This episode of She Explorers is brought to you by Merrill.

Merrill exists to give you all you need to discover the simple yet profound power of the trail.

They believe the trail is for everybody and everybody.

Merrill's goal is to provide thoughtfully designed

rigorously tested products that over deliver on performance,

versatility, and durability. Because when you've got air in your lungs and

good shoes on your feet you've got everything you need.

Stay tuned for later in the episode.

We'll talk with Laura Hughes, host of our sister podcast, Women on the Road,

about her experiences hiking in Moab Utah with the Merrill Merrill, Ontario waterproof boots. Learn more at Merrill.com. That's M-E-R-E-L-L-C-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-O-G-O-O-G-E-L-O-G I'm Gail Strob and you're listening to She Explores.

When I hear the term Mother Nature, I see my own mother smile as much as mountain faces because I was simultaneously

raised on both their sacred embraces.

I don't imagine my mother's freckles in any kind of shade other than under her hat a child of the sun as told by her

shoulders and permanent chaco tans. She belongs equally to the ocean as she does

the mountains, born to the Hawaiian shores and raised in Colorado landscapes, a legacy she wouldn't have let us live without.

Her entire parenting syllabus was designed around being outdoors.

She would convince me that if I ate a bell pepper or a mushroom while staring at a good view, it would taste better.

And it did. Or when I'd get myself stuck too high up on a cliff calling out for help, she'd call back with her motto.

Problem solve first, panic later. calling out for help, she'd call back with her motto,

Problem solved first, panic later,

which still rings true to my ears.

She never resisted our desires to wander off out of sight

...