WHO WE ARE

Melody Blaney thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail (hiked 2,159 miles from Georgia to Maine) in 1996, and self-published a book of her trek:  "A Journey of Friendship - A Thru-Hike On The Appalachian Trail".  Melody's motto is:  If You Can Dream It - You CAN Do It!  She has experience guiding backpacking trips for various fundraising and private outdoor organizations, has taught workshops in Beginning Backpacking, Outdoor Skills for Women, and Long Distance Hiking.
"After living on the Appalachian Trail for 6 months during my thru-hike and witnessing the many moods and beauty of mother nature and the woods, I realized the importance of preserving it.  By offering outdoor expeditions and nature weekends, along with the alternative building/sustainable living workshops, my hope is that women will feel the same awe, motivation and passion that I do from time spent outdoors, and that they, too, will help preserve it so the next generation can enjoy it as we do now."

Patti Landovek is an avid kayaker & cyclist as well as an artist and writer who has prior experience conducting children's programs in the outdoors.  She comes from a background of stand-up comedy and has published a book based on her stand-up character Fembah entitled "The Love Poems Of The Feminist From The Darkside".  Patti has worked with Melody on her various programs and workshops and is very excited about Wildside.  Her goal is that you have as much fun as she does!

Ann Thamert will lead hikes, ski trips, and other adventures for Wildside Adventures for Women in Glacier National Park and the Flathead Valley in Northwestern Montana.  She has enjoyed many years of traveling and guiding family members and friends on hikes and ski trips through the west, including 35 summers in Montana and in Europe.  Ann will soon realize her dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2008!  She will then open her own company providing sightseeing services (hikes, ski trips, and hiker shuttles) in Montana.  Look her up on Montana Caravans.

Jo Ellen Kleindienst will co-lead a number of our backpacking trips.  She has retired from the federal government and is currently doing consulting in the aviation field.  She was the Backpacking Chairperson for Washington Women Outdoors, a wilderness and outdoor education non-profit organization in Washington, DC.  She has planned and led numerous backpacking trips in the mid-Atlantic region, including the wilderness areas in West Virginia.  She has a love of the outdoors and also loves to introduce women to the wonders of the natural world and the empowerment of being in the wilderness.

We are excited to have our new addition, Mary Holmes - our very own resident gourmet!  She has published her own book, "Feasting in the Wild Country".  Mary has always enjoyed exploring the outdoors and never feels more in touch with herself than when her feet are wandering a forest path.  She considers the Adirondacks the cradle of her backpacking interest, but has also hiked on Alaska’s tundra and canoed in Canada’s North West Territories.  After her retirement Mary completed three long trails: The Appalachian Trail, the Colorado Trail and the John Muir Trail.  But her home and her heart are in the Adirondacks, so she bought some land and designed and built a small log cabin.  Mary has contributed to the other’s enjoyment of the trails in that she has worked as a trail maintainer with the Adirondack Mountain Club, and still maintains a portion of the Northville-Placid Trail.  Mary lives with a very special dog, a Welsh corgi named Misty who is her best hiking buddy.

Barbara Barker is a self-professed full time adventurer.  She enjoys hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, road biking, skiing, snowshoeing, camping and anything outdoors.  She also enjoys sharing her outdoor knowledge, skills, and experience with other women.  Barbara's goal in life is to have fun.  She is a retired educator, so watch out - every once in a while she forgets that she is no longer the principal.  Come on out and have some fun with her!

Leslie Mass will co-lead most of our backpacking trips.  Leslie lives in central Ohio and thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2001 at the age of 61 and completed her first running marathon in 2004 which qualified her for the Boston Marathon in 2005.  She has written a book about her thru-hike "In Beauty May She Walk; Hiking the Appalachian Trail at 60".  Leslie spends as much time hiking as time allows (which is never enough).  She has been working with women since her days as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pakistan; has hiked in India, England, and Austria and loves the adventure of being with a community of women as they discover the wilderness.

Kathryn Macvicker will co-lead a number of our trips.  She joins us from a background in nursing where she has worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist.  She had a private practice for many years as a therapist working with woman's concerns and issues.  For the past 10 years she has been exploring alternative health care (meditation, yoga, Reiki - and is certified in these areas).  She has backpacked on the AT, and has worked as a beginning canoe instructor.  When she is not backpacking she is working with an animal rescue group finding good homes for them.  (Kathryn's philosophy can best be summed up in the words of Deepak Chopra:  Health is not just the absence of disease.  It's an inner joyfulness that should be ours all the time - a state of positive well-being.)

Judith Ogle will co-lead a number of our backpacking trips with Melody.  Judith entered the Wildside "family" in February of 2004 as a participant on one of our trips - she was hooked!  She participated in the majority of our backpacking trips during the 2004 season and has joined the ranks of backpacker addicts.  Her love of the trail radiates on her face every time she puts her pack on.  Judith lives in Roanoke, VA and when she's not on the trail she stays in shape by kayaking and chasing her little granddaughter (believe it or not -  she really is a grandmother!)

Cindy Jenkins will lead our naturalist trips as well as accompany us on many backpacking trips to share her love of the outdoors.  Cindy has an Associate Degree in Applied Science in Forestry and admittedly prefers to share her knowledge not from a science book but on a level that is down to earth (no pun intended).  Her wealth of knowledge ranges from trees, timber, forest ecology, wildflowers, medicinal herbs, birds, animal tracks, and neat "lore" about trees that will certainly keep you entertained.  "When it comes to our natural resources, my thirst for knowledge is never quenched."  . . . and we are glad that she's always thirsty!

Katahdin, our ten year-old Border Collie, actually leads all of the trips for Wildside (with participant's consent, of course), and the rest of us are along to read the maps.  (Border Collies do have their limitations.)  He shares our same love of the woods, and  he's a big flirt and hopes you will enjoy his company.  He is vying for 1st place in the "Top Three Dogs I Have Ever Met" category by one of our Wildside friends.  Join him for a trip and cast your own vote.

Houdini - Hike leader in training.

Those who seek the mountains are not escapists, they are searchers.
They search for tranquility, for peace of mind, for something higher and
more permanent than materialism.
They search for the things that really count in life.      Anonymous