TERRY'S
ORIGIN STORY
“Swishhh…burble…babble…trickle…ripple.” I was close. I could hear the chattering voice of the small stream flowing through the hardwood forest behind my house. With bare feet and my cane fishing pole, I explored this stream every day, rain or shine. I was 7 years old.
My cane pole was knotted, scarred, and full of character. I used my grandmother’s light-blue yarn for fishing line. It was well faded and slightly unraveling, due to the heavy use. I’d scour my favorite haunts for worms and insects, carefully stuffing them in a rusty, Lucks pinto bean can until I reached my secret place.
It was springtime. The dogwoods and redbuds were just beginning to unfurl their white and pink blossoms. I jumped from rock to rock across the water and sat down on my favorite flat stone in the center of the stream.
Fufffuff…fuffuffhuff!! My head snapped upwards. With a powerful blast of speed and thunderous wingbeats, three wild turkeys burst through the branches of the beech trees. In a flurry of black banded feathers and a fall palette of iridescent coloring, the large birds whirled through the air in front of me and out of sight. I had never laid eyes upon one before, as sightings were basically unheard of in this area.
A hundred questions reeled through my mind. Why did these stunning creatures choose to move through this area today? Where did they come from? Where were they going? There were so many mysteries to try and solve and I’ve been seeking the answers to these and unnumerable questions ever since.
Although I was only 7, somehow, this experience unlocked a curiosity and sense of wonder in my mind towards all wild creatures and their interconnectedness with the lives and landscapes around them. There was a story to learn, and nothing could keep me from trying to understand it all. My life has been enriched in a plethora of ways ever since.
And now, I long to share and exchange ideas, experiences, skills, and stories that can help cultivate this incredible feeling of joy, gratitude, and ease in the wilderness that has been sparked in me.
LIFE VENTURES
- Spent 30 – month long, solo backpack expeditions into the Alaskan backcountry
- Has caught 300 (??) species of fish
- Bowhunter who has not purchased meat from a store in the last decade
- Became an Alaskan commercial fisherman
- Has experienced “The Seven Seas” & “The Seven Continents”
- Participant on Season 9 of History Channel’s Survival Series ALONE
- Survived a plane crash in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil and lived with a non-modernized, subsistence tribe in the jungle until rescued.
- Self-rescued himself after falling through the ice while ice fishing in -20 degree F weather, then hiked 11 miles to his truck to drive himself to a hospital
- Spent 52 hours crawling out of the Arctic wilderness, dragging his leg behind him, and then drove 18 hrs to a hospital
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
- Social Media: Terry lives in the Alaskan backcountry, he’s never on his phone
- Book: It’s on the way…
- TV Shows: History Channel’s ALONE
- Media: Outside Magazine / Juneau Empire / CBS News
