The Trail Less Traveled

Nathan Varley grew up in Yellowstone National Park in the tiny community of Mammoth Hot Springs. His parents have been biologists and park rangers that have lived and worked in the park for 3 decades. Following in the family footsteps, Nathan studied biology at Montana State University where he earned B. S. and M. S. degrees. The ecology of mountain goats in the Absaroka Mountains on Yellowstone's eastern edge was his research topic. Further adventure in wildlife studies took him among moose in Alaska, guanacos in Patagonia, and pine marten in Idaho.His trails have led home as often as afar, where Yellowstone's coyotes, bears, river otters and gray wolves became primary study subjects. As a contributor to the historic gray wolf restoration project he has often been in the field tracking wolves. His research at the University of Alberta focused on the relationship between wolves and elk after wolf reintroduction. With his wife, Linda Thurston, Nathan owns his own wildlife tou

Sam Archibald is a Lead Field Educator for Yellowstone Forever. After completing his B.A. in history, Sam served with the US Peace Corps, working with an Ecuadorian nonprofit organization to develop outdoor leadership and environmental education programs for youth. Sam has continued to focus on outdoor education, joining the National Park Service as a Crew Leader for the Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps and earning his Master’s in Environmental Management degree (Western Colorado University). Sam first joined Yellowstone Forever's team as a winter seasonal educator and became a permanent lead educator in 2022. Sam is grateful for every day he gets to spend out in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and looks forward to the continual discoveries offered by this wild and wonderful landscape.This episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xplorer Maps for their generous support of this podcast and international outreach programs paired with

Brad Dimock is an author, boat builder, geologist and Grand Canyon river guide. He has been guiding in the Grand Canyon since the early 70s and has starred in historic films about the Grand Canyon. Brad has studied boat building methods from around the world and continues to build and row wooden boats out of this museum/boat shop in Flagstaff, Arizona. Check out his amazing website: https://fretwaterboatworks.comCheck out this award winning short film about Brad and his boat shop:https://vimeo.com/465399482?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=3637895This episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xplorer Maps for their generous support of this podcast and international outreach programs paired with conservation projects. Learn more at XplorerMaps.com and be sure to follow the adventures of their story maps on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.Xplorer Maps is a small family business based in Mi

This interview features Mthunzi Nokubeka, Juan Burgers & Reuben Mbonambi. Mthunzi is a Xhosa opera singer and school teacher. Juan is a professional opera singer, pianist, and singing instructor. Reuben is a Zulu opera singer who just won third in the world at the Belvedere Singing Competition.This episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xplorer Maps for their generous support of this podcast and international outreach programs paired with conservation projects. Learn more at XplorerMaps.com and be sure to follow the adventures of their story maps on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.Xplorer Maps is a small family business based in Missoula, Montana with deep roots in Africa. Xplorer Maps has over 60+ hand drawn story maps of destinations from all over the world, including our national parks. Xplorer Maps and The Trail Less Traveled both share the vision of connecting people and place through storytel

Rolf Shenton grew up living in the bush and farming in Zambia. He is passionate about regenerative farming and preserving biodiversity. Rolf is the founder of Grassroots Trust Limited, a non-profit focused on helping communities shape a viable future. They use and promote holistic management framework to guide decision making and hope to contribute to a regenerating environment and resilient income streams in Zambia. They are able to do this by focusing on building community-based resource management structures, low input agriculture, wildlife management, and holistic planned grazing. We would like to extend a big shout out to Cactus Agony, a local Zambian musician and friend of Rolf, for the use of his song "Bush Territory". Watch the music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCQ9LlWvq2EThis episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xplorer Maps for their generous support of this podcast and international outre

Join us at the Rabbit Stick traditional skills gathering for an interview with Ray Young and Tom Lucyens. Two retired survival instructors for the U.S. Air Force. Specially, Ray and Tom teach Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE).  SERE is a training program that prepares U.S. military personnel, U.S. Department of Defense civilians, and private military contractors to survive and "return with honor" in survival scenarios. The curriculum includes survival skills, evading capture, application of the military code of conduct, and techniques for escape from captivity. Formally established by the U.S. Air Force at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, it was extended to the Navy and United States Marine Corps and consolidated within the Air Force during the Korean War with greater focus on "resistance training".This episode was recorded on location in collabo

Bridget Mulindi Meyer was born and raised in NSongwe village, exactly one kilometer from rapid number ten on the Zambezi River. Bridget is an environmentalist and humanist with an exceptional singing voice and a heart of gold. Bridget is dedicated to helping others and has extensive knowledge of the balance required in order to maintain a healthy ecosystem for communities and wildlife in Zambia. Show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, streaming live online at Trail1033.com & locally (Missoula) on the Trail 103.3 FMPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trail-less-traveled/id1180249343Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to check out our visual series on YouTube!!!We are both a podcast/radio series AND an international outreach program. If you feel like supporting this work, we really appreciate it. By donating as little as $3/month, you are helping us complete work in the fields of wildlife conservation and cultural preservation. Donate he

Bob Meyer, "Big Water Bob" grew up in the U.S. and came to the Zambezi River in the early 1980s to guide whitewater and train locals. His connection with the Zambezi River can be described as love at first sight. Bob is married to Bridget Meyer, whom he met on the Zambezi River. They both live in the village where Bridget was born and raised exactly one kilometer from rapid number ten on the Zambezi River. Show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, streaming live online at Trail1033.com & locally (Missoula) on the Trail 103.3 FMPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trail-less-traveled/id1180249343Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to check out our visual series on YouTube!!!We are both a podcast/radio series AND an international outreach program. If you feel like supporting this work, we really appreciate it. By donating as little as $3/month, you are helping us complete work in the fields of wildlife conservation and cultural preserva

Recorded on the edge of the Lower Zambezi River at Chiawa Camp. This interview features a conversation with Juliet Zulu, a consummate hospitality professional who has worked in the industry for 26+ years, including at some of Zambia’s top safari camps. Voted Miss Tourism 1992, Juliet still proudly waves the flag of Beautiful Zambia, having more recently been mentioned as a legend of the Victoria Falls in the British Airways inflight magazine High Life. She is passionate about responsible tourism practices and ethno-tourism, and makes a fine contribution to the high levels of hospitality.Show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, streaming live online at Trail1033.com & locally (Missoula) on the Trail 103.3 FMPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trail-less-traveled/id1180249343Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to check out our visual series on YouTube!!!If you feel like supporting this work, we really appreciate it. By donating as little as $3/

"When Fabio and I first met, I was on vacation and he was at work. I was en route to Kuna Yala, an autonomous indigenous zone on the Caribbean coast of Panama, on a solo trip. As it happened, he was captaining a charter boat there, which offered an affordable way to cruise Kuna Yala. We met in the dark at 5:30am in Panama City waiting for the bus out to the jump-off point for the boat.We spent just a few days sailing together on that trip, with a motley crew of travelers, American ex-pats, a Panamanian party animal named Jorge (pronounced Jor-HEEEEEEY!) and the Kuna first mate Dino, but by the time I returned to NYC, I was already thinking to myself, “This Fabio guy has it figured out.”I wrote to him as soon as I got home, and he replied with an offer to sail together again, someday. So began a long, strange correspondence between an urban planner fully immersed in NYC-living and a former psychologist now sailing boats in a remote locale, clinging to the mast for a whiff of cell phone reception.Fast forward t

This is part II of II. Recorded in sea kayaks floating in the Sea of Cortez.Gary Steele has had a long career as a backcountry guide, blacksmith, outfitter and woodsman and has been leading traditional outdoor skills workshops for years. Learn more and purchase his book, Moving Forward by Looking Back - Memoirs of a Wildman by visiting: https://www.gettinprimitive.com/Show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, streaming live online at Trail1033.com & locally (Missoula) on the Trail 103.3 FMPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trail-less-traveled/id1180249343Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to check out our visual series on YouTube!!!If you feel like supporting this work, we really appreciate it. By donating as little as $3/month, you are helping us complete work in the fields of wildlife conservation and cultural preservation. Donate here (Patreon.com/TrailLessTraveled) & thanks for considering!This episode was recorded on location in col

Gary Steele has had a long career as a backcountry guide, blacksmith, outfitter and woodsman and has been leading traditional outdoor skills workshops for years. Learn more and purchase his book, Moving Forward by Looking Back - Memoirs of a Wildman by visiting: https://www.gettinprimitive.com/Show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, streaming live online at Trail1033.com & locally (Missoula) on the Trail 103.3 FMPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trail-less-traveled/id1180249343Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to check out our visual series on YouTube!!!If you feel like supporting this work, we really appreciate it. By donating as little as $3/month, you are helping us complete work in the fields of wildlife conservation and cultural preservation. Donate here (Patreon.com/TrailLessTraveled) & thanks for considering!This episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xp

This interview was recorded in a cedar forest on the edge of Jocko Creek during a light rain storm. I sat with an old cowboy named "Dude" who recalls what it was like to grow up living off the land, milking cows for $1/week in order to save money to buy his first pony as a teenager for $60. He rode bulls and broncs, hunting to feed his family and wasn't accepted by most other cowboys because his approach to training horses wasn't the traditional "cowboy" way. Dude talks about respecting and showing love to horses in order to train them and earn their trust. He talks about learning to care for horses' physical and mental health and why he believes horses are sacred beings. This is a beautiful interview which highlights a time in Montana which many have forgotten. Show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, streaming live online at Trail1033.com & locally (Missoula) on the Trail 103.3 FMPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trail-less-traveled/id1180249343Follow the adv

Ceilidh O'Sullivan was born and raised on the Eastern Coast of Australia in a little town known for its delicious ginger beer and all inclusive schools for the disabled. Ceilidh was born profoundly deaf and with the help of her mother, she learned to speak well. At a young age she became obsessed with "Bush Tucker" which is a reference to edible wild foods in Australia. To this day she can go out into the bush or on the beach and gather food to create delicious meals. Ceilidh almost went to the Olympics as a teenager to compete in BMX biking but instead made the hard decision to undergo surgery and receive a cochlear implant which helped her ear sounds for the first time such as leaves under her feet. Ceilidh is into eco construction and sustainability as a result of her countless trips to Uganda where she built a school for deaf children and had a part in changing that country's attitude regarding the abilities of deaf children. Show premieres Sunday nights at 6 MST, s

Marty Essen is an American naturalist, author, photographer, and professional speaker. He has written seven books, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico, Time Is Irreverent, Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again! Time Is Irreverent 3: Gone for 16 Seconds, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, and Doctor Refurb.Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to checkout our visual series on YouTube!!!If you feel like supporting this work, we really appreciate it. By donating as little as $3/month, you are helping us complete work in the fields of wildlife conservation and cultural preservation. Thanks for considering :)This episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xplorer Maps

Join us for an interview with Matt Misicka, the Executive Director of Ohio Conservation Federation. Matt is an avid hunter, angler, and overlander who also works as an instructor for the Overlanding Expo. During this interview, Matt discusses the Farm Bill, Public Lands, Chronic Wasting Disease, the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, and other conservation issues he is working on in Ohio. Follow the adventures and interviews in real time at TrailLessTraveled.net and be sure to checkout our visual series on YouTube!!!If you feel like supporting this work, we really appreciate it. By donating as little as $3/month, you are helping us complete work in the fields of wildlife conservation and cultural preservation. Thanks for considering :)This episode was recorded on location in collaboration with Xplorer Maps. We want to extend boatloads of gratitude to Xplorer Maps for their generous support of this podcast and international outreach programs paired with conservation projects.

Part II of II featuring Larry Evans, aka The Fungal Boogieman!! We just couldn't get enough... so we're featuring him on two episodes. Stay tuned for a BIG announcement regarding a new partnership which will allow us to continue connecting people with place through storytelling, art, history, culture and wildlife conservation! We will make the announcement on Monday, September 25th. Be sure to follow the show on IG and Facebook in order to stay updated and follow us as we record on location around the world.Larry Evans has taught mycology since you had to explain what that is. He’s authored dozens of articles, notably, “Soil Carbon and You”. His YouTube channel Fungal Jungal samples his adventures in Russia, Asia, and North and South America; after 15 years of visiting and nearly 2,000 collections placed in the Bolivia National Herbarium, he wrote a Field Guide to Tropical Amazon Mushrooms, republished this year in Spanish. In 1991 Larry co-founded the Western Mont

Larry Evans, aka The Fungal Boogieman, has taught mycology since you had to explain what that is. He’s authored dozens of articles, notably, “Soil Carbon and You”. His YouTube channel Fungal Jungal samples his adventures in Russia, Asia, and North and South America; after 15 years of visiting and nearly 2,000 collections placed in the Bolivia National Herbarium, he wrote a Field Guide to Tropical Amazon Mushrooms, republished this year in Spanish. In 1991 Larry co-founded the Western Montana Mycological Association and he has been instrumental in organizing festivals and forays around Colorado and the Pacific Northwest since. In 1997 he began operating the Black Dog Cafe, and in 2001 he became the first approved commercial mushroom vendor in Montana. An American diplomat dubbed him the Indiana Jones of mushrooms after an encounter in a taxi in Khabarovsk when he was there buying non timber forest products. He spent 5 years furthering remediation agendas i

Chris Servheen has been working on grizzly bear recovery since 1975. He is the president and board chair of the Montana Wildlife Federation. Chris retired in 2016 after 35 years with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, where he served as the agency’s first and only Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator. In that role, he oversaw the management of grizzlies across the lower 48 states, including in the Greater Yellowstone, Northern Continental Divide, Cabinet-Yaak, Selkirk, and the Bitterroot areas. Chris has also worked on bear management issues around the world, including chairing the IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group for 12 years. Chris has a Ph. D. from the University of Montana, where he continues to work as an adjunct professor of wildlife conservation.100% of financial support for this podcast and our educational outreach programs comes from Patreon donations. Please help keep the podcast ad free by visiting www.Patreon.com/TrailLessTraveled & seeing which donation tier

Neva Hassanein is a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Montana. For this episode, she interviews her mentor, friend and professor whom she studied with in East Africa. Paul’s formative years were spent in the Belgian Congo—ay a time when most of Africa was the possession of one or another of Europe’s nations.  For more than four decades, his life experiences were largely centered in Africa where he lived, worked, and together with his wife, Margie, raised three children. Then for 15 years, he directed a global service learning program at Wheaton College, where his Africa experience was been enlarged to include much of what is being called “The Majority World.”  His journey in scholarship really began at Northwestern University, where he studied history and was awarded a Fulbright to examine the vulnerability of African communities to protracted drought in the 1970s. His PhD research brought together archival investigation in the U.K. and Kenya, and livin