Mary Hsue
The summer that I was three years old, my family went backpacking for three days, hiking three miles a day. At four years old, it was four days, four miles. You get the idea. This was part of my parents’ system for introducing us to the outdoors.
Only later did I realize that it wasn't necessarily a common thing for me to be tromping around in the woods at that age. After college, I began volunteering, taking middle and high school youth out on wilderness trips to beautiful places in the North Cascades.
In 2012, I accepted an invitation to join Expedition Denali, a team of African-American climbers aiming to summit the highest peak in North America to raise awareness about minorities in the outdoors. I trained – where else? – in the North Cascades. That summit bid launched an entirely new experience: touring local schools to talk with students about outdoor recreation.
People of color who don’t come from an outdoorsy background can find it really intimidating; one of my main goals is to motivate minorities to find their own routes to experiencing their wild backyards. Thanks to Mountaineers Books, you can read more about this when Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors comes out this fall. Thanks to The Mountaineers youth programs, youth of color have a chance to participate in Mountain Workshops to learn new skills and explore nature.
My wilderness experiences in the North Cascades have opened doors and helped shape that path that I am on today. I am now at Palmer Station in Antarctica providing support for polar science. I want younger people of all backgrounds to have those life-shaping opportunities, too. I am grateful for organizations like The Mountaineers who help all people reach incredible summits by equipping them with the skills, partners and books they need.
How can one give back to a mountain range that has given so much to you? In my opinion, you pass the gift of “the wild nearby” on to the next generation.
I encourage you to support The Mountaineers.
Cheers,
Adina Scott
Adina Scott is featured in The North Cascades: Finding Beauty and Renewal in the Wild Nearby, coming this fall from Mountaineers Books.
