The Shorts--Bootstrapping

The Dirtbag Diaries

Duct Tape Then Beer

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 June 2013

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our baptism in wild places is different for each of us. For some, it's ingrained so early in life that it hardly registers as a memory. For most, it was probably a little awkward, a bit daunting, yet so compelling that we wanted to do it again. For Wendy Irwin, it began with, "a soft-shell cooler, a MacGyver like trust in the magical properties of duct tape, and a 'Tent for Sale' ad in the classifieds." Though much went wrong on Wendy's first backpacking trip, the tendrils of nature's beauty wound themselves into her mind and around her heart. And years later, when she met a teenager hiking the John Muir trail carrying two backpacks, she knew to smile and wish him luck. Because if you love it, you'll figure it out. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the shorts, and you're listening to The Dirt Back Diaries, a duct tape and beer
0:06.0	production, with support from New Belgium Brewing, Kuat Racks, and Patagonia.
0:19.0	The kid looked about 16.
0:21.0	He was soldering a large backpack, the kind that's probably 6 pounds when empty.
0:26.0	The same kind of eye-ditched a month into our trip when I realized that it sometimes pays to be a weight weenie.
0:32.0	He had a second pack as well, a school book bag strapped to his shoulders in the opposite direction.
0:38.0	It hung across his chest like an awkward pregnancy.
0:42.0	My boyfriend, Josh, and I passed him on the trail hiking in the opposite direction.
0:47.0	We exchanged the usual greetings.
0:50.0	This day, where are you going?
0:52.0	To which he replied, I'm going to climb Mount Whitney.
0:56.0	As the kid walked, his sleeping pad swung from his larger pack and bounced against the backs of his knees.
1:02.0	His smile was all enthusiasm, and he moved up the trail away from us with the confidence of a person who doesn't have a mirror and doesn't need one.
1:10.0	Out of him lay, 190 or so miles, nine passes ranging from 10 to 13,000 feet in elevation, and the 14,505 Whitney itself.
1:22.0	It was June of 2009, and Josh and I were making our way north through a somebody national park.
1:28.0	We were through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and had covered 900 miles so far.
1:33.0	The distance had shaped us both mentally and physically.
1:37.0	We were strong and sleek, smug and young, dirty, and always hungry, hungry for more food, and hungry to see more of the west.
1:45.0	It was becoming easier to hike 20 plus miles a day, and it felt natural to go to sleep in a tent every night.
1:53.0	Despite this, I wasn't so different from the kid with the two backpacks, and if you had seen me six years ago, you probably wouldn't have that much of my chances, either.
2:07.0	For me, it began with the soft shell cooler, I'm a guiver-like trust in the magical properties of duct tape, and a tent for sale add in the classifieds.
2:21.0	When I moved to Scotland in 2003, I had never been backpacking, but I had been camping, and I loved to walk.
	...

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