{"id":39775,"date":"2015-05-08T07:15:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T11:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=39775"},"modified":"2021-11-18T07:07:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T12:07:37","slug":"hiking-mount-kilamanjaro-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/hiking-mount-kilamanjaro-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"From Casual Hikes to Mount Kilamanjaro: Why Women Are Hitting the Trails"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"From
Photo: Kara Brodgesell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If your idea of a vacation with friends involves a giant margarita, poolside massages or slot machines, you might be surprised by the latest travel trend<\/a>. Grab your hiking boots<\/a> and backpacks \u2014 more and more people are planning vacations that feature tents instead of hotel rooms, and Nalgenes instead of tropical cocktails.<\/p>\n

Since the release of the book Wild: Lost and Found on the Pacific Crest Trail<\/em><\/a> by Cheryl Strayed, and the subsequent movie staring Reese Witherspoon, more people have been motivated to hit the great outdoors. Google searches for \u201chiking the PCT,\u201d have increased six-fold \u2014\u00a0and those aspiring hikers aren\u2019t all burly outdoorsmen, either. According to data compiled by The Outdoor Foundation<\/a>, while only 48 percent of adults pitching tents in 2011 were women, that number rose to 60 percent in 2014.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Urban Hiking: The Most Epic Way to Burn Calories by Walking<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how two women changed their lives by hiking\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and how they\u2019re now empowering others to hit the trails as well.<\/p>\n

\"From
Photo: Seal Press<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Casual Hikes to Mount Kilamanjaro<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kara Richardson Whitely grew up in Vermont and Canada, where she spent plenty of time outdoors \u2014 until she began to struggle with her weight. \u201cWhen I was approaching 30, I was [nearly] 360 pounds and I wasn\u2019t very active at all. I decided I\u2019d just start hiking,\u201d Whitely says. While her first climbs were difficult, she persevered. \u201cDoing so led me up mountains in Vermont; it led me to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back<\/a> up. And then it led me to Kilimanjaro the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitley, who authored the book Gorge: My Journey Up Kilamanjaro at 300 Pounds<\/em><\/a>, which hit shelves on April 7, 2015, has also noticed a post-Wild<\/em> phenomenon. \u201cI did all three of my hikes [up Kilamanjaro] before Wild came out, but [Cheryl Strayed] really opened the door to the idea that going outdoors is attainable for women and doing things that are a little more than a day hike is something that other people can do, too,\u201d Whitely says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt there was a dearth of opportunities for women to actually be the experts and leaders in the outdoors.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whitely\u2019s first hike up Kilamanjaro was a celebration of her 120-pound weight loss. The second hike was an attempt to get back on track<\/a> after re-gaining almost half of that weight during and after pregnancy. And the last time was a journey towards self-acceptance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe third one, while it wasn\u2019t as glorious and easy as the first one, it was the most moving and life changing because of the fact that I used the hike to understand why over the years I was so unkind to myself with weight,\u201d Whitely says. \u201cIt was about self acceptance; it was about knowing what I\u2019ve been through and my past.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Must-Read Book: One Woman\u2019s 135 Pound Weight Loss Success<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, Whitely is an ambassador with the American Hiking Society, where she\u2019ll participate in events such as National Trails Day<\/a> (June 6, 2015) and Great Outdoors Month<\/a> in June. Her book tour<\/a> will take her through REI stores nationwide, where she hopes people will pick up more than just Gorge<\/a><\/em>. \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll buy my book, but also leave with a little something to get them on their way to their own adventure,\u201d Whitely says. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a water bottle, which is where I started my first journey, with a Naglene, or a trail book. The side effect will be that more people are actually get out and feeling comfortable being part of this club, this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From
Photo: Kara Brodgesell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Empowering Women in the Great Outdoors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ready to enter the wilderness, but no clue where to start? Trail Mavens<\/a>, founded in 2013, bills itself as a \u201cskills-based outdoor adventure group for extraordinary women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally had my own Wild<\/em> story,\u201d says Sasha Cox, founder of Trail Mavens. \u201cMy mom died of cancer and I had read Wild<\/em> and decided to leave and travel around the world. It was in doing that that I got the guts to start my own business.\u201d Despite the fact that she was an avid camper and hiker, Cox realized she\u2019d never shared those experiences with her group of girlfriends. \u201cI felt there was a dearth of opportunities for women to actually be the experts and leaders in the outdoors,\u201d Cox says.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The Beginner\u2019s Guide to Trail Running<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, Trail Mavens offers guided overnight trips that empower women to try everything from camping in Big Sur<\/a> and Yosemite to kayaking in California\u2019s Tomales Bay. On each of the journeys, women learn crucial outdoors skills, such as how to set up a tent, build a campfire and follow a trail map. The goal is that they can take those skills back home, and then lead their friends on similar adventures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this particular moment in time, there\u2019s so much interest in it both because of [Wild<\/em>], but\u2026there are now a number of really awesome websites dedicated to getting women in the outdoors, like She-Explores.com<\/a>,\u201d Cox says. \u201cAll these women are creating these sort of grassroots networks and communities around them and I think people\u2019s interest is only peaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

While women come on these trips for a variety of reasons, Cox says most leave with a greater sense of confidence and empowerment. \u201cThe way that people find fulfillment in life in general is presenting themselves with a series of challenges and overcoming them…\u201d Cox says. \u201cI think that going into the wilderness provides such a delightfully ripe opportunity for this because there are challenges that are inherent to it, you have to do things in a different way than in the comfort of your own home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the release of the book Wild, more women are spending time in the great outdoors. Here\u2019s why it\u2019s time for everyone to invest in some hiking boots. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":39777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[288,289,104,103,341,362,285],"class_list":["post-39775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-cardio","tag-exercise","tag-goals","tag-motivation","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2walking","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}