Libby native goes coast-to-coast for charity

A Libby native and his scooter gang are riding across the country for a documentary and to raise awareness for children in distress.

Since July 5, Justin Barnes, son of Tracie Joni Barnes of Libby, has been riding 3,700 miles in an eight-scooter fleet from Fernandina Beach, Fla. all the way to Mukilteo, Wash. on their “Highway to Heal” ride to raise awareness for the Moyer Foundation, which helps youth impacted by the death of a loved one or family substance abuse addiction.

Barnes is a 2005 graduate of Libby High School. Since leaving Libby to find adventures on the road, he graduated from Shoreline Community College with a degree in mass communications and media studies. He currently works as a media strategist with Hubbard Broadcasting Inc.

They are expected to reach their destination in Mukilteo sometime today.

Their route is part of an existing route called the “Cannonball Ride.” Barnes decided he wanted to do the ride two years ago, and since then he’s been planning the trip with friends, Paul Green, Joe Hammill, Elliott Snyder, Derric Hoffman, Jesse Morriow, Ron Araya and Sean Porter.

“It’s awesome.” Joni said. “I wish I could do it too, if I could. He’s a good kid, he’s been responsible ever since he left home.”

When Barnes took a phone interview with The Western News, he was currently doing 48 miles per hour down Highway 278 through the Montana mountains. Through a hands-free headset, Barnes said they had just came up the Bighorn Pass in Wyoming where they climbed thousands of feet in elevation.

Barnes said while they’ve enjoyed each region they’ve traveled through, the beginning of their trip has been the most difficult.

“The worst part has been the south, Georgia and Florida, it was so humid,” Barnes said. “They took a lot longer than they should have and they were so sweaty. It was pretty, but it was so uncomfortable.”

The journey hasn’t been completely trouble-free. While riding through Kansas on day four, one of the riders experienced a transmission failure.

“There was eight of us riding, I was in the front,” Barnes said, “The guy behind me, his transmission went and he went into the ditch. I thought that he was going to have a terrible crash, but he managed to keep the bike straight the entire time. We got really lucky. About a mile before that or a mile after that, he would have hit a guardrail or the fence.”

They also experienced some unexpected weather, seeking shelter in an abandoned barn for two-and-a-half hours to wait out a rainstorm while they were on their way to Tennessee.

Barnes said that when the gang decided to participate, they wanted to raise awareness for an honorable cause and ultimately decided to raise awareness for The Moyer Foundation.

“When we decided to participate, we decided that we should do something noble, and we decided to raise awareness for what we’re doing,” Barnes said.

They also decided to turn the endeavor into a documentary. Before their project, they set up an online donation fund on Kickstarter.com to raise funds for to film their journey. The campaign started on May 18 and ended on June 20. Barnes said within 18 hours — the same day — they hit their goal dollar amount of $21,805.

According to Barnes, they are hoping to release the documentary by the end of this year.

Barnes also gave some advice to anyone in Libby who wants to go on a journey like this one.

“I remember when I was a little kid that I always wanted to go on a big adventure,” Barnes said. “My advice to anyone out there that wants to go on a journey like this, decide you want to do it and don’t back out. Just do it. If it puts you in debt for a little bit, you can pay it off.”

For more information on their ride, visit highwaytohealride.com. You can follow Barnes’ journey at www.instagram.com/onairjustin.

Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com.