A Guide to Getting Outside

A useful and informative guide for those looking to get started with outdoor adventuring

Story by Kiora Surratt

Photo courtesy of Erika Groshell

Erika Groshell has been on so many hikes that she can’t even remember which ones she’s done and which ones she hasn’t.

Groshell is an officer of Western Washington University’s Hiking Club. She’s been on overnight backpacking trips, snowshoeing at Mount Baker’s Artist Point, and has even hiked a trail near Snoqualmie Pass called Dirty Harry’s Balcony — which must mean she’s adventurous, because personally, I’d like to avoid Dirty Harry. But Groshell insists that if she can do it, anybody can — and should.

“People tend to think there’s a certain kind of person that hikes, or there’s certain gear that you need. The reality is, especially in the summer, you can go out in leggings, jeans, shorts, a skirt with a T-shirt or whatever the hell you want,” Groshell said. “Hiking is something that’s actually really accessible. Take a backpack with water and snacks. Drive wherever and go outdoors. It’s a good time.”

Bellingham boasts an endless supply of outdoor adventures right in its backyard, from the Chuckanut Mountains just south of town to the weaving trails off Route 542, the long, scenic stretch of highway leading up to Mount Baker. But it can be difficult to just “drive wherever and go outdoors” if you have no idea where to start. Luckily, Western has clubs and an Outdoor Center to make that transition a bit easier for anyone interested in getting outside, regardless of experience level. 

“There are resources available to you at Western, it’s just about whether you want to use them,” Groshell said. The Hiking Club, for example, meets weekly and offers a number of hiking trips throughout the school year with a variety of trail lengths and difficulty levels. “We’re enthusiastic about [the outdoors]. We love it, and we want to share the things that we love with other people,” Groshell said.

The club has hiked around the coast at Deception Pass, which is just under an hour away from Bellingham. “Spanning two islands and connected by a series of iconic bridges, Deception Pass … [is] best known for its panoramic views and jaw-dropping sunsets,” Washington State Parks wrote on its website.

One super nice thing about joining an outdoor community, Groshell said, is access to carpooling, which is even better for car-less students. The club has also done winter camping trips, where they hike through the snow during the day and come back to camp in their cars overnight.

Additionally, joining the Hiking Club could give you the chance to meet Iris, Groshell’s cat-turned-hiking-buddy. “I’ve walked her on a harness and leash since she was a kitten,” Groshell said. “She hates being in the car, but as soon as you take her outside, she loves it.”

If you’re interested in following Iris’s wilderness journey, you can follow her Instagram account @Iristhesiberian.

Western’s Outdoor Center is another excellent student resource, offering rental services and an excursions program to help make the outdoors more accessible. The Outdoor Center’s rental shop, located in Room 150 on the bottom floor of the Viking Union, offers a variety of affordable gear, from mountaineering boots, skis, or climbing shoes to anything you would need for backcountry travel, such as tents, backpacking stoves, backpacks and even mountain bikes. The rental shop also offers free adaptive hand pedals for bikes for students with physical disabilities or limitations. 

“If you don’t know anybody who does it or you don’t have the resources for [more rigorous] outdoor activities, it can [seem] really inaccessible. I think the outdoor center provides a real step into the outdoors when it comes to physical resources, like the gear, as well as staff who [are knowledgeable on outdoor activities] and love to teach people,” said Kateri Rinallo, excursions coordinator for the Outdoor Center. “I’m super grateful [for my time here]. It’s the best community ever.”

Rinallo understands that it can be intimidating to start, especially in a place like Bellingham, which by its nature attracts people who have grown up spending time outdoors. But anyone can learn. Rinallo didn’t know how to ski or mountain bike before moving to Bellingham, but both are now some of their favorite activities. The outdoors doesn’t have to be intimidating, especially not with so many student resources available to support you.

“Every person in this building loves to teach and has such a different view on recreation. When understanding how outdoor recreation looks to the world, it has been seen as having this ‘bigger, better, faster, stronger, who can conquer the mountain the fastest’ mentality. A lot of us have worked hard to reframe that mentality [and to paint the outdoors] as a healing, leisurely space of freedom,” Rinallo said. “It’s where we can go backpacking, fall into the flowers and smell them. It doesn’t need to be a space of anxiety or conquering.”

In the spring and fall, the Outdoor Center offers group excursions like hiking, climbing, backpacking, mountain biking and sea kayaking. In winter, they offer cross-country and backcountry ski trips. The center has Wednesday evening trips that are completely free, as well as weekend trips that cost some money, although Rinallo said that they try to keep the programs as affordable as possible. 

The center also focuses on making the outdoors accessible for marginalized groups. 

“We know that, historically, the outdoors has been a very inaccessible place for [certain] folks, especially for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), so it’s our goal to make [accessibility] a priority for students and to increase representation in the outdoors,” Rinallo said. 

According to a 2014 study published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, Black Americans are less likely to visit national parks than white Americans. The study references the National Park Service’s (NPS) Comprehensive Survey of the American Public, which revealed that while 35% of white individuals surveyed had visited a national park within the previous two years, only 13.9% of Black individuals surveyed had done so. This means that approximately 14 times more white than Black people visited a national park, despite there being only about 5.6 times more white than Black people in the U.S.

Adding to the issue of racial inequality, data released by the NPS in 2020 revealed that 78.5% of its permanent employees are white. In contrast, only 6.7% are Black, 5.6% are Hispanic, and 2.3% are Asian, with all other races making up the remaining 3.6% of its total workforce. This large gap in employment can make a notable difference in the perceived accessibility of national parks and outdoor spaces. 

“If you don’t see yourself reflected in the outdoors, it’s really hard to see yourself as someone who can be in that spot,” Rinallo said. “So representation and access is really important for getting into [outdoor recreation].”

As part of their goal of increasing accessibility, the center has partnered with clubs and organizations on campus, like the Native American Student Union, the Black Student Union, international students, and Western Success Scholars by bringing them on exclusive excursions, Rinallo said. The center has taken clubs out rafting and kayaking, and even got muddy with the BSU on a mountain biking trip last year.

So whether you’ve never stepped foot on a trail or hold a season pass to Mount Baker Ski Area, Western has communities ready to welcome you. But if you are new to the outdoors, there are a few things to know before embarking on your first journey. One essential piece of hiking gear that people often overlook, Groshell said, is a bear bell. Bear bells are used for generating noise while you’re hiking so that bears know where you’re at.

“I don’t think people realize that animals are almost as afraid of you as you are of them. If you’re not wearing one and you come across a bear, they’re going to freak out,” Groshell said. “They could possibly be aggressive because they think you snuck up on them. Whereas if they know where you are, they’re probably going to stay a little further away from you.”

If at any point you do see a bear, Groshell recommends that you go wherever is furthest away. If that’s back up the way you came, so be it. She also noted that you should always carry bear spray, which is basically an aggressive version of pepper spray, although she’s personally never had to use it. 

“Trail safety is important,” Groshell said. “If you don’t have someone with you, someone should know where you’re at.”

To Groshell, wilderness activities of any kind offer a unique chance to learn about and connect deeply with nature. 

“It has such a larger societal and cultural context besides just hiking,” Groshell said. “My dad talks about how zoos are inherently not great, but if you get people to go see the animals and partake in a part of their lived experience, then you are more likely to care and to do something. Meaning that if you’re out in nature and you see all of its beauty, you could think, ‘If I don’t do my part in taking care of the environment, we will lose this beautiful thing.’”