(wind blowing)
Your body's just so messed up from the swim.
But if you don't you know,
eat food, if you don't get into your dry clothes,
I mean, it would be so easy to just quit.
You gotta get that food in.
You gotta get that water in.
You've gotta get to the next step.
(light guitar music)
My name is Kelly Halpin
and I spent the majority of my life growing up in Jackson
right on the border between the National Park
and the National Forest.
So it was just like an endless playground.
I grew up staring at the Tetons
and I'm a professional illustrator
so basically watching the whole cycle of life
of animals migrating, dying,
you come across carcasses in the woods all the time
and just seeing that cycle of animals,
flowers, trees, snow, rain,
and it's hard not to be inspired by that. (laughing)
I feel like we're on this planet
for a very very short period of time and
it's silly to waste your life not being happy
and not pursuing you know your passions.
Kelly grew up on a ranch since she was a little girl.
And I think it really had a huge influence on her,
as an artist and as a mountaineer and as a person.
Just staring at the Tetons,
I think really influenced her as far as like
wanting to be in those mountains
and wanting to explore.
Wanting to find a way to get up there.
It seemed so improbable but
it's an incredible adventure to get up there.
Woo hoo.
How you feeling?
You know those mountains and the lakes and things
have been here forever,
but it wasn't until recently that Dave Gonzales
meshed all of 'em together.
David Gonzales' picnic idea
is to do a human powered natural obstacle course in Jackson.
It's an adventure of the mind.
It's an adventure in the Tetons.
You can do it however you want.
The whole idea is to go out and challenge yourself.
The picnic is kind of also a joke in a way.
It's not necessarily picnicking.
It's one of the hardest things
a lot of people have ever done.
It's not for like a gold medal
or a bronze medal.
It's just whatever you can accomplish
and if you can accomplish it.
- Picnicking is 23 miles to Jenny Lake from town on a bike
and then 1.3 miles across the lake swimming,
three miles flat to the Lupine Meadows Trailhead
and then 6,000 feet straight up. (laughing)
And then do it all again in reverse.
(sizzling)
When my partner, Brea last year,
she got really sick on the descent
and blacked out and
it was just really really scary.
I mean like,
the mountains are all fun and games until ...
Until they're not, you know.
So this is my checklist.
I need my headlamp,
sport legs,
sunglasses,
my GoPro,
iPod, ax,
Opedix tights,
water tabs,
water bag,
Nuun, chicken broth,
bacon, stinger bars,
chocolate, Ibuprofen,
squeezy bottle.
I have just my water stuff here like ...
Wetsuit, booties,
cap, goggles,
rope, boogie board, dry bag.
I don't swim.
I hate cold water.
I hate water in general.
And Jenny Lake is what like 250 feet deep.
I mean it's terrifying.
(upbeat banjo music)
Just got done doing some last minute shopping.
Got my donut.
(chirping)
(water sloshing)
I ...
am excited. (laughing)
I don't really want to go swimming right now but ...
It's not time to think about swimming.
It's time to think about going biking.
We'll worry about the swimming when it happens.
(bluesy guitar music)
(rustling)
(water sloshing)
(gasping)
I think this is the hardest part
is getting out of the water.
(gasping)
You can't really allow yourself the luxury of
resting for too long you know.
You've got to get to the next step.
You've got to get moving,
that's how you stay warm.
(upbeat rock music)
My doughnut is in a sad state but ...
It'll taste just as good I think.
Getting to the midpoint in any of those picnics,
whatever the summit is of the middle of those
and being like "I'm here.
"Now I just have to go backwards and do it all again."
(laughing)
I mean there's something very beautiful about
doing all of these things in Jackson
that are right out your front door.
Before I started doing these crazy picnics
that David came up with,
I had no idea what I was capable of.
You could totally apply that to
so many aspects of your life I mean,
with work or with a a relationship.
It's amazing to reach that,
that kind of exhaustion,
and be able to push yourself through it.
Just like when I was in the water
and I was swimming across the lake for the second time
and there was a really strong current
that was pushing me away.
(light piano music)
I'd just like to thank cheeseburgers for existing
because that might be the only reason
I made it across (laughing)
was for a beer and a cheeseburger.
I was so hungry.
In the end it's just to see what you're capable of.
So many people won't do things because
they don't know what's gonna happen
or they're scared
and when you can get over that hump
and push yourself and you know
see where it takes you, you know,
it can take you to some pretty cool places.