{"id":19716,"date":"2017-09-05T08:54:14","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T15:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=19716"},"modified":"2021-06-03T14:51:32","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T21:51:32","slug":"jenny-brusos-fight-for-a-more-inclusive-outdoor-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/jenny-brusos-fight-for-a-more-inclusive-outdoor-community","title":{"rendered":"Jenny Bruso\u2019s Fight for a More Inclusive Outdoor Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe switchbacks repeated themselves so many times I couldn\u2019t tell what progress I\u2019d made, but there it was, the last one before the crest. I trudged on, grateful for another morning without a hangover,\u201d Jenny Bruso reads into the mic, reciting her essay “I Took the Long Way” to the standing-room-only crowd of 75.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bruso is reading before a packed house at Queer Adventure Storytelling, a monthly event for LGBTQ outdoor enthusiasts to share stories, songs and poems about traveling, hiking and nature. As one of the event\u2019s three co-founders, Bruso brings eight years of outdoor experience and enthusiasm to each gathering.<\/span><\/p>\n

A decade ago, Bruso was a DJ in her mid-20s, mired in a haze of alcohol and drugs, wholly uninterested in the outdoors. In the years since, she’s has become an avid hiker who works tirelessly to challenge the mainstream’s idea of\u00a0<\/span>who recreates o<\/span>utside<\/span>. In the process, she\u2019s created an online community of self-proclaimed Unlikely Hikers<\/a> and helped launch the monthly Queer Adventure Storytelling event.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI said it very passively and wasn\u2019t trying to call myself \u2018<\/span>The <\/span><\/i>Unlikely Hiker,\u2019 but people grabbed onto it.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

San Diego-native Bruso did not grow up recreating in national parks and forests. \u201cWe didn\u2019t like the dirt, the bugs or feeling uncomfortable,\u201d she says. \u201cWe would much rather watch TV or ride our bikes around the neighborhood.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

When she was 27, Bruso joined her partner at the time and a mutual friend on a trek to Mirror Lake<\/a> and up Tom Dick and Harry Mountain, a trail that gains 1,700 feet over three miles. \u201cAs tough of a time as I was having, I was not immune to how beautiful things were and how they sort of sunk into me,\u201d Bruso says. She marveled at the smell of the forest in the summer sun, the sight of fiery wild rhododendrons.<\/p>\n

Gradually, Bruso started opting for hiking over the club scene, working her way up to three to four hikes a week.\u00a0<\/span>She started a blog in 2015<\/span><\/a> to chronicle those adventures and share her outdoor experiences as a \u201cself-identified fat, femme, queer, writer and former indoor kid,\u201d per her blog. She wrote frankly about her struggles on the trail and a pervasive feeling, fed by glossy magazine covers and filtered Instagram feeds, that she didn\u2019t <\/span>quite <\/span><\/em>belong on the trail. \u201cThis thing that I love doing is really white, really male-dominated and really narrow,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bruso dubbed herself an \u201cunlikely hiker\u201d in one early post. \u201cI didn\u2019t think anything of it,\u201d she says. \u201cI said it very passively and wasn\u2019t trying to call myself \u2018The <\/i>Unlikely Hiker,\u2019 but people grabbed onto it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jenny Bruso on Cape Alava Loop (Ozette Triangle) | Photo courtesy of Bruso<\/p><\/div>\n

She saw other outdoor enthusiasts using the phrase on blogs and in hashtags and, before long, <\/span>Bruso started an official Instagram account<\/a> to spotlight fellow Unlikely Hikers<\/span>. The community has since grown to 18,000 followers on Instagram and <\/span>1,600 fans on Facebook<\/span><\/a>. Today, Bruso routinely posts images and shares stories of hikers and outdoor enthusiasts of all backgrounds and experience levels, especially those from marginalized groups. Each garners hundreds of likes and dozens of supportive comments.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cTo be able to share other people\u2019s experiences and stories feels like a tremendous privilege,\u201d she says. \u201cUnlikely Hikers can only exist because of the people who share their stories, reach out and make it a thriving community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“There\u2019s so much momentum right now surrounding changing the dominant narrative of who should feel comfortable outside, who\u2019s in all these pictures and who’s enjoying our outdoor spaces.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last February, Trevor McKee, trainer, instructor and course developer for <\/span>Outward Bound<\/span><\/a>, Travis Clough, operations manager and instructor with <\/span>The Venture Out Project<\/span><\/a>, and Bruso developed Queer Adventure Storytelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

The trio met through mutual friends and quickly set about brainstorming ideas for promoting inclusiveness and encouraging a love of the outdoors. \u201cI feel like there\u2019s so much momentum right now surrounding changing the dominant narrative of who should feel comfortable outside, who\u2019s in all these pictures and who’s enjoying our outdoor spaces,\u201d McKee says.<\/span><\/p>\n

In developing the event, McKee quickly became enamored of Bruso\u2019s story and drive. \u201cFor her, it\u2019s been a conscious decision that creates health and healing, empowerment, community, peace and serenity,\u201d McKee says. \u201cAnd she has full-on gone out there to make it happen. She not only paves the way for herself but for other people, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jenny Bruso on Mount Adams | Photo courtesy of Bruso<\/p><\/div>\n

The first Queer Adventure Storytelling event took place at a\u00a0north Portland brewery in May, and each event to date has resulted in standing-room-only crowds. Queer Adventure Storytelling is held on the second Wednesday of each month, and interested attendees can get updates on the group’s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bruso is excited by the communal culture that\u2019s developed\u2014and where it may lead from here. \u201cIt\u2019s an invitation: This could be your incentive to do that thing you\u2019ve always wanted to do or find a partner to do those things with,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s always worthwhile to hear the stories of lesser-heard people, hold up those voices and maybe create specific spaces for those voices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe switchbacks repeated themselves so many times I couldn\u2019t tell what progress I\u2019d made, but there it was, the last one before the crest. I trudged on, grateful for another morning without a hangover,\u201d Jenny Bruso reads into the mic, reciting her essay “I Took the Long Way” to the standing-room-only crowd of 75. Bruso […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":19722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":[726,707,1866,727],"internal-tag":[1678],"class_list":["post-19716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike","tag-force-of-nature","tag-hiking","tag-inclusion","tag-latest-posts","internal-tag-pre-redirect-hiking"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/hike\/jenny-brusos-fight-for-a-more-inclusive-outdoor-community","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Jenny Bruso\u2019s Fight for a More Inclusive Outdoor Community","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/jenny-brusos-fight-for-a-more-inclusive-outdoor-community","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/jenny-brusos-fight-for-a-more-inclusive-outdoor-community"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/JennyBrusohikingselfieonWildwoodtrail-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/JennyBrusohikingselfieonWildwoodtrail-1.jpg?fit=1800%2C1817"},"articleSection":"Hike","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["force of nature","hiking","inclusion","latest posts"],"dateCreated":"2017-09-05T15:54:14Z","datePublished":"2017-09-05T15:54:14Z","dateModified":"2021-06-03T21:51:32Z"},"rendered":"