Rock Climbing Legends
The documentary Catching Pinecones (2026), directed by Chad Heddleston, was a pleasure to watch at the recent Fresh Coast Film Festival in Traverse City, Michigan. The film follows Jan and Herb Conn, a then-young couple in post-World War II America who decide to live their lives the way they want, and ignore what society expects of them.
They seem destined for each other: as teens, they prefer to be away from people and out in the woods. During World War II they work for the Department of Navy in Washington DC, where—of all places!— they learn about rock climbing. Herb’s drafted and serves his time in the Navy, but once he’s back, they just take off—quitting their jobs and living the #VanLife, sleeping in a truck, traveling the country and, as Jan puts it, “When we saw an interesting rock, we’d get out and climb it.” They become rock climbing legends, still talked about today.
They choose a life of voluntary simplicity (poverty) to live the life they want. This is the most important message of the movie. Readers may argue whether the Conns were privileged enough to “live poor” but the movie does a good job of showing just how much the Conns gave up any privileges they had. And how you don’t need all the latest cool (expensive) gear and clothes in order to out and climb a mountain.
They eventually buy 20 acres (at $50/acre!) in the Black Hills area of South Dakota, which offers them rock climbing adventures. They build a shack on their land, the back wall is a rock wall, and live there for 30 years. Even when they later build more of a cabin nearby, they stay in their shack and use the cabin for visitors.
Throughout the movie, Jan’s asked what other people thought of their activities and life, and her reply is always, “We didn’t care! We didn’t care what other people thought!”
Herb Conn died by the time this film was in production, but the filmmakers include archival footage. An engineer, Herb would end up plotting and mapping the caves at the then-new Jewel Caves national monument, maps which the park still uses. And, according to his calculations and measurements, there are hundreds of miles of caves left to be discovered and explored. He also made and sold leather goods, and wrote science-fiction stories.
But Jan Conn is the core of this movie. Even without all the traveling, living free, rock climbing and caving, she’d be an interesting person: a self-taught musician, she played flute, classical guitar, double-bass and cello. Another side-gig was giving music lessons, and she learns to repair instruments too. She’s a singer-songwriter, and writes a musical, Catching Pinecones. The soundtrack for Catching Pinecones, the documentary, is all from her bluegrass-country songs.
Jan’s a wise woman, reflected above all in her humor. Every time she’s on-screen she’s smiling and glowing, with a smart sharp comeback to every question, and this when she’s in her 90s. For example, modern rock climbers always have a pouch of chalk on their belts to keep their fingers dry. When the filmmakers ask her if she and Herb ever used chalk, she replies, “We didn’t have chalk back then. We just used our muscles!”
Catching Pinecones is making the rounds in the film festival circuit, yet to be picked up by a distributor. Great movie to see in theaters, for all the cinematography—stunning shots of the Needles area of the Black Hills—though it’d at least be a great addition to Netflix. In the after-show Q&A, the cinematographer, Parker Michels-Boyce, in reply to a questioner who said she thought people needed to see his movie for education purposes, he said he hopes to make to movie available online in some way. You can visit the website (catchingpinecones.com) and get on the mailing list for updates. Trailer available on YouTube.