Becoming an Outdoors Woman

If you need help camping, surviving in the wilderness, or taking an ATV on an adventure ride then I'm your girl! I recently went to a Becoming an Outdoors Woman conference here in Kodiak and had so much fun improving my adventure skills. The conference was created to help women feel more confident in the outdoors, especially since the target of instruction for many outdoor activities tends to be at men. There were lots of different classes to choose from and the activities spanned a range of outdoor activities, including hunting, fishing, kayaking, archery, and camping. Some girls even field dressed (dismantled) a buffalo! Lindsay and I chose to attend Camping 101, Survival, and ATV Adventure.

The camping class, for me, was mostly just a fun recap of things I already know, given that my family has been camping with me since I was born. I did learn a few things, however, like how to make a featherstick to help start a fire, how to make a pineapple upside-down cake in a dutch oven over a campfire, and the ins and outs of bear safety, including using bear spray and bear fences. Lindsay and I are excited to take Ryan and Joe out camping soon so we can demonstrate our amazing new skills.

 Making feathersticks

 Roasting marshmallows over the Pineapple Upside Down cake

Lindsay enjoying the S'mores

The survival class was very interesting. I've always assumed that if I got stuck in a survival situation I would probably just die, but I think that is because I've watched too many TV shows were the people were eating bear poop and had larvae growing out of their bug bites. I just don't know if I could handle that. I realize now that those things are somewhat unrealistic, especially since I will probably never get stranded in the Amazon or Siberia. This class gave me a reality check and a bit more confidence and I feel like I would last a few days longer now if I got stranded in the wilderness (something that I really hope never happens). My survival gear now includes a big black trash bag, which will be very useful if I need to get warm or stay dry, and vaseline-infused cotton balls, which are super handy if I need to start a fire. We even headed out to the woods, where we each had to demonstrate our newly learned fire building skills.

 Lindsay building her fire

My fire. Yes, there is a fire there.

On Sunday, we had our ATV Adventure class. I must say that I was a little bit out of my comfort zone on this one. The five of us girls popped on helmets, got a crash course on four-wheeler operation, and headed out with our two guides to a place known as Saltery. The trail was full of rocks, rivers, and muddy holes and we were zooming down it with a top speed of 38mph. There were times when it felt so reckless even though I know it was perfectly safe. My personality just doesn't line up with reckless-feeling behaviors and it made me a little tense. I admit that overall the ride was very fun, though. There were times when it felt so freeing to be barreling down the trails at high speeds and being somewhere that cars can't go. The trail to Saltery (and Saltery itself) is a place I would never had seen unless I hopped on an ATV. It is beautiful there. Open fields, salmon-filled rivers, mountains on three sides and the ocean on the fourth. The whole experience is one that I'm glad I did, mostly because it WAS out of my comfort zone and I actually survived it and had fun in the process. Plus, I got super dirty which I haven't done in a really long time. Those types of things grow me.

 Rockin' out on the camo ATV

 We went through rivers,

 rocks,

 and mud puddles.

 A view of our destination: Saltery.

It was a good weekend and I actually do feel a little bit more confident about being outdoors on my own. I would still rather have Joe with me when I'm out adventuring but that is because I enjoy his company so much and not because I need him to start a fire for me. I'm an outdoors woman now.