{"id":41340,"date":"2018-12-10T15:55:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T23:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=41340"},"modified":"2025-11-20T22:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T06:03:13","slug":"pattie-gonia-backpacking-queen-releases-her-first-full-length-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pattie-gonia-backpacking-queen-releases-her-first-full-length-video","title":{"rendered":"Pattie Gonia, Backpacking Queen, Releases Her First Full-Length Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you heard of the world\u2019s first backpacking queen, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pattiegonia\/\">Pattie Gonia<\/a>? She\u2019s an inspiration in six-inch heels\u2014created by photographer Wyn Wiley as a fun side project at first and then a full-on alternate persona, allowing him to explore all sides of his gender expression. Pattie&#8217;s mission is to promote inclusion and celebrate diversity in the outdoors. So far she\u2019s created a community of thousands of people online. We chatted with Wyn before the release of Pattie&#8217;s first-ever full-length music video\u2014a duet between a man and a woman, in which she and Wyn play both parts. It\u2019s Pattie&#8217;s biggest effort yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI wanted to create this video to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in the outdoors and encourage everyone who watches it to climb every mountain they want to climb in life, no matter what it is,\u201d said Wyn when we spoke with her earlier this week. \u201cThe world needs you to live unapologetically and celebrate every piece of who you are, masculine and feminine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, Wyn shares how he hopes to promote inclusion in the outdoors, and what he\u2019s got planned next.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/UKA7CpslwKg\" title=\"Climb Every Mountain | Pattie Gonia\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4><b>How did you get the idea to create the persona of Pattie Gonia?<\/b><\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_41382\" style=\"width: 277px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41382\" class=\"wp-image-41382 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/12\/DSC_9866-Edit1.jpg?resize=267%2C400\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"400\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-41382\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/karenkwang\/\">Karen Wang Photography<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Literally, it was just a couple friends and myself. We were sitting around a coffee table at a coffee shop we were just talking about random things. They were like, \u201cDude, Pattie Gonia, why is that not a name yet?\u201d And I was like \u201cLet\u2019s do this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>What is Pattie\u2019s mission?<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I want Pattie to have a purpose. Pattie\u2019s first mission is fun, and equally important to that is trying to educate myself as I go and be as inclusive as possible to hopefully encourage everyone to just live their best life, live unapologetically, to do the thing they wouldn\u2019t normally do. It\u2019s not normally like me to put on heels and strut around, at least it wasn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If someone has never been into the outdoors before, I want Pattie to be there with them! Come on girl, let\u2019s go do this thing. The goal of Pattie is to see everyone get outside and to try something they\u2019ve never done.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Why is the outdoors such a big part of your mission?<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why the heck not? We spend so much of our life inside. I\u2019ve spent so much of my life inside. The outdoors has always been my chance to just breathe. As a photographer, I lean toward the outdoors and toward nature to give people a space to be themselves. I see completely different sides of people come out when you get them into the outdoors and when you create a space that\u2019s all ours. It\u2019s really special to me. I think that Pattie is a natural extension of that.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>How did you go from choosing the name Pattie Gonia to taking action?<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I knew that on one of my first big hikes this summer, I wanted to take the [high-heel] boots out. And hell no, they did not fit in my pack. But I decided up on the Continental Divide to just throw them on. We did a few video clips and thought, \u201cThis could be something.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I was back in town in Lincoln, [Nebraska,] I was hanging out with my mom one night [about two months ago] and thought, \u201cHey, why not make this little video.\u201d She actually sat next to me and told me what clips should go where. Thus, the first video was born.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was very surprised by the response. I\u2019ve stumbled upon so many brilliant people who reached out who are members of the outdoor community fighting for equality on so many levels. It\u2019s been a world that I\u2019m so thankful was already there, and I hope that Pattie can join the party. Pattie bows down to the people who have come before. Every queen that has come before has really made dragging a more aware thing. I\u2019m super grateful for the ground that has been laid. Now it\u2019s time to dance on it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Why do you think Pattie has resonated with so many people?<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a very critical thinking level, Pattie can relate to a lot of people. Drag culture is more prevalent than it ever has been. If I would have stepped onto the scene and been in full drag it wouldn\u2019t have related to as many people. I think what\u2019s kind of unique about Pattie is she really has a message for everyone, whether you\u2019re straight or gay or anywhere on the beautiful spectrum. There\u2019s a little bit of Pattie inside everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll see Pattie over the next year be in heels some days and be in my more daily attire the next and be in full drag the next. I\u2019m going to figure it out just as much as everyone else is. It\u2019s a really beautiful space to learn more about me.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>We get this question a lot: Why does gender and sexuality matter in the outdoors?<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you are in the outdoors you will quickly realize that every side of you comes out. There are masculine sides and feminine sides of everybody. It\u2019s a beautiful place to put all sides of you to the test. Some of the most important thinking of my life happens outdoors. Some of the most incredible people I\u2019ve met have been in the outdoors because they\u2019re searching for something as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If people of all different backgrounds can find each other on the trail, on the side of a mountain, we\u2019re all better because of it. Why I do Pattie is because still inside of me is a 14-year-old me who\u2019s afraid of the world. For the rest of my life I\u2019ll try to figure out who I am. Because for so long I tried to squash a piece of me. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I came out, I tried to cover up my gayness by lowering my voice so much so that now it really is my voice. Even at the trailhead, people can size people up, and I think I can slip more into my straight-passing self. When I\u2019m out on the trails and with my best friends, I feel totally free.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_41378\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41378\" class=\"wp-image-41378 size-article_body\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/12\/DSC_9863-Edit.jpg?resize=1024%2C684\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-41378\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/karenkwang\/\">Karen Wang Photography<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<h4><b>What are you learning about yourself?<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am learning that Pattie has been long overdue in my life. I grew up in Nebraska and I grew up in a place that I think was pretty okay with being gay as long as I wasn\u2019t one of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">those<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> gays. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be very straight-passing in my life. I am realizing I have so many parts of me that are going to be more masculine some days and more feminine the next. I want to give myself that freedom so that I can find out more about myself. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the past two months\u2014both online and in person\u2014I&#8217;ve met incredibly beautiful people across every spectrum and community, both the LGBTQ community and the outdoor community<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If a bridge can exist between those communities, Pattie wants to be on it as well. I have so much respect for both of these worlds. I\u2019ve been searching for a new, beautiful flavor in my life. This is my new playground to figure out about myself.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>For someone reading this piece, what do you hope that they do?<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I hope they give themselves the chance to not take themselves so seriously. I hope that it looks like a beautiful new self-discovery.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you heard of the world\u2019s first backpacking queen, Pattie Gonia? She\u2019s an inspiration in six-inch heels\u2014created by photographer Wyn Wiley as a fun side project at first and then a full-on alternate persona, allowing him to explore all sides of his gender expression. Pattie&#8217;s mission is to promote inclusion and celebrate diversity in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":41422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":[15,1478,1866,727,1484],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-41340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike","tag-backpacking","tag-co-op-journal","tag-inclusion","tag-latest-posts","tag-staff-society"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pattie-gonia-backpacking-queen-releases-her-first-full-length-video","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Pattie Gonia, Backpacking Queen, Releases Her First Full-Length Video","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pattie-gonia-backpacking-queen-releases-her-first-full-length-video","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/pattie-gonia-backpacking-queen-releases-her-first-full-length-video"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/12\/Pattie.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/12\/Pattie.jpg?fit=6720%2C4480"},"articleSection":"Hike","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aer Parris-Hoshour"}],"creator":["Aer Parris-Hoshour"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["backpacking","co-op journal","inclusion","latest posts","staff society"],"dateCreated":"2018-12-10T23:55:51Z","datePublished":"2018-12-10T23:55:51Z","dateModified":"2025-11-21T06:03:13Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Pattie Gonia, Backpacking Queen, Releases Her First Full-Length Video\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/hike\\\/pattie-gonia-backpacking-queen-releases-her-first-full-length-video\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/hike\\\/pattie-gonia-backpacking-queen-releases-her-first-full-length-video\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/Pattie.jpg?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/Pattie.jpg?fit=6720%2C4480\"},\"articleSection\":\"Hike\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Aer Parris-Hoshour\"}],\"creator\":[\"Aer Parris-Hoshour\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[\"backpacking\",\"co-op journal\",\"inclusion\",\"latest posts\",\"staff society\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2018-12-10T23:55:51Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-10T23:55:51Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-21T06:03:13Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/12\/Pattie.jpg?fit=6720%2C4480","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41340"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201178,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41340\/revisions\/201178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41340"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=41340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}