Foodless Odyssey (video)

Pro mountain biker Matt Hunter sets out with Charlie McLellan, Anthill director Darcy Wittenburg, and photographer Nicolas Teichrob to bikepack around the remote island of Haida Gwaii, a rainforest archipelago off British Columbia’s west coast. Sounds nice enough, right? To make things interesting, they chose to undertake this expedition without packing a single morsel of food. Instead, they foraged, fished, and hunted for every calorie they needed to power this seven day, 129-mile (207 km) bikepacking trip, living off the land much like the local Haida have done for centuries.

“When you’re really hungry and you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, you feel desperate. I’ve never felt like that in my life.” – Matt Hunter

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While hunting and gathering on a bike trip seems like an enchanting idea, it’s obviously quite challenging, and such a journey requires skill and fortitude. After bikepacking through Haida Gwaii’s rainforests with nothing but their bikes, camping gear, and equipment, it’s clear that this hungry group of travelers developed a first-hand appreciation for where their meals come from, and the ease with which they’re used to getting them.

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“Humanity has fallen away from that connection with food. This was the ultimate… Going out and being fully connected in that you had to collect the food in order to eat.” – Charlie McLellan

Photographs by Nicolas Teichrob