.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'd have a. I'd have an outfit of the week. Forgot the outfit of the day. This is my outfit of the week.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. I feel like my personal mental health has improved, having to come to this office five days out of the week. I can't work from home because I've got kids, and it's fucking chaos because it forces me to brush my teeth, get dressed sometimes shower. I. Not actually. I feel better Some. Some of that is just, I think, because I have ADD and I need, like, the change of scenery of not being in my house all day, every day. But. Yeah, I don't know.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know either. It's your turn.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay. I have a few good ones. I would go. This one, I think, is brought out by when I get in a through hiker brain, I get the desire to just pee publicly all the time.
Jackson Storm
Ooh.
Zack Badger Davis
It's. For me, it feels like it's bullshit, especially when I'm outside, that I have to, like, go scramble to find a bathroom, to, like, go in, like, an incandescent place and pee somewhere where there's a toilet seat, like, lined with other people's piss. I could just pee in a bush, get this over with, and, like, no one's harmed by it. I understand not exposing yourself to people. I understand not, like, turning places into a bathroom. Like, a certain area shouldn't have to smell like piss or shit. And when I say go to the bathroom publicly, I want to emphasize pee. Specifically, though. I guess if you're outside somewhere, you could dig a hole and shit. But yeah, if. If it wasn't illegal, I would pee outside discreetly all the time.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Absolutely. 100 concur.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
They have nothing else to say, but absolutely. And I. And I do a lot. I do a lot like, Garrett, when we Got engaged. Driving up to Mount Falcon, I had to pee. He was like, can you hold it? And I was like, no, because I was wearing the dress that I said I wanted to wear when I got engaged. I knew I was going to get engaged, and I didn't want to be bloated. I was like, I gotta let this out of my belly. Made him pull over so I could pee. And so whenever we go up there, he points and he's like, that's where you stopped to pee when we got engaged. I. And also, I feel. I feel very strongly that I would rather pee in open air than a porta Potty.
Jackson Storm
Totally.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And so if there's a line of porta Potties and let alone a line for the porta Potties.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I am scanning the horizon, looking for a bush.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Yeah. Being at, like, a concert, waiting behind people to go pee in a porta potty is kind of a depressing thing.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. I do everything I can to avoid it.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And, like, I don't care who sees.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Okay. I do have a couple of honorable mentions, but I'm gonna end with.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You have one more. I've only done two.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna end with. This is brought on by something that happened in the last week. I think my body is getting less capable of tolerating it, but I would just eat the spiciest food all the time. And.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, yeah, we got acidic foods. I'd eat it all the time.
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's a good one.
Zack Badger Davis
I got Thai food recently, and they give you the one to five scale. I got two. I'm very much good on that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's just a tiny bee.
Zack Badger Davis
That one's for you.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, fine.
Zack Badger Davis
I do have a early start tomorrow. The next morning, I not only took the longest shit, I took a painful shit. And the stinkiest shit. It was the triple crown of shits to the point where I shit in the bedroom bathroom. And then between the bedroom bathroom is the bedroom. And then you go out into the hallway, like, over toward the stairs. Jenna had to spray down the area by the stairs. It was so stinky.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
God bless her.
Zack Badger Davis
And we were almost late.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What did you order?
Zack Badger Davis
It was. It was something I'd never ordered from Thai before. I actually don't even remember what it was.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like a curry, a noodle dish. I can look it up like a meat and rice dish. Remember the general?
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It was.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Do you have noodles or rice?
Zack Badger Davis
It was rice. No, it was noodles. I can give you this specific.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I learned working in a Thai restaurant
Caleb Meatball Adcock
that you Never serve noodles with rice pad Ka pro.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, that's spicy Thai noodles.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Ka prao is a spicy ass sauce.
Zack Badger Davis
I'd never had it before. I wanted to expand my horizons and it was a mistake.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I don't know if kapra is the name of the sauce, but the, the meal is a spicy ass meal.
Zack Badger Davis
It was spicy.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's really good.
Zack Badger Davis
It was spicy. It was delicious.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
And I would love to eat it again. I don't know if I can just because of what it did to the house.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Did you drink while you were eating it?
Zack Badger Davis
Like alcohol?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
No.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So you know Drunken noodles? Yeah, Another Thai dish. The reason. Do you know why they're called drunken noodles? Because like how milk, if you drink something spice or if you eat something spicy, milk will like dull it.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So will beer. And so they call drunken noodles. Drunken noodles because they're so spicy that you keep sipping your beer and by the time you finish the plate, you're drunk.
Zack Badger Davis
Interesting. Yeah, I. Drunken noodles is probably the dish that I get the most often.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I really like drunk noodles.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I was looking for something with a little bit less grease on it, but yeah, I would, I would go ham on some spicy food.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
My last one is I would hit cars with my car.
Zack Badger Davis
Just turn the world into your bumper cars.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, there's a, there's a movie called if I Had a Million. It's in black and white and it's one that my dad had on vhs. And basically this like rich dude was retired. Like he was going to die. He's like getting old and he wants to leave his wealth to people that are not his family or heirs because I guess he doesn't like them. So he takes a phone book and like an eyedropper with liquid in it. And he flips open the phone book and he drops the eyedropper and whoever it lands on, he goes and gives him a check for a million dollars. And so this movie follows what each person would do with a million dollars. But there's one guy who's like, is constantly just getting road rage and pissed off at other cars. And he gets this million dollars and he goes to the car place and he buys so many cars. And like the, the car people are following him in a line of cars down the road as he's driving because he's paid them to do that too. And every time someone cuts him off or does something on the road, he just smashes into them and totals both cars. And then he gets out of the car, he goes to the woman that the representative is driving behind him. He gets in that. They get out, they go in the one behind or whatever and he just keeps going and he just. The whole day he's just fucking smashing into cars. Yeah. The inner demon in me would love that. I know we talk about our inner child a lot. My inner demon would love. Yeah. To ram into people on the road that anchor me and again not cause harm.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't want either of us hurt. I don't want anyone getting. I'm not even talking like a pinched nerve. I don't want to any pain on anyone's part. I just want to fucking smash your car.
Zack Badger Davis
Just buzz the tower a little bit.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Really want to hit your car.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So that would be what I would do. I would. If. If there were no ramifications. I can't get arrested. If I couldn't get arrested for road rage, I would have already driven into someone's car.
Zack Badger Davis
Sure. Yeah. That. That's essentially one of my honorable mentions is I would, I would break every traffic law I sometimes do. I've already mentioned on air the. When the left red turn light comes on and there's no oncoming cars, sometimes I'm just like, what are we doing here? I can see a half mile down the road. I'm going. I would speed relentlessly in non like school areas or like.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It sounds like you'd be unsafe.
Zack Badger Davis
I would be unsafe, but I would be safe.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I would be safe except for to people who aren't safe. Then I'd be like Batman, you know, like, I'd be like. Like how Batman is to the bad guys or like the good guys don't fear him.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, yeah. I'm picturing like the autobahn in Germany, like where there is no speed limit. I would treat the world like that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Have you been there?
Zack Badger Davis
I haven't driven there, but I've been there. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
To the autobahn. Have you been on the autobahn? I don't know if I ever want to be.
Zack Badger Davis
From what I've heard it's actually like very organized and I've heard that too.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like very safe.
Jackson Storm
Yeah. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I think I'm afraid of other cars though.
Zack Badger Davis
It seems like you give people the power that are able to handle it. Mostly. I don't know. I mean, frankly most people are good law abiding citizens, but some people are, even with the speed limit, are going to drive 100 miles on the road regardless. Yeah, I just want to be one of them.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If I could spin out and not hit anything, that'd be good.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Good.
Zack Badger Davis
Any others?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Besides ramming into cars with my cars? If there were no ramifications, I'd probably commit some sort of fraud, but not, like, against the regular person. Again, this goes back. This goes back to the question of the day. I'm not trying to defraud the regular person, but if there were no ramifications, I'd probably try to fraud like, a big company.
Zack Badger Davis
Would you take $10,000 out of Taylor Swift's wallet?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
See, that's hard because that's a person with a face, with a name that has a brand that's recognizable, like, to them. But if we're talking, like, a corporation that is, like, run by, like, a C suite of employees that's rotating and, like, has no soul left in it.
Zack Badger Davis
You mentioned Jeff Bezos. That's a person.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, but. But he. But Taylor Swift is Taylor Swift.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, the brand is Taylor Swift. Jeff Bezos is Amazon. The brand is Amazon.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You know.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And like, yeah. Defraud the out of Amazon. He doesn't need more money.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So, yeah, if I. If I. If I could find a way to do that, sure.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That would be an honorable mention. Other things I would do without ramifications. I feel like we're viewing. If there were no ramifications, purely in, like, a societal will I get arrested way. I'd like to think about it in a different way. If there were no ramifications, absolute no chance of something going poorly, I'd probably do a ton of drugs.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Why not a flip side on the thought process. Because it's not with anyone else and I'm not getting in trouble by anyone else. But if I, like, couldn't myself up with a bad trip and there was no. I went into it knowing there's no way I could trip badly, overdose, do anything poorly. That's a pretty safe field to test some things out.
Zack Badger Davis
Sure, of course.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I. As someone who's constantly worried and nervous, I typically don't try many things out.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Travel to new dimensions. See.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
The fractal aliens and whatnot.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Hell yeah. My last one is. This was kind of prompted by the recent episode I'd free solo.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, no ramifications, as in, you know,
Zack Badger Davis
you're not going to fall, or if I fall, I'm. Don't hurt myself.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I will jump from the highest cliff.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Of course, I. I've never wanted a hike Half Dome again. I've been like, you know what? Once is good if. If the world works in what you're saying. Where I could leap from the top,
Zack Badger Davis
take a sled down that little slope
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
and I just shake it off. When I get down, I am seeing what it feels like to fly.
Zack Badger Davis
For sure.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm getting a running start.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. But I would specifically actually like the idea of climbing. I don't do it because of my fear of heights. If, if I knew that there was no consequence, my fear of heights, I think disappears.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, here's the thing. Here's where we get into murky waters. If there was no consequence, could I swim to the bottom of the ocean and find out what's down there? Because technically I wouldn't die.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
There's no limit.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So do I in a way become invincible?
Zack Badger Davis
I think that's the same.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I am now invincible.
Zack Badger Davis
We found, we're finding the mundane ways to take advance advantage of invincibility. That's like a real way.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So the triple crown is if you were invincible, what would you do? Basically I would swim to the bottom of the ocean and see what's there. What would you do?
Zack Badger Davis
Truly invincible.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Truly invincible.
Zack Badger Davis
I would try to go to outer space, get out of the spacecraft and just be in the middle of space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah. But I can walk to the ocean and swim down. How are you going to just propel up?
Zack Badger Davis
Well, I mean there's now private aircrafts that will go into space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But you have to have the money. Like the logic in life doesn't not exist. You have to charter one.
Zack Badger Davis
Toward the end of my life, I would take out a loan or start a GoFundMe. I'd like to just be in space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Surely they're more strict about loans for the elderly.
Zack Badger Davis
I mean I would come up with a real business plan.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Not that I don't think the elderly should get loans.
Zack Badger Davis
I just think I would defraud risk there much to what you're saying.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Defraud. Right. We would both fraud.
Zack Badger Davis
I would, I would fraud the bank into giving me a loan so I could go into space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I think a lot of people would, but like not in like a bad, in like a Robin Hood way. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Just get a guy to space again.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like my, the people where it's a quarter versus a dime.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
They don't notice. It's fine.
Zack Badger Davis
If everyone contributed one quarter, I would go to space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I would, I would put a quarter towards that.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If I knew you'd get to space.
Zack Badger Davis
We should make that a Patreon. Would you really go without ramifications? Yeah, of course.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What if it was a one way mission?
Zack Badger Davis
That's a ramification. I Wouldn't do that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay. So you have to come back.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm just floating in space for a little while and then, yeah, I just get back to Earth with that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
How long's a little while? I think, like, because you're missing the twins and. And Leo growing up.
Zack Badger Davis
A couple days.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Can you get to space in a couple days?
Jackson Storm
Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. They can get a satellite into space and I don't know how long it takes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm guessing you're not going to orbit a planet or do anything cool. You're just going to just go up and down.
Zack Badger Davis
I. I wouldn't. For the reason that you brought up, I wouldn't want to miss time with my family. I just want to experience space.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Does it make you regret having a family?
Zack Badger Davis
If we're doing true ramification free, I'd go further. Yeah. And then just time travel.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Cool.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I like how you didn't answer question.
Zack Badger Davis
Good. More. We could probably do more invincibility stuff.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, we can't, because it's my fucking last day in studio.
Zack Badger Davis
We have bpr. Bpm.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, my God, I'm going to cry.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, here's your chance to cry because I've got a solo one here.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's not either the ones I'm wearing on my legs for warmth, is it?
Zack Badger Davis
Actually, this one, I specifically, this one's a little bit out of order because this was one of the more popular recommendations. It's called Kettle Mountain is the name of the brand. This specific model is the no Fry sun hoodie.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
God damn it.
Zack Badger Davis
What's happening here? And feel this.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Wow, that's soft.
Zack Badger Davis
It's like women's lingerie. It's so light and soft. When I picked it up, I'm like, this is going to be my favorite sun hoodie that I've tested yet. I think I found my winner. This is the thing that I think is going to break all of their sun hoodies. And then within 30 minutes of testing it, my mind switched almost immediately.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Really?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Why is that?
Zack Badger Davis
I'm going to start with the pros. I think that this is probably the most breathable sun hoodie that I've tested. I took this out on, like a 76 degree day, doing a little bit
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
of running more than that bluish green one you had, because that one felt really.
Zack Badger Davis
This is. This one is out of control. So the weight on that one is 4.3 ounces.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It feels like the Patagonia Capeline. Capeline.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm guessing it's lighter than that. I don't know. I Haven't actually tested.
Jackson Storm
No, the.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The light version of it. Like, because I have it in the pants.
Jackson Storm
Yeah, this feels just like it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm not saying it's the same thing.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, it's possible that there is one comparable or even better, but of the ones that I've have been sent and have tested.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, I'm talking about pants. I'm talking about, like, sleep layer pants.
Zack Badger Davis
They do make a cap lean sun hoodie as well. I need to test that one. It's very light, very breathable. I like the button closure, like, aesthetically, the way that it operates. There's four buttons at the top here.
Jackson Storm
Yep.
Zack Badger Davis
And potentially the best feature, depending on who you are, is it's the most affordable one that I've tested yet. This one's 69 bucks.
Jackson Storm
Oh, that's not bad.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, there's. There's some that I've tested that are more than twice that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Do they sell them at rei?
Zack Badger Davis
I don't think so. I don't know. I think it's just through their website. I could be wrong about that. But, yeah, this one was recommended by a lot of people, so I was really eager to test it. And then, like I said, my mind changed almost immediately. In the mildest of breezes, the hood blew off my head, like, right away. Even.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
We can't have that.
Zack Badger Davis
Even a tiny guy. I mean, it's not a sun hoodie if the hood doesn't stay on.
Jackson Storm
Right.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That defeats the purpose totally literally in the word.
Zack Badger Davis
If I jogged for a second, immediately it fell off. Like, the entire time I'm doing this with the hood. Like, I probably had to put it back on over the course of eight miles, 70 times.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Have you tried putting your hat on over it? I know that's like a stupid reason,
Zack Badger Davis
and I've seen on their website reviews where people do that. But to me, that defeats the purpose of. Of the sun hoodies is because I want the airflow through the hood.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
People are reviewing it while saying that on their website, and they still haven't thought, like, maybe we should improve the design.
Zack Badger Davis
I just was looking at photos and some people, like, I didn't actually.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I thought they were saying, like, hey, we can only wear this with a hat.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, so I posted my experience on my Instagram stories, and the majority of people said the exact same thing.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, my God, I forgot to tell you.
Jackson Storm
I.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So how last yesterday. Time travel for the listener. Whenever that episode was on last week.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Was it last week?
Zack Badger Davis
Because, I mean, yesterday will be last week. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, then last week's episode. My mind just went completely blank.
Zack Badger Davis
Time travel.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No havos.
Zack Badger Davis
The whiskey's working.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's not the whiskey, it's I. I am. I have so many feelings inside my head that I just can't hold a thought.
Zack Badger Davis
It's all the epic dreaming.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No, it's not. It's really. It's immediately not. It's something that we're working on with a psychiatrist where it's like I can't, I cannot hold the thought. I don't remember. I don't remember what I was gonna say. Do you remember what I started with?
Zack Badger Davis
Time travel?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
No.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, it was yesterday's episode.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But that wasn't. We weren't talking about time travel.
Zack Badger Davis
No, that's what you said prior to. Of forgetting.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's gone. Yeah, it's in the ether. Okay. This happens so often. It makes me so mad. It'll come back the more you try to. No, the more you try to grab. It's like when you wake up and you try to remember your dream.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Back to dreams. They say tip fun fact. If you wake up and you want to be able to remember your dream, write it down. No, don't move. If you wake up and you're like, you wake up to an alarm and your first reaction is to jerk your arm and move the alarm and like turn it off or snooze it, that instant jerk is going to stop your brain from remembering the dream. Any instant fast movements. So if you wake up and you want to remember your dream, don't move. Stay really still, try to think it through, try to capture key points and then move. And I read that somewhere once in like middle school or high school. So whenever I have these like crazy dreams I do that and it's fucking legit. So it'll come back. No, it won't. I know myself well enough.
Zack Badger Davis
The other thing I don't like is I think the genre of sun hoodies should be a little bit on the baggier side. This, this is a large and it's a little bit tight on me. And most of the sun hoodies I test, I'm like usually between a medium and a large. The largest tend to be a little bit baggier on me. This one was tight and I didn't like, it was short on the sleeves, it was short on the torso. So someone like taller than 6ft I would imagine is probably going to do best in like an extra large, which
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
seems cuz you're 5, 10
Zack Badger Davis
or 6,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
but that's still like weird kind of weird that it's short on your sleeves and torso, isn't it?
Zack Badger Davis
The cut does not make sense to me at all.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Is that like standard throughout brands that you wear?
Zack Badger Davis
No, most of them are. Usually the good ones are baggy. Like, I like jolly gears. Jolly gears, maybe anything a tad big. But like most of them, a large is like sufficiently baggy. I mean, I think that's the way that they should be cut. The other thing I don't like is the thumb holes on this are really small. You probably use enough sun hoodies, but
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
do you like anything about it?
Zack Badger Davis
The material. Material is awesome. So if they could figure out the hood, if they could improve the cut, in my opinion, like, if you're really skinny, maybe this is the best one. Pretzel said that he uses this and he doesn't have the issue with the hood. So maybe different builds handle it differently. But like I said when I posted this on my Instagram stories, I had a handful of people respond. One guy said that, like, he used it once and he had to give it away. So overall, I feel like this has some of the best features of any sun hoodie that I've tested, but it's one that I would never use just because of the shortcomings. Are so large that I think it's. It's. You just can't consider it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So for CBS, C. Oh, CH's boobs.
Zack Badger Davis
Chance's boobs. I'm going.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Please don't abbreviate that before I leave.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm going. Four and a half.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So many of these. Four and a half. Four and a half.
Zack Badger Davis
Shout out for the YouTube. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Out of ten.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Maybe that's too high.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It sounds like you really don't like it.
Zack Badger Davis
I love the material. I. I wish that they would make like a different cut to this.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, I love certain materials too.
Zack Badger Davis
It. This is. If it's. I feel like it's close to being great, but it's bad. If that makes sense.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Do you like leather couches?
Zack Badger Davis
Love them.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Would you wear tight leather pants?
Zack Badger Davis
Never.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You like the material?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, but I. I like this material for a sun hoodie. Just the way that it's built is off.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So just not that sun hoody. They're not paying us. It doesn't matter.
Zack Badger Davis
No, they're not paying. If they could figure out a way to improve the cut for someone size like me. And again, I got this response from other people. It's good. I will also mention that the reviews on the website are positive. I know that can be games.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I Will also mention the linked sun hoodie review links to something that I don't have permission to see.
Zack Badger Davis
Oh, this is just a personal Google Doc.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, I can't see it. It keeps asking me to switch accounts. I'm like, it's not going to work for my work account.
Zack Badger Davis
It's just. Yeah, it's just the notes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, I thought it was going to go to the actual listing of it.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, you can just copy and paste that into Google.
Jackson Storm
Okay, cool.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I've never heard of them before. What kind of company are they?
Zack Badger Davis
I don't.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Kettle Mountain.
Zack Badger Davis
I think it's just. They just do apparel and some people love this and I really wanted to. And.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Well, how'd you find them? I've never heard of.
Zack Badger Davis
When I initially started the series, I put a call on Instagram for people to recommend their favorite and this pops up a handful of times, including Pretzel, who obviously knows this shit really well. So it can work for some people, but for me personally, kind of sucks.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And the website, it does look like they have the number of people on a trail doing it.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But they all seem to have hats under the hood. Have you tried wearing a hat under the hood?
Zack Badger Davis
I had. I always wear a hat.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I was. I tried everything. I tried the button configuration. I tried. And maybe the single because they have different options for it. Like there's like a single button version of it. Maybe that would do better. But the one that I tested, the four snap in a large. Not good.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Let me ask you this. This is the truth teller of all of it. This is, this is what I would do if I truly loved the material the way you say if I really love the material and I wanted it to work. And my main gripe was that the. And I know you have other ones like the. The sleeves being short, the waist being short, but if my main gripe was that the hood didn't stay on and I knew this prior to going on a long trail. The reason I say this is because I made hacks like this for the at. So I'm not saying it in like a. I do this. No, she wouldn't. I did like this for the at. For things I could think of. If that were my son hoodie and I wanted to wear it and that were my issue, I would get one of those like from a craft store, like a Michaels, the Velcro tape that you could put on things. And I'd put. Put a little piece on the inside of the center of the hood and a little piece on the front of my cap.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So that I could velcro it to it or like even the top of the cat. Like something on something unnoticeable.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
And I get that's an extra step and not like convenient. But do you like the material enough where you would do the hack like that?
Zack Badger Davis
If the fit were better, I would consider something like that for sure.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
It's.
Zack Badger Davis
The fit and the hood were problematic enough.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
I. It was so close to being awesome, but it's bad.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Did you put it in the dryer?
Zack Badger Davis
No, I actually didn't. But I wore. I know I wore it before I washed it.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
I had it new. But their instruction was to like tumble dry low. I'm like the materials thin enough that I'm not even going to risk it, so I just air dried it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But I get reprimanded from Garrett every time I wash something that shouldn't go through the dryer.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
He's like, you're. I mean, you're gonna ruin your clothes. Yeah, I am.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm bad with it. I'll put like my merino wool in high heat.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
If I leave something to dry out, like on the line by the washing machine, I'm gonna forget it exists and then I'm gonna find it. In three months, it's me, crusty and cobwebbed. Sure.
Zack Badger Davis
Especially out here with it being so windy.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, what else can we talk about? Because I'm not ready for this.
Zack Badger Davis
You have a patent pending.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I know. But before that, you have a gross or not gross. I'm like, not.
Zack Badger Davis
I can improv.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
She's not leaving willingly.
Zack Badger Davis
I can do a stupid thing of the week if you want.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, please do.
Zack Badger Davis
So I talked recently how I injured my hamstring. I badly re. Injured it to even worse extent. I had a friend in town. So we had an action packed weekend. And on Sunday we went from Clear Creek, we floated and did like some cold submersion straight to golf. And my muscle had tightened and contracted in the cold water. And then I went to like a golf swing. And like instantly it just hurt so bad again. I proceeded to play 18 holes of golf and now I'm in PT. I was diagnosed with a grade two sprain.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Diagnosed. That's serious.
Zack Badger Davis
The I had yesterday, I had a massive bruise on the back of my leg. This is how bad this brain is. That's not a good sign. When I first got there, she was worried that potentially the muscle had ripped off the bone, in which case that's like immediate surgery. So yeah. Now I'm on timeout. I can't do a number of things. I have to do a strict PT protocol. I'm upping my BPC dosage and adding another.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Never heard of BPC in my life.
Zack Badger Davis
It's one of them.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You say all these terms that are like vitamin terms.
Zack Badger Davis
People get pissed off about BPC because I mean, for good reason. It's untested peptide.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You don't usually take untested shit.
Zack Badger Davis
It I don't, but BPC is one to me. This is not medical advice.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Do not untested peptide. Pause, go back, I cut you off. Is an untested peptide.
Zack Badger Davis
This is what so BBC stands for Body Protection compound. Yes. And one is. This is one of the more popular peptides. So a lot of people are testing it and at least the short term effects like, like it seems to be very safe.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
What's a peptide supposed to do?
Zack Badger Davis
Peptides can do any number of things. They can increase your HGH. They can be a GLP1.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You're using abbreviations again.
Zack Badger Davis
Human growth hormone. GLP1 is a peptide. A peptide is just a chain of proteins, but it seems like it's a cutting edge type of intervention for any number of things where you can signaling hunger in your body.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Why do you take it specifically?
Zack Badger Davis
BPC is body protection compound, is supposed to be good at tissue repair. So like if you've got like a tendon injury, a ligament injury, a soft tissue injury, which is what I have, there's a lot of anecdote which is not data at all. A lot of anecdotes where people have really positive outcomes from this. And one of the reasons why I do take it is because this specific peptide is banned by wada, which is the drug testing agency for wada. Wada, World Anti Doping Association. I believe it is banned by them. Yeah. And you still take it for that reason.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Because it's banned.
Zack Badger Davis
Because it's banned. To me that signals that it is effective. Like that's a major leg up really for Olympic athletes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The WADA is for Olympic athletes only.
Zack Badger Davis
I don't know who else uses WADA as the standard. Maybe it's baseball.
Jackson Storm
Maybe.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But it's not like the, like the world at large.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, it depends on like which organizations pick it up.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm picturing you're saying the WHO said that this is no good and you're like perfect.
Zack Badger Davis
No, no, it's not that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That's what it sounds like.
Zack Badger Davis
This is a agency that oversees like it tries to make fair gaming. So like you Couldn't take testosterone or any number of compounds because it is an unfair advantage per Watta. And BPC is one of those compounds.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So this is like a sports thing?
Zack Badger Davis
Yes.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
WADA is like, it's like, it's like sports book or like game time or like espn. It's like specifically in the sports genre.
Zack Badger Davis
This is the AI overview on Google. WADA stands for the World Anti Doping Agency. It is an independent international organization responsible for promoting, coordinating and monitoring the fight against drugs and banned substances in sports.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
In sports.
Zack Badger Davis
Established in 99, WADA is funded by sporting movements such as International Olympic Committee and national governments. Its primary functions and responsibilities include Anti World Doping Code, the prohibited list, scientific research and testing, monitoring and compliance, yada yada, yada. So to me it seems like at least this agency recognizes that it's probably a leg up in most sports that if you get injured, this is going to be an unfair compound to help you recover from that injury.
Jackson Storm
Surgery.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm not encouraging anyone else to do this. I'm doing, I'm doing this as an experiment to myself and one where I'm desperate to get better fast.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Would WADA not also be like anti meth?
Zack Badger Davis
I doubt meth is on it.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Maybe it is. Actually.
Zack Badger Davis
Meth is probably a performance enhancing drug.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The Anti Doping association is gonna be like, meth's good though.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm like, for instance, I doubt that like cigarettes are on the anti doping list.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
How do we find this list and anti doping list? I feel like it should have them.
Zack Badger Davis
Like one of the controversial ones is that marijuana was on it for a long time. Even though it was like, it's legal in many areas and is by most people not considered a performance enhancing drug. That one's controversial because like it, it's for a lot of people, it's not necessarily negative and debatably if. Is it performance enhancing, probably not. I don't know.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I've got. I pulled it up. It's not necessarily necessarily anything that gives you an answer. It's just vague words. The things that are included on this list are non approved substances. Yeah, great. What are those? Anabolic agents, Steroids. I don't know. That means, I mean, I know what steroids means. I would never have connected that. Peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances mix. That sounds like what you just said.
Zack Badger Davis
Mimetics. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Beta 2 agonist tests, hormone and Mattel metabolic modulators, diuretics and masking agents, manipulation of blood and blood components, chemical and physical manipulation, gene and cell doping, stimulants, narcotics, cannaboids cannabinoids, glucoco. I feel like I'm on America's Next Top Model where they make them do those scientific shoots where they have to, like, explain the makeup ingredients. Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
I also.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Beta. No beta blockers, I would imagine. What if people get nervous?
Zack Badger Davis
I would imagine that removing the nerves is an unfair advantage.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Shut up. What if you have like a pre existing condition that you take beta blockers?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I mean, that's. I think that's a fair question.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like, can you get an exemption? Because I like, got like a psych exam form that says, like, hey, she should take these or am I just not allowed to be an Olympian?
Zack Badger Davis
This was a thing in baseball. I don't remember the outcome, but there were like a lot of athletes taking Adderall, which is a prescribed drug, but that's also a performance enhancing drug. I don't remember the outcome of that.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But if you're prescribed it, it shouldn't be performance enhancing because what it's meant to do is get you to the baseline of where other people start.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's only if you take it when it's not supposed to be prescribed that then you get the, like, jittery.
Zack Badger Davis
The issue with that is that, like, anyone could get prescribed anything. Just about if you find a doctor willing enough. Like, this is.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay. Yeah, if you find a doctor willing enough. And yes, it's at a certain level, you can pay anyone to do anything.
Zack Badger Davis
Exactly, exactly. Exactly.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
We've talked about that in our fraud segment.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. So the other, I think, positive clue for me is that I have a friend who's a PT and he has a lot of clients that have been using it for their recovery. And he said he's seen really positive results. But I'm. I want to be very clear to anyone listening, do not do this. This is a risk thing. And it's.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You just usually don't take the risk. So it's curious to hear, like, you're usually like this scientific study backed up this thing. And so I take these vitamins.
Zack Badger Davis
So I was taking it before I injured myself just because I was curious and it seemed safe. But I was just going to do like one course and see if I noticed anything. I. I didn't have an acute enough injury to get like a solid AB test. Now that I'm injured, I actually have a. A real reason to do it. And yeah, I'm using it in conjunction with my PT because I up my hamstring because I'm old and stupid.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Does it work?
Zack Badger Davis
I've the injury the re aggravation of the injury is fresh off the boat. This was Sunday. So like three. What did you do originally? That was when I was doing the race, when I was racing somebody.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay, cool.
Zack Badger Davis
Yep.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
So that's, that's Peptide talk of the week.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yep.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay, now we can go to patent pending.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, but can I really have to peek?
Zack Badger Davis
I could pee.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, let's pee.
Zack Badger Davis
Okay. Okay, we're back. Impromptu processing.
Jackson Storm
No, we're not processing. Don't pay attention to me. Yeah, no one needs to know unless they Watch us on YouTube.
Zack Badger Davis
We can edit this out if you want, but.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Oh, we don't need to edit it out.
Jackson Storm
Just ignore it because it's going to keep happening.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
Okay.
Jackson Storm
Just ignore it. We're just going to pretend it's not happening. We're not going to acknowledge it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, my patent pending is a car thing.
Jackson Storm
We were driving the other day and have you ever driven west towards the
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
mountains, like at the time of the
Jackson Storm
day where the sun starts to set and the sun is just like ripping in your eyes and it really hurts
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
and you're like, the world is cruel and unkind. And then you put down your visor
Jackson Storm
and it's right below where the visor ends and then you can't do anything and you're like, this is also very unsafe.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Why would we build the roads in this direction? My patent banding that I brought up the other day while in that predicament was why don't they have sunglasses mode on windshields?
Zack Badger Davis
Like transitional lenses, Right?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like how I can press the heated seat on my seat and the seat becomes hot. Why can't I press sunglasses mode on the windshield and then it tints it like a sunglass. And I get. You can't have tinted windshields because of like legality reasons in general for like normal times. I'm not saying tinted all the time. I'm not saying blackout tinted, but I'm saying like, like, like a light brown tint of like a turtle patterned pair of sunglasses where it's like, we're not talking about black tint, but like a light brown, semi transparent. Doesn't really obstruct much. You could still see through it completely, but like maybe saves your eyeballs. I feel like that would be safer than not. And I understand how a blacked out tinted windshield would be unsafe. So I'm not pro that. But I don't know. I feel like we are in the year of 2026. There should be a button on the car that does sunglasses mode.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I like that. Transitional Lenses for windshields. I think it's a really good idea
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
if the sun's the way you said.
Jackson Storm
That was so nice. Please don't treat me differently right now.
Zack Badger Davis
Well, we do have an impromptu segment.
Jackson Storm
Why?
Zack Badger Davis
Because I posted a photo of you saying that last time Traumas is in studio. As a Colorado resident, does anyone have any parting words?
Jackson Storm
What did they say?
Zack Badger Davis
This is from Andy Jones, 95, longtime podcast listener and fan. You both have been great to listen to together. She should definitely finish that beer, though.
Jackson Storm
It did finish it.
Zack Badger Davis
She finished it. Thanks, Andy. This is from Liz Kawaski, 354. Sorry for butchering your name. Love listening to y' all on my PCT through.
Jackson Storm
Did you call lies instead of Liz Lys? Oh, okay. Never mind. I thought it was lic. You said lies.
Zack Badger Davis
Riley Riffle just had a crying emoji.
Jackson Storm
Same.
Zack Badger Davis
Christine Whitmire says, see you in Asheville. You gonna make new east coast friends?
Jackson Storm
Several hours away, but yeah, sure.
Zack Badger Davis
Closer than it is to here. This is from Megan, My way down the trail. Thanks for the laughs. Trons. Truly feel like we're friends even though we don't know each other. And it makes me feel like a real creep saying that. I promise I'm normal. Anyway, thanks, and good luck with the move.
Jackson Storm
You gotta go to the Instagram where I talked about looking at Garrett's poop and just read me those comments, because those will help me right now.
Zack Badger Davis
Colton Plice says, we love you, Tron. All caps. Three hearts.
Jackson Storm
Why did you do this?
Zack Badger Davis
Andrew Downs. Welcome to Apex. It's the peak of good living.
Jackson Storm
It is. That's. That's the catchphrase. Yeah. It's like how New Hampshire is like, live free or die. That's Apex.
Zack Badger Davis
That's a good motto.
Jackson Storm
What? Live free or die?
Zack Badger Davis
No, no, no. The peak of good living.
Jackson Storm
You want to come? We could relocate.
Zack Badger Davis
Brandon Dyke says, just sadness. This one is from herealhikingwiking yoel bag.
Jackson Storm
If anyone can make me feel better, I'm fine. I just. We can't. We can't. If we acknowledge it, then it's not gonna be fine. Cause then there's gonna be the acknowledge. Like, you know when someone's like, are you crying? And then you're like, no. And then you just start crying because they said it. Yeah. We just have to not acknowledge it. We just pretend everything's fine for the next 10 minutes, and then we will never have it again.
Zack Badger Davis
Trevor Duan asks, where is she moving?
Jackson Storm
North Carolina. And I'm really excited. I am. I Just don't do well with change. And I get attached.
Zack Badger Davis
I think this is the way the last in studio, as usual, as a resident, had to go.
Jackson Storm
Well, why aren't you crying? Are you not gonna miss me?
Zack Badger Davis
I will say I don't cry. I can't think of the last time that I cried.
Jackson Storm
It's so annoying. Does Jenna get mad at you for that?
Zack Badger Davis
No. Maybe. I don't know. She's never said it, but I don't.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
You've cried around her.
Zack Badger Davis
When my grandmother died, she saw me cry.
Jackson Storm
That's it.
Zack Badger Davis
It's the only family member that I've lost since we've been together.
Jackson Storm
You only cry when family members die?
Zack Badger Davis
So far, the only time that she's seen me cry.
Jackson Storm
We've been together for, like, 10 years.
Zack Badger Davis
Thirteen.
Jackson Storm
That's the only time she.
Zack Badger Davis
I told you, I don't cry.
Jackson Storm
Yeah, you're such an asshole.
Zack Badger Davis
I have. The friend who visited recently walked me through, like, the most stressful week of his life, and he ended it with, if I knew how to cry, I would have cried. I think this is a guy thing.
Jackson Storm
Well, the crying sometimes. Nice, because then you let out whatever, whatever, insert science body things, and then apparently it's supposed to make you feel better. But I'm not a scientist, as I often say, so I don't know what the things are.
Zack Badger Davis
I do think crying is good. I'm not. Not crying because I don't want to cry.
Jackson Storm
It's fine. I'm fine. I just. We can't dwell in it. We just got to keep going. So there's a mailbag.
Zack Badger Davis
I did tear up a little bit. When. With the. In the Weezer interview where she was talking about her mom.
Jackson Storm
Yeah. I mean, that's impossible not to. Yeah.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Okay. Brace yourself.
Jackson Storm
This is long. And not even all of it. That's good. I need a long one.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Dear Zach and John's incest, Slash comment. Sauce slash sauce comment. Rachel comment. Jabba or whoever is hosting this podcast
Jackson Storm
now, since John said to be all, I don't like and support her husband, I'm still here, and I'm not supporting him. I just. Sometimes you have to accept growth. Look out, everybody. Yeah, but I'm not.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm not being dragged there. Like, you know, like, if I'm going because I'm supporting him, it's like he's dragging me there. I'm excited to go. I'm willing to go. He's been bringing this up for years, and I've always said no because I wasn't ready to because of this. And it's finally gotten to a point that I was like, he's so many years I've said no because of this. And he said okay.
Jackson Storm
And he stopped talking about it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
That at some point, like I should consider, you know, so it. I appreciate the way it's written.
Jackson Storm
I understand it.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But I'm.
Zack Badger Davis
You're being a good one.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I wouldn't go for just that. No, I wouldn't go for just that. I'm. I'm over Denver. I had to call the non emergency line on Friday night because outside of my house there was someone passed out and I. They wouldn't wake up. And they were very obviously not homeless and just really up and drunk. And so I tried to wake them up the way I wake up Garrett when he's snoring really loud, which is. I just like shook them aggressively. And Garrett was like, you were just pushing the person that was asleep. I was like, I wasn't pushing him. I was just trying to wake him up. So you like, you don't wake up from anything less than those like jolting shoves when you're in a deep sleep. Yeah, but it's like, I'm not going to have kids and push them in a stroller down a road where like last night someone was passed out and wouldn't wake up. You know, like when I lived in Cap Hill, like, people would shit on my doorstep and like leave needles on it. Like, I'm not going to. I'm not going to raise kids somewhere like that. So it's like, okay, if I'm in a place where I'm like ready to start having them. All I'm saying is it's not, I'm not moving for Garrett. You know, like, there's reasons that I want to as well. All the previous years that he's pitched it, it's just been less enticing because it's like, we're not even married. We're not going to start having kids, you know, but now that we're married, it's like, all right, realistically, we could start having kids and like in a few years, I'm going to be what people consider geriatrics. So. So it's not just for him, all that to say sorry for rambling there and cutting this off.
Jackson Storm
It's just.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't want that to be the impression cuz I'm not being dragged there.
Jackson Storm
I'm.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm excited.
Jackson Storm
I just.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It's. It's a gift to be leaving something
Jackson Storm
you like so much that it makes you that sad because then you had that thing.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
But that makes it hard. That doesn't mean I'm not excited for
Jackson Storm
it or I don't want to do it, or I'm dragging my feet and
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't want to go. If I if I was any of
Jackson Storm
those things, he wouldn't.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
We wouldn't go. He would never make me.
Jackson Storm
And I'm not a person that can ever be made. Please. Come on.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So that's paragraph one of this.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
There's a lot of them.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Look out everybody. A storm's coming.
Jackson Storm
Jackson Storm here.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Checking back in. At your request, I have completed my
Jackson Storm
month long lash of the AT from Amicalola to Hot Springs and I actually
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
go by simply Storm.
Jackson Storm
But there's also a hot springs in Virginia that always confuses me by simply
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Storm most of the time.
Jackson Storm
Now, since everyone seems to think Jackson
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Storm is my real name, watch Cars 3 everyone.
Jackson Storm
It's the best of the three movies
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
and you'll also find out who Jackson Storm is.
Jackson Storm
I haven't seen any of them all
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
the way through, but the big news
Jackson Storm
for this episode of the Jackson Storm
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Parentheses Troopers Meal Bag, I came away with not only a poop story, but a peace story too. However, this is another long entry, so feel free to save these stories for episode three. Since my primary reason for writing is to say farewell to our one and
Jackson Storm
only Juliana Chauncey, AKA Chauncey.
Zack Badger Davis
It's working.
Jackson Storm
What's working?
Zack Badger Davis
Trying to relay his appreciation.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The poop story Day 4 of 25 I ate dinner with about five or
Jackson Storm
six others at Bull Gap. After a day of already stuffing my face with food at Neil Gap, just as the sunset we all headed to sleep. As I was now by myself walking to my tent, I figured it was safe to let out some gas. Yeah, well, against all that I learned from prior BPR poop stories, I trusted a fart and I shouldn't have.
Zack Badger Davis
This would be the first time in the history of poop stories where someone has cried their way through a poop story.
Jackson Storm
Yes, I sharted in my pants, but the good news is I was prepared for this, anticipating such an occurrence, and was able to catch it all between my cheeks. Honestly, the toughest part was bending over to get my shit kit and a headlamp out of my tent. But I was successful and made my way into the woods for a good cat hole spot. Not only was this my first poop story, but it was also the first time in nearly 600 miles of at section hiking that I had to dig a cat hole. Somehow I've always been able to hold it in long enough to reach a privy, bathroom or the end of the hike. The streak was over, but luckily there were no streaks in my box or briefs. Good one, to quote Frank Reynolds in Always Sunny. So anyway, I started blasting. I found the perfect fallen tree with which to spread my cheeks and let the surprisingly solid turds plop into my superbly handcrafted cat hole. Boom. Job well done. I took a photo of the spot before plopping, but missed an awesome opportunity to record an Instagram reel of my first time. I guess I'll stick to blogging instead of vlogging. Wait, has this just become a shameless plug for you all to read my blog post at the trek?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yes, yes I guess it has. I will echo that just shamelessly.
Jackson Storm
Search Jackson's story. Why not?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Yeah, the PE story.
Jackson Storm
This is part two. Should drink some SP
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
the PE story day 24 of 25 for about a year now, I've been peeing at night
Jackson Storm
into sports drink bottles from the safety and comfort of my tent.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Like a weird move when you have
Jackson Storm
a penis, literally flop it out.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
This routine stems from a run in with two sets of glowing green eyes
Jackson Storm
stalking me from the tree line at
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
an AT shelter in Pennsylvania last summer at 3am in the morning. Standing there in such a vulnerable position with my goods out in the open, I decided it was no longer worth it and went the pee bottle route from that point on. So there I was in my tent with the one Only One Night left until reaching my final destination of Hot Springs, North Carolina.
Jackson Storm
Only one night left.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I had been perfect at cutting my
Jackson Storm
stream off before the bottle filled up. But just in case, I always get myself fully out of my sleeping bag and make sure if it does accidentally
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
overflow, nothing will get covered in pee. Well, all good things must come to an end. I was playing with fire and I got burned.
Jackson Storm
That night. Perhaps knowing it was my last tent night of the lash, I got lazy. I didn't get fully out of my sleeping bag. I didn't get incorrectly estimate how much pee I could let out before filling the bottle. I knew I was close, but like Kramer in the Seinfeld episode where they drive the car on empty for as long as they could.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I kept going and of course it
Jackson Storm
overflowed, but luck was somewhat on my side and only my lighter got hit with friendly fire. Sure, I'd have to pack up a P tainted liner into my pack, but at least I'd be able to wash it at the hospital hostel the very next day. There can be worse things like the guy who had it happen in a hammock with another person in it with him and then had to hear the other person tell the story on a podcast episode that eventually gets taken down because of how controversial the rest of the content is.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Too soon Rachel. Note the mailbag did not end there,
Jackson Storm
but the rest of the content has
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
been split and will be read at the live podcast. In exchange, I am including his Instagram message to me because it was kind
Jackson Storm
and he sleuthed my private account. Is this the all cabs Rachel? Which is I think she's private. You would have had to request her and get it I don't know. From Backpacker Radio, the awesome person who hyped my mailbag letter and 5 star review. Haha. If not then oops grinning face. But if so, I've been trying every time I drive while listening to Backpacker Radio to remember to say thanks for choosing mine. I'm currently sitting in my car in my work parking lot now late because I don't want to be forget once again to say thanks. Lol. I just sent a follow up mailbag letter earlier this week that will hopefully make it in before Chauncey's send off. You guys rock so much. From Jackson's Storm parentheses Trooper followed by a Rachel comment of a smattering of comments from Patreon Bailey, Bob Peoples Award winner Alex Kindle.
Zack Badger Davis
I think those are the ones that we read in the previous episode. We don't have a five star review. Well actually let's check the most recent.
Jackson Storm
Did we skip all that? The last episode?
Zack Badger Davis
No, we did the fight.
Jackson Storm
I thought we didn't do any of them. I thought we were like.
Zack Badger Davis
Do you remember it was cccc.
Jackson Storm
Oh yeah. What did we skip on that one? We skipped something.
Zack Badger Davis
Sun hoodie.
Jackson Storm
Oh is it sun hoodie.
Zack Badger Davis
So that mailbag that you just read was on.
Jackson Storm
Yeah, that was that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
We skipped the mailbag too.
Zack Badger Davis
No, we did a mailbag. We I. I swapped out the mailbags. You read the Patreon comments, right?
Jackson Storm
Great.
Zack Badger Davis
How fitting. Oh, we've got a couple of new ones, but we'll do this one. Yeah, okay, soon.
Jackson Storm
What for a five star review?
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah.
Jackson Storm
Okay, well you have to read it because that's your part.
Zack Badger Davis
I actually insist that you read it. No, you read it.
Jackson Storm
I read it. Missy Trust. Why.
Zack Badger Davis
Cut off the commenter? This is from Rome Burns.
Jackson Storm
This is an excellent and entertaining podcast with genuine thru hangers, not just people who go out for the weekend. This podcast has the best guests, too. Two things worth mentioning. First, co host Chance is leaving Denver and will no longer be a regular on the podcast. I miss her already. I especially enjoyed Chance's Women's Only podcast. How else could I learn to try to be less creepy or threatening on the trail? Second, I love I like that this podcast has real hikers, not just weekenders. I'm not casting Shade. I see you taking the photo. You can do it. I don't mind.
Zack Badger Davis
I'm gonna post it on Instagram.
Jackson Storm
You can. That's okay. So to be recorded in two different places, who do I care? Second, I like that this podcast has real hikers, not just weekenders. I'm not casting Shade at Weekenders. I love some of their podcasts too. It's just that some of the advice that comes from the different backgrounds wind up being sufficiently different to make a real difference generally in money, money, money. I also liked chatting with Jessica at at Trail Days last month. She's great. Jess is great. Thanks.
Zack Badger Davis
If you guys want to hear your review on this podcast, head on over to Apple. Podcasts leave us any number of stars.
Jackson Storm
It's not 1, 2, 3 or 4.
Zack Badger Davis
Huge shout out to today's title sponsor, Topo athletic. Use code TREK15TOPO for a 15% discount at topoathletic.com what do you want to say about Topo?
Jackson Storm
I really like them. I packed them last because I didn't want to have to pack them too soon and go case I wanted to use them. And they're the same ones I got when they started sponsoring. So if you've been listening to these ads for ages, I've not replaced my shoes yet. They've been good for everything and I will keep wearing them in North Carolina.
Zack Badger Davis
Nothing else to add there. Super big thank you to our Bob Peoples on award winners on Patreon. That is Alex and Misty with Navigators Crafting. Alex Kindle, aunt Andrew, Austin McDaniel, Bill Johnson, Brad and Blair from 13 Adventures Brett Mullins aka Kruzy Brian Allop Fables Carl Lobster Hood Christopher Marshburn, Clint Sitler coach for Mar Outdoors Eric Casper, the Philly Ghost Eric Hoffman, Ethan Harwell. Done Jillian Daniels, Greg Knight, Greg Martin Griffin Hay to bring me Beer Haley Buckingham Palace Jackson Storm Storm Jared not from Subway Jason Kaiser Jason Zach is a little donkey girl Snailer Luke Niches Maddie in Arizona Patrick C and Cialo Randy Sutherland, Rebecca Braveheart World Juror sawyer products the St. Louis Shaman Timothy Hahn and Tracy Trigger. That's a good one.
Jackson Storm
Thanks. It's the last one. No, I don't think that was good enough for.
Zack Badger Davis
And Tracy triggered one last one.
Jackson Storm
They're not coming out with it.
Zack Badger Davis
And Tracy Trigger. That was awesome.
Jackson Storm
Thanks.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The pot.
Jackson Storm
But the live podcast doesn't feel like
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
one because I'm driving there next weekend.
Jackson Storm
The movie truck shows up on Sunday,
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
and so I'm driving there, I'm leaving my car there, the handyman's changing the
Jackson Storm
locks, the painters are coming, all this shit's happening that I'm there and then flying back for the live show.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
So it doesn't feel like the live
Jackson Storm
show, the last one.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
The live show just feels like some like. Like something that I'm going to like. Like an event I'm going to. It's not like this is the last. I'm living in Denver 1, which means more because, like, I could come to the one in December and that that would elicit the same feeling as the one on the 26th where it's like, she's already gone.
Zack Badger Davis
I think it'll feel fun and special.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm not saying it won't be fun,
Jackson Storm
you know, like, I have no idea what's gonna happen. And, like, I know we have an amazing group of people working with us that are going to make it really fun and special.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
It just at that, mentally where I am, that feels like a post chance fun thing rather than like a routine chance coming to her job thing.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah, I hear you, but not the last one.
Jackson Storm
Yeah.
Zack Badger Davis
Thanks to our guy Paulie at Old Man Merv's Coffee roasters. Go to ommcr.com get yourself some delicious beans. You can follow us on social at Backpacker Radio, on Instagram and TikTok and on threads, facebook.com backpacker radio, follow trons.
Jackson Storm
You can follow me on YouTube @Juliana Chauncey, on Instagram at Juliana Underscore Chauncey. Although I. I don't post that much.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I'm kind of sick of the app I'm on TikTok. I don't know my handle. I post some stuff under Garrett Eats
Jackson Storm
because I think it's fun because I
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
just post things about Garrett and it's more fun.
Jackson Storm
You can get my book Hiking from Home Alexis. It's like Guide for family and friends on Amazon.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I don't know.
Zack Badger Davis
Yeah. Appalachian Trials, Pacific Cross Trials in my books. Whatever. Subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us on YouTube.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Hi, Internet.
Zack Badger Davis
And that is it for today's show. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much to Juliana. Chauncey, don't do that. For.
Jackson Storm
Stop being the co captain. Just say it normally.
Zack Badger Davis
For. What was the number of years?
Jackson Storm
Just say it normally.
Zack Badger Davis
Eight years.
Jackson Storm
Nine.
Zack Badger Davis
Nine years.
Jackson Storm
18 to 6. 18 to 26. And you have to count 18 because we were there, too. I think that makes nine.
Zack Badger Davis
Some number between eight and nine years literally.
Jackson Storm
Argue with me right now. I don't know.
Zack Badger Davis
That'd be the most fitting way.
Jackson Storm
I can't just say it. You have to say the normal thing and then I say it. Okay.
Zack Badger Davis
Thank you so much for listening and happy hyping.
Jackson Storm
Bye.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
This is the thing.
Zack Badger Davis
I. I can't.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I can't cry on command.
Zack Badger Davis
Jesus, Christy.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I mean, how are you planning on becoming an actress at all? You can't make people laugh because you're not funny. You can't cry on.
Zack Badger Davis
Commit.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
What can you do?
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I. I can try harder, but I. It's just that.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
The good news is I anticipated this, so I brought.
Jackson Storm
What's that?
Zack Badger Davis
A bit of chili powder.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
And I'll blow this directly into your eyes.
Zack Badger Davis
And trust me, you'll cry.
Jackson Storm
Okay.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
Wait, is that safe, though? Is this.
Jackson Storm
Well, it's.
Caleb Meatball Adcock
You know, it's safe enough. Let's give it a try.
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
I've been out walking slow Many miles
Caleb Meatball Adcock
I've yet to go Never been one
Zack Badger Davis
that's had to choose but every time I do I find I lose I
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
guess I'm a loser Stomping ground A
Zack Badger Davis
welcome man for the loving crowd I
Juliana Chauncey (Chance)
wish that you knew.
Date: July 6, 2026
Hosts: Zach "Badger" Davis & Juliana "Chaunce" Chauncey
Guest: Caleb “Meatball” Adcock
This episode dives deep into the evolution of modern hiking photography, the mental and physical realities of a solo CDT (Continental Divide Trail) hike, and the unique career path of professional photographer and thru-hiker Caleb “Meatball” Adcock. Beyond trail talk, the hosts grapple with major life change, as this marks Chaunce’s last in-studio show as a Colorado resident, bringing both nostalgia and tears to the conversation.
[20:00–29:00]
[33:00–44:00]
[46:47–54:00]
Where to Follow Caleb:
Closing Thought:
“...There’s so many different ways to do it, and there’s not one right way...You’ve got to take it in stride, and for what it is. When your expectations are nothing, you can’t really be disappointed.” — Caleb, [120:24]
(Listen for: practical business and gear advice, authentic trail stories, major feels. Skip: ads, intros, outros.)