Thank you for being a part of our Women of Fisheries community and participating in the second annual fisHER Adventure Classic this month! Without you, we would not be able to grow and expand our services for all women in fisheries.
The fisHER Adventure Classic is our annual fundraising event to help support our initiatives such as future scholarships, awards, mentoring support, and planning for annual meetings. This year, the event took place virtually from October 1-17, 2021, and we encouraged registrants to participate in an outdoor adventure of their choosing and share their stories with us.
In all, we had 37 participants checking in from Washington to Florida and all together we raised approximately $415. From kayaking, to hiking, to running a marathon (!), here are a few of the adventures shared with us by our members. Maybe you will even catch a glimpse of your own.
The fisHER Adventure Classic also included a contest for Most Impressive Adventure, Most Interesting Location, and Best Adventure Story, with winners having the option to choose from personalized prize race swag. Our story entries were so great that we had a hard time deciding on winners. This resulted in a tie for Best Adventure Story and the addition of a special category – Overcoming Adversity! Thank you to everyone who submitted stories and shared your adventures with us on social media. We can’t wait for next year’s event to share even more adventures with all of you!
Below, we present our 2021 story winners and their winning entries. Congratulations Courtney, Leigh, Alex, Lynn, and Audrey!
Most Impressive Adventure – Courtney Saari
My FisHER Adventure started with a kayak trip in Lemon Bay on October 3rd; unfortunately red tide was lingering so we cut our adventure short. We picked it back up on October 17th to explore the beautiful freshwater portion of Shell Creek. We paddled for 5.5 miles, and saw 3 or 4 gators, one big one we might’ve seen twice, tons of herons, egrets and turtles. When we stopped in a cove for a photoshoot a large gator popped up, startling us, and blocked half our exit for a minute. That was a bit unsettling but he moved and we paddled quickly down stream. Besides the wildlife, we had the river to ourselves. It was just the escape we needed!
Most Interesting Location – Leigh Habegger
I spent 5 days and 4 nights backpacking through the Grand Canyon with three other women – one ultrarunner, one 65-year-old Grand Canyon veteran (she’s hiked the Canyon 50+ times, oftentimes solo), and one of my best friends from Washington, DC. We entered the Canyon down South Kaibab trail, traversed the river on a bridge (holy crap!), and continued on through Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel campground. We hiked two miles up to the Tonto to camp on Sumner’s Wash under the stars the first night (even got to see the brightest Milky Way!!). On the second day, we hiked about 7-8 miles down to Clear Creek Campground and stayed there two nights. The first afternoon brought 30-50 mph wind gusts and blew 3 of the 4 tents into nearby trees and creeks (needless to say, lots of duct tape was used to repair the tents). The third day was overcast, drizzly, and rainy. To keep warm, we explored Anasazi ruins, old waterfalls, and spent 8 miles hiking up the wash of a canyon. Truly incredible exploration. On the fourth day, we hiked back to Sumner’s Wash and camped beneath the stars again, with only a minor mishap when I slipped and the hand that caught me landed on a cactus! (I’m still picking out the smallest needles – hah!). The last night was cold but still (thankfully!). The moon was so bright that the Milky Way wasn’t quite as incredible as the first night, but hey…I’m not going to complain one bit! We ran out of fuel the last morning, so we had lukewarm, somewhat soupy oatmeal and packed up to head out. After hiking 2 miles back down towards the Colorado River, we made a quick pit stop at Phantom Ranch to purchase a hot coffee to wake us up and give a bit of a jolt of energy for the next 11 miles we had to hike to exit the Canyon. We hiked out on the Bright Angel trail and passed through Indian Gardens and the devil’s corkscrew portions of the trail. One of the hardest hikes I’ve done, but an INCREDIBLE women’s trip!
Best Adventure Story (TIE!) – Alex Norelli and Lynn Mattes
Alex Norelli
My boyfriend and I did a 15 mile bike ride through the Everglades at Shark Valley. I am a programmer that stays glued to her desk, getting out and biking 15 miles was a major feat and adventure! We saw lots of birds, herons, I spotted a few Florida gar! Our scariest moment was around the 4 mile mark when we took a water break and were standing at the edge of the road. I went to show James a picture on my phone of a great blue heron and suddenly we heard rustling in the bushes. A gator comes out and is swimming straight toward us!!!! We leapt onto our bikes and sped away, I didn’t even think to take a picture. The view from the observation tower was awesome! The bike ride back after was not as awesome, but we powered through!
Lynn Mattes
Mine ended up being a last minute adventure. A planned trip to a cabin in the shadow of Mt. Rainier in the Wenatchee National Forest was on hold due to wildfire in the area. Found out 4 days before the scheduled trip that the area had reopened. Thank you to the fire fighters for all of their work.
The adventure was in getting to the cabin thanks to some early season snow in the mountain passes. I timed my travel over Chinook Pass (on the flank of Mt. Rainier, WA) to be in the warmest part of the day so that the road would be in the best shape possible. Luckily the road was mostly wet with some slush. The areas on either side of the road were very snowy, including the rest area I had planned to stop and take a lunch break. Oh well, made it over the pass and to the cabin for several days in the mountains and woods with good friends.
Overcoming Adversity – Audrey Baetz
Today I completed my adventure by going on my first run since before Hurricane Ida! I evacuated Louisiana on Aug 26, and on the 28th Ida swept over my university town and destroyed my house. After that I was stuck in Michigan for a month until I could find somewhere new to live. I just got back down to Louisiana, moving to NOLA! Today was my first run in what seems like forever, and the first steps to getting back to a normal routine!! The best part of my adventure was passing a local pumpkin patch in town and running along the streetcar lines! I ran a total of 3.5 miles and am so proud of myself for continuing to do what I love while supporting my fellow WoF!
