Trespassers
Trespassers
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/259098867?secret_token=s-rOJc5″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]“You have to imagine that you’re on the frozen Arctic Ocean. You’re six miles from shore, you can’t really tell where the ocean stops and the white shore begins. All you see is white–and this thing where they’re dumping crap into the ocean to make this island,” says Dan Ritzman. “And, there, stuck in the ice, is a sign that says ‘No Trespassing’.”
It was 1999, the beginning of the climate movement. Oil companies had started to talk about green energy, but continued their dogged search for fossil fuel. At the time, Dan worked for Greenpeace, who was determined to expose that hypocrisy by any means necessary.
Today, we bring you the story of a Danish ex-special forces trainer, some very cold weather, some crooked State Troopers, a group of activists and the sometimes thin line between standing up for our wild places and adventuring in them.
Click here to see the video of Ulrik parachuting onto the frozen ocean.
Music: Your Pulse by Little Glass Men • If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor by Chris Zabriskie • Brooks by Kai Engel • Orater General by The King in Yellow • Juno by Chronox • The Departure by nisei23 • Low Horizon by Kai Engel • Don’t Point That Gun at Me by Publish the Quest • Gotta Keep Movin by Publish the Quest • Original scores by Amy Stolzenbach
Tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive
and our friends Jacob Bain and Amy Stolzenbach
Mileposts — The Miracle of Darkness
The Miracle of Darkness
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/256350786?secret_token=s-x4BX5″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]“The sky above you goes on forever, and the landscape appears as endless as the sky. The world is expansive and you are tiny. All of your problems shrink down to the head of a pin,” writes Melina Coogan. “This is why places like this matter–places like Great Smoky Mountain National Park: they give us perspective.”
Just months after Melina got married, she walked out of a doctor’s office with a sobering health diagnosis. Today, for the second episode of our Mileposts series, we travel with her to Great Smoky National Park to see what perspective we can take home.
You can find more of Melina’s writing at: thewildercoast.com
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Labyrinth by Kai Engel • Sunset by Kai Engel • paranoiaXI by The Fucked Up Beat • Something by Kai Engel • Past the Sun by The Cassettes • I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor by Chris Zabriskie
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and Jacob Bain.
A Slosh in the Bucket
A Slosh in the Bucket
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/252715784″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Eric Johnson lives in Sturgis, South Dakota with his wife and three young daughters. He works as a high school English teacher. He’s responsible–well, most of the time.
Half way into his thirties, Eric emptied his retirement account to buy a raft, despite the fact that he lives in a state without any navigable whitewater. Just over a year later, he found something too good to be true: a group of experienced guides advertising an open spot on a pre-season trip down Idaho’s Main Salmon.
Today, we bring you the story of what happens when you ignore the red flags that pop up when something is actually too good to be true and of what it feels like to bob around in the bucket of someone else’s bucket list.
Music: Shine by Publish the Quest • If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Original Score by Amy Stolzenbach • Then What!? by Publish the Quest • Don’t Point That Gun At Me by Publish the Quest • The Introduction by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Right Wing Failure by Deadlinks • You Never Know Who You’re Gonna Meet by Publish the Quest • The Rent is Late by Publish the Quest • Sailor’s Lament by Jason Shaw
Tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley, Free Music Archive
and our friends Amy Stolzenbach and Jacob Bain.
The Shorts–Tower Climbing, Baby!
Tower Climbing, Baby!
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/250231411″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]“I unclipped the hot belay device from my harness. I looked over at Conor, smiled, and announced, ‘this is the best part of my day, so far’!“ writes Jen Altschul. “For a moment, a smile of pure joy spread across his face–which, just as quickly, flipped into disappointment as he realized that I was talking about being back on the ground.”
The first time Jen tried to climb a desert tower, her and her partner bailed after the third pitch and returned the guidebook. Today, we bring you a story of abrasions, frustrations, failure and an eventual, unlikely love for the peculiar formations of the desert southwest.
Music: Bad Coffee Blues by And Other Things • Bombs and Bruises by Black Pistol Fire • Rachel’s Song by S Punk 7 • Satisfied by Hemmit
Tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive.
Summit register top of Otto’s Route, Colorado National Monument.
Mileposts — Celebrate with a Milkshake
Celebrate with a Milkshake
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/247900378?secret_token=s-FFUZB” params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]“Sometimes, when I’m hiking somewhere near Moab and chatting with other people, I think about saying something like, ‘You know what’s great about this hike? In about 75-minutes, you can be at Milt’s Stop & Eat’,” says Brendan Leonard. “Milt’s is a 19-mile drive from Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, it’s 55-miles from Indian Creek and 75-miles to Canyonlands’ towering red and white striped sandstone needles. I mean, when you think about it, it’s kind of the nucleus of all that rad stuff.”
In the first episode of our Mileposts series, we explore the National Parks around Moab, Utah–and celebrate with a milkshake.
You can find more of Brendan’s writing at: www.semi-rad.com/
Music: Intro by Angie and the Carwrecks • Original Score by Amy Stolzenbach • Junkyard Blues by Angie and the Carwrecks
Tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Amy Stolzenbach, a friend of the Diaries.
