For most people who hike, just being outdoors is enough of a reward, but for some people it creates ideas of greater challenges and longer, longer hikes.

And that's the story we're here to tell you about today.

Welcome to Windows to the Wild.

I'’’m Willem Lange.

A few years ago, our crew hiked up and over Wildcat Mountain near Gorham, New Hampshire.

And one of the guides on that trip was Arlette Laan.

Well, since that time, Arlette'’’s been just a little busy.

She had been all over the country hiking several long distance trails.

We're lucky enough just to have intercepted her here today, again near Gorham, where we first met.

Yes.

But you're here today to guide a party of your own.

And are you going to hike up to a campsite?

Yep.

Set up camp?

Yeah.

Stay overnight and then go out the next day and teach the ladies all about, like, staying safe and warm in fall weather at a tent site in the wild.

This is a fun thing when it's not your pack and it has all these buckles.

You don't understand how they work.

like.

Mine's pretty simple.

Yeah.

And then Vinette likes to be like a little princess.

You better cut that.

Before Arlette and her crew take off.

Let me show you where we are.

The Wild River campground is about 30 minutes east of Gorham, New Hampshire.

It sits within the White Mountain National Forest.

From the campground, the hikers will follow the basin trail about two and a half miles to the Blue Brook campsite.

They're going to camp out tonight?

Yeah, tonight.

Ooh, Blue Spruce campsite.

It'’’s supposed to be clear or rainy?

I think it's supposed to be nice.

You think?

Well, you never know with the weather in the mountains.

You'’’ll find out.

That's great.

I don't usually take crocs but we might have a little bit of water issues with the recent rain.

Arlette'’’s a professional guide.

She lives in Massachusetts but spends a lot of time just about anywhere there are hiking trails.

There we are.

And that brings another, how many did we do?

40, 40 miles.

And no bear sightings.

You'’’ve been doing this for a while eh?

Yeah, about five years.

Something like that.

How long you been hiking?

Been hiking seriously, since the early 2000'’’s.

I grew up in Holland where it was mostly biking.

And then when I was 18, I would go for my first hike in Switzerland into the mountains and that's where I fell in love with hiking.

And then slowly it progressed into backpacking.

And then I got I moved to California and I got into like actually doing like long distance backpacking in 2002, I guess was my first longer trip.

When Arlette talks about long distance backpacking.

She really means long distance.

Since 2002, she's covered a lot of ground.

Like how many thousand miles?

Probably 35,000.

I'’’m not very good with numbers.

Yeah.

That'’’s over ten times across the country.

Yeah.

Yeah, It's a lot with those, the national scenic trails are, like, close to 19, 20 thousand.

And then I've done other trails as well and then have other trails in different countries as well.

We'll get to the story of the scenic trails.

But at the moment, Arlette has a group of eager hikers ready to go.

This is Jenny I was talking about.

Like I took her, took her over to Franconia and got her to experience the Franconia Ridge for the first time.

I did the Tammy Loop in September with Arlette.

I couldn't find any women my age who wanted to do something like that.

So I contacted Red Line guiding and lo and behold, they sent me Arlette and we did that track and it was amazing.

Was a bucket list item for me.

And we had beautiful weather and Arlette is just amazing.

My goal really is just to spend some time with these wonderful ladies and, you know, just be out in nature, kind of get away from things.

So that's pretty much it.

The basin trail is one of many that lead hikers into a vast wilderness.

We're following yellow blazes today.

above the treetops.

The surrounding mountain ranges dominate the skyline.

I'm just hoping to have a fantastic experience.

I'm kind of a novice backpacker slash camper.

This is my second time doing a two day hike, one overnight.

Both times with Arlette.

Last time was in August.

So it's going to be a little chillier this time around and just hoping for some great scenery.

A lot of laughs and I hope I can sleep.

It's an adventure.

It's one of those things, well you've done the Appalachian Trail, right?

where you have the routine of the simpleness of where you have everything you need with you.

All you have to worry about is your, where's my next flat spot?

Do I have enough water and have enough food.

Right?

And that.

But then you do have the adventure.

You see something new every day.

You do so, and that keeps it interesting.

Yeah, it does.

And you're kind of away from society, which is kind of fun.

But then it's all clumped up over there, so it's not going anywhere anyways.

Yeah, it's trail maintenance.

I've had so much fun, you know, doing backpacking trips and just, you know, the sense of empowerment that you get when you carry everything on your back and you, you know, you have your shelter, you feed yourself and you do this whole excursion and you're going places where most people can't go because you can't drive a car there.

And so you're seeing things that are just amazing.

And, you know, you're you're doing it all with the power of your own two legs.

It's amazing.

The bog boards are kind of wet.

I suggest you use really small flat footed steps and just take as long as you want because we don't want to slip.

But I just usually do this very flat footed little steps.

It looks silly but there's less chance of a falling.

It's different having a woman guide than a man guide and sometimes it's just nice to be in the woods with a woman guide, you know, especially who's of a certain age, who's around my certain age, and to just to think that you can keep doing that as long as you possibly can.

And my feet are already soaked.

So it doesn't matter.

When she isn't guiding.

Arlette packs up and heads out the door.

But the past few years, she's been on the move.

Amazing.

You've done the 11 so-called scenic trails.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The National Scenic Trails.

Yeah, The 11 National Scenic Trails are part of the National Park Service.

They zigzag across the country from north to south, east to west.

If you want to hike all of them, get ready to walk more than 24,000 miles.

You have done them all.

I've done all 11.

Yeah.

And some of them are actually really scenic.

And some of them I don't really know why they have the designation.

Arlette began her scenic trail journey in 2003.

She chose the Pacific Crest Trail as the starting point, the Pacific Crest looks beautiful.

ah, that'’’s amazing.

The Sierra Nevada are so pretty and then Washington so beautiful.

Yeah, yeah, really likes that one.

And Continental Divide Trail is just amazing as well.

Just that's more it was more of an adventure so because I did that earlier right.

I did that in 2004.

So there wasn't all these like smartphone apps.

So yeah, you know, paper maps, compass.

And then we did have some very simple GPS device and then every once in a while we would check it and we're like, oh no, we missed it.

We missed the trail again!

As I'm standing here in slightly overgrown trail, not much I can change about me getting wet feet every day, So just accept it and appreciate the good sections of trail and don't get focused.

Stay focused.

Don't be so focused on getting big milestone.

Whatever happens happens.

If it doesn't, it doesn't.

And just because the trails are kind of overgrown or wet, which makes for slow going and then, you know, it's hard to make the bigger mile days then don't make the big mile days and we'll see where, we'll see where we'll end up this year.

So that's the attitude adjustment.

Wish me luck.

Only a handful of people have hiked all 11 trails.

Not hard to see why.

Arlette is the first woman with that honor.

No woman has ever done that before.

Nope, no I'll be the first.

I'm the first one to finish it.

Yeah.

So it's super exciting.

You still got your feet.

You still got your legs.

Everything is still attached.

It's pretty surprising.

It is.

But no, I'm still in good shape.

So a funny story and I'm kind of embarrassed about it, but we were on top of, I think, Lafayette and all these people were coming up to her and congratulating her.

And I had no idea who she was or why they were congratulating her.

So a short distance after we we were on our way again, I asked her, said Arlette, why is everybody congratulating you?

And that's when she told me so I didn't know.

I hadn't Googled her enough before the trip.

All right.

We're entering the wilderness.

Wild river wilderness.

Oh, yeah.

You know what that means, right?

It'’’s going to get wild.

It's amazing.

It's absolutely amazing.

And I just can't even imagine doing something like that.

I guess a nice side effect of it is that other women are seeing me do it and they're like, Oh, we can do that too.

So I think that's a nice side effect of me doing that.

Yes.

Is inspiring other people of, you know, to do it as well.

They see me, you know, because I'm like, I'm 50 years old.

I'm not like stick thin.

I'm not normally what you see in a lot of the magazines.

And then they see me as like, well, she can do it like I should if I want to.

I should go out there too, like if she can do it.

So that's kind of like been a nice a nice trickle effect.

Where, where people are like, well, she she's out there, you know, doing good with a little a little bit extra weight, a little bit of extra gray hair even though I cover it up, The pink is very natural.

Wilderness trails are usually less maintained and less marked, but this section is quite all right.

But whenever you're you look at the map and you see that it's a wilderness area, it's harder to find a trail.

I think it's incredible.

It's something that I could couldn't even fathom doing, especially the wintertime ones, the one where she finished.

I think she finished in the winter up in Michigan this past winter.

And I think it's incredible.

I think I'm very lucky to get to hike with her and call her a friend.

Yeah, this is this is glorious, beautiful, beautiful day.

This is where, winter.

This is winter hiking at its best.

It's just amazing.

I'm going to go into the McCormick Wilderness tomorrow and I put out a request for people to help me through there because it's not blazed and with the snow covering trail.

I wasn't sure how safe or how easy or hard it would be for me to find my way.

So and there's been some people that are going to meet me tomorrow morning and we'll have a group and I'll be fun.

We'll go through the wilderness together.

Hiking more than 24,000 miles is is just a bit different from an overnight outing.

But these hikers today will likely gain from the experiences of Arlette'’’s odyssey.

Guiding, what you're doing today.

Yeah.

It's different from just hiking.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How so?

So a lot of the times I bring out people that have not seen what I've seen before and they're so that is cool that for me that's an added value to it that I get to see a lot of stuff through their eyes and I get excited for them.

So that's fun and I get to build their confidence.

Like a lot of the times they want to do these, these hikes, but they haven't.

They don't have the confidence, they haven't had the experience.

I don't think I want to, No what I did was like this.

All right.

I just did it backwards and then hold on to this tree.

Yeah.

So then there's like a step right there.

Hold on to it.

Hmm.

Okay.

That works, too.

Or they have they don't have friends that can go with them.

So then I help them and then we both do it, and then they get empowered just like, Hey, I just did that.

Like a couple of weeks ago, I had this lady wanted to do a Pemmy loop and it'd been on her list forever, and she just didn't have the right people to do it with, and she didn't feel confident enough to do it by herself.

Yeah.

So then I get to help her, you know, get this experience.

Two days of heavy rain brings the hiking party to a full stop.

It's an opportunity to lend a hand and share some skills.

So I was just telling Vinette.

I'm going to go across, I'’’ll drop my pack and then I'm going to take her pack and help her across.

And then whoever wants to also not carry their pack, I can help.

So just wait and take your time.

And if you don't feel it, wait for me and I'll, I'll help you cross.

She's just really good.

I feel very safe with her.

I think she knows what she's doing.

She knows the woods.

I feel like she's prepared for whatever might come around.

It's really helpful when we get something like a water crossing.

Where I might not be familiar with the skills that are needed, and she'll pause and put me through that.

So I feel like I'm always learning, even though I could get myself through the woods just fine.

It's really nice to have someone else who knows what they're doing in terms of skills.

For me personally, she gave me a little bit more confidence to be on the trail and I've only backpacked once before, so I kind of have a goal, a personal goal to do the long trail in Vermont next summer.

So it's helpful for me to be with somebody who's done so many trails and learn from her and get the confidence to know that I can do it.

If she can do it, I can do it kind of thing.

I have less than six miles to go to the beginning of the superior hiking trail.

Don't let the accolades fool you, like most hikers, Arlette has moments of doubt.

Little bird has agreed to come and hike it with me.

There's one where I'm like extremely frustrated and I'm by myself, so like, I don't have anybody to talk to.

So I actually taped it and like, I can't show it anywhere because it's just it's not, I don't know.

It's constantly to look back at like my reaction and state of mind.

So I thought, you know, Ohio was crap, right?

I kind of knew that then Pennsylvania was pretty nice.

It was hot then.

Now I'm in New York and it's again, I'm walking around these stupid fields.

There's like, no trail.

It's completely, Why am I even doing this?

This is stupid.

Oh, and then there's one at the end of the border route in Minnesota.

So this is the last bit of the border route.

And it's been really pretty.

It's been kind of challenging.

It's been like kind of like the hiking in the Whites a little bit.

This is an easy stretch right here, but it's a lot of little step up and downs.

And I was I had allergy my eyes were all puffy.

I was so tired.

And just to see myself talking and and going back to how I felt in that moment where I was just so tired.

That's a really interesting one for me to look back at.

I was like, Wow, I was so done.

The seasons are changing.

I have allergies because of the humidity change in temperature, something or other.

I also got kind of homesick because it reminded me of hiking at home in the Whites and in Maine and all the memories that go with that.

where you, you get to go home, you get to hike with your husband and friends and not be alone all the time.

So it kind of hit me, hit me quite hard.

I got to get kind of sad.

This is an update from Minnesota, about 350 miles to go in Minnesota.

I think so.

So what did you learn along the way?

I learned that my body is very strong and my mind is very strong.

And so I learned a lot about myself that way.

And that's been very valuable to me.

You know, like like don't don't focus so much on what you look like, but focus on what you can do.

And so that's the personal thing.

And then the other personal thing that I hadn't expected was that I met so many good, nice people out on the trails.

Self-selecting that they're nice people.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so that was really wonderful.

People that were trying to help you out and willing to help you out.

And then obviously all this just amazing beauty where you get to, you know, experience and you just get blown away by the scenery and like right now with the fall colors and just there's always something pretty to look at, you know.

Perhaps the best rewards for Arlette aren't the miles she logs or the number of trails hiked.

Maybe the best feeling is when she helps people realize their possibilities.

I had this lady that had been wanting to climb Katahdin for like years and years and years, and she was now 71.

Well, that's a little late, but she was still like, you know, she had still been working out.

She was still in decent shape.

She's like, well, like, I want to do it, but I don't trust myself to do it by myself.

So so we helped her.

I helped her get up there and we made it.

It was hard, but we made it up there.

And then she was like, so excited and again, like, empowered that she had been able to do it.

So I get to help people realize their dreams, right?

And just with with my experience, I can tell them all, you're going to be okay, or I have the extra gear, I have the knowledge, You can just come with me and we'll we'll be okay.

And then they have to have they get to have all these experiences as well.

And that's really rewarding.

The hikers reach Blue Brook Campground.

Oh, yeah.

We want to all look up and see if there's any widowmakers.

They stay busy until tents are up and secured.

This will be their home for the night.

Now it's time to rest, share stories and reflect.

Sometimes like your best experiences are like, Oh, remember that time that we almost got blown off the mountain and in the snowstorm?

And it got really sketchy, but we survived it.

And yeah, those are the things you remember.

You know, we had cheese burgers and beer or two afterwards, like McDonald's drive thru right!

She adds a sense of calm and she's just always so relaxed.

I'm also a slowish hiker compared to a lot of other people and everything.

I never feel like I'm being pushed or that I'm going too slow and that I'm holding up the groove.

She just makes it comfortable for everybody, kind of whatever level you're at.

So I really like that.

I think for me, was when I had my first time, like camping on snow by myself and I like, I didn't I didn't want to do it.

So every time, like the first couple of nights, like, okay, maybe you can find a spot where I can clear off the snow.

I don't have to set up my tent on the snow yet.

And then eventually it's like I have no choice.

I got to put my tent up on the snow by myself and.

And I was okay.

I prefer not to, but I was like, okay, I actually can do this.

So then that's like, kind of like, makes you feel good, right?

Oh boy, what doesn't it do for me?

I mean, it kind of helps me reconnect with, you know, being human.

I guess we spend so much time behind computers and, you know, immersed in technology.

And I think that we often get kind of disassociated from nature.

So that's really what it does for me.

Being in New England is just such a wonderful experience in general.

And if you don't take advantage of what we have up here with the mountains and rivers and lakes, it's I don't know, it just seems kind of silly not to get out.

Tomorrow will bring new adventures.

For now, it's time for me to say goodbye.

I'm Willem Lange.

I hope to see you again on Windows to the Wild.

Support for the production of Windows to the Wild is provided by the Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust, Bailey Charitable Foundation.

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Thank you.

I hope to see you again shortly.

Yeah, that would be great.

Okay.

Are you happy with that?

We didn't do half of what you put here.

Yeah, we did.

Yeah.

Oh, you just didn't put the record book in.

That's fine.

(laughter)