12. Avalou Baptiste & Claydona Dennie of TriState Hikers
12/29/20 • 101 min
In Episode 12, Melissa talks with fellow Brooklynites and hike leaders, Avalou Baptiste and Claydona Dennie, who have been nurturing a growing love of the outdoors within their Caribbean community through their group TriStateHikers. About five years ago, Ava founded TriState as a way to gather together with her fellow Vincentians, (natives of St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and others of the local Caribbean diaspora as a healthy way to escape from and bring to light to the mental health struggles that so many in her community deal with, but which often gone unspoken or become stigmatized.
In just a few short years, Ava’s hikes have gone from occasional gatherings in nearby Prospect Park in Brooklyn, to weekly hikes, exploring trails as far north as the Catskills and throughout the Tri State Region. Her enthusiasm, curiosity and joy around spending time in nature is infectious, and in the summer of 2020, Claydona, along with many others looking for some respite from the COVID pandemic, was inspired by her to hit the trails too.
Major thanks to Avalou and Claydona for being so willing and open to dig down deep about the importance of inclusion in our outdoor realms both on the internet and on trail. These conversations, while sometimes difficult to start, are so important to have and to continue to have, especially when we are really just at the beginning of (I hope) major systemic and social change as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement.
SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:
Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GirlGottaHikeGossamer” for a 1-time 15% off discount on all core products at GossamerGear.com
TriState Hikers email
TriState Hikers Instagram
HIKE For Mental Health website
Nanni Health Food Store & Vegan Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY Instagram
In Episode 12, Melissa talks with fellow Brooklynites and hike leaders, Avalou Baptiste and Claydona Dennie, who have been nurturing a growing love of the outdoors within their Caribbean community through their group TriStateHikers. About five years ago, Ava founded TriState as a way to gather together with her fellow Vincentians, (natives of St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and others of the local Caribbean diaspora as a healthy way to escape from and bring to light to the mental health struggles that so many in her community deal with, but which often gone unspoken or become stigmatized.
In just a few short years, Ava’s hikes have gone from occasional gatherings in nearby Prospect Park in Brooklyn, to weekly hikes, exploring trails as far north as the Catskills and throughout the Tri State Region. Her enthusiasm, curiosity and joy around spending time in nature is infectious, and in the summer of 2020, Claydona, along with many others looking for some respite from the COVID pandemic, was inspired by her to hit the trails too.
Major thanks to Avalou and Claydona for being so willing and open to dig down deep about the importance of inclusion in our outdoor realms both on the internet and on trail. These conversations, while sometimes difficult to start, are so important to have and to continue to have, especially when we are really just at the beginning of (I hope) major systemic and social change as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement.
SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:
Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GirlGottaHikeGossamer” for a 1-time 15% off discount on all core products at GossamerGear.com
TriState Hikers email
TriState Hikers Instagram
HIKE For Mental Health website
Nanni Health Food Store & Vegan Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY Instagram
Previous Episode
11. Sarah "Harvest" Jones Decker, Photographer, AT Hiker & Author of "The Appalachian Trail: Backcountry Shelters, Lean-Tos, and Huts
On episode 11, Melissa talks with fellow Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, photographer, writer, farmer and good friend, Sarah Jones Decker, also known as “Harvest.” Sarah’s new book, The Appalachian Trail: Backcountry Shelters, Lean-tos, and Huts was published earlier this year by Rizzoli, which highlights all of the shelters on the entire Appalachian trail with beautiful photography and facts, and to which Melissa contributed over 40 images. If you’ve spent any overnight in the woods along the AT or elsewhere on the east coast, then you’ve probably come across a lean-to or two which are 3-sided structures with pitched roofs, set up in the backcountry to give hikers a place to rest or shelter from a storm.
If you’ve listened to this podcast in the past, you may recognize Harvest’s voice from Girl Gotta Hike The Podcast, Episode 1. You may also know that Melissa loves the way ideas get sparked and conversations flow when hiking alongside someone. But due to this year’s travel restrictions and the fact that Sarah lives in North Carolina, an in-person recording seemed almost impossible. Instead of settling for sitting still though, Melissa decided to experiment and send Sarah a microphone and recorder so they could continue to walk together while chatting on the phone.
The result? A super fun and insightful conversation about photography, the artistic process, the trials of taking photos while backpacking and the tenacity it took to dedicate over two years of her life to photograph all of the 270-plus shelters along the Appalachian Trail for her 10 year thru-hiking Trailversary. They also take a deep dive in to the history of backcountry shelters and the multitude of trail clubs that build and maintain them, as well as the looney logistics of what she calls “shelter-bagging.”
We hope their conversation gets you inspired to head out into the woods and onto the AT yourself, or at least to head over to Sarah’s website, sarahjonesdecker.com, where as a special treat for Girl Gotta Hike listeners, she has graciously offered 10% off all purchases of books, prints and posters by using the code “GGH” at checkout.
Useful links:
Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GirlGottaHikeGossamer” for a 1-time 15% off discount on all core products at GossamerGear.com
Sarah Decker Jones website — use code “Girl Gotta Hike” for 10% off all orders
Root Bottom Farm Instagram
AT Symbol Poster
Next Episode
13. Talkin' Trail with Woodchuck, NoSeeUm & Click!
GGH the podcast episode 13 is here! Lucky 13, whoop whoop!
And my oh my, this episode is chock full of hiking advice and all of it about thru-hiking — yaaaaay! As long time listeners may already know, host Melissa "Click"! Goodwin thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2011 and it was on that trail, where the first seeds for what would eventually become Girl Gotta Hike were planted. The connections she made and the camaraderie she felt with her fellow hikers was so joyous and so incredible — she’s grateful that it has extended well beyond that one trip. The notion of a taking off on a long trek or a journey of self-discovery, enabled by one’s own feet, is something so palpable to so many people, but not many know where to start. So back in December Melissa put out a request to her Girl Gotta Hike followers on Instagram to “Ask a Lady Thru-hiker” anything, and they replied with some amazing questions about logistics, safety on trail, gear and about how to keep on keepin’ on when you’re tired and sore, which is something we could all benefit from, especially after the year we just endured.
To help Melissa answer everything and bring some west coast hiking perspective into the mix, she invited over good friends and fellow Brooklynites, Lauren “Woodchuck” de la Vega and Kelley “NoSeeUm” Blosser. Having thru hiked both the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, Lauren has nearly 5000 trail miles under her feet to date, and Kelley, a regular on the Girl Gotta Hike roster, has recently re-discovered her love for backpacking. She’s also an aspiring PCT thru-hiker so she came armed with a list of questions of her own.
They talk a ton of trail and tell some hilarious tales for more than 3 hours, so best listening practices would be to pop in your earbuds and take this episode out on a walk with you or to grab a favorite beverage or three, kick back, relax and laugh along with the ladies.
SHOW NOTES / USEFUL LINKS:
Gossamer Gear Discount — use code “GIRLGOTTAHIKEGOSSAMER” for a 1-time 15% off discount on all core products at GossamerGear.com
Lauren “Woodchuck” instagram
Lauren’s Thru-hiker blog posts on The Trek
Kelley “NoSeeUm” Blosser instagram
Kelley’s post about a trip on the Arizona Trail
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