(whimsical music) - People live in Wyoming because adventure is right out our back door.

(whimsical music) Our interview with adventurist and artist, Zach Even, next on "Wyoming Chronicle."

(upbeat, majestic music) - [Narrator] Funding for this program is made possible in part by the Wyoming Humanities Council, helping Wyoming take a closer look at life through the humanities.

Think why.org and by the members of the Wyoming PBS Foundation.

Thank you for your support.

- And as we begin this "Wyoming Chronicle," I'm pleased to be joined by my good friend, Zach Even.

Zach, welcome to "Wyoming Chronicle."

- Thanks Craig.

Happy to be here.

- Zach, we're going to talk a lot about the adventure, the adventure-ism, I guess that's in you, but I want to talk about the artists that's in you as we begin too.

We tease people at this at the top of the show with your encounter with a bear and some other things, but you're also an art teacher and an artist.

And that's where I'd like to maybe begin our show this evening.

Tell me, when did you become interested in art?

- You know, I think as far back as I can really remember, I've always had an interest in art.

I remember back when I was in, I think, the first grade there was an afterschool art club that I could participate in.

I remember, - Was this in Green River?

This is actually in Fort Collins, Windsor, actually, it's where I started school.

But yeah, I've just been interested in art for as long as I can remember.

It's just something I think I was always drawn to naturally.

- And when you first started, was it always outdoor things, animals and those things that you were drawing and painting early on.

- Early on, like back when I was in elementary school, I'd draw anything.

Subject matter didn't really, really matter to me, but I remember, I like for whatever reason, I started becoming real drawn to fish and drawing a lot of fish around fifth grade, probably.

And that's probably when I was kind of beginning to do a lot of fishing and stuff on my own and whatnot.

And we were living in Green River at that time.

And one of the things I used to do a lot just in my free time was fish the river.

We used to, the river was probably a mile from our house and that was what we had to do back then.

We just went fishing all the time.

- Our viewers on the screen now are seeing some of the artwork that you have done more recently on their screen.

And it's beautiful.

- Well thanks.

- Why fish?

Because as we were talking about off-camera a lot of folks who do what you do, they're painting elk, they're painting these great, great wildlife scenes, but maybe not a lot of fish.

What draw you to really understand fish?

- Well, I think it was just my, my experience with fishing and the outdoors back then, that kind of got me interested in fish.

I think I just always had kind of a natural attraction to actually fishing.

And so that kind of drew me to that subject matter.

I think a lot of artists, especially when they start out, their subject matter's what they're interested in.

And, you know, I wasn't given any thought to like marketing my artwork or anything like that.

It was just, I enjoyed fishing a lot and so fish happened to be the subject matter.

I think I was kind of drawn to at that time.

- You work really hard to understand what fish do underwater.

How do you do that?

- So just a lot of observation, as far as underwater cameras.

I use waterproof cameras on poles, that'll stick out in the water.

I've done some paintings using live references, using a great big fish tank, like a 200 gallon fish tank.

I'll actually put fish in that tank as well as like plant life and different things.

I've actually got a painting of some bluegills with a golf ball coming through the water that I did.

And I actually used that tank and I would drop a golf ball into the tank, videotape it, freeze frame it for reference.

So yeah, a lot of underwater cameras and then just observation from like a fish tank, I guess.

- How do people react to your fish?

- People seem to really enjoy them in part, because like when I do art shows, for instance, I get a lot of fishermen who are naturally drawn to it, of course, but I also get a lot of non fishermen who appreciate it for just, I think the, the color.

Yeah.

- Now you and I first met after you had worked at Cabela's.

Was that a natural progression for you after college?

You went to school at Chadron.

I should mention that you're a Hall of Fame athlete.

A decathlete, right?

- I did decathlon for a while and then just kinda migrated to just the throws so like hammer, javelin, discus.

- And at Chadron State College?

- Yes, yep.

- What was your major in college?

- I actually majored, I left Chadron with a Bachelor's of Art with an emphasis in 2D art.

- What's that?

So like painting and drawing.

And then while I was there, I also earned an emphasis in 3D.

So like pottery sculpture, ceramics, and then it was about my junior year, I started thinking while I love doing art, this is all fun, but what am I going to do for a career after college?

And so that got me taking a lot of the digital art computer graphics type classes so I also had an emphasis in digital art.

- And then after Cabela's, you and I met at Brunton in Riverton where you carried on the work in the marketing group.

- Yeah, I loved working for Cabela's.

I missed Wyoming though.

I just missed the access to the public spaces and I just missed the mountains and I missed Wyoming after growing up in Green River.

And so we took the opportunity to move back to Wyoming and started working for Brunton with you.

- And then, a career change for you, Zach.

You now teach art.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So I teach art here at Lander Valley High School.

Yeah, that transition came about mostly because my wife and I, it's really important where we live and where we're gonna raise our kids.

And I think it would have been maybe an easier route, a safer route just to go find another job elsewhere in the outdoor industry but there's not a lot of jobs in the outdoor industry doing graphic design work, like what I was doing in Wyoming, especially in small towns.

So in order to stay in a small town in Wyoming, I just decided to make the career change and pursue teaching.

- So your work in art, your work in the outdoors, you've had mentors along the way who have allowed you now to become very expert, an expert archer and expert hunter.

Who have you looked to, who have really given you guidance to help you now?

- Well, growing up, you know, a single mom at home, we didn't get to see my dad as much as we would've liked maybe, but my dad, he'd take us out fishing and stuff and kind of expose us to that.

But you know, he wasn't always around.

He wasn't always there, he lived in another state.

And so there were a number of people around green river that I owe a lot to.

One of those people was Rudy Gunner.

He was really my mentor and my art teacher at Green River High School.

He loved the outdoors and he really expressed that, that love for the outdoors with me and shared a lot of experiences and kind of helped grow my, I guess, interest in the outdoors and for wildlife.

He was a great wildlife artist.

We had a neighbor named Mr. Beaver and I used to mow his lawn.

And this was when I was pretty young and I couldn't actually, I couldn't drive.

So what I would do after I was done mowing his lawn is we would call my stepdad and while we were waiting for him to come pick me and the mowing equipment up, Mr. Beaver would invite me into his house and he would show me all kinds of old bamboo fly rods and he'd bring out fly boxes full of like woven nymphs and that definitely sparked my interest in, in fly fishing.

Up to that point, I'd always done a lot of spin fishing, but that really sparked my interest in fly fishing.

And then I had some teachers too.

Bill Welsh, he was an English teacher in middle school and he actually taught like an outdoor lifestyle type class where we'd sit and watch outdoor shows.

He also taught fly tying.

So I learned a lot of my fly tying skills from him.

Yeah, there was, I worked with a man named Ray Tilburg at the hardware store in high school.

He taught me how to reload.

So yeah, Wayne Seaverson was a neighbor of mine.

He was kind enough to take me kind of under his wing and take me archery hunting.

At that time, I think archery was pretty new to the both of us.

I look back now and sometimes I, I wonder what we could have been doing differently at that time, but I just appreciate the fact he was taking me out.

And I really owe a lot to a lot of those guys.

- You and your wife Ann have twin children who are middle school age now, but it's my observation, it's so important for you to pass this sense of outdoor adventure or this appreciation for the outdoors down to your kids at a time when a lot of kids are so pressured really to do other things and maybe not grow up with an appreciation of the outdoors.

You've really made it a focus in your family it seems to me.

- Yeah, we try to expose them to as much as we can, especially in the outdoors.

I just think it's so important for their development.

And like you said, any more, sometimes it's hard to get kids to want to go outside with like the technology and stuff that they can be so addicted to anymore.

But it's really important to us too, to hopefully kind of spur that appreciation for wildlife and the outdoors.

I think by taking kids outside, it helps them appreciate it and that appreciation turns into the willingness to protect those things in the outdoors, whether it be the wildlife or the wild places.

- So now transition.

Post-college.

You climbed Denali.

How did that come about?

And tell me when you got the urge to do that, how did the planning go and why?

- So it's kinda hard to articulate sometimes why you have the urge to climb mountains?

Let's see, I was probably about when I climbed Denali, I believe I was 29, but you know, mountaineers traditionally will say I climb mountains because they're there.

(laughing) And to a point that's true.

If you climb mountains, you can kind of understand that reasoning.

But I think part of it's, I've just always had this natural urge, whether it kind of started just climbing bluffs around Green River.

Some of the bluffs around town.

- There's a big difference, Zach, exact between Denali and bluffs around Green River.

- Right.

But I think back to why did I want to climb those bluffs?

None of my friends did, you know, but it was just, I think it's just the experience of seeing things that are out there in the world.

Like we only have a short time to experience that stuff.

And I think too, that maybe it was, I think we live pretty, pretty safe lives, pretty sheltered lives anymore.

And I think as humans, I think struggle is important.

And I think there's, for some people there's still kind of this, this draw to struggle and putting yourself in situations where you're gonna struggle a little bit.

And I think, so yeah, I think that's part of what kind of drew me to it.

I know back before I climbed Gannett Peak for the very first time, - [Craig] How old were you then?

- I was probably about 21, my friend and I went to a man's house in Casper to talk to him about his Gannett Peak experience and while we were there, I noticed some pictures on his wall and he kind of told us about them and one was him on Rainier and immediately I was like, I'm climbing Rainier, I've got to do that.

I got to see it.

- Which you've done.

Which I've done.

And then he also had a picture of him on top of Denali, and I was like, you know what, I think I need to do that too.

And that's the first time that that thought really popped into my head.

- Tell me about the planning for that.

How long really did you plan for that trip?

And tell me about its execution then.

- So after college I went to work for Cabela's and there were a few of us that worked at the corporate headquarters there that were in the mountaineering.

- In Sydney?

- Yes, in Sydney, Nebraska, and had some experience and we decided that we would climb Mount Rainier together and to prep for that, we used to drive over to Laramie and over towards Laramie Peak.

And we would actually practice some of our, like some of our ice ax skills and things on, on the snow there around Laramie Peak.

And the plan was, I'd already knew that a year after Rainier, I was gonna try Denali.

So it started with climbing Rainier and then the following year after Rainier, I still wanted to do Denali.

There wasn't a big climbing group in Sydney, Nebraska.

Matter of fact, when I was telling coworkers that I was gonna go climb Denali, they were like, well, what do you, what can you hunt up there?

(laughing) What are you gonna shoot on top of Denali?

And just because a lot of them were hunters.

- Sure, outdoors men.

And so they couldn't really understand the reasoning why I would want to climb a peak, but it was, it was a lot of training.

I was training six, seven days a week for a good nine months leading up to the climb.

- What was involved in that training?

- So what I would do is usually I put on a pack through about 80 pounds in it, and I would just walk on the treadmill at an incline for up to two hours at a time at the rec center.

- And you're probably at, what, where Sydney is maybe?

- It's about 3,000 feet, 4,000 feet?

- Yeah, 4,000 feet or so.

So I did a lot of just walking with backpacks on.

In the winter time when there was enough snow, I would actually, it's funny thinking back, but I would, I would take a sled and I would throw anything that weighed, had any sort of weight to it that I could find, canned food, water jugs, sandbags.

I would throw it on that sled and then I would load up my pack with the same types of things.

And I would actually pull that sled around the golf course in Sydney, you know, after dark, I'd be out there on the golf course pulling a sled.

- Little head lamp?

- Yeah with my head lamp, but I'm sure people in Sydney, Nebraska were wondering, "Well, what's this guy doing, "pulling a sled, wearing a backpack?"

I'm in the middle of the night around the golf course.

But yeah, it was pretty intense training.

I did a lot of training for about nine months leading up to the climb because I wanted to make sure if anything was gonna stop me from reaching the summit, it was gonna be something like weather, something out of my control.

It wasn't going to be because I was out of shape or ill prepared as far as gear wise or something like that.

- And weather almost stopped ya.

- Weather did almost stop us.

So it took us about a week to get on.

Well, no, it was about three, four days to actually get on the mountain because the weather was so bad and leading up to the point where we finally flew in the base camp, no one had summited in, I believe two weeks, the success rate for all climbers combined at that point when we arrived until Talkeetna was about 37% if I remember right.

And by the time we got off the mountain that dropped to about 17%.

- What time of year is this, Zach?

- So this would have been in June.

- Very small window?

- Yeah, fairly small window, yeah.

But while we were on Denali at 14,000 foot camp, we had to wait there for a week because of bad weather.

And I started to think about the fact that we may not reach the summit and the thought of having to come back didn't really sit well with me at that time.

It wasn't because of the cold and the struggle on the mountain itself.

More than anything, it was the thought of having another nine months of training six and seven days a week.

(chuckling) - Because you were going to do this again.

- I would have done it again.

That's what, that was the toughest part of thinking about having to come back.

It wasn't being on the mountain itself, which was a struggle, but it was the training and the prep that went into it.

I was like, man, I got to train another nine months to come back here.

We were finally able to climb what they call the head wall, which is a very steep section on the mountain.

They've got fixed ropes there that you can actually use to climb.

That was fairly tough.

We ran into some hiccups going up that.

There was a team member of mine who was really struggling.

It's kind of a long story, but she was having issues with some over boots, which are insulated boots that you actually put over your mountaineering boots.

Those were coming off of her feet and yeah, I had to climb up and help her with that situation and both of us ended up with frostbite and frostnip on our fingers and whatever, but we made that through it.

Or we made our way through that situation, made it to high camp, which is just over 17,000 foot.

And we spent two days there.

The weather while we were at high camp was actually pretty good and summit day was awesome weather.

It was beautiful.

- What elevation was high camp?

- It was just over 17,000 feet.

- And what's the elevation of the mountain?

- It's a 20,300 approximately.

- So you have another 3000 feet to go.

- Yup.

- And how long did that take and what time did you, what time were you up and when did you summit?

- It took about 14 hours round trip.

I believe we were on top it, about 6:30 that evening.

But again, we just lucked out.

I mean, there was like no wind.

It was the most visibility we'd seen the entire time.

The whole hike up, we were kind of in the clouds.

We were battling bad weather.

So two weeks before we sumitted, no one had sumitted.

There was a two week window there where no ones summitted because of the weather, there were also no flights going out of base camp because of the weather for people trying to get on or off the mountain.

So we just hit that window just perfect.

And it was a beautiful Bluebird day, no wind, which was pretty rare.

There was a ranger that mentioned he hadn't seen a day like that near the summit for 20 years.

So after waiting around at 14,000 foot camp for a week, kind of paid off with some really nice weather up high.

- What'd you think about when you were on the summit?

- I thought a lot about friends and family and the kind of the support system I had around me.

It was just kind of overwhelming that something I was questioning whether or not it was going to happen, it actually happened.

Just the view from up there was spectacular as well.

There were some pretty sketchy spots on the way.

(chuckling) There were some areas where you, if you were to slip, you'd have two, 3000 foot worth of, of tumbling and falling to do before you, before you stopped so there were some sketchy spots, but yeah, up on top, I was just extremely grateful for finally getting up there.

And also in the back of my mind, I was also thinking about it's not over until you're down.

So it was thinking about some of that too.

- Will you do it again?

- I'd love to do it again.

I kind of took a bit of a break from the more extreme mountaineering once I had kids, but now they're getting to that age where I could see myself doing that sort of thing with them if they were ever interested.

So yeah, I would like to do it again someday.

- And you're now a prolific hunter and it comes to my mind, has that sense of adventure taken the place of things like Denali and Mount Rainier?

- Yeah, I think so.

- Although you climbed Gannett Peak the summer with your family.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

My son and daughter were finally old enough to make that long 25 mile, one way trip into the base of Gannett Peak.

My daughter decided not to actually climb the mountain itself, which is fine, but my son, my 12 year old son, they're they're twins, he decided to go up the mountain with me.

So as well as some, a friend from Nebraska who had never done anything like that before.

So that was really fun to experience that with two people who had never done anything like that in their lives.

It was pretty cool to do.

But like you've mentioned, hunting kind of took place of some of that mountaineering.

It's hard for me to be away from my family more than anything.

It's not so much the danger of being on these mountains that deters me from doing it but I just, I don't like being away from my family for that extended period of time.

And some of my hunting and local adventures kind of took place of the mountaineering for awhile.

- All right, Zach, our viewers right now are watching you like they did at the top of the show about what, seven, eight feet away from a bear?

You can see it.

You're not sure whether it sees you.

(Zach chuckling) To me that's as equally as scary as that 3000 foot drop that you were talking about just a moment ago.

What's going through your mind then?

- Well, at that point, so this was my first year actually bear hunting.

And the reason I did it was because my son expressed an interest in it.

And I was like, and he turned 12 so he's now old enough to hunt in Wyoming, big game animals.

So I was like, well, let's do it.

So yeah, when that bear started walking in that close to me, I was at first, I was like, well, this is really cool.

You know, I've never seen a bear this close other than, I guess I've had some grizzly.

- Zach, I'm not sure anyone has seen a bear that close and enjoyed it.

- I've had some grizzly encounters that were closer.

- Closer than that?

- Yeah, actually.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, or as close.

- We're going to talk about that in just a minute but go ahead.

- But I've never got to really observe that behavior for that amount of time that close.

The grizzly encounters, it was kind of, they were close for a while and then thankfully we distanced ourselves, but the bear didn't know I was in the blind so he was a little bit curious.

And at first I thought, well, this is cool.

I'm getting at experience this.

That's why I like to hunt.

One reason is just having those intimate interactions with animals that if you don't hunt, you'll never experience.

And I think that gives you such an appreciation for these animals.

After this bear season, I had way more appreciation and respect for bears than I ever did before.

and I think a lot of that came from the fact that I was, I was hunting them now.

But yeah, as that bear was coming in, I thought it was pretty, pretty cool at first but then there was that moment where I was like, well, he's still coming.

(laughing) Why is he still coming?

I started to feel maybe a little bit uncomfortable about the situation, but luckily he eventually turned and kind of made his way away from me, but it was an exciting experience.

And then later on, when I actually harvested, I shot a bear with my bow, I think it was four days later.

It was a much bigger bear.

And I don't have video of this because just the way it all unfolded so quickly, but that bear came in about just as close and he was a much bigger, he was kind of the dominant bear in the area.

And as he was coming in, yeah, I was a little worried about like, when is he gonna stop?

Because he wasn't giving me a good shot.

He was just walking right toward me the whole time, and when he was about six yards away, he finally stepped to go around some sage brush and I'm totally convinced he would've got around that sage brush and continued to come at the blind and stick his nose maybe in the blind.

I don't know what his intentions were, but fortunately, when he turned, I was able to get a shot at him.

So he didn't come any closer.

- So how did you feel when the wolf was coming your way?

- So, yeah, I had a close encounter with a wolf a few years ago when I was archery hunting elk.

At first glance, I thought it might've been a coyote kind of bounding through the tall grass cause he was running through about three foot tall grass and I'd been quiet.

I hadn't been calling or anything to attract his attention.

I'm not sure, I think it was just by chance he happen to start running toward me and to tell you the truth, grizzly bears worry me way more than wolves and so I really wasn't too worried about the fact I had this wolf running straight at me, but he didn't know I was there.

And he happened to come within about eight yards of me.

And eventually as he continued his way past me, he hit my scent trail.

So the breeze is blowing a certain direction, as soon as he hit that, that scent show, he was outta there.

He never saw me.

He just smelt me.

But that was an exciting experience for sure.

It was really cool.

- So what's now on your bucket list, Zach?

I mean, you've done a lot.

I mean, you're a prolific hiker.

You can, you can knock off 25 miles in a day, with anybody.

We're in Lander City Park.

And off-camera we were visiting with some folks who are about to embark on an eight day hike across the winds and I can just see that you're saying "That'd be pretty cool, I kind of wish I could go with you."

What's next for you?

- Well, I think more than anything, it's just trying to continue experiencing some of these things maybe that I've already experienced, like climbing Mount Rainier.

I did Gannett this summer.

Maybe Denali someday, but with my kids.

That's kind of on my bucket list.

Someday I may love to go to Nepal and climb there, but for now I think it's just sharing more of these experiences with my kids, continuing to share our tree hunting experiences, climbing experiences with them, fishing experiences.

- Are you, is there as far as hunting goes, is there anything that you haven't gotten that you wish to get?

I'm thinking like big horn sheep, those types of things.

- I would love to get a big horn sheep someday.

- Buffalo?

- Yeah, maybe a bison.

The big horn sheep thing is difficult just because of the draw odds are so tough.

It might be years from now that I actually draw a big horn sheep tag.

I'd love to do that someday.

I'd really love to go back to Alaska and spend some time there hunting caribou or moose.

I think that would be awesome with a bow.

I think that'd be a lot of fun.

- What is it that people don't understand about the Southern Winds, about this area that has attracted you, do you think?

- I think it's just the amount of outdoor activities that are available here.

You know, you can be climbing up in Sinks Canyon, or you can be mountaineering on Wind River Peak or even Gannett Peak.

The fishing and hunting opportunities are just awesome.

You know, that's why we, that's why I left Cabela's in Nebraska is because I missed those types of outdoor activities, the public land and spaces that exist here.

That's what kind of brought us back to Wyoming and that will hopefully keep us here.

- I think your work is expert.

I think it's just so real to me, Zach, and I appreciate seeing the video of what you do.

I think that few are able to capture that like, like you have, and it brings a sense of, for someone like me who really doesn't get out as much as you do, the ability to kind of maybe sense what it might be like and I'm thankful for that.

- Cool.

Good to hear.

Great to see Zach, and thank you so - You too, Craig.

much for visiting with us today on "Wyoming Chronicle."

- It was great catching up with you.

- Absolutely.

- Thanks a lot.

(majestic music) - [Narrator] Funding for this program is made possible in part by the Wyoming Humanities Council, helping Wyoming take a closer look at life through the humanities.

Think why.org and by, the members of the Wyoming PBS Foundation.

Thank you for your support.