Girl Gotta Hike The Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Today’s episode is Part 2 of my Mount Everest Base Camp Trek Travelogue from May of 2018. If you haven’t yet listened to Part 1, I highly recommend starting there so you can catch up on the journey so far, as I travel from to Kathmandu to Namche Bazaar with a group of five fellow New York City based photographers.

This episode covers days 8 through 18, as we continue up and across the Sagarmatha National Forest, all the way to Base Camp, and back down, stopping in different villages and teahouses along the way. If you’ve already listened to Episode 1, thank you so much! I’ve gotten some lovely feedback about the format and am excited to share the conclusion with you today.

And if you happened to hear it back when it was first released and have been eagerly awaiting this follow up, I sincerely thank you for your patience! Podcasting has been a fun and creative way for me to share outdoor adventures and stories with you, but it’s just one part of my greater Girl Gotta Hike universe. While I fully intended to pop out this second installment the following week, I found myself both booked up for the foreseeable future with guided trips and photo gigs, and bogged down with the boring behind-the-scenes business stuff that eats away at my best intentions.

While six er.. seven months may have slipped by between that last recording and this one, the sentiment remains the same -- I’m so stoked that you’ve tuned in to head back to the hills with me and hear about the second half of this Base Camp Adventure!

 

Gossamer Gear — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for 15% off your first purchase at GossamerGear.com

Check out GG’s amazing backpack lineup here:
Vagabond Jet (25-Liter)
Mariposa (60-Liter)
Gorilla (50-Liter)
G4-20 (42-Liter)
Kumo 36 (36-Liter)


1-Hour Coaching call with Click – use code “EXTRAHELP” for 15% off three or more
sessions at girlgottahike.com


Anjali’s Cup Turmeric Blends — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKE” for 10% off your cart at anjaliscup.com

Camera Voyages travel company

Kancha The Last Sherpa video by William Vazquez

Kancha Sherpa Foundation

Nirvana Home, Namche Bazaar

Himalayan Rescue Association

Kids of Kathmandu

Today’s episode is a bit of a departure from the usual. I’m going to take you back in time to the beginning of Girl Gotta Hike, or actually, before the beginning. Living in New York City, it’s all too easy for me to get tied into the day-to-day hustle and while I often dream of heading out on long hikes, it’s been the rare occasion that I’ve been able to step out of the fast lane for an extended break.

In the summer of 2017, I had become an officially licensed Outdoor Guide. I hadn’t quite worked up the courage to lead my own hikes yet, and my website was a series of blog posts from my John Muir Trail thru-hike from the year prior. But that December, the neon sign for my next adventure started flashing right in front of my eyes.  I got an invitation to join a small group of photographers on trek up to Mount Everest Base Camp, and in a few short months, I found myself traveling halfway around the world with William Vazquez, photographer and founder of Camera Voyages, plus four other new York city based photographers.

And it was five years ago this week that we reached Mount Everest Base Camp, at 17,598 feet above sea level. The journey to get there has been taken by many before us and many since, but walking amongst the highest mountains in the world was unbelievably special, and somehow, despite the lack of oxygen in the air, I had enough reserves to write down my daily  experience along the way. 

This episode covers the first 7 days of my trek, from Katmandu to Namche Bazaar. Part two will be headed your way next week.


Anjali’s Cup Turmeric Blends — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKE” for 15% off your cart at anjaliscup.com

Gossamer Gear — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for 15% off your first purchase at GossamerGear.com

Check out GG’s amazing backpack lineup here:
Mariposa (60-Liter)
Gorilla (50-Liter)
G4-20 (42-Liter)
Kumo 36 (36-Liter)

Camera Voyages travel company

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer

Everest, 2015 movie

Kancha Sherpa Foundation

Nirvana Home, Namche Bazaar

Melissa first met Kate Rhodes, a fellow backpacker and NYS Licensed Outdoor Guide, where she’s met so many other amazing women – out on trail! They both happened to be camping out at the same lean-to on the same night along the Northville Placid Trail in the Adirondacks when Melissa first heard word of but a few of Kate’s many amazing outdoor endeavors — but she’s so humble, it was her hiking companions who were the ones to hype her up!

At the time, Kate was training for an upcoming attempt at snagging the unsupported record for the Fastest Known Time for traversing all 46 of the Adirondack peaks over 4,000 feet in one fell swoop — and in this episode you’ll get to hear all about the planning logistics and training for that, as well as her subsequent FKT pursuits. But that’s just the tip of her awesomeness iceberg!

Kate’s an Adirondack 46’er, President of Adirondack Mountain Rescue, a non-profit Wilderness Search and Rescue team, an Outdoor Guide working with multiple Adirondack-based guiding services, and co-owner of the gluten, dairy, soy & refined sugar-free TogaNola Snack Company -- all while holding down a 9 to 5 as an Industrial Hygienist, and is absolutely crushing it at her latest pursuit - ultra-running.

You’ll get to hear all about Kate’s journey from growing up as an inside kid to becoming an outdoor badass, how inspiring other women and young girls helps to keep her going, and about the important role the outdoors play in her own mental health and well-being.

A brief note to listeners – around an hour and 9 minutes into this episode, there is talk about the suicide of a close family member of Kate’s. That event is one of the driving forces behind her current endeavors and the reason she helps raise money for organizations such as 46 Climbs and The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. 

If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text TALK to 741741.  

Shownotes and Useful Links:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for 15% off your first purchase at GossamerGear.com

Link here to check out GG’s The One and The Two ultralight backpacking tents!

Kate Rhodes – Instagram

TogaNola Snack Company – Instagram

TogaNola Snack Company – Web

Adirondack Mountain Rescue

46Climbs

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run

Fastest Known Time

Hennig Preserve, Saratoga County, New York

Adirondack 46ers

Whoo-hoo! Episode 17 (aka the first of the Slackpack Series) is an entire episode dedicated to doling out some down and dirty of advice from four female thru-hikers, who love nothing more than discovering the joys of getting deeper into the backcountry. During an impromptu trek through Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, GGH host Melissa “Click” Goodwin, and her semi-regular podcast guests and trail besties, Emma “Sprout” Hileman, Lauren “Woodchuck” de la Vega and Kelley “NoSeeUm” Blosser, all discuss some of the finer (and funnier) points of what comes up on a long-distance backpacking trip.

To keep the conversation from going totally of the rails, a 10-minute timer per topic was set as the ladies took off toward Melissa’s apartment. As it goes with any good on-trail conversation with friends, their topics did ebb and flow a bit, but they still managed to cover a lot of ground on our short walk including descriptions of some on-trail lingo, recalling some special seasonal moments on our adventures, tips for trip planning and must haves for meals-- and all with a ton of laughs. 

Slackpacking: Hiking a day’s worth of mileage (or more) on a long-distance trail pursuit, but without the burden of a fully loaded backpack. Heavy gear can be left in the custody of others, in order for the thru-hiker’s body to have a bit of a break from the usual grind. In the podcast sense – a fun and lighthearted episode with friends!

 SHOWNOTES / USEFUL LINKS:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for 15% off your first purchase at GossamerGear.com

Link here to check out GG’s Gorilla 50 ultralight backpack!

Appalachian Trail

Pacific Crest Trail

Continental Divide Trail

Arizona Trail

John Muir Trail

The Long Trail

Northville Placid Trail

Cholula Hot Sauce

Girl Gotta Hike the Podcast has reached episode Sweet Sixteen, which is not only super exciting, but an amazing coincidence, since the featured guests happen to both be sixteen years old and reign from Melissa’s hometown of Rochester, New York!

Kahmil Monk-George and Amanda Torres are both Junior Urban Ecologists with The Seneca Park Zoo Society’s Rochester Urban Ecology Program, a paid workforce development program for junior and senior high schoolers. Back in April, during their high school Spring Break, they joined Melissa for a walk and talk on a crisp Spring morning in Seneca Park, home to the Seneca Park Zoo, and home base for their program. Amanda and Kahmil talked about their experience as Junior Urban Ecologists, their involvement with the Urban Ecology Program, and its four-part mission to reflect on the relationship between humans and the environment around them, encourage community engagement in the outdoors, develop a sense of stewardship for the natural spaces within the city, and to prepare themselves for future job opportunities. 

Spending quality time in the outdoors has had a huge impact on these two young humans, most especially during these tough pandemic times, which are often overloaded with Zoom calls and remote learning. Connecting with each other and the natural world around them, in a safe and socially distant way, has proven to be their saving grace for such stressful times, and their enthusiasm for bringing their fellow teens and younger kids along for the ride is infectious.

Melissa was first connected to these amazing young women by their program manager, Chris Widmaier, through the recently founded New York Outdoor Recreation Coalition, which consists of a diverse membership  organizations, and advocacy groups, working to ensure equal access to outdoor recreation in New York State.

Thanks so much to Amanda and Kahmil for taking time out of their High School Spring Break to hang out and go for a walk with Girl Gotta Hike! Best wishes to you both on an awesome Senior Year and beyond!

SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for 15% off your first purchase at GossamerGear.com

Link here to check out GG’s The One and The Two ultralight backpacking tents!

Rochester Urban Ecologists - website

RocUrbanEcologists - Instagram

Program Coordinator, Chris Widmaier

Rochester’s Summer of Opportunity Program

City of Rochester - Rec Centers

Seneca Park Zoo

Seneca Park

Highland Park

Cobbs Hill Park & Washington Grove

Genesee Valley Park

New York Outdoor Recreation Coalition

Episode 15 features the insightful and engaging Melodie Mendez, outdoors advocate, public relations specialist, NYC Chapter Leader of Latino Outdoors, and all around lovely human being! Mel(odie), a Harlem-resident and NYC native, takes Mel(issa), a once suburbanite now Brooklynite, on a meandering walk all around the beautiful North Woods and Ravine in Manhattan’s Central Park. 

Throughout their walk, they talk about all-things diversity, equity, and inclusion and how to work toward a better future at both the individual level and in broader society. Melodie is super passionate about lifting-up and representing her Latinx community and other marginalized populations in the outdoors space, and talks about why that matters, especially now in a post-pandemic world.

Mel and Mel also get to geek out a bit on the Appalachian Trail, some NYC fun facts, and some of the extra challenges it takes to be an outdoorsy New Yorker. Please excuse their occasional running out of breath while walking and talking up of some of Harlem’s most notorious hills – they managed to give each other grace throughout and have a bunch of laughs – so here’s hoping you enjoy their walk too!

SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for a 1-time, 15% off discount on all core products at GossamerGear.com

Latino Outdoors New York City Chapter – Facebook

Latino Outdoors New York City Chapter – Instagram

Latino Outdoors National Organization - Website

iNaturalist — app and website

Central Park

ZogSports  

Reclama / Cindy Ramirez – Instagram

Melanin Base Camp – Instagram

All Colors in Nature – Instagram

New York Outdoor Recreation Coalition

Lenape Nation

Yonkers Running Project – Instagram

Boogie Down Bronx Runners – Instagram

Harlem Run – Instagram

Episode 14 is all about the incredible and amazing Eco Artist, Mariah Reading of the great state of Maine! Back in February, Melissa headed north, where the two of them set out on not one, but two amazing adventures in one day – first an icy 5-mile walk and talk around Long Pond in Acadia National Park, over on the quiet side Mount Desert Island, and second, a minutes-long Wim Hof inspired dip in the frigid Atlantic Ocean. Yes, really!

On the walk we learn all about Mariah’s experiences painting lansdcapes on found trash as artist in residence at Zion, Denali and Acadia National Parks and while visiting other amazing and far-flung places like Antarctica! The appreciation she gained for Nature’s beauty while being immersed within these parks creating art, has now inspired her to work at a greater capacity within the National Park System as an Interpretive Park Ranger. In this role she teaches park visitors about the local ecology, geology and the vast cultural history of the indigenous peoples of each specific place.

As an Eco Artist, Mariah is dedicated to being as zero waste as possible, and over the course of their hike, we learn a ton about Mariah’s process of making her beautiful work, as well as the multitudes of creative ways she reuses and repurposes materials to create them with. 

This episode has it all, including some hot tips on cold water swimming, and tons and tons of geologic facts about Maine. So dive on in, it’s a fun one!

SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for a 1-time, 15% off discount on all core products at GossamerGear.com

Where to find Mariah Reading:

Instagram

Mariah Reading Art – website

Facebook

Indigenous Peoples:

Wabanaki Confederacy

Passamaquoddy

Mescalero Apache Tribe

 State and National Parks:

Acadia National Park

Baxter State Park

Catalina Island Conservancy

Denali National Park

Nature Bridge 

Guadaloupe National Park

Voyageurs National Park

Yosemite National Park

 Other Artists & references:

Heidi Annalise – Altoid Tin Artist

The Acadia Family Center

Lou Bolin – body painter

Jenny Browne – Texas Poet Laureate

Cold Tits Warm Hearts

Celia Garland – Artist, Naturalist, Storyteller from Antarctica

Hudson River Artists 

Alexa Meade – body painter

Windover Art Center

Wim Hof

Sean Yoro – LA based, Hawaiian born artist, also known as Hula

GGH the podcast episode 13 is here! Lucky 13, whoop whoop!

And my oh my, this episode is chock full of hiking advice and all of it about thru-hiking — yaaaaay! As long time listeners may already know, host Melissa "Click"! Goodwin thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2011 and it was on that trail, where the first seeds for what would eventually become Girl Gotta Hike were planted. The connections she made and the camaraderie she felt with her fellow hikers was so joyous and so incredible — she’s grateful that it has extended well beyond that one trip. The notion of a taking off on a long trek or a journey of self-discovery, enabled by one’s own feet, is something so palpable to so many people, but not many know where to start. So back in December Melissa put out a request to her Girl Gotta Hike followers on Instagram to “Ask a Lady Thru-hiker” anything, and they replied with some amazing questions about logistics, safety on trail, gear and about how to keep on keepin’ on when you’re tired and sore, which is something we could all benefit from, especially after the year we just endured.

To help Melissa answer everything and bring some west coast hiking perspective into the mix, she invited over good friends and fellow Brooklynites, Lauren “Woodchuck” de la Vega and Kelley “NoSeeUm” Blosser. Having thru hiked both the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, Lauren has nearly 5000 trail miles under her feet to date, and Kelley, a regular on the Girl Gotta Hike roster, has recently re-discovered her love for backpacking. She’s also an aspiring PCT thru-hiker so she came armed with a list of questions of her own.

They talk a ton of trail and tell some hilarious tales for more than 3 hours, so best listening practices would be to pop in your earbuds and take this episode out on a walk with you or to grab a favorite beverage or three, kick back, relax and laugh along with the ladies.

SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for a 1-time 15% off discount on all core products at  GossamerGear.com

Lauren “Woodchuck” instagram

Lauren’s Thru-hiker blog posts on The Trek

Kelley “NoSeeUm” Blosser instagram

Kelley’s post about a trip on the Arizona Trail

In Episode 12, Melissa talks with fellow Brooklynites and hike leaders, Avalou Baptiste and Claydona Dennie, who have been nurturing a growing love of the outdoors within their Caribbean community through their group TriStateHikers. About five years ago, Ava founded TriState as a way to gather together with her fellow Vincentians, (natives of St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and others of the local Caribbean diaspora as a healthy way to escape from and bring to light to the mental health struggles that so many in her community deal with, but which often gone unspoken or become stigmatized.

In just a few short years, Ava’s hikes have gone from occasional gatherings in nearby Prospect Park in Brooklyn, to weekly hikes, exploring trails as far north as the Catskills and throughout the Tri State Region. Her enthusiasm, curiosity and joy around spending time in nature is infectious, and in the summer of 2020, Claydona, along with many others looking for some respite from the COVID pandemic, was inspired by her to hit the trails too.

Major thanks to Avalou and Claydona for being so willing and open to dig down deep about the importance of inclusion in our outdoor realms both on the internet and on trail. These conversations, while sometimes difficult to start, are so important to have and to continue to have, especially when we are really just at the beginning of (I hope) major systemic and social change as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GirlGottaHikeGossamer” for a 1-time 15% off discount on all core products at  GossamerGear.com

TriState Hikers  email

TriState Hikers  Instagram

HIKE For Mental Health website

Nanni Health Food Store & Vegan Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY  Instagram

On episode 11, Melissa talks with fellow Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, photographer, writer, farmer and good friend, Sarah Jones Decker, also known as “Harvest.” Sarah’s new book, The Appalachian Trail: Backcountry Shelters, Lean-tos, and Huts was published earlier this year by Rizzoli, which highlights all of the shelters on the entire Appalachian trail with beautiful photography and facts, and to which Melissa contributed over 40 images.  If you’ve spent any overnight in the woods along the AT or elsewhere on the east coast, then you’ve probably come across a lean-to or two which are 3-sided structures with pitched roofs, set up in the backcountry to give hikers a place to rest or shelter from a storm. 

 
If you’ve listened to this podcast in the past, you may recognize Harvest’s voice from Girl Gotta Hike The Podcast, Episode 1. You may also know that Melissa loves the way ideas get sparked and conversations flow when hiking alongside someone. But due to this year’s travel restrictions and the fact that Sarah lives in North Carolina, an in-person recording seemed almost impossible. Instead of settling for sitting still though, Melissa decided to experiment and send Sarah a microphone and recorder so they could continue to walk together while chatting on the phone. 

The result? A super fun and insightful conversation about photography, the artistic process, the trials of taking photos while backpacking and the tenacity it took to dedicate over two years of her life to photograph all of the 270-plus shelters along the Appalachian Trail for her 10 year thru-hiking Trailversary. They also take a deep dive in to the history of backcountry shelters and the multitude of trail clubs that build and maintain them, as well as the looney logistics of what she calls “shelter-bagging.”

We hope their conversation gets you inspired to head out into the woods and onto the AT yourself, or at least to head over to Sarah’s website, sarahjonesdecker.com, where as a special treat for Girl Gotta Hike listeners, she has graciously offered 10% off all purchases of books, prints and posters by using the code “GGH” at checkout.  

 Useful links:

Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GirlGottaHikeGossamer” for a 1-time 15% off discount on all core products at GossamerGear.com

Sarah Decker Jones  website — use code “Girl Gotta Hike” for 10% off all orders

Root Bottom Farm  Instagram 

AT Symbol Poster

Bernd and Hilla Becher