Summit 2012

Sanne Larsen Bagby, aka Ready

Sanne Larsen Bagby, aka Ready, (pronounced ‘Seh-neh’), was born in Denmark, and lived both there and Canada before moving to the United States. She hiked alone for many years before meeting her husband-to-be, Chris, aka Spur, on the Appalachian Trail. After honeymooning on the A.T. in 2001, they went on to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2002, and the Continental Divide Trail in 2006. In between their "Triple Crown" hikes she also found time to complete much of the CO Trail, Bruce Trail, and Bartram Trail. Sanne celebrated her 50th birthday with a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon, and recently traveled to India for hiking, Ayruvedic studies, yoga and volunteering at a village school. (For more about Sanne, visit here)

Judy Gross

Judy Gross grew up in Staten Island , New York . As a child, her mother taught her how to sew and instilled in her a love of the outdoors. She has maintained a passion for both throughout her life. She entered nursing school while still in high school and received her LPN upon graduation in 1974. In 1984, she received her BSN degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and then moved to Houston . While working as an RN, she attended the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and received her Masters Degree in Nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner) in 1994. In 2004, she attended Fashion Design School at Houston Community College.
A single mother raising twin boys who ultimately both became Eagle Scouts, her love for the outdoors took her on a journey of the Appalachian Trail in 2006. A rotator cuff injury forced her off the trail after almost 900 miles but she returned in 2007 and continued on to Massachusetts. The tent she carried on her hike weighed about 4.5 pounds and took up a large portion of her pack. She knew there had to be a better alternative. She melded her knowledge of hiking gear and her sewing skills to start LightHeart Gear in 2009.
Judy has been a vegetarian for over 15 years. With her background in health care, she is knowledgeable about the need for quality nutrition on a long hike, and is very concerned about chemicals, preservatives and pesticides that are in our food system (and refuses to eat any of them). With a little experimenting, she has learned to cook and dehydrate most of her own backpacking food. On her AT hike, she had over 30 different dinners, a dozen different lunches and several different desserts.

Carla Robertson

Carla Robertson aka Zipper, is a teacher and life coach who specializes in guiding overwhelmed people back to their "wild and precious" lives. She makes her home in New Orleans where every day feels like vacation, and she loves helping others reinvent their circumstances so they look at their calendar and love everything on it.
In 2009 she thru-hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, and she revisits the woods whenever she can, taking willing and curious souls with her. She especially enjoys mentoring women who have dreams of long distance hiking and want to learn to be self-sufficient and confident on the trail. Find her at livingwildandprecious.com.

Sue Turner

Writing in Nature

Sue, aka Hammock Hanger, was the Out-of-Doors Specialist for the Palm Glades Girl Scout Council for 10 years. She also held the position of Head Wilderness Instructor for Camp Regis Applejack in the Adirondacks for 8 years. Sue served as the Long Distance Hiking Chairperson for the Florida Trail for 5 years. She has completed the AT, FT, BMT, VLT, NPT as well as section-hiked numerous miles of trail along the east and west coast. While she does enjoy the company of others many of her hikes have been of a solo nature.
Sue is the mother of 4 grown children, and when not hiking, enjoys quilting, gardening, kayaking and (last but not least) Red Hatting.

Regina Reiter

Regina Reiter-When her third son finished homeschooling in 2007, Regina Reiter walked the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. At 52, it was now her time to walk into her dream. Getting to the trail, completing the journey, and navigating the stormy relationship waters of attracting a hiking partner gave Regina plenty of personal experience to test her new skills as a certified Radical Forgiveness Coach. She had hiked the AT to get it out if her system only to realize that walking in Nature for personal transformation IS her system.
The following year, Regina thru-hiked the 2500-mile Pacific Crest Trail. Inspired by the majestic beauty and personal fulfillment of that journey, she declared that she would do whatever it took to make her living hiking in service to others. In 2009, she started her business, Forgiveness Walks. And she kept walking. In the next three years, Regina hiked the Benton MacKaye Trail during all four seasons; the Superior Hiking Trail along the lakeshore of Minnesota; and the Foothills Trail on the Blue Ridge Escarpment of South Carolina, logging over 5,000 miles of long distance walks since she summited Mt. Katahdin, ME on that first chilly day in 2007.
Now, while building her coaching and guiding business, she’s working in her third season as the Tye River Ridgerunner on the Appalachian Trail in VA. As Ridgerunner, Regina hikes in service to promote stewardship of the trail and to help fellow hikers along their way.
Regina is an expert hiker and backpacker and shares her well-honed, creative skills to everyone who hikes with her. She offers individual, personal coaching sessions, videos, online teleclasses and Forgiveness Walks ranging from 2 hours to 6 months. Her clients, both hikers and home-bodies alike, love Regina's gentle, warm, spontaneous ability to love them just as they are as she helps them take their next steps to self-love and to new perceptions of their past. With their path clear of old emotional baggage, they are free to walk into their lifetime dreams. Regina and her team at Forgiveness Walks are on a mission to say within the next five years, “Here are the 22 courageous women who walked the full length of the Appalachian Trail, spreading a wave of peace every step of the way!” www.forgivenesswalks.com

Vera Hurst

Vera Hurst grew up in Indiana’s big backyard seeking a land with higher elevation. She currently lives in Ohio. Having found her creative voice while wandering eastern trails, camping doing environmental education and selling gear, she shares her poems and stories with others at a local writer’s group.

Anna Huthmaker

Anna Huthmaker, aka Mud Butt, earned her trail name when she first started hiking in North Carolina. She took her first hike in 1989 and quickly fell in love with the trail and all of its adventures. Years of short hikes in the mountains of the southeast and the deserts of the Southwest prepared her for her biggest challenge, attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail. She took six months off from work and hiked 700 miles, broke her foot, and met more amazing people than she ever dreamed.
That adventure quickly led to more….travels to Africa, the Arctic Circle and Peru. Back on the A.T., the dream of starting a hiking club for women had been born, and in the midst of all of this, that dream only grew. When Trail Dames had it’s first meeting in March of 2007, there were nine members climbing Springer Mountain, doing the Dance of the Real Woman on top. Today, with ten chapters and over 2,000 members, Anna is proud to say that we are on our way to taking over the trails of the world. The Summit is the latest in a long line of Anna’s goals and dreams, and she can’t wait to see where it goes in the future.

BJ Boucher

B.J. Boucher has lived in Durango, CO for 43 years, having moved there from the megalopolis of Washington DC where she discovered the crush of people and cities was destructive to her total being. She grew up in Louisiana cotton country, earned a BS in history from Louisiana State University and after migrating to Colorado, received an MA in Creative Writing and Semantics at Colorado State University. Vocationally, she has been an educator, writer, news journalist, health advocate and wilderness guide. She is an avid gardener and cat lover. Since retirement, she limits her volunteer time to service on three boards – KSUT Public Radio, Four Corners School of Outdoor Education, and the Women’s Health Coalition of Southwest Colorado – thus combining her interests and skills.

Deborah Berman

Sylvia Vega-Ortiz, AKA Joyful Noise, is a member of the Delaware Valley Trail Dames.
"I love the creative and intellectual stimulation that comes from interacting with others who enjoy exploring and challenging perceptions, " says Sylvia. This is what led her from the corporate arena to the inspirational and motivational market where she has found her joy through empowering others to achieve their highest potential. This experience has brought her to the leading edge of internet marketing and the virtual classroom and along the way, building a diverse tribe of collaborators.
Her Philosophy: "Have Fun Hiking, Backpacking, Swimming and Testing Your Limits (feel your fear then do it anyway!); Commune With The Life Force of Nature and The Elements; Honor Your Body by Asking What IT Wants -- Lots of Energizing Air, Food and Water; Wonderful Sensuous Movement Like Belly Dancing, Zumba and Salsa Dancing; Practice Self Healing Through Energy Techniques and Modalities Like Accupressure, Access Bars, Massage, Power Naps, Tai Chi and Meditation. In Short, Live Your Life With an Attitude of Gratitude, Expressing Your Joy, Not Your "Passion" or "Purpose" and Through it All, Share What You Love!"
Sylvia is the mother of a college age son (currently traveling in China). When she's not walking the urban trails you can find her actively participating in or coordinating events in Southeastern Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.

Kristen Kasmire

As a Florida native, Kristen considers herself, first and foremost, a beach girl. After moving to Georgia, her now-husband took her on her first hikes in the mountains of North Georgia. Many years and many more miles later, she became a beach girl who learned to love the mountains. In her free time, when she is not hiking, you can find her on her mat practicing yoga, blowing bubbles on a tropical dive vacation, or curled up in a chair with a good book.

Rose Chilcoat

Rose is Associate Director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness She began with them in 2001 after returning to Durango to raise her family after 13 years of experience working for the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service working as a park ranger, concessions analyst and outdoor recreation planner in places such as Mesa Verde NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Coulee Dam NRA and the Alaska Regional Office of the National Park Service. She received a B.S. in horticulture summa cum laude from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.

Gail Davidson

Gail Davidson-After lugging a back pack around the Colorado mountains in her 30’s and 40’s and knowing she would eventually be in her 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, the idea of someone else doing all the lugging was very appealing. Enter the idea – what about llamas? Now at 68, she is an avid “trekker” and enjoys introducing the boys to folks who don’t get much opportunity to know and love llamas. She is excited about being at the Summit and hopes to share the good news with you ladies so you can keep heading into the back country as well.

Rosie Enos

Rosie started off her adventures roaming jagged lava fields as a young child growing up in Hawaii. Later her life path crossed with one Ted the Chicken, her trusty sidekick, in the woods of Kentucky. This is where she spent her summers leading countless kids stomping through creeks, crawling through caves, and searching for moon pigs. Consequently, the desert called. Wide open spaces and stars created a serious setting for thought provoking, life changing, young people type work. During the winter months, Rosie can be found chasing litters of puppies, scooping poop, and managing to stay upright (most of the time) behind a team of Alaskan Huskies. In the summer of 2010, she got a chance to meander, slog, roam, navigate, tumble, and hike along the Pacific Crest Trail for five, awe-inspiring months. Rosie is a WMA Wilderness First Responder

Terri Sanders

Terri, aka Bumpkin, is a Florida native with a love for both backpacking and philanthropy. In 2003, she began a three-year section hike of the Appalachian Trail. Over the next three seasons, she not only completed the entire trail, but raised thousands of dollars for teh Rotary Club's Polio Vaccine Program. While hiking, she spoke to clubs up and down the country, and her time on the trail has helped save children in many developing countries from the horror of polio. In 2010, Terri went on to hike the Camino through France and Spain.

Ellen Stein

Ellen Stein, Broadband & Membership Coordinator for the Great Old Broads for Wilderness brings more than 20 years of experience in the environmental field to the organization working in grassroots organizing, advocacy, program and organizational development, fundraising, and planning and policy. Ellen got her start in environmental advocacy in 1991 as a member of Telluride’s Sheep Mountain Alliance board of directors. A mountain lover at heart, she returned to the San Juan Mountains in 2002. She was the first and founding director of the Mountain Studies Institute based in Silverton, Colorado, and was the first Executive Director for the Community Agriculture Alliance in Steamboat Springs. Most recently, she was the Development Director for KDUR Community Radio in Durango, Colorado. Ellen holds an M.A. in Environmental Policy & Planning from Tufts University, and a B.A. in Studio Art from Colorado College. As the Broadband & Membership Coordinator, Ellen is responsible for the success of the Broadband program as well as oversight of our membership program. Her passion for wild places continues to fuel her life and work