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.

Women in the Mountains

Darcy Chenoweth, Montana Backcountry Yurts

For International Women’s Day, my photo of Darcy Chenoweth, Cartographer, Artist, Skier, and friend, was published in this incredible article by Emily Sullivan, Voile Ambassador, about the beauty, the challenges, and the unique strengths of women in the mountains. It's an article about celebrating what it means to be a woman in the mountains, and I am so deeply grateful to be able to be a part of this. THIS is why I am a photographer.

“I’ve interacted with the mountains as a relationship. The relationship is messy, blissful, painful and tranquil. I do love the physicality of what the human body can endure, but what I value most is the ability to sit and watch the clouds move over a ridgeline, or to see the patterns of lichen on a rock—to be attentive, to notice. To know that my body fits into the larger whole of the landscape, not existing separate from it.” - Darcy Chenoweth

Take a look at “Women in the Mountains” by Emily Sullivan.

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.