Day Fire Podcast

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Tim Bell. Tim was a multi-time TN state champion in Track and Field (Decathlon and High Jump) and SEC High Jump Champion and 2 time NCAA All-American and Captain of University of Tennessee SEC and NCAA Championship Track Teams 2001 - 2002 (4 titles during that time period). Tim was an avid Rock Climber after college (that is what brought him to CHA - V12 an...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Russ Clune. Russ just completed his first book, "The Lifer". Russ shares parts of his book, discusses writing styles and shares stories of his travels and climbing from around the world. Russ is a rock climber living in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York. His articles have been published in multiple journals, including Climbing, Rock & Ice, Mountain,...

This week Dawson and Clint reach back into the Day Fire vault and share some of their favorite short stories with you! Some you may have forgotten and some you may have missed! Enjoy!  The 1st story is from episode #46 with Rob Robinson talking about climbing!  The 2nd story is from episode #100 with The Bargo Brothers! Story number 3 comes from episode #139 and Brad DeVaney talking about tire tre...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Luke Swab. Luke just completed the famed TNGA bike race where he took a 3rd place finish. Luke may have been the only person to ride the route in "Jorts"; haha. With over 56,000 feet (17,000 meters) of climbing, the TNGA is physically demanding, to say the least. But it’s not all about the challenge. The route is an incredibly beautiful stitchwork of roads...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Tab Tollett. Tab started road cycling in the mid 90s on up until the mid-2000s. Picked up mountain biking and almost immediately signed up for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race with a great group of guys. He did the Leadville 100 three times with two being on a single speed. From that point he did several other mountain bike races and stage races in Tenn...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Luke Swab. Luke got his first dirt bike when he was 10, and when he was 12 he rode a Yamaha TW200 in Guyana South America. That started everything. He has ridden a motorcycle or moped in 35 different countries to date with traveling to 45 in total. Luke's first solo trip was in 2009 where he headed from Texas to the Panama canal. (He didn’t make it). The tr...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Shannon Burke. Shannon founded Velo View Bike Tours in 2012 and originally offered tours all over the country before moving from Austin to Chattanooga in 2016 and narrowing his focus to the world-class cycling available in the Chattanooga tri-state region. In addition to providing custom tours in the region, Shannon produces the Cycle Sequatchie Century &am...

This week Clint and Dawson sat down with Justin Shipp Founder and owner of Site Seven Custom Van Conversions. We talked about building a custom van for you. Considerations when designing the perfect build. How much space, showers, AC units, seating and where do all the toys go? We are also talking about things no one tells you about living out of a van. Trash, water, human waste O My, haha it's ju...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Coree Woltering who is a Rock/Creek Outfitters staff and Northface runner. Coree, who’s known by some as one of the #cornfieldcowboys, was born and raised in Ottawa, Illinois. He began his running career in the 400m and 800m distances and had his sights on becoming a professional triathlete, qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships twice. But bef...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Matt Schweiker. Matt joined us on episode 203 sharing his bike packing race adventure from the Silk Road. This week Matt is back from the Tour Divide bike race. Matt had an amazing performance and recorded a 18 day finish/result. "The Tour Divide is an annual mountain biking ride traversing the length of the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to the Mexican borde...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Rachel Durchslag. What motivates a person to leave the comforts of home and travel alone to hike the mountains of foreign lands? Find out as author Rachel Durchslag walks some of the most beautiful hikes in the world in search of adventure, meaning, and an expanded version of herself. We had a great time discussing her poignant, honest, and funny memoir-mee...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Jason Vance. Jason has been riding bicycles for 40 years. He began racing in the late 90’s while at Oregon, focusing on track cycling. After moving to Nevada to pursue graduate studies, He was introduced to MTB’ing by a colleague and would eventually abandon all skinny-tired aspirations. An academic position would bring him to Charleston SC; after navigatin...

This week Dawson and Clint dig through the 2023 episodes and pull out a handful of their favorite stories to reshare with you! Enjoy! Story 1 - Episode 198 Ghost Fireflies with Catey McClary from the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont! This was so cool and we should all plan on going to see it if possible! Story 2 - Episode 202 Rigging and Cameras for the Olympics with Chris Watford! There...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Joe Royer. Joe resides in Memphis and is the co-owner of Outdoors, Inc., which was founded 1974. Joe was a member of the U.S. Canoe and Kayak team in the late 60's and 70's, and is a world traveler, an adventurer and a lifelong cyclist. All these experiences influenced Joe’s vision for better access and inclusion for parks and recreation. Joe has volunteere...

This Week Clint and Dawson sit down with Camila Simon. Camilla is the Executive Director for HECHO. She is passionate about elevating Latino voices in local, state and national conservation efforts, especially when it comes to accessing public lands. Since she joined HECHO in November 2014, she has worked to broaden the definition of a conservationist, and elevate the importance of Hispanic/Latino...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Cassandra Riddle. Cassandra's list of accomplishments, talants, and hobbies is impressive. Yet she also has suffered from Cystic Fibrosis all her life but wasn't diagnosed until last year. Cassandra was an international opera singer and performed all over the world. She was based out of NYC in the 90's and early 2000's, and in 1997 won an Emmy award. At the...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Bill Hodge. Bill became the Montana State Director for The Wilderness Society in January of 2023 after serving four years as the Executive Director of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. This role withThe Wilderness Society is his second tour with the organization. During Bill’s first term he started the ground-breaking organization Southern Appalachian...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with John Davis. John is a Master Scuba Diver trainer with the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) and is also an instructor for Scuba Schools International (SSI). John enjoys teaching people how to dive, and currently does instruction at Choo Choo Dive and Aquatic Center in Chattanooga Tennessee. He has organized and lead dive trips for the last...

This week Dawson and :Clint go into the studio for some fun and stories! 'Did You Know' facts about animals AND stories/advice from Dawson! Trust me - this one is fun! Tune-in and play along! Share and Enjoy! By the way - do you know where otters store extra food? What do you call a group of crows? Thanks for listening! Find all our episodes at dayfirepodcast.com This podcast is powered by ZenCast...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Matt Schweiker. Matt grew up in Memphis Tn and then went to College at University of Alabama. After college he moved West to Seattle, WA where he had his first real outdoor experiences climbing mountains and backcountry skiing in the Cascades. In 2012, moved to Yangshuo China and worked seasonally guiding outdoor education trips. In the off-seasons, travele...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Chris Watford. Chris grew up in a very outdoors oriented family. His family owned an outdoor outfitting shop in Roswell, Georgia called Call Of The Wild. The business was established in 1978 by his father. He grew up in this family business and took it over after graduation from college and operated it until 2005. Chris's primary passion has always been roc...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Sean Blanton. Sean is the owner/founder of Run Bum Races. In 16 years Sean has run over 300 ultra runs. Sean's company Run Bum hosts some of the most scenic, iconic, destination ultras/events in the country. Check out his events here. https://www.runbumtours.com . Sean is a true steward of the forest and while he is always giving back to the Parks and publi...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Ben Friberg. Ben is an explorer, an adventurer, a paddle board racer, who has paddled from Cuba to Key West. He has raced down the Yukon river and traveled the world and has met 7 indigenous peoples; Lapps/Sami Sarek/Sweden, Bedouin Sinai/Egypt, Quechua (Ausengate/Peru), First Nations Alaska/Yukon Territory, Sepik/Crocodile Clan - Papua New Guinea, First Na...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Kim Smith. Kimberley Bodenhamer Smith’s Facebook Bio says: “Texan born in California and residing in Tennessee: Mudder, Author, unicyclist, Caver, Transhumanist, and an Episcopalian.” Many other labels and clubs could be added to the vast interests of this American TAG Caver. Kim, as she prefers to be called by friends and family (or Kimmie with an IE) is a...

This week Dawson and Clint sit down with Catey McClary. Catey is President and CEO of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Catey joined Tremont as President and CEO in the Fall of 2018. A Tennessee native, Catey formed an early connection to the outdoors and first attended Tremont Institute in the sixth grade with her school. Inspired by her time in nature, she earned a Bachelor of Scie...