Jennifer Carter
For a couple of years, Mountaineers Leader Rena Chinn has been asking me if I wanted to start a book club with her that featured adventure and outdoor books written by women and people of color (POC). We somehow never found time with our own adventuring to fit it in. When the COVID-19 shutdown happened, we felt it was the perfect time to start our club with online meetings.
This timing couldn’t have been better. Now more than ever, we need to support diverse voices.
For our first meeting, we read and discussed Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, Heather Anderson’s account of her successful self-supported Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking 2600 miles in 60 days, 17 hours, and 12 minutes. We had a lively discussion about women’s health, mental health, and women’s trail nutrition.
Our second meeting featured the adventures of J.R. Harris in Way Out There: Adventures of a Wilderness Trekker. J.R. Harris is an African American man, a member of the Explorer’s Club, and a septuagenarian. The New York native tells stories of wilderness adventures around the globe. We discussed race in the outdoors and ultralight gear.
Our third meeting is coming up June 22 and we urge you to join us; we will be discussing Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Citizen Potawatomi Nation Member Robin Wal Kimmerer.
We look forward to seeing you there!
