We're Back! We Almost Lost Our Boat to a Wildfire! | Road Hunter Podcast Ep. 39

We've been gone about eight months. This episode is why — and it's also the story of the June trip where a wildfire burned to within about 50 feet of our tent, and we almost lost Eli's boat. Eli, his buddy Jacob, and Jacob's dad Darren were out catfishing in Eastern Oregon's Hell's Canyon country near Ontario, right on the Idaho border, when a distant smoke cloud turned into a Level 3 "Go Now" evacuation in the space of about twenty minutes. We're not making the fire the punchline here. It got close, it got scary, and we're telling it straight: the motor trouble before it even started, what they grabbed, what they left, and how close it actually came. Also in this one: the new show schedule (new episodes every other Friday, new articles every Wednesday on failedoutdoors.com), and a story straight out of the news — two guys in Tennessee who took a side-by-side out during an active flood warning and had to be pulled out of a creek by search and rescue. IN THIS EPISODE • Why the Road Hunter Podcast went quiet for eight months, and why we're back • The new schedule — episodes every other Friday, articles every Wednesday • Eli, Jacob, and Darren's June catfishing trip to Hell's Canyon, and the motor trouble that almost sank it before the fire even showed up • The wildfire: from a distant smoke cloud to a Level 3 evacuation in under half an hour • The scramble: what got grabbed, what got left, saving the boat • Back at camp the next day — the fire burned to within about 50 feet of the tent • A Tennessee side-by-side flood rescue, and our own history of "seemed like a good idea at the time" • A first look at Episode 40: John Berger's Cummings Creek Retreat, now a nonprofit for veterans and disabled first responders TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Cold Open 1:02 Intro — Welcome Back 3:03 The Reset — Why We Left, What's New 7:01 The Fire Story — Eli, Jacob & Darren's June Trip 20:03 Tennessee Side-by-Side Flood Rescue 26:02 Banter 28:36 Close & What's Next LINKS More Oregon hunting & fishing guides: https://failedoutdoors.com Read the full write-up on the site: [BLOG_POST_URL] Coffee that funds this show — Lost Hiker, Road Hunter, Zero Dark 30: https://failedoutdoors.com/shop If you've never had a wildfire close enough to taste the smoke off your own gear, count yourself lucky — we didn't get that lucky this time, we got lucky enough. Watch your exits out there. We'll see you out in the woods! We'll see you in the next episode. #FailedOutdoors #RoadHunterPodcast #OregonWildfire #WildfireSafety #EasternOregon #HellsCanyon #PublicLandFishing #OutdoorPodcast