[orchestral music] - It isn't all about ADA flat-paved trails.

If you keep pushing, and the chair keeps going forward, then just take it as far as you can go.

♪ ♪ Being in a wheelchair isn't always the end of everything.

♪ ♪ Even in a wheelchair, even in a power chair, even with serious challenges, there are lots of things you can do.

♪ ♪ [bright orchestral music] - This program was funded in part by the East Bay Regional Parks, connecting parks to people.

GU Energy Labs.

Portable nutrition for every athletic endeavor.

And by the Berkeley Film Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, Lise and Jeffrey Wilks Family Foundation, Pacific Pioneer Fund, Fleishhacker Foundation.

A complete list of funders is available at APTonline.org.

[grinding] [squeaking] [animal calling] - [chuckles] [crunching] [grinding] [crunching] There's these experienced hikers and climbers talking about what a grind it is to hike the Kearsarge Pass, and instead of just saying, "There's no way I can do it," get out there and at least try it.

That's where you find the really good stuff, you know?

Is digging a little deeper when you don't think you can.

[light music] ♪ ♪ One thing you learn is you plant a hand on this thing when this thing's full of water.

Tends to go over backward.

I go through a lot of these every year.

Depending where I'm hiking, these are good for about 20, 25 miles.

♪ ♪ It's just enough of a gradient where you have to bend a little, about a six-inch stroke here.

♪ ♪ And if that's as far as I got, that doesn't mean it's a bad day.

I don't usually set my successes on distance but on what I may see or not see coming out here.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ See, this is what I love about the Oakland Hills.

I grew up in Piedmont, and we'd come up here and walk a lot of these trails when I was a kid.

I grew up an athlete.

Played basketball, baseball, and ran track.

I was always a really good runner, a 4:35 miler at my best in high school.

I miss basketball, but I don't have a jump shot anymore, so it's like, oh, what the heck.

Just 30-footers.

In Piedmont, the school was fantastic.

By the end of my junior year, I was able to recite the introduction to "The Canterbury Tales" in Middle English because we offered that out there.

We had a Chaucer class, and that was my final.

The farthest you could get.

"Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote--" I still remember that stuff.

I can go on and on about Chaucer.

They brought us up being outside and hiking.

My dad was self-employed, a commercial artist.

Any time he had to spend with us, we would end up going to Tilden Park or Redwood Regional Park and just getting out on trails.

When I was walking, I used to come up here when I lived in Oakland, after work, late summer.

Listen for what's going on.

You hear a coyote somewhere down in the canyon-- you know, there's so much to listen to and so much to see.

Oh, this one--not as bad as it looks.

Nature was kind enough to put nice, shallow parts just wide enough.

I developed juvenile diabetes right at that time.

It came on all of a sudden.

I weighed about 225, 230.

My weigh started dropping and slipping, and I couldn't control it.

After a while, I thought I was actually just losing weight to get in better shape.

I got to 180, then 170, then 160, and my uniforms were hanging on me, and I'm falling asleep every ten minutes.

No idea what was going on.

My dad finally figured it out while we were fishing one day.

And went to the doctor, and there we go, yeah.

We have this condition.

I was at Lake Almanor up in Plumas County, and, all of a sudden, I heard this great crack, like a firecracker.

My left leg exploded into thousands of pieces, and I fell to the ground, not realizing it was my own leg, and I ended up going into the hospital in Plumas County.

One of the things that got me through that point was thinking about hiking again.

Thinking about being outside.

♪ ♪ You have those rough days where resumes aren't getting looked at or no calls are coming in and stuff.

You just get out here, and it kind of levels things off, you know?

The pressure kind of relieves.

Yeah, this was my place.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ Our trip's gonna start at the Onion Valley trailhead of Independence, and that's what I look forward to, views like this.

Come on, come on.

But there are some steep hills there.

I mean, a lot of these may require getting out of the chair and dragging up on my butt.

That's where the working out all the time comes in, where you just try and get your back strong, your neck strong, shoulders--all that stuff.

Have to be ready for that.

I build myself to that level, to where I can get over anything there.

I work in the gym to make sure I can, and pulling a sled with five 45-pound discs on it, towing it back and forth in the gym, and I do that four times a week.

♪ ♪ [upbeat strings music] ♪ ♪ I'm always trying to think of something that's a bit of challenge--that's just kind of my nature.

But I chose it because it looked like it's doable, and I know 'cause I've done trails that are almost as difficult, and it just seemed like what a nice thing to do, to say you're going from the east side of the Sierras, over the crest, through the highest part of the Sierras, and into Roads End at Kings Canyon.

♪ ♪ Going up this pass, it's going to be an example for people who have reservations about getting out, who've realized that, with a lot more effort, I could do that.

So I don't mind being that example if that sets the tone for somebody else's adventures.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ [beep] ♪ ♪ The pump releases insulin in, yeah, at a certain rate, and then when I eat, I have to make the adjustment for what I'm eating.

Or do that manually.

Sun's out, still no clouds.

It's a good time to get up there.

It just couldn't be better.

- Get up--up a few ledges up here, and we'll see how everybody feels.

- Yeah, pretty much.

- Yeah, good--good trail, the weather's cool.

We're not gonna be too hot.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ - I used to get emails from new manufacturers all the time.

"Oh, we built an off-road chair."

It's like, that thing weighs 55, 60 pounds.

Off-road my--whatever.

That isn't going uphill anytime soon.

This thing, I can go on narrow trails.

I can turn around in my own length.

As much as I get into trouble, you're at least able to get out of it a little easier than having a 60-inch wheel base.

Oh, howdy, how you doing?

Here, I left you this channel there, so.

- Good luck to you.

- Oh, thanks.

- Hi, good morning.

- Hey, how's it going?

- All right.

- Oh, good.

- Good morning.

- Hi, good morning.

[crunching] - So far so good.

Mm, got it.

You begin to read a trail 10 feet at a time, then it looks like a consistent, steep pitch.

Well, in those long stretches, there are micro pitches, where it might be like this, and then it pops up a few more degrees, which completely either sends you over backwards, if you push too hard, or you recognize it going in.

You can pick a spot to either switchback it, or you can turn around and go backwards and pull up it.

There's no book on this.

You just have to kind of go as you go along.

It's kind of like braille, wheelchair braille.

Okay, now the easy stuff's done.

[crunching] They pay me to come move the rocks out of your way on the way up, so.

Thank you.

- Packs are in view.

- Oh, probably up around the corner, or--?

- No, right here.

- Yeah.

[exhales] Okay, you're not impossible, I know that.

[scraping] Ahh.

All I needed to do, two inches.

That's all that it was, God.

- Mind if I take a picture?

- Oh, absolutely, whatever works for you.

- I wanna inspire my wife.

- [laughs] - When you get to a level spot in the trail, that's a victory.

If it happens to take a downhill section for 20 feet, that's a huge victory.

That feels like-- ah, you're just rejuvenated all of a sudden.

'Cause I know we're not even close to 10,000 feet yet.

[beeping] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I didn't eat enough, and I've been pushing too much, and it feels like--I can tell how my blood sugar is.

- Do you need something out of your pack?

- No, I just--I just-- I need to make an adjustment downward.

It's way too high.

- Oh, too much insulin.

- So too--no, not enough insulin, yeah.

- Oh, not enough.

- We'll fix that puppy.

That's why I knew-- I was starting to feel kind of woozy, and it's like, that doesn't usually happen.

- When you're a Type 1 diabetic for as long as Bob's been, your kidneys are in real danger if you don't take care of them, and Bob struggles with that balance between living his life and being Bob and becoming that person where he's a diabetic first and Bob second.

[beep] - That can't be right.

I'll have to keep a close eye on this.

[wind gusting] [light strings music] ♪ ♪ White Mountain was an incredible trip.

14,250 feet.

Starting up the hill, I could only get so far at a time.

I had gotten altitude sickness three other times.

It never got past about 15 degrees, and the wind was between 40 and 60 miles an hour all day long.

It was 1 3/4 miles in 11 1/2 hours.

Got up there just as the sun was going down.

Incredible view.

You're looking eye-to-eye with Mount Whitney down to the southwest.

I was the first wheelchair to summit that one peak.

But that kind of gave me the idea that I can do just about anything I wanna do.

- Our relationship started on the phone, sight unseen.

When we started dating, he was already in the chair.

Because of Bob, I tend to see all disabled people as the person themselves, not their disability.

- Gina's great to have along because we do get some great shots.

She's a really good photographer, and if we can get to these real difficult parts, she can capture them, and I've always wanted to get kind of a book type of a thing of some of the more difficult things I manage to do.

♪ ♪ [crunching] - He would like nothing better than to be working.

- Start every day going through all the job sites and seeing what's out there that I might qualify for.

So far, not working out.

At my age, it's gonna be difficult.

I understand that completely.

But when you get a nice email back from one of these tech companies-- "Looked at your resume, and there were people better qualified."

Well, it's like, try me for a month, and we'll see who's better qualified.

- I don't know of any place on earth that sees the person first as a whole and the wheelchair second because they don't take the time to ask the questions about what, if any, accommodations would need to be necessary.

They just assume.

- Every time I get out and do anything outside, it's material.

Throw something out on Facebook, just "Here's what I did today," and people seem to enjoy reading it.

I know I at least have that level of an audience there, but I'm trying to come up with more articles that I can sell to magazines, monthly things like to the AAA magazine.

It beats getting on disability or getting on unemployment or something.

There's a lot of options out there.

They just haven't come into being quite yet.

[driving music] ♪ ♪ [birds chirping] - Can even hear flickers in the background along with these little song birds.

- They might be little finches.

- Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.

They probably are.

[grinding] Feels like I've gone about 20 feet.

It's like... [sighs] It's an obstacle field.

I get lung burn, and I--I know I've gotta stop for a while 'till it goes away.

Don't get it down into the area even after 40 miles, but here we are, probably not even a half mile in and it's already altitude and this--this is a very strenuous trail.

This is--this is not a cherry picker here.

This is a good one.

But it isn't the altitude 'cause we just haven't done that much today.

Yeah, it's gone up again.

[beep] [sighs] [coughs] Yeah, I think I have the set up incorrect.

It's giving me a certain dosage that's for a much lower need.

Oh, rest for a minute.

My blood sugar's so high right now it is very difficult to move forward.

Still going up.

When it's over 500, it just says "high."

[beep] Give it a little bit, anyway, and get down as fast as I can.

[clunking] [coughing] [labored breathing] Yeah, it's folded under.

It wasn't delivering.

God damn it.

Never went in.

Well... - Oh, no.

- So all that insulin's just going into the tape.

[beep] After a while it gets too-- that's when you start going into the diabetic coma side rather than the low blood sugar thing.

Oh, look at you.

- It might be a little ambitious, but he did White Mountain.

White Mountain was all rocky, even though it was a road.

so it's hard to tell.

He had more trouble today, but that's 'cause of the insulin.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ Oh, my God, pavement.

- What is that?

♪ ♪ [beeping] ♪ ♪ Solid, that's all dog right there, huh?

I keep telling her she was made out of spare parts.

'Cause she looks at the other dogs and wonders why she's so different, and it's like, "Well, whatever they had leftover from them, that's how they made you."

♪ ♪ - I found out at 20 weeks of pregnancy that I was pregnant with twins.

They are at risk of cord entanglement.

That's why I came in here-- to up my chances of these girls being okay.

And I did, and they're good.

They'll be delivered in two days.

♪ ♪ Growing up with my dad-- he's fun.

We always had a good time.

He took me everywhere in Northern California.

[laughter] - You were about three or four, and we'd sit in the car and we'd go up into the foothills and just stop and do the trees and stuff, and we wouldn't get very far, but it was always kind of cool just to get there and get you out looking at things.

Well, she used to watch, anyway.

- I do remember the day that he got hurt.

When he fell, I was the one that called 911.

- That's true.

- And I was like-- how old was I?

Like, eight?

He definitely went through a big struggle with depression.

You always tried to hide it from me, but I'd hear you crying in the bathroom or trying to keep it from me, but I always knew there was something going on.

Just because he's in a wheelchair means nothing.

He's still the same strong dad I've always had.

- So I'll call you at, like, 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

- [laughs] [upbeat strings music] ♪ ♪ - Thank you all for being here in support of the great outdoors in our community.

Now I wanna introduce somebody who's a real avid user of the trails on the mountain, and that's 4 Wheel Bob.

- Save Mount Diablo is a key cause of mine because they preserve so much land here, and the more land we can preserve for people like myself, for people like yourself, to get out and stay in shape, run, enjoy all the things that we like to do out here.

[air horn blares] [cheers and applause] All right!

[whistles] - Good job.

- Thanks, you too.

[water trickling] - Beautiful out here!

- It's good to see you out.

Good job.

Way to go.

Nice to see you out here again.

- Come on, keep going.

- I think it's important that everybody is able to get out there to a national park, a state park, and get this sense of that they're a part of something.

After having built up and destroyed so much habitat, we have some responsibility, a level of stewardship, and I think every kid has to learn it.

Not every adult is gonna do that.

Get off work, you go home, and you go downtown and have dinner and go and have a few drinks.

Not the worst thing on earth, but you kind of limit yourself because that's just this tiny fraction of a percent of what life is all about.

I'm on the advisory committee for East Bay Parks.

We're a group of about-- just short of 20, and we get together and talk about issues in front of the park district, the master plan, the budget, and then we make recommendations to pass it on to the board for approval.

We're a citizens advisory group.

- Bob comes from a trail advocate position, not a disabilities advocate position.

He's always been about more trails, better trails.

He brings a voice into the conversation that hasn't been there in the past.

- I'm really good at spotting, like, you know, sections of the paved trail in Sycamore Grove are really rough and rocky and rutty.

And they're broken up, so it's hard for wheelchairs, so we've paved sections of it, but we need to pave the entire 2 1/2 mile stretch.

If I bring one of my friends out here who doesn't have my ability to zoom over these roots and things, they're gonna get stuck, and they're gonna hit this thing at two miles an hour and fall out of their chair.

- There's a lot of really simple things you can do that open up a world to people who have been closed out from that world.

There are places that you can fairly easily improve their ability to get to a beautiful place.

[bird chirping] - It's in the back of my mind every day.

God, if I could only have gotten up to Kearsarge, it would've been fine from there.

You can see what a half mile was if we even got a half mile.

I mean, that was-- an all day, all day deal.

You think about it all the way home, what you could've done differently.

- I think he's just like anyone else who's got a goal.

I just have to have confidence and faith in him that the next time he tries this, he's going to have that plan B in place.

- I'm determined to make it.

Spent the winter in the gym, and as much as I can down there, and I don't see how I can do much more.

If I'm not ready now, I never will be.

[upbeat strings music] ♪ ♪ [dog barking] ♪ ♪ The heavy duty gear went up on horseback.

That took one thing off our mind, that we could get them up there.

♪ ♪ - It's the 17th of September.

And last year, we were here on the 24th.

We're hoping for better results this time.

So we got clouds, and I know we had 'em before 10:00, 10:12 or 10:10 now.

Usually, when you see clouds, you'll have a build up at least by the end of the day, if not rain, snow, wind, hail.

♪ ♪ [scraping] ♪ ♪ [crunching] ♪ ♪ [scraping] ♪ ♪ - Come on, tire.

So that's about two miles in Bob miles.

Probably, what, a quarter mile?

♪ ♪ And briefly, we're back in the saddle.

I wonder if I go fast enough I can just shoot right over the top.

Come on.

[crunching] We turned back last year about 50 feet ahead, I think.

This will kick me in the butt and get me going.

Cucumber has almost no caloric value.

A lot of water though-- it's good.

- I've never seen such an effort in my life.

- Cheryl and Greg have been a fixture in all my trips, and then Corrine and Ronan made it through that first day, and then they had to go back.

It was sad to see them go.

[crunching] Come on, one, two, three.

[crunching] Oh, look, a flat rock.

[scraping] [squeaking] [thud] Come on, up and over.

[creaking] [scraping] [crunching] Let me get out of your way there.

- No, no, no, you-- trust me, you have the right of way.

- Just chugging on through.

- What's your goal?

- Um, Roads End.

- You've caused me to adjust my sense of scale.

For that, I thank you.

- That's great.

I'm glad you made it back okay.

Yeah, we did.

- Thanks.

- Thank you, good luck.

- Have a great afternoon, sure.

[scraping] Yeah, if you could move up a little.

Stay.

[clunking] Oh, great.

Here you go.

[grinding] [scraping] Caltrans should hire me.

[creaking] Well, I wish we were here.

After last year, I wasn't sure I'd get this far.

Now I'm not sure that it would be very difficult going the whole way.

Yeah, there's enough rocks down here.

It can't get too much rockier.

[upbeat strings music] ♪ ♪ The Abilities Expo's a real good thing, I think.

Each area has a set of ambassadors, so I was picked to be an ambassador.

They like the fact that I kind of demonstrate that being in a wheelchair isn't always the end of everything, and, again, being in a wheelchair is not a diagnosis, so it's variable to every individual in a wheelchair.

Some can do what I do.

Some can't, but can find an alternative that's equally fulfilling, depending on the trail.

This chair works wonderfully for me, but there may be a better one.

Somebody may come up with a better idea.

The company that made this one has a new one with a independent suspension with air shocks in the back.

The idea is awesome because the air suspension and being able to adjust that would be incredibly neat.

What does it take to have the-- the bear--you've got the wheel wobble thing, the fix for that?

- Take this off.

Now I'm gonna put this flat screwdriver in here, and I'm gonna use torque to lock one of the faces of it, tighten it up a little bit.

- Ahh.

- Now you see how it's not going around so quickly?

- Hey, how are you?

- Hey, how are you?

- What's going on?

- Good, how are you?

- Good, so far so good.

- Good, nice to see you.

- It was really neat to see a lot of people that I had met online on Facebook and stuff would show up at these things and we've become real good buddies offline, and I've helped a few of them in events in their own world.

♪ ♪ Since I started as an ambassador, I've started giving programs there about hiking, about HWD.

You know, Hiking While Disabled.

The draw to me is to be out in nature.

And whether you go 20 miles or 100 yards, you can have the same experience, and that's why I keep pushing to get to the kind of places that I go.

On a bad day, I'll go out to a place like this and go maybe just over that rise, and just sit there and listen to woodpeckers and quail all day long.

And it's a good thing.

It does a lot for you.

It's very restorative to get out in nature and take all this stuff in.

If you can get people out there and encourage people to get out, get walking, get involved with their own fitness, their own health-- walk to the corner.

Get off Facebook for ten minutes.

Walk to the corner and back.

Tomorrow, walk to the corner and walk around the corner, then walk back, and just take it a little farther every day.

I had to start that way after I was sick.

I mean, it just didn't come all of a sudden.

I went into a wheelchair and doing 14,000-foot mountains.

This time of year, you get a nice, sunny day, and all of a sudden, you got a lady bug hatch, and you got lady bugs coating you if you stop for a minute.

- Ooh.

- And they don't--they're not gonna bother you any.

- I wanna see that, yeah.

- Yeah, they're real cool.

For many, it's that they never get a chance to get out, so they've taken to staying indoors, and many don't really want to.

So if you offer them the opportunity, it just changes everything, just to get out a little bit.

Even in a wheelchair, even in a power chair, even with serious challenges, there are lots of things you can do.

This is kind of one of the reasons I got suspension.

'Cause it just--it's no big deal to me.

- I've been appreciating the difference in my body, having better suspension.

- Yeah, yeah.

- 'Cause I've been thinking about suspension more.

It's like, I've been less sore the past week and a half.

- Egrets will nest in all these tall grasses and in the marshes.

And there's a red-winged blackbird right there.

They nest down here in the flatlands, and they nest in the reeds, and meadowlarks do that too.

Slept well.

Think probably 12 hours, close to 12 hours of sleep down there.

Woke up to pikas and chicories, little squirrels chattering all morning long, and, yeah.

Felt great when I woke up, so I just wanna push as hard as I can through everything.

Getting to the Kearsarge is the first step, so we know it won't be today.

Will it be tomorrow?

Well, maybe not.

We'll see.

[scraping] Come on.

[scraping] [water trickling] Tide's in.

[scraping] That's it.

- If you don't mind, I'd like to shake your hand.

- Oh, it's really wet.

- Oh, I don't care.

Meet a guy like you, I'm pretty impressed.

I've been hiking my whole life.

Never thought I'd see somebody like this.

- Crazy people.

- No, no, no, that's awesome.

- Yeah.

- Good luck.

- We'll see how it goes.

- All right, well, we're wishing, we're-- - Make it to Kearsarge, I'll count it as a plus.

- We're praying for you.

- Okay, thanks so much.

- Okay, big guy.

- Appreciate it, take care.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

- That's awesome.

♪ ♪ [bird shrieks] ♪ ♪ [scraping] [clunking] - God damn it.

Need to get some more stuff on there.

[exhales] [clattering] [crunching] There really is a method to this.

[crunching] [water rushing] [wind gusting] All right.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ [wind gusting] [crickets chirping] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ What we have here is a blister that's patched up now that's pretty ugly.

I don't know that it's infected or not, but it's important that I keep this covered up.

Got some Moleskin covered up with some tape, but the Moleskin's been rubbing off because I have so-- the gloves are so tight.

So I just have to really keep a--pay close attention to that today 'cause it's-- it's a deal breaker if it gets any worse.

As tired I can get at the end of the day, and pushing over rocks, and cussing all the rocks out and everything else-- you wake up to this, and you just wanna keep going.

[crunching] Yeah, these are my worst enemy are these steps.

- I don't even know how you do it.

- I don't even bother to ask myself any more.

I just--kind of just plod through and over... - Ahh.

Wow.

Yeah.

- [grunts] All righty.

Shoving everything--rearranging the landscape.

- Aw, hell, it's been rearranged for years.

- Probably.

- [chuckles] - And this isn't all that bad for a shallower one, but... - Wow, yeah, I'm impressed.

No doubt.

[crunching] [scraping] - You got room to go by?

- Good morning.

- How's it going?

- I'm good.

Look at you--awesome.

That's gonna ge a-- - Yeah, I'm gonna go the way you went.

- Yeah, that's--oh, rocks everywhere.

- Step--what is it about those rocks?

I need to write more letters to the forest service, you know?

[yelping] - Aw, and look at the puppy.

- I was wondering about the wheel tracks.

- Yeah, you know, I like to scare people about that.

Thinking that tanks are doing maneuvers up here or something.

You are awesome.

- Keep 'em active.

- You and me are about the same demographic here.

Dogs are a good picker upper for me.

That just makes my day.

[grinding] Oh, damn it.

The hell's wrong with you?

[scraping] [panting] It's gonna break here.

[grunting] [panting] [scraping] [scraping] [panting] I don't know if that's a nuthatch.

Yeah, please, come over here.

Where'd you go?

[scraping] [scraping] Hmm, come on, baby.

[clinking] Yeah, it's gonna be tough.

[clunk] [clunking] [thud] [scraping] [labored breathing] [clack] Stop that, stop that.

This ain't gonna happen.

[thud] We'll be there by tomorrow at this rate.

This is not gonna work.

[clattering] Can't do this.

[grunts] Damn it.

[clunk] This--yeah, this just doesn't work.

This isn't gonna work.

[grunting] Damn it.

Hey, there's no way I'm gonna make this happen.

Either I'm gonna break my wheels or an axel or something.

[exhales] I don't know how we'd do this.

Just looking up there, I just don't have any clue.

I knew this would be hard, but until I saw it, I didn't know just how difficult this was gonna be.

This one's already to the point of infection, and you don't wanna be up here in a tent running 104 degree fever if something happens.

If I have to get down off it in a hurry for any reason, I don't wanna have to call my friendly helicopter.

I think we start heading down, as much as I hate to say that.

[solemn music] ♪ ♪ [clunk] ♪ ♪ all: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ - [whistles] all: ♪ Happy birthday ♪ ♪ Dear Bob ♪ - ♪ Dear Bobert ♪ - Aww, the fire stories.

all: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ - ♪ And many more before you drop on the floor ♪ - Am I gonna hold it?

- Only if you want to.

- Or are you gonna hold it?

Poof.

both: [singing] - He ended up in the hospital because he had diabetic ketoacidosis.

And it was a little scary this time.

If he wants to try it again, I'm in favor of doing that, but I want him to be safe.

- Hi!

How's your day been?

You had a nap.

I didn't have a nap.

- I want him to reach for the stars.

I want all of his dreams to be met, but I want him to be around to enjoy what that will bring him.

And he's got a daughter and grandchildren, and I'm like, family comes first, and the mountain comes second.

The mountain isn't gonna bring you chicken soup when you're not feeling good.

It isn't gonna give you a hug, and it isn't gonna tell you it loves you.

- I used to have dreams when I was a teenager of a doctor telling me that I only had six months to live, and I just told him, "No!"

And I ran out of the office, and I just kept running, trying to outrun whatever it was that was gonna kill me.

I'm trying to outrun age.

I'm trying to outrun diabetes.

I'm trying to outrun all these things by continuing to do all these, you know, "crazy" things up in the--up in the mountains.

After trying Kearsarge twice, and some would say "failing"-- I don't use that word.

It's not a failure.

It's a learning experience, and I am still thinking of Africa and Argentina.

There's a 23,000-footer in Argentina that I think would be wonderful.

[squeaking] It's a muck test.

- That's awesome.

I'm so impressed.

- Oh, just years of doing it, you know?

- That's so neat.

- You either learn or you get wet a lot.

- Yeah.

- 60's just another milestone that really doesn't mean anything.

I honestly don't feel any different than I did at 20.

Probably a little wiser in some respects, and probably a little bit more of a wise-ass in more respects.

But you've gotten to this place in life where, God, you made it this far.

You weren't necessarily supposed to.

You start to get some props for what you've done, crazily traveling trails throughout the country in a wheelchair.

♪ ♪ It isn't all about ADA flat, paved trails.

You don't have to just stick to those things.

If you keep pushing, and the chair keeps going forward, then just take it as far as you can go.

♪ ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ ♪ [bright orchestral music] - This program was funded in part by the East Bay Regional Parks, connecting parks to people.

GU Energy Labs.

Portable nutrition for every athletic endeavor.

And by the Berkeley Film Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, Lise and Jeffrey Wilks Family Foundation, Pacific Pioneer Fund, Fleishhacker Foundation.

A complete list of funders is available at APTonline.org.

"4 Wheel Bob" is available on DVD for $19.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

To order, please visit www.4wheelbobfilm.com.

Offer made by KRCB Public Media.