I Feel Like an Imposter in Outdoor Adventure.

A few days ago, adventure buddy Hannah and I did the Triple Dog Dare: 3x summit of Dog Mountain in the Columbia Gorge in a day (19.5 miles, 9,000’ of gain, 7.5 hours).

This also means we talked about everything and anything for 7.5 hours non-stop. ;) (One time during a race together, the women at the aid station told us how funny we are to listen to. We had no idea everyone on the trail could hear us talking sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.)

At one point on Dog Mountain, we found ourselves both admitting to a weird flavor of imposter syndrome when it comes to outdoor sports. 😬 We somehow both feel, sometimes, that we’re not intense enough, elite enough, fast/strong/insert-whatever-adjective-here enough.

Which is SO totally bonkers, since we’ve accomplished feats many people are stunned at. We ran 100 miles! Hannah worked in Antarctica! I was a Search and Rescue volunteer and wilderness medicine teacher! And yet, we both at times succumb to a ridiculous pressure that we’re not doing enough in outdoor sports. That we should be “better” skiers or get more days in the backcountry or reaching higher elevations just… because?

I think social media is a piece of the problem. I recalled an Instagram Reel I watched last year from a woman who hiked this same Dog Mountain. Men in the comments told her she was being dramatic since Dog isn’t “that hard.” I remember a man laughing at me once for saying I “climbed” Dog instead of “hiked.” 🙄

For me, the most self-conscious I feel is that I don’t get… wild enough. I see women complete incredible, once-in-a-lifetime expeditions. My colleague Sunny Stroeer just walked 350 miles across Alaska. (And she’s done it before both on skis and on a fat bike.) My friend Katie Crafts kite-skied across Greenland. My friend Colleen MacDonald recently set an FKT on Mt. Kilimanjaro. I’m surrounded by women who have truly epic wilderness stories. And I feel like my closer-to-home adventures aren’t cool enough.

Now, I know that’s not true. I know many of you reading are amazed by some of what I’ve done (which makes me feel even sillier for admitting this). But I want to examine this more, so that future generations of girls don’t get caught up in comparing how “outdoorsy” they are against others’ own stories.

After all, when I Google dog mountain 3 laps, AI Overview tells me it’s a “notoriously steep elite-level endurance challenge, rarely done in three laps.” Here I am afraid people won’t take me seriously. But AI Overview thinks I’m elite. 😏