Guides Gone Wild

If you don’t get some inspiration from this one, you have a heart of stone!

Krista Alderdice is one of the founders of Blue Collar Runners, a website devoted to telling the stories of ordinary people who love to run. Krista and her husband Guy got into ultrarunning as "grown ups", Guy in his mid 30s and Krista in 2015, after a horrifying injury that we talk about in this interview. On one of their training runs together, Krista and Guy hatched the idea of Blue Collar Runners, and the profiles of everyday people that they started posting on the website eventually caught the attention of Ultrarunning Magazine, which now hosts a recurring feature profile from BCR on the Ultrarunning.com website.

Krista and I talk about the link between the outdoors and mental health, whether it always makes sense to push your limits, and how inspiration often comes from the most unexpected places.

Back from a brief social media hiatus, Krista can be found @BlueCollarRunners and @vtrunnermom on Instagram, and of course check out her website.

More links you might like:

• Laura Farrell episode of GGW
• VT 100
• Ultrarunning Magazine - Blue Collar Runners column
• Tailwind electrolyte drink mix
• Spring Energy Gels
• Javelina Jundred (100K) - Arizona
• Runamuck Ultra - Vermont
• Road to the Pogue - Woodstock, VT
• Mt. Ascutney
• Brownsville Country Store
• Harpoon Brewery - Windsor, VT
• Pemi Loop - New Hampshire
• Salomon water filter attachment
• Jeanne Christie episode of GGW

Enjoying the podcast? Please leave a rating or review on Apple Podcast, or better yet, share this episode with your adventure bestie!

Send us Fan Mail

"Hey, New Girl, don't take any sh*t from anybody!"
And so began the friendship between Jesika Lucarelli and Tallie Martin that spawned Great Mountain Guide Service of Millinocket, Maine.

I happened across Great Mountain Guide Service on Instagram, when someone shared a picture from a trip these two were guiding on the Cutler Coast, except it looked like no overnight backpacking trip I'd ever been on - the picnic spread these hikers were feasting on was something right off the lawn at Tanglewood.

I commented on their next level set up, and next thing I know I’m exchanging messages with Jesika and we’re grabbing coffee for an early morning pod-chat. I mean, how many hairdresser-turned-private-chef-turned-hunting-and-whitewater-guide-slash-yoga-instructors is one going to have a chance to meet in a lifetime?

Jesika and Tallie are So. Fun. But they also get real about what it takes to patch together an outdoor career here in the northeast, a nomadic cycle of guiding, ski resort and restaurant work. These two are grinders, and 2020 by all accounts has been a pretty challenging year, but their energy, enthusiasm and upbeat natures definitely come through in this interview. I guarantee by the end you’re not only going to want to hire them for your next Katahdin ascent, but also to chaperone your next girls' trip to Vegas…

Check out Great Mountain Guide Service's trips and retreat offerings on their website, as well as their so-called ‘sister’ company, Maine White Tail Adventures. As Tallie mentioned, they’re @GreatMountainGuideService on Instagram and Facebook, and they are worth a follow for their #friendshipgoals and adventure picnic ideas, if for no other reason.

And while you’re feeling social, are you following Guides Gone Wild on Instagram or Facebook yet? Because there might be a little extra inspiration from our guests that makes its way over there a few times a week...

More links and inspiration from Jesika and Tallie:

• Cutler Coast
• Katahdin - this is the route GMGS talks about in the pod!
• Baxter State Park
• Chimney Pond
• Maine Outdoor Education Program
• The Maine Sportsman
• Katahdin Woods & Waters
• Penobscot River Trails - Grindstone, ME
• Butler Conservation Fund
• Carter’s Cross Country Ski Center
• Ojo Caliente, NM
• Wilmington, NC

McNett River Knife - no longer available, and McNett became Gear Aid back in 2016. But this one is probably close!

Special thanks, as always, to Evans Notch Lodge!

Send us Fan Mail

Make sure you listen until the end of this one - Laura Farrell drops some serious wisdom bombs. Here’s one of my favorites: “As you get older, focus on the things you CAN do, and don’t worry about the things you can’t do.” That’s fire in and of itself, but what makes it probably 10,000x more awesome is that Laura Farrell continues to KILL IT in her mid-60s. There’s still basically nothing she can’t do.

This is a woman who both runs and horseback-rides ultra distance events - 'ultra' meaning further than a marathon (26.2 miles) - and in Laura’s case, we’re talking 50- and 100-milers. When she first started running 100s, there were no headlamps or Clif Blox or ultralite gear or crew support - she literally carried a flashlight, along with all of the Coke and Snickers she’d need to refuel during her 20+ hours on the trail. And she’d stop for the occasional hamburger. Bonkers.

Laura’s still an avid hiker, she mountain bikes, she’s competed in eco-challenges, triathlons; she’s an avid skier.... For crying out loud, she had two kids 13 months apart, that’s enough to win you a platinum-plus life medal in my book!

Laura has also built an amazing legacy in all that spare time she's had while training for 100-milers...She founded Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports in 1987, which was one of the first adaptive ski programs in the northeast, and remains one of the best in the country. She was also the founder and first race director for the Vermont 100 ultra trail run, which joined the Vermont 100 endurance horse ride to become the "Vermont 100 Endurance Race" in 1989.

I know you’ll agree that Laura is a total delight and inspiration, so enjoy our convo!

Let’s all do our part to carry Laura’s dreams forward - you can find out how to get involved and support Vermont Adaptive at Vermontadaptive.org. And if you’ve been using all your COVID at-home time to train like a crazy person, you will definitely want to check out the Vermont 100 races - along with the 100 mile run and horseback ride, the race weekend includes a 100-kilometer run option. Fingers crossed we are all vaccinated and running like maskless maniacs soon!

And a few more links to take us to the finish line:

• Old Dominion Endurance Race
• Vermont 50
• Gu
• Shot Blox
• Evans Notch Lodge, proud sponsor of the GGW!

Send us Fan Mail

Have you ever had a friend say "you totally have to meet this person, they are awesome"? That’s what led me to my guide for today, Jane Koopman.

If you’ve been with Guides Gone Wild since the beginning, or even if you’ve picked up on us recently, you probably listened to my interview with superstar Alicia Heyburn from Teens To Trails. Once Alicia was fairly certain I wasn't a total wacko, she told me I HAD to talk to 'Jane from Maine': epic whitewater kayaker, NOLS instructor, world traveler, and overall amazing person.

Jane Koopman grew up in Northern California, but really developed her passion for the outdoors and whitewater in Maine after a pivotal experience here when she was in high school. She's chased whitewater adventures across the country and around the world, and when she's not dropping over waterfalls for fun, she's a whitewater kayak instructor for NOLS, teaching others how to manage risk while feeding their stoke.

We talk about it all, plus the new business adventure she’s undertaken since relocating back to the west coast. And you might even be treated to a few guest appearances by her pup Campbell...

You can connect with Jane through the website for her company, In Partnership Dog Training, and on Instagram. You can also check out Jane’s ambassador profile on the Jackson Adventures site.

And a few more links from our conversation:

• Chewonki Semester School Program
• Bowdoin College Outing Club
• Grand Canyon river expedition
• NOLS River Instructor course
• Pucón, Chile
• Futaleufú River
• Teens to Trails
• All Creatures Great and Small
• Teton Valley, Idaho
• The Academy for Dog Trainers / Jean Donaldson
• Power to Be (Vancouver/Victoria)
• Penobscot - West Branch
• ½ Liter (16 oz) ‘Baby’ Nalgene

And most importantly, what is a quigloo?

Finally, special thanks to our sponsor, Evans Notch Lodge - your basecamp for adventure in the White Mountains!

Send us Fan Mail

If the word ‘brave’ conjures visions of base jumping or grizzly wrestling or that crazy Alex Honnold movie Free Solo, then today’s episode is for you. Because as you’ll hear, the fact that your brain went there automatically is kind of BS.

Amanda Hatley is a long-time retail industry pro and the founder and director of She Summits Co., a company she launched in late 2019 to provide unique adventure travel camps for women of all ages.

Amanda and I dive right into how a semi-disastrous experience at a so-called 'fat camp' was the tiny little snowflake that basically avalanched into her life’s work in the outdoor industry. She shares the amazing perspective and wisdom she’s developed on what it means to be brave and live your best life - two key aspects that are at the center of any She Summits adventure.

I am super-excited to see what post-COVID will mean for Amanda and She Summits. As someone who has two daughters myself, I have definitely seen the impact that the ‘right’ kind of outdoor experience can have on a girl’s confidence and sense of connection. I would love to see more and more girls and women gain access to exactly the types of experiences Amanda is curating.

Even with the tech challenges we faced, I came away from this conversation fired up and far more appreciative of both the big and little things I’m capable of.

I hope you'll connect with Amanda on Instagram, Facebook, and bookmark the SheSummits website to be first in line for upcoming fun.

You can check out some of the cool places Amanda has adventured here:

• UNC Charlotte Venture Outdoor Leadership
• Nanthala River Gorge
• Elmendorf Air Force Base
• Kenai Fjords National Park
• Amherst Forest
• Grafton Notch
• Camden Hills State Park
• Baxter State Park

And since Amanda is a self-professed ‘gear head’, we’re bringing you a ton of great product links with this one:

• REI
• Acadia Mountain Guides
• Osprey kid packs
• Katadyn Hiker Pro Water Filter
• Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter
• Grayl Water Filters

Finally, a special shout out to Evans Notch Lodge in Gilead, Maine for supporting our lucky episode #13! 

Send us Fan Mail

If you were one of the millions of people trying to get your hands on a new canoe or kayak this summer to amuse yourself during quarantine, you probably saw Christi Holmes front and center on the Old Town Canoe website.

While many of us have spent the last several months eating too many Cheetos and trying to Jedi-mind-game schools into opening this fall (or was that just me??), Christi has been riding a wave of publicity that started in late 2018/early 2019, when she was profiled on NewsCenter Maine around the same time that a photo she submitted to a Down East Magazine contest wound up on the cover.

There’s a lot of nuance to Christi, which is what made me chase her down for a conversation. She hunts and fishes not because her family did, but because she started thinking long and hard about the ethics of food production. She’ll spend the entire day in a bog, covered in mud, waiting for ducks, but with perfectly manicured nails. She’ll go from recommending the perfect site for a sprawling mall on Friday, to finding a perfect campsite in the 100 Mile Wilderness on Saturday.

But what I find most interesting is the engineer’s approach she is taking toward dismantling the sexism she encounters in the activities she’s grown to love.

Without the benefit of a family legacy of involvement in activities like hunting and fishing, she’s inserted her younger woman’s energy and narrative into these old boy networks. Rather than focus on blowing things up, she’s been relentless about building things up, and chipping away at the elitism that haunts these sports.

A few words of caution about this episode, we do talk about some specifics of hunting and field-dressing, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea. I hope you will keep an open mind, though, and challenge some of your assumptions by listening in.

You can find Christi on Instagram, Twitter, and of course, check out the Maine Women Hunters Facebook group.

As noted at the end of the episode, we have SO. MANY. LINKS. back on the Guides Gone Wild website, but here's a partial list of the good stuff:

• Christi’s Downeast cover
• Christi’s Newscenter Maine “Maine Portraits” video
• Christi on Maine Cabin Masters
• The Maine Sportsman 
• Maine Women Fly Fishers Facebook group
• Casting For Recovery
• Guthook Guides (AT thru hike app)
• Old Town Canoe
• Animal Planet Dog Breed Selector Quiz
• Reusable zip ties
• OnX app

And don't forget to check out our sponsor, Evans Notch Lodge, for your outdoor posse's next socially-distanced adventure!

Send us Fan Mail

Holly Twining is the founder of Maine Yoga Adventures - a company that brings together her love of nature and the outdoors with her love of trying new things, the more random the better. Like the marriage of flow poses with beer and knitting. Belly dancing and Bellinis. Or Maces and Macrame - don’t ask me, check out her site, you can join her for that in September.

If fun was an actual person, she’d be Holly.

Maine Yoga Adventures celebrated its 5th anniversary this summer, so I thought it was a great time to check in with Holly and talk about the continual reinvention of both herself and, more recently her business. And listen to her spontaneous laugh, which makes me smile ear-to-ear whenever I hear it!

You connect with Holly on her Maine Yoga Adventures website, Instagram and Facebook. Also check out her YouTube channel for tons of amazing flows and inspiration from her travels.

Other resources:

• Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theater
• EarthWatch
• What is Vinyasa?
• OmLand Yoga

(**WORD OF WARNING - There’s an instance where Holly drops the F-bomb, not gratuitously, but in relation to a name change of a performance she was in. So if that will offend, take a pass, or maybe pop in some earbuds if you’re listening with your littles around!)

Send us Fan Mail

Polly Mahoney's calm and soft-spoken demeanor gives you zero indication of all the bad-*ss things she’s done outdoors, including living in the Yukon bush for a decade.

Polly and her partner Kevin founded Maine's Mahoosuc Guide Service 30 years ago, and have managed to keep themselves busy year-round ever since offering dog sledding and canoeing trips suitable for beginners and enthusiasts alike. 

As soon as I got Guides Gone Wild off the ground officially, I started stalking Polly and got up the nerve to ask her to be a guest. I don’t know what I was worried about, because she is one of the most gracious people I’ve ever met, and she and Kevin enthusiastically toured us around their property and let us play with their dogs before Polly and I sat down to chat. 

Polly's deep love for her dogs, reverence for indigenous cultures and nature, and wise observations about the world we live in come through loud and clear - enjoy!

Links to all the Polly Mahoney goodness:

• Mahoosuc Guide Service website, Facebook and Instagram
• Video about Mahoosuc Guide Service, their philosophy, and adorable puppy footage
• Penobscot Pony Club
• Death Hunt with Charles Bronson
• Never Cry Wolf 
• Hurricane Island Outward Bound School
• Voyager Outward Bound School
• Grafton Notch, Lake Umbagog, Allagash River
• Island Falls Canoe - Jerry Stelmok
• Reflector oven (sorry, I know this podcast is focused on womxn, but this post was the best explanation I found of what it is and how to use it - plus, a berry pie recipe!)
• Recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake in Dutch Oven

And as always, special thanks to our sponsor Evans Notch Lodge!

Send us Fan Mail

Should we always be striving to go harder, go faster, be better in our outdoor endeavors? 

If we do, what kind of message is that attitude sending? Whom are we impacting when we model those behaviors and goals? 

What other things do we do or say in an outdoor adventure setting that might impact others’ willingness to try something new or join us on a hike or paddle or bike ride?  

We are diving into these questions with Lauren Jacobs. Lauren is a lecturer in kinesiology and physical education (KPE) with the College of Education and Human Development at University of Maine. She also coordinates the outdoor leadership concentration and minor within KPE.   

Before landing at UMaine, Lauren worked in the nonprofit sector helping increase outdoor sport opportunities and access for Maine kids, and was also a PE teacher, which wound up informing her masters thesis research into recess weather policies in Maine schools. 

Lauren’s list of outdoor leadership credentials is noteworthy: a registered Maine Guide; a certified paddling instructor; a cross-country ski instructor; a registered yoga instructor. And yet, she is also someone who has spent the last several years ‘recovering’ from the intensity and relentless drive she developed as a professional nordic ski racer. As Lauren puts it, “there are other kinds of improvement, and there are other kinds of engagement,” and I couldn’t agree more.

Instead of fixating on FKTs or Strava trophies, maybe it’s time to focus on expanding opportunities and improving accessibility in the outdoors. Maybe it’s time to advocate for more outdoor time and physical activity in public schools. That sounds like the kind of ‘performance enhancement’ I can get behind.

Links to some of the things Lauren and I talked about:

• Lauren’s University of Maine profile
• Outdoor Leadership Program online, and on Instagram
• Lauren’s thesis on recess and physical education weather policies
• Craftsbury Green Racing Project
• Maine Trail Finder
• Act Out with Aislinn Sarnacki - One Minute Hikes (archive here)

And if COVID-19 still has you feeling boxed in and stir crazy, you’ll enjoy this special bonus I found - click here to access ‘Physical Activity in Small Spaces’, a fantastic resource developed by MaineHealth using Lauren’s content. While the resource is focused on providing kids with more opportunities for physical activity, the exercises presented are perfect for ‘kids’ of any age who want to improve their functional strength, flexibility, mobility and overall health - and the only equipment required is yourself!

Send us Fan Mail

Most Americans are lucky if they hit 4,000 steps most days. And then there’s Mikayla Clarke, who took on over 4,500 miles - successfully thru-hiking both the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.

Mikayla is my first guest on a new segment I’m calling ‘Real Womxn on Real Adventures’, which I’m hoping to experiment with more in some of the episodes going forward.  

 As I’ve been getting more into this, I’ve realized that when I, personally, am thinking about trying new things, before I seek out an official guide to help me, I’m inclined to start asking around to see if anyone I know has done the adventure I’m considering, or knows anyone else who has. Kind of like adventure Yelp, but without all the anonymous internet trolls.

Thru-hiking has always intrigued me; I love a good logistical puzzle, embrace solitude, and find gratification in challenging myself and testing my ‘grit’ once in a while. But then I think about how much I hate car camping in the rain, never mind slogging through the back country for the fifth straight hot and humid Appalachian monsoon day, and I settle right the F down.

So I live vicariously through the pictures and stories that Mikayla has shared, first about the AT hike she did in her early 20s, and more recently, her completion of the Pacific Crest Trail. That’s 4,843 miles of self-reliance, mental and physical challenges, epic views and social experimentation for those of you keeping score at home. And a lot of pooping in the woods.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with a real womxn doing some real adventuring - drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know what you think!

And finally, here’s some more good stuff Mikayla shared:

• Spot Gen Tracker
• Deuce of Spades travel trowel
• Diva Cup
• Sea to Summit pillow

More info about Appalachian Trail thru-hiking

More info about Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiking

Fun post by Mikayla’s friend and frequent hiking partner Katelyn about some of their winter (mis)adventuring - there are always new lessons to be learned!

Send us Fan Mail