"you're all women?"

On leading women's trips in the wilderness

Sea kayaking in the Apostle Islands is all sand, wind and freshwater sea. There are beautiful, near tropical sunny days. There are days where wind screams in off the open lake and sends whitecaps shivering down the channel. All of it is part of it.

Personally, I love the women’s trips. It’s mostly solo travelers, but not all, and there’s a certain braveness and openness in the type of person who decides to sign up for a wilderness camping trip on Lake Superior with strangers.

images: left, looking out from a Hermit Island sea cave. right: group photo

“you’re all women?!”

Last year, on the August Apostle Islands kayaking trip on day three we pulled up to Stockton Island as a group and began to unload our gear into our campsite. An older man came up, pausing and taking in the scene. Watching us all.

“You’re all women!?” he finally exclaimed, confused.

I’m a friendly gal, good at diffusing situations. You have to be as an overnight wilderness guide — there’s a lot of managing emotional needs.

“We are!” I say cheerily. “This is a women’s kayak trip!”

“And you’re the guide?” The man said, somewhere between confusion and surprise or maybe even admiration.

“I am!”

“Well I’ll be darned. Women out kayaking.”

Images: blue water in sea caves on Hermit and Oak Islands

The women on the trip were visibly ready to throw him into the Lake. I love them so much. The man clapped his hand on my shoulder, as if I were some strapping young man he was encouraging. All of the women with me visibly tensed. I don’t think it would’ve taken much for them to physically remove him from my shoulder and actually toss him in the Lake.

He made a few more remarks and when he left I couldn’t quite tell if his attitude had been one of pleasant surprise or not — like a back in my day women didn’t get a chance to do that and it’s cool that they can now or a women don’t belong out here it’s less safe for them.

I have experiences like this occasionally — men who watch us pack or unpack the boats, or make jokes along the lines of “what are a bunch of ladies going to talk about out there” or “that’s a going to be a lot of great cooks for one camping trips”. It always sort of surprises me who is comfortable saying the worst things to a group of women; often, it’s actually the men in their 40s and 50s, not their 70s and 80s, who make the most egregious remarks I’ve noticed.

READ: Best Things to do in the Apostle Islands

toughness and teamwork

I’ve guided a lot of overnight kayaking trips— kids trips, couples trips, ski clubs, scouts, families, general public. The people who are the best out on the water, the toughest, the most willing to problem-solve, the quickest learners and by the end of the trip, the strongest paddlers are the women’s groups.

Images: left, sea kayaks under a pink sky. right: rainy day camp set up.

I think it boils down to an attitude thing — these women come in with the assumption that they know nothing or very little. They routinely underestimate their skills. The come in wanting to learn and choose to be tough together because it’s something they want. Every single one of them, every single time. Sure, it looks different on different people, but all of the women on these trips handle the hard parts of the trip with more grit than any other type of trip.

More than the inherent toughness of people who want to prove that they are tough, the teamwork on women’s trips is unlike anything anywhere else. Aged 18-late 60s, it doesn’t matter.

It’s not too late to come on a trip with me this summer! I have a handful of Saturday evening sunset kayak+sea cave+picnic dinner trips headed out this year yet, one last overnight sea kayaking adventure in the San Juan Islands (register by July 13!) and a September women’s rock climbing trip! Find all available trips and more info here.

I get scammed, and other embarrassing stories:

Hey there! This next little section is a treat for paying subscribers! Paying subscribers get access to occasional exclusive content like this, and help support me through times like when I fell for a health insurance scam this week (rip), AND my my freshly fixed car cranked out a nice new grinding noise AND several paychecks were late AND my eye swelled shut from too many mosquito bites and I went to Urgent Care which is where I realized I lost health insurance coverage 10 days before. HAHA enjoy!