It’s that time of year when we set intentions for the future. Will your resolutions be outdoorsy?
Alejandra Villanueva of the hiking community, Girls Who Hike Virginia, shares the story of her ambitious pursuit to hike Old Rag Mountain 36 times before the end of 2024.
Her remarkable journey beautifully intertwined her love of hiking with the transformative power of nature.
Alejandra’s adventures on Old Rag are a testament of resilience and profound self-discovery.
She offers insights into staying motivated amid unexpected challenges and harnessing the power of a hiking community in keeping her accountable.
As we look ahead to the new year, we discuss how to set meaningful outdoor goals for a year of adventure. Let’s Go!
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Episode Transcript
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Jessica Bowser (00:01):
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is amecca for outdoor travel and
adventure. Virginia outdooradventures Podcast is your local
guide for hiking, camping,kayaking, travel and so much
more. Get the information andthe inspiration to plan your own
adventure right here inVirginia, I'm your host. Jessica
(00:24):
Bowser, it's that time of yearwhen we set intentions for the
future. Will your resolutions beoutdoorsy? Alejandra Villanueva
of the hiking community girlswho hike Virginia, shares the
story of her ambitious pursuitto hike old rag mountain 36
times before the end of 2024 herremarkable journey beautifully
(00:47):
intertwined her love of hikingwith the transformative power of
nature. Alejandra's adventureson old rag are a testament of
resilience and profound selfdiscovery. She offers insights
into staying motivated amidunexpected challenges, and
harnessing the power of a hikingcommunity and keeping her
accountable. As we look ahead tothe New Year, we discuss how to
(01:10):
set meaningful outdoor goals fora year of adventure, let's go.
This is part two of a two partepisode. Virginia Outdoor
Adventures is sponsored byVirginia state parks, whether
you're after a relaxing picnicor a two week vacation, leave
life's daily pressures behindand reconnect with nature and
(01:33):
family at a nearby State Park,you'll find plenty of programs,
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There's something for everyoneat Virginia state parks.
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Discover Your next state parkadventure by clicking on
Virginia state parks in the shownotes of your listening app.
It's awesome that you found afriend who's willing to hike old
rag twice in one day with you,and I'm sure that the hiking
community as a whole was also ahuge support to you. So can you
(02:14):
talk a little bit about how thehiking community has kept you
going throughout this process.
Unknown (02:21):
Yeah, for me, specifically, girls like
Virginia, is the hikingcommunity that I that I belong
to and I use, I think it's fairto say that I probably would not
have had the guts to want to doa challenge like this, and I
also would not have been able tocomplete it and enjoy it as much
as I have without that communitythat I have because I was able
to host hikes, which was great,because if I put it in and I
(02:45):
say, Okay, next Saturday, I'mgoing here and all these women
sign up, well now I'm going,right. Doesn't matter how I feel
when I wake up that morning, I'mgoing to go because there's
people waiting for me. So thatwas a really cool tool for me to
use to my benefit, to be able touse our group and facilitating
hikes to keep me going on thehikes, irregardless of how I was
feeling at the beginning of theyear when I started doing the
(03:07):
hikes, I facilitated a lot. Thatwas something that ended up
changing around the summer, whenI got burnt out. I got burned
out because of all the sunrisehikes and the lack of sleep, but
also just being honest, I gotburnt out because facilitating
hikes is different than hikingby yourself, right? You are,
you're putting on yourfacilitator hat, and you are
(03:28):
there to cater to everybodyelse, not yourself. And while I
love that, and I will continuedoing that forever, I realized
that now I wanted to kind ofcater to myself, and the beauty
was that I have now, I thinkI've belonged to the group for
like, two, three years. I haveso many hiking friends now that
I was able to quickly be andjust reach out through text
(03:51):
message or DMS and say, hey, Iwant to hike, but I don't want
to facilitate a hike. And Icould easily put together a
group of friends that are hikersand go on hikes. So not only
have I been able to do itthrough like the official hikes,
but now I have such a largecommunity of hikers at my
fingertips through a phone callor a text that I can at any
(04:11):
time, go on a hike with a groupof women, and I'll have to go
alone, also, whenever I hadquestions, like when I wanted to
hike for the first time forsunrise, that was very
intimidating for me, because Iwas like, how am I gonna do the
scramble in the dark? Thatsounds nuts, but I went on the
group and I posted about it, andone of our ambassadors was like,
Oh, I've done that before. Andthen we started talking, and she
(04:33):
was super friendly, and she waslike, let me know. Let's figure
it out. When can we do ittogether? So she did it together
with me on my first time doingit for sunrise, and just being
able to do that anytime I had aquestion, anytime I had a
concern, I could just reach out,and someone would raise their
hand and say, hey, here I am. Ican help you out. The
Jessica Bowser (04:50):
Higgin community here in Virginia is so
fantastic. And as a podcaster, Ioften get people reaching out to
me asking how to get started,like they're nervous, they don't
want to go alone, and they.
Don't know how to find somebody,and I say, find your community.
And sometimes that's a meetupgroup, sometimes it's a Facebook
group, sometimes it's a group,like girls who hike Virginia.
And if you just find yourpeople, then it makes it so much
(05:10):
easier to get out there.
There's, you know, not onlysomebody to go with you, but
like, that sense of somebody'swaiting for me at the trailhead.
So you're, you know, you're lesslikely to decide to sleep in and
skip it. I think you said itperfectly. Yes, what have you
learned about the trail? I'mespecially interested in if you
(05:31):
have noticed any changes, or ifyour experience has changed. You
said earlier that you feel likeyou have a relationship with
this mountain now, and I knowfrom other folks who hike the
same areas over and over again,or visit the same outdoor
spaces, that they notice changesin the season, and they notice
changes over time. And I'mwondering if you have noticed
(05:52):
any changes.
Unknown (05:53):
There was a week during the summer where I went three
times in one week, so, like,I've had periods where I go
really often, and every timesomething's different, like,
especially watching it throughthe through the seasons,
especially fall. This year, Ifeel like there was only one
hike that I did where I waslike, Oh, this is peak foliage,
and then it was gone. But it wasreally cool to see it changing.
(06:15):
Right now, we're in winter, andwe're able to actually see the
whole hike throughout becausethe trees don't have the leaves
on them, so they're not coveringit. I've also gotten to see as
the trees fall due to likestorms and things like that,
some of them get cut up. And,you know, they they take them
out of the way right away, andsome of them end up just having
(06:35):
a home in a new spot, justfalling down. There's actually a
section right before when you'regoing up the normal way, right
before you get to the sign thatsays no camping beyond this
point, there's this big boulderon your right, and it used to be
like a spot where people wouldtake a break, because it kind of
creates like this nice littlespace for our large group to be
(06:58):
able to pause and not be in theMiddle of the trail. Well, a
tree fell there in the summer,and that little crevice is
blocked. And the way they wentahead and moved the tree, they
left it blocked. So no longer isthat a gathering space. So I've
gotten to see things like that.
I've also just learned so muchabout the mountain itself. Like
I didn't know that it used to becalled Old, old ragged. That was
(07:19):
the original name. And then outof just laziness as we are, you
know, human, we now call it justold rag. Also, it's called old
rag because of the granite. Sothat was the first place where
they found that kind of granite.
And the granite is called oldrag granite. I learned that one
on the geology hike. I also, youknow, there's a section that has
(07:41):
like the stairs with theboulder. Everybody takes the
picture holding it. That boulderfell down in the 80s, and
there's all these articles aboutit. When it happened, I didn't
know that before. Also, thosestairs are not man made. It's
called, in geology, it's calleda dyke, and it's a different
kind of stone that's comingthrough the old rag granite. So
(08:04):
learned that, oh, one of thefirst things I learned that also
just shocked me was, what arethey called? Like, Geology
markers, the metal circles thatyou see sometimes on top of
mountains, marking like thehighest spot. So I tried to find
the one for old rag, becausethey're supposed to be one. It
got stolen. It took a lot ofresearch to figure out where it
(08:25):
is. We found it, and we onlyfound the little metal, like
stump that's in there, but itgot stolen sometime in the early
2000s and then the whole processfor getting those fixed or like
replaced is really confusing andlong, and also they try to wait
like, 10 plus years before doingit, because they don't want it
to be stolen again. Yeah, thoseare the top things that I
(08:47):
learned. I
Jessica Bowser (08:48):
need to go on this geology hike.
Unknown (08:51):
You do it's fantastic.
Yeah, next
Jessica Bowser (08:53):
time you do one, please let me know, because this
sounds like something I need tobe a part of. Oh,
Unknown (08:58):
yeah. And they don't just do old, right? They do
everywhere. Oh, cool. It'sreally cool going on a hike with
somebody who's so passionateabout it. His name's Daniel,
just getting to watch somebodytalk about the thing they love,
you know. And that's how hefeels about all things rocks. Is
like He loves them, and he's soexcited, and he's a really good
teacher. Are
Jessica Bowser (09:18):
these events that are like, he collaborates
with girls who hike Virginia,
Unknown (09:21):
yeah? Because his girl, his girlfriend, is an
ambassador. Yeah?
Jessica Bowser (09:24):
Oh, how convenient,
Unknown (09:27):
yeah. Well, one of the things that we do through girls
hike Virginia, if you're anofficial ambassador, you don't
have to have any kind of skillto become one. But we do try to
prioritize teaching somethingwhile we go on hikes. There are
people who teach about maybe thesignificance, the historical
significance of the land.
There's people who will teachyou stretching or exercises you
can do to help you with hiking.
(09:51):
And so what this Ambassador doesis, instead of hurt and
certainly teaching, she justteams up with her boyfriend, and
he teaches the geology. Sothat's how that comes to me.
Jessica Bowser (09:59):
Hey, that.
That's another benefit ofjoining a hiking community, is
you get those experiences thatyou wouldn't get if you're just
out on your own. Yes, and
Unknown (10:07):
you don't have to learn it on your own, like again, for
me, hiking, I'm still I probablythink I know maybe 5% of all the
things that you need to know forhiking at this point, because
there's so much out there. Butwhen you have a community, you
can just organically learn it asyou go. You don't have to be
fully prepared right away. Youalso don't have to start out
(10:27):
hiking old rag you can, youknow, start out at your local
trails and with a group ofpeople, and you can slowly make
your way out and find the kindof hikes that you like.
Jessica Bowser (10:38):
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(10:59):
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(11:21):
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Well, that's really neat thatyou can have that experience on
old rag over and over, but it'snever the same. And it reminds
me, do you remember when you andI were up on old rag, and I
think we were at one of theoverlooks, and we were sort of
looking out over the mountains,and I was telling you that
(12:51):
there's this historical fiction.
The name of the book is ghostgirl, and it's written at a
sixth grade level, but I used toread it aloud to my fourth
graders, and it's a history ofthe park before it was a
national park. And one of thecharacters in there is the
elementary school teacher, whowas the very first teacher in
(13:13):
the very first school house forthe people who lived in the
mountains there. And she kept adiary. The author used that
diary to help write the book.
And in her diary, she wrote thatthe Blue Ridge Mountains were
never the same shade of bluefrom one day to the next. And I
just fell in love with thatbecause I thought about it, and
I'm like, she's so Right. Likeevery time you stand it in
(13:34):
overlook and you're looking outat the mountains, it never looks
the same as it did all the othertimes that you were there
before. And I think that's sortof a magical part of the
experience as well.
Unknown (13:46):
And now I have experienced that in every
weather that you can imagine,every time of day that you can
imagine. And like, I lovesunrises. Sunrises are my
favorite. And there is nosunrise that's ever the same.
And it just makes it so muchmore special, because when you
have it in front of you, like,now I have like, millions of
pictures, but the picture neverdoes it justice. So when you're
(14:07):
there, whoever you're with, itjust feels like you're
experiencing a once in alifetime moment. And it also
just moves so fast, because ifyou are there for sunrise or
sunset, like it's a little blimpthat, just like, you capture it
in that moment with your pictureand you and then it just
changes, and it's no longer thesame.
Jessica Bowser (14:23):
Yeah, that's true. It changes so quickly. So
what have been some of thehighlights of your journey? I
know you shared a few, but arethere any others that you
haven't shared, that you'd liketo share? So the
Unknown (14:34):
first one that comes to mind is on one of the first
hikes that I facilitated. I had17 women with me. That was
before I set a limit. I didn'tknow to set a limit, and I had
17 women with me. And duringthat hike, there was one
particular woman who, as we weregoing through the scramble, she
needed more support than others.
But it wasn't necessarilyphysical. It was it was mental,
(14:54):
like it was, you know, how am Igoing to do this? Like you want
me to climb that? Like howright, she was doing things that
she had never done before, andshe was a trooper. She had a
great positive attitude. Andthen we got to the gap. And if
you've been through old rag atthe very end of the scramble,
you have a section that you'regoing to have to jump, like a
two foot gap, but the way you'restanding on the rock, it's
(15:18):
elevated versus where you'relanding. So from your point of
view, you can't see the gap, andit's scary, at least for me, it
is, but right before that gap,you also have to launch yourself
up into the boulder that you'regoing to jump from. When you're
launching yourself, you have toput your foot in front of you at
another gap, and kind of justtrust that gravity is going to
catch you and you're going to beable to push yourself far enough
(15:41):
so enough. Well, we were in thatsection, and her nerves just got
the best of her. It was me, andI think at this point we had
like, three people who hadn'tgone through it yet, so we went
ahead and, like, start tostrategize on how we're going to
help her. Because once you're atthis point, there's no going
back, there's there's nothing.
(16:01):
We have to figure out a way toget you through this right. And
again, because it was one of myfirst times facilitating for
such a large group, I had amoment where I was, I needed her
to launch herself. I was, I hadmy hand out so I knew she was
going to catch my hand, and Iknew that I was gonna be able to
pull her but what I couldn't dofor her was launch herself
(16:21):
right, and I needed her to doit, but she was in this place
mentally where she was shaking,she was tearing up, and I knew
that I needed to, like, get herout of it. And in that moment,
as I'm surrounded by otherpeople, I had, I had to decide.
I was like, All right, how do Ido this? And I only knew one way
of doing it, but I knew that itwas potentially embarrassing to
(16:44):
do this for myself. But I waslike, All right, we're gonna
show up authentically in theworld, and we're gonna help her,
and we're gonna do this. So Ilooked at her, and I was like,
All right, look at me. Look atme. I'm gonna need to repeat
after me. Okay, I'm gonna getyou through this. We're gonna
get through this, but I need youto say this out loud with me.
And she's like, okay. And I'mlike, I am a badass. I'm like,
trying to be serious. I say thisbecause I truly mean it, but I'm
(17:05):
aware that I'm saying this outloud and that potentially she's
gonna look at me like, I'minsane. And she looks at me and
she like questions, and I'mlike, I need you to say it with
me. I am a badass. Andeventually she goes, I am a
badass, kind of like, with hervoice breaking. And I was like,
Yes, you are. Continue saying itand launch forward, and then she
does it. And it was just one ofthose moments where, like, it
(17:27):
was hard for me too, because Iwanted to show up authentically
for her. But there's that fearyou have in your head of like,
how are how's the world gonnareceive this? Am I gonna be a
fool? Am I gonna be judged forthis? But that moment kind of
shaped the rest of my hikes,because I've had now many
moments where somebody needed meto be there for them, and I no
(17:50):
longer hold back from showing upauthentically. So that's
probably one of my mostmemorable moments, because as
much as I'm sure it helped her,it helped me, not just on
hiking, but in the world to justbe like, Look, when that moment
comes up and you hesitate to beyourself, don't ever hesitate to
be yourself your people, likeyou were talking about finding
(18:10):
your community, right? Yourpeople can't find you unless you
show up authentically. If youare molding yourself to try and
fit in the world, then no one'sgoing to be able to truly find
you, and the people that you endup with are not going to fill
your cup. So that was probablythe most memorable moment that
I've had, and it happened earlyon.
Jessica Bowser (18:28):
And I wonder, if you were to ask her today what
that did for her, I wouldimagine she probably said it
changed her too. Because I youknow when you haven't, when you
have a type of experience whereyou're not sure how you're going
to get through, and you'reterrified, and the fear takes
over, then you have to pushthrough and figure out how
you're going to do it. And onceyou get through it, then it's
(18:50):
like, oh, well, heck, if I didthat, what else can I do? It's
kind of like what you weresaying earlier about how Monday
morning when you go to work,you're like, Well, I just hike
old rag last weekend. I can doanything today, so I'm sure that
it probably had a similar impacton her as well.
Unknown (19:07):
Think she messaged me afterwards again. This was very
early on in the year. I wastalking about her on a hike
recently, and the person I wastalking to was like, I know her,
and she remembered her by name,and said that now she's gone on
and, like, she's jumped off aplane, and she's done all this,
like, really crazy stuff, what?
So I have to look her up,because I haven't since then,
but I have to look her up andsee how she's doing. But I did
hear that actually, literally,yesterday morning from another
(19:29):
friend. Yeah, you need to
Jessica Bowser (19:32):
find her, because if she went from too
afraid to get through the rockscramble on old rag to jumping
out of a plane, yeah, you needto find out what the heck's
going on there. That's
Unknown (19:42):
wild. I'm gonna do that right after this. Yeah,
Jessica Bowser (19:45):
oh my gosh.
Okay. Alejandro, would you doanything differently if you were
setting this goal for yourselfagain for 2025, or any other
time?
Unknown (19:54):
Immediately? My answer was like, No, I'm glad that I
did it. There are some thingsthat I had said. I would try to
do throughout that I didn't endup doing. I'm trying not to
regret not doing them. I'mtrying to just be like, hey,
some things were not part oflike, the journey, and that's
okay. Like, for example, Iwanted to try and hike it
backwards, and because oftiming, because also me
(20:17):
procrastinating, it just hasn'thappened. We are on December 20
right now, so the likelihood ofit happening is probably not
going to be it, because it'sreally cold outside, and I don't
want to add another element tothe challenge. I also wanted to
hike it with my dad and becauseof one thing or another that
didn't happen. But it's notgoing to keep me from doing
those things next year, right?
It just won't be part of thischallenge. One of the things
(20:37):
this challenge taught me and hashelped me with is my
organizational skills, but mylack of organizational skills
throughout the process affectedsome of the things, so I didn't
get to do them because of that,and I'm fully aware of it. If I
could have somehow worked on myorganizational skills prior,
would have had a betterexperience. Yes, but this is how
(20:58):
it needed to go. Yeah, you liveand learn, right? Exactly. I'm
way more organized now than Iwas at the beginning of the
year.
Jessica Bowser (21:07):
Yeah, that makes total sense. And I'm glad you
said that. It's December 20right now while we're recording,
because this episode will comeout in January. And I'm curious,
have you done all 36 hikes? Areyou really close? Like, what's
the status?
Unknown (21:21):
I'm at 32 as of yesterday. I'm hiking it again
tomorrow, and I'll be hiking iton either Monday or Tuesday, I
haven't decided yet, but I'll beat 34 by Christmas, and then I
have one more weekend where I'llhike it one more time, and then
I am hiking it on the last dayof the year. So my first hike
was at the first day of theyear. I'm hiking the last one on
(21:44):
the last day of the year. Wow,
Jessica Bowser (21:46):
that sounds really cool. Oh, it's happening,
yeah. But also it would make mea little bit nervous, because
what if there's like, a reallybad weather day on the last day
of the year, and then you youdon't get to finish that last
hike? You know,
Unknown (21:57):
that was a fear that I had earlier on, and I kept
thinking, like, do I do 37 hikesinstead of 36 and for some
reason that fear has left me, Ithink it's because I've hiked in
every weather now. I've hiked itin the rain. I've done the
scramble in the rain, which wassomething I never thought I
would do. I've hiked it in snowalready, also because I allowed
(22:20):
myself to have different routesthat I can use. Worst case
scenario, if it's snowing andit's icy, I'll go up the back
through very hollow to reach thesummit, and that still counts.
And I don't have to do this. Iwouldn't want to scramble in
ice, because that would probablybe very dangerous. So if that's
the case, then I will end updoing it the back way. Nah.
Jessica Bowser (22:40):
Just strap on your micro spikes and grab your
poles.
Unknown (22:46):
We'll see. We'll see. I still haven't, I still haven't
decided. I originally thought Iwas going to do the last hike as
a sunset, but I honestly lovesunrises so much more. So I was
like, I can just choose to dothe sunrise on the last day of
the year. So I may do thatagain. One of the things is, at
first I was very like,everything's organized and I
know exactly what I'm doing. Andnow I'm more like, I'm gonna go
(23:06):
do it. I don't know how I'mgonna do it yet, but it's gonna
happen.
Jessica Bowser (23:12):
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What advice would you givesomeone who wants to set an
outdoorsy goal for themselves in2025 Yes.
Unknown (24:30):
So I actually wrote this down because you have to
come up with a system. So I callit like my system for success,
and the first part and yoursystem can be different.
Everybody should customize thisto themselves, but the first
part, and this is like yourbuilding blocks, so you cannot
do it without this is your why,and it needs to be something
very meaningful to you. And itshould be also multi layered,
(24:52):
like if I think of my why, Ialready said, you know, I turned
36 this year. Also I wanted tofeel like a badass all year
long. Um. I wanted to help otherwomen do it. I wanted to see how
I would help my health, all thisstuff. So there was so many
elements to my why thatthroughout the year, as I came
up with like reasons not to hikeit, I had one of those elements
(25:13):
pop up and be the one thing thatgot me out of the house right.
Sometimes one of the things wasmore pressing than other, but I
needed several. Because if I hadjust said, Oh, I'm turning 36
this year, and that's the onlyreason why I'm doing this, that
would not have pushed me throughsome of the months that I went
through, right? So that's yourwhy. And then from there,
brainstorming on the obstaclesthat you're going to face,
(25:34):
because they are going tohappen. I brainstorm about
summer. I brainstormed about thetime that it was going to
require like I knew that eventhough I'm part of a hiking
community, and there's so manyevents that come up and I get
tempted by I knew I had to sayno to all the other hikes. I
knew that if I was doinganything outside of old rag, it
had to be local, it had to beshort. I could not risk
(25:58):
potentially spending a whole daysomewhere else, when I could be
doing an old rag. I also thoughtabout injuries. So at the
beginning of the hike, I didn'tknow this would happen, but I
ended up using my hiking stickson all of my hikes, because I
used it as a preventativemeasure for making sure that my
knees could hold up. I actually,I don't have any wood near me to
(26:20):
like, knock on. But I had not, Ihave not had an actual, real
injury throughout this entireexperience. And I think it's
because I really tried to bevery conscious of, like, how is
doing things to make sure thatit was healthy as possible? So
yeah, thinking of your obstaclesand preparing for them, and then
accountability. Think aboutaccountability. If you're one of
those people who says they'regoing to do something and they
(26:42):
do it, I'm jealous of you.
That's not me. I knew that Iwould require peer pressure, so
I told everybody in my lifeabout it. I knew that I would
require a lot of support. So Iknew my fiance needed to be on
board with me. I knew that, youknow, I could use girls hike
Virginia as a platform to shareabout my journey. I actually
(27:03):
posted every single time I did ahike there, and I had lots of
people being checking in on meand seeing how it was doing on
my challenge, so that helped memove forward. Actually, I don't
know if you know this, Jessica,but you are part of my
accountability. When theopportunity to be on your
podcast came up a few monthsago. I was in the middle of
feeling very stressed, and I wassuper behind on my hikes. And at
(27:25):
first, when it came up, I waslike, first of all, why would I
get a podcast who wants to hearabout me? But then I was like,
I'm so behind. This is that Idon't want, I'm not gonna go on
a podcast and talk about this.
It's been a mess, like, I like,I didn't do three in a month
like I was supposed to, and thenI was like, No, I'm gonna say
yes, and that's gonna push me.
That's gonna push me to get backon track. So you were part of my
(27:48):
accountability team withoutknowing it.
Jessica Bowser (27:52):
That's awesome.
I'm very touched. Yeah, no,
Unknown (27:55):
seriously, that's it takes. It takes a whole
community, right? And then thelast part is, organize yourself,
plan it out like I before theyear ever started, I pulled out
my calendar and I put in all thehikes I was going to do. I
personally don't work on federalholidays, so I was going to
prioritize that. I was going toprioritize Saturdays, and I knew
(28:16):
that I was going to have to usePTO for hiking on the week, on
the weekdays, right? But then,once you have it all scheduled
out, create some kind ofcheckpoints for yourself.
Because I didn't think aboutthis in the beginning, but then
I ended up developing thisthroughout the year. Once a
month I would pull out my littlecalendar and recheck and
reorganize, because if I misseda hike or if I wasn't able to do
(28:38):
it now I have to it has to bemoved somewhere else, right? So
just set it up, but then beready to restructure it as the
year, or whatever time frameyou're setting up for yourself
is going be constantly ready topivot and pivot and pivot. Yeah,
that would be the structure thatI would set up.
Jessica Bowser (28:54):
That sounds like a solid plan. That's great
advice. How has this experienceand hiking in general changed
you
Unknown (29:02):
I'm in a healing journey from life. There's
nothing in particular, which islike life. I'm an adult, and I'm
working on, you know, justhealing a lot of things for
myself, and hiking is therapyfor me. I don't always do this,
but I do try to set intentionsto my hikes, especially the
challenging ones. So I did thata lot this year. Is whatever I'm
(29:25):
currently struggling with,whatever is currently on my
mind, I kind of like, just makea mental note that that's what
I'm going to work on during thishike. And so when you're in that
hike, and in that moment, we'relike, oh my god, questioning all
my life choices. My legs areburning, my you know, my lungs
hurt I think about, I'm like,All right, what are we trying to
work through right now? Oh,that's right, we wanted to work
(29:46):
through this, all right. Andthen I start to just like, let
my brain go. And I've, like, Ithink I said earlier, I've had
lots of epiphanies throughouthiking again, it gives me the
strength to come back to myregular life and deal with
things that are much better.
Better Way, because I know whatI can do out in the woods. So it
just boosts my confidence. It'smade me healthier in every way.
I mean, I'm a huge fan now, andI tell people all the time like,
(30:11):
maybe it's not hiking for you,but try it out. You know, in
your journey to finding whateverit is that's going to help you.
I definitely think you shouldtest out hiking. Hiking doesn't
have to look like what I didthis year, right? I did the 36
old rock hikes. Great hiking forsomebody else can look like
going to their local trail everymorning, and that's their that's
(30:33):
hiking for them. Whatever itlooks like, it's fine. There's
no no no set parameter, but justfind it, because it's very
healing. And we all know thescience, like you can Google it,
being out in nature, readingfresh air, spending time by
yourself. I didn't do this a lotin the beginning, but I
challenged myself to finally doit towards the end of the year,
(30:54):
I did old rug for the first timeby myself, and now I've done it
a few times. Oh, my god. Thatwas that was a really cool
experience, because to have allthat time and all those
challenges just by yourself,there was a moment I did it. I
did the full scramble by myselfa few weeks ago. And there's the
first section of the scramblewhere you have to, like, jump
(31:15):
down into a crevice wherethere's
Jessica Bowser (31:18):
just, like a tiny little ledge that's barely
big enough for, like, the ballof your foot to rest on, yes,
Unknown (31:24):
yes. So I've done that in the big in the little arrow
just pointing down. You're like,what?
Jessica Bowser (31:28):
Yeah, exactly.
You're like, there's a mistakehere.
Unknown (31:32):
But I have done that now many, many times when I did
it by myself, I sat there and Ipaused, and I just sat there,
and I just looked up to the sky,and I just looked around me, and
I just like, I was like, I don'thave to move right now. I can
just sit here. I've never justsat here. I've always, like,
been teaching someone how to dothis, or been rushing to do it
(31:54):
myself, because there's a crowdof people behind me. So hiking
it by myself was a very coolexperience. I struggle being
alone with my thoughts I'meither playing music or
listening to a podcast orsurrounded by people hiking
pushes me out of that comfortzone, and if you let it right,
because you could still bringyour podcast and your music, but
if you let it that time byyourself in the woods can be
(32:18):
really good for just getting toknow you without all the noise.
Jessica Bowser (32:22):
Alejandra, this has been a wonderful
conversation. How can listenersconnect with you
Unknown (32:28):
on socials, you can find me, and they're firmly kind
on Instagram, and then throughgirls like Virginia, we are a
non profit, so you can go to ourwebsite, girls like
virginia.org, and you'll find mein there. Or we also have a
Facebook group, and I'm anactive ambassador for the
northern region in there, soyou'll see me as well. I
Jessica Bowser (32:46):
will put links to all of those in the show
notes, so people can check theirshow notes to connect. Thank you
again for this wonderfulconversation. I feel inspired
for 2025 I've never setoutdoorsy goals for myself
because I'm I know you're notgoing to like this. I'm that
person who just says I'm goingto do something, and then I do
it, but this year, I feel like
Unknown (33:06):
jealous of you. It doesn't mean I don't like you.
Jessica Bowser (33:10):
I think this year I'm actually going to do
it, because I have found,especially this past year, I get
so wrapped up in this podcastthat I don't spend enough time
outside. It's like the irony ofhaving a podcast about outdoor
recreation is I spend less timeoutside than I ever have, so I
feel like maybe something likethis would be good for me. So
(33:31):
you've got me inspired, and I'mgoing to be brainstorming about
what might work for me in 2025and I hope that other people
listening will also be inspiredand set some outdoorsy goals for
themselves.
Unknown (33:43):
That is so cool. Let me know once you set yours and I
can cheer you on. I would
Jessica Bowser (33:47):
love that. All right. Alejandro, thanks for
being a guest. Adventure on,
Unknown (33:51):
adventure on take care.
Jessica Bowser (33:54):
Virginia.
Outdoor Adventures is inspiredby and supported by listeners
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(34:16):
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time. Adventure on you.
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is amecca for outdoor travel and
adventure. Virginia outdooradventures Podcast is your local
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more. Get the information andthe inspiration to plan your own
adventure right here inVirginia, I'm your host. Jessica
(00:24):
Bowser, it's that time of yearwhen we set intentions for the
future. Will your resolutions beoutdoorsy? Alejandra Villanueva
of the hiking community girlswho hike Virginia, shares the
story of her ambitious pursuitto hike old rag mountain 36
times before the end of 2024 herremarkable journey beautifully
(00:47):
intertwined her love of hikingwith the transformative power of
nature. Alejandra's adventureson old rag are a testament of
resilience and profound selfdiscovery. She offers insights
into staying motivated amidunexpected challenges, and
harnessing the power of a hikingcommunity and keeping her
accountable. As we look ahead tothe New Year, we discuss how to
(01:10):
set meaningful outdoor goals fora year of adventure, let's go.
This is part two of a two partepisode. Virginia Outdoor
Adventures is sponsored byVirginia state parks, whether
you're after a relaxing picnicor a two week vacation, leave
life's daily pressures behindand reconnect with nature and
(01:33):
family at a nearby State Park,you'll find plenty of programs,
events and activities among 43parks plus 1000s of campsites,
hundreds of cabins, more than500 miles of trails and
convenient access to Virginia'smajor waterways, from Cumberland
Gap to the Atlantic Ocean.
There's something for everyoneat Virginia state parks.
(01:53):
Discover Your next state parkadventure by clicking on
Virginia state parks in the shownotes of your listening app.
It's awesome that you found afriend who's willing to hike old
rag twice in one day with you,and I'm sure that the hiking
community as a whole was also ahuge support to you. So can you
(02:14):
talk a little bit about how thehiking community has kept you
going throughout this process.
Unknown (02:21):
Yeah, for me, specifically, girls like
Virginia, is the hikingcommunity that I that I belong
to and I use, I think it's fairto say that I probably would not
have had the guts to want to doa challenge like this, and I
also would not have been able tocomplete it and enjoy it as much
as I have without that communitythat I have because I was able
to host hikes, which was great,because if I put it in and I
(02:45):
say, Okay, next Saturday, I'mgoing here and all these women
sign up, well now I'm going,right. Doesn't matter how I feel
when I wake up that morning, I'mgoing to go because there's
people waiting for me. So thatwas a really cool tool for me to
use to my benefit, to be able touse our group and facilitating
hikes to keep me going on thehikes, irregardless of how I was
feeling at the beginning of theyear when I started doing the
(03:07):
hikes, I facilitated a lot. Thatwas something that ended up
changing around the summer, whenI got burnt out. I got burned
out because of all the sunrisehikes and the lack of sleep, but
also just being honest, I gotburnt out because facilitating
hikes is different than hikingby yourself, right? You are,
you're putting on yourfacilitator hat, and you are
(03:28):
there to cater to everybodyelse, not yourself. And while I
love that, and I will continuedoing that forever, I realized
that now I wanted to kind ofcater to myself, and the beauty
was that I have now, I thinkI've belonged to the group for
like, two, three years. I haveso many hiking friends now that
I was able to quickly be andjust reach out through text
(03:51):
message or DMS and say, hey, Iwant to hike, but I don't want
to facilitate a hike. And Icould easily put together a
group of friends that are hikersand go on hikes. So not only
have I been able to do itthrough like the official hikes,
but now I have such a largecommunity of hikers at my
fingertips through a phone callor a text that I can at any
(04:11):
time, go on a hike with a groupof women, and I'll have to go
alone, also, whenever I hadquestions, like when I wanted to
hike for the first time forsunrise, that was very
intimidating for me, because Iwas like, how am I gonna do the
scramble in the dark? Thatsounds nuts, but I went on the
group and I posted about it, andone of our ambassadors was like,
Oh, I've done that before. Andthen we started talking, and she
(04:33):
was super friendly, and she waslike, let me know. Let's figure
it out. When can we do ittogether? So she did it together
with me on my first time doingit for sunrise, and just being
able to do that anytime I had aquestion, anytime I had a
concern, I could just reach out,and someone would raise their
hand and say, hey, here I am. Ican help you out. The
Jessica Bowser (04:50):
Higgin community here in Virginia is so
fantastic. And as a podcaster, Ioften get people reaching out to
me asking how to get started,like they're nervous, they don't
want to go alone, and they.
Don't know how to find somebody,and I say, find your community.
And sometimes that's a meetupgroup, sometimes it's a Facebook
group, sometimes it's a group,like girls who hike Virginia.
And if you just find yourpeople, then it makes it so much
(05:10):
easier to get out there.
There's, you know, not onlysomebody to go with you, but
like, that sense of somebody'swaiting for me at the trailhead.
So you're, you know, you're lesslikely to decide to sleep in and
skip it. I think you said itperfectly. Yes, what have you
learned about the trail? I'mespecially interested in if you
(05:31):
have noticed any changes, or ifyour experience has changed. You
said earlier that you feel likeyou have a relationship with
this mountain now, and I knowfrom other folks who hike the
same areas over and over again,or visit the same outdoor
spaces, that they notice changesin the season, and they notice
changes over time. And I'mwondering if you have noticed
(05:52):
any changes.
Unknown (05:53):
There was a week during the summer where I went three
times in one week, so, like,I've had periods where I go
really often, and every timesomething's different, like,
especially watching it throughthe through the seasons,
especially fall. This year, Ifeel like there was only one
hike that I did where I waslike, Oh, this is peak foliage,
and then it was gone. But it wasreally cool to see it changing.
(06:15):
Right now, we're in winter, andwe're able to actually see the
whole hike throughout becausethe trees don't have the leaves
on them, so they're not coveringit. I've also gotten to see as
the trees fall due to likestorms and things like that,
some of them get cut up. And,you know, they they take them
out of the way right away, andsome of them end up just having
(06:35):
a home in a new spot, justfalling down. There's actually a
section right before when you'regoing up the normal way, right
before you get to the sign thatsays no camping beyond this
point, there's this big boulderon your right, and it used to be
like a spot where people wouldtake a break, because it kind of
creates like this nice littlespace for our large group to be
(06:58):
able to pause and not be in theMiddle of the trail. Well, a
tree fell there in the summer,and that little crevice is
blocked. And the way they wentahead and moved the tree, they
left it blocked. So no longer isthat a gathering space. So I've
gotten to see things like that.
I've also just learned so muchabout the mountain itself. Like
I didn't know that it used to becalled Old, old ragged. That was
(07:19):
the original name. And then outof just laziness as we are, you
know, human, we now call it justold rag. Also, it's called old
rag because of the granite. Sothat was the first place where
they found that kind of granite.
And the granite is called oldrag granite. I learned that one
on the geology hike. I also, youknow, there's a section that has
(07:41):
like the stairs with theboulder. Everybody takes the
picture holding it. That boulderfell down in the 80s, and
there's all these articles aboutit. When it happened, I didn't
know that before. Also, thosestairs are not man made. It's
called, in geology, it's calleda dyke, and it's a different
kind of stone that's comingthrough the old rag granite. So
(08:04):
learned that, oh, one of thefirst things I learned that also
just shocked me was, what arethey called? Like, Geology
markers, the metal circles thatyou see sometimes on top of
mountains, marking like thehighest spot. So I tried to find
the one for old rag, becausethey're supposed to be one. It
got stolen. It took a lot ofresearch to figure out where it
(08:25):
is. We found it, and we onlyfound the little metal, like
stump that's in there, but itgot stolen sometime in the early
2000s and then the whole processfor getting those fixed or like
replaced is really confusing andlong, and also they try to wait
like, 10 plus years before doingit, because they don't want it
to be stolen again. Yeah, thoseare the top things that I
(08:47):
learned. I
Jessica Bowser (08:48):
need to go on this geology hike.
Unknown (08:51):
You do it's fantastic.
Yeah, next
Jessica Bowser (08:53):
time you do one, please let me know, because this
sounds like something I need tobe a part of. Oh,
Unknown (08:58):
yeah. And they don't just do old, right? They do
everywhere. Oh, cool. It'sreally cool going on a hike with
somebody who's so passionateabout it. His name's Daniel,
just getting to watch somebodytalk about the thing they love,
you know. And that's how hefeels about all things rocks. Is
like He loves them, and he's soexcited, and he's a really good
teacher. Are
Jessica Bowser (09:18):
these events that are like, he collaborates
with girls who hike Virginia,
Unknown (09:21):
yeah? Because his girl, his girlfriend, is an
ambassador. Yeah?
Jessica Bowser (09:24):
Oh, how convenient,
Unknown (09:27):
yeah. Well, one of the things that we do through girls
hike Virginia, if you're anofficial ambassador, you don't
have to have any kind of skillto become one. But we do try to
prioritize teaching somethingwhile we go on hikes. There are
people who teach about maybe thesignificance, the historical
significance of the land.
There's people who will teachyou stretching or exercises you
can do to help you with hiking.
(09:51):
And so what this Ambassador doesis, instead of hurt and
certainly teaching, she justteams up with her boyfriend, and
he teaches the geology. Sothat's how that comes to me.
Jessica Bowser (09:59):
Hey, that.
That's another benefit ofjoining a hiking community, is
you get those experiences thatyou wouldn't get if you're just
out on your own. Yes, and
Unknown (10:07):
you don't have to learn it on your own, like again, for
me, hiking, I'm still I probablythink I know maybe 5% of all the
things that you need to know forhiking at this point, because
there's so much out there. Butwhen you have a community, you
can just organically learn it asyou go. You don't have to be
fully prepared right away. Youalso don't have to start out
(10:27):
hiking old rag you can, youknow, start out at your local
trails and with a group ofpeople, and you can slowly make
your way out and find the kindof hikes that you like.
Jessica Bowser (10:38):
Adventure seekers will find endless
opportunities in Grayson County,where many of Virginia's iconic
trails and landmarks excitehikers, cyclists, paddlers and
happy campers alike. Imaginethis. You're hiking on one of
the most scenic sections of theentire Appalachian Trail through
the George Washington andJefferson National Forests,
(10:59):
summiting mount Rogers or whitetop mountain, the two highest
peaks in Virginia, or strollingthrough the valley of elk
garden, where the now extinctEastern elk once roamed. Or
maybe your perfect day is on thewater. Grayson County is home to
the New River, one of the oldestand most scenic rivers in the
world. Enjoy a leisurely classone float with the family or
(11:21):
adrenaline packed class threerapids, navigate the waters
using the New River floatcalculator to plan your trip.
The app factors flow rate, waterlevels, weather conditions,
vessel type and more tocalculate flow times from point
A to point B. Prefer two wheels.
You won't want to miss the graceand gravel traverse a 72 mile
mixed surface gravel bike routethat connects the Virginia
(11:44):
Creeper trail and new rivertrail over well maintained and
remote roads featuring a varietyof challenging climbs in the
foothills of Virginia's highestpeaks. This overlooked gem of
Virginia presents some of thebest gravel cycling in the state
mostly unwritten andundiscovered after a day of
adventure, there's nothing likegathering around a campfire
(12:07):
under a sky filled with stars.
Grayson County offers plenty ofspots to pitch a tent like the
New River campground or cozy upin a rustic cabin at the buck
wild reserve. Discover whyVirginia is for outdoor lovers.
Start your Grayson Countyadventure at the historic 1908
courthouse and visitor center,or access the visitors guide
(12:30):
online by clicking on visitGrayson County in the show notes
of your podcast listening app.
Well, that's really neat thatyou can have that experience on
old rag over and over, but it'snever the same. And it reminds
me, do you remember when you andI were up on old rag, and I
think we were at one of theoverlooks, and we were sort of
looking out over the mountains,and I was telling you that
(12:51):
there's this historical fiction.
The name of the book is ghostgirl, and it's written at a
sixth grade level, but I used toread it aloud to my fourth
graders, and it's a history ofthe park before it was a
national park. And one of thecharacters in there is the
elementary school teacher, whowas the very first teacher in
(13:13):
the very first school house forthe people who lived in the
mountains there. And she kept adiary. The author used that
diary to help write the book.
And in her diary, she wrote thatthe Blue Ridge Mountains were
never the same shade of bluefrom one day to the next. And I
just fell in love with thatbecause I thought about it, and
I'm like, she's so Right. Likeevery time you stand it in
(13:34):
overlook and you're looking outat the mountains, it never looks
the same as it did all the othertimes that you were there
before. And I think that's sortof a magical part of the
experience as well.
Unknown (13:46):
And now I have experienced that in every
weather that you can imagine,every time of day that you can
imagine. And like, I lovesunrises. Sunrises are my
favorite. And there is nosunrise that's ever the same.
And it just makes it so muchmore special, because when you
have it in front of you, like,now I have like, millions of
pictures, but the picture neverdoes it justice. So when you're
(14:07):
there, whoever you're with, itjust feels like you're
experiencing a once in alifetime moment. And it also
just moves so fast, because ifyou are there for sunrise or
sunset, like it's a little blimpthat, just like, you capture it
in that moment with your pictureand you and then it just
changes, and it's no longer thesame.
Jessica Bowser (14:23):
Yeah, that's true. It changes so quickly. So
what have been some of thehighlights of your journey? I
know you shared a few, but arethere any others that you
haven't shared, that you'd liketo share? So the
Unknown (14:34):
first one that comes to mind is on one of the first
hikes that I facilitated. I had17 women with me. That was
before I set a limit. I didn'tknow to set a limit, and I had
17 women with me. And duringthat hike, there was one
particular woman who, as we weregoing through the scramble, she
needed more support than others.
But it wasn't necessarilyphysical. It was it was mental,
(14:54):
like it was, you know, how am Igoing to do this? Like you want
me to climb that? Like howright, she was doing things that
she had never done before, andshe was a trooper. She had a
great positive attitude. Andthen we got to the gap. And if
you've been through old rag atthe very end of the scramble,
you have a section that you'regoing to have to jump, like a
two foot gap, but the way you'restanding on the rock, it's
(15:18):
elevated versus where you'relanding. So from your point of
view, you can't see the gap, andit's scary, at least for me, it
is, but right before that gap,you also have to launch yourself
up into the boulder that you'regoing to jump from. When you're
launching yourself, you have toput your foot in front of you at
another gap, and kind of justtrust that gravity is going to
catch you and you're going to beable to push yourself far enough
(15:41):
so enough. Well, we were in thatsection, and her nerves just got
the best of her. It was me, andI think at this point we had
like, three people who hadn'tgone through it yet, so we went
ahead and, like, start tostrategize on how we're going to
help her. Because once you're atthis point, there's no going
back, there's there's nothing.
(16:01):
We have to figure out a way toget you through this right. And
again, because it was one of myfirst times facilitating for
such a large group, I had amoment where I was, I needed her
to launch herself. I was, I hadmy hand out so I knew she was
going to catch my hand, and Iknew that I was gonna be able to
pull her but what I couldn't dofor her was launch herself
(16:21):
right, and I needed her to doit, but she was in this place
mentally where she was shaking,she was tearing up, and I knew
that I needed to, like, get herout of it. And in that moment,
as I'm surrounded by otherpeople, I had, I had to decide.
I was like, All right, how do Ido this? And I only knew one way
of doing it, but I knew that itwas potentially embarrassing to
(16:44):
do this for myself. But I waslike, All right, we're gonna
show up authentically in theworld, and we're gonna help her,
and we're gonna do this. So Ilooked at her, and I was like,
All right, look at me. Look atme. I'm gonna need to repeat
after me. Okay, I'm gonna getyou through this. We're gonna
get through this, but I need youto say this out loud with me.
And she's like, okay. And I'mlike, I am a badass. I'm like,
trying to be serious. I say thisbecause I truly mean it, but I'm
(17:05):
aware that I'm saying this outloud and that potentially she's
gonna look at me like, I'minsane. And she looks at me and
she like questions, and I'mlike, I need you to say it with
me. I am a badass. Andeventually she goes, I am a
badass, kind of like, with hervoice breaking. And I was like,
Yes, you are. Continue saying itand launch forward, and then she
does it. And it was just one ofthose moments where, like, it
(17:27):
was hard for me too, because Iwanted to show up authentically
for her. But there's that fearyou have in your head of like,
how are how's the world gonnareceive this? Am I gonna be a
fool? Am I gonna be judged forthis? But that moment kind of
shaped the rest of my hikes,because I've had now many
moments where somebody needed meto be there for them, and I no
(17:50):
longer hold back from showing upauthentically. So that's
probably one of my mostmemorable moments, because as
much as I'm sure it helped her,it helped me, not just on
hiking, but in the world to justbe like, Look, when that moment
comes up and you hesitate to beyourself, don't ever hesitate to
be yourself your people, likeyou were talking about finding
(18:10):
your community, right? Yourpeople can't find you unless you
show up authentically. If youare molding yourself to try and
fit in the world, then no one'sgoing to be able to truly find
you, and the people that you endup with are not going to fill
your cup. So that was probablythe most memorable moment that
I've had, and it happened earlyon.
Jessica Bowser (18:28):
And I wonder, if you were to ask her today what
that did for her, I wouldimagine she probably said it
changed her too. Because I youknow when you haven't, when you
have a type of experience whereyou're not sure how you're going
to get through, and you'reterrified, and the fear takes
over, then you have to pushthrough and figure out how
you're going to do it. And onceyou get through it, then it's
(18:50):
like, oh, well, heck, if I didthat, what else can I do? It's
kind of like what you weresaying earlier about how Monday
morning when you go to work,you're like, Well, I just hike
old rag last weekend. I can doanything today, so I'm sure that
it probably had a similar impacton her as well.
Unknown (19:07):
Think she messaged me afterwards again. This was very
early on in the year. I wastalking about her on a hike
recently, and the person I wastalking to was like, I know her,
and she remembered her by name,and said that now she's gone on
and, like, she's jumped off aplane, and she's done all this,
like, really crazy stuff, what?
So I have to look her up,because I haven't since then,
but I have to look her up andsee how she's doing. But I did
hear that actually, literally,yesterday morning from another
(19:29):
friend. Yeah, you need to
Jessica Bowser (19:32):
find her, because if she went from too
afraid to get through the rockscramble on old rag to jumping
out of a plane, yeah, you needto find out what the heck's
going on there. That's
Unknown (19:42):
wild. I'm gonna do that right after this. Yeah,
Jessica Bowser (19:45):
oh my gosh.
Okay. Alejandro, would you doanything differently if you were
setting this goal for yourselfagain for 2025, or any other
time?
Unknown (19:54):
Immediately? My answer was like, No, I'm glad that I
did it. There are some thingsthat I had said. I would try to
do throughout that I didn't endup doing. I'm trying not to
regret not doing them. I'mtrying to just be like, hey,
some things were not part oflike, the journey, and that's
okay. Like, for example, Iwanted to try and hike it
backwards, and because oftiming, because also me
(20:17):
procrastinating, it just hasn'thappened. We are on December 20
right now, so the likelihood ofit happening is probably not
going to be it, because it'sreally cold outside, and I don't
want to add another element tothe challenge. I also wanted to
hike it with my dad and becauseof one thing or another that
didn't happen. But it's notgoing to keep me from doing
those things next year, right?
It just won't be part of thischallenge. One of the things
(20:37):
this challenge taught me and hashelped me with is my
organizational skills, but mylack of organizational skills
throughout the process affectedsome of the things, so I didn't
get to do them because of that,and I'm fully aware of it. If I
could have somehow worked on myorganizational skills prior,
would have had a betterexperience. Yes, but this is how
(20:58):
it needed to go. Yeah, you liveand learn, right? Exactly. I'm
way more organized now than Iwas at the beginning of the
year.
Jessica Bowser (21:07):
Yeah, that makes total sense. And I'm glad you
said that. It's December 20right now while we're recording,
because this episode will comeout in January. And I'm curious,
have you done all 36 hikes? Areyou really close? Like, what's
the status?
Unknown (21:21):
I'm at 32 as of yesterday. I'm hiking it again
tomorrow, and I'll be hiking iton either Monday or Tuesday, I
haven't decided yet, but I'll beat 34 by Christmas, and then I
have one more weekend where I'llhike it one more time, and then
I am hiking it on the last dayof the year. So my first hike
was at the first day of theyear. I'm hiking the last one on
(21:44):
the last day of the year. Wow,
Jessica Bowser (21:46):
that sounds really cool. Oh, it's happening,
yeah. But also it would make mea little bit nervous, because
what if there's like, a reallybad weather day on the last day
of the year, and then you youdon't get to finish that last
hike? You know,
Unknown (21:57):
that was a fear that I had earlier on, and I kept
thinking, like, do I do 37 hikesinstead of 36 and for some
reason that fear has left me, Ithink it's because I've hiked in
every weather now. I've hiked itin the rain. I've done the
scramble in the rain, which wassomething I never thought I
would do. I've hiked it in snowalready, also because I allowed
(22:20):
myself to have different routesthat I can use. Worst case
scenario, if it's snowing andit's icy, I'll go up the back
through very hollow to reach thesummit, and that still counts.
And I don't have to do this. Iwouldn't want to scramble in
ice, because that would probablybe very dangerous. So if that's
the case, then I will end updoing it the back way. Nah.
Jessica Bowser (22:40):
Just strap on your micro spikes and grab your
poles.
Unknown (22:46):
We'll see. We'll see. I still haven't, I still haven't
decided. I originally thought Iwas going to do the last hike as
a sunset, but I honestly lovesunrises so much more. So I was
like, I can just choose to dothe sunrise on the last day of
the year. So I may do thatagain. One of the things is, at
first I was very like,everything's organized and I
know exactly what I'm doing. Andnow I'm more like, I'm gonna go
(23:06):
do it. I don't know how I'mgonna do it yet, but it's gonna
happen.
Jessica Bowser (23:12):
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notes of your listening app.
What advice would you givesomeone who wants to set an
outdoorsy goal for themselves in2025 Yes.
Unknown (24:30):
So I actually wrote this down because you have to
come up with a system. So I callit like my system for success,
and the first part and yoursystem can be different.
Everybody should customize thisto themselves, but the first
part, and this is like yourbuilding blocks, so you cannot
do it without this is your why,and it needs to be something
very meaningful to you. And itshould be also multi layered,
(24:52):
like if I think of my why, Ialready said, you know, I turned
36 this year. Also I wanted tofeel like a badass all year
long. Um. I wanted to help otherwomen do it. I wanted to see how
I would help my health, all thisstuff. So there was so many
elements to my why thatthroughout the year, as I came
up with like reasons not to hikeit, I had one of those elements
(25:13):
pop up and be the one thing thatgot me out of the house right.
Sometimes one of the things wasmore pressing than other, but I
needed several. Because if I hadjust said, Oh, I'm turning 36
this year, and that's the onlyreason why I'm doing this, that
would not have pushed me throughsome of the months that I went
through, right? So that's yourwhy. And then from there,
brainstorming on the obstaclesthat you're going to face,
(25:34):
because they are going tohappen. I brainstorm about
summer. I brainstormed about thetime that it was going to
require like I knew that eventhough I'm part of a hiking
community, and there's so manyevents that come up and I get
tempted by I knew I had to sayno to all the other hikes. I
knew that if I was doinganything outside of old rag, it
had to be local, it had to beshort. I could not risk
(25:58):
potentially spending a whole daysomewhere else, when I could be
doing an old rag. I also thoughtabout injuries. So at the
beginning of the hike, I didn'tknow this would happen, but I
ended up using my hiking stickson all of my hikes, because I
used it as a preventativemeasure for making sure that my
knees could hold up. I actually,I don't have any wood near me to
(26:20):
like, knock on. But I had not, Ihave not had an actual, real
injury throughout this entireexperience. And I think it's
because I really tried to bevery conscious of, like, how is
doing things to make sure thatit was healthy as possible? So
yeah, thinking of your obstaclesand preparing for them, and then
accountability. Think aboutaccountability. If you're one of
those people who says they'regoing to do something and they
(26:42):
do it, I'm jealous of you.
That's not me. I knew that Iwould require peer pressure, so
I told everybody in my lifeabout it. I knew that I would
require a lot of support. So Iknew my fiance needed to be on
board with me. I knew that, youknow, I could use girls hike
Virginia as a platform to shareabout my journey. I actually
(27:03):
posted every single time I did ahike there, and I had lots of
people being checking in on meand seeing how it was doing on
my challenge, so that helped memove forward. Actually, I don't
know if you know this, Jessica,but you are part of my
accountability. When theopportunity to be on your
podcast came up a few monthsago. I was in the middle of
feeling very stressed, and I wassuper behind on my hikes. And at
(27:25):
first, when it came up, I waslike, first of all, why would I
get a podcast who wants to hearabout me? But then I was like,
I'm so behind. This is that Idon't want, I'm not gonna go on
a podcast and talk about this.
It's been a mess, like, I like,I didn't do three in a month
like I was supposed to, and thenI was like, No, I'm gonna say
yes, and that's gonna push me.
That's gonna push me to get backon track. So you were part of my
(27:48):
accountability team withoutknowing it.
Jessica Bowser (27:52):
That's awesome.
I'm very touched. Yeah, no,
Unknown (27:55):
seriously, that's it takes. It takes a whole
community, right? And then thelast part is, organize yourself,
plan it out like I before theyear ever started, I pulled out
my calendar and I put in all thehikes I was going to do. I
personally don't work on federalholidays, so I was going to
prioritize that. I was going toprioritize Saturdays, and I knew
(28:16):
that I was going to have to usePTO for hiking on the week, on
the weekdays, right? But then,once you have it all scheduled
out, create some kind ofcheckpoints for yourself.
Because I didn't think aboutthis in the beginning, but then
I ended up developing thisthroughout the year. Once a
month I would pull out my littlecalendar and recheck and
reorganize, because if I misseda hike or if I wasn't able to do
(28:38):
it now I have to it has to bemoved somewhere else, right? So
just set it up, but then beready to restructure it as the
year, or whatever time frameyou're setting up for yourself
is going be constantly ready topivot and pivot and pivot. Yeah,
that would be the structure thatI would set up.
Jessica Bowser (28:54):
That sounds like a solid plan. That's great
advice. How has this experienceand hiking in general changed
you
Unknown (29:02):
I'm in a healing journey from life. There's
nothing in particular, which islike life. I'm an adult, and I'm
working on, you know, justhealing a lot of things for
myself, and hiking is therapyfor me. I don't always do this,
but I do try to set intentionsto my hikes, especially the
challenging ones. So I did thata lot this year. Is whatever I'm
(29:25):
currently struggling with,whatever is currently on my
mind, I kind of like, just makea mental note that that's what
I'm going to work on during thishike. And so when you're in that
hike, and in that moment, we'relike, oh my god, questioning all
my life choices. My legs areburning, my you know, my lungs
hurt I think about, I'm like,All right, what are we trying to
work through right now? Oh,that's right, we wanted to work
(29:46):
through this, all right. Andthen I start to just like, let
my brain go. And I've, like, Ithink I said earlier, I've had
lots of epiphanies throughouthiking again, it gives me the
strength to come back to myregular life and deal with
things that are much better.
Better Way, because I know whatI can do out in the woods. So it
just boosts my confidence. It'smade me healthier in every way.
I mean, I'm a huge fan now, andI tell people all the time like,
(30:11):
maybe it's not hiking for you,but try it out. You know, in
your journey to finding whateverit is that's going to help you.
I definitely think you shouldtest out hiking. Hiking doesn't
have to look like what I didthis year, right? I did the 36
old rock hikes. Great hiking forsomebody else can look like
going to their local trail everymorning, and that's their that's
(30:33):
hiking for them. Whatever itlooks like, it's fine. There's
no no no set parameter, but justfind it, because it's very
healing. And we all know thescience, like you can Google it,
being out in nature, readingfresh air, spending time by
yourself. I didn't do this a lotin the beginning, but I
challenged myself to finally doit towards the end of the year,
(30:54):
I did old rug for the first timeby myself, and now I've done it
a few times. Oh, my god. Thatwas that was a really cool
experience, because to have allthat time and all those
challenges just by yourself,there was a moment I did it. I
did the full scramble by myselfa few weeks ago. And there's the
first section of the scramblewhere you have to, like, jump
(31:15):
down into a crevice wherethere's
Jessica Bowser (31:18):
just, like a tiny little ledge that's barely
big enough for, like, the ballof your foot to rest on, yes,
Unknown (31:24):
yes. So I've done that in the big in the little arrow
just pointing down. You're like,what?
Jessica Bowser (31:28):
Yeah, exactly.
You're like, there's a mistakehere.
Unknown (31:32):
But I have done that now many, many times when I did
it by myself, I sat there and Ipaused, and I just sat there,
and I just looked up to the sky,and I just looked around me, and
I just like, I was like, I don'thave to move right now. I can
just sit here. I've never justsat here. I've always, like,
been teaching someone how to dothis, or been rushing to do it
(31:54):
myself, because there's a crowdof people behind me. So hiking
it by myself was a very coolexperience. I struggle being
alone with my thoughts I'meither playing music or
listening to a podcast orsurrounded by people hiking
pushes me out of that comfortzone, and if you let it right,
because you could still bringyour podcast and your music, but
if you let it that time byyourself in the woods can be
(32:18):
really good for just getting toknow you without all the noise.
Jessica Bowser (32:22):
Alejandra, this has been a wonderful
conversation. How can listenersconnect with you
Unknown (32:28):
on socials, you can find me, and they're firmly kind
on Instagram, and then throughgirls like Virginia, we are a
non profit, so you can go to ourwebsite, girls like
virginia.org, and you'll find mein there. Or we also have a
Facebook group, and I'm anactive ambassador for the
northern region in there, soyou'll see me as well. I
Jessica Bowser (32:46):
will put links to all of those in the show
notes, so people can check theirshow notes to connect. Thank you
again for this wonderfulconversation. I feel inspired
for 2025 I've never setoutdoorsy goals for myself
because I'm I know you're notgoing to like this. I'm that
person who just says I'm goingto do something, and then I do
it, but this year, I feel like
Unknown (33:06):
jealous of you. It doesn't mean I don't like you.
Jessica Bowser (33:10):
I think this year I'm actually going to do
it, because I have found,especially this past year, I get
so wrapped up in this podcastthat I don't spend enough time
outside. It's like the irony ofhaving a podcast about outdoor
recreation is I spend less timeoutside than I ever have, so I
feel like maybe something likethis would be good for me. So
(33:31):
you've got me inspired, and I'mgoing to be brainstorming about
what might work for me in 2025and I hope that other people
listening will also be inspiredand set some outdoorsy goals for
themselves.
Unknown (33:43):
That is so cool. Let me know once you set yours and I
can cheer you on. I would
Jessica Bowser (33:47):
love that. All right. Alejandro, thanks for
being a guest. Adventure on,
Unknown (33:51):
adventure on take care.
Jessica Bowser (33:54):
Virginia.
Outdoor Adventures is inspiredby and supported by listeners
like you, which is why yourmessages and feedback mean so
much to me. You can text medirectly by clicking on Send me
a text message in your shownotes. I answer questions,
respond to comments and shareyour feedback on the show never
miss an update. Get even moreinformation and inspiration by
(34:16):
signing up for my newsletter.
Click on newsletter, sign up inyour show notes, or visit
Virginia outdoor adventures.comthanks for listening until next
time. Adventure on you.
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