800 Miles on the Hayduke trail from Arches National Park to Zion - A night of film, photography and trail advice with Alex Maier

Over a two month period in the spring of 2018, Alex Maier hiked the 800-mile Hayduke "Trail" route across the Colorado Plateau through southern Utah and Arizona. Starting in Arches National Park and ending in Zion National Park, the route snakes through canyon country and some of the most remote land in America. Most of the time there is no trail, and navigation through the canyons can be extremely difficult and dangerous, but it is also known as one of the most beautiful hikes in the world, and the experience inspired Alex to create a full-length documentary film about the hike.

Alex Maier is a thru-hiker and filmmaker. He has chosen to focus on some of America's lesser known long-distance trails because he likes the solitude and adventure of route-finding on less established trails. His latest film is about the Hayduke Trail, an 800-mile route across the Colorado Plateau in the canyon country of Utah and Arizona. Most of the time there is no trail and the terrain offers a lot of obstacles to figure out along the way. He said the phrase "figure it out" so many times that it became the title of the movie. Hiking the Hayduke was only half his goal though, the other half was to film the whole journey. That means carrying nearly a third of his base weight in camera gear, but he enjoys the filming as much as the hiking. The drive to capture a good story out on the trail helps motivate him to keep going, especially when he's out there alone. In this virtual event, Alex (trail name Money Shot) will show the shortened 50-minute version of Figure it Out and then discuss all the behind the scenes logistics of hiking and filming on a trail like the Hayduke.

Join Alex at this exclusive event sponsored by the Mountaineers Foothills Branch Backpacking Committee.

First we'll show his 50 minute documentary film from this extraordinary trip in which you'll see the amazing country that he traversed, and get a sense for the one-of-a-kind experiences, and challenges, of traveling this route on foot. Then Alex will spend 30-45 minutes talking about how to prepare for a trek on the Hayduke, and how he accomplished the very special photography and videography that he created during the journey. The session will end with plenty of time for Q&A and the opportunity to look at and ask questions about Alex's gear from the trip.

Sample Alex's trail documentaries and photography at https://fiveacesmedia.net/.

An advance ticket is required to participate. A free ticket option is available; we also encourage partcipants to purchase a $10 or $20 "ticket", the proceeds from which will go to help maintain adult and youth outdoor activities, education, conservation and stewardship programs at the non-profit Mountaineers during this difficult time.

Get your ticket!

Watch for an email the week before the event in which we will send all ticketed attendees a link to join the zoom event. The program will begin at 7:00PM and end at 8:30PM..