Following an embarrassingly long podcast binge, (yes, it’s a thing), courtesy of Fitz Cahall with “The Dirtbag Diaries” I found myself longing for a solid hike. He and his guests detail a life of recreational, potentially life threatening rock climbing, colloquially referred to as ‘Dirtbagging,’ that started in the '70s with the young men and women that chose the walls of Yosemite, rather than those of a cubicle. For them, it was far more than just a hobby, those trips West had become a way of life. It was, and still is, for those looking to escape -- and willing to forego a shower.
If you ask them, they’ll likely tell you, from 200 feet up, that they do it for themselves and wouldn’t trade a life sleeping in the back of their Subaru in 80 percent humidity for anything. While it’s gained traction as a sport and quite the cult following in its 50 years, it has not succumb to commercialization as other forms of outdoor recreation have. Climbing vertically 90 degrees with bolts wedged in rocks such as the beauty that is El Capitan, placed by you and bearing all of your weight isn’t exactly for everyone, well, for obvious reasons. It does, however, say a lot about what the “American Dream” was and has become for different generations. What was once represented by earning a healthy living and having a family, has morphed into what climbers and quite frankly many people see as unrealistic. Dirtbags prefer their only strictures to be their top rope and fixed anchors, a life lived thrill-seeking and tied only to the idea of the next highest wall they can conquer. The prospect of living climb to climb and avoiding the mainstream workforce is a leap of faith in itself. Clearly, there’s something to be said about those willing to give up luxuries like running water to amass stories and indispensable experiences, rather than more materialistic possessions.
There is a certain stigma that accompanies any decision to abandon the norm, one with utterances of words like “lazy” and “delinquent.” But when someone with more drive than they can contain hears this from someone in a suit that has a different person to make their coffee than the one that answers their phone, it tends to roll off their backs. They won’t bash those who prefer the office though, and many of them started off that way. It’s a concept akin to quitting the nine-to-five to start a band, the same amount of gear, just fewer groupies. Quite literally not buying into the consumer culture, they have found a way to silently avoid the societal pressures to have the next best thing and have formed a league all their own.
So, if you find yourself aching to white knuckle something other than your steering wheel during rush hour, there’s always room for another dirtbag from the Rockies to Yosemite. After all, no one ever said they felt their most fulfilled from behind their desk.
