0:00

If the first 50 years were

0:02

an experiment to prove that a business

0:05

could be Responsible and

0:07

successful turns out it's not

0:09

just possible. It's profitable So

0:12

what's next what's next is

0:14

simple

0:15

its human power, and it's finding the

0:17

joy in doing difficult things What's

0:20

next is turning capitalism on

0:22

its head and putting all our

0:25

money where our mouth is? What's

0:27

next is? unstoppable For

0:31

nearly 50 years Patagonia has given

0:33

a damn about people and the environment find

0:35

more at Patagonia.com slash

0:38

stories

0:43

You're listening to the dirtbag diaries a

0:45

production of duct tape then beer with additional

0:47

support from kuat because you love

0:50

your bike Ag1 foundational

0:52

nutrition that supports whole body health and

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Aero press the better coffee press

0:59

Before

1:01

We start the episode today. We wanted to let

1:03

you all know that during the month of October We

1:05

will be accepting submissions for the shorts,

1:08

so if you've got a story. Maybe it's funny

1:10

Maybe it's adventure riddled action-packed

1:13

hit us up Please go to our website

1:15

dirtbagdiaries.com and click on

1:17

the right for us button We

1:19

need all submissions by November 1st, and then we start

1:21

reviewing for the next year So please

1:23

get them in look forward to reading them. Thanks

1:26

now on to today's episode

1:28

you

1:33

Hail

1:33

we've got a short today one

1:35

that I really love about a truly epic

1:37

journey through an incredible landscape

1:39

and

1:41

We also have a little preview

1:43

of a project We've been doing over on the dirtbag

1:45

diaries plus alongside our listeners

1:47

there if you haven't heard We

1:50

earlier this year launched a subscription based service

1:53

for those who like a little bit more type to

1:55

fun in their lives who? Want a little bit more of the show

1:57

subscribers get ad free episodes in-depth

1:59

interviews, campfire chats, and an ongoing series

2:02

of Ask Me Anythings, which the team and

2:05

I have been responding to. The hotline

2:07

is open.

2:08

Hey,

2:36

Jer Beggars. My name is Leslie,

2:38

and I'm calling from Eugene, Oregon,

2:40

and I have an Ask Me Another question.

2:44

How do you market your outdoor

2:46

skills and experiences in job

2:48

interviews or resumes, especially

2:51

for those humdrum office

2:54

jobs that may not need you

2:56

to be

2:56

a beast on the rocks or the

2:58

slopes? First

3:00

off, that is a terrible idea. Don't

3:03

tell them that. Don't let them know

3:06

that

3:06

you are an outdoors person. Seriously, if you get an

3:09

interview and they ask about your hobbies, tell them you

3:11

are passionate about work and

3:13

occasionally TV, but mostly work and

3:16

sometimes online shopping. Because look,

3:19

I think the previous generation of reliably

3:22

employed dirtbags may have ruined it for

3:24

you. HR is on

3:26

to us. Look at it from the employer's perspective.

3:29

When there's 12 inches of fresh at the mountain, do

3:31

they want you calling in with a mysterious flu?

3:34

And how long before they catch on that

3:36

you actually don't go to the dentist 20

3:38

times a year? And in fact, you

3:41

just ran a little late because you went mountain biking

3:43

that morning.

3:44

Seriously, while we all know

3:47

that our experiences in the outdoors are powerful

3:49

moments that can prepare us to be calm,

3:51

cool, and collected

3:53

when

3:54

proverbial shit hits the fan, I'm

3:56

not totally sure that corporate

3:59

America. knows or cares

4:02

about that reality. Plus, if

4:04

you keep it a secret, when you show up

4:06

to work on Mondays with your hands all beat up and

4:08

a wild look in your eyes and you've

4:11

got the calmness around the water cooler,

4:13

your boss will never know if he's

4:16

dealing with a dirtbag or covert

4:18

operative.

4:19

That'd be pretty cool.

4:22

Alright, next question.

4:24

Hey Diaries team, this is Kevin Orks

4:26

from North Bend, Washington with the question for

4:29

you. We all know about the Ten Essentials,

4:31

but what is your 11th essential?

4:34

Coffee. That's

4:36

definitely my 11th essential, although I'm not

4:38

even sure I can name the Ten Essentials,

4:43

but I'm 100% willing to guess

4:46

that they do not put coffee on that list. Okay,

4:49

here I go. Where are they? There would be a map, fire,

4:53

like a space blanket, water

4:56

food, layers

4:59

rain jacket. I

5:01

don't even know what I'm up with.

5:03

Anyway, oh, headlamp

5:07

and first aid kit. And I think I'm missing one,

5:10

but I have to say there have definitely been trips

5:12

in the last year where I have not brought

5:14

a tent or a space blanket and

5:17

I've definitely bought coffee. So,

5:20

I don't know, like,

5:22

tent, coffee, I

5:24

don't know, there's this thing called the weather forecast. Check

5:27

it. So, my 11th is definitely

5:29

coffee. Also, the likelihood

5:31

that I need first aid definitely goes up

5:34

if I am not caffeinated. Hi

5:37

Fitz, it's Thaddeus from New Paltz, New York. I

5:40

love what the dirtbag diaries is and will forever

5:42

be thankful for what it has given me, but

5:44

knowing that I'm part of a community that is much larger

5:47

than me. Something that I've wondered

5:49

about and would love to hear about in a future episode

5:51

is what is your vision for the future

5:53

final form of the dirtbag diaries? What

5:56

happens to the dirtbag diaries when you want to retire?

6:00

will the project stay alive at Infinum or will

6:02

there someday be an end to the dirtbag diaries?

6:05

I realize this is probably a very hard question

6:07

to answer because the answer now could change in

6:09

the future but I am interested in your

6:11

thoughts on this rather than having to anticipate

6:13

the event. Thanks for all your hard work. Well,

6:18

first off,

6:19

fad, let me say, I've been insanely

6:21

grateful for the last 17 years and

6:24

I think

6:24

it would have been super hard for me to even

6:26

imagine when I was 27

6:29

years old, when I started the show, or 28 years

6:31

old maybe, where it was going to take

6:33

me after those first few episodes. And

6:35

I didn't really have much of a plan besides maybe doing

6:38

five of them. You know, I just didn't, I

6:40

didn't, I didn't know. It's obviously

6:42

very hard to predict the future. But

6:45

there also comes a point where you

6:47

realize you have to work towards

6:49

a version of the future you

6:51

want to see, a version of yourself you want to be,

6:54

which is really what a lot of the dirtbag

6:56

diaries is about. I do

6:58

know there is a version where we

7:01

don't evolve, where we do the same thing

7:03

over and over and we don't

7:05

go to bat for the things we care about.

7:08

And slowly, you know, if you take that

7:10

route, we know

7:12

that slowly the show and the community just sort of goes

7:15

away, sort of disintegrates into thin air.

7:18

And I can see that version of that. And

7:20

I don't want that. I want the diaries to

7:22

be here for those who need it, who need

7:24

a connection to the outdoors, even if it's not

7:27

possible every day, who maybe

7:29

need a little nudge to chase the things they've

7:31

been daydreaming about, because that's

7:34

kind of what this show, what all of

7:36

you have done for me. That's

7:38

what you've helped this entire team do. You

7:41

know, right now, there are about 110,000 people

7:43

who listen to this show. And that is freaking

7:46

rad. Thank you so much. Fad,

7:49

Leslie and Kevin are some of the 500

7:51

listeners who have stepped up to

7:53

become Diaries Plus members. They

7:55

said, hey, look, I care about this project.

7:58

I want other people to hear it. I want to sustain

8:00

it. I want to keep it going because I believe

8:03

in this community. I believe in the power of the outdoors

8:05

to provide meaning and purpose. And

8:08

on top of it, they get extra shows, campfire conversations

8:11

and interviews, all ad frees, but it's

8:14

bigger than that though, right? They're sustaining it.

8:16

They're giving a little nudge to

8:18

people to get out there and try challenging

8:20

things because that's what we're doing as a team, right? And

8:24

we want to instigate a new

8:26

generation of adventures. You talk about whether or

8:28

not I'm gonna retire, what's gonna happen to the show. And I'm like,

8:31

man, I'm not even thinking that far ahead. I'm

8:33

thinking five years from now, can we keep doing

8:35

this? I'm thinking three years from now, can we keep doing

8:37

this? And I don't know the answer to that,

8:39

but I know that you all have a role to play

8:41

in it. If we

8:44

care about something, we need to support it. And

8:46

that's why I'm out here asking you right

8:48

now. I understand

8:51

everyone can't do it. I get it. That's

8:53

totally fair, but some of you do. And if

8:55

you think about it, a

8:58

thing of electrolytes at the grocery

9:00

store to put in your water bottle costs

9:02

more than $5 right now. I

9:04

think there's a thousand of you out there right now

9:07

that could step up and do this and help

9:09

us and allow us to give us a little extra

9:11

support so that we can start daydreaming. We can think about

9:13

how the show evolves. We don't totally

9:16

know what the future holds and that's awesome. We

9:18

get to think about it. We get to say, could we create live

9:21

events? Could we create more deep dive

9:23

multi-part stories? And

9:25

I think you might be

9:27

one of those thousand peoples. At

9:30

times in the last two decades, there have been moments

9:32

where the diary survival felt slightly

9:35

tenuous. So in my mind,

9:38

I have had to accept that the diaries might go away,

9:42

but if we do this together, I

9:44

think the diaries could last for 20. And

9:47

that will power and fuel another 20 years

9:49

of stories, memories, inspiration, and

9:51

adventure. So that's my hope that, and

9:55

if I get to retire doing this, that would

9:57

be pretty cool, but by

9:59

the time. And when that happens, I think I will be

10:02

surrounded by incredible voices who can keep

10:04

it going. That's my

10:06

vision, and I'm asking you to help

10:09

me do that. So check

10:11

out the link. It's in the show notes below. Consider

10:14

it. Can you be one of those thousand people

10:16

that keeps this project going? All

10:19

right. Now for an

10:21

incredible adventure.

10:38

In early July of 2008, I

10:41

was poised to travel north to Arctic Canada

10:44

into a vast sweep of tundra known as

10:46

the Barenlands. This

10:48

region is home to large migratory

10:50

herds of caribou, and I dearly

10:53

wish to witness their thousand-strong bi-annual

10:55

migration. Migrating from their wintering

10:57

grounds in the northern boreal forest to

11:00

their calving grounds on the Arctic tundra, the

11:02

massive herds are one of North America's

11:05

greatest wildlife spectacles. I

11:07

was hoping for intimate encounters with these Arctic

11:10

nomads, but I did not expect

11:12

to find myself face down in a heap of

11:14

their droppings. But now I'm getting

11:16

a bit ahead of myself. In

11:24

Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest

11:27

Territories, I squeezed myself

11:29

and all my gear into a small yellow floatplane

11:32

with my red canoe strapped to one pontoon. The

11:35

plain small interior was stuffed with waterproof

11:37

packs of food, clothes, cameras,

11:40

paddles, maps, and a little flask

11:42

of sudden comfort whiskey gifted to

11:45

me by some friends back home. After

11:47

two other long Arctic expeditions with friends,

11:49

I chose to travel alone this time, because

11:52

I was curious about what an extended period of

11:54

solitude would be like. I

11:56

also wanted to indulge my fascination with caribou.

12:00

and maybe roam around with them a bit, if

12:02

I could find any. The pilot flew

12:04

me three hundred miles northeast of Yellowknife

12:07

over a dazzling expanse of boreal forest

12:09

dotted with endless lakes and sparkling rivers.

12:13

As we flew further north, the scrubby

12:15

trees gave way to Tundra,

12:16

and some of the lakes were still frozen. After

12:20

two hours, the pontoons slapped down

12:22

near the headwaters of the Bailey River. Twenty

12:25

minutes later, the plain was a speck on

12:27

the horizon, and I was

12:29

all alone. The

12:32

great silence engulfed me. The air

12:34

was sweet and crisp in my nostrils. When

12:37

I set up my tent on a little beach, I

12:39

found caribou tracks in the sand. I

12:42

was tired after weeks of late-night preparations,

12:45

but at that moment my fatigue faded

12:48

away and I was simply elated to finally

12:50

be here, to have the entire summer

12:52

ahead to explore this remarkable place. Whoever

12:56

dubbed this place the Barrenlands must have been

12:58

a jet-pilot. From way

13:00

up there, the contours of the tundra become

13:03

flattened,

13:04

the colors diminished,

13:05

and the sounds and smells muted, compressing

13:08

a sensory carnival into a dull, flat

13:10

pane. You cannot

13:12

truly experience the Arctic from thirty thousand feet.

13:15

You need to get your feet on the ground. With

13:18

my boots planted here again, my curiosity

13:21

took over and I wandered esker ridges

13:23

late into the Arctic night, rediscovering

13:26

the tundra. It stretched out before

13:28

me like a giant tapestry, woven

13:31

with rich threads of color and texture, strands

13:34

of blue water, amber seams of sand,

13:37

colorful swatches of flowers, the

13:39

green flesh of spring. Each

13:41

thread intimately unified with the others

13:44

and punctuated with the tracks of wolves, left-goxing,

13:47

grizzlies, and of course,

13:49

caribou.

13:50

The rolling terrain and massive expanse of the

13:52

Barrenlands overwhelmed my senses at first. Walking

13:55

around, the sweet fragrance of lavador

13:57

tea crushed underfoot, the songs of when

14:00

crown sparrows and the pure vastness of

14:02

the country were all intoxicating.

14:05

Climbing to a hilltop, I encountered an immense

14:07

sky arcing overhead, matched

14:10

by vast reaches of tundra sweeping towards

14:12

a horizon impossibly far away. Yet

14:15

a place this big is full of surprises if you poke

14:17

around a bit. A copse of

14:19

tree growing a hundred miles north of tree line.

14:22

Wolves and foxes raising their pups side

14:24

by side in the same den. On

14:26

the second morning of my trip, I walked along

14:28

in esker and discovered a perfectly shaped

14:30

stone arrowhead lying in the sand. Perhaps

14:33

hundreds of years old, it looked like

14:35

it had just been placed there that day. I

14:38

suppose it was the sheer wildness of the

14:40

place and the little surprises it can hold

14:43

that had lured me back again. I

15:13

saw my first caribou of the trip on day four. No

15:15

land dwelling mammal on earth travels more

15:18

than caribou. They have evolved

15:20

one of the most efficient gates in the animal kingdom.

15:22

I watched the caribou glide

15:24

past with perfectly fluid strides, knees

15:27

high like a horse on a kerosene. I

15:30

scanned the hillsides but I didn't see any

15:32

more. I was

15:34

tired from a day of paddling so I made camp, ate

15:36

dinner and crawled into my tent. But

15:39

before I fell asleep, wolves began

15:41

to howl in the distance and I lay

15:43

alert listening until the chorus faded

15:46

away. The

15:50

next morning the pattering on the tent might have been

15:53

peaceful if I didn't know any better. It

15:55

was not the soothing sound of gentle rain but

15:58

thousands of black flies pinging off the night.

15:59

nylon.

16:01

I knew this moment would come. Blackflies

16:04

are ubiquitous during summer on the tundra, and

16:06

overnight the conditions became perfect for

16:08

the hatch. When

16:11

I emerged from my tent, I got mauled.

16:14

I ate breakfast while simultaneously being

16:16

eaten, and they came up with a new collective

16:18

noun like a murder of crows or

16:21

a pack of wolves.

16:23

This

16:23

was a atrocity of blackflies.

16:27

These tiny insects are the embodiment of

16:29

persistence, a flying, crawling,

16:32

biting nightmare that renders skin into

16:34

a wasteland of crusty scabs and wealth.

16:37

With so many bites on my face, one of my

16:39

eyes nearly swelled shut. Many

16:41

of the marauders ended up in my breakfast bowl, swimming

16:44

helplessly in the milky granola. So

16:47

I bit back, popping them between

16:49

my teeth. It felt like

16:51

sweet vengeance, but

16:53

impossibly, they

16:54

tasted like raspberries. After

17:05

the break, upriver paddling, portaging,

17:07

and caribou. More animals.

17:18

Support for the Diaries comes from the good people at

17:20

Patagonia. 50 years of business

17:22

unusual has taught Patagonia

17:25

a lot about how to hack traditional capitalism

17:28

and do better by the natural world. In their

17:30

new book, The Future of the Responsible

17:32

Company, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard

17:34

and director of philosophy, Vincent Stanley,

17:36

share stories hard-learn lessons and

17:39

practical tips to help other leaders rethink

17:41

business like our planet depends on

17:43

it. With the arrival of fall, it's a

17:45

great time for a new book. So check

17:47

it out. Find it online today at patagonia.com

17:50

slash books or in a local bookstore

17:53

near you. And support

17:55

comes from Kooat Racks. Right

17:58

now, the temperature is dropping. It's

18:00

time to throw a grip on your car. That

18:03

first day on the mountain is about

18:05

to hit. Are you ready? The

18:07

slide-out tray makes loading and unloading

18:10

easy, and with two sizes holding up

18:12

to six sets of skis or four snowboards,

18:14

the grip makes heading to the mountain a total

18:16

party. Because life's better with friends.

18:19

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18:22

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18:24

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18:26

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18:29

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18:32

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18:34

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18:36

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18:48

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19:02

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19:13

The late Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson

19:16

coined and popularized the term biophilia,

19:19

and defined it as the human urge to affiliate

19:22

with other forms of life. The

19:24

idea is that people have an innate attraction

19:27

to the natural world. In Wilson's

19:29

view, this attraction is refined through

19:31

experiencing culture, but is fundamentally

19:34

a product of biological evolution.

19:37

The biophilia hypothesis may help explain

19:39

why people crave getaways to summer cottages

19:42

or to the proverbial tropical island paradise.

19:45

It may also explain why children's books are filled

19:47

with animals, why nearly half of North

19:50

Americans have pets and houseplants, and

19:53

why American zoos have greater annual

19:55

attendance than the NFL, NBA,

19:58

NHL, and Major League Baseball. combined.

20:01

If asked to explain my acute desire

20:03

to experience a caribou migration in my lifetime,

20:06

I would not confess to a biophilic

20:08

attraction to the life force of these animals,

20:11

but I don't really have a better explanation. The

20:14

biophilia hypothesis is a compelling

20:17

idea, but it also has its

20:19

limitations. While I imagine it

20:21

makes perfect sense from the venerated offices

20:23

of Harvard, sometimes I wondered how

20:25

biophilic Wilson would have felt during

20:27

an outdoor bowel movement in the middle of a

20:30

blizzard of blackflies. Out

20:32

on the water after packing up camp, I

20:34

dug my paddle into the swirling current, aiming

20:37

for a downstream V. I

20:39

pulled hard to put distance between me and the

20:41

atrocity on my tail and relished

20:43

a smack of icy water on my swollen face

20:46

as my boat exploded through a stack of standing

20:48

waves. When in the wrong frame

20:50

of mind, I could find evidence of hardship

20:53

everywhere in the Arctic, the first clue was

20:55

the lack of trees.

20:56

It's just too cold.

20:58

And then there are the bones scattered

21:00

across the landscape. They decompose slowly

21:02

in the deep freeze of the north, a

21:04

rib here, a jawbone there,

21:07

discarded antlers that are chewed by rodents

21:09

and caribou alike for the rich source of minerals.

21:13

I caught myself wondering if the caribou are unnerved,

21:15

traipsing over the remains of their kin during

21:18

their annual migrations. Several

21:20

days after the blackflies emerged, I portaged

21:22

around a nasty boat-eating rapid and

21:25

discovered the spout of a kettle and a rusty

21:27

old tin of tobacco. Further

21:30

on, I spotted a ptarmigan sitting on a pile

21:32

of rocks, its nasal voice

21:34

the only sound in the chilly air. When

21:36

I approached, the bird flushed with a thump

21:38

and slash of white feathers.

21:41

I noticed it was perched on a rock taren crushed

21:43

with lichens, the kind Sir John Franklin

21:46

called Tripeterosh,

21:47

and was forced to eat while starving on his

21:50

tragic expedition of 1819 to 1822. On that trip,

21:55

eleven of his twenty-two men died on their return

21:57

trek, succumbing to starvation

21:59

and

21:59

murder.

22:01

Peeking through the cracks between the rocks I

22:03

saw more bones. Human bones.

22:06

Whether Inuit or European I don't know,

22:09

but the skull was missing, dragged off by a

22:11

scavenger or looted by other travellers,

22:13

I suppose.

22:15

Amidst the short burst of summer life in

22:17

the Arctic, the profusion of migrating birds

22:19

and caribou, the sudden blaze

22:21

of wildflowers, death is on

22:24

permanent display here. The

22:26

new growth of each season pushes up amidst

22:28

the feces, bones, refuse and

22:30

rock piles of the past. After

22:43

two weeks, my canoe cut into the dark

22:45

water where the baileys empties itself into the

22:47

back river. I stood at the confluence

22:49

of these great northern waterways eating cheese

22:52

and bannock. Squinting at the sunlight

22:54

reflecting off the racing water, I

22:56

contemplated my plan to travel up the

22:58

back river before portaging to the western

23:00

river which I planned to follow to the Arctic

23:02

coast. What made me think

23:04

it would be a good idea to travel against the

23:07

current of this powerful river by myself?

23:10

It seemed simple enough while poring over maps from

23:12

the comfort of home, but now that I was all

23:14

alone with the back river lapping at my toes,

23:17

I was not so sure. The bugs harassed

23:19

me as I toiled upstream. I struggled

23:22

against the current, alternatively paddling,

23:25

hauling my canoe upstream with ropes, and

23:27

pulling gondola style, with

23:29

a wooden pole I brought specifically for this purpose.

23:32

It was like keeping up with a racing treadmill

23:34

with no off-button. My

23:37

muscles ached, the bugs swarmed, and

23:39

my bio-filic attraction to this place wharf

23:42

in. Retreating to the riverbank, I

23:44

sat down for rest and became aware of the

23:46

niggling sense of vulnerability that had

23:48

been carrying around with me. It was a

23:50

subtle thing, quietly menacing in

23:53

the back of my mind, rearing

23:55

its head during quiet moments when I imagined

23:57

myself slipping on a rock, snapping

23:59

the leg and watching helplessly as

24:02

my canoe, food, and gear drifted

24:04

downstream and out of sight. And

24:07

then, a miracle. Overnight

24:09

the temperature plummeted to 30 degrees, killing

24:12

the blackflies. Even better, I

24:15

finished the upstream leg of my journey and paddled

24:17

over glassy, calm waters on Beachy Lake.

24:20

Without the whine of insects, I heard only

24:22

paddle strokes and the echoing wails of yellow

24:24

build loons. Little muskots

24:26

engraved as I paddled past, raising

24:28

their heads to acknowledge me but going about

24:31

their own business. Rested and

24:33

well fed by an approximation of a chocolate

24:35

cake I made as a treat, I felt recharged,

24:38

which was good, because my portage

24:41

to the Western River, the one I planned

24:43

in comfort back at home, would take me

24:45

three days. It

25:11

was the units that were getting to me. Where

25:14

I come from, portages are measured in

25:16

terms of yards, not days. To

25:19

say I felt apprehensive about this challenge was

25:22

a substantial understatement, but

25:24

soon into the portage, I encountered evidence

25:26

of caribou. Well worn trails,

25:29

fresh tracks, and tufts of fur

25:31

snagged on trunks. My

25:33

apprehension morphed into excitement and anticipation.

25:37

Caribou were close. I

25:39

found my stride. Carrying heavy

25:41

loads, I became amazed at what my body could accomplish.

25:44

After weeks on the move in the wild, I

25:47

realized the dull back pain that was a chronic

25:49

companion at my desk back home was gone.

25:53

Histing heavy packs and hoisting the canoe onto

25:55

my shoulders had become easier. I

25:58

felt strong. accomplish

26:00

anything. Then the toe of my boot

26:02

caught on a rock and threw me off balance. The

26:05

momentum from my heavy pack took over and I crashed

26:08

to the ground, pinned there by the

26:10

weight of my load, directly in a heap of

26:12

caribou crap. With my pack

26:14

wedged firmly between some boulders and

26:17

my nose hovering a couple inches above the

26:19

scat,

26:20

I couldn't move.

26:22

The weight on my back compressed my lungs and I

26:24

began to wheeze and laugh simultaneously.

26:27

I imagined the headlines when they found my remains.

26:30

Caribou droppings suspected in man's death

26:33

or fatal fecal folly. That

26:36

didn't help.

26:37

Now I was in hysterics, laughing out

26:39

loud by myself in the middle of the Arctic.

26:42

When I managed to extricate myself from my back

26:44

and sit up, I realized I was being

26:46

watched. Ten caribou

26:48

were staring at me. Hind legs

26:51

extended in their alarm posture and

26:53

for a fleeting moment I felt slightly embarrassed.

26:57

As I portaged back and forth on my own migration,

27:00

my trepidation about this portage was replaced

27:02

by glee at the pure absurdity of

27:04

the challenge. Who plans

27:06

a route with a three-day portage?

27:09

But maybe it was the caribou that buoyed me up. I

27:12

portaged among them, walking in their trails,

27:15

deep grooves worn into the land by generations

27:18

of migrating animals. From

27:20

inside my tent I could hear their hooves clacking

27:22

on the rocks as they walked past. Unzipping

27:25

the tent door I watched delvity antlers and

27:27

long skinny legs moving past.

27:29

Hundreds of ankle tendons clicked in unison,

27:31

evoking the sound of ruffling leaves. Hooves

27:34

pressed mud into a quagmire of tracks.

27:37

While making breakfast one morning, two wolves breathed

27:40

right through my camp. They gave me a disinterested

27:42

glance without breaking stride and, intent

27:45

on the scent of caribou, they carried on. After

27:48

that I saw caribou every day

27:50

for two weeks. Some days

27:52

there were just a few. Other times

27:54

I lost count in the hundreds or thousands.

27:57

The young calves chased each other in wide circles

27:59

on their feet. springy new legs. It all

28:01

made something twinge inside. Maybe

28:04

it was the biophilic murmurings of my evolutionary

28:06

past. I don't know. But

28:09

it felt good. And as the end of the

28:11

trip approached, I realized how enlivened

28:13

I felt. How patient, strong,

28:15

and renewed I had become. That

28:18

is when I realized that biophilia might not

28:20

only be about experiencing the high points

28:22

of nature, but of being part of the

28:24

whole messy picture of life on Earth. And

28:27

I think E.O. Wilson would have been pleased to know I

28:29

had arrived at that place, even if

28:32

I had to roll around in some poop to

28:34

get there.

28:42

My name is Tim Irvin, and this is my story.

28:55

Thank you, Tim, for sharing your story. It's

28:57

an adaptation of an essay that Tim wrote while

28:59

at Banff Center's Mountain

29:02

and Wilderness Writing Residency.

29:04

It's an incredible program, one that I did

29:06

back in the day. And if you've got a second, you

29:08

should check it out. Our stories come from

29:10

friends, from friends of friends, and from you, our community.

29:13

Our shorts applications are actually open

29:15

right now. So if you have a compelling idea,

29:18

check out the submission form on our website.

29:21

News today from Jacob Bain and Nese Koto, Vesper

29:24

Times, Serene Sloth, and Drexler.

29:26

The tracks are courtesy of the artists or track club.

29:29

Jacob Bain and Nese Koto composed our theme

29:31

song. You can find the links to the artists at our

29:33

website, derbagdiaries.com. This

29:35

episode was produced by Andrew Burton and Lauren

29:37

Delaney Miller, with additional production help from Ashley

29:40

Langhold and Becca Kahl. Our work

29:42

by Walker Kahl. Becca Kahl is our executive

29:44

producer. I'm Fitz, and

29:46

you've been listening to The Dirtbag Diaries. Thanks

29:49

for tuning in. Thank

30:05

you.