This episode, The Dirt Bag Diaries, is brought to you by Patagonia, makers of high quality

clothing and gear for outdoor sports, world travel, and daily lives that have been harmony

with nature.

Visit them on the web at Patagonia.com.

There's a fine line between life-lasting memory and disaster.

Whatever the discipline, alpinism, big wave surfing, foreign travel, we calculate

risk, formulate plans, and sometimes we have the spunk to see them through.

Not all that much separates a great campfire tale from a story-turned-tragic.

That's the nature of adventure.

Meet Jacob Bane.

In 2004, after months of traveling throughout Southeast Asia, his journey led him to the

small town of Luang Nong Tha in northern Laos, bordered by deep gorges, jungle and mountain

foothills, the town sits on the very edge of the golden triangle.

The poppy-growing region that supplies a large chunk of the world's heroin.

It is both a lollus and stunning place.

In 2004, it was still largely untouched by outside influence.

After months of travel, the road ended here, at least the pave one did.

Jacob Bane's childhood friend and traveling partner, Colin Brinn, were stuck.

During the heavy tourist season, water taxis head up and down the Nong Tha River to and

from the Thai border on almost a daily basis.

But this was the off season, and the boats were nowhere to be found.

They had decided earlier that they weren't going to reverse the long horrendous bus ride

...