Day Fire Podcast

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Erin Powell. Erin is a Spartan veteran who is preparing himself for the Winter Spartan Death Race in Feb 2023, https://peakraces.com/winter-death-race/. We want to know why someone wants to subject themselves to an event so difficult? What is the event like? What the experience does for you as a human and a competitor. Erin shares his experiences and his WHY. Erin loves to test his courage, grit and survival skills. PLUS - stay tuned to the very end - we add a little motivation to your day! Get ready to put something on your calendar to challenge those comfort zones!

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Today Clint and Dawson sit down with Jake Wheeler. Jake is the Founder of the Dayfire Company. Jake is a lifelong outdoors person who lives in Basalt, Colorado. Jake's company can be found at dayfirecompany.com. Dayfire is a Colorado brand agency specializing in creative direction, brand building, digital marketing and community engagement. We talk about Colorado life, Jake's views on business and fun-hogging in one of the best outdoor playgrounds in America.

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The ultimate storyteller and self-proclaimed music nerd - Jeff Styles joins Day Fire once again. Music and social movements have always gone hand-in-hand and in this episode Jeff walks us through some songs and performers that are active, in word and deed, in the preservation of the great outdoors and helping shape our perspective on our relationship with the world around us. Politics aside - this is some great music you may have heard of AND some you probably haven't. We had a lot of fun with Jeff Styles and we think you will enjoy it too!

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This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Cory Hall. We talk with Cory about his recent Kayak trip down the Grand Canyon. This trip was an unsupported, kayak only trip. We talk about the differences between an unsupported trip and a commercial trip. And what it means when you dont have the luxury of a raft to carry all your gear.

Cory was first exposed to river life as a young kid when my dad took a summer job guiding rafts on the Ocoee and Chattooga Rivers for a small outfitter in our hometown called the Buckhorn Mountain Shop. His family would also take a lot of family whitewater canoeing and camping trips around North Georgia and North Carolina around that time as well. At 17 years old he started self teaching himself how to kayak and luckily met a local paddling legend Jeff West at a North Georgia restaurant job. Jeff started taking him kayaking and also helped Cory get a raft guide job the following summer at Sunburst Adventures on the Ocoee. At Sunburst Cory was living on his own for the first time and was immersed into a paddling culture where everyone on staff was a talented and dedicated kayaker. Cory says; we worked hard and kayaked hard everyday and he was having the time of his life.

Fast forward 30 years and Cory still enjoys paddling, running, and cycling around Chattanooga as much as he can. His wife and he are raising 2 boys (ages 7 and 4) and he works as a PE teacher at the Fairyland School on Lookout Mountain. Cory also works as a summer camp counselor at an amazing outdoor themed camp at the Baylor school called Camp Walkabout. Cory has been lucky enough to secure 2 permits to paddle the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, AZ. The first was a high water 7 day trip in 2011 and he just finished an incredible 8 day trip in November 2022.

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This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Elaine Adams Gossett. Elaine is the City of Chattanooga’s Therapeutic Recreation Services Manager. She was instrumental in developing Chattanooga's Therapeutic Recreation Program in 2002 with the mindset that leisure and recreation are an important part of everyone's life.

Elaine holds a B.S. in Recreation Management with an emphasis in

The Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors Department’s Therapeutic Recreation Program

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This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Savana Keeton. Savana is the Operations Coordinator for the Cumberland Trails Conference. Building the Cumberland Trail is a passion project for the dedicated staff of the CTC. The work is hard and it takes experts to build through the rock gardens and gorges of the Cumberland Mountains. The Cumberland Trail (CT) is a rugged, north/south, foot-traffic-only trail along the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau in Eastern Tennessee. Currently there is approximately 250 miles open with 50 odd miles left to complete. The trail begins at Cumberland Gap National Park on the northern border of Tennessee/Kentucky. The southern end is the “Grand Canyon” of Tennessee at Signal Mountain overlooking the Tennessee River Gorge at Chattanooga.

The mission of the Cumberland Trails Conference is to provide paid and volunteer labor, equipment, supplies and vehicles to design and construct the Cumberland Trail under the auspices of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The continued development and construction of the Cumberland Trail is accomplished through a working relationship between the Cumberland Trails Conference (CTC), the Cumberland Trail State Scenic Park, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The CTC, private corporations, foundations, individuals, and others assist TDEC in raising funds for land acquisition, providing maintenance, and further developing the Cumberland Trail.

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This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Zach Lesch-Hule and Danial Dunn. Zach is the

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This week Clint and Dawson sat down with Mark Martin. Mark was President of Marmot Mountain for 21 years. Mark is an avid fly fisherman and has an obsession with fishing for rainbow trout in Alaska.

Mark grew up on the Rogue River in Oregon. He has fished his entire life. Mark says he has had a passion for fishing but pretty sure it has “morphed” into an obsession for big trout and steelhead. His first trip to Alaska was almost 20 years ago with the family. Got to experience the vast wilderness of Alaska from many points of view (kayak, boat, plane, hiking) and also got a taste of how different Alaska is for fishing. Mark returned in 2010, as part of a “buddies” trip to the Bristol Bay area for gigantic rainbow trout. These first trips were self-guided, with lots of lessons learned about how to best fish the rivers and creeks, what gear to bring for the day, where to walk and where to avoid, plus proper bear etiquette. He was able to learn enough to succeed on the early trips but also realized that a guide was essential to really access the best locations. Mark explains float planes are essential to travel to the remote rivers and creeks. Since 2010, he has been on 17 trips to the Bristol Bay area for rainbow trout fishing. And while there are opportunities to fish for salmon (Kings, Silvers, and Sockeye) in the area, it is the allure of an Alaska Rainbow Trout that keeps him coming back. They are strong, feisty, and acrobatic unlike any other freshwater fish in his opinion.

Mark shares stories, tips and discusses the fishery, the Bristol Bay area and the grandeur Katmai National Park and lots and lots and lots of bear stories.

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This week Clint plays 20 questions with Dawson Wheeler! Just how well do we know Dawson? Would he rather face a skunk or a bear? Snow skiing alone or camping with friends? Favorite piece of gear? AND more! This was a lot of fun for us to record and we hope you enjoy it! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO OUR DAY FIRE LISTENERS, SPONSORS, AND GUESTS!

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This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Tara Dower. Tara shares her last 13 months which was amazing and very successful. Here is her list; attempted Benton MacKaye FKT in September of 2021. Injured myself badly. One month later I raced my first 100 miler called Uwharrie 100. Won for women. Raced my second 100 in Alabama called Blood Rock and came in 2nd overall behind Jeff Browning. Umstead 100 in April was my next 100 and placed 3rd women. Cruel Jewel was the next month in May and got 2nd woman. One month later went for the Benton MacKaye FKT again and smashed the overall record with sub 5 days. I think it was 4 days and 21 hrs and some change. Went on a little vacation to California a month later and finished backpacking the JMT. Started training for Run Rabbit and working hard to prepare for CO with different methods. The race went well and placed 2nd woman behind Annie Hughes with a huge 6 mile push at the end where I ran sub 8 minute miles and passed #2 woman. Whoa right?! also check out Tara's YouTube channel. What an amazing person.

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