My Interview with Stacy Allison

By Shannon Goff

This past week I conducted my first adventurous-women interview. To make things more nerve-racking, the woman I interviewed was the amazingly accomplished Stacy Allison: the first American woman to successfully summit Mt. Everest and Russia’s Pik Communism. Other than climbing many notable mountain ranges, she is also an accomplished mother of two, published author, president of Stacy Allison General Contracting, and Chairperson for The Oregon Lung Association’s largest fundraiser Climb for Clean Air. Needless to say, I was anxious as I called to interview her on Monday morning.

However, as she picked up the phone and we began speaking, my nerves melted away. Once we started talking I also found out she is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. When I mentioned she was my first interview and that I was a little intimidated, she laughed, congratulated me and proclaimed that she “was honored.” Beaming and becoming way more at ease, we delved into the interview, which was filled with giggles and funny stories.


Me: You began major alpine climbing at the age of 21, which is how old I am, and that definitely encourages me to get off the couch and do more. It also makes me wonder what encouraged you to start climbing?
Stacy Allison: So I began climbing, and it was a fluke, a total fluke. Another student in the dorm, actually the RA, put a notice on the bulletin board that he was going to Zion National Park over Spring Break, and he was just looking for someone to share gas money with. So a friend of mine, Evelyn Lees, who is a phenomenal climber, and I thought it would just be a great adventure. We went down to Zion National Park and he taught us the very basics of climbing and that was it. That’s when I knew that this was what I was meant to do. I had no idea people could climb sheer rock cliffs. I grew up in Oregon, and we skied on Mt. Hood every weekend, so I knew people obviously climbed Mt. Hood and I thought, ‘One day I’ll climb Mt. Hood,’ but I just didn’t know. With that said this was a long time ago – 1977 – and there wasn’t that much rock climbing going on. 

Me: How did you prepare or what kind of training did you complete in order to successfully reach the top of your first mountain, Alaska's Mt. McKinley?
Stacy Allison: Well, actually that wasn’t my first mountain. I started rock climbing, and then the first mountain was a winter blizzard ascent of a very small mountain here in Oregon, Mt. Washington. Again, it was my friend Evelyn and I, and we went with two guys who had been climbing for 10 years. So they had the experience, but it was ice climbing mixed with rock climbing mixed with snow climbing. And it was awful, (laughs) it was a blizzard, it was freezing. My hands got so cold – you know how when your hands get so cold and then warmed up and it causes severe pain, have you ever experienced that? You just want to cry, (laughs) and I did (laughs). We had to cross country ski to the mountain and then obviously ski back out. I was so exhausted I felt like if I fell over, I would never get up. What that experience taught me is that I had what it took- this was a conscious thought process- I can just keep going, and going and going and move beyond what I thought I was physically ever capable of doing. I actually progressed really quickly because my friends were experienced climbers who had been climbing for years. After that I did small peaks in the northwest and then went to Alaska and climbed some other peaks, and then climbed in Canada and then, then I climbed Mt. McKinley. But I had to learn the skills and, speaking of which, I never really allowed myself to dream bigger than the skills that I had. So, I had to learn the ice climbing skills, the rock climbing skills, the snow climbing skills in order to say, “If I can do this why can’t I do that?” When I climbed McKinley we actually did one of the hardest routes on the mountain. But that was after a lot of failures and a lot of not making it to the top of mountains and having to take a good hard look at myself and say, “If I want to climb these hard routes, these big mountains, what do I need to do?” Obviously it was getting in better shape and working on my skills. Just to let you know, when I stood on top of McKinley after doing this incredibly difficult route, I sat up there and I thought, ‘if I can climb McKinley, well why not Everest?’ I was so embarrassed by that thought. I actually remember looking at my climbing partner, hoping that he couldn’t read my mind because it was like who do I think I am, to think that I can ever climb Everest? Sometimes, we give up on our dreams not because of ourselves, but because of what we think others may think of us. So I kind of just tucked that thought away in the back of my head. However, after McKinley, I actually did go to Nepal to climb with a women’s expedition. We were the first women to climb Ama Dablam, Nepal’s Matterhorn.

Me: How do you pick which mountain ranges and peaks you want to climb?Stacy Allison: I look at a mountain and the beauty of the mountain is what inspires me. It’s like I want to climb on this mountain, I want to be a part of this mountain for however many weeks it takes, or days it takes, or hours it takes. You don’t conquer mountains, you work with the mountain.

Me: So you've bested many different peaks and ranges and you're the first American woman to conquer both Pik Communism and Mt. Everest. These are all insanely incredible accomplishments, but in your opinion what is your biggest accomplishment so far in your lifetime?
Stacy Allison: (laughs) Well you’re not there yet, but any parent will tell you that the biggest accomplishment is getting their kids out of high school, and into college and then hopefully giving them the foundation to be happy, healthy, productive citizens. I-I haven’t accomplished that yet, but that is my goal right now, [with] a sophomore in college and a senior in high school.

Me: I know that you’re an author and a mother of two; how do you find balance between the demands of motherhood, achieving your climbing goals, and also being a writer? I feel like I would be so overwhelmed but you seem to achieve everything flawlessly.
Stacy Allison: It’s not flawless, and if anyone ever tells you there’s balance,
there is no balance. You have to pick and choose and timing is everything. I stopped climbing big, dangerous mountains when my kids were born. First of all, having children is a conscious decision, it’s a huge responsibility and my children need me alive, and they need me present. When you’re climbing these big mountains for example, you’re gone for a month, two months, sometimes three months at a time, and that’s no way to raise a family. During these past years, and from when they were born up until they graduate from high school- it’s not about me. It’s been about raising my two sons. I will say, in light of that, I still climb. I don’t do big dangerous mountains, but I still climb, and rock climb. My kids love to rock climb. As a family we white water raft and kayak, we mountain bike ride and we travel extensively. We try to leave, it’s a little different now, but we try to leave the country at least once a year, if not twice a year, and we travel to developing countries. So, traveling is something that’s very, very important to me so my kids have traveled very extensively. I also run and I do marathons and half marathons. Now that my kids are older I actually spent 3 weeks climbing on the border of Canada and Alaska this past summer.

Me: Well, knowing how dangerous climbing is would you endorse your kids following in your footsteps? Or would you tell them no way you’re not doing it?
Stacy Allison: Well let me just tell you they have absolutely no interest in following in my footsteps (laughs).

Me: Oh well then you don’t have to worry about it.
Stacy Allison: Well it is interesting because, my older son, this last summer (my younger son had shoulder surgery so he could not go with us) but my older son and I, just the two of us, went on a white water kayak trip. I found myself really watching over him, and tried to just keep my mouth shut and let him do what he needed to do, but I’ve been a little mother hen at times. When we’ve been on river trips, and mountain biking I’ve been known to, be the first one going downhill, telling my sons they must stay behind me. I’m very slow going downhill! You know he can go as fast as he wants up hill, but downhill...we do single track mountain biking. It’s like ‘you have to stay behind me’ because I get so nervous. That’s one thing I struggle with because I know what the dangers are in all these sports, and I’ve had friends who have died in just about every activity. But, whatever my children [want to do], as long as it’s healthy, I will work very hard to zip my lip and support them in their choices.

Me: I would like to know what caused you to become interested in general contracting and how was the transition for you between crazy adventures and expeditions to owning and operating your own company? 
Stacy Allison: My first husband was a builder and architect and that’s when I was introduced, at a very young age, to building, and I really like it. I don’t do new construction; I do all historical renovations and restorations on old houses. I love older architecture. My job is to bring houses back to life. I’ll tell you the biggest thing, and it’s not that climbing taught me this, it was my mother who taught me this: to take risks, and I’m not afraid to take risks and to fail and fall flat on my face. And I have done that. I’ve been totally humiliated before. But the key is to be able to go ahead and cry about it and then pick yourself back up and learn what you need to do so it doesn’t happen again. I’m very comfortable taking risks, and I’m not talking about taking physical risks. I mean emotional, and mental, and risking starting a business.

Me: So I know you also serve as a Chair for the American Lung Association of Oregon's largest fundraiser, Climb for Clean Air - would you like to tell a little bit more about the fundraiser and all that it entails?
Stacy Allison: It’s the Mountain Pacific Chapter of the American Lung Association, our fundraiser is Climb for Clean Air, and we include Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams in Washington, and Mt. Hood in Oregon. Our participants sign up for one of those three mountains and then have to raise a certain amount of money in order to participate. What’s great about this program is we take them through and help them with their fundraising. We have training hikes starting in February every single weekend in order help them to get into shape. We help them prepare every step of the way. Many of our climbers have never hiked in their lives and most of them have never climbed anything. We hire guides to lead the climbs safely, and we help our participants in achieving their goal. The reason I got involved and have been involved since its inception is because it’s a chance for me to give back to the community and use my skills. It’s really wonderful also for our participants because it’s a way for them to give back to the community and also do something healthy with their lives. Moreover, with the Lung Association, the educational aspects and the policy aspects of the organization are what I really support.

Me: As we bring this interview to a close, do you have any advice for young women who are aspiring adventurers or are currently trying to chase their goals and dreams?
Stacy Allison: Don’t be afraid to fail. Embrace failure and learn from it. Pick yourself back up and try again or figure out what you want to do. Once you can embrace failure you can embrace taking risk in your lives. People need to figure out what is important to them and not be so concerned with what everyone else wants and is doing. Once you figure that out, that’s what brings happiness. At this point in my life, I don’t have time to impress people, take it or leave it. Life’s too dang short. You gotta have fun. You gotta LAUGH!

7th Annual World Sword Swallower's Day

Today is World Sword Swallower's Day and there are events happening around the globe! Click here for more information. If you're a sword swallowing fan you'll be happy to know this is an annual event co-sponsored by Sword Swallowers Association International and Ripley's Believe it or Not! in conjunction with National Swallowing Disorders Month.

Adventure of a Lifetime: Author Michelle Pugh talks about completing the Appalachian Trail

Author/Hiker Michelle Pugh

The Appalachian Trail (the AT for short) stretches across 2,184 miles of mountain, meadow, and occasionally asphalt from Georgia to Maine. Some intrepid adventurers begin at one end, usually Georgia, and hike every inch of the AT in one trip, until they summit Mt. Katahdin in Maine. These people are known as thru-hikers and only 10% of the people who attempt the trail this way are successful. Other hikers, called section hikers, do the trail a piece at a time. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy says the number of thru-hikers has grown steadily from the early days. Only 5 people completed the journey during the first three years the trail was open, 1936-1939. Compare that to 2010-2013 when 2,203 hikers made the trek -- about 25% of those adventurous souls were women.

Michelle Pugh not only hiked the entire AT, she met and fell in love with her (then) hiking partner, Souleman, and captured her story in her memoir Love at First Hike: A Memoir About Love & Triumph on the Appalachian Trail.

I met Michelle, an energetic and bubbly woman, following an AT Conservancy membership drive in Washington, D.C. She was kind enough to share some of her incredible story through a Q & A. Naturally, my first question was…

AWB: Why?

MP: I heard about the trail when I was about 12 years old. My summer camp group was on a backpacking trip and we met a man who started telling us about the Appalachian Trail. The more he told us about the trail, the more I wanted to do it. I thought about it for years but didn’t start making plans until I was a sophomore in college. My junior year I finalized my plan and then I spent my senior year reading, researching gear, and getting serious.

AWB: Did you go on this grand adventure alone or with a bunch of friends?

MP: I had planned to go by myself and I went to Georgia on my own. , But I had met other thru-hiker hopefuls on one of the Internet sites where people talk about gear. Six of us agreed to meet in Georgia and at least start the first day together. We had no commitments past day one. When you start in Georgia, you register at Amicalola Falls State Park as an attempted thru-hiker and the rangers take your picture for the record book. The seven of us started on March 15 and we called our group The Ides of March.  While we all started together, we traveled at different paces and didn’t stay together very long.  In the end, I only hiked with one other person. He was actually from that starting group. Our relationship grew beyond hiking partners – at least for a while – but you have to read my book to get the full story!

AWB: Was the AT what you expected? Did anything surprise you?

MP: I’m a very type-A person. I spent a lot of time preparing and doing research because I didn’t want too many surprises. After all of my preparations, I was pleased with my gear choices and didn’t encounter the gear problems of some other hikers. Some of the hike was what I’d expected --I had imagined summiting mountains, walking though beautiful areas, and bonding with other hikers. But I hadn’t thought about the time spent in little towns and that was a wonderful part of the experience. Hikers bonded in Laundromats, eating in small restaurants, and staying in crowded hotels.  I also loved meeting locals and being able to patronize small town businesses. We went through so many charming little towns that I might not have ever seen otherwise in my life.

AWB: Was there anything you wish you wished for while you were on the trail?

MP: One thing I ended up adding to my supplies was duct tape.  I wrapped it around my hiking poles to use for random things. I had blisters and found it was the only thing that actually stuck to my feet.

If anything, I got rid of stuff. My pack was much lighter at the end of the trail than it was at the beginning. One thing that surprised me was that I thought I would carry a book. I’m an avid reader, but I had no interest in reading on the trail.  In retrospect, I think that’s partly because the first half of the trail I had mono (which I didn’t know until later), and was too tired to do anything but go to bed after hiking all day.

AWB: I can’t imagine that! How could you hike through mono?

MP: I was exhausted but I didn’t tell anyone because I thought everyone was that tired. After all, I was hiking 10 to 20 miles a day up mountains while carrying 40 pounds on my back. I just thought being exhausted was part of it. I’ve never been a great sleeper, and I was amazed that I could barely lie down before falling asleep each night. In the mornings it was all I could do to wake up -- and that was after sleeping 10 or more hours.  But since I thought everyone felt this way, I just kept going.

AWB: So how did you realize you had mono?

MP: It is a really long story. I had been hiking with serious pain in my feet for hundreds of miles. This was pain to the point that I could barely stand up in the mornings, and I often cried for the first couple of miles of hiking. I went to an ER on the trail because I had a UTI and needed antibiotics. While I was there I asked the doctor to look at my feet. He diagnosed me with a bilateral case of severe plantar fasciitis, which affects the thick tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot from your toes to your heel. Carrying extra weight and walking long distances was aggravating it.  The doctor suggested I quit hiking so I could heal. I wouldn’t accept that, so I returned to the trail. After another 100 miles, conveniently exactly at the half way point of the AT, I realized I wasn’t enjoying myself anymore.

With many tears, I stopped hiking and returned to my parents’ house in Massachusetts to tend to my feet. I did physical therapy, wore night casts, and stayed off of my feet as much as possible. I was in a lot of pain and I missed hiking. But, strangely, even without the physical strain of hiking large mileage, I was incomprehensibly tired. I eventually went to a doctor who did blood work. A few days later the doctor called and told me I had mono.  When I went in for my follow up appointment, the doctor came into the exam room and said he’d heard I’d hiked 11 miles recently. I said, “no” and he said he thought that had sounded like a lot. Then I told him I hadn’t hiked 11 miles; I’d hiked 11-hundred miles. He was speechless for a bit. Then he told me that mono causes your spleen to be inflamed and that I was lucky I hadn’t died with all of that physical exertion. I was ordered to be on bed rest – which was particularly miserable when I was used to hiking outside all day, every day.

AWB: How long did you have to wait before you could hike again?

MP: I spent almost a year getting to the point that I could walk normally again. During that time, my hiking partner and I got engaged, planned a wedding, got married (on the AT), and almost exactly one year after leaving the trail, we went back to finish the trail for our honeymoon! So technically I completed the trail in two 1,100 mile segments. I’m sad that I didn’t make it in one season, but I know it was out of my control. In a weird way, having injured feet may have saved my life, since hiking with mono could have killed me.

AWB: Were you ever really afraid?

MP: Only once having to do with other people. We ran into a man who gave me the feeling something wasn’t right. He was wearing denim overalls but carrying a children’s backpack with a blanket tied to the bottom. He was leaning on a tree watching us. He said he spent a lot of time in the woods and asked where we were going. I gave him a very vague answer. I tried to keep walking and he asked if I knew how to get to Angel’s Rest, a place just a mile up the trail, even though he claimed to know the woods well.  We hiked faster and faster away from him, looking back often. We ended up hiking more than five extra miles and camping in the middle of the trail and spent the night watching for him. We found out a few days later that he was arrested for harassing hikers.

Other than that, I’d say some of the extremes were more extreme than I anticipated. I had the clothes, the gear and the knowledge. But there were times when I had to remind myself that I chose this. No one was making me do this. I was scared when we had to walk across a bald in the middle of a lightning storm, and then there was the time I had hypothermia in Tennessee and I had to be helped off the trail. The other hikers got me to a hotel and warmed me up. It wasn’t until later that I realized how serious the situation had been. I had many of the symptoms of severe hypothermia, including confusion, clumsiness, lack of coordination, and decreased energy. It took me a good four days to recover my energy, but I was out of danger in a few hours.

AWB: You clearly went through some big challenges, what was the best part for you?

MP: The obvious answer is being in love while being on an adventure like that—it was a non-stop endorphin high. It was the happiest I can remember being. A shared experience is different – sometimes better, sometimes harder, but always different.

A less obvious answer was seeing myself overcome a lot of challenges successfully. It proved my determination and strength to me. Another of the highlights was the ability to see so much of the natural world. People say the wilderness is disappearing but not along the AT.

AWB: You must have met some interesting people out there. Who was the most fascinating person you met?

MP: I met a couple in their mid 70s who were thru-hiking for the second time. They had retired and become permanent nomads. Their whole marriage they had saved money to go from dream to dream and now they were living their dreams. After the AT they were going to Utah to a skydiving school and then to Canada for ice fishing. I still get Christmas cards from them every year and I enjoy seeing what they’ve been up to.

AWB: What was the weirdest part of your experience?

MP: The inherent trust in strangers. Getting in a stranger’s car, sleeping in the house of someone I just met. You just do it. I think back now and I’d probably do it again on the trail, but I don’t live like that in real life. I work as an EMT and I see some of the bad decisions people make and the way they lie and hurt each other. I’m glad I had the trail experience early in my adult life, because I think it helps me balance giving people a chance to be trusted and being weary.

AWB: Is there anything you’d like to say to the women who are reading this interview?

MP: I want women to know that they can be feminine and tough at the same time. They don’t have to choose.  I am delicate and strong. I am equal parts skirts and jewelry and hiking clothes.  I wear pink and play in the mud. I’d also tell women they shouldn’t put off an outdoor ambition because someone else doesn’t understand it.

Michelle has a BA in philosophy and currently works as an emergency medical technician (EMT). You can find her Appalachian Trail memoir, Love at First Hike, on Amazon.com. 

Her next long distance hike will be the 215-mile John Muir Trail in California’s High Sierra next summer. She has a different (and surprising) hiking partner this time. She hopes you will read her second book (which is already in the works) to learn about that adventure!

Pedaling to Portland: Grand Finale!

Julie and teammates celebrate by dipping their front tires in the Pacific

Julie and a group of young adults have been biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. The team has covered 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's final report.

Note: When the team left Baltimore, they began their journey by dipping their bikes' rear tires in the Atlantic waters.

Two days ago we arrived on the Pacific coast! We dipped our bikes [front tires] in the water at Cannon Beach and celebrated our accomplishment of making it across the country.

Today, we arrived in Portland! It's hard to believe that it's already been 70 days! I remember day one like it was yesterday.  I got to the [overnight] host really late that day and it was what felt like the hardest day ever. But when I got to the host, my teammates welcomed me with smiling faces and applause. That was the moment that I realized that with a super awesome and supportive team like mine, I would be able to make it! Now that we're in Portland and we've all gone our separate ways, it feels weird to not have my 4K [that's miles not kilometers] family with me. I will miss them all and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to have spent my summer with. Summer of 2013 is definitely one to remember!

Well done Julie and team!  Congratulations on a tremendous accomplishment!

Julie is in the front row, 4th from the left,  just above the 4K

Pedaling to Portland: Day 40-42

Julie and a group of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. The team will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's report for

Julie Crosses the Continental Divide: elev. 11.990 ft.

Day 40-42:

Colorado: Day 40 was our first day in the Rocky Mountains. The Rockies and I have a love/hate relationship because I love how beautiful they are but the climbing is a killer. We ended up taking the harder route from Boulder to Idaho Springs but it was worth it when we had about 8 miles of downhill and didn't have to pedal at all at the end of the day. During that downhill stretch, I reached a maximum speed of 45 mph!

Day 41, we got up at 4:30am so that we could set out early. We climbed Loveland Pass and at the top was the Continental Divide. It was the highest point of the entire trip at 11,990 feet! We were hit with some bad weather in the afternoon and after climbing the first mountain I was beat so I was vanned to our overnight host location.

Saturday (day 42), was a fairly easy route that was mostly downhill. We went through Glenwood Canyon on a trail that was awesome! Tomorrow we should be back to climbing so wish me luck!

Glenwood Canyon, CO

Pedaling to Portland: Day 28 - 32

Julie and a bunch of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR to benefit the Ulman Cancer fund for Young Adults. They will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's report for

Day 28 - 32:

Over the weekend, days 28 and 29 of the trip, we were in Omaha, Nebraska, which was really fun. I think Omaha has been one of my favorite stops of the trip so far. We had our first home stay, which means that we all stayed in houses of people who live in the area. I was with three other girls from the team. The house that we went to had a mom and dad (Robin and Curtis), three boys (Mike and John are twins and James is younger), and a dog (Murphy). It was so nice being in a home because I really did feel right at home. The boys felt like brothers and the parents felt like parents. This was good for me

The boys and dad

because I had kind of been missing home. The first night in Omaha we went to a restaurant and we all got steaks for dinner, which was awesome! After dinner we went back to the house with Mike and John for cookies that Mike made and ice cream that John had to go get. Our host mom made all her sons give up their beds so that we had somewhere to sleep and they took the air mattresses.  I had the best night's sleep there for the entire trip so far.  In the morning we got up and had french toast made by our host mom. After breakfast, the family went to church and dropped us off in The Old Market [an arts & entertainment district] where we went on slides and went into the shops. That night, there was a cookout-pool party at our host's house that was a lot of fun! Leaving the next morning was hard because it was almost like leaving my real family at the beginning of the summer.


Today, day 32, was a century -- 100 miles or more -- but I didn't ride the entire thing because at mile 25 I blew my tire and needed a new one. The water van had to drive me to the water stop at about mile 40 where the food van with the extra tires met us and gave me my replacement. I changed [my tire] and finished the day in Franklin, NE. Tomorrow is the fourth and we should have a pretty easy day ahead of us!

The girls with their host "mom"

Pedaling to Portland: Day 20-23

Julie and a group of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR this summer to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. They will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's report for

Day 20-23:

(Note: The group has overnight hosts who allow them to spend the evening in a sheltered location. Most of these hosts are churches)

Three days ago we biked into Chicago and got caught in a storm when we were about seven miles from our host. We stopped at a gas station for cover for about 15 minutes then finished our ride when the rain let up a bit. On Day 21, we had a rest day in Chicago and it was amazing! We went to see The Bean in Millennium Park and went shopping at some of the biggest stores I've ever been in. For lunch we went to my first Thai restaurant ever and it was good! We took the L back to our host, which was pretty similar to Washington's Metro.

We all take shelter from the storm

The next day (Day 22), we road from Chicago to Mendota, IL. Leaving the city was a lot easier than any of us thought it was going to be--I guess because it was a Sunday morning. This caused the bike trails to be very crowded, however. While on one of the trails, I was riding behind another rider and failed to see a short pole, which hit me and caused me to fall over. The person behind me also fell off his bike. We both fell into a creek and laughed about it for the next five miles. Later that day, when we were about 18 miles from our host, a fierce storm came out of nowhere. We took shelter in an abandoned farm and waited out the storm for about an hour then finished strong. That night, we stayed in a fire house, which was pretty interesting.

This morning (Day 23), we woke up to yet another storm so we had no choice but to ride in the van to our next host. During the drive, we got a tornado warning and got stuck in one of the craziest storms yet! We're all hoping for better weather in the days to come!

The 4K visits The Bean

Bike the Gap!

Fun news from the Washington Post:

Long-distance cyclists, we know you're out there. If you're up for an adventure, you can now ride all the way from Washington to Pittsburgh. The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) rail-trail, which runs 150 miles between Cumberland, Md., and Pittsburgh, has opened its final segment between Homestead, Pa., and Pittsburgh. In Cumberland, the GAP trail connects to the C&O Canal Towpath, which leads into Washington. For more information, visit www.gaptrail.org.

The League of Adventurous Women, Inc.

Exciting news! The League of Adventurous Women, Inc. is a new non-profit network of women's adventure groups.  If you're an adventurous individual looking to expand her horizons, The League is for you. If you're a women's adventure organization looking to expand your membership or to connect with adventure groups around the country, The League is for you as well!

We have a new Facebook page with a growing list of adventure groups and albums from groups across the country. Want to add your group to the list? Contact us at info@LeagueofAdventurousWomen.org.

The League will be launching a Web site later this summer. I'll keep you posted about the big unveiling but you can Like us on Facebook for regular updates.

Pedaling to Portland: Day 12 & 13

Julie and a group of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR this summer to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. They will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. This is Julie's report for

Day 12:

On our second rest day, the 4K [group] ventured to Cedar Point, OH and road some wicked coasters.

Day 13:

Today we were riding again in Ohio. While riding we saw a horse and buggy that we raced and won! It was intimidating to pass it because we were on the wrong side of the road and couldn't see if cars were coming. but it's all good cause everyone is still here. With every day we ride I feel that it gets a little bit easier to finish the miles.

-Julie

Pedaling to Portland: Day 5

Julie and a group of young adults are biking from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR this summer to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. They will cover 4,400 miles in 10 weeks. Today is 

Day 5: Grove City, Pennsylvania

"Today it rained and rained and rained. I 

didn't finish but it's okay because we still 

have 65 more days."

-Julie 

Zero to Sturgis in 60 Days

Last summer, my friend Joanne did something most of us only dream of doing. She got her motorcycle license, a bike and headed to the Black Hills. 

I had always wanted to get my motorcycle license. Two friends from work had gotten theirs in previous years and were talking about going to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota that summer. One day they bombarded me simultaneously with IMs egging me on. So at 56 years old I decided I’d better do it before I was no longer able. In February 2012, I signed up for a course at the Maryland MVA to be held the first weekend in June. Then I forgot about it.

As June go closer I started getting nervous. What was I thinking! But I kept telling myself no harm in trying.

We had 2 nights of classroom instruction. Then 2 days on the weekend actually riding. Within the first hour the woman I sat next to both days in the classroom had fallen twice and left the program. I was hoping that wasn’t a sign of things to come. About 45 minutes after we arrived we were riding back and forth across the parking lot. Woohoo! I was riding a motorcycle and not training wheels.

After lunch we started doing some more challenging exercises such as the figure 8. The program was getting tougher. The second day we reviewed the previous day and then started working on control at consistent speeds. All of a sudden they said “Line Up!” Was this the road test? What’s going on!

Well... it was the test and I passed. The class was about 40%-60% women to men. Most of the women passed while some of the younger, cockier men did not. It felt good to be one of the those who passed. 

It had been two very tense, hot, long days on the range and was glad to be in my air conditioned car and heading home. As I was driving home I was thinking of all the weekend chores I had to cram in to the remaining hours of Sunday afternoon. My mind was racing. Then all of a sudden it hit me. Hey. I just got a motorcycle license. How cool is that? I JUST GOT A MOTORCYCLE LICENSE! It felt like a life changing event. If I can get a motorcycle license what can’t I do?

I started thinking about Sturgis, which was in 2 months. I’d been to the northwestern part of South Dakota before and loved it. The idea of going back and taking part in Sturgis with good friends sounded great.

Two weekends before we were due to leave my friend and her husband took me out bike shopping. We found the bike the first day, bought it the next day and I started riding. On August 2nd we loaded the bikes and ourselves into a toy hauler and set out to meet another group from Arizona in Sturgis. The weather was great, the scenery beautiful, the company excellent and Sturgis was everything it was said to be. It truly was a trip of a lifetime. 

Looking back, getting the license and the bike on short notice and then heading for Sturgis within 60 days might see a little crazy and to some even reckless. Everything happened fairly spur of the moment without a lot of thought to danger or consequences. The practical portion of the course was really hard. And being a new rider is Sturgis with 600,000 experienced riders was bit daunting the first day out.  Looking back, fear could have prevented me from doing any of this. Or the thought that I was too old for this. Or what might people think? In the end none of that mattered. 2012 was a great summer filled with great experiences. I wonder what the next adventure will be.

Ride a Unicycle

We've all had birthdays that marked a personal milestone. You know, one of those uncomfortable ages that cause one to reflect on life and wonder if it is going in the right direction.  CBS' Susan Spencer just achieved an "unmentionable birthday" and decided to celebrate by taking on a new challenge. Her present to herself? Learn to ride a unicycle! She was brave enough to record her effort and let it air on Sunday Morning.  Happy Birthday Susan!

Learn to Fly!

Joanne & Eithne 

I mentioned that my adventure group has been making the most of great deals from LivingSocial and Groupon. A few weeks ago, three of us spent $40 on a 1-hour flying experience that allowed us to pilot a little Cessna around our part of Maryland.  My friend, Eithne, captured the experience.

Eithne, Casey and the Cessna

“Getting away from it all” usually means taking a trip or vacation, but on August 7^th Michaelle, Joanne and I literally and figuratively got away--we took off, left the ground and went flying. I have flown around the world, from Ireland to Australia, to the US and back to Ireland but in the past I have relied on folks who knew what they were doing, they flew the plane. This time, we took off and for 30 minutes each we held the controls! We were lucky, the weather cooperated and we had a terrific instructor, Casey, who although he looked 12 years old, swore he was 24 and had over 800 flying hours behind him! In for a penny in for a pound!

After about 30 minutes of “ground” instruction we were off. I went first - it was truly amazing, we were 2,000 feet above ground, close enough to see houses, cars driving by, swimming pools, and even people – for miles! As Joanne said “I can see why people get hooked.” It was also a little surreal to know that this plane was truly in our hands, we were flying! In the DC metropolitan area flight preparations are unique, because we are sandwiched between the White House and Camp David. We learned that filing an accurate flight plan is crucial, adhering to it even more crucial. Casey kept us on the straight and narrow and also ensured we stayed far away from other planes! Smaller airports do not have a control tower so navigating in the sky is dependent on the pilot being in constant communication with fellow pilots. Casey spoke to several during our 90 minute flight primarily to negotiate landing order. Suddenly, planes we could not see would appear from the clouds and land ahead of us, just as they had planned during their radio communication, it was remarkable!

In the pilot's seat

I flew from Montgomery Airpark landed in Frederick, Michaelle flew from Frederick to Carroll County and Joanne flew the home leg. Thankfully, Casey landed for all three of us and we were once again on terra firma. The next day in work, as usual, we talked about what we did over the weekend there were a few raised eyebrows when for the first time in my life but hopefully not the last I said, “I flew a plane, how about you?”

One note of congratulations to our flight instructor, Casey. He's the NFL's new Sunday-night aerial man. Next time you see an eagle's view of the stadium, you'll know who's piloting that plane!

Watch Eithne take to the skies in this video:

Anne's 1000 Mile Challenge: Final Entry

Taking a well-earned break

Outdoor Contributor, Anne, has  spent a chunk of the summer on a new project and a new training journal.  This is her final post about her 1,000-mile challenge.

My original goal was to move 1000 miles and lose 10 pounds by Labor Day. So, how did I do? Well, as of Labor Day, I had moved 533 miles, and I lost two pounds. By some measures, you would say that I hadn’t done very well at attaining my goal, and on some days I would agree. However, I’m trying to look at the more positive side of things. When I set the goal, I didn’t even know if 1000 miles was possible, and I didn’t gain any weight.

If I had confined my activity to biking, I might have made my goal. Instead I biked, hiked, canoed/kayaked, and even swam twice. I’m still tracking my distance to see how long it takes me to hit 1000 miles. Now, I’m at 606 miles. I’ve biked 419 miles, I’ve walked/hiked/backpacked 126 miles, and I’ve canoed/kayaked/swam 61 miles. I’ve covered some ground.

Here are a few of the things I’ve done this summer to help me get towards my goal.

• I hiked 10+ miles in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness.  It was a lovely day with a walk past more than four alpine lakes, and over a pass into a beautiful, glaciated valley.
• I went on a couple of great kayaking trips on Flathead Lake.  One was to some pictographs only accessible by water, and the other was to some islands we had never been to before.
• I counted my floats down the Clark Fork River in inner tubes—a summer tradition in Missoula. On a hot day, people float through town on the river on inner tubes, drinking adult beverages. It’s a very relaxing summer time activity.
• I went on a backpacking trip to Trask Lakes in the Flint Creek Range.  I hadn’t taken a backpacking trip in more than five years, but managed to make it six miles into this alpine basin where hardly anyone goes.

 Looking ahead, I’m doing the Tour de Cure next weekend, but I don’t have any other major expedition plans. I don’t think I’ll get to 1000 miles until the end of October, but I’ll keep trying. As to the weight thing, I think I’ll have to address that in another post later.

Anne