My Gratitude for the Outdoors - Patty

My love for the great outdoors started when I was a child visiting my grandparents in Mexico. They lived in a small rural ranch near a mountain range where you could easily go to the river and hike quite a distance to reach these beautiful waterfalls. I never realized that was called hiking. That was my first recollection of being in the outdoors.

I started to formerly hike again in 2016 when I was trying to get into shape. I was a bit overweight and I wanted to find an outdoor activity to aid in my weight loss journey so I chose hiking. In 2018, I started to venture out on my own to find like-minded individuals to hike with. So, I joined my first group hike that year. I met people whom I now call friends and whom I continue to hike with to this day. My friend Belle introduced me to backpacking in 2022, and I have been addicted to backpacking since then.

So, I started leading my friends to hikes that they had never been to since I was very agile at navigating the trails. Gradually, many friends of mine wanted me to guide them to these beautiful hikes that I had been to. So, in 2024, I started my hiking group called “Hello Mi Gente Hermosa Hiking Adventures” and started to host backpacking trips with friends and with my friend's hiking group Outdoor Adventures + started to collaborate with the Lead Ambassador, Rudy. I've also volunteered in some trail clean-ups along the way.

I truly enjoy helping others best of my ability with the knowledge that I have gained within these couple of years of hiking, camping, and backpacking. I'm looking forward to continuing to do this as long as I can.