Dream about starting your own adventure club, community, or membership?

Lehigh Valley Women of Adventure went from just a wild idea to a thriving community of over 6,000 women who love to spend time outside!

Hear the LVWoA story and take away tips for building and growing your own outdoors community.

We talk about:

• Why women need their own outdoor spaces

• The challenges of going from 100 to 4,000 members in weeks

• Member-created events: how to scale community without burning out

• When and why to incorporate as a nonprofit

• Vetting, waivers, and insurance: the unglamorous but necessary parts

• Why passive engagement matters too

• How "unfamiliar faces" push us in new ways and the power of hiking with strangers

Thanks to Jackie Seidman, Cathy Nelson, and Allison Young for sharing their stories and advice.

If you’re inspired by group adventures and want to join us in the Grand Canyon in March for a Rim to River to Rim hike, there are a couple spots left! Sign up now:

https://cairnproject.org/grand-canyon-rim-to-river-to-rim

Check out these resources:

• 📱 The LVwoA Facebook Group

• 💻 LVWoA Website

• ⁠➡️ The Cairn Project on IG⁠

• ⁠✨ The Cairn Project's newsletter⁠

• 🥾 ⁠⁠Become a Trailblazer⁠⁠

• 📅 ⁠⁠Summit Scholarship Foundation⁠

• 🎙️ ⁠⁠Share your story on this podcast! Submit for Field Notes here.⁠⁠

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

Make sure you subscribe to the⁠⁠ ⁠See Her Outside Podcast⁠⁠⁠ so you don’t miss a story!

Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance).

Hosted by Angie Marie Lake and edited by Alyson Castonguay.

We have just 3 spots left for our Grand Canyon team adventure in March 2026! Get a rare guided Rim to Rim hike, but with a Get Out, Give Back twist.

Free packing list and training guide

Curious about hiking Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon? Let us help you start planning! Listen to learn:

• The types of trails and different route options to hike in the Grand Canyon
• Variations of a Rim to Rim hike and length estimates
• Training tips for a Rim to Rim hike
• Gear and water considerations
• How hiking into the Grand Canyon is like time traveling!

Our October 2025 team adventure in the Grand Canyon fundraised about $12,000 for gender equity AND wildfire relief. Congratulations to Tana, Lorri, Lisa, Ritzy, and Mary for completing an epic Rim to River to Rim hike!

Join us in March 2026 if there’s still space: https://cairnproject.org/grand-canyon-rim-to-river-to-rim

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

Make sure you subscribe to the⁠⁠ ⁠See Her Outside Podcast⁠⁠⁠ so you don’t miss a story!

Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance).

Hosted by Angie Marie Lake and edited by Alyson Castonguay.

Lucy Westlake started mountaineering at 7 years old through a highpointing project. In 2021, she set the record as the youngest person to summit the highest points in all 52 United States, including Denali. At 18, she set a record as the youngest American woman to climb Mount Everest (at the time).

Angie and Lucy talk about:

• Being a competitive athlete starting in elementary school
• Transitioning from running to mountaineering through highpointing
• Highs (and lows) of climbing the high points of the USA
• Behind the scenes of mountaineering and setting records
• What it’s like when other people break your records
• Why she decided to put aside a Seven Summits and Explorers Grand Slam goal
• Lucy’s research on glaciers in college while being a mountain guide
• The impact of ageism, mentorship, and women in mountaineering

Send this episode to a teen who would be inspired by Lucy!

Check out these resources:

• 📱 ⁠Lucy on IG⁠
• ➡️ The Cairn Project on IG
• ✨ The Cairn Project's newsletter

• 🥾 ⁠Become a Trailblazer⁠
• 📅 ⁠Summit Scholarship Foundation

• 🎙️ ⁠Share your story on this podcast! Submit for Field Notes here.⁠

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

Make sure you subscribe to the⁠ ⁠See Her Outside Podcast⁠⁠ so you don’t miss a story!

Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance).

Hosted by Angie Marie Lake and edited by Alyson Castonguay.

You can join Trailtober TODAY and still get a chance to win trail shoes, electrolytes, gear patches and more – sign up now! 🍂

The mountains themselves might be unbiased, but the systems we live in are not.

Kelly Fields is a rock climber, certified climbing guide, and owner of Athena Rock Climbing, a nationwide guide service with a specialty in multi-pitch trad climbing and a primarily all female guide staff.

Kelly’s been building a career around climbing since 2004 and took part in a historic Baffin Island expedition with a team of all women in 2025.

Angie and Kelly talk about:

• Why Kelly left college to pursue big-wall climbing
• The sexism she faced (and still faces) as a guide
• How she built Athena Rock Climbing from a desire for ownership and community
• Why women make excellent climbers
• The physical and emotional dynamics of a 42-day all-women expedition in the Canadian Arctic
• Internalized misogyny and how we unknowingly carry it into the outdoors
• Inviting men into conversations about gender equity outdoors

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Join Trailtober for a chance to win trail prizes and to help close the gender gap outdoors: https://cairnproject.org/trailtober-2025-challenge

Check out these resources:

• 🔗Athena Rock Climbing

• 🧗‍♀️ Athena on IG

• 📱 Kelly on IG

• 🥾 Become a Trailblazer
• 📅 Women of Mountaineering Calendar

• 🎙️ Share your story on this podcast! Submit for Field Notes here.

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

Make sure you subscribe to the ⁠See Her Outside Podcast⁠ so you don’t miss a story!

Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance).

Hosted by Angie Marie Lake and edited by Alyson Castonguay.

(Psst -- Win trail prizes during Trailtober: a trail challenge supporting gender equity in October! Learn more here.)

Heather Anderson has hiked over 50,000 miles — including completing the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail multiple times, and often faster than anyone before her.

Heather shares why writing a memoir could feel as vulnerable and difficult as hiking alone for months. We talk about the mindset needed to write about your life (especially when it doesn’t follow a classic narrative arc), the challenges of maintaining a public presence online, and her tips for aspiring authors.

We talk about:

• Heather's early book and outdoor experiences (personal pan pizzas anyone?)
• The challenges of writing memoirs
• Self-identity after setting trail records
• The impact of social media on authors
• Balancing media consumption and writing
• Tips for aspiring authors

Love adventure books like Heather's?

Grit Lit is our quarterly subscription box meets book club, celebrating women and adventure.

Members get a box every quarter full of woman-created goodies, including a nature-inspired book.

Interested in becoming a part of Grit Lit? Head to ⁠⁠cairnproject.org/grit-lit⁠⁠ to join and get the fall 2025 box, plus a welcome box! It’s a great gift for a friend, too.

Join the trail fun of Trailtober, our October community challenge to spend time on trail, connect with others, and win trail shoes, electrolytes, gear patches and more! https://cairnproject.org/trailtober-2025-challenge

Find Heather on Instagram or explore her website. Make sure to read Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home.

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

Make sure you subscribe to the See Her Outside Podcast so you don’t miss a story!

Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance).

Hosted by Angie Marie Lake, edited by Alyson Castonguay, research assistance by Danielle Peecher

Sarah experienced anaphylactic shock while trekking in the Denali wilderness. Her nervous system regulation practices were an important part of healing – and you can learn how to use them, too!

Sarah Histand is an Alaskan adventurer, a somatic nervous system educator, and a mental health-informed fitness trainer through her business, Mind & Mountain.

Angie and Sarah talk about:

• Sarah’s anaphylactic reaction deep in Denali and how she navigated it using regulation tools
• What nervous system regulation actually means and why it matters outside
• How adventures like the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic shifted Sarah’s outlook on life
• Different eras of adventure, from our 20’s to 30’s and 40’s and beyond
• How lessons transfer from nature to at-home life, like fertility challenges
• How to handle flashbacks and fear after a close call in the wild
• Orienting, recognizing resources, bilateral stimulation, and co-regulation with nature

Check out these resources:

• 🧘‍♀️ Try Sarah’s free co-regulation with nature audio guide
• 🏞 Learn more about Sarah’s seasonal fitness and somatic programs
• 🎃 Join Trailtober, our October challenge to spend more time outdoors!
• 🎒 Join our March 2026 Grand Canyon adventure!

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

Make sure you subscribe to the ⁠See Her Outside Podcast⁠ so you don’t miss a story!

Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance).

Hosted by Angie Marie Lake, edited by Alyson Castonguay, research assistance by Danielle Peecher

Have you been censoring yourself? 🤔

If you've ever softened your language, felt imposter syndrome, or kept quiet when you had a message screaming inside of you, buckle up for a pep talk.

We're breaking down 5 common self-censorship blocks in adventure storytelling and how to break through them, including:

• “I don’t have a good ending yet.”
• “I’m afraid I’ll change my mind later.”
• "I need to soften my language first.”
• “I don’t think society is ready to talk about this.”
• “An expert could share this better than I can.”

Angie shares how our volunteer Trailblazers are using their voices for change, and offers experiments so you can practice what she calls "using your outside voice."

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• Ready to use your voice for the cause? Join us for Trailtober, an October trail challenge to spend more time outdoors while supporting other girls and women!

  
  

  https://www.classy.org/campaign/trailtober-2025/c718566

  
  

  Or, submit a personal essay for Field Notes, our episodes featuring your stories about how nature changed you. Email angie@cairnproject.org with your topic idea.

  
  

  Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

  
  

  You can help us close the gender gap outdoors and beyond:

  
  

  • ⁠Become a Trailblazer⁠.Get the storytelling and fundraising skills to make an impact on the sport you love.
  • Check out the ⁠Summit Scholarship Foundation⁠.
  • Share this episode with a friend or family member.

  
  

  Make sure you subscribe to the See Her Outside Podcast so you don’t miss a story!

Carlie’s running the Oregon Cascades 100 mile ultramarathon on August 23, 2025! Cheer her on (you might get your name on her race shoes) by supporting her fundraiser to get more girls and women outside: https://www.classy.org/fundraiser/6540872

Carlie Graham lives in Seattle, where she's pursuing a career in finance while staying deeply connected to the outdoors. Carlie led the climbing team at UC Irvine in Southern California and remains passionate about making outdoor recreation more financially and socially accessible through community based groups.

Angie and Carlie talk about:

• How athletic passions both fueled and healed mental health challenges growing up
• Challenges and wins of restructuring the UC Irvine Climbing Club
• Carlie’s biggest lessons in building an adventure-centered community
• A (failed) Fastest Known Time attempt of Pico De Orizaba’s Infinity Loop
• An experience with assault while seeking rock climbing mentorship
• New adventure fundraiser: The Oregon Cascades 100 miler
• Reciprocity in outdoor sports scholarships and volunteering

Mentioned in this episode:

• Carlie on Instagram

• Carlie's Adventure Fundraiser

• ⁠Become a Trailblazer like Carlie!⁠

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

Make sure you subscribe to the See Her Outside Podcast so you don’t miss a story!

Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance).

Hosted by Angie Marie Lake, edited by Alyson Castonguay, research assistance by Danielle Peecher