By Women’s Adventure Intern, Molly Sprayregen
Until I volunteered for a Big City Mountaineers backpacking trip, my heroes had always been older than I was: camp counselors, adventurers, my parents, and admittedly, a few tween pop stars. But after BCM, four city girls from Denver, Colo.—Lila, Maria Elena, Ahtziri, and Maria—became my first 12- and 13-year-old heroines. BCM volunteers take under-resourced urban teens on “transformative outdoor experiences.” On my trip to Gunnison National Forest, I expected a clear division between mentor and mentored; this had always been the case with kids I’ve led over the years. My co-leaders, Myla and Yvonne, and I taught them to pack packs and pitch tents, demonstrated the need to laugh and sing while climbing the steepest hills, and taught our campers to love even the less-glamorous parts of backpacking. As it turned out, however, I needed their guidance as much as they needed mine. The girls respected their leaders, but I have never felt more humbled than while observing the respect they showed for each other, as well as the unending determination and self-awareness they exhibited every day. They went from never holding a pack to navigating and tackling hard hikes while holding hands, splashing through streams, tracking deer, and giggling while washing plates with snow. The wilderness helped crack their shy shells wide open, allowing the emergence of the confident, crazy, songwriting, pirate-ship-building children they deserve to be. This video is a glimpse into our journey.
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Molly Sprayregen is a twenty-year-old adventure-seeker who loves puddle jumping and dancing to 90s music. A student at the University of Pennsylvania, she’s pumped to be interning for WAM. She hopes to be a travel writer someday, and her first love will forever be backpacking. Sometimes, she jumps out of planes into fields and other times she slides down waterfalls in Ecuadorian rainforests. If she isn’t doing any of that, she’s probably eating pretzels and drinking a caffeinated beverage.
