As I ran from my spot I quickly scanned the circle to see which other women had also camped for more than ten days in a row. We laughed and were impressed with each others’ outdoor accomplishments as we played a silly warm up game before hiking the tallest peak in Massachusetts-Mt.Greylock.
During the game I learned that the group of women I had just met had hiked the Appalachian trail, been involved in local mountain biking, skied the infamous Thunderbolt. They loved to fish, hike, bike, snowboard, and ski. We found out that only one of us had hiked any of the high peaks in the Adirondacks. This definitely needs to be remedied with a future SheJumps event!
On Halloween, women from Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New York converged in Adams, MA, some in crazy costumes, to to hike Mt. Greylock on a cool sunny fall morning. One of the things I love about women of the Northeast Region is their willingness to drive a couple of hours to experience a new adventure! I love that I get to meet women from all over the region.
Our hike merged a few times with the locally famous backcountry Thunderbolt Ski Trail giving us both gorgeous views and inspiration for the upcoming winter. We had the great fortune of having a couple of well connect local outdoors women, Heather Linscott and Ruth Wheeler share their knowledge of recent and upcoming trail work projects. Another hiker Silvia Cassano, who works with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy shared about the Appalachia Trail as it traverses Mt. Greylock.
One participant, Meg texted a picture from the summit to her partner, who quickly challenged her- one tallest peak of New England down- 5 to go!
At the end of the day, another hiker, Charlotte shared with me, “I know this might sound cliche, but this was really empowering! I’ve never hiked in New England before, and this was just so great!”
Personally, I love a nice long hike to get to know new friends, with plenty of time to chat with new women and share our experiences and inspire each other. Thanks all for coming and for being such open, friendly and supportive hiking buddies!
A special thanks goes out to our partners. Participants enjoyed sampling Vermont Peanut Butter on the trail and they were excited to take home Little Red Wagon Coffee Roaster’s GEO’s, Ecolips lip balm and exclusive coupons from Eastern Mountain Sports.
written by: Tracy Remelius. Northeast Regional Director.
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