She Hikes Mountains

We still have a few spaces left on this creative adventure trip!

Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 week 2: the best way to cope with February in Maine is to leave Maine in February 🧡

Week one of beating winter in this beautiful country with my favorite person

Quick trip to Crystal River, Florida with to paddle the with manatees!

These gentle, adorable, curious floating potatoes swim inland to warm springs when the ocean gets cold, so the FL freeze last week was perfect conditions for manatee viewing on the Homosassa and Chaz rivers.

An awesome group of women and a fantastic co-guide made for a really fun long weekend… even with the unplanned overnight in Philly ❄️✈️.

Arizona has some great trail signs!

Most are there to remind hikers to be smart… and to refrain from feeding the squirrels 🐿️

I hiked into the Grand Canyon! South Kaibab to Tonto to Bright Angel.

Hiking rim-to-rim has been on my bucket list for a long time. Because of the North Rim fires and ongoing trail maintenance, the trails at the bottom of the canyon have been closed, making the river inaccessible. As an alternative, I hiked down South Kaibab, across the Tonto Trail, and up Bright Angel. 13.2 miles and 3500’ gain. Essentially Katahdin in reverse, plus a few extra miles.

I started before dawn in a winter hat. A mile in, a mountain goat passed me on the trail. I reached Ooh Ahh point as the sun was rising over the rim. The sun is so bright during the day that the canyon colors wash out. But at sunrise, they glow.

South Kaibab is a trail of switchbacks, but it’s steep enough that your quads are breaking your body for 4.5 miles straight. As you descend, the temp starts to rise and the layers come off. At the Tip Off, which is where the trail takes a sharp dive toward the river, the Tonto Trail turns to the east. This narrow trail travels across a plateau above the river, 4.6 miles of fully exposed sun and no potable water. It is a desert-like landscape with wide, sweeping views of the canyon. It’s surprisingly lush in places, with a narrow vein of water where trees thrive in the arid landscape.

Tonto connects to Bright Angel Trail at Havasupai Gardens backcountry campground. I visited with a deer eating his breakfast and met a man giving out candy (it was Halloween). From here the trail ascends, switchbacking up 3500 feet. At this time of year the sun is far south, so the trail was almost entirely shaded by the canyon walls. In direct heat, this would be a brutal climb.

For most of the hike, I was alone. Just me walking across this massive canyon, feeling grateful and awestruck. The Grand Canyon is vast in a way that is difficult to comprehend. It doesn’t seem real, even when you’re in it.

I finished the hike in 6.5 hours, drank 3.5 liters of water, ate a lot of candy, and came out covered in dust. I said ‘wow’ more times than I remember.

It was one of the most amazing hikes I’ve ever done.

I can’t wait to come back for the full rim-to-rim.

October in Shenandoah National Park with and 10 fabulous women!

🔥Big Meadows Lodge
⛺️Lewis Mountain Campground
🇺🇸Rapidan Camp
⛰️Hazeltop Mtn
🥾Bearfence Scramble
🌅Skyland Lodge
🪾Hawksbill
💦Dark Hollow Falls
🦇Luray Caverns
✈️Dulles

🦌Don’t miss the deer!

52 miles on the AT in Vermont 🍁🥾🧡🍦

🩶💚 never gets old 🤎🩵

Slackpacking Massachusetts with

What a fun week. So much beautiful farmland in western MA (and so many cows!).

Climbed over fences, found a fern gully, traversed marshes. Summited Greylock, discovered lady slippers, traipsed through forests. Met amazing women and puppies. Remembered why guiding makes me happy.

It’s officially hiking season, friends!

🩵
Honored to join the ranks of Registered Maine Sea Kayak Guides.
💙

I’m very excited to guide and share another week of writing and nature at Monson Arts. This is an incredible opportunity for a mini-residency at this fabulous location. Don’t miss it!

Writing in the Wild is a five-day writing workshop that celebrates the profound effect nature has on the creative process. 

Instructors will guide simple grounding techniques to help us let go of distractions and invite full presence in our creative minds. Each day there will be opportunities to spend time in nature, share work, give and receive feedback, and work independently in the beautiful Monson Arts writing studios.

Monson Arts offers on-campus housing and day student options. Meals are prepared by the The Quarry restaurant, a recent James Beard award winner.

For more information and to register: www.monsonarts.org/workshop/writing-in-the-wild-2025