A short outtake with Alice Hudson Pell, Executive Director of TennGreen Land Conservancy! We talked about the TennGreen Land Conservancy’s Hike-a-Thon 2023! It is an event unlike any other in the Southeast! This month-long, virtually-managed fundraising event supports the protection of our natural areas and encourages people of all ages and abilities to explore the outdoors through friendly competition.

The Hike-a-Thon is fun, free, and easy! You’ll simply register online and then get outside in April to compete against other individuals and teams for the chance to win exciting prizes. There’s something for everyone, with competitions for hikers, paddlers, trail runners, climbers, mountain bikers, nature photographers, and more!

Find out more: https://tenngreen.org/events/hike-a-thon-2023/

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This week Clint and Dawson sat down with Alice Hudson Pell from TennGreen Land Conservancy. Alice is the Executive Director of TennGreen Land Conservancy. In her role, she oversees and directs the organization’s day-to-day operations and provides strategic and operational leadership to ensure TennGreen’s continued sustainability and success. Prior to her appointment as Interim Executive Director, Alice served as TennGreen’s Associate Director for nearly four years, and its Director of Development for five years before that. Alice shares with us that TennGreen was founded by Kathleen Williams in 1998, TennGreen Land Conservancy (formerly the Tennessee Parks & Greenways Foundation) is the oldest accredited statewide land conservancy in Tennessee. Additionally, Alice shares with us TennGreen's biggest fundraising event, their Hike-A-Thon. TennGreen Land Conservancy’s Hike-a-Thon is an event unlike any other in the Southeast! This month-long, virtually-managed fundraising event supports the protection of Tennessee's natural areas and encourages people of all ages and abilities to explore the outdoors through friendly competition. Registration open on March 1, 2023. Register here.

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This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Nick "Chezwick" Gagnon. Nick completed the 6800 Mile Great Western Loop in Less than 200 days becoming the fastest person to hike the enormous route. The Great Western Loop is a 6875-mile hiking route that passes through several states of the Western US and links together five established long distance hiking trails: the PCT, Pacific Northwest Trail, CDT, Grand Enchantment Trail and the Arizona Trail.

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This week Clint and Dawson sat down with Charlie Mix. Charlie is the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Director for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He leads a GIS and cartography lab that supports campus research and serves the greater Chattanooga region supporting applied research projects centered around conservation, outdoor recreation, public health, and community prosperity. Charlie’s work has received international recognition through publications and conferences. When not lost in data, he enjoys being lost in the mountains. Charlie grew up white water kayaking, competing in professional level freestyle kayaking events and worked as a kayaking instructor, a pursuit heavily influenced his career as a conservationist and cartographer. He still enjoys kayaking and riding mountain bikes around the southeast and beyond. Charlie also serves on the board of directors for the Chattanooga chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA Chattanooga) and sits on the steering committee for the Thrive Regional Partnership Natural Treasures Alliance, a partnership of numerous NGOs and agencies working together to promote conservation and outdoor recreation in the region. He has combined a passion for the outdoors and the science of geography into a fulfilling career.

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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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