Melanin Base Camp

Hey y’all, Melanin Base Camp: Real-Life Adventurers Building a More Inclusive Outdoors is now available for pre-order wherever books are sold. It features several amazing adventurous People of Color who have long been members of this online community. It also features photography from @pedalhomie along with many, many others. If you’re new to MBC or if you’ve been here for a long time, I hope this book is a reminder that we can literally do anything we put our minds to. And even more importantly, we do it on our terms—keeping community, family and friendship at the center of our outdoor pursuits—while discarding harmful language and outdated concepts that are rooted in white supremacy. It will be in bookstores on March 21! Pick up a copy and let me know what you think. Link in bio. Much love, —Danielle @skynoire ♥️♥️♥️

Reposted • @sorasupernova 😜 #MelaninBaseCamp #DiversifyOutdoors 🗒️ Thoughts on skate park aerials

Repost • @realfidelche Hey friends. I wanted to update you all on the fresh spring watering hole off the busy 1 near #mttam I didn’t expect my reel about it to go viral but it did. Of course that means it reached people who think it’s their job to police spaces. As a Black adventure seeker and hiker, I’m well aware of how the presence of Black and Brown people in these spaces is met. It’s offensive when we are accosted for sharing things and inviting others who look like us to discover them. 💚 It is all love. If you have concerns about hidden places being shared, there are proper ways to say these things and approach people. The normal “Karen” and “Brad” ways of doing it don’t work. I lived on Oahu and it was all #aloha when people talked about not sharing spaces; protecting native lands; and what to do when you’re on sacred land. 💚 Then you have the colonizers who post comments like, “the water made me sick and taste like metal,” or, “Me and my friends 💩 in the water.” Saying disparaging things to keep people away is childish and immediately gets you blocked and your comments deleted. 💚 It amazes me how people with a history of stealing land and enforcing codes to keep others from owning a piece of it are the main ones who think they should “police” any lands today. 💚 #VisitCalifornia #OutdoorAfro #BlackTravel #Sustainability #CleanWater #CleanWaterForAll #StayAndWander #FolkGreen #FolkScenery #BeautifulDestinations #OptOutside #TheOnlyCalifornia — 🗒️ How do you protect public lands?

Planning a trip to Mount Rainier National Park? Don’t forget to add a reservation to your packing list! This summer, timed-entry reservations are required. Planning ahead helps protect the park and improve your experience–think less crowded parking lots, shorter bathroom lines, and more room to roam on the trails. Get your advanced or next-day reservation on recreation.gov, and find more info at /rainier #PlanBeforeYouPark #PaidPartnership 🗒️ Were you aware of timed-entry reservations at Mount Rainier National Park?

Reposted • @saintjidz You coming to the next hike? • • • #community #outdoors #hiking 📌 Jess: Swapping the clubs for coasts 😭🙌 love this! It looks amazing 👏🥰 📌 Ben I Am: I done this walk 2 years a go by myself and I never regretted it, the best mind blowing experiencing I will never forget 💯 🗒️ Grab a friend and get outside this summer

“I have reached my final form: skydiving aunty. I am a middle-aged woman who happens to skydive instead of gardening, riding a motorcycle or one shot D&D campaigns. (I just assume these are things middle-aged women do; please don’t quote me.) How to explain any of this to a stranger who is primed to misunderstand? Oh, I don’t. And when my friends unhelpfully announce to random people, “Did you know she skydives?” I glare at them or look at the floor. This is an exhausting conversation to have with someone who has already made up their mind about what skydivers are like: fiscally irresponsible; reckless; adrenaline junkies who don’t live in the real world. At least, my friends who have their own weird hobbies, like alpine climbing and surfing rapids, need no explanation. But I’ve started to say the following to everyone else: No, I don’t do it for the adrenaline. I’m a skydiving aunty; I still jump after 12 years because I like snacks, being outdoors and seeing the same faces each week.” —— Skydiving aunty @skynoire shares complicated feelings about the sport. Do adventure sports have to be about chasing adrenaline or even skill progression? Is it possible to embrace playing outdoors, touching grass and spending time with friends? 🗒️ What outdoor activity would you try in exchange for snacks and good company?

Repost @ekaynuh • As a former suburban black girl, please hear me out! #suburbanblackgirl #education #blackeducation #BlackTikTok 📌 Nebulaaaaaaa: Or the rage you feel when you start to become conscious. 📌 Kambi Gathesha: This is 💯💯💯-it takes YEARS to unlearn 📌 hathor_03: yes!!!!! I didn’t know I was pretty until I was 23 because going to PWIs, I was told I wasn’t beautiful. I used to cry that I wasn’t blonde and white 📌 Marra: Sometimes it never gets corrected 📌 Ashleigh ✨: My schools weren’t the best but I’m soooooo glad I grew up around other Black folks. 📌 Chelseaaa: when i was younger i took “you’re not like other black people” as a compliment and that is exactly why! Mgmt: Growing up without access to other kids who look like you is its own form of trauma. Family is not enough. You need peers who look like you and share your experiences. So much of our identity as kids and teenagers comes from our peer group. Being “pretty for a Black girl” or “that one Asian kid” is not enough. Dealing with racism when you don’t even have the words to describe what you’re experiencing is traumatic. And internalizing those harmful beliefs means you may grow into an adult and have your own kids—without breaking the cycle. It’s natural for our parents to want us to attend the best schools (I mean the ones that hoard the most resources), but at what cost? And at what age do we take responsibility for dismantling our own internalized racism? 🗒️ Did you grow up around other kids who look like you?

“Before I became a filmmaker, I worked as an outdoor educator leading wilderness trips. I always dreamed of backpacking in the Patagonian wilderness. Last year I crossed this dream off my bucket list with a solo backpacking trip.“ — @sonsoll Filmmaker and wilderness educator Sonia Malfa reflects on a solo backpacking trip to Patagonia. #MelaninBaseCamp #DiversifyOutdoors ❓ Drop your dream backpacking trip in the comments!

Repost @thelaymarie • At the end of the day, I think we can just be happy about people being fit with folks they enjoy being around #thelaymarie #Running #runclubs #blackrunclubs #whiterunclubs 📌 Seth C: Was part of a black run club in boston and we always met up at a black owned restaurant and the pace was all inclusive and we waited for everyone to finished and celebrated everyone finishing 📌 Dasia Sade: They are sooo competitive. I’m like this is a social thing for me. I’m not training. I train alone. 📌 raeriles: We’re just more inclusive as a people even when we’re never ever considered 📌 didi: Me running a 10 minute miles at a white run club and literally getting left in the DUST. over 1000 people there even the organizers didn’t keep people behind for “slower” runners. 📌 Taylor| Travel Tips & Food: I literally laughed out loud when you said corporate work event because I know EXACTLY what you mean 📌 SavewithSydney: I came to your run club yesterday for the 1st time & I loved it. Everyone was so nice & the vibes were def there. I PR’d my mile run at 13 min & I felt good about it. Thank you for starting it! Check out @urbanrunclubraleigh 🗒️ what are you looking for in a run club?

“How do people land coveted permits to backpack the Nüümü Poyo trail or hike the Enchantments? Where can you park to access the roadside crag that’s way less busy than the popular one down the street? How do you find the unmaintained trails to ascend the small mountains on the NEHH (New England Hundred Highest) list? What are some of the best, legal dispersed campsites in your nearby National Forest? Where is that powder stash on the backside of the ski hill? There is an unfortunate culture of withholding this type of information. This culture stems from a scarcity mindset that says that those already in the know have the right to guard knowledge, so that, under the pretense of protecting it from overuse, the place or the activity remains the domain of a deserving few.“ Outdoor writer and speaker Mardi Fuller (@wherelocsflyfree ) tackles the subject of hidden knowledge in outdoor recreation—what it is, why it exists and how to find it. 🗒️ the rules governing access to U.S. public lands can be complex. Where do you go for answers to your outdoor questions?

Reposted • @arikneebars I’m looking for a man in f̶i̶n̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ CLIMBING edition #climbing #climber #bouldering #maninfinance #rockclimbing #tradisrad #trending #financebro #gymbro #funnyvideos #lookingforaman #notreally 🗒️ What are you looking for?

Reposted • @drozul Honestly still living this dream from last weekend and couldn’t have asked for a better day! Thank you thank you thank you 🙏🏽 @mattspix84 & @_lifethroughme_ for being there and taking this INCREDIBLE video!!! ♥️ Congrats @drozul and @oatmeaalgirl on your engagement! 🗒️ Where do you want your S.O. to pop the question? Or where did you do the honors? 💍