Later, when asking his squad buddies who might be interested in accompanying him on his world adventure, he was directed to a fellow who was “fearless”, having climbed Mt. Fijiyama, a daunting task in itself, in hip-deep snow in December. “I thought to myself this just might be the kind of guy I’m looking for.” Upon meeting the daring fellow, Dean Fisher, Noble found him to be the same CCA officer that had guided him in the through the clouds. Learning that this man’s impetus to make the 12,000-foot Mt. Fijiyama climb, in the snow, no less, revolved around the opportunity to see a rare bird, Noble knew this was the perfect match. “Dean was a real passionate ornithologist who would endure any kind of situation to see a new bird,” he said.
Q. WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU COMBINE TWO NAVY BUDDIES, A 5-TON JEEP AND AN INCREDIBLE SENSE OF ADVENTURE? A. AN AMAZING 6-CONTINENT TREK THAT LASTED 1,116 DAYS AND COVERED MORE THAN 110,000 MILES (80,000 LAND MILES AND 30,000 AIR AND SEA MILES). And that’s just a quick summary of the journey that Noble Trenham, aka Global Noble, and his friend, Dean Fisher, embarked upon in January 1959. TRAILBLAZER recently interviewed Noble…a man who can definitely be considered a true trailblazer.
GLOBAL NOBLE
A
dmitting that he comes from an “adventuresome family”, Noble had visited Europe and seen much of the Western Pacific while serving as a pilot in the Navy, but he felt he was “missing out on the people.” So he got the notion to visit 75 countries over a 15-month span. “While my family was all for the idea, no one else believed it could be done,” said Noble. He approached Jeep to see about the possibility of them providing a vehicle and was met with the same reaction: “No
20
APRIL 2012 | TRAILBLAZER
After a proper christening of breaking a bottle of champagne over the front bumper, the Roadrunner was ready to go. Armed with an 8-page itinerary, and an overloaded truck (designed to carry 7,000 pounds, all in the Roadrunner was carrying 9,500), they hit the road. The date – January 25, 1959. The original plan for fifteen months soon stretched into 37 months (or 1,116 days) and they arrived home on February 16, 1962. So where did they go, what did they see, and what did they learn? We’ll have more on Noble and Dean’s incredible journey in our May TraiBlazer. n
Holding treasured Curare-tipped arrows from primative South Amercian Amazon Indians in Peru
one believed a 25-year-old kid could make this trip successfully,” he said, adding that Jeep agreed to cover the cost of parts for the journey provided Noble bought the Jeep. The other essential “item” for the trip was the ideal travel companion. “I am a gregarious guy so I knew I had to find a travel partner who had equal passion for the mission to see the world,” he said. How he did that proved to be another interesting piece of this story. Navy pilots are often tasked with landing on the carrier in the least ideal of conditions. During one event, Noble had only one chance to land under very foggy conditions or bail. “I had to rely upon the Combat Center Arena Radar Officer to keep me aligned with the center line of the carrier as I could not see the carrier through the clouds,” he said. “If he was not able to align me, I would have crashed into the side of the ship. Alignment was crucial.” Safely guided in, the landing was a success.
Pre-launch Southern California location
APRIL 2012 | TRAILBLAZER
21