I got dressed in the dark this morning. It’s not unusual for me, having spent the last 20 years leading backcountry camping trips through the Southwestern U.S. A far cry from tasting whiskey in a Baltimore bar.

But here I am.

It’s been five years since my family and I moved from Flagstaff, Arizona to Baltimore, Maryland to help run a start-up whiskey business dedicated to inspiring a global passion for Maryland Rye Whiskey. Despite the obvious differences, the journey of launching a whiskey brand isn’t much different from leading hikes in the Grand Canyon.

It’s about the people.

The young guys still go after the rattle snakes. Everyone picks up extra shifts. Most teammates arrive before 7AM and the last shift ends after midnight. We spend weeks planning for the season and mapping the terrain. There’s a lot of risk, without knowing the reward.

But thirty-five states later and a shipment to Japan, I can say – we’re trailblazing.