Amazons

In May 2022, Marci Kornegay set off from the Southern Terminus to hike the Pacific Crest Trail but as the journey progressed into Northern California, Oregon and Washington State, wildfires interrupted her goal of reaching the Northen Terminus in Canada by the fall. Undaunted and determined to complete the through hike, Marci and her trail buddies reconvened in June 2023 to complete those elusive...

Since retiring in 2015, The Wander Women , thrill-seeking nomads Kristy Burns and Annette Demel have hiked tens of thousands of miles, including the Colorado Trail, the Oregon Coast Trail, Superior Trail in Minnesota, Lonestar Trail in TX, going back-to-back-to- back on the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail to earn the Triple Crown. In addition they have added a...

Marci Kornegay completed the Pacific Crest Trail on September 21; a journey that started in the desert at the Mexican border on May 12. The ultimate finish, the touchstone that PCT hikers aim for at the Canadian border was denied her and her trail friends due to wildfires that closed the final 80 miles. And there were other closures that Marci had to navigate and reroute in Northern California and...

As we continue to follow the tracks of our friend Marci Kornegay (aka blondebearhikes) on the Pacific Crest Trail, we find her back at Lake Tahoe after wildfires in Northern California and Oregon closed the trail. During the course of the hike, which began on the California - Mexico border on May 12, Marci has befriended two women; Simone Federici (aka Glider) and Ultra Marathon/ Endurance runner...

Our friend and intrepid hiker Marci Kornegay arrived in South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday July 20, Day 70 and 1091 miles in on the Pacific Crest Trail. She has now completed the High Sierra of California, which involved five days with over 10,000ft elevation gain, including summiting Mount Whitney. In Marci’s own words: ’Immeasurable magical moments in the first 100+ miles of the Sierra including a Mt...

Marci Kornegay has arrived in Tehachapi, California and celebrated one month on the Pacific Crest Trail, northbound with 567 miles in the bag. It’s been a tough trail since we last spoke to her as she crossed the Mojavi Desert in triple digit temperatures surviving on snow melt found at water collection stations. As we hear though it’s her water filter system that she carries with her that has kep...

On Thursday May 12, 2022, adventurer, hiker and former golf coach, Marci Kornegay, began the Pacific Crest Trail northbound. The 2,650 mile trail begins at the Mexican border and ends on the Canadian border in Washington State some four months later. On this exclusive podcast series Marci will be sharing her journey, beginning with the highs and lows, literally, of traversing the mountains in the...

Elise Wortley is an Englishwoman on a mission; not as a modern day explorer but as an authentic amazon from centuries past. Elise is planning her third journey following in the footsteps of famous women who conquered mountains and oceans from Scotland to the Himlayas. And what makes her journeys different is that she is dressed and equipped in authentic clothing of that period which so far has bee...

Chris Stafford talks to Cathy O'Dowd, the South African rock climber, mountaineer, author and motivational speaker. Cathy began climbing while in university and at 21 took part in her first mountain expedition to the Ruwenzori in central Africa. The first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both south and north sides, she was a member of the First South African Everest Expedition which...

Greek born Juliana Buhring, who has dual German-English nationality, is an ultra endurance cyclist.  She has taken on some of the longest bike rides in the world in the past four years having discovered the sport more by opportunity rather than ambition. Juliana was raised in the religious sect Children of God and suffered shocking abuse from which she eventually broke free only later to lose the...

Britain’s Holly Budge started off her sporting life while still a toddler when she began riding eventually taking up eventing. when she reached 20 something she discovered skydiving and was soon to move to New Zealand where she learned filming and became the first woman to became the third woman in New Zealand at the time to be a skydiving camerawoman. In 2008 she took up her next challenge and be...

At the age of 25, Lizzie Carr was diagnosed with stage 2 Thyroid cancer that not only turned her world upside down it also made her question her purpose in life and redefined her priorities. She determined that once her treatment was completed and she regained her strength she would put aside her corporate career and embark on a mission she decided would be not only more fulfilling but change the...

Lee Craigie from Glasgow, is a former Scottish and British Cross Country Bike Champion who competed for Scotland in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She is one of the co-founders of The Adventure Syndicate - a visionary group of bike riders whose mission is to encourage more women and girls to challenge themselves - and mostly spends her time promoting the sport wherever her travels take her. The grou...

British long distance swimmer Beth French, has broken multiple records around the world’s oceans and now in her early 40’s has found peace in those achievements and her personal journey. She is now channelling her adventurous spirit with her 11 year old son Dylan in remote areas of the world. Beth’s story takes her from being wheelchair bound due to ME from the age of 10 to 17 and finding her feet...

Bernadette Murray together with her friend Lara Friesan will embark on the 2560 mile horseback ride of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in April 2020.  The journey will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Murray family thru-ride beginning in April 2020, and ending October 2020. They will explore and compare the countless differences between then and now. From antiquated maps...

British ultra endurance cyclist Emily Chappell started cycling as a commuter before becoming a courier in London for six years. But she eventually swapped the narrow roads of London Town for the open countryside to challenge herself in ultra races and long distance cycling.  In 2011-13 she cycled across Asia and from Wales to Japan. A year later she took on Iceland. And then in first three months...

Former golf coach Marci Kornegay achieved a life goal in 2016 when she hiked the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, some 2179.1 miles. The early miles she did alone and then she met a group who were to become hiking buddies for months and friends every since. Marci decided at short notice when she would start on the trail giving herself only two weeks to prepare but undeterred by the challen...

Anastasija Strizakova was born in Latvia and moved to Ireland when she was 16 with her parents who were looking for a brighter future for her than Eastern Europe could offer.  Not only has she adopted an Irish accent but in the past few years she has adopted the sport of rock climbing.  It has, she says, changed her life, giving her a new purpose and confidence, and she is a different person to wh...