For all my female friends, I wanted to share a project with an incredible goal that I first learned about today from my online community of Women Hiking Wisconsin. (Some seriously impressive, motivating, and welcoming women!)

The 10K Women Trail Project is working to inspire 10,000 women to hike and log their adventures all over North America. Funded by REI’s Force of Nature grant and partnering with Hike it Baby, the project is asking women to join, hike, and log their adventures from November 1, 2017 through September 1, 2018.

To participate, invite some other incredible women in your life and get them on the trail with you. Once you are done, log the hike online. (Note: it’s okay if males are along for the hike too, but only the female hikers in the party will be counted for the purpose of the project.)

So what is all this for, you ask? Why only women? For the answers to those questions and more, I encourage you to learn more about REI’s Force of Nature grant and initiative along with the study behind it. Here are a few key findings from the survey:

• 85% of women surveyed believe the outdoors positively affects mental health, physical health, happiness, and overall wellbeing
• 70% reported that being outdoors is liberating
• 63% of women surveyed said they could not think of an outdoor female role model
• 6 in 10 of women surveyed say that men’s interest in outdoor activities are taken more seriously than women’s

So what is REI trying to do?

1. Change the narrative
2. Create community
3. Close the gear gaps
4. Invest in communities

Sounds pretty awesome to me.

Let’s do it, ladies. Join me in joining the project, spreading the word, and getting some other women and girls out on the trails. Who knows, you might just ignite a passion for hiking in somebody else. If all that isn’t enough to convince you to join, there are a few prizes at the end of the project as well.

Hike more, smile more!