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Tag: #Hiking

No Woman Left Behind

Por Maricruz Zarate

I love how the phrase Yo Cuento is ambiguous and can take on several meanings. It can mean “I tell a story”, but it can also mean “I count” or “I matter”.  The latter stands out to me the most because, for a long time, I didn’t think I mattered in the outdoors. I don’t look like your average outdoor enthusiast and I wasn’t until about 6 years ago when I discovered the beauty of nature and my passion for hiking and building community. 

I was never exposed to the outdoors growing up and honestly, I didn’t think I belonged outdoors because of my size and inexperience. All that changed shortly after I moved to San Antonio, Texas. I went on my first guided hike at the gorgeous Friedrich Wilderness Park in 2018, and I was hooked! The peace I felt after the challenging hike was not what I expected. I was excited and eager to hike more and spend time in nature. So, my journey began. 

I looked up local hiking groups and found a few on Facebook and on Meetup. I joined a beginner’s hiking group. I was not in the best shape and hiking was new to me, but I felt safe going with “beginners” and I was excited to participate and immerse myself in nature. Unfortunately, I was left behind on this hike. I couldn’t keep pace and the small group of hikers I was with continued on without me. The lack of compassion and empathy I experienced was heartbreaking. It was very disappointing, but little did I know that this negative experience would ignite a passion in me and launch me into the most positive experience of my life so far. 

That moment motivated and inspired me to create a women’s hiking group, and not just any hiking group, but a group that would include plus-size women like me. I didn’t know what to expect, but I hoped that women would join me. I had always thought of myself as a follower, so this was way outside of my comfort zone. I was nervous and hesitant, but I felt in my heart that I could not be the only one who had been made to feel excluded in the outdoors. It couldn’t just be me. So, I took a leap of faith and created my first hike on Meetup.com. At first, I’d have small groups of women, but over the next few months, the group began to grow and ladies of all ages, shapes, and sizes started joining me outdoors. 

I started the group over 5 years ago and it has grown to be more than I ever imagined. I’m thankful for the ladies who have come alongside me to help lead hikes all around San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country.  I’ve tried my best to model the values of compassion and empathy that I hold dear, as a reminder that the group’s focus is not on speed or distance; rather, the heart of the group lies in connection and growth. As a result, there is a sense of solidarity that emanates from our core principle – NO WOMAN LEFT BEHIND. I believe this promise gives each of us the courage to step outside our comfort zone and the freedom to be our most authentic selves. It connects us with women who want to build each other up, rather than race each other to the finish line. With a shared sense of unity, our group has grown from a hiking group into a sisterhood. 

Through the years many friendships have been cultivated and lives have been changed for the better, including my own! Starting this group has stretched me in ways I never expected. It’s caused me to step out of my comfort zone and challenged me numerous times. This so-called follower is now a leader. My eyes have been opened to the importance of community, and it’s inspired and helped me grow in other areas of my life. I’ve had numerous ladies tell me how the group has changed their lives. With every cuento they share, my heart overflows with joy and reminds me how much yocuento and how every woman who hikes with us does too. 

Lifelong Connection

por Cristina Gamboa

I was born and raised in the Central Valley of CA (close to eastern side of the Sequoia national park). My earliest and fondest memories of being outdoors are camping with my family every summer for as long as I can remember. If I imagine hard enough, I can still smell my mom making homemade tortillas at 5am in the morning to make papas and huevo taquitos for us to take on the road before we headed off in a VERY packed car. I come from very humble beings and we were not able to travel as many families do over the holidays and summer months. To be honest, I didn’t really know that was a thing until I was older. For our family, I could always count on our weeklong camping trip in the summer to Lake Nacimiento. It was filled with mischief between my brothers and I and simple good fun as a family.

As I got older, being outdoors and taking on adventure has meant different things for me. While in college and in graduate school, being outdoors was an inexpensive way to continue to see the world around me. It has allowed me to make some amazing friends, see some amazing places, and I loved to feel like I was taking my family with me by sending them postcards from my travels. After hearing of my trips my mom would (and still does) respond with “aye mija, que bonita”. I felt proud to show them the places I was going.

“The majority (90%) of my patients are Latinx and many farmworkers. It is hard for them to find time to be outdoors for leisure. After a long day working in the fields the last thing they can imagine doing is being outdoors “for fun”.

Now, as a physician being outdoors has become a necessary means to decompressing. I like to think of it as my place to recharge and hiking as my moving meditation. Of course, my to do lists creep into my head but mostly I am able to appreciate the beauty around me and return to work refreshed to care for my patients.

Currently my husband and I are in Utah. He’s remote teaching and I’ve been getting into solo mischief in the Slot Canyons for Escalante Grand Staircase and doing day hikes in Bryce NP.

There are so many health benefits to being outdoors. I practice in Watsonville, CA as a Women’s Health physician. Obesity is on the rise in young women and Latinx community in general. I routinely encourage my patients to be more active. The majority (90%) of my patients are Latinx and many farmworkers. It is hard for them to find time to be outdoors for leisure. After a long day working in the fields the last thing they can imagine doing is being outdoors “for fun”. But I encourage them to do what they can and find a housemate to go for a walk with and catch up.

Connecting the Generations

por Marilyn López

I often think about my family trips to Guanajuato, Mexico. Growing up, my parents, younger brother, and I would make the 16-hour drive from Houston every summer to spend time with my paternal grandparents, aunt, and uncle.

We traversed las sierras de Tamaulipas into the low mountain ranges of San Luis Potosi until finally reaching the distinct clay brick and concrete houses del Cerro Gordo, Guanajuato.

This is where I learned to play in the dirt, developed a taste for nopales, and realized that different types of maíz existed (or as the saying goes, “sin maíz, no hay país”). My fondest memories include going grocery shopping with our colorful bolsas de mercado and stopping by la paletería y nevería afterward for a quick indulgence. Back en el rancho, I would help my tía y abuelita wash clothes outside by hand using la tabla, and then hang them up to dry. We would tend to the chickens, horses, and goats with the utmost love and care. Food never went to waste, and water was used wisely. I became aware of the human-nature relationship and our profound responsibility to preserving our environment.

These early childhood experiences in connection with physical and human geography, which were critical to my understanding of the self and the world around me, are only but recuerdos now. It has been 20 years since I last visited my second home. I’m now left to figure out: how do I build a connection for my 3-year-old daughter to the outdoors y con sus raíces mexicanas, when we live more than 2,500 miles away from family and nuestra Madre Patria?

“This is where I learned to play in the dirt, developed a taste for nopales, and realized that different types of maíz existed”

Marilyn López

As a second-generation Tejana through my mother, but first-generation Mexican American through my father, my Chicana identity was formed by way of having what Gloria Anzaldúa calls a “forked tongue” (the ability to speak Spanish and English), through the practice of cultural Catholicism, being raised in a predominantly Latino community, Tejano home cooking, and Mexican images and symbols plastered throughout our home. Thus my identity and resilience were so exquisitely preserved I never had a reason to question it, but for my daughter, who was born and is being raised in the Pacific Northwest, how do I build that same foundation? Because to me culture and nature are intertwined.

Our family’s journey in reconnecting with the outdoors and bridging that cultural and spiritual gap began by first recognizing that Latinxs remain significantly underrepresented in outdoor participation and the environmental movement’s leadership. Not to mention a report published by the Center for American Progress states that “people of color, families with children, and low-income communities are most likely to be deprived of the benefits that nature provides” (July 2020). With this in mind, my husband and I sought out local Seattle organizations and public events focused on connecting Latinx youth and their families to engaging and meaningful experiences in nature. The only ones we found intent on creating access and opportunity to these particular spaces were Latino Outdoors and Washington Trails Association (in partnership with LO).

“Our family’s journey in reconnecting with the outdoors and bridging that cultural and spiritual gap began by first recognizing that Latinxs remain significantly underrepresented in outdoor participation and the environmental movement’s leadership”.

Marilyn López

As a result of Washington’s COVID-19 social distancing measures, we’ve ventured outside more than usual. From bicycle rides in North Bend to camping in Olympia to trail hikes in Anacortes, my husband and I have been intentional about providing our daughter with rich opportunities to explore the outdoors. Children are already natural explorers, so our goal is to integrate nature and outdoor play into our daily lives. Since playgrounds have been temporarily closed, we started going on bicycle rides around our neighborhood in the evenings and going on family-friendly trail hikes on weekends. I started running regularly, and now my daughter enjoys running alongside me too.


Back in May, the Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF) released its 2nd Annual Congressional Toolkit and policy recommendations, where it noted that “recent polls have shown that Latinos care deeply about the environment, a sentiment that is rooted in a culture and history of taking care of the land for future generations.” As reflected in my own experiences, environmental stewardship and conservation are ingrained en nuestra cultura. For now, I want my daughter to grab puños de tierra, breathe in the reassuring smell of fresh pine, and engage in curious play, but ultimately, I hope to raise my daughter to be an environmental justice chingona who will embrace her abuelita knowledge and view the disruption of settler colonialism as a moral obligation.