James Franco cast as mountain climber

If you've been around the outdoor community, or read pretty much any outdoor magazine, then I'm sure that you've heard of Aron Ralston.

For those of you who haven't heard of Ralston, he is the mountain climber that, in May 2003, was forced to amputate his own right forearm to free himself from a boulder after being stuck there for five days. It is pretty amazing story that eventually lead to a book (yes, he took video and photos during his five days).

And now there is a movie being made about his story.

The movie, 127 Hours, will be directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later) and it was recently announced that playing Ralston will be James Franco (The Spiderman Trilogy, Flyboys). Filming starts in March.

I think this will be an interesting movie and I am anxious to see how it is filmed. And judging by the story I'm sure that it will follow in the footsteps of Into the Wild and The River Why (which is set to be released in 2010). These are definitely movies focused toward the outdoor genre or at least the armchair outdoor wanna-be genre.

It's great to see Hollywood branching out from terrible remakes and get into the outdoor crowd.

Today the adventure begins

Today is the day.

Our backpacks are packed with our kit.

Our shoes are tied tight.

Our hats are on.

We're ready to hit the Wonderland Trail.

It's time to test how our training has paid off. We first started our training back in March by summitting Tiger Mountain once or twice a week. We then moved to Poo Poo Point for a month and soon onto Mount Si twice. Next followed Mailbox Peak and hiking around Sunrise.

Now our real adventure begins. We are heading up to Mowich Lake to camp tonight, and then hit the trail tomorrow. Tune back in each day, as the site will be updating to show you where we are and what our route for the day looks like.

It's your way to keep track of the Northern Ranger's greatest adventure of 2009!

And from one of my favorite books and movies of all time, "Into the Wild."

Into The Wild

I watched Into The Wild last night, and all I can say is WOW! Man that was a great movie. For anyone who has ever wanted to take an adventure, or for anyone who loves pushing themselves to the limits, this movie is for you. Emile Hirsch did an excellent job portraying Chris McCandless. Chris truly went on "the ultimate adventure." The best part is, the whole thing is a true story! Yeah, I highly recommend this movie.

As for my own adventures, I will be heading east into the Badlands of North Dakota. Therefore I will be without Internet for a number of days. Brandon will carry the slack at Just South of North (either that or be playing MarioKart the whole time I'm away). Either way, I'm sure he will entertain.

I will report my adventures when I return. But for now, so long.