Heeding Their Call to the Wilderness, Women Learn to Conquer the Outdoors

Several years ago, a group of women I know went backpacking in the eastern Sierra. They’d camped out before, but always with men, who did all the work--an admirable arrangement, except that it left the women unprepared to venture into the wild on their own.

So this time, they banned men and set off on a rather ambitious hike, with a thermal pool nine miles from the trail head. But when they reached the hot spring, they found the water so appealing that they spent the whole weekend there, meaning they didn’t hike the full circuit. Nor did they conquer any peaks or scale sheer rock walls, and they certainly didn’t push themselves to the limit. Still, they called the trip a success because they’d seen the stars of the night sky and slept in the stillness of the mountains.

Psychologists say that getting into the wilderness is deeply therapeutic, that it makes the blood pressure drop and tensions slip away. It’s the call of the wild, I guess, and women hear it no less importunately than men. It’s just that we don’t always know how to drive in tent stakes.

But according to Thalia Zepatos, author of “Adventures in Good Company: The Complete Guide to Women’s Tours and Outdoors Trips” (The Eighth Mountain Press, $16.95), “Women tend to greatly underestimate their ability to do outdoors activities, and overestimate the difficulty.” Those who camp with their families find themselves, as ever, in the caretaker role. Then there’s the “Honey, I’ll do that for you” syndrome, which keeps women dumb about how to manage outdoors. For these reasons, the recent proliferation of outdoors trips for women seems a marvelous thing.

Most noteworthy is the “Becoming an Outdoorswoman” program, developed about 10 years ago by Christine Thomas, a professor of resource management at the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point. It seeks to draw women into outdoors activities like fishing and hunting, and has been adopted by agencies in 44 states, including the California Department of Fish and Game, which offers reasonably priced weekends at Camp Rancho Alegre near Santa Barbara, the Feather River Inn in Plumas County and Wonder Valley Ranch in Fresno County. There women get a chance to enjoy nature while taking courses on map and compass orienteering, bow hunting and shotgun shooting.

But teaching women the skills they need to feel confident in the outdoors is only part of the purpose; as Thomas notes, almost no women serve on state fish and game commissions. “If more women get involved, more women will start making environmental policy,” she says.

Would it be better policy? Who knows? But it would be different because, by all accounts, women experience the wilderness differently. Judith Niemi, the founder of Women in the Wilderness, a tour operator that specializes in canoeing, says the bonding on her trips is intense and that there are no ego problems.

“If there are no men in the driver’s seat, no one cares who steers,” she says. Donna Hunter, co-owner of Mariah Wilderness Expeditions, which offers women’s outdoors trips from Oregon to Patagonia, believes that men are disinclined to admit their fears and quicker to take risks, while women don’t mind talking about what scares them and accepting help. Consequently, women make excellent students. “We listen well and apply information carefully,” author Zepatos says, “and often have a shorter learning curve than men, especially when taught by people who understand our physiology.” That’s why it makes sense to seek trips with women guides. “I’m 58 and have creaky knees,” says Niemi. “When I say you can do it, women believe me.”

Carole Latimer, who founded Berkeley-based Call of the Wild in 1978, says another thing that distinguishes women’s outdoors trips is the way participants gather and talk while preparing meals. And then there’s the matter of food for the soul. “Women are so open to the spiritual aspects of the outdoors,” says Alison Reitz, director of Cloud Canyon Expeditions, which offers backpacking trips in southern Utah. “They learn the skills for that purpose.” Around the campfire at night, as the conversation runs from menopause to the meaning of life, fast friendships are made and thorny problems solved.

Here are a few places to look for wilderness trips:

Adventure Associates, P.O. Box 16304, Seattle, WA 98116, telephone (206) 932-8352.

Adventurewomen, 15033 Kelly Canyon Road, Bozeman, MT 59715, tel. (800) 804-8686.

Becoming an Outdoorswoman, California Department of Fish and Game, P.O. Box 1945, Sacramento, CA 95812, tel. (916) 657-4333.

Call of the Wild, 2519 Cedar St., Berkeley, CA 94708, tel. (510) 849-9292, Internet https://www .callwild.com.

Cloud Canyon Expeditions, P.O. Box 41359, Santa Barbara, CA 93140, tel. (805) 692-9615.

Going Places, P.O. Box 2034, Sonoma, CA 95476, tel. (707) 935- 0595.

Holiday River Expeditions, 544 E. 3900 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84107, tel. (800) 624-6323 or (801) 266- 2087, Internet https://www.bikeraft.com.

Mariah Wilderness Expeditions, P.O. Box 70248, Point Richmond, CA 94807, tel. (800) 462-7424.

Reel Women Fly Fishing Adventures, P.O. Box 289, Victor, ID 83455, tel. (208) 787-2657.

Steve and Doris Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School, 16731 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33908, tel. (800) 221-4326.

WomanTours (Road Bike Tours for Women), P.O. Box 68, Coleman Falls, VA 24536, tel. (800) 247-1444.

Women in the Wilderness, 566 Ottawa Ave., St. Paul, MN 55107, tel. (651) 227-2284.

In Los Angeles, Adventure 16, tel. (310) 479-3230, offers backpacking and rock-climbing trips for women.