03. Sarah Knapp, Founder of Mappy Hour & OutdoorFest

11/01/19 • 42 min

On this episode, Melissa talks with fellow New Yorker, Sarah Knapp, founder of OutdoorFest and Mappy Hour about how she turned her love for the outdoors into a thriving community of fellow city dweller adventure types. Living in the city and loving the outdoors is sometimes hard to reconcile, but Sarah continues to be inspired by and celebrate those in her community who are finding fun and unique ways to get outside and encourage others to do so too. Over the last 5 years, Mappy Hour has grown from one chapter in NYC to 15 across North America.
While walking (in the rain) at the campground home base for OutdoorFest 2019, an annual 10-day celebration of outdoor activities in and around NYC, they talk about what it's like to facilitate others in getting outside and the importance of access to outdoor spaces for all.
Do you live in the city and love the outdoors? Looking for some like-minded buds to adventure with? If so, check out Mappy Hour to see if there’s a chapter near you!
(Originally recorded in May, 2019)

Previous Episode

01. Appalachian Trail Besties Talkin' Trail, Bears, Nutrition (or lack thereof) & Friendship

Advice about thru-hiking from three female trail-besties + one supportive male friend.
Welcome to the brand spankin’ new Girl Gotta Hike Podcast! I’ve been wanting to try out this format for a while & finally got the chance to with the help of a few of my near and dear trail-besties! We recently gathered together for a hiking and photography project in Vermont and what better time to break out the mic and talk some trail than after a much longer and snowier Spring hiking day than expected?! The Appalachian Trail is what brought us all together, so naturally, that’s what we chose to chat about. I asked my fellow thru-hikers about the most common questions they get asked when people find out they voluntarily chose to live outside for six months and dug down to the deeper question – why in the world do we all continue to like hiking so much?!

Major thanks to trail-besties extraordinaire, Sarah “Harvest” Jones Decker and Emma “Sprout” Hileman and a very special welcome to new trail family member Jake “Shaggy” McCambley, for being such willing participants of this podcast experiment. (AT family is awesome!) Also please, do yourselves a favor and check out the musical stylings of my dear friend Eric Sanderson, whose music is featured.
(Originally recorded in April, 2019)

Next Episode

04. Christi Holmes, Registered Maine Guide and Founder of Maine Women Hunters

On this episode, Melissa talks with Christi Holmes, a Registered Hunting and Fishing Guide in the great state of Maine. She’s the founder of the Maine Women Hunters Facebook Community and writer and contributor to publications such as The Maine Sportsman and Modern Huntsman Magazines. She’s also a fellow Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker, whoop-whoop!

Melissa caught up with Christi at her home, outside of Portland, earlier this year, on her way back to Brooklyn after re-hiking the northernmost stretch of the AT, the 100-mile Wilderness, and summiting Mt. Katahdin with friends “Sprout” and “Harvest,” previously heard on episode 1. “Sprout,” aka Emma, and Melissa sat down with Christi after enjoying a huge meal of lobstahs, oysters and delicious Maine craft beer. They chat about hiking, fishing, hunting, growing up in Maine, Christi’s dog Argos, and most importantly, encouraging other women to get outside and explore.

Just a head’s up for listeners that there are moments when the ladies talk openly about the process of tracking and hunting animals, the details of which may not be suitable for everyone.
Useful links / Show Notes:

Acadia National Park

Glacier National Park

Animal Planet Dog Breed Selector quiz

Flyrod Crosby Maine’s first Registered Guide

email Christi

Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com