Adventure traveler and his mule turn heads in Fort Collins

Polly the mule has made an impression on Fort Collins.

Everywhere the 22-year-old creature has gone this week with her handler and friend Bernie Harberts, she’s been met by admirers hoping to give her a scratch behind the ears or a pat on the muzzle.

It’s all good for the sturdy and patient Polly, Harberts said, although he knows the importance of keeping an eye on her. She’s has a Houdini-like ability to escape, he said.

She’s also prone to eat interesting things within her reach, such as a “very expensive-looking plant” outside the Bohemian Foundation’s headquarters in Old Town.

“She will go where she wants when she wants,” he said. “She’s a mule.”

Harberts and Polly are in Fort Collins promoting “The Lost Sea Expedition,” a television documentary about a “voyage” they made together across the Great Plains in 2009.

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With Polly pulling a homemade, solar-powered wagon, Harberts traveled about 2,500 miles across 10 states from Canada to Mexico. The “Lost Sea” refers to the vast waterway that covered the area millions of years ago.

Remnants of the ocean can be found in geological formations and the fossils of sea creatures. But during the 14-month journey, Harberts said, he became just as interested in the people he met along the way.

People living on the windswept plains face a variety of contemporary issues, including the impact of automation on farming and rural lifestyles, depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer underneath the Great Plains and the tension between religious beliefs and science, he said.

Harberts said he wasn’t entirely prepared or organized for the trip. He was vulnerable, and people responded to him in genuine ways.

“Traveling so exposed to the elements with this mule was an incredibly elemental way of approaching the trip,” he said. “It really opened up the story of America on the Great Plains.”

Harberts and Polly averaged about 6 miles a day during the trip. Harberts filmed the adventure without support staff. From the journey came a four-part television series that is expected to be aired later this year on Rocky Mountain PBS.

Harberts is raising money to help complete production of the series. He and Polly are making the rounds to local foundations and companies to make the fundraising pitch.

On Tuesday, they visited New Belgium Brewing Co., much to the delight of visitors. Passersby stopped to pet Polly and to take a peek at the 21-square-foot interior of the bright yellow wagon.

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The North Caolina-based Harberts, 49, enjoys a good adventure. In addition to crossing the country with a mule and wagon, twice, he’s sailed around the world alone.

He spends a lot of time on social media promoting his work and connecting with people. But he advises against spending too much time staring at screens when there is so much to see in the world with one’s own eyes.

And one must keep an eye on one’s mule. During the trip across the plains, Polly slipped her picket line four or five times and ran away.

After an escape in Montana, a plea for help on a public radio station helped track her down.

“On the Great Plains, running away is not like losing your dog in Fort Collins,” he said. “Running away is like your animal vanishes.”

Kevin Duggan is a Coloradoan senior reporter covering local government. Follow him on Twitter, @coloradoan_dugg, and on Facebook at Coloradoan Kevin Duggan.

Check out 'The Lost Sea Expedition'

To learn more about 'The Lost Sea Expedition' and to make a donation toward airing the documentary series, visit lostseaexpedition.com.