Lessons from the trail with Meg Whicher

She bikes, she splitboards, she’s a former raft guide, and with her undying adventurous and playful spirit, she helps women and youth become empowered through outdoor recreation. Meg Whicher is the Outdoor Rec Coordinator for Missoula Parks and Rec, she’s on the board of Mt Alpha Cycling, and she runs the Zootown Derailleurs youth cycling club.  She also does trail crew work to help make these programs possible. I got to meet Meg in a socially-distanced mountain bike shoot near Mount Jumbo in Missoula, and her amazing positive energy alone was all I needed to get inspired to play outside again.

Meg Whicher rides through popping wildflowers down Sound of Music in Missoula, MT.

Many camps and group activities are having to be canceled or be held virtually because of this pandemic. While I understand this is the best thing to do for the health and safety of our communities, it hasn’t been easy to navigate this new normal in outdoor recreation and to find activities that are safe and compliant with CDC policies. To quote a recent post from Meg on her Instagram,  “The thing is - this is hard for all of us. But we are gonna get through it- because the bike taught us that we can push through when we think we can’t - that riding uphill is always hard. But somehow we always make it to the top. And then we smile, catch our breath, eat a snack - and hit a sick downhill.”

It is amazing to see everyone taking refuge and finding the space to heal through the outdoors. When we have more people recreating outside, we have more people advocating for the places we love and the opportunities to become more empowered and connected with one another. If there’s anything I learned from my shoot with Meg, it’s that we are all connected - to each other and to the land in a reciprocal relationship, and when we learn to take care of the land, we ultimately support the health and wellbeing of our people in return. I hope that with this pandemic we can all take on this uphill challenge together and enjoy some incredible views on the other side.

See more photos from my shoot with Meg in my Adventure gallery.

2020 Summit Scholarship Top 50 Finalist

I want to congratulate the four amazing women out there who are this year’s recipients of the 2020 Summit Scholarship with AWExpeditions to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I applied for this scholarship and it was an honor to be selected as a Top 50 Finalist out of 637 applications throughout the world. I applied in hopes that I could share my story of ED recovery through the outdoors, and although I wasn’t selected, I am so inspired by the stories of the women who have received the scholarship to go on this trip. Just having the opportunity to apply and be among the top 50 was amazing, and it has propelled me forward in my mission to use photography and storytelling to inspire and empower other women like me.

There are so many women out there fighting for equality and I am humbled and grateful beyond measure to be a part of a movement so meaningful. Read up on the four incredible women who were selected for AWE’s 2020 Summit Scholarship.

Thoughts on Nature Photography During a Pandemic

I’ve always been a restless planner/go-getter and uncertainty is something I’ve always struggled within myself. It’s extremely uncomfortable, not knowing what will happen, but I try to find things to be grateful for every day. In times of struggle, there are always moments of beauty and things to be grateful for and I have to keep reminding myself that. This shelter-in-place order and being isolated indoors has taken a toll on me. I know there is so much I can’t control, but I wish there was something more I could do than to sit here and wait.

Ousel Falls, Bozeman, MT

Many like myself are lost and confused, and we are all grieving, growing and healing. The seasons are changing and instead of being outside, I wait in the solitude of my empty apartment for something beautiful to come out of all this. I reflect on what’s most important to me right now, and it’s the act of creating and exploring a specific message or a feeling from capturing a single moment in time. Through outdoor photography and experiences, I’ve learned that embracing the uncomfortable is a process, and being okay with uncertainty is really what it’s all about.

I think now more than ever, the world needs nature and adventure photographers. We need artists to help us see the beauty in the natural world, the lessons it holds, and to inspire hope and show the strength we all have inside of us. We channel and translate the emotions we have and show the wonder and awe that’s out there. We question the purpose of it all, what our relationship is with the earth, and how do we give back. Right now, I believe the way to give back to the earth is by staying home and prioritizing the health of our communities instead.

Nature photography is more than just a pretty sunset in a vast landscape, it’s the moment everything comes to a halt and holding on to that feeling as long as possible because that moment will never come back. It’s a different way of thinking and seeing that can transform our world for the better. It’s finding stillness in the chaos of the world and seeing the perfection, and peace in everything that has led up to the present moment. It’s a meditative practice, and to be able to find strength and resilience the mayhem is something we can all use a little more of right now.

Backcountry Skills Clinic

On December 6-8, 2019 I attended a Women’s Backcountry Skills Clinic, organized by Montana Backcountry Yurts. I booked this trip for myself because I was going through some difficult challenges in my life and I needed it to fulfill something in me, but I wasn’t quite sure what that was.

I spent 3 days in the Montana backcountry for my birthday with a group of 6 other women and 2 instructors. They towed us by a rope on the back of snowmobiles while we skied and together we traveled 15 miles out into the wilderness to stay in a yurt. At first I was really anxious and didn’t think I could do something like this. I’ve always struggled with self doubt and confidence, but on this trip I learned so much about myself and other women in the outdoors. These women are teachers, scientists, researchers, health care workers, working moms, and students like myself. We were all supporting one another in a non-competitive space to overcome personal obstacles and have a fulfilling experience in the mountains. Everyone is suffering in some way physically or mentally, whether they’re anxious, tired, cold, hungry, cramped, wet, or frozen, etc, but despite all of that, these women are still getting after what they want in life, letting go of everything holding them back and the things we can’t control. The fulfillment comes from working through these set backs and problem solving to reach the top to glide through flawless powder on the way down.

I had my camera with me the entire time, documenting the experience. Moments like these remind me why I became a photographer in the first place, and I wanted to share these photos with you in hopes that other women struggling, whether it’s physical or an emotional obstacle, will be inspired to get outside and work through it in a healthy way. Four years ago when I picked up a camera, I was inspired by not only the places photography could take me, but the healing that could take place when one detaches themselves from societal pressures to recreate and explore outdoors. After being in school and going on this trip I’ve learned that I find photography most rewarding when I can show the beauty in being in the wilderness and the strength that comes from human-powered outdoor adventure. 

If you’d like to see more of my photos from this trip, please visit my Adventure page.

Interview with Madelyn Beck

I was recently interviewed by Madelyn Beck, Reporter for the Mountain West News Bureau and Boise State Public Radio to talk about how digital technology has changed the world of professional photography today. I shared with her what being an adventure/nature photographer means to me and why I do it. You can read up on this story and listen to the interview here.