The Dirtbag Diaries

In October of 2025, the Trump administration green lit the Ambler Road in Alaska, a proposed mining access road that would cut through 211 miles of pristine Alaskan wilderness in the Brooks Range, crossing over 3,000 waterways and could forever change access to subsistence resources in Northwest Alaska.  In collaboration with More Than Just Parks, the Dirtbag Diaries presents a two part story. Karmen Monigold and John Gaedeke each rely on the southern Brooks Range for their livelihood and have joined a grassroots effort to fight back against the Ambler Road. A pair of young conservationists, Robert Lester and Ben Kaden set out to walk the proposed Ambler Road and experience the wilderness first hand.

Protect the Kobuk and Defend Brooks Range are groups that oppose the Ambler Road. 

Arctic Mine Development Project (which relates to the Ambler Road) Comment Period: It's complicated, but Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has a great breakdown of the issue and Defend Brooks Range has a sign-on letter. Open through Nov 2, 2026 .

More Info

Support comes from

⁠Oboz⁠ Hike Your Hike!

The Wilderness Society: Add your voice: Public lands are not for sale!

⁠Kodiak⁠ Find Kodiak at ⁠kodiakcakes.com⁠ or your local grocery store

Kuat Racks 

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

Submit your Short through November 8th

When Somira Sao and James Burwick were expecting their first child, they made a vow not to stop traveling-- and they took that promise to the extreme. In 2009, after two years of living in a van traveling around South America, they took their growing family and moved onto a 40' monohull sailboat. Four years later, they had navigated a de-masting off the coast of Chile,  sailed around the globe, added more kids to the mix, and created a unique philosophy on adventure parenting. 

Support comes from

The Wilderness Society: Add your voice: Public lands are not for sale!

Oboz Submit your comment about the Roadless Rule by Oct 6th.

Kodiak Find Kodiak at kodiakcakes.com or your local grocery store

Kuat Racks 

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

goodr: Get $10 off your first order at goodr.com/DIARIES

Ready to take another action? Check out the Save Public Lands Day campaign that Duct Tape Then Beer is running. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

We never know where our life’s important lessons will come from. After years of chasing first ascents in the PNW Cascade mountain, Cam Fenton stumbles upon a new focus for his mountain exploits: grizzly bears. For Emma Brophy, collecting red rubber bands while on a 600 mile river trip down the Thelon River in Canada becomes a reminder of how far she’s traveled. 

Support comes from

The Wilderness Society: Add your voice: Public lands are not for sale!

Oboz Submit your comment about the Roadless Rule by Oct 6th.

Kodiak Find Kodiak at kodiakcakes.com or your local grocery store

Kuat Racks 

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

goodr: Get $10 off your first order at goodr.com/DIARIES

Ready to take another action? Check out the Save Public Lands Day campaign that Duct Tape Then Beer is running. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

TALES OF TERROR

Got a creepy tale from being out in the woods that sure to send shivers up our spine? Type it up or send a short voice memo to us by Sept 30th

 Drew Smith is one of the most highly respected outdoor adventure photographers in the game. His work has brought him to more than two dozen countries, and his skills in the mountains make him a top choice for professional athletes looking for a photographer who can keep up. In this episode, he takes us through four projects that have shaped his career as a creator, and we talk about the important lessons he's learned along the way. 

Support comes from

The Wilderness Society: Add your voice: Public lands are not for sale!

Oboz Submit your comment about the Roadless Rule by Oct 6th.

Kodiak Find Kodiak at kodiakcakes.com or your local grocery store

⁠goodr⁠: Get $10 off your first order at ⁠goodr.com/DIARIES⁠

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

Ready to take another action? Check out the Save Public Lands Day campaign that Duct Tape Then Beer is running. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

Mark Kenyon and Fitz Cahall may not appear to have much in common. Mark got his start in the outdoors at a family hunting cabin in the forest lands of Northern Michigan, and Fitz dirtbagged around the American West in the back of his Tacoma. Their passions in the outdoors might be different, but their resolve to protect public lands is just the same.   

Join us and sign the petition. 

Learn more about Save Public Lands Day

Support comes from

⁠Oboz⁠ 

⁠Kodiak⁠ Find Kodiak at ⁠kodiakcakes.com⁠ or your local grocery store

Kuat Racks 

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

The Forest Service has proposed to rescind the Roadless Rule, which protects nearly 45 million acres of National Forest. These forests play a role in maintaining clean water and air, wildlife habitat and provide lots of recreational access for climbing, hiking, biking and paddling.  

Today, Tracy Stone-Manning, executive director of the Wilderness Society and former director of the Bureau of Land Management, joins us to talk about why Roadless Areas matter, the latest efforts to dismantle protections for our public lands, and how to write your best comment. 

The Wilderness Society has made it easy to add your voice to the discussion about the Roadless Rule. Comments due Monday, September 21st.

And Then What series made possible by Diaries+ Members

You can join today.

“When we were living in a house, we were always compromising because we had the weight of a mortgage, of doing what we thought we should be doing,” remembers Kathy Holcombe. Until the day, she, her husband, Peter, and their daughter Abby moved into a Winnebago to travel and work from the road. “I want her to see that she can do that too: whatever her wildest dreams are, to chase them and not stop until they come true,” says Kathy.

Abby’s dream? To kayak the entire 280-miles of the classic Grand Canyon run. But how does a 12 year-old arrive at a place where this goal is even conceivable? First, lots of kayaking. But, as in any sport, Abby must learn to walk up to her fears and pick them apart before deciding whether to go or not go.

You can follow all of the Holcombes on social. Abby, Peter and Kathy! 

Support comes from

⁠Oboz⁠ : Comment on the Roadless Rule by Sept 21

Kodiak Find Kodiak at kodiakcakes.com or your local grocery store

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

Trails are hewn from granite, carved into sandstone cliffs and engineered into our most iconic landscapes. Other times, they offer just the faintest hint of the passing of those before us. Either way, we often take their existence for granted. Today with the help of author Dillon Osleger we ask the seemingly simple question “Why do trails exist?”

Read Dillon’s book: Trail Work

Support comes from

⁠Oboz⁠: ⁠⁠Comment on the Roadless Rule⁠ by Sept 21

Kuat Racks 

Kodiak Find Kodiak at kodiakcakes.com or your local grocery store

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

How do we love those we have lost? In two essays, Mike Foote and Natasha Buffo explore how the memory of their parents guide them through life’s biggest moments—from a grueling hundred-mile run to the choice to become a mother.

Support comes from⁠⁠

Oboz⁠⁠ : ⁠Comment on the Roadless Rule⁠ by Sept 21⁠

Darn Tough Free shipping on any order with code DIRTBAG

Kodiak Find Kodiak at kodiakcakes.com or your local grocery store

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

Libby Costello and Sophia Walters met as teammates on the UCLA rowing team, but after graduation, they each struggled to reimagine what the sport would mean to them without the structure of Division 1 athletics. Years later, the two friends came back together with an audacious goal: to row self-supported across the Pacific Ocean. With the freedom of a month in the open ocean, the two friends reclaim their relationship to their shared passion. 

Support comes from

Kuat Racks 

Oboz 

Kodiak Find Kodiak at kodiakcakes.com or your local grocery store

Ka’Chava Go to https://kachava.com and use code DIARIES for 15% off your next order. 

Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.