The Long Trail Out

Director - Cinematographer - Editor

There are those among us who carry burdens we never see, endure trials we never hear about and who carry pain which we never understand. Tim Buchanan has lived his life hiding in plain sight, enduring staggering loneliness while surrounded by friends. The Long Trail Out tells the story of a man who has persevered through his challenges, and dedicated his life to becoming a mentor to others in spite of them. His story is a story of courage, strength, and compassion in a world which only recently began to accept him for who he is.

Over the course of two years I captured Tim Buchanan, a lifelong youth mentor and mountaineer, as he set out to live as an openly gay man after 70 years of hiding. The film takes place on the Presidential Traverse. One of the hardest hikes in the northeast.