Explorer Chicks of Saint Louis

OVERVIEW

Are you into endless views? Old-growth forests? Mist bouncing off a 100-foot waterfall hitting your face? Then spend a long weekend with a small group of women hiking the best trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (including parts of the Appalachian Trail).

Channel your inner goat girl as you stroll through iconic scenery and listen to stories of the women who helped shape the Smokies. Take a brief break from the trail living out your pottery fantasies throwing clay on the wheel and sculpting your very own mug. Then kick back like a queen with nightly glamping near Gatlinburg, TN.

BOOTS = HIKING

Get your blues and greens in on three stunning hikes that don’t even look real. The views from Charlies Bunion and Ramsay Cascades are complete madness. Wind your way through pine trees and over classic creek crossings that make you momentarily consider a coonskin hat. (But not really, because animals ♥️)

ROOTS = HER-STORY

Did you know a woman was the first settler to move to the Smoky Mountains? You didn’t? That’s because Martha Jane Huskey Ogle’s husband called dibs on the fame. Learn about the deliciously woman-heavy history of a wilderness that man tried real hard to claim as his own. Your Explorer Chick guide will drop all the juicy gossip, connecting you to the goosebumpy sisterhood who walked before you.
Deep dive into Appalachian crafts straddling a wheel and molding a coffee mug with your very own hands. Local artists will guide you through the entire pottery process and only help when needed. After 10 weeks of drying, firing, and glazing, your mug will show up at your doorstep. Surprise! Relive the SHE-nanigans of your Smokies trip.

YOU FEELING MAX COMFY WHILE GLAMPING

Put your feet up in total Insta-worthy digs at our adorable glamping site minutes from Gatlinburg. You will sleep in a tent that has been tastefully decorated and luxuriously appointed with WiFi and temperature control – with meals freshly prepared at camp by your Explorer Chick guides. You only have one task after hiking: RELAX.

ADVENTURE HIGHLIGHTS:

• Hike the Appalachian Trail to the sweeping panaromic views from Charlies Bunion
• Get up close and personal with the Smokies tallest waterfall, Ramsey Cascades
• Learn how to work clay on a wheel as you create your one of a kind glazed coffee mug
• Kick back at camp with breakfasts and dinners cooked by your Explorer Chick guides.
• Sleep easy at our Glamping site with canvas tents outfitted with all the creature comforts.
• Relax with a comprehensive itinerary that makes the logistics, transportation, navigation, meal planning, lodging, and everything between easy.
• Geek out with supportive and encouraging Explorer Chicks on a private, women-only, small group adventure tour.

This life-changing, 4-day women’s Yosemite hiking adventure will give you jaw-dropping views of granite mountains, wide-open meadows, and ancient Sequoia trees. Maybe this trip is what your boss means when they demand leaving no stone unturned? Set that out of office and buy the hiking leggings with the deep pockets because your girl gang is WAITING FOR YOU.

With your new besties beside you and our professional guides showing you the good pee spots, we’ll explore the best Yosemite peaks and valleys in this crazy-beautiful playground. By day, we’ll clamber up towering domes and stroll through lush valleys. By nightfall, we’ll laugh until we can’t breathe and fall asleep smiling, snuggled up in our cozy cabins.

Enjoy a Google Earth view of Yosemite Valley from the top of Taft Point. Hike through a grove of forever-old Jeffrey Pines to summit Sentinel Dome. Feast on the panoramic majesty of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and Glacier Point. Seriously, this is your life right now, and you are HERE!

Hiking the famous Mist Trail will lead us through pristine wilderness to the deafening roar of Vernal and Nevada Falls. You’ll forget an entire household depends on you as you dash through the heart of Yosemite’s High Sierra meadows, taking a lunch break by a diamond-clear lake, surrounded by the towering granite peaks of the Cathedral Range.
We’ll cross wooden footbridges and babbling streams to stand inside a cathedral of trees, where sequoias stand like ancient sentinels. These living legends have names, personalities, and GOSSIP. You’ll meet Grizzly Giant, The Bachelor, Three Graces, and The Faithful Couple. (Or so they claim…)

Your only mission after the day’s Yosemite hike – eating, sleeping, and cackling with your new friends. No, you can’t help us with dishes. Yes, you can have seconds. Enjoy the feral highs of traveling with adult women who love and accept you just as you are.

PTO hanging on by a thread like your favorite ugly bra? We blow the roof off of what’s possible to do and see in 4 days with this women-only hiking and hot springs adventure weekend in Yellowstone National Park!

You’ll meet up with the group girlies in Jackson, WY for a caffeinated drive to Old Faithful, which erupts every 90 minutes like the bad bitch she is! Gawk as you walk amongst ONE-QUARTER of the world’s geysers in Yellowstone’s stunning Upper Geyser Basin. Get all the braggy photos of Grand Prismatic’s steaming rainbow that’s way more dramatic than a Beyonce Met Gala look. Hike past giant Hoodoo rock formations and stunning basalt columns that might turn you into a giant geology nerd.

We’ve got sneaky waterfall stops. Choose-your-own adventure hikes. Secret trails… along with Yellowstone classics––like a Hoodoo hike into Mammoth Hot Springs, a friggin wildlife safari in the Lamar Valley, and a canyon walk into Artist’s Point at sunrise. And to top it all off, we’ll slip into a hot spring as the sun sets, letting those adventure muscles soak while you bask in some serious golden-hour goddess vibes.

We could see grey wolves, grizzlies, bison, eagles, and more. We’ll enjoy hearty meals and our own private shuttle that blasts Stevie Nicks. Plus daily free time for introvert recharging and comfy lodge beds to rest our happy bones.

Give us your overworked bodies for one long weekend, and we’ll give you back your feral souls.

Over the course of two days, join other women and learn how to backpack in beautiful Red River Gorge, Kentucky. This Red River Gorge Beginner Backpacking Workshop for women is a hands-on, fully immersive experience in the great outdoors. Never slept outside before? No problem!

Yes, your dreams of hiking to a faraway, remote land to spend a few days camping and living in the wild surrounded by mountains can come true! We want you to be able to backpack freely in the wild at your every whim armed with the skills, knowledge, and experience to do so! So welcome to your outdoor classroom: the Red River Gorge Geological Area.

AKA: This is ain’t no free class at your local outfitter. This is REAL backpacking with you doing all the things: packing, hiking with a full pack, cooking, setting up camp, hanging a bear bag, filtering water, asking a million questions, and if you’re real lucky pooping in the woods ?—with a supportive group of women and one of our expert guides. That means when you inevitably mess up, no need to feel embarrassed. When you question if you’re doing something correctly, your guide can help you. Let’s learn together in the outdoors, so when it’s time for your big adventure you’ll already have legit, backcountry experience.

It all goes down in beautiful Eastern Kentucky. With the Red River Gorge hiking trails leading to an abundance of natural bridges, sandstone cliffs, rock shelters, and sandstone arches, we couldn’t think of a more beautiful location to teach you how to backpack in the wilderness.

The best part? We’ll lend you the essential gear to get started! Every Explorer Chick will be provided with a:

• Backpack
• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping pad
• Shared two-person tent
• Shared cooking equipment
• Water filtration

Yep! Give backpacking and camping a try before thousands of dollars into it. Try out our gear to learn what features you like and dislike. Ask your guide about other brands. Seriously, this workshop is all about learning while connecting to other adventurous, rad women!