By Kye Berger
Walking on a trail, you and your boy. Then suddenly, you see a 7-foot, half-ton moose walking in front of you, less than 100 feet away. Luckily it’s just having a peaceful morning walk as it crosses your path.
It’s not typical for someone to have visited every state in the nation or to have been to more than half of the national parks. Especially not for a “tech guy” at a high school.
But director of technology for Delaware Community Schools Dr. Lance Brand has been to all 50 states and to 33 of the 63 national parks with his wife, Lisa. Many of those trips also included his three children, Tyler, Katherine and Riley, all of whom are Delta graduates.
Brand’s adventures have taken him across the globe, from frozen glaciers in Norway to the 13,000-foot peaks in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.
He was introduced and fell in love with traveling at a young age.
“I would say when I was your age, my plan was to move away,” Dr. Brand said. “Life has different thoughts for that, sometimes, particularly when you get married, and your spouse and their family are in the area.”
Now Dr. Brand, who taught advanced science classes at Delta for 19 years before being technology director, is content with where he is, here in Indiana. But he says he won’t let that stop him from traveling to every place he can.
And after being to every state and over half of the national parks he still is not done. He hopes to spend some time in Alaska here soon, and plans to also spend more time in Vermont and Texas as his journey continues.
“I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors,” he said, thinking about the peacefulness of being in the wilderness with beautiful scenery of mountains and valleys with the noise of flowing water. “It’s very calming, relaxing, and enjoyable, just getting out and disconnecting a little bit.”
He added that it makes you appreciate the things you have more when you come back home.
Peace and calmness is something that Dr. Brand enjoys on these trips. To make sure he and his family experienced the full effect, they always tried to reach the trailheads bright and early to beat the crowd.
“If you really want to enjoy it, you’ve got to get out there pretty early and you tend to see a lot more nature,” he said.
The Wind River Range has had some of his best travel experience memories.
“It’s probably one of the more spectacular week-long hikes we’ve done,” he said.
In particular, the Cirque of the Towers – a valley surrounded with mountains and wildflowers – holds a special place in his memory. He considers it one of the most beautiful places on the continent.
The goal was to hike to an area where they would be able to see mountain climbers scaling the sides of the peaks in all directions.
But one time what he and his two sons were expecting to see didn’t go as planned.
They took the trip one year in July, but it just so happened that the mountains were filled with snow up to ten feet high. And there was no way they were getting through. They ended up having to cut the trip short.
On that particular trip one day they had their camp and tent set up, but they had an unexpected visitor. A bear broke into their tent.
“Luckily, nobody was in the tent at the time, but it slashed the tent,” Dr. Brand said.
To this day they have what remains of that tent out of memory for that trip when they need a good laugh.
That wasn’t the only time Dr. Brand has had encounters with wild animals. From running into moose on an island trail to seeing black bears in the Smokies, he even watched a huge grizzly bear from a distance chase a black bear and its cub for dinner in the Grand Tetons.
All of these encounters with wildlife have reinforced to Dr. Brand that “you just have to respect their space.”
Despite all of these moments, Dr. Brand wouldn’t rather do anything else but be in the peaceful wilderness with his family. He has traveled with his kids and wife, but now that his kids are grown he said it is usually just him and his wife. If any of his kids can get work off and get the chance, they tag along.
He has used a strategy he likes over the years. While on road trips in their camper, they make quick Walmart stops for food such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
By camping and not eating out, the trips are “not terribly expensive,” he said. The key is to have enough time to do it without rushing.
These trips can range from three to six weeks. He likes spending as much time at a place as he can and getting all the more unique experiences as possible, going on trailhead after trailhead.
From the beginning of the trailhead to the end, most of his hikes are 12 to 14 miles, and those hikes are more challenging than simple. These hikes have many changes in elevation. But to him every step is worth it.
One of the hikes that will always be worth it to him took place in the Grand Tetons National Park, which is south of Yellowstone National Park and lies in Wyoming.
“The Tetons are one of our favorite places on the planet,” he said.
The natural beauty of the younger mountains in the Americas takes his breath away every time.
“The Tetons are just this sheer face. Incredibly beautiful and it has a large lake at the base of the mountain,” he said. “It’s just this fabulous combination of this huge, beautiful lake, and these magnificent mountains sitting around on the back side of it. Not too much better than that.”
Whether he is taking photos on a heavy camera or his phone, even if he is just too stunned by the view to take a photo, Dr. Brand’s mission in life is simple: view the world on one trail at a time, whether a moose is crossing it or not.
