PIZZLY BEAR

My nephew, Lucas Baur. A big thanks to Pizzly Bear. The Kiwi (Kiwis are built fuck’n tough). Lucas was the other half of the Baur Films crew and indispensable overall. He is a 4 x 4 expedition driver and I loved that he got to drive some very challenging paths. His skills with camera and truck we could not have done without. And his disposition: a sense of purpose and fun.

As it turns out, he and I share a passion for 5:30 am starts. Unspoken was a very critical routine we needed to maintain if we were going to make our destination each day. From experience, I know that the daily routine is where a team can breakdown or come together, and the maintenance and respect for the tour emanates from and returns to knocking it out each day. Late starts lead to late nights, or coming up short in trying to reach a destination, and both of these quickly undermine a sense of purpose. I tried to balance admonition with fatigue.

Tim and Lucas were “Up and at 'em” each morning with me around 5:00, and quickly John and Tarryn. Each night I consulted with Lucas about start time, and by day three it was clear we had to reset things to be sure we did not slip into the routine of finishing at 11pm.

We got our first feel for strong winds the third day in Iceland. At the top of the hill Lucas shot video of the landscape in 60-mile-an-hour wind. Crazy. Drop back down to the valley and the wind was a mild 35mph.