@Chris.Hikes.USA: A healing trek into the wild
Around the 2nd week of September this past fall, we received an email with the subject line: “Sponsorship Request” from Chris Eubank, a wonderful young man who life had thrown some pretty nasty curve balls over the past few years. Chris provided his number and inspired by what little he knew about Chris, our owner, Don reached out to see how we could help.
@Chris.Hikes.USA and his dogs Baxter and Kai
In talking with Chris, Don learned a bit about his life including the tremendous highs and lows that he had experienced in the past several years. Chris explained that he was about to set out on what he was calling a “Gump hike” similar to where when life handed Forrest Gump a box of chocolates, he got a few that didn’t set well in his life, so he went on his running journey of healing.
Chris’ wife Erin had passed away from liver cancer in September of 2023. In September of 2024 he had just turned 40 years old and was caring for 2 dogs, a yellow lab named Kai and his wife’s Australian /dachshund mix named Baxter who would both be joining him on his journey. Chris had been a boat captain and business owner the past 20 years, however life had different plans for him that would prevent him from going back out to sea without finding someone to care for his dogs.
The back story: Chris joined the US Coast Guard at 19, and was stationed at Kodiak Alaska, then Bahrain in Saudi Arabia, then wound up in station LALB in California. When he got out of the Coast Guard, he helped to start an Inc. 500 company and worked on that for 2 years. To quote Chris he then got a “wild hair” and went to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates with $65.00 in his bank account. He did very well in Abu Dhabi and met his beautiful wife Erin who was a US citizen transplant school teacher in the area. They returned to the US and Chris became a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) boat captain. Chris caught the fishing bug (like so many of us) so he became a captain of multiple fishing charter vessels out of Monterey California when he decided that he wanted to start his own fishing bait and tackle business in partnership with Erin. These were the best days of their lives, with Erin digging in, helping to run the business and getting her hands dirty sorting squid and other bait coveted by the local charter captains and sport fishermen and women.
Like so many small businesses in 2020, they had to close shop due to COVID which put a lot of stress and strain on their relationship, causing them to separate for a year. Erin moved back home to Georgia during that year, then moved back out to California with the terrible diagnosis of liver cancer. They were able to spend the last 6 months together before Erin passed in September of 2023. You can follow this link to hear his story in his own words.
Chris is jumping with both feet into the outdoors, nature and the community of fellow campers and hikers he meets along the way to rekindle the spark of life and fill the void left by his experience of tremendous loss over the past few years.
We are honored to be sponsoring Chris on this journey. Don personally met up with Chris right before he set off on the trail to ensure Chris and his dogs Kai and Baxter had everything they needed to get out on the trail.
Don with Chris before he set off on his journey.
You can find most of the gear that we sponsored Chris with in his very own product catalog category https://themountainexp.com/product-category/camping-hiking-equipment/chris-hikes-usa/.
We are offering 15% off all products in our catalog by using coupon code “@Chris.Hikes.USA” at checkout to everyone and will continue to sponsor Chris as he continues on his journey. You can also follow Chris on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@chrishikesusa
A message from Don: I started this company coming out of my own healing journey of battling life long demons of alcoholism and in some cases nearly losing everything near and dear to me and in others completely destroying my relationship with the love of my life and the plans we had made together. That was just a little over a year ago and was the lowest point in my life. It was through putting on some boots, waders, skis, cycling shoes, chopping wood, carrying water, providing service to others and getting outside and reconnecting with nature that I started to heal.
Chris and his personal journey of healing embodies the complete spirit of what we are trying to accomplish with The Mountain Exp. It is not about profit margin and revenue for us. It is about enabling everyone to get outside to reconnect on their own path. This is an amazing planet with so many wonderful people, opinions, views, adventures, smells, sights, to experience. I am living proof that by reconnecting with the outdoors and other human beings through service, incredible healing can begin to take place. Finding great products and offering them up to our community at the lowest possible price will enable more people to connect, heal, as well as become educated about our natural resources and engage together in working to protect the relationships and resources for future generations.
We here at the Mountain Exp are excited to share more stories about Chris and his journey. You can also follow him on Instagram at @Chris.Hikes.USA and we’ll be posting more stories about Chris and our other great community members on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X in the weeks and months to come.
Chris, you inspire all of us, and we know that you are going to inspire everyone you come in contact with on your journey and through your social media out reach. As you have said, “when life kicks you down, sometimes you need to just put on some boots and walk”.
Bravo! You have our commitment and support all the way!
