Appalachian Outdoorosity

Joy talks cold weather adventures with two outdoor experts on this Appalachian Outdoorosity. Bob Riddle and Valerie Kankiewicz share their perspectives on the best way to prepare for and thrive in the chilliest of outdoor scenarios. Ice climbing, sweating in the snow, David Hasselhoff and last but certainly not least The Legend of the Traveling Jorts all await you! So, come on in! The water is ice. 
 
Show Notes
App State University Recreation
 
How to Dress for Cold Weather, According to Outdoor Adventurers
 
What should you wear to run in the cold? Build an outfit with this paper doll
 
 
 
Transcript
 
Becki
Welcome to the Appalachian Outdoorosity Podcast, where we encourage you to get outside and keep going outside. Here we will share Appalachian State stories that entertain, inspire and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story with the goal to get you outside and keep you going outside to improve your overall wellness. This podcast is presented by the Hope Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise and play on health, the environment and human development. The vision of the Hope Lab is to continue developing the perfect foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise and play through interdisciplinary research. Feel free to check us out at hopelab.appstate.edu. Hi, my name is Becki Battista and I am a professor in exercise science at Appalachian State University and a self-proclaimed physical activity addict. On today's episode, we will continue our conversation with outdoor professionals about what to wear when recreating outdoors in the cold and rain. Outdoorosity team member Dr. Joy James, a professor in recreation management, interviews Appalachian State University's outdoor program team who provide more details about types of clothing and the importance of layering, as well as things to consider in a variety of outdoor activities like backpacking and ice climbing. Why have two episodes on dressing for weather outdoors? Because our aim is to have you enjoy the outdoor activity. While discomfort can be part of the outdoor experience, there are ways to lessen being uncomfortable. Dressing for the weather is significant to a person's willingness to continue to try new outdoor activities. And here at Outdoorosity, we are all about getting people outdoors. Let's get to the interviews.
Joy
These are two experts from outdoor programs at Appalachian State University. We have Bob and Valerie. First, we'd like to know, Bob, a little bit about yourself.
Bob
Yeah, so I'm Bob Riddle. I'm originally from southern Ohio, so I grew up in the foothills of Appalachia. I've made my way deeper and deeper here into the mountains over time. Now, kind of in year four of my professional experience here in the outdoors, apart from graduate assistant shifts and working as an undergrad student and outdoors, I'm currently here the coordinator of outdoor programs for Appalachian State University's Outdoor Program at University Recreation. Specifically, some of the things that I do right now is I manage our indoor climbing wall, our outdoor trips program, our broad stone kind of outdoor educational center. And as part of that is our team building challenge course.
Joy
Thank you! Valerie, I think I will go ahead and switch over to you and have you tell us a little bit about yourself before I start asking questions. So give us a little bit of information about who you are, what you're doing, and anything you think's funny or surprising.
Val
Thank you. I am Valerie Kankiewicz and I'm the assistant director for outdoor programs here at App State. In this role, specifically right now, I work most closely with our outing center where we handle all of our gear rentals, trip registrations and items of that nature. In addition, our Bike App program that provides free bike tunings and repairs for the App State community. Overall, I just generally oversee the operations of outdoor programs to make sure that we are flowing smoothly and providing great opportunities for everyone. I have been involved in the outdoors since I was little, but I came from a family that was not very interested in the outdoors. I went to summer camp and really built up my own interest that way and one thing that I think is kind of funny is that I don't really like to watch a lot of TV or movies or music or things like that. So I'm often quite ignorant of a lot of quotes that people will talk about or different things. My first day of my first full time job ever, I was working as an aquatics director and my supervisor said to me, referring to a particular lifeguard of ours, “He's a real David Hasselhoff.” Now, I had grown up in this town and I was like, I recognize that name. I said, “I think I know him. Why would I know him?” And now it turns out he's a famous actor and I didn't know that. So I prefer to spend my time outside and not spend a lot of time with my technology.
Joy
I know a few people like that. Bob, what is your favorite outdoor activity that you enjoy doing? I know you probably have multiple, but if you were to be able to go do something today, what would that be?
Bob
Backpacking. I really got my start backpacking kind of in West Virginia and through the mountains there. It's something that I've always really valued because for the most part it can be pretty low gear intensive. It's certainly a lot of logistical planning, but on a skill level, it offers a wide variety for really anyone to get involved with. It's a great way to connect with folks or disconnect from folks, depending on what you're looking for. So for me, it's backpacking. You know, similar to Val and what she was saying earlier, I don't come from an outdoorsy background originally. I didn't go backpacking until my freshman orientation program. I grew up playing basketball, baseball, football. My original thought of camping was taking your 30 foot family trailer to the county fair and spending a week with farm animals. I'm certainly not a lightweight backpacker. A quote from a student staff colleague of mine when I was just getting into backpacking that has always stuck with me is, “We're not out here to rough it. You know, we're out here to thrive and do the best that we can with each other and with the supplies that we're given.” I got no problem. You know, throw in some tent poles and carrying a bunch of water and a bunch of food to have a good meal outside. So not on the lightweight side.
Joy
I love that you're like, we're here to thrive and not to rough it. And I think often many people think backpacking is roughing it and it's just a different form of camping that gets you out in a different way. And and I love the challenge of being able to carry all that gear. All right. Thank you for explaining that. I am going to ping pong between the two of you. Change it up a little bit, Valerie. So can you tell us what your favorite outdoor activity is? If today you could do whatever you wanted to be doing. What would be your choice?
Val
Ooh, well, that's tough. Somebody I worked with in college leading trip said it best that they were a jack of all trades and a master of none. And I find that defines me. So I really enjoy backpacking. I also really enjoy cycling. I really like winter and outdoor sports. So if I had my option, I would like to go ice climbing. But that's not an option very often. So I'll take cycling or backpacking as well.
Joy
And it sounds like both of you, come from snow areas originally, right? For some reason I have Iowa on my mind. Valerie and Bob, you said Ohio, but it was southern Ohio you're at.
Bob
Yeah, I'm originally from Southeast Ohio, about 45 minutes from the border. Any which direction, south or east you go.
Val
And Joy, you're correct. I went to college in Iowa at northern Iowa and grew up in northern Illinois. I lived in Wyoming for a little bit and between Buffalo and Rochester, New York. So I've seen my fair share of snow.
Joy
And I asked this because I knew my parents were from Iowa, but I grew up born and raised in Georgia. So Snow was an event in Georgia. And to have snow like we have here in Boone, was kind of a new concept to me. And I mean, I've lived in North Dakota, but I didn't understand wearing a hat. That was a new thing to me. It's like people who come from snow know how to play in it, they know how to dress for it. And it didn't stop them from recreating. And that kind of stunned me as a Southerner going, “Why would you tell the snow and ice climb? Doesn't that that sound like it would be a little bit of a challenge?” But, having been in the snow now, I can see why people enjoy that. All right, Bob, so since we're talking about cold weather, how do you typically dress for a workout or backpacking in colder weather?
Bob
Yeah, so kind of a rule and principle. I use and this is going to sound kind of backwards maybe to some folks if they're not familiar with it. But I like to actually dress to be cold during the activity, especially if I'm going to be on something that's going to be multi-day, where I don't have the luxury of, you know, driving home at the end of the evening and getting a hot shower and a hot meal and laying down in the bed. I like the dress cold for the activity. The reason I like to do that is I want to be just comfortable enough I can withstand it, but I want to be cold. So I'm not sweating because after that activity, if I'm going to be camping and I know it's going to be cold that evening, that sweat is going to kind of linger and that moisture is going to, you know, freeze in time. So typical rule of thumb for me is hike cold, camp warm. And so having layers with me, but not necessarily wearing all those layers during the activity. Now during a regular day where I'm not doing multi-day stuff, you know, I'll, I'll just pack on as much or as little clothes as I want knowing I can just simply get in a vehicle at the end of the night or in the middle of the day and go get comfortable anywhere. Some of the other things I like to try and be mindful of is not wearing cotton because cotton will retain that moisture. You know, cotton fibers, if we were to draw them microscopically on a board, look like little macaroni noodles, right? The moisture gets in there and holds on to it, like all that golden liquid in kraft cheese you get and then you just stay cold versus you know, wearing something that's more synthetic, like an under armor or a Nike or any off brand. It doesn't need to be name brand. Anything synthetic is going to help wick away that moisture more easily and kind of keep you drier in the long run and hopefully warmer as a result because of that.
Joy
All right. So Bob let me ask, if you're dressing for cold, what does that mean, one under armor shirt or are you wearing a vest or how do you dress for the cold on a backpacking trip?
Bob
Yeah, I think that's going to be dependent upon each person. You know, for me, I'm a I'm typically a warmer person. I might wear like one layer, synthetic base layer. So like under armor pants, an under armor long sleeve top. And then because I have a backpack on, sometimes I might have a vest but maybe not if I'm doing something pretty extensive that day and not an easier hike., I might not opt for the vest. If I’m doing, you know, some flat trail somewhere I may throw on my extra vest. My biggest encouragement would be, you know, do some day trips on your own. Find out how warm you are, what you can stand then then kind of build that sense of your own baseline around that.
Joy
Thank you. All right, Valerie, how about yourself? How do you typically dress for a workout or your recreational activity in the colder weather?
Val
So much like Bob, I think it's important to kind of dress for the activity. What does that mean? Well, if you're going to be very physically active, you probably should start chilly and then you'll warm up and not have to stop ten, 15 minutes in to take off all these extra layers. And now your base layer, the bottom layer that you're wearing is now soaked in sweat. So I think that helps. But I get cold very easily, so I dress in a lot of layers. So I'm going to start with some sort of base layer that's something synthetic, very close to the skin that can help kind of keep my core warm. And then I'm going to put some layers on top of that. So on a colder winter day, I'm probably going out in a base layer and maybe a fleece over that if it's really cold or especially if I'm maybe sitting around by the creek and enjoying my lunch, I'm going to throw on a down jacket on top of that. Maybe down or synthetic, something lightweight that I can carry easily. That can be expensive, though. Not everybody has one of those lying around. I did not for the longest time. And so just good layers that you can take that are synthetic that you can put on. The down helps a lot because it's lightweight and compactible but it's really expensive. So, depending on your level of activity and how often you're getting out, it might not be something that's worth purchasing for you. Just look for something synthetic that's come a long way in quality and sizes and durability. I think when you think about your bottoms, if it's going to be cold or you're not going to be moving around a lot, that base layer once again and the layer over the top of that, I think it's surprising how warm you can get recreating. When I first started ice climbing in in Iowa, it was often between zero and ten degrees for a high with the wind chills -35. We actually couldn't climb if it got below zero because the ice was it was too cold and it would dinner plate and not work the way that it should. When we're climbing. And I would climb in a base layer and a fleece, and that's when I would climb, I would have gloves on and I had like a base layer and a pair of like the swishy kind of running pants or yeah, I didn't climb in snow pants. Swishy running pants were, were the best option due to mobility. And I would get hot so hot when I was climbing. Now as soon as I came down and I was maybe belaying somebody else, I was throwing out all those layers again. So layers are important. And you talked about hats earlier. I hated wearing a hat. Growing up in the Midwest, never wore a hat unless I was like going sledding for hours. I wasn't going to wear a hat, messed up my hair too much. I went to college and determined that a hat was a necessity to be outside walking around with these excessive wind chills. And I think the biggest thing that I really picked up on was going out on some farms in Iowa late at night, ten, 11:00 at night in January and December. And we would ride the ATVs around to go check trail cams or different things. My friend would always wear two hats and it was amazing what two hats can do when the temperature is around zero degrees and the wind chill significant and you are riding on an ATV. So hats really do make a difference. If you can keep your head warm, the rest of your body will stay warm.
Joy
Yeah, I discovered the same thing in North Dakota first that you could sweat in the snow, which was absolutely absurd to me as a Southerner. Like what? This is cross-country skiing for me. And then the hat thing really helped me. So do you guys have different types of hats like you do gear for different weather?
Bob
Oh yeah. Except where I'm from. I think y'all are referring to what we call a toboggan. So, like a wool hat or a cotton hat that covers the ears? Yeah, I wear, like, a toboggan or something like that. If I'm, like, sitting around outside all day, but my head, like, I sweat through my head very easily if I'm hiking. So typically, like during the day, I might just wear a regular ball cap. To be honest, I also have a lot of hair and my hair is super thick. I constantly when I do get my cut, I have to get it like thinned out it's so thick. So for me, a regular ball cap usually does, and then kind of a toboggan or a warmer winter hat like in camp.
Val
Certainly I went from owning no hats to one hat to too many hats, and I have some really thin hats that I wear when I'm biking and it's cold. I put them under my helmet so it's enough to keep me warmer, especially with that breeze from biking, but it fits under the helmet. Well, and then I have like a fleece hat is really good. Once again that synthetic but fleece, depending on how it's made, it can let alot of wind it, so I also have like a thick wool hat and some of them are fleece lined. So there's definitely different options. I think for the Boone North Carolina region, a decent like fleece hat is probably a good option for being versatile.
Joy
You mentioned something else. When does another factor in some cases, particularly with cycling or if it's a windy or rainy day? So the other thing I just wanted to ask you guys, do you have a preference for rain gear? Do you wear pants when you're backpacking like the rain pants or we've talked about being hot. So what kind of rain gear do you have to keep yourself dry or do you like? Sometimes I find I don't even wear it. I just put dry clothes on later on.
Val
I think it certainly can depend on the temperature. If you're backpacking somewhere really hot and it's raining, you're going to get pretty warm and you're in gear. I do carry rain pants with me most of the time. Personal preference that that I just have found. I enjoyed particularly the convenience of being in camp and being able to be in my dry clothes but like sit anywhere and it didn't matter because I was wearing rain pants. So I have found that to be for me worth the wait when I'm backpacking. I'm not a lightweight backpacker. I definitely like bring all the things that I think are going to be helpful for me as long as I know I can carry the weight and maybe a quick story about the importance of rain gear during bad weather. I was backpacking in New Zealand. We're going up to a mountain. I don't honestly remember what mountain it was. The Rangers had recommended against it that day because of the weather, but we were only there for two days. This was our chance. So there are five of us and we started heading up. It was pouring rain and people were getting really, really hot. So they took off all their rain gear. Now I kept my rain gear on. Having a little different education and background on what we were doing couldn't convince them to do. So we have to turn around and come back down because one of the girls got hypothermia. She had gotten so warm, she took off all our rain gear. But then with the rain, she had gotten so cold, we cut, warm it back up. We had to come back down to go back to the lodge and warmer up.
Joy
Bob, do you have a story about cold weather or rainy weather or weather story that you could share with the listeners?
Bob
Yeah, 2013, 2014. I was leading a trip to Utah and we were actually Southwest Utah in the desert. We were going to be doing the Green and Colorado River backcountry canoeing trip in May. Typically in May it's 90 plus degrees in southwest Utah. For some reason, during this entire trip, there was only one day that didn't rain. It was not when we were canoeing, that's for sure. It was actually about 50 degrees. And so based off the temperatures and planning that we did as a group, a lot of people didn't pack winter or colder weather clothing. And the night before, during our pack out before we put on the river, we actually had a massive rain and lightning storm come in and actually flooded camp and most of the people’s stuff as a result of that, people were pretty ill prepared. We actually had to kind of postpone the trip a little bit and make a leadership decision as a crew. And we put on the river a day later in order to help get people's clothes dried because like Val said, going into an experience where maybe you are getting more wet and being exposed to hypothermia in the situation that she just talked about, we were very well aware that had we put on that day, we would have likely have had multiple people that would have been hypothermic because in canoeing, you're sitting a lot. You can be paddling a lot, but you're you're sitting a lot. And so it's even less active than climbing up a mountain in New Zealand. So for us it was kind of a decision on that. We actually took everyone to a laundry mat and got all their clothes dried before we continued on with that trip.
Joy
I think both these stories illustrate the importance of clothing, but at the same time recognizing that sometimes we have to make decisions based on the need of the group and what's in their best interests. I appreciate hearing the different angles of that. I remember I've been in one where there was a group of us that had dry clothing. I was the group that didn't. And so we literally got all our dry clothes, put it in the tent, and then let the other participants who are wet get our clothing on. So, I mean, I've shared my clothes with people as weird to see someone wearing your clothes around the campsite. It's like, Wait a minute, that's what oh, it's mine. I love that camaraderie and community building that we that we have. I am going to ask a more personal question. Underwear, is that synthetic for you guys as well or how do you guys work that?
Bob
I have multiple different types of underwear. I have synthetic underwear, which I love those specially like in the summer and in the winter, to be honest, I've also had friends who live and die by the no underwear rule. Better dudes. I think it's personal preference with that. I personally have synthetic underwear, but also in the summer. Cotton underwear is not not horrible either.
Val
So I went with everything synthetic initially, but there's a lot of talk about for the female anatomy, how cotton is actually better. And so I still wear my synthetic, but it's something I certainly wonder about at times and think about. I definitely wouldn’t hike in a swimsuit. I know some people do that and it's just thicker and it's a synthetic. But the way that holds moisture in different things can cause a lot more complications. So I do go synthetic, but I can see the argument for cotton or maybe like synthetic with a cotton liner could be helpful as well.
Joy
You know, a lot of times I think people just starting out or kind of like, what do I do? How do I do this? I appreciate your candor and what it comes down to and the discussion that my colleagues and I had and the three of us are having. It really is personal preference depending on the activity that you're doing and then figuring out what your temperature is and what you run and what's in your best interest healthwise. And I think it is important to kind of monitor that as you first starting it out, because you might realize you're not enjoying yourself and then you don't want to do that activity. Whereas if you're dressed appropriately and having a good time, the activity becomes the focus rather than your discomfort.
Becki
Listening to these outdoor professionals Winter and Reindeer preferences makes you really think about what items are most important to have with you when you're active outside from having something you cannot go without to being prepared with layers. Each person provided you with some great insight into how to be best prepared for your activity. I think it's important to think about personal preferences as being comfortable with what you have can also impact what you are doing. Maintaining your core temperature is really a key to staying warm while being active outside. The literature tells us that layering is important to provide insulation and help prevent sweating, overheating, under dressing and staying dry. The colder environment can increase your energy expenditure and cause fluid loss. Synthetic materials like rayon, polyester, nylon and fleece, which are often soft, flexible and lightweight, are great for wicking moisture away and keeping you dry in colder climates. Wool and down are natural options that work well too. In addition, having a hat is important as a lot of heat can be lost through your head. Dressing for weather and outdoor recreation is key to enjoyment. As Bob said, we're not out here to rough it. We're here to thrive.
Joy
So we have this other segment. It's called “The Dirt on Getting Outside.” We ask 3 to 5 questions and I'm going to do this instead of ping pong like I was before. I'm just going to do it one at a time. So Valerie, I will start with you. The first question is in the outdoors, what is one of your biggest fears?
Val
I think one of my biggest fears in the outdoors is the fear I've had since I was a child. I'm more afraid of people in the outdoors than I am of the outdoors. When I would go to summer camp and we'd like sleep outside, I wasn't really scared of the animals or anything or the dark. I was scared that there were like bad people in the woods and around for whatever reason. That's just like this fear of always had. And it's still the thing to this day that that makes me more nervous. I can be out somewhere that's very difficult to get to and that's still my fear. So I always have had that one.
Joy
What is your most embarrassing outdoor moment?
Val
So I think my most embarrassing outdoor moments because there's probably there's been multiple of them and in this particular sense would be, I drink, a lot of water. It's good to be hydrated, though you can also over hydrate, but I then consequently have to go to the bathroom a lot. And that's not always a super feasible option to get off the trail and practice really good LNT (leave no trace.) Or if you're mountaineering, and you're like on a big climb. You don't have a lot of options. So there's definitely been times where I've not gotten out of sight well or off the trail well, and I've had people all of a sudden come along and there I am going to the bathroom, or I know I've had to go to the bathroom in the river because that was the only option. And everybody knows what I'm doing and I’m like, “It's kind of hard to go now.” That's an embarrassing moment in the outdoors.
Joy
A couple of years ago, I went on a trip with outdoor programs and I was so impressed with your student instructors, the leaders, because they did the poop talk and they made it very transparent and actually fun rather than embarrassing or shameful. And like you said, you made me think of that when you're like, I'm in the I'm in the water in the river and everybody knows what I'm doing. And it's kind of like we kind of just go with it. It does open up another way of thinking about going to the bathroom. So thank you for being willing to share that. What is, Valerie, Your must have piece of outdoor gear or equipment that you never leave without. What couldn’t you live without in the outdoors?
Val
A water bottle. And in particular, I like a hydration bladder. That's got the hose and I can just drink water to my heart's content while hiking. It's amazing how quickly I can put three liters down if I've got a hose that can deliver it very easily to me.
Joy
All right. And then here in the Boone area, what's your favorite local outdoor spot?
Val
Favorite local outdoor spot here? This is a tough one. I like water. So any time that I can can get around water. So maybe not one spot in particular. But just like the creeks, Wilsons Creek's got some good swimming holes. Gragg Prong is fairly easy to get to and have a good swim. A cold swim, but a good swim. Wildcat Lake in Banner Elk has a little like swim beach and they have lifeguards there at times. And I think that's a fun like outdoor swim beach location that's closer than Watauga Lake or something of that nature.
Joy
Cool. Thank Valerie. So, Bob, you get the the dirt on getting outside questions next. First question is what is your biggest fear in outdoor settings?
Bob
I think my biggest fear is actually very similar to Val's. So Val has been to New Zealand. I have also been to New Zealand. When we were doing our backpacking portion of our trip, kind of on the Greenstone trek and route also is like hunting territory and we actually were around a lot of hunters that were under the influence of items and wouldn't leave our group alone.
Bob
Actually, for multiple days it almost seemed as if they were following us on the trail at a point. We made phone calls to local wildlife officials to kind of check out these folks’ credentials. So, yeah, I'm with Val. So animals and natural wilderness things that don't necessarily scare me in the way that, you know, some people do and the way that they present themselves at times.
Joy
I completely understand. I’d share more but this is on you guys. So what is your most embarrassing or an embarrassing moment you've had in the outdoors?
Bob
Yeah, this is tough because I feel like I'm a person who is not easily embarrassed, so maybe this is more funny than anything, or a fun just tidbit or story about myself. I don't know how it ever started, but like, you know, JORTS were like always an embarrassing thing, especially like in the last ten years. You think of like your dad wearing jorts out in the front yard with some white New Balances on and it just became a running joke as like student staff back in college that we would jokingly just wear jorts on trip and one day for our multiple day trips I just started packing a pair of jorts and so since like 2012, I have one pair of jorts that has been on every multi-day trip I've ever been on. It is the same pair. My last trip as an undergrad student, I actually wore this jorts the entire trip. So backpacking, whitewater rafting, it just became like this, like living joke that has just become this like traveling story of the jorts.
Joy
That's awesome. All right. So what is your must have piece of outdoor gear that you can't live without?
Bob
So considering, you know, we're talking a lot about outdoor gear and specific to winter, for me, I'm a very warm person, but my feet and extremities get very cold. And for me it is socks...alot of pairs of wool socks. Pro-tip, always keep a pair of like really thick wool socks in your sleeping bag if you're sleeping over night and just only devote them to like sleep. Just putting on that one fresh pair of clean socks at night when you roll into your sleeping bag is like that feel good cozy comfort that just helps put you right to bed.
Joy
Awesome. What is your favorite local spot?
Bob
Val kind of like stole all of mine because I love swimming holes as well. So I would reiterate what Val said with Gragg Prong and then Harper's Creek Falls if I got to go even more local because those can be a bit of a drive up here for some reason, I just really like the Ridge Mountain Carriage Trail because it has some variety, because you can start there at the pond and be on crushed gravel, but eventually make your way up into the pasture.
Bob
And for me, I grew up in a farm in southern Ohio raising cattle and so to sometimes just walk up to some cattle out in the middle of the field, it's kind of nice and takes you back a little bit.
 
 
 
Joy
Cool! I was just out there today hiking. It gives you a quick hike, but without the roots and the rocks and like you said you come across cows and other things. So a couple of things before I wrap this up, I just wanted to mention the listeners. Valerie talked about LNT or Leave No Trace, and I know other programs has some programs on that and we may even do a podcast eventually on Leave No Trace. It is really how to what would you say, how to not behave but ethics for the outdoors. How would you guys say leave no trace? What's a one minute version of Leave No Trace that you would share with the listeners?
Val
Leave No Trace are the the outdoor ethics that you want to participate in when you're recreating outside, whether it's just a park right in your town or community or in the backcountry that will help keep the place more pristine and ready for other visitors to come and have the same enjoyable experience that you were able to have.
Joy
Thank you. My cat is telling me it's time to be done with this. She wants to be fed. So the other part I wanted to give you guys an opportunity to showcase anything you want to say about outdoor programs in terms of getting other students involved or staff or faculty, anything you'd like to be able to share with our listeners?
Bob
So we have our IDP program and what we call our instructor development program. That instructor development program is kind of a yearlong process that kicks off usually in the fall that you apply for to kind of learn to become an instructor and a trip leader with us here at Outdoor Programs, we get through everything, such as the theory behind facilitation and group management and dynamics through risk management and how to plan the logistics of a trip and plan meals and plan routes, as well as all the technical skills that go into activities such as rock climbing, backpacking, whitewater kayaking, whitewater rafting. And those are things that you don't have to have any skill prior coming in to. The instructor development program is beginner like zero to little to the advanced skill possible to get in and be a part of that. We do now have a custom trips program. So you may not want to sign up with a bunch of random folks and go on an open enrollment trip somewhere. Let's say you live together with some folks or you're part of this community that gathers regularly and you've kind of developed that small pod or bubble, you can actually work with us to create your own custom trip in which our guides will help lead you in that expedition.
Val
And gear rentals, too. We're offering what we always have, and we're still offering outdoor equipment rentals. So you want to go have your own outdoor adventure, but you don't own a tent or a sleeping bag or those different items. Or maybe you have gone camping before, but you didn't bring that with you in college because you have limited space. We offer that for an incredibly reasonable rate through Outdoor Programs, so you can check out the gear that you would need for you and your buddies to go have your own experience.
Joy
Thank you. Y'all are an incredible resource at our university. I think a lot of students come here because of the outdoors. So to be able to know that I as a novice can come in and learn as well as rent, and I can also be an expert and learn and rent and work with you guys is really a phenomenal experience. I don't know if you guys noticed in Getting the Dirt on the Outside is really like asking some kind of questions that we don't think about as as people who frequent the outdoors. We enjoy it when they happen. But a lot of people, I think, may not get into the outdoors because they're embarrassed or they don't know what gear they need. So I really, again, appreciate the time you guys took to be able to share a little bit about your own personal experiences, your insights and your professional expertise. So thank you.
Becki
App State’s Outdoor Programs is the place to start or continue your outdoor journey. See our notes for this episode for links to help you with dressing for cold and how to get connected outdoor programs. Thank you for listening to our show today. Remember, life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.
 

The entire Appalachian Outdoorosity crew comes together to discuss their favorite ways to recreate when the weather outside is frightful. We mean cold. You knew that.  Joy, Becki and Melissa talk layering, cotton vs polypro and time tested tricks for not becoming hypothermic whilst backpacking, biking and camping. Along the way we discover some of their biggest fears and most embarrassing cold weather related moments. A jolly time is had by all. 
 
 
 
 
Transcript:
Becki BatistaWelcome to the Outdoorosity podcast, where we encourage you to get outside and keep going outside. Here we will share Appalachian State stories that entertain, inspire and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story with the goal to get you outside and keep you going outside to improve your overall wellness. This podcast is presented by the Hope Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise and play on health, the environment and human development. Feel free to check us out at hopelab.appstate.edu.  Hi, my name is Becki Battista and I am a professor in exercise science at Appalachian State University and a self-proclaimed physical activity addict. I will be your host for this Outdoorosity podcast. On today's episode, Outdoorosity team members will share their advice about what they like to wear when it gets cold out, types of clothing and the importance of layering. Let's go to the conversation now.Joy JamesI'm Joy James. I teach in recreation management, working in the Hope Lab. I'm a Southerner, born and raised. So, I've lived in the southern climate. I've lived in North Dakota, Utah, I’ve had the heat extreme and the cold extreme and they all provide different challenges to us, but they don't keep you from going outdoors.Becki BattistaI'm Becki Batista, and I am a team member in the Hope Lab. With the fact that I have lived in cold weather climates like Michigan and Wisconsin, I definitely have had to adjust my layering of clothing items. But we can certainly address any issues associated or ideas, tips, tricks and some good common sense about what to wear when you are being active outside.Melissa Weddell
And I'm Melissa Weddell. I think the one theme that we will collect today is that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices. Becki, why don't you tell us your favorite outdoor activity and how you kind of plan and typically dress for outdoor recreation?Becki Battista Running is probably my favorite outdoor activity and over the years I have figured out what works in what temperature. Probably the most important thing that I always make sure I have is gloves. If my fingers are cold, then I'm cold. Sometimes I have to have two layers of gloves, just depending on what the temperature really is outside. I might have gloves and then added mittens. And I always thought mittens were kind of a weird concept, like, why would I wear mittens in the wintertime? That's what little kids wear. But mittens actually keep your fingers closer together. And so technically, mittens are much better in the really cold climates, like 30 degrees and lower. I'd say like a good weather wind resistant type mitten is really helpful for me when it's really cold and in this climate really cold as 20 degrees and lower than that is when I tend to put mittens on. I always dress in layers. I kind of I look at what is the temperature going to be like when I start my run? Now, keep in mind, I don't like to be cold at all. And so I probably over dress and over prepare, which that's just kind of how I am. So, if it's chilly out, I might just wear one layer, a top and then a jacket and hat and gloves if it's below 30, I tend to wear maybe two layers a jacket, hat and gloves. If any time I get hot, the first thing that I take off is my hat to just cool off a little bit. I think layering is a really important thing. So, for me it's my hands are the most critical part. I don't really have any problems with my feet, probably because I am running. And so the constant movement, they just usually stay warm. But I always think about the temperature and the temperature change and how to keep myself as warm as I can.Melissa WeddellAwesome. Great suggestions, Becki. Tell us one of your funniest outdoor experiences in cold weather, one of those times you'll never forget.Becki BattistaSo, I was actually laughing at myself the other day because when I lived in Michigan, I used to go for a run outside, but only if it was ten degrees or higher. Then I'd go outside and still go for a run. When I moved to Wisconsin, I had to change that temperature and so it had to be zero. And that didn't include the wind chill factor. So, if it was still above zero, I'd still go out for a run, except at the place where I worked. It was called La Crosse, Wisconsin, and it was a big exercise school and everybody in Wisconsin goes outside anyway. It doesn't matter the weather. I think they all looked at me funny because not only did I have my running tights, probably two layers like a t-shirt and then another shirt, another jacket. But on top of that, I also was able to get sweat pants on a sweatshirt from the exercise science department. You could get t shirts, shorts, sweatshirts and sweat pants from the department. I added those on and then had my hat. I had two pairs of gloves on and I went for a run. I would run by some of the cross-country runners and they're in like shorts and a long sleeve shirt and I have 3 to 4 layers of clothing on and I looked like an idiot, but I was warm and I just did not care as long as I was comfortable. It didn't matter to me.Melissa WeddellThat's great, Becki. It's great that you could actually run with all this clothes on.Becki BattistaIt was a challenge. Add in snow and ice and then it gets even more challenging.Melissa WeddellThat's definitely true. Joy, why don't you share with us your favorite outdoor activity and how you prepare?Joy JamesI love most outdoor activities camping, hiking and biking. Most recently, I probably do more hiking than anything else. Been doing that since I was a kid. I’m going to go on the theme of what Becki kind of said with I didn't really care if I was warm. When I go outdoors and I don't really care what I look like and that has changed up my ability to stay warm or stay cool. If I was looking at dressing for the weather, I would echo what Becki has to say with the cap and mittens. I do have really warm socks that I put on because there's nothing like having your feet be cold and your fingers be cold. Another thing that I found useful, particularly when I was in college, polypro started coming out. So, the technology has really advanced and now you can even wear athletic wear that is wicking. It doesn't have to be fancy like Patagonia or North Face. It can be Walmart or I'm even finding athletic T-shirts that I go look at in the Walmart and TJ Max in the men's section and find their athletic shirts. And I put those on because I'm a larger woman and sometimes it's more difficult to find outdoor gear that fits me or that wicks in the same way. Surprisingly, I still wear cotton t shirts when it's hot. But if I know it's going to be a hot, cold or a lot of variation, then I go to wearing technical gear so that I can wick moisture away because there's nothing like being sweaty and then getting cold. The other key for me as I like vests, you can warm up your chest really well. They're lightweight. You can put them in your backpack really easily and paired with a long-sleeved shirt, it can go a long way. And the other thing that I really have enjoyed are buffs. You can wear a buff around your neck, you can wear it as a hairband. I wear it a lot as covering my ears. So it's not for like zero degree weather like Becki was talking about, but it was for kind of like this, 30 degrees, 40 degrees. My ears get cold when that's windy I can pull the buff down or I can pull the buff up. So, I think that's been a key piece of wear that is important and good boots. Good solid shoes. And those shoes will keep you warm and dry. So, if you kind of like can't afford boots, then what I would tell you is that we got Re-Gearin town and you can waterproof your boots and just get work boots and go out there. It’ll help your ankles. That'll keep you warm. And when you have to go through creeks, it makes a difference in terms of your ability to stay dry.Melissa Weddell Absolutely. And I think also you bring up a good point when you pick hikes or different things, if I know it's going to be really cold and they'll be a lot of water crossings, I might pick a different trail that day knowing I can come back to that, but those are really good suggestions. Tell us a story from being cold in the outdoors that's memorable for you.Joy James Well, you know, it's interesting. I had to think about it was like, what are some memorable stories? And Melissa, you may need to add to the story because I repress things that are bad. You know, I always remember the positive. I don't know what's happening. I'm a Pollyanna or something. Melissa and I, I was working for Clemson. We're both in school at that time and I was teaching a backpacking class.We were down near Brevard area and it was a really kind of an easy trail. But the students at the time didn't know how easy it was because it was still challenging. Wearing a bunch of weight on you and they may not have dressed appropriately. It was before we had like weather at our palms, so I don't recall even checking the weather. We didn't know what the weather's going to be like. It was a fall, maybe October or late October or early November, and we're out. We did about a five-mile hike and we had all the students camped out and Melissa and I camped at a bluff above the students because we wanted to give students the chance to kind of be together. But we didn't know what to think about it. And I don't know most of us at the middle of the night or we just wake up and realize it had snowed on us?Melissa Weddell I think we woke up in the morning and the Saturday hike was nice. Like, it was it was a beautiful fall day. I remember being really comfortable and I do remember waking up and unzipping the tent and we both were like, Huh? Huh? It was not what we were expecting.Joy James Our friend Melissa, she needs a coffee. So, this was before coffee, the snow on the tent. And I don't remember it being particularly cold enough to be snowy. However, it was really a cool experience because our students and the participants with us got to see what it was like to backpack and then be in all kinds of conditions of weather. And there was no snow on the ground by the time we walked out.Melissa WeddellIt was just a rare dusting and that was before smartphone phones. And yeah, it was a fun surprise. 
 
Joy James Well, the other thing to I would add, I think, we had good sleeping bags because we were staying pretty warm and there was two in a tent. The other piece of this that Becki alluded to really is all about layering. When I hike, I always have an extra piece of clothing on me so I can put it on or take it off. I also like long sleeves because you can wrap those around your waist and if you didn't get outside, you wouldn't have these experiences. I think that's what was so cool about this to wake up. And I remember I had just moved back from North Dakota probably about two years out of North Dakota, and I was kind of used to this now. And all of a sudden I'm like, “There's snow in the south?”Melissa WeddellIt's a memory I won't forget. Thanks for sharing for me. I grew up in northern Indiana and so I can remember, you know, weeks on end, it would be so cold. And I grew up on a farm and we'd go out to to feed animals and we'd have to wear full face masks because the cold would just burn your nose and your mouth. And so being cold isn't necessarily rare to me. I do have a little more of a systematic approach. My favorite outdoor activity is riding bikes, and especially if you're on the road versus the mountain, you add that wind. There's a whole other layer of planning that has to go and unfortunately, I'll share a story where I kind of had to learn the hard way. But I look at the temperature, what the fluctuation might be when you look at the app and it says it's going to be 55 today, that might not be till about two or 3:00 and that might only last for 10 minutes. I kind of look at the lowest temperature throughout the day and plan on that. I also look at the precipitation.If it's going to be really windy, if it's going to be rainy, that's really important to me. Much like Joy, I carry this extra layer. It's not a rain jacket, but it's like a wind jacket. It is made by Patagonia. I carry it in every bag I have. So even if I just get a little chilly, I throw it on and it's enough to kind of keep that heat in. I also consider my effort level. If I am running like Becki does and I work up that heat, I don't need as much clothing. However, if I'm hiking or it's a little slower ride? I definitely need more clothes. Another thing I consider is the uphill. Downhill. I consider this on the bike, but I also consider it on a hike. If you are in the high country doing outdoor activities, it's guaranteed to have an uphill and a downhill and so for the bike portion and this is where I learned the hard way, this was maybe 15 years ago. I did a really long group ride on the road out of Greenville, South Carolina. We rode up to Caesar's head. It was, you know, like 100-mile day. And when we turned around at Caesar's head and came back down, I never got warm. In fact, I would argue I have been on the brink of hypothermia a lot. My fingers turned blue. I literally got back to the car and something that I've learned and it could be for a male or a female, but if your undergarments are wet, you need to get those off immediately. If I have a wet sports bra and I don't take that off, I will shiver and freeze. I can remember being in a public parking lot in the car with the heat turned on and the seat warmers stripping down to get all of my wet clothes off because it was starting to reach a dangerous point. And so, for example, I know Becki and I, we have hiked to the top of the profile trail at Grandfather when it was, you know, zero degrees. And I brought an extra coat. I will bring in extra undergarments. So, I will actually take off my sweaty top. Once I reach the top, put on a dry top, dry gloves, and then another layer to come back down. And I've learned that biking too. Actually I was on a backpacking trip a few weekends ago and I brought another pair of socks because I knew my socks would get sweaty and kind of swampy. It's not good for blisters, but I just sat down and threw on a dry pair of socks. I think those gloves are right. The layering. I don't dress as warm as Becki. In fact, I have another friend I mountain bike with whatever I wear, she will wear triple what I wear. I like to be a little more on the cooler side, but what I have learned is if my core gets cold, I'm in trouble. My feet actually get really cold on the bike. We do a few different things. You can bring plastic baggies and put your toes in plastic bags. That's an old school cheap way to keep your feet warm. I wouldn't hike that way, but it works for biking. And then you have toe covers that are neoprene. If it's under 50 degrees, you can guarantee I have toe covers on my mountain bike shoes. You know, the takeaways that I'm hearing from everyone is definitely the layering, checking the weather, making sure that you have a lot of different layers and options. You can always take things off. Like Joy said, wrap around your waist, put them in your pack. I think that's something else I've changed to just hiking, even if I'm just going around Moses Cone. I have a small little pack I carry and I carry a small first aid kit in it. I usually hike with my dogs. So I carry some Benadryl and some other stuff, but I always have an extra layer too. And some of my friends make fun of me, but it makes me feel more prepared.(commercial break)This podcast is brought to you by the hope Lab, where our focus continues to be encouraging people to get active and outside and finding spaces to be outside. The vision of the Hope Lab is to continue developing the perfect foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise and play through interdisciplinary research. Check us out at hopelab.appstate.edu, or ourdoorosity.podcasts.appstate.edu.Joy James Because like I think the biggest thing for me when I was 20 was I didn't have the money to buy the gear. What so extraordinaire it's hard to imagine, I think when you're 20 is when I did buy a piece of gear that was it cost me money. I still have it like some of these shirts. We were talking about, even the Walmart shirt. I had that for years and it was $10 compared to $50 back in the eighties. That's the thing to think about as you're looking at getting stuff for yourself is it will last a long time and you can find it at thrift stores. I know Melissa does a lot of thrifting and you can find some good quality gear. You just got to look for it. You can go to Re-Gear, you can go to Walmart, but it will last. And it's kind of like, well, I want to spend the money on the Patagonia. I've worn the same poly pro shirt while I was sea kayaking for days, and it started to smell like a wet dog when it got wet. But it lasted at work, so it's not something you have to have multiple shirts for if you can kind of stand your own stank. 
Melissa WeddellThat's a great point. I kind of do this at Christmas with my parents. They always want to buy me stuff and I'm like, I don't think I need anything, but if I usually have them, I need one really nice piece of gear that I feel guilty about and you're right, that Patagonia jacket I have, I've had it for 15 years, and it's the same one that's always in my pack.Joy James It is worth it.Becki Battista Well, and I think to me, it's a comfort. I trust that piece of.Clothing in certain temperatures. And so I'll hang on to it because I'm like, I know that I will be warm if I wear that. So I don't get rid of it because it's a comfort. If it's 30 degrees, I'm going to wear this and I'll be fine.Melissa Weddell Yeah, absolutely. And I think if you go outside enough, you start knowing your temperature range. I know that if I ride below 40 degrees, I have a whole different set of gear that I wear. I know that. And I make a note in my head and I think journaling or writing stuff down of what works and what doesn't work also can really help too. 
Joy James I carry extra gear in my car. Melissa, you started to talk about this. You have gear for when you come back to, but I have gear that I can share. I just have this kit of stuff that I can either put on like Melissa to keep myself dry or I can share it with someone else who might be having a problem. Or in North Dakota, the reason you did it is because you might get stuck on the highway and you had to have your sleeping bag and all your stuff to be able to stay warm. So even though I'm still in the South, I still kind of live by that motto in the winter.Melissa Weddell I love that, Joy. And I also think that goes back to not having cell phones like I remember even in northern Indiana; we had our winter kit that went in the back of the car that had small shovel and extra clothes and gloves. But I'm much like Joy, I think, for all of us. If you were to hop in our car, although I think Becki has a little cleaner car, my mantra is that whatever you ask me to do, that I'm physically fit enough to do it, and that I have all the gear which I have a lot of gear in my car all the time because I'm like, “Sure, let's go hike or let's go do that.” So yeah, you never know. And I think when you meet friends at the trailhead, we all forget our socks or gloves or hat. So, it is nice to be like, Oh no, no, I have some extra. Yeah, it is a comfort.Joy James One other thing that that's not an article of clothing that I do think is important for people who are just getting started in the outdoors to know is you should always have some sort of good solid food, granola bar trail mix, not only on your person but in your car. Because when you start to get hypothermic, one of the first things you should do is feed yourself, drink water, and feed yourself.Because that kind of helps warm up the inside. It seems counterintuitive, but as a sea kayak guide, this is what we just do. As soon as someone would fall in the water, we would like, “Here, eat this!” It kind of helped them get their energy and like I said, you're cold and freezing and why should I be eating?But that's one of the ways to combat the beginnings of hypothermia.Melissa WeddellThat's awesome, Joy. Thanks for sharing. And also, we are going to ride on the Virginia Creeper this week. One of the things that Becki requested, which I love, is that we have hot drinks after. And so I know a lot of us carry our metal canteens and in the summer they keep the drinks really cold, but in the winter they keep them really warm. So, we're going to boil a bunch of hot chocolate and some tea and bring that for after our activity to kind of warm us up. I think some of that preplanning with the food and the hot drinks can really make a difference when you get back to the car and you’re freezing. Well, this is awesome. Thank you, Joy and Becki, for sharing your planning for cold weather. We like to finish every outdoor city podcast with “Getting the Dirt.” And so we have a few questions that will Rapid-fire. Becki, I'll have you go first. You can tell us what your biggest fear is, your must have. Let's go ahead and say outdoor winter gear and your favorite local spot.Becki BattistaSo, I think my biggest fear is falling off a cliff when I'm running on the trail and then my favorite winter outdoor gear. I do love my mittens. They keep my hands warm, which means I can stay out running longer.
Melissa Weddell
The favorite local spot?
 
Becki Battista
My favorite local spot. It's Moses Cone Trails, The carriage trails. It's like my sanctuary.Melissa Weddell
That's awesome, Becki. Thanks for sharing. Joy, what is your biggest fear, favorite winter outdoor gear and your favorite local spot?Joy JamesYou know, it's funny. Nothing is coming up in my head as my biggest fear. It’s not that I'm not afraid. I think I'm afraid for whatever the situation is. So, it could be something as simple as thinking I'm lost and I can't figure out my way. Or it could be the weather that is coming looks pretty ominous and I'm going to have to deal with it. So, I kind of I think my biggest fear is I don't get outside enough. Can I say that is the biggest fear?Melissa WeddellYes, I think that works. We understand that.Joy James So I think my must have peace of gear clothing is the buff is what I would say. And then a Nalgene bottle favorite local spot. I'm going to take Becki's Moses Cone and say Trout Lake and the Carrot Trails, and she's part of that Moses Cone as system and Price Lake have been my go-to places to kind of get outside and connect.Melissa WeddellThat's awesome, Joy. Thanks for sharing. Well, it won't be a surprise to anyone that I have one big fear in the outdoors, and that's a mountain lion. Luckily, we don't have to deal with that here. But, imagining a cat jumping on my tent and wrestling is not something I am interested in at all. And you know, the experts say to fight back. I just can't imagine that going well. But nonetheless, I don't have to worry about that stuff here. So, I'm able to go out and not really think about too much. I would say my favorite outdoor winter gear is a vest. You will be hard pressed to never find me without a vest. Whether that's a wind vest or a puffer vest almost always have one. Again, that goes back to my idea that if I can keep my core really warm in my arms, can air out. I'm really comfortable personally. And my favorite local spot is Wilson Creek. I love going out in our area, our district of the Pisgah National Forest, and exploring and having long days and lots of waterfalls every season. I just want to thank you all for your time. It's been great learning more about your outdoor experiences in the cold, and we always like to end with some quotes and inspiration. We can't emphasize enough that there's no bad weather, just bad clothing choices. And to really think about dressing for what the weather is and bring what the weather is not, you know, if you stand in one place in Boone, something will grow up your leg or the weather will change. So, dress for all of that and prepare for what it's not end to end a quote. You are only cold if you are standing still wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. Anthony D'Angelo, thanks for joining us and get out there and enjoy the outdoor recreation even in the cold. 
 
 

Dr. Joy James is joined by Recreation Management major, Briggs Shealy who shares how his participation in faith-based organizations opened the door to a variety of program opportunities, from day and week camps to extended outdoor expeditions. 
 
Melissa Weddell:
Welcome to the Outdoorosity Podcast. Get outside. Keep going outside. Where we share Appalachian State stories that entertain, inspire, and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story, with the goal to get you outside and keep you going outside, to improve your overall wellness. This podcast is presented by the Hope Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise and play on health, environment, and human development. The vision of the Hope Lab is to continue developing the perfect foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise and play, through interdisciplinary research. Feel free to check us out at hopelab.appstate.edu.
Hi, my name is Melissa Weddell, I'm a professor in recreation management at Appalachian State University, and a self-proclaimed outdoor addict. I'll be your host for the Outdoorosity Podcast. On today's episode team member, Dr. Joy James, also a professor in recreation management, interviews student Briggs Shealy. We will be discussing the title of the episode, Faith-Based Outdoor Experiences, where Briggs tells us his story of being introduced to the outdoors through faith-based organizations, and how that shaped his college journey.
Dr. Joy James:
We have Briggs Sheely here to share his story about getting into the outdoors. And Briggs, just want to say thank you for willing to take some time out to share your experiences with us.
Briggs Shealy:
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Dr. Joy James:
The first thing we'd like you to do is kind of introduce yourself, where you're from, why you came to App State, and tell us your favorite outdoor activity.
Briggs Shealy:
Okay. So my name is Briggs Shealy, I'm from Hickory, North Carolina, I lived there nine or 10 years, and I moved there from Greenville, South Carolina, where I spent the beginning half of my life. Right out of high school I went to a one year gap year program called One Life. That was a really, really awesome experience. I was able to earn college credit while traveling, and having these different experiences both outdoor interculturally. And those were all focused on just serving, and like really hands-on learning.
And then through that experience was really how impactful different experiences can be, and how they can be used for personal growth, and in other ways as well. Really just through that was where I started looking for different opportunities to pursue that as a career, and I'd already kind of looked at App before I went to that gap year program. And looking at App with that new perspective, just kind of what I wanted to do, I found the Outdoor Experiential Education major program, and I looked at that, I referred it to a couple of people that I had met through One Life, who were in that type of career. And they all said, "Briggs, this is a phenomenal program. You're going to end up exactly where you want to be, you should absolutely do that if this is what you want to go into." So that's really what attracted me to App at first.
Dr. Joy James:
All right, and what is your favorite outdoor activity right now?
Briggs Shealy:
Right now, I would say backpacking and camping. And then over the summer I worked at a ropes course, so I've also been getting into a little bit of that.
Dr. Joy James:
Cool. I'm going to have you tell us a little bit more about yourself, in terms maybe how you got into some of these activities. And so the first question I have, is how did you first get interested in the outdoors?
Briggs Shealy:
I remember my first backpacking trip was back in maybe my freshman year of high school, and I kind of did it through an extracurricular class that my friend's dad, my roommate now actually, his dad led this extracurricular backpacking trip, and I absolutely loved it. I loved getting outside, just living with the things just on my back, and just using my hands to forge this type of adventure. And that's really what I loved about it, it was just the adventure, and hiking, and sleeping in different spots.
Dr. Joy James:
Where did you guys go?
Briggs Shealy:
We went to Shining Rock.
Dr. Joy James:
Oh, nice.
Briggs Shealy:
Yeah, so it was a good spot, super pretty. I don't remember a lot of that trip, besides when I was in my tent. We spent one or two nights out there, and one of the nights I remember distinctly in my tent I heard some rustling around outside. And since this is my first backpacking trip of course I overreacted, and instantly thought it was a bear. And so I was sleeping with my friend, I was like, "Hey Jack, is there a bear outside?" And so one of us pokes our heads outside, and was like, "No, it's just someone going to the bathroom." I still distinctly remember that to this day.
And so that was really my first experience. And then I did a couple of other just short camping trips, hiking trips after that, and really what I love about the outdoors is just the sense of adventure, and just being able to do things with your hands. I've always been super physically active, and just enjoying being outside, so backpacking kind of a correlation of the adventure, being able to do stuff with your hands, and then just getting outside into nature, which I absolutely love. And so One Life really kind of reinforced that, we did a couple of backpacking and survival trips, through those I saw how those outdoors experiences can be used in a really meaningful and intentional way.
Dr. Joy James:
So the extracurricular backpacking, you said your now roommate's father led that. How did you find out about it? Was it your friend just said, "Hey, come go backpacking with us." Or was it a class through the school?
Briggs Shealy:
So it was a class through the school, yeah.
Dr. Joy James:
Cool. The second question is, you're referring to One Life, can you share how you found out about One Life? And then you've talked about why it was appealing to you now, it was service and adventure, did they advertise that they were going to be outdoor survival, and doing some of these things? How'd you find out about it, and how did it appeal to you?
Briggs Shealy:
In high school, my senior year, I was really back and forth between a lot of different options for college. I was looking at App State. I looked at Gardner-Webb University. I was looking at One Life and a couple of other colleges, and I really just couldn't decide what I wanted to do at all, and I didn't really feel led towards any one thing in particular, more than the other. I really liked the appeal of One Life, because it kind of gave me this space to be able to figure that out, without feeling I had to commit to something. Through high school, I did a bunch of dual enrollment for my junior and senior year, and so I was able to earn a ton of college credits through that. Knowing that I could go do One Life, I could experience this travel, and these different type of experiences, and not really get behind on school that much seems like a pretty good option.
And really what appealed to me about One Life, was just the hands-on experiences that they focused on. So the way they worked One Life was we would have classes, and so we were able to earn college credit during the program. And so we would have these classes, and we'd do a week of in-person class, and then we would go outside of the classroom and do different service and experiential stuff, which all related back to what we learned in that class. And then we did another week where we would actually go and take a trip, and that trip would kind of still be focused on this experiential part, we could go out and kind of do field trip almost, but a little more intentional that also relates back to the class and just helps reinforce that learning.
And then the fourth week we would have guest speakers, and do teach-backs, which is where we actually were able to teach the material that we were learning back to the class. And so all of that was really just focused on reinforcing learning, and for me personally, I knew that I was a very hands-on learner, and the best way I was going to learn how to do something was through experiencing it. And the classes we took were classes like Life Calling Class, Basic Christian Belief Class, A New Testament Survey Class. We also did outdoor leadership style class, and so classes like that, that had real practical implications just for me in my life. And I just thought this couples exactly what I learned best, and just some cool class content as well. And there was also some pretty cool trips.
Dr. Joy James:
Well, so tell us more. Were you camping, or were you staying in churches? Where were you going? How were you put up for these trips?
Briggs Shealy:
So I'll talk about those first, the whole program was based out of a college in South Carolina called Southern Wesleyan University. While we were doing our classes and a couple of experience weeks, we would just stay there, and we had a dorm, and that dorm was where our whole program of people stayed and lived. And then when we went on the trips, it kind of depended on the focus of the trips. So our first trip was out to Colorado, and it was kind of a two-part trip. The first part of the trip, we literally did go spend the nights in the woods, but we went out there, and then they were like, "We didn't bring tents for y'all, so you have to make your own shelters." And so we spent three nights out there in our own constructed shelters with just a sleeping bag, and a sleeping mat, and two pairs of clothes, and that's all we were allowed to bring with us.
Dr. Joy James:
Oh my gosh.
Briggs Shealy:
That was a pretty crazy experience. I was thriving. I don't know if everyone on the trip was thriving, but I enjoyed that a lot.
Dr. Joy James:
Was your shelter, was it sticks?
Briggs Shealy:
So we used a bunch of the logs, and kind of built a low shelter around a tree. And then they gave us the opportunity to win some different type of sheets, so we ended up being able to put those over our shelter. And since we built it low to the ground we kind of kept the heat in, and there were six guys in there, so we were able to kind of snuggle up together a little bit. So that was that trip, and then the second half of that trip we actually stayed in a hotel, and did different experience stuff around the city of Denver itself. So it really just depended on the trip. When we did our trip to Nashville, we stayed in a type of hostel. When we did our trip to Cumberland Island actually, and we did camping out there. And then we went and stayed at a person's house that was on an old citrus nursery, which was kind of a cool experience.
Dr. Joy James:
And was that Colorado more the survival one you were talking about, or was there another survival experience?
Briggs Shealy:
So that was more the survival one. We also did Cumberland Island, and a week long backpacking trip throughout the semester, but that Colorado one was really the big survival one. And really since it was at the beginning of the year, it focused on kind of pushing us into these attributes of group development, through storming, and conflict, and creating this space for our group to grow together and to bond.
Dr. Joy James:
Like you said, if you're snuggling together, you pretty much get to know each other really well.
Briggs Shealy:
Yes. And then over the entire year really, our group of people, we had 24 students, and we all lived and did everything together. So we got really close over the whole year.
Dr. Joy James:
Cool, sounds like it was a wonderful experience. I think that's why you and I were talking in class the other day, I realized this would be a great topic for our listeners to be able to hear about your experience. I'm going to go back to a little bit more about yourself before One Life. So we know your favorite activities right now are camping and backpacking, are there any other outdoor activities that you enjoy doing?
Briggs Shealy:
Yes, I also really enjoy mountain biking. I've ridden a bunch of trails up here, and just bunch of trails around Mount Pisgah, and DuPont Forest all up there, so I love mountain biking. And then also, like I said, I worked at a ropes course over the summer, and that kind of helped me conquer my fear of heights a little bit, so I've been getting a little bit more in the rock climbing this year.
Dr. Joy James:
What ropes course did you work at?
Briggs Shealy:
So it was called Treetop Adventures, It was in Hickory, North Carolina.
Dr. Joy James:
Yeah. And now you think, "okay, I can go do some rock climbing?"
Briggs Shealy:
Yes.
Dr. Joy James:
Cool. Mountain biking, did you get into that in high school, or is that something more of a later pursuit?
Briggs Shealy:
Yeah, so I did get into that in high school, I saw a couple of videos of people mountain biking, and I was like, "Man, that looks awesome." I knew my friend was a really avid mountain biker, and so I got him to go look at bikes with me, and I went and bought a bike, and then we started hitting trails, and been doing it ever since then.
Dr. Joy James:
That's so cool. Back in my day there was movies, we didn't have videos or YouTube, and so you had to kind of know somebody to even know anything about some outdoor activities. So it's so cool to hear you talk about, "I saw a video and thought that'd be really cool." And then you knew a friend who did it. And so there's so many ways to connect in the outdoors now with the internet kind of supporting us. How do you think you became comfortable in the outdoors to be able to sweat, get dirty, go to the bathroom? Who influenced you, or what were some of those experiences that kind of guided you to that comfort?
Briggs Shealy:
Yeah, that's an interesting question. I honestly never really thought about that. Let's see, I think just growing up my family was always just very, very active, and my dad was a college football player, and a college football coach for a while. And so we all loved playing sports, we all loved just being active. And so really just ever since then my whole family's just really enjoyed going outside, hiking, and doing all of that. And then when we used to live in Greenville, South Carolina we had a big old yard, and it stretched all the way back, and there was this creek behind us, and then there was just a ton of woods. And I had two brothers, and so me and my brothers would always go back, we'd play in the creek, we'd build forts back in the woods, we'd have a couple of neighborhood friends. And my parents were just comfortable with letting us go out and just get dirty.
They gave us the freedom to be able to do that, which I think was huge. And then also my granddad lives in Sumter, South Carolina, and he probably has close to a hundred acres of property. It's all just big pine woods, and then he has a pond. And so whenever we went to his house, he would always get us to help him working outside, going fishing in the pond. He would have some tractors and stuff, he let us just ride on the tractors with him. And he would always just kind of bring us alongside whatever project he was doing, so really just through that. And growing up I was exposed to just being outside a lot, and being okay with working hard and getting dirty, and then also just playing sports, and enjoying physical activity.
Dr. Joy James:
Well, you have a very normal experience to getting into the outdoors, many people who become comfortable in it find those childhood experiences of building forts, playing in creeks as one way to get into the outdoors. And often some people kind of meet people in college, or later in high school, that kind of get them into it as well.
Briggs Shealy:
Well. I think that's a really cool thing about here at App State, is everyone really enjoys being outside, and doing stuff outdoors. So you don't have to go very far to find someone who's willing to go outside and do something.
Dr. Joy James:
Right, it's just a matter of being open to being with someone you don't know. Have you been mountain biking over at Rocky Knob and met somebody, and then all of a sudden realized, we can mountain bike together?
Briggs Shealy:
Yes, I have.
Dr. Joy James:
It's amazing how it pulls this together in a variety of ways, our passions.
Melissa Weddell:
Listening to Briggs share his experiences, you realize there are many avenues to being introduced to the outdoors and organizations that can support your future endeavors. Faith-based organizations offer a variety of program opportunities, from day and week camps to extended outdoor expeditions. The literature tells us that faith, and the outdoors, often share a harmonious relationship, where spiritual experiences take place in nature. Time in the outdoors can be restorative, and create a spiritual bond to the natural world, along with those you share it with. Furthermore, the outdoors can be faith affirming, and offer a connection to a higher power or order. The natural beauty of nature is inspiring and provides space for us to reflect, meditate, and offer gratitude for the life we are living.
Dr. Joy James:
So could you tell us a story about an outdoor experience that influenced you? It could be a funny story, it could be a lesson that you learned story.
Briggs Shealy:
I think the most impactful outdoor experience I've had, also the most funny now that I kind of think about it more, was my trip with One Life to Cumberland Island. And just through that trip, we really focused on vocation, and different aspects of vocation, and how that can be meaningful, and how it can be used for more than just making a lot of money. More of a purposeful attribute of vocation, it's okay to do something that you love to do, and no one can blame you for that, and it's not always just about making a lot of money. So really just through that trip. I don't remember really any specific one moment where that kind of caught on to me. I think it was kind of more just a slow saturation through the trip.
And we had Sam [inaudible 00:17:09] with us, who I mentioned earlier. I just talked to him, and just asked him questions about what he did, really just through talking to him I kind of felt this desire inside me, wow, that is awesome. Just to see people grow through these outdoors experiences, and see them kind of face challenges and overcome them is really an awesome thing. And so the funny story that I remembered from there, actually there are a couple.
One that comes to the forefront of my mind, on Cumberland Island, since it's on the ocean, it's on the coast, our campsite was pretty close to the ocean. And one afternoon we kind of had just some free time while we were spending time there when we got to camp, and I couldn't find four of the guys. And so we were going around looking for them, and we went off towards the coast, and we met them coming back from where the ocean was. And we were like, "Hey guys, what have y'all been up to?" And they were like, "Oh, we went swimming." And we were like, "Cool." And they were like, "Yeah, we just stripped down all the way and went skinny-dipping in the ocean."
I was like, "Oh, all right." And then the story goes on, and they were in the ocean. Anyways, this couple comes walking up on the beach, who was just there for the day or something with their young kid, and they're all in the ocean, and they're like, "Oh no." And so they had to just sit out there until they passed by, just over waist deep in the freezing cold ocean water in the middle of November, so that was kind of a funny experience. And there's also wild horses on Cumberland Island, is kind of the funnier story. And my friend tried to get really close to one, and ended up almost being attacked, but he wasn't, thankfully
Dr. Joy James:
You've mentioned two really classic things, it's feeling freedom in the outdoors so that you can kind of do some things, but then you don't realize other people are using those outdoors, and might come across. That's the fun I think of skinny-dipping, I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing, however getting caught adds to that level. And then while the ponies aren't necessarily wild animals, but interacting with wild animals, or animals who've gone feral, can lead to some interesting experiences and dynamics. One of the things too, I do want to ask based on some of our conversations, and just what I know from you, it sounds like the outdoors has been transformative in terms of figuring out your career path that you wanted to do, and strengthening in your faith. How has the outdoors shaped your faith, or strengthened your faith, if you're willing to share that?
Briggs Shealy:
Okay. Yeah, I would love to. Our One Life trip to Colorado, I remember this distinct moment. So we didn't really backpack in, we kind of more of just walked in, they dropped us off with the van and we walked up to where we were camping, because we were just staying in one spot. And so we had to lug all of our gear up on top of this hill. I've never forgotten this, this really stuck with me ever since that moment. I was carrying our five gallon water cooler that we were going to be using for water, I was walking pretty close to our director of One Life. As we were walking up the hill, one of the other students asked me, he was like, "Hey Briggs, do you need some help carrying that or something?" And they were just like, "Do you want to switch off?" And I was like, "No, man, I got it." And I just kept chugging it up the hill myself.
And so the director was standing right there, and he's kind of been one of my mentors. So after we got up the hill and set up camp, he pulled me aside, and he was like, "Hey Briggs, I saw that exchange happen. What were you thinking when that happened?" I was like, "I knew I had the physical and capability to lug it up the hill, and I wanted to finish the job." And he was like, "But what if in doing that, in letting the other student do his own thing, and be comfortable and not have the burden of carrying the water, you stole that experience from him so that he couldn't face the challenge of carrying the water up the hill, and you didn't really humble yourself to be able to receive help from other people."
And so he kind of mentioned the thing to me, he was like, "Maybe you're thinking you're being selfless, but actually you're being selfish." Stealing that experience from him really stuck with me ever since then, and kind of been a filter throughout my life. What areas am I actually being, not just in outdoors experiences, where I'm thinking I'm being selfless and actually being selfish, and trusting myself to operate things better than asking people to come alongside me, or specifically in my faith asking God to come alongside of me.
And so really that's been kind of a life motto for me ever since then, is being able to humble myself to not only invite other people to come alongside me and face challenges with me, but also invite God. And that's been something that's been challenging for me, and also been really good for me, because a lot of times I like trusting myself to do what I got to do, because I think I'm a pretty capable person. But parts of the message of Christianity just talk about, how we aren't capable, and how we have to depend on God for our needs, and the fulfillment of our desires, and how his plans are better than ours. And so really just kind of fostering that idea of trust.
Dr. Joy James:
What a powerful experience.
Briggs Shealy:
Yes, it was awesome, and that image is solidified in my brain.
Dr. Joy James:
I'm still struggling with this idea of, like you said, "I think I'm being selfless, but I may be being selfish in not letting others to help me." And particularly in the outdoor settings, it's more of a catalyst for being able to see that. So thank you for sharing that story.
Briggs Shealy:
Yeah. And one more thing on that thought, during our backpacking trip with One Life, one of the people in our hiking group had something going on with her hip, and she was just not able to carry her pack well. But she kept just toughing it out, and wanting to finish the thing, because she didn't want the burden to be put on us to help her carry her pack.
But she ended up just not being physically able to finish out the hike, and so me and the rest of the people in our hiking group ended up just sharing the load of her pack between us so she wouldn't have to carry it. And so not only was that a thing for her, but it was also just a thing for us to be able to feel like we were helping her, and just have that sense of contributing to her wellbeing, and then also I know it was a powerful experience for her. And so really just thinking about how powerful backpacking trips like that. That's really why I love backpacking, for opportunities like that, where people have to come alongside each other, and realize that they can't do things on their own.
Dr. Joy James:
And it's a really introspective moment, you are the one who had to be helped, and you have always been very capable. It's a humbling experience to be helped by everybody, at the same time you're having to interact with yourself, and go, "I need to accept this." And so that's a learning process too.
Briggs Shealy:
Yeah, and that was one of those experiences that pinpointed for me what outdoor experiences could really be.
Dr. Joy James:
Yeah, cool. Well, I'll end the official interview with that. So the next part, we have a segment called The Dirt on Getting Outside. And we ask every person that we interview these questions, the first question is, what is your biggest fear in the outdoors?
Briggs Shealy:
Oh man, I would say still, even to this day, is heights. So even working the ropes course over the summer, we were always strapped in, harnessed up, fully clipped on at all times. And so I still don't really love heights, they still make me kind of uncomfortable.
Dr. Joy James:
I think that's a reasonable thing. I don't disagree with you. Although I love the comfort of being strapped in, it still doesn't take care of the fact that you're still 50 feet in the air.
Briggs Shealy:
That's true.
Dr. Joy James:
All right. What is your most embarrassing outdoor moment?
Briggs Shealy:
Oh no. Nothing really comes to the top of my head right now. Oh I know, so on one of the backpack trips with One Life we were walking through the forest, and when you go through a spider web you're always just flipping around, and throwing your hands everywhere, trying to get it off you. And there's that fear that, "I don't know if the spider's on me." And so I walked through a spider web, and I had never had the spider actually be on me, so I wasn't freaking not too bad, and I was just trying to peel it off my face and off my shoulders. And I turned around to one of the people behind me, and I'm like, "Hey, you don't see the spider on me?" He's like, "Briggs, it's right on the side of your face." And I screamed, because I do not like spiders. And I was like, "No."
Dr. Joy James:
Isn't that funny? You're cool, calm, and collected, and then when you realize it was on you.
Briggs Shealy:
And so I was slapping my face, trying to get it off, and he was just laughing at me.
Dr. Joy James:
Yeah, I've had some of those. All right, what is an outdoor tip, or what is something you can't live without in the outdoors? So you can choose one, or you can do both of those.
Briggs Shealy:
I really love my food in the outdoors. So I will sacrifice some comfort, as far as clothing goes, in order to bring more food. And I'll just mention my favorite food item, if you can bring it, is taking a banana actually and wrapping it in some tin foil, and then cutting it open and putting chocolate and marshmallows inside of that, and just putting it in the coals of the fire. It's so good.
Dr. Joy James:
It's like a banana split.
Briggs Shealy:
It is, exactly.
Dr. Joy James:
And it's hard to explain that to people. It's like, "It's not ice cream, but it is tastes like it's a banana split."
Briggs Shealy:
The first time I heard about it, I was like, "There's no way that's good." But now I love it, it's really good.
Dr. Joy James:
Well, thank you for sharing that recipe. And the thing with food that I've noticed with camping, or backpacking, backpacking in particular, even crappy food tastes better. Have you noticed that?
Briggs Shealy:
Yes, you can make some really good meals out of some crappy food.
Dr. Joy James:
But if I made that same meal at my house, it doesn't taste...
Briggs Shealy:
It wouldn't taste good.
Dr. Joy James:
No, I don't know if it's because you had to work for it, or you're just so darn hungry, it just tastes phenomenal. All right, last question we have for you is, what is your favorite local outdoor spot here in Boone, North Carolina?
Briggs Shealy:
I think my favorite one, just within pretty easy driving range, would be Grandfather Mountain. I love hiking up the Profile Trail. I actually did it by myself a couple of weeks ago, and doing it by myself, that was phenomenal. I hiked all the way up to Macrae Peak, and just the view up there is great, the hike is awesome.
Dr. Joy James:
It's practically bouldering too.
Briggs Shealy:
It is.
Dr. Joy James:
You're climbing over things, you're going up ladders, how did your heights do on the ladders?
Briggs Shealy:
Not too bad, honestly. Since they are kind of relatively close to ground, it's not too bad. It's kind of like an off on thing for my fear of Heights.
Dr. Joy James:
Well Briggs, thank you very much for being willing to be a part of Outdoorosity, and thanks for sharing your experiences.
Briggs Shealy:
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Melissa Weddell:
Often when you combine adventure education with being in the outdoors you gain confidence, and refine your perceptions of what you're capable of when you navigate challenging situations. We just want to thank Briggs and Joy for sharing these stories as we sign off, and we always like to end with a quote that encourages you to get outdoors. As William Shakespeare said, "The earth has music for those who listen."
 
 

Dr. Joy James speaks with App State alumnae Megan Bryant about her her trek solo hiking the Appalachian Trail for 6 weeks covering 600 miles. Along the way she found a community of like minded people from many different walks of life, suffered through shin splints, discovered she was much stronger than she thought and even happened to meet her future fiance! 
 
Transcript:
00;00;19;00 - 00;00;51;06Melissa WeddellWelcome to the Outdoorosity Podcast. Get outside. Keep going outside. Where we share Appalachian State stories that entertain, inspire and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story. The goal to get you outside and keep you going outside to improve your overall wellness. The Outdoorosity Podcast is brought to you by the Hope Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise and play on healthy environment and human development.
00;00;51;16 - 00;01;16;22Melissa WeddellThe vision of the Hope Lab is to continue developing the perfect foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise and play through interdisciplinary research. Feel free to check us out at hopelab.appstate.edu. Hi, my name is Melissa Weddell. I'm a professor in Recreation Management at Appalachian State University and a self-proclaimed outdoor addict. I will be your host for the Outdoorosity Podcast.
00;01;17;04 - 00;01;45;06Melissa WeddellOn today's episode, team member Dr. Joy James, also Professor in Recreation Management Interviews Alumni Megan Bryant. We will be discussing the title of the episode, Big Adventures Empowered by Little Inspirations, where Megan tells us the story of how she moved from the city to attend Appalachian State University, why she made that decision in her journey from learning how to hike and enjoying the outdoors, to planning and participating in a six week backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail.
00;01;46;07 - 00;01;48;14Melissa WeddellNow, here's the interview with Joy and Megan.
00;01;50;27 - 00;02;10;16Joy JamesSo this is Joy James, and we have Megan Bryant here with us today to share her story on Outdoorosity. Megan, what I'd like you to do, if possible, if you would introduce yourself, kind of like where you from, how you ended up at Appalachian State. I know you've graduated and then tell us your favorite outdoor activity.
00;02;10;25 - 00;02;36;09Megan BryantYeah. So I'm originally from Atlanta, Georgia, grew up there, but was always drawn up to the mountains, which is one of the reasons that most people end up it up to me, too. I did my first two years of college at the University of Georgia, and I studied environmental economics there. But the mix of the campus culture and also just the focus on economic use of the outdoors was just not where my interest was.
00;02;36;23 - 00;02;55;05Megan BryantWhen I was in high school. I originally applied and got into App, and after two years at UGA, I was like, I'm not happy here. I'm going to try to mix this up a bit. I love App, let's try that out again. So went out for two years and graduated there. I'd say my favorite outdoor activity. I love long distance backpacking, which I know we'll talk a bit about later.
00;02;55;16 - 00;02;58;28Megan BryantSo that's my all time favorite outdoor activity.
00;02;59;04 - 00;03;04;25Joy JamesCool, so how would you say you first got interested in the outdoors, like your childhood or a friend?
00;03;05;01 - 00;03;22;16Megan BryantSo my introduction to the outdoors was through Girl Scouts when I was in elementary school, going on little camp outs and stuff. And if you've ever been to The Hike Inn in North Georgia. It's Four miles out and then you stay at this awesome lodge and hike back. We did that and I was like, this is my type of thing.
00;03;22;16 - 00;03;44;15Megan BryantLike, I love this. And then as I got into high school, me and my friends love to go hiking. And then on spring break, when most people are going to the beach, we planned a big hiking trip with all of our friends and camping and all of that. And more and more as I was doing it, I was like, I love being outside and then when I got to college, I actually originally wanted to do international affairs and work for like State Department and like big government and stuff.
00;03;44;15 - 00;04;04;24Megan BryantAnd I was very quickly like, Oh, I'm not nearly as passionate about this as I am about being outside. Like I wanted to do National Park stuff. As I got more and more into college, I was like, This is what I want to do. And then I ended up doing a six week solo hike on the Appalachian Trail because I was kind of just lost and wasn't sure what I was going to do.
00;04;04;28 - 00;04;23;05Megan BryantAfter my first year at college. Having all that time out there kind of being like, not only is this opportunity awesome for me, just being able to be outside, like, I think I want to do something to give more people access to opportunities like this. So it was like, Oh, wow, this really helps me. I bet it can help other people too.
00;04;23;08 - 00;04;26;01Megan BryantI want to do this. And it was like down that path.
00;04;26;10 - 00;04;43;29Joy JamesIn terms of backpacking and that solo hike, what inspired you or helped you to make that plan? Because, you know, a lot of people don't like to do things by themselves and sometimes backpacking is a solo activity, but it can be social. How did you move from hiking with your friends to backpacking?
00;04;44;06 - 00;05;05;21Megan BryantI went backpacking twice with my aunt who lives out in California when I was in high school, when that was out in Yosemite. So it was like, oh yeah, starting up the best I knew it was awesome and I was like, This is incredible. Like, this is so great. The time to reflect out there. I really like I was saying I was feeling lost that like...
00;05;05;26 - 00;05;35;17Megan BryantI don't really feel like I have that many people that I can rely on to do a long trip. And I was like, Well, I can rely on myself. Let's make this happen. And when I reflect on that time of planning for my experience, the planning became a leisure activity of itself. When I had my free time, I was doing research, I was watching videos, I was going on the RV website or going to local outfitters and trying to figure out what the best sleeping bag would be because I had a super low budget for the trip.
00;05;35;17 - 00;05;58;20Megan BryantLike, what's the best sleeping bag, what's the best backpack, what's the weather going to look like? Because I was 18 when I went out there. That's also one of the things that brought me to doing the 80 instead of any other long trail was that I knew that there would be that community. Once I got out there, I felt super socially awkward at the time, so I was like, Even if I don't make any like super long term friends, you know, once I got out there was like a super big community.
00;05;58;20 - 00;06;04;09Megan BryantI was like, Oh my gosh, I actually get along with these people. What is this? This is crazy. But it's like, Oh, this makes sense.
00;06;04;28 - 00;06;06;14Joy JamesDid you have a trail name for the app?
00;06;06;24 - 00;06;23;17Megan BryantI did, and my church name is Duct Tape. My second day out there, I was at Trail Magic with a bunch of people that were like yellow blazers. I kind of just drove from one trail crossing to another, and we were about to go into a really scenic section, Grace Highlands. And I was like, you know, I heard supposed rain for the next few days.
00;06;23;21 - 00;06;34;04Megan BryantAnd they said, if you keep perusing the weather like that, we're going to have to duct tape you to a tree. For some reason, I was like, All right. And then they're like, We're going to call you duct tape. And I'm like, Cool. Like, I have a trail yeah.
00;06;35;03 - 00;06;44;26Joy JamesWell, a couple more things I want to go a little deeper into your backpacking planning and stuff like that. Before I do that, can you describe that feeling of lost? Like.
00;06;45;04 - 00;06;45;15Megan BryantYeah.
00;06;45;24 - 00;06;55;04Joy JamesYou were just kind of not knowing what to do, like, what was that feeling? And then how did you get out of that feeling to direct yourself into backpacking?
00;06;55;04 - 00;07;15;00Megan BryantI mean, I was at a school that I didn't want to be in. I hadn't followed my heart. I was more like, This is a well-respected school and it has a good program, so I'm going to go there. Even though everything inside of me is like, don't go like I'm just going to go and like because will probably be good in the long term.
00;07;15;06 - 00;07;41;26Megan BryantSo I wasn't really where I wanted to be. I wasn't setting stuff that made me passionate. So feeling really bogged down by the core Sloan and the tech stuff I was studying in the classroom environment, which was so different from App. It was very unprofessional. Also, the campus culture there was just not me. It was very sorority based or like really cultural in a way that I was in touch with, like really good music.
00;07;41;26 - 00;07;59;02Megan BryantAnd art and stuff. And I just was like, I don't know anything about that. So I was just having a really hard time finding my people in my place, and I knew I loved the outdoors, and I knew that when I started thinking about doing something like a big trip, like a big backpacking trip, I was feeling excited and I felt good.
00;07;59;14 - 00;08;02;00Megan BryantSo I was like, I'm going to follow that. I'm going to make that happen.
00;08;02;12 - 00;08;05;17Joy JamesHow did you bring it to your parents? I want to do a six week solo hike.
00;08;07;07 - 00;08;22;15Megan BryantI inched into it. I was like, I think I want to do a big trip by myself. This summer. And then I was like, I think I want to go on the 80, Hey, here's all these documentaries that I can show you that we can watch together that show how many people are out there and here's all this cleaning that I've been doing.
00;08;22;15 - 00;08;44;07Megan BryantLike, Look, I'm not just coming up with this and just going to go. I have done my research. I feel like this is a safe enough place. Also, just kind of like reassuring myself, like I can do this myself. I would love my parents would be super supportive, which they ended up being super supportive. Just telling myself, even if they don't feel like it's the safest or best place I'm going to do this.
00;08;44;13 - 00;08;49;28Megan BryantSo it's like a mix of trying to appease them, but also feeling self-assured in your journey.
00;08;50;26 - 00;09;06;10Joy JamesProbably the process of trying to appease them help you as well. Like you were kind of buying all this stuff and that made you more confident when you were talking to them. Yeah, so ultimately they kind of were supportive of you as well. And so you did it during the summer. Does that mean you didn't work that summer?
00;09;06;10 - 00;09;10;04Joy JamesYou kind of worked really hard to save up, but like how did you afford to happen?
00;09;10;16 - 00;09;30;12Megan BryantI didn't like it two ways. So the reason why I did it for six weeks, I did it time based instead of distance based. My family was awesome with it eventually and once I had, they really felt secure about it, but they were like, Wherever you are, six weeks into it, we'll pick you up there. So I had that six week period the whole time.
00;09;30;12 - 00;09;46;24Megan BryantBefore that, I worked really hard. I was a waitress at a sushi restaurant, works really hard as much as I could save up money. That pretty much all went into the trip afterwards. I came back after that six weeks and I nanny Donna Summer front loading and back loading and just trying to keep myself secure throughout it.
00;09;46;28 - 00;09;52;10Joy JamesYeah. What section did you end up doing did you start from the beginning? Did you pick that area?
00;09;52;22 - 00;10;10;13Megan BryantYeah, I research a lot. I'm a very big planner, so I was like, I know I'm going to be starting May seven where is the bubble going to be? And I want to put myself right in the middle of it. And I was like, right in the beginning of Virginia. So I was like, you know, it'd be really fun if I started right at the base of Virginia.
00;10;10;13 - 00;10;28;11Megan BryantSo I started in Damascus. My pipe dream was to get through Virginia, and I ended up getting three Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland and I my last day hiking, I crossed into Pennsylvania. So it was like 600 miles total, which I was not planning on doing, but I felt really proud of.
00;10;28;12 - 00;10;30;18Joy JamesWhat was your original mileage you thought you would do?
00;10;30;27 - 00;10;45;04Megan BryantI thought that my longest day would be 15, but my first day I ended up doing 15 miles, which was not good planning. I got Shin splints three days into it. I did not think in the beginning, but my longest ended up being 25 miles.
00;10;45;13 - 00;10;50;16Joy JamesAnd how did you persevere with sunspots? Like some people that would knock us off the trail.
00;10;51;00 - 00;11;09;08Megan BryantYeah. So my sisters boyfriend at the time told me before I left, Hey, like I want you to know, like, you can call it quits at any time your family was talking. If you call it quits early, they can pick you up. And in my head I was like, Oh, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to call it quits.
00;11;09;17 - 00;11;31;25Megan BryantIt was like this feeling of, Don't tell me that I can't do it. Like, I can do it. So I ended up taking a ton of ibuprofen for a few days with my shin splints until I got into town. And I actually ended up staying in a motel room in Marion, Virginia, by myself for like four days, just trying to recover.
00;11;32;05 - 00;11;53;10Megan BryantAnd that was definitely a why am I doing this moment? But I just was like really hard headed and get through it. And then a few days later, because I was keeping my mileage down because of the shin splints. And the next day, I think this hiker named Weather Man was like, oh, you have shin splints. I had these really long socks that compress your legs and can help you with shin splints.
00;11;53;10 - 00;12;04;21Megan BryantDo you want them? And I was like, yeah, awesome. So it's like the trail provides. It's what people say. And it helped me out, and I just had to really watch my mileage for the next week. Yeah.
00;12;06;11 - 00;12;29;16Melissa WeddellAs we listened to Megan's story, one of the purposes of the podcast is to also inspire you to get outdoors. Recent literature discusses an abundance of benefits for your health through being in nature. We know that being outside and exercising includes improved heart and lung fitness, fewer cardiovascular risk factors, fewer deaths, and less coronary heart disease. It also reduces your risk of cancer and reduces obesity.
00;12;29;23 - 00;12;52;11Melissa WeddellWhile these are physical aspects of being outside and exercising, there are many emotional and intellectual aspects where research has shown that we can concentrate more just by taking a ten minute walk around the neighborhood, having nature around us, whether we have plants around us or in our work. Home, Office or Windows. These health benefits are documented through different disciplines that we represent in the Hope Lab.
00;12;53;09 - 00;12;59;12Melissa WeddellIn the next half, Megan shares more of her experiences and how she became more comfortable in the outdoors.
00;13;01;27 - 00;13;18;09Joy JamesWhile you're on the trail, what did you learn about yourself? And then as an outdoor person, what did you learn that you didn't know before about the outdoors or a skill or something that is going to help you like with your pursuit of being a backpacker for the rest of your life?
00;13;18;09 - 00;13;41;14Megan BryantYeah, so I tell you what I learned about myself is that I'm a lot stronger than I think I am and that I can push through a lot more than I think I could. There were like so many moments that if there had been a road where I was, I may have hitchhiked and called it quits. But when you're stuck in the middle of the woods and you're five miles to a road crossing, you have five miles to think about, OK, this is why I'm doing this.
00;13;41;19 - 00;13;58;12Megan BryantI'm going to try to push on or, you know, you meet someone that's like, OK, this is why I'm doing this. I can do this. So I really found out that not only I'm like I'm strong enough, but I can find strength in other people and that's OK also because that's a big thing you'll hear on the edge is a big part of it is the people in the community.
00;13;59;03 - 00;14;24;14Megan BryantAnd then from an outdoor perspective, I think a lot of that, what I learned came from the just huge, diverse array of people that I met, veterans and retired folks and people that were triathletes and people that had never gone backpacking a day in their life, like just this huge array of people that were out there recreating and doing something totally transformative and crazy for themselves.
00;14;24;25 - 00;14;53;11Megan BryantAnd as an outdoor professional or just as a recreation professional in general, I think seeing that can show you like, oh, anyone can benefit from recreation. These opportunities that, you know, sometimes you think like, oh, you have to be like peak fitness be mentally like super disciplined to get done with something like no, like anyone who puts their mind to getting themselves involved in some sort of recreation or awesome leisure activity can find that enrichment and improvement.
00;14;53;19 - 00;15;00;23Megan BryantAnd that was super inspiring to me. And that was one of the reasons why I was like, OK, I'm definitely going down the rec pathway once I got a rate hike.
00;15;01;25 - 00;15;21;11Joy JamesYou put it so well. It's amazing with the human body and the human mind can overcome regardless of our ability, our size, the amount of money we have. If we want to do it and put our mind to it, we could do it and it could be transformative. And you kind of mentioned this transformation sounds like the trail change your perspective of a career.
00;15;21;20 - 00;15;40;19Megan BryantI was leaning environmental law at the time. I actually took some law classes trying to figure out like, I think this is what I want to do. But it was like being out there, really seeing direct experience with nature and direct experience with yourself can do. And I was like, I want to go the recreation side of things.
00;15;41;05 - 00;16;06;05Megan BryantYeah. Like doing a big law case that protects an area of land is awesome. That land has so much worth in itself but think about how much protection that land can spread if people are able to, like, engage with that area of land. And that's where I'm now looking for and where I'd like to go because I found that, oh, I can have that desire of protection, due protection with sustainable recreation use on land.
00;16;06;08 - 00;16;16;01Megan BryantAnd that's where I'm most passionate about. And being an app and working with the risk management department really helps me like figure out, wind down like, OK, this is what I think I want to do.
00;16;16;05 - 00;16;34;03Joy JamesYeah, cool. This may go back to more in your childhood, but you were hiking a lot as a young person and then you decided I wanted to go and do this backpack. But what actually created comfort for you to go to the bathroom in the outdoors or to just be comfortable with insect or be uncomfortable with being wet?
00;16;34;09 - 00;16;37;13Joy JamesLike, how did you become comfortable in outdoor settings?
00;16;37;27 - 00;17;05;03Megan BryantExperience? 100% experience. I was like, I'm not going to be able to be comfortable going to the bathroom or I'm not going to be comfortable going six, seven days without a shower. But the only way you're able to see if you can or if you can't is if you do it. If you put yourself in that uncomfortable position, I realized that I don't mind there being little bugs around me, but if they're near my eyes, it really bothers me.
00;17;05;03 - 00;17;30;14Megan BryantI hate it. So it's like, OK, when I'm out there, I'm going to put a little bit of like a Groupon here and like I'm able to make the adjustment instead of never going out there because I'm afraid I may not like bugs and not realizing how to make those adjustments to make recreation work for you. So I think if you're curious about something, if you think that something might be a way to like be like intriguing and transformational, like try it and then try to make adjustments for you.
00;17;31;02 - 00;17;50;22Joy JamesOK, cool. This is kind of like a social media question, but it shouldn't have to be social media response. I've been reading about influencers and how they influence people on social media. And so another way of looking at this is was there an influencer or a mentor or someone in your life? It sounds like your aunt took you to Yosemite, but like, was it her?
00;17;50;22 - 00;18;06;12Joy JamesWas there someone else that kind of really I mean, just the fact that you were a high school student, hiking is where yeah. And from Atlanta, I'm like, there was Atlanta. You know, all I did was Stone Mountain for how did you go seek that out yeah.
00;18;06;21 - 00;18;33;06Megan BryantI. I feel like it may have been field trips, eso mountain or for Science Center or if you're from Atlanta, I bet you if that were like OK, let's give these kids as little experience with outdoors and then let's let them explore that. I was an environmental education intern at a nature center back in Athens, and that was a big part of what we did, which was just getting kids into nature and seeing kind of what sticks and what's intriguing to them.
00;18;33;15 - 00;18;47;28Megan BryantAnd I think those experiences, especially with kids, are so wonderful and can lead someone who's lives in Atlanta in a kind of a concrete jungle, like getting them to prioritize nature and natural experiences. Yeah.
00;18;48;09 - 00;19;00;14Joy JamesSome of your experience mirrors some of mine as that young person, but I'm assuming the Sandy Creek Nature Center you were at and did you volunteer at them because that was something you want to do? Or is that a class assignment for you at the University of Georgia?
00;19;00;19 - 00;19;25;14Megan BryantNo, I was wanting to get involved I was wanting to do something with my days, and I was taking a class through UGA was Forestry and Natural Resources College were now and because I was in one class, I was technically on their listserv and Sandy Creek sent out an email that was like, Hey, if you want to volunteer, you'll come in a few mornings a month, bring some kids on hikes.
00;19;25;14 - 00;19;43;29Megan BryantAnd I was like, That sounds awesome. That sounds like so much fun. So I volunteered with them for probably a year and I just went in one morning and we were kind of just getting like told what the curriculum is going to be and what standards we want to meet and stuff. And they were like, Oh, also, we have a paid internship and you can do this pretty much on a bigger scale.
00;19;43;29 - 00;20;02;13Megan BryantAnd do animal encounters and go to the farmer's markets and do all this fun stuff. And I was like, I would love to do that. And I was looking for a summer job. I thought I was going to have to work at like a restaurant or something again. And I was like, No, I want to do that prep for the interview to handwrite it, written thank you notes, which is totally like trying my hardest.
00;20;02;13 - 00;20;19;08Megan BryantAnd I got the internship and it wasn't for a class or anything. I just really wanted working with kids, working in the outdoors. I love animals. I like working with animals. I like this is going to be the best. And it was awesome. It was like a super cool way to be like, Oh, this is a job. Like, this is an actual job I could do.
00;20;19;17 - 00;20;27;00Megan BryantThese are people that are employed that are literally like just doing the most exciting stuff. Like, I want to do this. I can actually do this.
00;20;27;10 - 00;20;42;12Joy JamesNot to bemoan that, but I wish, you know, Boone had a nature center similar to Sandy Creek Thriving program because it would be a great partnership for our students and all majors to be able to have access to that experience that you have.
00;20;42;18 - 00;21;00;05Megan BryantYeah, it was super great. They had a sea turtle and snakes and bearded dragon, like just awesome animals and their interpretive hall any of our students would freak about it because it was so interactive and engaging. Great signage. Just awesome. The dream.
00;21;01;08 - 00;21;20;08Joy JamesOne last question. And then I go into another segment. We were wondering if you could share a story with us about an outdoor experience. You've kind of been sharing your backpacking experience, but think about it on a micro level. Is there a moment that was really funny, revealing, or hilarious? That's a story that you'd be willing to share with our listeners?
00;21;20;16 - 00;21;45;20Megan BryantYeah, it was one of those Appalachian periods where it rains for like five days straight. You ever see this guy? I sat down, I was like, I am so in pain right now. I am miserable. I took my shoes off to try to like, treat my feet. My feet were so blistered and pruney that there wasn't even any point I was just like, OK, let me make my plan to leave.
00;21;46;06 - 00;22;06;29Megan BryantThis was like my lowest, just every step miserable. And I was like, I need something right now to make me feel good. And I turned a corner and I knew I was Enemy Crossy Road. I said a little bit of like Blue or some, like, human color. And I'm like, probably someone just sitting there like, don't get excited, keep walking.
00;22;06;29 - 00;22;28;16Megan BryantAnd I'm like, Don't get excited. Like, it's probably nothing. They're like, Everything sucks. They're going to be anything good. Right now, the world's general and I get closer and I see that it's this huge set up through true magic and I'm like, Oh, my gosh, please let there be something. Cause I was a vegetarian at the time, and I was like, probably not going to be able to get anything, like everything, socks, whatever.
00;22;28;27 - 00;22;50;23Megan BryantAnd I walk up and like, the first thing they say is, Do you eat meat? And I was like, No, we have veggie burgers for you. Awesome. No problem. We want grilled onions. We got grilled onions, like putting together all these burgers and like, I sit down, I start talking to them. And it turns out that they were from the town my sister was living in and that their daughter lived in the same area that my parents lived in.
00;22;51;01 - 00;23;10;27Megan BryantAnd she worked at our family's favorite restaurant of all time. And I was like, I'm not a superstitious person or anything, but I was just like, this is crazy. I was literally at the like, This is it. I'm done. It was like the best food ever. Something I could eat as many snacks as I could want. All these nice people there, everything about these people's life fit into mine.
00;23;11;07 - 00;23;23;13Megan BryantIt was like, OK, I can do it. And I just think that feeling of even when things can be like super at the lowest that people can really come together, lift you up from there. That's like a moment that stuck out of my mind.
00;23;23;26 - 00;23;32;03Joy JamesAs a hiker, and particularly at the age you're familiar with this. But could you describe what trail magic means? Yeah, your listeners who may not know what that means.
00;23;32;19 - 00;23;52;17Megan BryantThere's a whole lexicon of hiker words. Trail magic is when traditionally people that aren't hiking leave things or station at road crossing and either make a lot of food or leave really good treats and stuff. I've seen it where a lady just put a little box of homemade cookies and a little note on it, like true magic. Take one if you like.
00;23;52;27 - 00;24;12;11Megan BryantOr it could be like this where they apparently made breakfast, lunch and dinner. Wow. And beers, soda, snacks, anything anyone could ever want. Sometimes it's like a whole grill out. It's just people taking time out of their days to just give to hikers. And they never charge any money or really ask for anything. It's more just you guys are doing something really hard, really awesome.
00;24;12;13 - 00;24;14;00Megan BryantI want to give you guys some love.
00;24;14;08 - 00;24;21;02Joy JamesIt's really quite amazing. And it goes along with what you're saying about meeting people and that community of support.
00;24;21;23 - 00;24;40;22Megan BryantBecause a lot of times our culture really promotes individualism doing it yourself. And a lot of people like hear that people go out on long hikes by themselves. You must have really had to push through. Well, I pushed through a fair bit, but if I didn't have so many awesome people around me, I wouldn't have been able to get through it.
00;24;40;28 - 00;24;53;19Megan BryantI think we need to realize, yeah, personal motivation is awesome, but personal motivation is lonely. If you don't have people to share it with, it's awesome to really engage in a community especially a community of people that are creating alongside you, I think is really special. Yeah.
00;24;54;01 - 00;25;01;05Joy JamesDo you see yourself doing the A.T. as a section hiker or do you want to ever pursue it all in one fell swoop?
00;25;01;23 - 00;25;20;04Megan BryantI definitely want to do it all in one fell swoop. I actually met my now fiance on the trail. Oh, I have this partner now in my life. We are able to like want to do these same things together. And he did half the trail and I did a quarter of it. And we're like we have certain beginning and end.
00;25;20;18 - 00;25;38;22Megan BryantLike we don't want to just do the parts we don't like. We want to do it all through. And right now, you know, we're like settling in. We don't quite have the funds to do it, but as soon as we can, as soon as the time's right, we're getting out there. We love to do the PCT and do as many as we can because it's our thing.
00;25;38;22 - 00;25;39;01Megan BryantWe, you.
00;25;39;01 - 00;25;53;23Joy JamesKnow, it's almost like it's going to happen because my I had a college buddy who she did the 80 and at the time they didn't have the Internet to meet people she knew. She didn't want to do it by herself. So she was not like you in terms of the solo and we just didn't have a lot of information.
00;25;53;23 - 00;26;21;05Joy JamesSo she, there was a club newsletter that you could get and she found this guy and so they started hiking together. She hated him. He had her and they partied in Pennsylvania, which apparently is one of the most difficult parts of the trail, from what I understand. And then in the brief period of time they stopped, they realized they couldn't live without each other, and then did the eight in the next year together and got married at the bottom of Mount Katahdin.
00;26;21;21 - 00;26;41;08Joy JamesThat's on the hike, the last part up. So and then they did the PCT and they did I mean, so it really is interesting, once you start kind of getting into that crowd of people, you not only maybe meet partners or significant others, but you you get more support and encouragement so that you feel inspired that I can continue to do these big type of hikes.
00;26;42;04 - 00;27;03;12Joy JamesOh, cool. That kind of finishes out the questions that we have for you. And one of the things we're doing with the people that we're interviewing is to segment getting the dirt on getting outside, particularly in boom. And I know you're living in Asheville now that you've graduated, but I have like four questions. So what is your biggest fear about being in the outdoors?
00;27;04;15 - 00;27;26;22Megan BryantWhitewater really fast moving water can't do it. I have friends that do whitewater kayaking and stuff. I've tried it petrified is neat. I recently did the little gorge loop, a backpack that was a friend, and there's a point where you have to swim across to bring your pack over and it's like a whole thing and just swimming across water.
00;27;26;22 - 00;27;32;10Megan BryantThat was pretty slowly moving toward a rapid I can't do it. That's my biggest fear. 100%.
00;27;32;27 - 00;27;37;00Joy JamesAll right. What is your most embarrassing outdoor moment?
00;27;38;18 - 00;27;50;02Megan BryantWhen I was in Yosemite and we didn't put our food away, right? And Chipmunks got into all of our food and we had to go back early. Yeah, I would say that's probably the most embarrassing. Not even the Bears chipmunk.
00;27;50;10 - 00;28;12;06Joy JamesI had a raccoon eat through one of my backpacks I had Eminem's rolled up in my raincoat in a pocket, like in the middle, and the raccoon ate the pork. It got to the Eminem. So I enjoyed those. Eminem. All right, the third question, what is a must have when you go backpacking or in the outdoors? What's something of a piece of equipment?
00;28;13;04 - 00;28;44;23Megan BryantI have a lot because whenever people are like getting into gear and like a bunch of different stuff. But I would say my top recommendation is a squeeze water filter. It seems so simple, but so many people use pumps or the tablets or bleach or aqua mirror and stuff. But having something that when you're on a really long hike, you get to a water source that you can just immediately drink water just by like squeezing it into your mouth or into another water bottle or something I think is the biggest game changer and get the school sized ones not the little ones full size.
00;28;44;26 - 00;28;46;23Joy JamesAnd what did you call it in a squeeze?
00;28;46;23 - 00;29;05;11Megan BryantWe the Sawyer squeeze water filter. I keep one in my car. It's so worth it. So you don't have to risk getting any sort of digestive problem or sick, just immediate water. I've gotten so many backpacking trips with people that use tablets and they're having to do all that. Flipping around and shaking and waiting have said all these times, I'm squeezing my water bottle.
00;29;05;11 - 00;29;07;26Megan BryantI'm good to go. I think it's such a game changer.
00;29;08;03 - 00;29;12;04Joy JamesAll right. And then what's your favorite local spot in Boone?
00;29;12;14 - 00;29;38;09Megan BryantSo I trail run a lot. I actually lived in Blowing Rock, and I would go to Moses all the time, and a lot of people go to Moses and they're like, this isn't really like good hiking. And because it's so, like paved and gravel and stuff and like it's like it's not real hiking, but it's so great for training running because there's 20 something miles of trails so you're able to make loops that are longer as you get more comfortable and awesome.
00;29;38;09 - 00;29;45;25Megan BryantReally mildly great. Great for horses, great views. You get to see the house and everything and I really miss Moses Cohn and running all around there.
00;29;45;27 - 00;29;53;29Joy JamesIt really is a treat to have that. And even though it may not be like the hiking experience, it's still nature. Yeah, and getting the sand.
00;29;54;00 - 00;30;17;20Megan BryantIt's such an accessible place. People that may not be super experienced with hiking are able to get out in nature, feel what it's like to like someone up that mountain, get to the house and stuff. Like they're able to have those experiences that even though like as a professional, you might be like Oh, this isn't real rock, but it's like, think about all the doors that a place like this could open for people.
00;30;18;00 - 00;30;19;27Megan BryantI think it's such an awesome resource.
00;30;20;00 - 00;30;44;29Melissa WeddellBeen as Megan shares how she became comfortable in the outdoors, you may be reminded of who introduced you to a new outdoor activity or experience. When Megan talks about her time in Yosemite with her aunt, we can refer back to some research examining environmental socialization experiences in the outdoors. What we know is that experiences as a child often shapes our ability to be comfortable in the outdoors.
00;30;44;29 - 00;31;06;17Melissa WeddellWe have outdoor experiences we can kind of think of like a ladder. You take the first up, the second step, the next step, and pretty soon you're a conservationist or an outdoor enthusiast. If you are new to the outdoors, some local options are to visit Grandfather Mountain which has an amazing nature center where you could also volunteer April and December or what we call dollar days.
00;31;06;17 - 00;31;33;13Melissa WeddellLocal students, employees or anyone in the community can go for a reduced price. These are great spaces to go and learn about animals and to go hiking on more developed trails where you will see people around other opportunities in our area, our Moses Cone in the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is close to campus, we have other small trails around campus that you can also hike personally, we like to use the all trail app on our phone.
00;31;33;13 - 00;31;50;00Melissa WeddellWhat's nice about this is even if you don't have cell service, it has GPS and can tell you exactly where you are. On the trail. Remember, outdoors is a learning process. You're not going to go on your first trip or your first hike and have everything go right and say it was perfect. This is not how it goes.
00;31;50;10 - 00;32;13;14Melissa WeddellMother Nature has her own mind. The weather can change. You can get a blister, have an animal encounter. Things are constantly changing. Each situation is different and we all make a lot of mistakes. But remember, every experience is an opportunity to learn. But you need to continue moving forward and continue braving those challenges. We want to thank Megan Enjoy for sharing these stories.
00;32;13;14 - 00;32;22;00Melissa WeddellAs we sign off, we want to end with a quote and encourage you to get outdoors. Remember a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
 

In the first episode of Appalachian Outdoorosity we explain what the podcast is about and introduce you to our team. Melissa Weddell, Becki Battista and Joy James share a bit themselves as well as some stories about their time together in the outdoors.  
Transcript:
Melissa Weddell:Welcome to Outdoorosity, the get outside and keep going outside podcast, where we share Appalachian State stories to entertain, inspire, and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story with the goal to get you outside and keep you going outside to improve your overall wellness. Our goal is to promote Healthy Outdoor Play & Exercise across the lifespan or what we call HOPE.
Melissa Weddell:The HOPE Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise, and play on health, the environment, and human development, the vision of the HOPE Lab is to continue developing the scientific foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise, and play through interdisciplinary research. You can check us out online at hopelab.appstate.edu. My name is Melissa Weddell.
Melissa Weddell:Today, we are going to introduce your three hosts. But before we get started, we wanted to share with you some benefits of being in the outdoors. According to the American Public Health Association, people of all ages and ability enjoy higher levels of health and well-being when they have nature nearby in parks, gardens, green ways, naturalized school yards and playgrounds, and natural landscaping around homes and workplaces.
Melissa Weddell:Access to nature has been related to lower levels of mortality and illness, higher levels of outdoor physical activity, restoration from stress, and a greater sense of well-being and social capital. The integration of nature into towns and cities has secondary benefits that contribute to better health and more sustainable societies.
Melissa Weddell:Given the importance of contact with nature for well-being, the American Public Health Association and the HOPE Lab supports the protection and restoration of nature and the environment where people live, work, and play at every scale, from building sites to large regional park systems and ecologically sustainable rural areas. With that said, we would like to introduce ourselves as host. Joy James, would you like to go first?
Joy James:Yes. I am a professor of recreation management here at Appalachian State University. I teach a lot about how people spend time in the outdoors. I thought I'd share with you a little bit about how I came to love or realize the outdoors was a space that I wanted to be in. Imagine the possibilities within yourself and the outdoors, and then transferring it to daily life. And that's sort of like what Melissa was saying were some of the benefits. That's what happened to me as a young girl who was shy and lacked confidence.
Joy James:I was involved in Girl Scouts, which is already a nerdy thing to do, right? And a strike against me in the popular crowd. But I found I loved it because it was all about getting outdoors and I was learning backpacking and camping and having fun and goofing off and really making connections with the other girls. It was also something that my other classmates weren't doing. I could come back after a weekend and said, "I was learning disco," which has nothing to do with that outdoors.
Joy James:But I also could come back and say, "I went backpacking, or I went camping." One formidable experience for me was our troop went hiking to Mount LeConte Lodge, which is a lodge in the Smokeys near Gatlinburg when I was about 15 years old. This was kind of like a precursor to backpacking for me. We didn't have to bring a sleeping bag. We didn't have to bring cooking gear. The lodge provided food and a place for us to rest. All I had to do was just hike up there with a change of clothes.
Joy James:Also, it was unusual for me being from Georgia. The elevation was about 6,593 feet. And not having ever seen anything like that or hiked anything like that was a daunting task that I wasn't quite sure I was capable of doing it. I don't remember how many people were in the group, but what I do remember about the number in our troop was we had three groups, a fast group, a medium group, and a slow group.
Joy James:I was the only one that was in the medium group, because I was not very fast and I wasn't slow at the time, although my two friends here would say I'm slow now. At that time, I was a little more of a medium, and I could yo-yo between the two groups. What would happen is I would be by myself, and then I would catch up to the fast group and chat with them. And then I would wait for the other group while the fast group took off, and then talk with the slow group, and then I would take off.
Joy James:What I started to it was this sense of I didn't mind being by myself in the woods, but I also got to be social. It was the best of both worlds. I really loved it. I was in nature and I could meet the physical challenge, while not necessarily taking away from other people's experiences. I was able to go at my own pace. When I was hiking with the other groups, if I did stay with them, I felt like I was being supportive and I was growing comfortable with others and making connections.
Joy James:When we reached the lodge at the top, we met other interesting hikers who found it interesting that this Girl Scout troop was hiking. They also told stories about their personal adventures. I just wanted more of that. That's kind of a pinnacle experience for me where I realized I was capable. I was also could be by myself, but I also was liked for who I was and what I brought to the table and being supportive. This adventure while little and not very big in scope, it led to me becoming a camp counselor, a bike tour guide.
Joy James:I went on to be a park ranger, a sea kayak guide, and ultimately where I am today, sitting here behind this microphone talking to you guys, a professor of recreation. The outdoor has always given me confidence in life, which has translated into my professional and personal success. I have to say without the outdoors and the recreation activities I did in the past some years, I would not be who I am today, confident and adventurous.
Melissa Weddell:Thank you, Joy. We really appreciate you sharing that story and all the people and students that clearly you've impacted along the way. I think what's great is that you've been able to turn that into your full-time career. We get to share that with students here at Appalachian State. Up next, another researcher and host, Dr. Becki Battista.
Becki Battista:Hi, thanks for the introduction. My name is Becki Battista, and I am a professor in the department of health and exercise science. My area really is around exercise. If you've had a class with me or have any vague knowledge of what I do, I'm all about promoting physical activity. When I think about the outdoors and why this area is really of interest to me, I think, as I reflect back on it, it really goes back to I love sports. I always have loved sports. My parents were active. My dad played softball.
Becki Battista:My brother played soccer. Sports were just a part of my life since probably age five. All the sports I did were always outside. It was soccer. I wanted to play football when I was little. I mean, everything that you could imagine I wanted to try. Because my dad was in the Air Force, we moved around a lot. When I think about where I'm really from, I am really from Delaware, but we lived in Texas, and we lived in Virginia, and we lived in Alabama.
Becki Battista:And in all of those places, I remember as a kid going back into the streams and trying to catch tadpoles or going camping all the time in Alabama. We had a camper. As a family, we joined a camping group. We always went out on weekends in the State of Alabama, which there are some pretty phenomenal camping places. I remember one specifically that was around a lake. I loved going to that one particular campground because it was just... You could ride bikes everywhere.
Becki Battista:You could go swimming in the lake, and you could go hiking on the trails, which my brother and I did quite often. But then we moved to Delaware when I was probably 10 and Delaware, super small state, but Delaware is along the coast. I started to have friends that always went down to the beach. And all of a sudden, the beach became like my happy place. It was just relaxing, the sound of the wave, just walking along the ocean. I mean, it was really just a great place to be.
Becki Battista:I thought I always want to live near the beach. Well, my life kind of changed a little bit with all the education that I had. I was a PE major, again, because I love sports, and I ended up moving to Colorado. In Colorado, there's mountains. And all of a sudden, I realized, these are pretty spectacular also. I lived in Colorado at a time that I was by myself. I wasn't making a lot of money. I was out of graduate school, and I would have to do things on my own. I'd go hiking. I'd go running on the trails.
Becki Battista:Just kind of learning how to navigate that by yourself is a little bit of a challenge, but it was so beautiful that I couldn't resist. Everybody in Colorado always goes outside. If you're not outside, it's strange. After I moved from Colorado and I went to graduate school to get my PhD in growth and motor development, from there, I learned a few things about Michigan. The State of Michigan is also beautiful. It had some great lakes and had some great outdoor adventures when I was in Michigan.
Becki Battista:And then from Michigan, I moved to Wisconsin, and I think that's where I kind of brought my childhood memories into my adult world, where I always loved being outside. I loved playing sports. In Wisconsin, I met a colleague who was a physical education person and he was all about outdoor education. I was intrigued by this because Wisconsin also has some beautiful outdoor areas and I was always willing to kind of go up for a challenge.
Becki Battista:He asked me one day if I wanted to go on a trip with some students to Colorado and go rock climbing. Well, who's going to pass up a trip to go to Colorado? It was really at that time watching what he did with those students and allowing me to be a part of that which solidified my absolute love of the outdoors and I think made me understand that outdoors can be part of my research interest. I love of being active. I love being outside.
Becki Battista:That time spent in Colorado seeing the students, graduate students and undergraduate students, climb rocks, which was a challenge all within itself, really kind of solidified why I think the outdoors to me is a place of comfort. It allows me to feel kind of whole again. If I am stressed out, I'll go for a walk in the woods. All I have to do is just stand and look around and just the beauty of the trees and the sun shining through the trees, it's just amazing.
Becki Battista:For me, it's a way to get my physical activity and it's a way to kind of destress a little bit. I would not have known that if it wasn't for kind of participating in some research that related back to physical education. That's kind of my story.
Melissa Weddell:Thank you, Becki. Not only do you share this with your students, you have been one of the founding members of the HOPE Lab, but you keep us all on a schedule. We can find you out at Moses Cone running on Saturday mornings, and you are very consistent with your physical activity outdoors. Always a great adventure partner. Thank you both. You've heard my voice from the beginning. My name is Melissa Weddell.
Melissa Weddell:I teach also in recreation management with Dr. Joy James, but all of us are in the college of health science. We have packaged this together to talk about physical activity and health and wellness and in outdoors. My story's a little bit different. I'm originally from Northern Indiana. I grew up on a large farm. I did not realize at the time as a young girl all the access to outdoors that I had in my comfort with the outdoors. We were able to ride horses all around the county.
Melissa Weddell:My grandparents had a lake cottage. I wouldn't think about it in the terms that you would today as some really nice second home. They built it in the '60s. We'd be at the lakes on the weekends and playing indoors just wasn't something that we did. We also didn't have air conditioning in the summer, so no one wanted to be inside. I grew up hunting and fishing, and we would go sit in the woods for hours in the fall. And as a young girl, I didn't always like that. But later on, I realized how much I cherished that time.
Melissa Weddell:That's really where I started to develop this love of the outdoors. In terms of camping and hiking and mountain biking and all this stuff, we didn't really do any of that. We lived on so much land that that wasn't what we did for vacation. That was kind of everyday life. When I went away to graduate school, I met various people that started to do all of this outdoor recreation. I was able to get a mountain bike and start mountain biking in all these cool destinations.
Melissa Weddell:I will say that it was very challenging and it was a new way to experience the outdoors. And much like Becki talked about, it was a real place of restoration for me to not only have the physical aspect, but to be in these beautiful surroundings. Some of the takeaways that I've had have been... I do love to be in the outdoors and suffer. I like things to be hard. It makes me... If I have a really hard mountain bike ride, I forget whatever stress I had. I'm physically challenging myself.
Melissa Weddell:I also am one of those people that enjoy a little thrill or an adrenaline rush. When you're in your tent at night, if you hear something outside, if you know it's a raccoon or maybe a buffalo or a bear or something, that's really exciting to me and hiking and being part of that. Those have been some of my experiences. What I've also noticed is through the years, specifically with mountain biking or just going camping, leading various women's groups or inviting women to go on trips and introducing other folks to the outdoors is extremely rewarding to me.
Melissa Weddell:I really enjoy it. I never considered myself to have a lot of outdoor skills, but through the years, I've realized I just have a comfort that makes it easier for other people to go with me. I really enjoy being dirty is what I've learned. That's always been a little bit of a joke, but the outdoors is just such a great place. I think as we look at the amount of time that we spend on technology, really highlighting the importance of the outdoors and physical activity and getting out there is more imperative now than ever.
Melissa Weddell:As we kind of wrap up our first introduction of this podcast, I also wanted to share that Joy, Becki and I have been friends for over a decade. Some of us were friends before we came to App State. We've all been here together for probably 11 years now. One of our first trips together was going to Alaska. We spent two weeks in Alaska kind of traveling around. We spent about four days in Denali. We have some really fun stories to share.
Melissa Weddell:We often made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every morning at the campsite before we left. A little known fact, Joy does not like peanut butter, which we all still can't quite understand, but we've allowed to work through that. But in efficiency, as you will, someone said, "Well, why doesn't one person just make all the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for that day so we could kind of divide our duties?" I think what was so funny was that we all made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches differently.
Melissa Weddell:Some people didn't like the crust. Some people like the peanut butter spread all the way to the end. Some people like their jelly in the middle. Some people like it cut in fours. That was just one of many jokes that we were able to share. Since then, of course, we have gone on numerous outdoor adventures and pick different places. Some close to home. Some as far away as Alaska. I think some of those real benefits for us is not only the physical activity and being outside and adventuring are these lifelong friendships that we make and the things that we share with each other.
Melissa Weddell:I know, Becki, you've pointed out, sometimes one person might be scared and the other person's not scared. You're like, okay, I feel like I have a little more confidence because I know Joy can do this, and so I'm going to do it too, even though that makes me really, really nervous, or I think all of us have good and bad days. On our bad days, the friends we travel with and go outside with could be having a really good day. We're able to carry each other.
Melissa Weddell:Those bonds and understanding each other really keep us together for lifelong friendships. With that said in our introductions, really the impetus of this was to share our stories, but then to start a journey of sharing other folk stories. We know that people come to the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the high country, to Boone, mainly to be in the outdoors. There's something very beautiful, very spiritual. The mountains speak to us. We have technology demands like never before.
Melissa Weddell:We have this real nature deficit disorder. How do we get out in the outdoors? How do we highlight people that are doing it? And in those experience, how are lives being changed on our campus? We are going to have a series of speakers that we are going to interview and share with you stories from our university that we hope inspire you. I just want to thank Joy and Becki and all the folks that are going to make this possible. Again, the HOPE Lab, you can visit us at hopelab.appstate.edu to learn more.
Melissa Weddell:Again, thank you for joining us. Remember to get outside and keep going outside and life begins at the end of your comfort zone.