Take A Hike: Ted "Cave Dog" Keizer

What was Ted "Cave Dog " Keizer thinking while hiking through each of the 50 states in only 100 days?

We're glad you asked.

1. Bob Marshall was an American original.

Whenever I go to challenge a record, I feel it’s really important to research the heritage of that record: What are the ethics by which people have competed and come up with their rules? So, when I was researching the Adirondacks 46 High Peaks Record, I came across Bob Marshall. He and his brother, George, and a friend, Herb Clark, did the first speed record. Marshall is a fascinating character, someone who we owe a huge debt of gratitude to for what he’s done to help preserve our wild lands. He helped with the International Park Service, building the Appalachian Trail and he founded the Wilderness Society. Six hundred names on our map today were coined by him.

2. It was a privilege to do a portion of Bob’s most famous New York, Adirondack route.

Bob was the only one who had ever done it – in 1932. But he did it in July, with full daylight and good summer conditions, which wasn’t possible for us. I was doing it on Nov. 28. We knew that was the worst possible time to try it. It was trying to do 14 of the highest peaks in New York. And there were these sheets of ice, and the weather was terrible. We had gale force winds that tossed me about. You had to hold on to trees and limbs just to keep from being blown off the mountain. I did six of the 14 peaks. That’s when I knew I had to get down to lower elevation and get my mileage. Bob did all 14.

3. Hawaii was really phenomenal.

On the Napali Coast on Kauai, on the Kalalau Trail, you’re in this dense tropical forest. And then you come out, and you’re in this volcanic landscape with cliffs going down 700 feet into the crashing waves. There were herds of wild goats, and we actually saw a wild boar, which is unusual. Then the trail finished into this pristine beach, that you could only get to by foot or boat, and it had a waterfall. I mean, you couldn’t have dreamed up a better hike. And I’ve never seen so many rainbows. And we even saw, after dark, a moonbow, which I didn’t even know existed.

4. I guess in some ways, it makes sense to call me the “Pied Piper” of hiking.

One of the really interesting components to this challenge was that we invited people to come out and hike with me. They didn’t have to do a 50K hike. They could do 1 mile, or 5 miles, or 10 miles, or whatever they were up to. So, every hike we had a different group of people coming out.

5. I got my nickname from living in a cave for a couple of months.

I was a ski bum in Crested Butte, Colo. When you’re a ski bum, you want to ski as much as you can and work as little as you can. So I searched around in the woods and I found a cave. Saved on rent. I slept in a ski mask and goggles, and had two sleeping bags, one inside the other, to keep warm. Anyway, I had a friend who was an executive chef in Crested Butte, and everybody called him “Scurvy Dog.” So, since I was hanging out with Scurvy Dog, and living in a cave, people kind of put that together.

6. The security in the capitol was amazing.

We were in D.C. on a non-hiking day, and I took a GPS and did circles around the monuments and memorials. The last one was the Jefferson Memorial, at night, and I was in this park, and it started raining with miserable conditions. Nobody was in the park. I was walking along this path when this police car came by, and the officer was screaming at me: “Do you have any guns or knives?” And I’m like, “No, no, no, I’m just a hiker.” He patted me down, had me sit on the bumper of the car, then two more police cars came. Turns out there was a stabbing in the area and they didn’t have any description, so they were pulling over anyone they could find. They found me because nobody else would be out there on a night like that. At the same time, my support crew was in the RV trying to rendezvous with me, and the Capitol Police descended upon them and told them they couldn’t be driving a vehicle that big in the area. I found it really amusing.

7. The scariest moment of my journey was in Alabama.

In the Sipsey Wilderness area. I hadn’t really expected it to be a difficult hike. It was moderately difficult during the day, but when it got to be dark, I was by myself. I got into this section … I believe it was Hurricane Ivan that went through last year, and just tore the forest to pieces.

So, I look around, and you can’t see that far with a headlamp, but I could hardly see any trees still standing. They were all just a jumbled mess on the ground. So it was in the middle of this really difficult section that I was standing on this log, and it cracked under my weight. I fell forward and there was this broken-off limb, about 2 inches in diameter, and my whole body went straight forward, and I hit my left eye. It could’ve taken my eye out if I weren’t wearing special glasses. But tt gave me a shiner, and it was rather disorienting and intense.

8. The one mountain I want to conquer before I die is Teocalli in Colorado.

It’s on the western slope of Colorado. In the winter, it has all these horizontal ledges. So the snow collects, and these layers become striped, it looks like a pyramid, with stripes of white and dark colors. It looks like you’re looking at one of the great pyramids of Giza.

9. Hiking strengthens your constitution as a man.

In a general sense, when you’re living on the trail – or the road – you have to be resourceful, or you’re not going to make it. It teaches you to work with what you have. These challenges take kind of a contradictory personality type to make it work. You have to be intense. There’s no way you’re going to keep going if you don’t have that intensity. Yet, if you’re so intense – and worked up about it – when it gets really bad and you’re feeling fatigued, it’s gonna eat you up. You have to have that intensity when it’s appropriate, but you also have to be laid back enough to take what comes at you. In many ways, it teaches you how to approach each situation for what it’s worth, in the correct mindset – which you can bring into every aspect of your life.

The Man: Ted Keizer
Age: 34
Nickname: Cave Dog
Hometown: Coos Bay, Ore.
The Mission: The Duofold Hike 50 Challenge - 50K hikes in 50 states in 100 days.
The Result: Accomplished in 76 days.

1. Have enough food and water.

2. Carry a headlamp. Even if it’s going to be a morning hike. You never know what could happen.

3. Wear top-quality clothing. It protects you from the elements. The two most important pieces of your clothing are your outer shell – which keeps you from getting wet – and your base layer, because that’s what’s next to your skin.

4. Don’t forget a map and compass. You gotta know where you are. GPS systems have really become a lot more useful in recent years now that they have Topo maps on them, and it shows you where you are on the map. Before it was just latitude and longitude. And who thinks in latitude and longitude? Computers maybe. But you can’t rely on GPS. What if you drop it and it breaks? The batteries could go dead. It could get wet …

When Ted “Cave Dog” Keizer hiked the 50 states, he knew shorts and a T-shirt wouldn’t cut it. Not in the peaks of the Adirondacks or the slopes of Colorado. That’s why he wore base layer by Duofold. In the newest Snowbound line, the base layer includes:- Seamless stretch technology- Anti-odor and moisture-wicking properties- Body mapping (adding fabric to key muscle areas) to massage muscles and reduce fatigue.

For more information, visit www.duofold.com