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Mary Holland, the Gathering's keynote speaker, is a naturalist, photographer, educator, columnist and natural history blog writer from Hartland, Vermont. Mary’s enthusiasm for and knowledge about the natural world is contagious as she presents her program based on her book, Naturally Curious: A Photographic Field Guide and Month-by-Month Journey through the Fields, Woods, and Marshes of New England. This book won the 2011 National Outdoor Book Award in the Nature Guidebook Category.

In her program, Mary goes through the year, month by month, highlighting species and events, illustrated with her wildlife photography.  Amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, insects, spiders, plants and fungi are all represented.  Before and after the program, Mary’s lifelong natural history collection of skins, skulls, scat, etc. will be on display. 

Following the program, signed copies of Naturally Curious will be available for purchase. To view Mary’s daily natural history blog, go to www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com.

The Run of the Charles on April 28, 2013, is the largest canoe and kayak race in New England, attracting over 1000 paddlers each year who participate in 6, 9, 19, and 24-mile races in canoes and kayaks.  It is put on by the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) to showcase the recreational potential of the Charles River and raise funds for the protection of the watershed in eastern Massachusetts.   

Women Outdoors fields a team for the 24-mile canoe relay race, which consists of 5 legs, each about 5 miles long.  Pairs of paddlers trade places in the boat as the racers paddle downstream and portage around a few dams (using portage wheels, of course!).  Each racer commits to ~3 hours at the river during the race, though you can make a whole day of following the paddlers down the river and join us for a picnic and victory party at the end.  

In the past two years, Women Outdoors has entered the only two teams in the Women's Division, and (surprisingly!) we walked away with 1st and 2nd prize each time.  Join the team for this year's race on Sunday April 28 and be part of the Women Outdoors victory.  There will be practice sessions in April to stretch the paddling muscles, though team members outside the Boston area often practice on their own. 

Team members contribute $20-30 toward the team registration fee.  In addition, we plan to field a crew for the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup on Saturday April 20.  The Women Outdoors crew had a blast at this event last year as they canoed down the river and through Motley Pond, piling their boats high with river trash.  You can sign up for the cleanup river paddle even if you aren't part of the race team.  More information on the race and cleanup event can be found athttp://www.crwa.org/.

To sign up, email Deb Weisenstein (dkweis@alum.mit.edu).

Please send us your articles, stories, poems and artwork. Interview another woman and write up her story, and include photographs. Be creative or newsy. What cool outdoor trip did you take last weekend? What adventure are you planning? Where do you walk your dog? Is there a tree you love? Stroll through any hollows, perch on any rocks, trudge through any bogs lately? Submissions are needed.

Send these three or four things to editor@womenoutdoors.org:

-Writing (best as a Word file)
-Photo or artwork (jpg files attached to email)
-a short biography about you
-your address so we can send you extra copies of the magazine.

Deadline: Sunday, February 17

The editor is back from a quiet time! How about a deadline two weeks from now for your submissions: November 1. You send stuff at a record speed and we'll turn out the magazine with similar alacrity.

Women Outdoors Magazine is nothing without your stories, photos, how-to articles, poems, muses, memories, sketches, opinions. Please send contributions along. If you don't have time to write something long, just send along a short email about a hike you took or a raft trip you are dreaming of. I bet you had some adventures over the past few months. What are you up to the next couple of weekends? I know Western Mass. is planning a retreat. Did you take a kayak trip, or a wildflower walk, or a cave exploration, this summer?

Please accompany all writing and artwork with a biography. Send photographs (with captions and photographer’s name) and artwork as jpg files attached to email. Writing is best attached as Word files.  Address contributions to: Editor@womenoutdoors.org.

Thank you.

Franny, Editor
(and thanks as always to the rest of the magazine staff, Jan and our designer, Stein)

Take a hike with Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic this autumn.  We have four hikes lined up between now and the end of the year with lots of opportunities to enjoy the fall colors and natural beauty of our area.

We start our fall hiking season on Saturday, October 27, at Harpers Ferry, WV, where we’ll hike Loudoun Heights, a moderately strenuous 5-mile hike with an elevation gain of 1200 feet and views of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. Registration closes on Thursday, October 25.

Our other hikes this fall include:

• Hawksbill Mountain Hike in Shenandoah National Park on Saturday, November 10, where we’ll bag the highest peak in SNP and be treated to a 360-degree view of the Shenandoah Valley.
• Sugarloaf Mountain Hike in Frederick County, MD, on Saturday, November 24.  Leave the malls and madness behind and enjoy a 5-mile hike on Thanksgiving weekend.
• Billy Goat Trail Section B Hike in Potomac, MD, on Saturday, December 8.  Not as famous (or nearly as strenuous) as Section A, this segment of the Billy Goat Trail offers some nice rock outcroppings and a variety of scenery along the Potomac River.
  

On Saturday, April 14, Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic will participate in the 24th annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup sponsored by the Alice Ferguson Foundation.  Hundreds of volunteers throughout the Washington metro region and beyond will pick up trash from the many streams and creeks that feed into the Potomac.  Join other members of Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic as we help clean up the Fenwick Tributary to Rock Creek in upper northwest D.C. 

No need to register for this activity.  Just show up at 9:00 a.m. with your gloves and boots.  Click this link for details and directions or go to http://womenoutdoors.org/mid-atlantic and click on Online Calendar, scroll to April 14 and click on Potomac River Watershed Cleanup.

Join us for the 33rd Annual Women Outdoors Gathering on Memorial Day Weekend, May 25-28, 2012.    Enjoy kayaking, hiking, swimming, birding, meeting lots of outdoor women, biking, walking, meditating, eating and so much more....

Once again this year you have the option to stay Monday night, May 28. Turn your long weekend into a 4-day vacation!!

Sign up by Monday, April 30 to receive the $20 early bird discount.  Sign up in advance to lead a workshop and get another $20 discount.  Financial assistance is also available. 

Go to The Gathering page for more detailed information.

When: May 25-28, 2012
Where: Sargent Center, Hancock, New Hampshire
Who: Women Outdoors members (Not a member? Join when you register.)  Children welcome, boys only to age 8.
How: Go to The Gathering page to learn more and to register today.  Register by April 30 to get a $20 discount.
Cost: Varies from $110 to $285 depending on your length of stay and accommodation.  

If you have any questions or comments, please email Gathering@womenoutdoors.org.

Last year's ROTC was a big success, with Women Outdoors boats claiming both 1^st and 2^nd place in the Women's division! Can we do it again??? OH YES!!!

If you're not familiar with the race, here's some factoids: The Run of the Charles is the largest canoe and kayak race in New England and attracts over 1,000 paddlers each year. Put on by the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) to showcase the recreational potential of the Charles River and raise funds for the protection of the watershed in eastern Massachusetts, this event includes six races for professional and recreational boaters, of 6, 9, 19, and 24 miles in length.

This year, Women Outdoors is proud to announce that we’ll once again be backing trip leaders Deb Weisenstein and Jackie Slivko along with their team participants, whom they're now recruiting. We’re joining Deb and Jackie in urging Women Outdoors paddlers to step up to the plate, step into the boat, and get ready for fun and teamwork. The entry fee is $30 for each of 10 team members, but Women Outdoors will be subsidizing part of that fee.

Guaranteed Winners!

The 24-mile relay race has a category for women's teams, which require 10 women. This category had only one entry, a team called the Mad Hatters, for the last several years. In 2011, we're sad to say, the Mad Hatters didn't compete, so Women Outdoors claimed both trophies. As Deb points out, Women Outdoors has many active and skillful outdoor women who paddle. Simply put, we're pretty darn confident about winning. How many races can guarantee you such an outcome? More to the point, just by showing up, we're inspiring women to get out there and paddle and perhaps even put together an all-women team to compete with us. Bring it on!!!

A Good Cause, Multiple Benefits

The CRWA was a recipient of the 2011 International Riverprize, the world’s most prestigious environmental award. Here are some of the good works done by the CRWA that Women Outdoors participation and funding will support:

• CRWA holds an annual river cleanup on Earth Day, April 21 this year.

• The Association participated in negotiations that reduced by 95% the heat discharge and water withdrawal from the river by a plant in Cambridge, so that waste heat from the plant is now used as cogeneration heat for nearby buildings. 

• CRWA is involved in developing a "smart sewering" plan for wastewater in the town of Littleton, combining climate change mitigation and adaptation with smart economic growth.

A more pristine watershed environment and recreational opportunities for New England residents will be among the benefits. The Run of the Charles is also a fun event and a challenging competition, but an event where anyone and everyone can enjoy the river at their own speed. It’s your chance to get to know Women Outdoors members across chapters while applying yourselves to a common goal, an opportunity to have the Women Outdoors name noticed, and a potential chance to recruit new members on the riverbank. The paddlers are sure to have a good time, applying themselves in friendly competition and cheering on their teammates.

Meet Your Trip Leaders

Deb has been paddling canoes and kayaks for over 30 years and formerly held an AMC class 4 whitewater rating. She served as a leader of AMC whitewater trips for several years. Her former company participated in the Run of the Charles corporate division race for about 15 years, and she’s paddled the race 12 times, often helping to organize the company team. Deb served as team captain and co-organizer for WO's canoe team last year. She knows the particulars of each of the 5 race legs and can match paddler's skills with appropriate race legs. Last year she very much enjoyed getting to know the 20 Women Outdoors team members, and looks forward to working with them, and some new paddlers, this year.

Jackie is a paddler extraordinaire including sea and recreational kayaking, solo and tandem canoeing, and white water rafting. She is a Level 3 sea kayaker, with a passion for the New England coastline from Rhode Island to Maine. Jackie began her paddling days on the Delaware in NY, Pine Barrens of NJ, and Allegheny in PA. She then went on to “conquer” the Colorado River down the Grand Canyon, enjoy the solitude and Northern lights in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota, as well as Quetico and Voyageur’s parks on the Canadian border. Locally she has “tripped” on the Allagash river in Maine, “raced” pumpkins on the Connecticut River in Vermont, and more recently “blazed’ passages (after this year’s early snow storm) on the Ware river in central MA. She looks forward to another year with a great group of women on the quiet Charles.

Race Particulars

Come race day, you'll find canoes, kayaks, outrigger canoes, and paddleboards on the river. The 24-mile relay race consists of 5 legs, each about 5 miles long, taking about an hour each. Relay teams use one canoe and swap paddlers for each leg. The race starts in Needham where the Charles River is a small, winding stream, proceeds through Dedham, Newton, Wellesley, Waltham, and Boston, and ends at Herter Park in Brighton. More information can be found at the CRWA site. For those who paddle kayaks, there are 6 and 9 mile races for individuals. You should register on your own for a kayak race, but join the team for practices and the post-race celebration.

The race begins at 10 am. Check-in time starts at 8:30. The start is staggered with waves of 10 boats sent off every couple minutes. There are 6 portages on the race, three of them between legs and three within legs. For the portages between legs, both the paddlers finishing the previous leg and those starting on the next leg are allowed to carry, which provides four people to portage the boat. For the portages within legs, only the two paddlers on that leg are allowed to carry the boat. One leg has no portages and one leg only a short 4-person portage.

Register Now Before the Price Goes Up

The entry fee for the race is $300 if the team enters by February 24. After that, the fee goes up to $350. The team has until March 30 to complete a roster, but substitutions are allowed later, even on race day.

Here’s what Deb and Jackie need to pull together another winning team or teams:

1. 20 paddlers to fill two team rosters, plus 4-6 backups

2. the loan of one or two lightweight tandem canoes for the race

3. team photographers to follow the team down the river and document their efforts

4. others to cheer the team on and help celebrate at the finish line.

Team practices will start in late March and will be held each weekend until the race, with some practices on the Charles and some at other locations where team members live, such as western Mass., Rhode Island, and Connecticut. We expect each team member to participate in at least one practice session before the race, where we’ll work on efficient paddling form and develop endurance. We’re planning a team potluck for Saturday March 10 in the Boston area to meet each other, plan practices, and acquaint paddlers with the race logistics.

SUMMARY

Date: Sunday April 29, 2012

Time: Race starts at 10 am, ends around 3–4 pm

Individual commitment: 3 hours

Cost: $30 maximum (to be offset by an as-yet-undetermined Women Outdoors subsidy)

Level of Effort: 1 hour of paddling, portages for some team members

Location: Charles River between Needham and Boston, MA

RSVP to: Deb Weisenstein (508-277-4826) dkweis@alum.mit.edu

Reply by: February 20

I finally got my lazy ass out to clean up Assabet River last Saturday, HUGE thanks to Greater Boston Regional Contact and MY HERO Robin Schulman, who's been organizing Women Outdoors members to come clean up this gorgeous swath of H20 for a few years now.

You have to love river cleanups. It gives us a whole new level of appreciation for the items that people choose to donate to the river's mermaids and mermen. Volunteers this year found a practically new kid's bike, a scooter, a sewer grate (too heavy to move!), some plastic palettes that the river's vegetation has already integrated too much to move [vines and roots are a strong embrace), and my favorite, a CAR!!! (I wanted to photograph it, but they found it in a location far from where we were cleaning [which was in Maynard, Ma.]).

Past years, the organizers told me, turned up a gun and a safe (empty).

Can you imagine the stories behind all this stuff? Did some bullies pick on a kid and toss his bike into the river? Was there a heist, or did somebody just get really tired of material possessions and decide to donate it all to charity, then throw their safe in the river?

In other words, anybody who's ever entertained the thought of becoming a mystery writer should do a river cleanup.

I wasn't kidding when I referred to a lazy part of my anatomy. I'd never get motivated to get out and do this good environmental stewardship work without the encouragement of Women Outdoors members like Robin, and I sure as heck wouldn't have as much fun doing it without bumping into other WO members hard at work.

Not only do you get motivated and have fun when you do this kind of work, not only do you give back to the outdoors that we all love so much, you also get inspired.

For example: Robin, a professional bike mechanic, took one look at the bike, covered with streaming river weed, and said "Hey, this hasn't been in here for long. I could fix it up."

It would take at least 5 hours to restore the bike, Robin estimated, and that's precious time that's hard to find in a working woman's life. She had a brilliant idea, though: Restore it and auction it off, to call attention to the work of OARS, the organization that holds the cleanup.

Will it happen? Who knows? But it's great to be out on a fall day, restoring a riverbank, and watching the creative juices flow. I hope you're all enjoying the fall, and I hope you find time to do some cleanup work.

And to all of you who regularly get outside and get yourself dirty as you do this type of environmental stewardship work, Women Outdoors sends out a hearty, sincere Thank You.