Woman in the wild : the everywoman's guide to hiking, camping, and backcountry travel

Few experiences rival a grand outdoor adventure. Hiking into the wilderness, camping under the stars, and exploring the backcountry offer new challenges that awaken a woman's spirit and test her soul. Woman in the Wild: The Every Woman's Guide to Hiking, Camping, and Backcountry Travel is the perfect companion for any woman looking to get into the backcountry lifestyle or level up her current active outdoor life. Adventurer and guidebook author Susan Joy Paul provides real instruction for women of all ages and skill levels, from beginners to intermediate hikers and experienced mountaineers. She shares details gleaned from two decades of training and real-world experience, bringing together everything a woman needs to know to be safe, independent, and self-reliant at camp and on the trail. Five sections and twenty-five chapters cover hiking, camping, and backcountry travel from the basics to advanced skills. Backcountry Essentials: Learn what to wear, how to pack, and where to find hiking partners for your outdoor adventures You in the Wilderness: What every woman needs to know about nutrition, first aid, and personal care to stay healthy on the trail Pushing Off: Backcountry knowledge and skills around land navigation, terrain, and weather take your travels to the next level Reaching New Heights: Beyond the basics, understand how training, setting goals, and engaging strategies for success add a new and exciting dimension to your outdoor life Next Steps: Leave the flatlanders and fair-weather hikers behind with an introduction to high altitude mountaineering, winter camping, glacier travel, and more The backcountry beckons, and women want to go. With Woman in the Wild, they can! If so many women were interested in getting outside, why weren’t more ofthem out there? Talking to them after my presentations, I got my answer. Theywanted to explore the backcountry, but they didn’t know where tostart. Some had joined hiking groups that hadn’t worked out. Thepeople who ran them tended to take a militant approach to the wholeexperience. There was an overriding sense of competition, with theexperienced members held in high regard, while people new to theoutdoors were looked down on and even castigated for not learningthe skills fast enough, not being strong enough, or not being fastenough. These women didn’t want to compete—they just wanted tolearn how to enjoy the backcountry safely and without getting lost. Ibelieved them, because I’d encountered similar situations when Istarted out: hiking groups led by gruff, overbearing taskmasters whothought their job was to whip you into shape and put you down whenyou didn’t measure up to their standards. I was lucky enough to findpeople who didn’t treat women this way, or I, too, may have given upon the backcountry.This book will give you everything you need to get started in theback-country, and lots of insider info from someone who’s beenthere. But it’s just the beginning. Once you take steps to become awoman in the wild, you’ll want to seek your own experiences. Readmore, take courses, and find people to learn with, and from. And getout there. Because a woman in the wild is the best kind of woman tobe. Woman In The Wild Is The Complete Guide To Backcountry Travel For Women, With An Emphasis On Independence And Safety. This Is The First Book To Provide Serious Instruction And Encouragement About Safe, Self-reliant Hiking, Camping, And Mountaineering Specifically For Women Of All Skill Levels, From Beginners To Intermediate Hikers And Experienced Mountaineers. It Gives The Reader All The Information She Needs To Travel Confidently In The Backcountry, From Basics Like Gear And First Aid To Advanced Topics Like Navigation And Weather. Final Chapters Introduce The Reader To The Skills Required To Take Her To The Next Level, Like Glacier Travel, Rock & Ice Climbing And International Trip Planning.