Экстремалы на каяках и велосипедах доказали, что Айова — это не только кукурузные поля

Chris Ward is an adventurer. He hosts a podcast called “Like A Bigfoot,” where he showcases ultra-cyclists, runners, backpackers and other extreme athletes. He also is a native Iowan who set out to show the world that there’s more to the state than corn. Ward, 39, who teaches middle school science in Colorado, returned home a couple years ago to take his family to a Hawkeye football game. They decided to picnic at Palisades-Kepler State Park “on a perfect fall day,” when inspiration hit. “I was just looking around, and I had the thought of, literally nobody pictures Iowa like this. It was just absolutely beautiful,” he said. It got Ward thinking: How can he showcase Iowa as a cool place to explore? After some research, he found that there were no dams on the Cedar River from Palisades to his hometown of Muscatine. The river itself is public land, so you can camp on the sandbars. He decided to make a documentary of himself and a group of friends traveling over the course of four days — 70 miles paddle-boating on the Cedar River and 30 miles biking to his childhood home. “A big idea of the film is, I wanted to have a deep conversation with these guys about life and parenthood and getting older and things like that, next to a campfire,” Ward said. He enlisted the help of Josh Dragge, 50, of California, a friend he’d made a documentary with a few years ago on ultra-runners who ran through a desert from Colorado to Utah. Dragge, who works as an editor, felt more comfortable working behind the camera and signed on as a co-director. He filmed the trip from the shore using cameras and drones. Ward then invited people he’d gone on adventures with individually and thought might be up for it: Matt Rackers, his cousin from Missouri; Phil Pinti, of Maryland, whom he met long-distance running; Chris Cornejo, a fellow science teacher; and James Adamson, who was the cinematographer. “Instantly, they all said yes,” Ward said. “I’m just lucky enough to have a group of friends that’ll say, ‘Sure!’ to any stupid idea that I have.” Filming happened over four days in June 2025. The group started in Cedar Rapids below the roller dam at Winnebago Park after first enjoying a true Iowa meal: breakfast pizza at Casey’s. While this stop then required them to hike three miles to the park with all their gear, it ended up being a perfect way to start the journey. “I think it really set the tone right away, because we had an hour and a half of walking and talking. Some of the guys hadn’t met each other, so it was a great icebreaker,” Ward said. Some of the group had never been on a paddleboard before, so “there was definitely some learning and growing in the first 10 miles or so” as people and equipment fell in the river. Adamson filmed on the water from an inflatable kayak, and each boat had a GoPro and microphones they could turn on and off. Dragge spent most of the trip zigzagging down backcountry roads to get ahead of the group, waiting on bridges or shorelines until they got close enough to film or fly the drone. “It enabled me to have my own little adventure,” Dragge said. “It was really meaningful to get that quiet, reflective time exploring a new place.” He came into the project with an idea that Iowa was endless cornfields and really flat. While they did see farm cows coming down for a drink, they mostly saw trees, parks and wildlife like bald eagles and snakes in the water. “Despite never having been there before, it felt oddly familiar, like stepping into a collective memory of simpler moments, where time slows just enough to listen more deeply,” Dragge said. As it was a documentary, Ward and Dragge let experiences and discussions happen naturally. One of the best experiences of the trip happened on the second night. After talking with a man on the side of the river, he invited them to camp on his sand bar and brought them firewood and drinks, and let them use his house for showers. A key part of the film was the men’s discussion around the campfire that night. “That was another great part of my experience, how kind and genuine everybody was,” Dragge said. “There’s something about being on these multiday trips in the wilderness that just allows people to open up,” Ward said. “You’re not distracted by technology, your to-do list whittles down to one thing: we’ve just got to keep going THAT way. By taking away those factors, you’re left with the people around you and the connections that you can make with those people.” Ward and Dragge have showcased the film, “The Journeying,” in Colorado and at multiple film festivals in Iowa, including the Des Moines Arts Festival. The company BOTE Board released the documentary on its YouTube channel over Father’s Day weekend.