BY KAREN BOSSICK

Brendan Hall always dreamed of driving from the East Coast as the sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean and heading west, ending his trip as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.

In 2016, in conjunction with the National Parks Service centennial, the grandson of Sun Valley resident Sid Grant did just that. Accompanied by a boyhood friend, now a school principal, Hall scooted behind the steering wheel of his Subaru and drove 10,000 miles across the United States, photographing many of the nation’s national parks along the way.

He turned his footage into “Out There: A National Parks Story.” And he’ll show the feature-length documentary at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, at The Liberty Theater in Hailey. Wade Vagias, superintendent for South Idaho Parks, including Craters of the Moon and Minidoka, will join him for a Q&A after the screening.

“The film showcases the beauty of the parks,” said Hall. “We thought it would be a film about the landscape and how the national parks preserve wilderness. What we didn’t expect was all the incredible people we would meet--the people who manage the parks and the people on the trails. They’re incredible humans, and this film tells the stories of those who love the parks--it becomes an exploration of the human stories in the national parks.”

Hall met his first “incredible human” in Maine’s Acadia National Park where he started his journey. There, the park’s trails foreman Gary Stellpflug took him along some of the 155 miles of Acadia’s trails he’d built, restored and maintained for 35 years.

“It was incredible to see a member of the National Park Service who has been working on the trails so long, who was so willing to show us something he loves so much,” said Hall.

In the West, he ran into French-Vietnamese photographer QT Luong, who came to the United States to climb at Yosemite National Park and fell in love with the country’s national parks.

“He set out to be the first person to photograph all the parks using large format film similar to what Ansel Adams used,” said Hall. “He’s an immigrant who was so moved by this traditionally American idea of the National Park Service that he worked tirelessly for two decades, carrying around a 70-pound backpack with this large format camera and photographing what became a book titled ‘Treasure Lands.’ ”

Hall started his trip on July 4 and finished Oct. 31.

He and his friend had one bear encounter that was closer than they would’ve liked. They were forced by blizzard to leave Arches and Capitol Reef parks. And they were unable to access Yosemite and Sequoia national parks due to wildfire.

But they watched the sun set at the Grand Canyon and walked among the Redwoods. They became good friends with the French-Vietnamese photographer, accompanying him on visits to five national parks, including Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska.

And, later, Luong would shoot Hall’s engagement photos in Yosemite National Park on his large format camera in what Hall described as a “full circle moment.”

Hall started his trip watching the sun rising over Acadia National Park and ended it in Washington’s Olympic National Park watching the fireball sink into the ocean.

Hall, who grew up in Connecticut and now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., spent seven years putting the 75-minute film together, returning to some parks to film more footage.

He’s incredulous that he’s releasing the film at the same time that, he says, the parks are under siege due to staff firings and defunding.

“The thing that really struck me was how many incredibly dedicated employees there are in the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and other agencies who give up so much of their lives and make such tremendous sacrifices in the love of preserving these parks and protecting them,” he said.

“Firing staff dishonors the years they’ve put into preserving these places, and it’s only going to make all our experiences less impactful as there’ll be fewer staff to do the important work they need to do, whether it’s scientific research or interpretation or maintenance. People should not underestimate the severity of what’s going on in our national parks—we need to support these organizations.”

Hall said he is proud to bring the film to Sun Valley where he visited his grandmother each year, skiing in winter and hiking in summer.

“Sun Valley was the first place I got to see big mountains and wildflowers, go on hikes in the Sawtooth Mountains, where I fell in love with photographing the night sky,” he said. “Being in nature, visiting Redfish Lake and Craters of the Moon, inspired me.

“Craters, for me, is an incredible place with incredible landscape. It’s where I saw the International Space Station pass by for the first time. I tell people that Idaho is an underrated state or lesser-known state in terms of nature. But maybe we need to keep it that way to not spoil things.”

IF YOU GO:

Friends of Minidoka will present “Out There: A National Parks Story” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, at The Liberty Theater in Hailey. Wade Vagias, superintendent of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and Minidoka National Historic Site, will join Hall for a Q&A following the film. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youth.

The film will be shown on Monday, May 5, at The Orpheum Theatre in Twin Falls. Elizabeth PW, the composer and original score songwriter for the film, will provide music at 6:30 p.m. and the film will start at 7 p.m. Hall will conduct a Q&A after the screening.

The film will be shown on Wednesday, May 7, at The Egyptian Theatre in Boise. Music by Elizabeth PW starts at 6:30 p.m. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. Hall will conduct a Q&A after the screening.