The Mountaineers
Meet Foothills volunteer Lori Heath! Lori moved to the Northwest five years ago. She is the Foothills Branch Secretary, Foothills Branch Communication Chair, and a hike leader.
When did you come to the Northwest, and what drew you here?
We moved to the Northwest from Indiana about 5 years ago. My husband works for Microsoft and used to telecommute from our home in Indiana. He traveled to Microsoft headquarters many times over the years for meetings and conferences and absolutely loved it here. When he was offered a position located at Microsoft headquarters, he jumped at the chance and we re-located. Then I became the telecommuter for a few years as I kept my clinical research scientist job in Indiana.
What brought you to The Mountaineers?
I joined The Mountaineers right after I moved here in 2015. After spending so much of my adult life on the flat terrain of Indiana, I fell in love with the mountains and wanted to spend as much time as possible in the outdoors. Since joining The Mountaineers, I’ve enjoyed many hiking and trail running events and have even learned cross-country skiing!
What have been the most satisfying things you've experienced as a volunteer for The Mountaineers?
Since I had so much to learn when I first joined The Mountaineers, most of my volunteer activities have been administrative, like managing trip postings Backpacking Building Blocks courses, creating a Welcome Packet for volunteers, publishing the branch newsletter, and participating on the planning committee for the Adventure Weekend Wellness sponsored by the Foothills Trail Running Committee. I just became a hike leader so I can lead hikes with the GoHike course. I’m very excited about this opportunity to help other new hikers, like I was, develop the experience and confidence to spend more time on out beautiful mountains.
Where are your favorite places to go and activities to do in the PNW?
I was a runner and yoga teacher when I lived in Indiana. So now I love running on the local trails. It’s a huge change from the flat surfaces of Indiana! Hiking and trail running have also changed my approach to teaching yoga, and I’ve met a lot of hikers and trail runners who might benefit from yoga, so I love to combine hiking and yoga by doing some yoga poses on every hike. I’ll be teaching yoga during the Adventure Wellness Weekend in June and leading the Yoga for Hikers and Trail Runners workshop in April.
