(bright music) (gentle music) (snow crunching) - [Erica] What I love about snowshoeing is how quiet it is and how easy and accessible the solitude is.

Even if I'm with my group and we have a small, five or six snowshoers with me, it's just us, we can make our own path and find a quiet little corner with a view.

(gentle music) To hear the birds and to watch the sunrise and to be able to go wherever it is we wanna and not have to stay on a trail, takes us further and gives me just a deeper connection to nature, which is what I'm looking for when I go out.

If I go out and it's a crowded area, I come back and I don't feel as replenished.

If I go out and I get a little bit of that solitude and I can soak up more of my surroundings, I go back and I'm just at peace.

(upbeat music) - I am here in Winthrop, a tiny town in Eastern Washington, to meet with Erica Abel.

Erica is the founder of PNW Happy Hikers, an organization she created to make sure people like her, Black people and queer people feel safe and welcomed in the outdoors.

Today we'll be snowshoeing, which she says is her favorite way to get outside.

(gentle music) This is like an ice skating rink.

Oh my goodness.

(laughs) Hello.

- Hi.

So good to meet you.

- You too.

Welcome.

- Thank you, thank you, thank you.

What is all of this stuff?

Like, help me understand the difference between these snowshoes and how the day's gonna work.

- I brought a couple different kinds to show you.

The first kind is more basic of a snowshoe, and the main feature that's different on this one is the rounded poles that go all the way around the snowshoe.

And then we've got teeth all around the bottom edges of your shoe, so it's got a wider range of capabilities and conditions.

And you also have a heeler rise back here, which is used for climbing up like a steeper elevation.

- Okay.

- So if you don't have snowshoes, you kind of punch through that first crust and then you're sinking in the snow.

So the snowshoe will keep you floated up closer to the surface so you can go- - Got it.

- anywhere you wanna go.

- I truly never understood why snowshoes were necessary.

(laughs) - Yeah, yeah.

We'll find out.

(laughs) - [Alison] Ooh, yep.

There it is.

- My name is Erica Abel and I'm the founder of PNW Happy Hikers & Backpackers.

I grew up in Eastern Washington in New Mexico.

I didn't grow up with fears in the outdoors.

My sister and I spent a lot of time just playing outside.

We lived by a canyon with a creek in it in New Mexico, and I feel very comfortable and at home outside in the trees, with the wind with the animals.

I started PNW Happy Hikers & Backpackers because I was kind of looking for a community to join, and I didn't really see myself represented in the groups at that time.

I think one of the biggest obstacles for getting more people of color to the back country is gatekeeping.

Those areas that are further away from the city, they're just less talked about.

And so if you're just starting out or if you don't know where to look and you're just browsing for the first time, you're going to see the more popular trails that are visited more frequently because they're closer in proximity to the city.

- I've definitely had that experience over the past three years.

It's almost like this subculture, right?

Like when I first got here, I knew that there were beautiful trails and places to go, but then like a year and a half in, I realized that there are places that people go that you don't really know about and that there's complicated permit systems.

And so what I've really appreciated about PNW Happy Hikers & Backpackers is how open you are with this information, right?

You truly are sharing this because you want more people to participate, not because you wanna show off about all the amazing things you do on the weekend.

- Yes.

(laughs) - I appreciate that.

(gentle music) As a Black queer woman in the back country, do you find that safety is a concern for you?

I mean, I would afraid to be out there by myself.

- I do understand that fear, and I'm very much aware of it.

When we're visiting a new area for a hike, it's usually an area that I have hiked in and visited first, and I have kind of vetted an establishment in that town or the town itself, and I decide, is this a place I wanna take a group of potentially people who look like me to eat and spend their money and spend their time there?

- I'm curious if you've had any racist encounters in any of these places.

- I have, very, very much so.

And that's another reason why I love the Twisp area, because I have not there.

(air hissing) (gentle music) I think I love Twisp for a few different reasons.

It kind of unfolds in different layers.

So you have the cute little towns and you leave and go for a snowshoe during the day and come back, but then there's so much space that just kind of pulls you to explore further and just access to a lot more trails and a lot more areas to explore.

And the third layer would just be the community that's there.

Everyone has been so welcoming and kind and they remember my name, even though I don't live there, they think I'm a resident, and so it feels very comfortable.

I found snowshoeing probably about eight years ago, and I wish I could do it year round.

(laughs) It just opened up a whole extra season.

(snow crunches) Normal places, you can't maybe travel there because there's usually flowers or something else, but in the wintertime when it's covered in snow, you can put on a pair of snowshoes and go anywhere you want.

I do think community is really important because you learn, I learn different things from different people every time I go on a group hike, and it's just little bubbles of information.

Community just helps me feel more comfortable in trying new things.

Just start small, be safe, bring what you have and find your community.

- We did it!

- We did it.

- Woo!

- Nice work!

(gentle music)