LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 13 outdoor activities as "White people activities" in my head. Especially since in my immediate community, there's a cultural belief that says Black people don't go outside because we prefer to stay inside or in the city where we feel it's safe. When I was at North Country School, I always saw this idea being confirmed whenever we went into town or hiked the trails because it was always so rare for me to see people of color who either lived in the Adirondacks or simply enjoyed the public hiking trails, whether as a local or a visitor. This pattern wasn't just me overthinking; it's an issue seen outside of the Adirondacks as there's statistics that shows only 23% of visitors to the 419 National Parks are POC. A contributing factor to why this may be the case became obvious to me: the Adirondacks is home to many rural towns with the majority of the population being White. Naturally the outdoor spaces near these towns are also White-dom- inated. Growing up as a Black woman I always felt I had to be wary of White-dominated places, especially places in the middle of nowhere, because it could be dangerous if I ever crossed paths with people who weren't tolerant of my race. This message came from my mother who, like any parent, feared for my safe- ty, but I also learned this message from history class when I was taught about the lynching of Emmet Till and from the news when I was twelve watching the video of George Floyd murdered under another cruel act of police brutality. There has been a history of racial discrimination and violence which fueled a feeling of unsafety for me when I was in spaces with few people that looked like me. It's hard enough to try something new, but for a Black girl away from home for the first time, there was an added factor of intimidation due to my race and urban background. At NCS, my hesitant feelings towards the outdoors were confronted as the outdoors was an important part of school shown by the on-campus rock climbing crag and ski hill. Like any reluctant person, I attempted to avoid any confrontation, heavily relying on the Ferris Bueller Excuse: pretending that I was sick so that I didn't have to go on hiking trips. Unfortunately, this is hard to do when your houseparent is also the school nurse, Jess Jeffery, who co-founded AWP with me. It became easier to pursue outdoor activities with the help of people at NCS who made me feel safe to do so. My eventual appreciation for the out- doors emerged by befriending people like Jess whose love for the outdoors inspired me to find activities that I enjoyed. I realized that I didn't have to be like the other kids who hiked the highest peaks or skied the hardest routes. Instead of downhill skiing, I fell in love with the challenge of cross-country skiing through the woods; instead of rock climbing, I enjoyed belaying and encouraging others from the sidelines; rather than shutting myself inside with a book, I began to enjoy the refreshing feeling that reading a book while laying on the grass gave me. Most surprisingly, hiking was no longer the worst thing ever to me. Even though it can still be very exhausting, I found that my appreciation for the beauty at the top could outweigh my exhaustion… sometimes. During my last year at NCS I did something truly shocking: I took an outdoor leadership class. I mainly took the class because my favorite adult, Jess Jeffery, was teaching it, but I did learn a lot of cool things in it like first aid in the wilderness. Inyene skis with Access Wild Places participants at Whiteface Mountain. Access WIld Places mentors and staff enjoying an afternoon on the Rock-E house porch where students reside for their week of adventure and exploration.

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