{"id":21522,"date":"2023-12-23T11:42:58","date_gmt":"2023-12-23T15:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/?p=21522"},"modified":"2023-12-23T11:44:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-23T15:44:14","slug":"women-of-the-wilderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/2023\/12\/women-of-the-wilderness\/","title":{"rendered":"Women of the Wilderness"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Excerpt Saltscapes Magazine, Cover feature, Dec 2023)<\/em><\/p>\n

Women in Southeast New Brunswick are taking to the woods together and having a blast.<\/em><\/h4>\n

The first time I met Sarah Lord, she was leading a hike to the Midland Ice Cave near Norton, N.B. The icy alcove tucked behind a frozen waterfall on private land is the kind of local treasure that isn\u2019t advertised, but continues to be popular due to the agreeability of the landowner.<\/p>\n

This is what Lord does best: she sniffs out hidden New Brunswick destinations, works out the kinks of getting there safely, and helps others stretch their comfort levels and discover the beauty of their own backyard without the worry of getting lost or encountering the unknown.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lord is one of the founding members and leaders of Women of the Wilderness (WOW), a casual Facebook group of women aged 18 to 80 who connect through a shared desire to challenge themselves and become more comfortable in the natural world.<\/p>\n

A health and wellness coordinator with a PhD in diabetes research, Sarah discovered hiking\u2019s healing properties during a difficult period in her life. She\u2019d lost her mom to breast cancer, suffered a marriage breakup, then escaped an abusive relationship. \u201cI was 40, unmarried, and didn\u2019t have any children,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI felt I wasn\u2019t of value to my dad, who wanted grandchildren. I was the only one in that predicament with my circle of friends. I no longer fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

WOW members hiking Dennis Beach, NB<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Joining a hiking group of men and women helped her regain stability. \u201cThey were the community I needed for belonging,\u201d she says. \u201cMeeting other individuals, especially older ones, provided positive role models for me. One person told me, \u2018You do matter to the world, even though you haven\u2019t produced the things you think as a woman you should have.\u2019 I realized that without family and children, I now had the luxury to do the things I wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"With newfound confidence, she completed a Charity Challenge Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru, with the Arthritis Society, then shared her story at two Go Wild forums in Riverview, N.B. The events, part of a municipal program to encourage women to hike, attracted over 400 people. The response energized her. Lord took an outdoor leadership course and first-aid training and then organized a community Learn to Hike program to teach the safety aspects and help those unfamiliar with the woods feel more comfortable.<\/p>\n

She started a casual Facebook group to keep participants \u2014 mostly women \u2014 connected, then began leading hikes and other outings. \u201cMy niche in leadership is the inexperienced hiker,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s more of a reward factor for me to build someone else\u2019s confidence in something they didn\u2019t feel they could do on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day she posed a question on the social media page: \u201dDoes anyone want to go camping?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like crickets,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThen I posted, \u2018Do any WOMEN want to go camping?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

(Read the rest…Saltscapes Magazine, Dec 2023 issue)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Excerpt Saltscapes Magazine, Cover feature, Dec 2023) Women in Southeast New Brunswick are taking to the woods together and having a blast. The first time I met Sarah Lord, she was leading a hike to the Midland Ice Cave near Norton, N.B. The icy alcove tucked behind a frozen waterfall on private land is the kind of local treasure that isn\u2019t advertised, but continues to be popular due to the agreeability of the landowner. This is what Lord does best: she sniffs out hidden New Brunswick destinations, works out the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21522"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21522"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21529,"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21522\/revisions\/21529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev3.deborahcarr.ca\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}