Ladies, it´s time to get into the game.

What game you ask?

Why, the Ice Age Trail, of course. No, it´s not a board game. It´s not on television. It´s not found on Netflix. It can not even be checked out from the library or purchased in a store.

This game, comes on a large, rather uneven playing surface. It slightly resembles a game board, but it is like Jumanji... on steroids. Because the Ice Age Trail is real.

Game Objective: It does not matter how many hotels you have purchased, how many pets you acquire, how many pieces you send around the board, the amount of money you have in the end, or even who reaches the Candy Castle finish line first. It is who steps outside and accepts ¨The Challenge.¨

My current challenge is the Ice Age Trail. I am about to embark on this challenge with my family. My husband, Jeremy, and daughters, Bristol, 6, and Piper, 4, are about to set out on an 8 month quest.

The Ice Age Trail encompasses everything that I hope to teach my children, my players, and my students about strength, determination, hope, applying knowledge to life, character and self-esteem. If I can lead by example, my daughters, players, and students will see a real person that must persevere to learn. I am confident that my determination will inspire my daughters; and together the three of us will inspire more children and young adults to work toward their dreams and goals.

Starting question:

Hmmm, could I….? Yup! I can!

Why do I want to pursue something so random? After all, how many people have heard of the Ice Age Trail? Why such an odd pursuit? It is nothing that I have ever done before. Therefore, all of the steps in preparing for this endeavor will be shared with my family.

First, I am a woman. I believe that I am capable of almost anything, when I put my mind to it. I post this motto in my classroom: DREAM IT. PLAN IT. DO IT. It sounds simple, but it can apply to any question, problem, or challenge out there.

I want females to be able to take on challenges… any challenges! As I face 1,226 miles of wilderness with my daughters, and my teams and class watching in the background, I envision them seeing my daily steps as I achieve the total distance. Each day I do a little.

I can and will do what my counterpart does. A woman can set up a tent and prepare dehydrated food on her Jet Boil Camp Stove. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female. I want my students to see this.

My imagination, is my only limit to my abilities. I will exceed all of my expectations.

I recognize the need to push women into the outdoors. I push myself everyday to model and mentor for both young and middle-aged females. REI’s campaign that began last year, “Force of Nature”, is one of my motivating ideas for this hike. I want my daughters, as well as my female students and players, to see the power that is within themselves.

It has been shown in research, that women only apply for jobs when they meet ALL of the job criteria. Whereas, men will apply for the job if they think they would like to get it. It is a different level of expectation that we females have grown up with. If I want to be considered for something, I have to already have the training and experience to back it up. Women, for this exact reason, are hesitant to head outdoors because a woman believes ‘she is not quite ready’. That is wrong! I need to show that a 4 year old, 6 year old, and myself can go outdoors because we ‘dream to’.

The outdoors is the ¨largest level playing field¨ on Earth.

Ladies….. Let´s get ourselves into this game!

#IceAgeTrail #Adventure #Hiking #Outdoors #FamilyGoals#EmpowerWomen