Rain was coming down in buckets. Under an overpass on US-101 outside Eureka, California, a man stood almost invisible in the roadside mist, holding a sign for “Antarctica”.
You can’t drive to Antarctica.
But this sign feels too genuine to be out of place, so I pull over, and ask where he’s going.
Chris, the man with the sign, has spent the last 20 years around the business of electronic dance music in California. As a DJ, he’s much more in tune with the art than the business; but still associated with enough of the other aspects to consider himself a former professional partier.
Today Chris was headed to Marin County, fresh off the boat of his most recent job as educational staff on a traditionally rigged sailing vessel (a tall ship). But this winter he hopes to (aain) reach Antarctica.
Chris felt a calling to visit the southernmost continent. And within in the last couple months, for two weeks, he did.
Now he seeks to protect Antarctica, as part of his multifaceted journey to become a better steward of this planet.
In order to get back to Antarctica, Chris seeks to raise a lofty $85k to be included as part an unassisted expedition walking to the South Pole this December.
His GoFundMe page is linked here.
And one of the sunsets from his last Antarctica trip is shown below:
So I gave Chris a 4+ hour ride to Marin County, which really was conveniently on the way. He even kicked me more than his fair share of gas money.
All told Chris beats the last the last hitchhiker I picked up, about 8 years ago. But that’s a story for another day.
I might just see Chris again for a brief stint on the PCT. And I will surely dive into some of what we talked about in future posts.
