Ever wondered how to blend your passions into a successful business? Today, we're getting one approach - allow me to introduce you to Tori Gray, a registered Maine Guide for the past few years who is going into her second full season of business as The Wilderness Guru.
In creating The Wilderness Guru, Tori has taken advantage of the rising tide of demand for recreational guiding, and created a fabulous business that melds together all of the things she loves.
Lots of Tori’s offerings center around Baxter State Park, which holds a very special place in her heart, because of its unique management philosophy, that prioritizes wilderness preservation over recreation. It’s also where she first started considering a nature-based career, when she served as a wildlife educator and ridge runner during summers away from her pursuit of dance in college.
Today, The Wilderness Guru offers guided group and private hiking and backpacking trips, yoga retreats, foraging workshops, forest therapy walks, and integrative health and wellness coaching. The Wilderness Guru Katahdin trips are pulled together with the utmost respect for the mountain and its sacredness - and Tori even looks for ways to integrate Citizen Science efforts into these adventures, to contribute further to our knowledge of the special flora and fauna that she loves so much.
Head to TheWildernessGuru.com for more information about upcoming trips and events, click a trip link below, or get the expanded list of coolness over on the episode page at GuidesGoneWild.com.
Ever wondered how to blend your passions into a successful business? Today, we're getting one approach - allow me to introduce you to Tori Gray, a registered Maine Guide for the past few years who is going into her second full season of business as The Wilderness Guru.
In creating The Wilderness Guru, Tori has taken advantage of the rising tide of demand for recreational guiding, and created a fabulous business that melds together all of the things she loves.
Lots of Tori’s offerings center around Baxter State Park, which holds a very special place in her heart, because of its unique management philosophy, that prioritizes wilderness preservation over recreation. It’s also where she first started considering a nature-based career, when she served as a wildlife educator and ridge runner during summers away from her pursuit of dance in college.
Today, The Wilderness Guru offers guided group and private hiking and backpacking trips, yoga retreats, foraging workshops, forest therapy walks, and integrative health and wellness coaching. The Wilderness Guru Katahdin trips are pulled together with the utmost respect for the mountain and its sacredness - and Tori even looks for ways to integrate Citizen Science efforts into these adventures, to contribute further to our knowledge of the special flora and fauna that she loves so much.
Head to TheWildernessGuru.com for more information about upcoming trips and events, click a trip link below, or get the expanded list of coolness over on the episode page at GuidesGoneWild.com.
Right now it kind of seems like there's a huge disconnect between the natural space and what humans have artificially created.
Jen:Welcome to the Guides Gone Wild podcast. What is Guides Gone Wild, you ask? This is where you'll fill your ears and minds with the stories of your everyday extraordinary women who inspire you to take your outdoor adventure game to the next level. Whether you're starting your journey from the couch or the trailhead, this is the place for you. So let's get a little wild.
Jen:Welcome, or welcome back to Guides Gone Wild. Today I've got the pleasure of introducing you to Tori Gray, a registered main guide for the past few years, who is going into her second full season of business as the Wilderness Guru. In creating the Wilderness Guru, tori has taken advantage of the rising tide of demand for recreational guiding and created a fabulous business that melds together all of the things she loves. Lots of Tori's offerings center around Baxter State Park, which holds a very special place in her heart because of its unique management philosophy that prioritizes wilderness preservation over recreation. It's also where she first started considering a nature-based career, when she served as a wildlife educator and Ridge runner during summers, away from her pursuit of dance in college. Today, tori's business, the Wilderness Guru, offers guided group and private hiking and backpacking trips, yoga retreats, foraging workshops, forest therapy walks and integrative health and wellness coaching.
Jen:Her Katahdin trips are extremely special to her because, as she points out, katahdin means Greatest Mountain and is steeped in spiritual significance. To the Penobscot people, summiting the mountain is a privilege and an honor. It deserves to be treated accordingly. I can also say firsthand it's a butt-kicker as well. So, yes, huge respect. Not only are Wilderness Guru Katahdin trips, pulled together with the utmost respect for the mountain and its sacredness, but Tori looks for ways to integrate citizen science efforts into her work in the park, to continue to build our knowledge of the special flora and fauna that she loves so much and which continue to bring people to the area. We cover lots of ground here, and the result is a great primer on trip planning, business building and allowing curiosity and inspiration to lead you in a new direction once in a while. So let's center ourselves and get ready for some adventure. Talk with Tori Gray of the Wilderness Guru, all right. Well, tori Gray, wilderness Guru, and I'm dying to hear how you got the gumption to call yourself Wilderness Guru. Welcome to Guys Got Wild today.
Tori Gray:Thank you again for having me, Jen. I really, I really appreciate this opportunity. It's an honor to be here.
Jen:Oh my God, I'm super stoked. I've been in a total zone right lately of being just. I just find it so interesting when people start businesses and kind of go out on their own and do fun things, And I happened I had been following you for a little bit and I happened to see a post, I think that somebody had invited you to a sportsman's expo or something like that, And you were talking about. You know how excited you were to be there and it had been a year in business And you know what this is a. You're a perfect person to talk to you about the whole process, because I want you to get a little bit into your background. You've done a lot of really cool things and have an obvious penchant for the outdoors, but I'm not really sure where that came from, given where you came from, And so I want to hear about that. And then, what kind of had you make the transition into becoming an actual licensed main guide?
Tori Gray:Thank you. So I am from out of state but I grew up in the suburbs outside of Richmond Virginia. I've always loved playing in the outdoors all growing up, and actually my extended family and my parents are all from Missouri, so right in the middle of the world, bread basket of the world. So anytime that I went there I was outside, hunting, fishing, foraging. I was always in the outdoors when I was visiting family in Missouri. So that's that's really where my stronghold in the outdoors comes from.
Tori Gray:And I have another brother who's like two brothers one of them is very into the outdoors as well and he went to unity college in Maine And he's much older than I am. I was about eight years old when he started going to unity And I still remember my very first family weekend that I went out to visit him there. I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, the grass is so green here and all the dandelions across the field. They looked like little sons just everywhere, like hello, welcome to Maine. It was so beautiful and I had never seen a white tree before, so I was very taken by the white birches to it. Just it seemed like Maine was such a magical place And I really loved visiting my brother. So anytime my parents said, oh, we're going to go up and visit Marcus, i was like, oh, me, me, me, i want to go, like I love Maine.
Tori Gray:But other than those experiences, most of my youth I was in a dance studio. I was very dedicated to dance and movement as a passion of mine and later, on a career path, i went to college at George Mason University with, and I graduated with, a BFA in dance. Because after my freshman year I took the summer off from dancing and I decided to go live with that same brother up in unity main and I worked with northern solstice alpaca farm as just a farmhand. This is the alpaca farm that's in unity, right across from the common ground fair, a fair I've been going to since I was eight years old, so I'm very familiar with Maine. And it was there that one of the owners of northern solstice alpaca farm was telling me all about Baxter because she used to do trail work there And I was really kind of I don't know. Just I could tell that there's something special about this place. Just the light up, the way her eyes lit up, and it just I could just see it was a place we needed to go. So we went and we visited. We didn't do anything super extravagant, we didn't hike katahdin, we didn't go on a wild backpacking trip. We just went to Dacey pond and we hiked into big and little Niagara Falls And that was it. I was hooked, i.
Tori Gray:I knew that I was meant to live in Maine, and I wasn't sure how and I wasn't sure when, but I knew it was going to happen. In that moment was like yes, this is the place for me. So I just flash forward to my senior year of college, when all of my classmates were looking for apartments in New York City or starting to audition for cruise lines and going head first into the dance world. I applied for a wilderness educator position with Baxter State Park. So I was definitely the odd duck in my class, but I'm I'm so grateful for that experience.
Tori Gray:I was in the wilderness, programs like outdoor educational programming at the campgrounds, at local schools, the local library, and in addition to that I was a rich runner for katahdin. I was up there all the time doing citizen science surveys on Alpine plants. Up there I was talking to folks. I was, you know, utilized on a few rescues, so I was really learning the full scope of what it means to work inside of a park, work and educate people inside of a park. I loved my experience. It was the first time in my life where, instead of sending a text to a friend to hang out, i actually had to physically drive. Like I remember driving by the raft guide camp be like Are they here today? like No, they're still out on the river. Oh well, i'll just leave a little note and maybe they'll come meet me, but I'm still going to go to the swimming hole. You know that kind of stuff.
Jen:I don't know if it's like my 70s childhood, but it was in the the 2000 and 20s.
Tori Gray:I have to actually go over and see if they're home. Well, i don't mean to say the first time in life, because obviously when I was a younger child I didn't have any of that. It wasn't until like my high school years that really cell phones were a thing and you know, everybody was online right constantly. So it was just nice to kind of go back to those roots and be like this is, this, is how life is supposed to be.
Jen:Yeah, yeah, well, in the unity college thing, that that is. That brings it all together for me. As soon as you said that, i was like, oh, okay, because I mean. I really honestly have never met anybody who was in the orbit of unity. They didn't just like wind up loving me and and wanting to be, you know, is involved as possible and all this stuff. So that was the missing piece. So The alpacas I forgot about seeing that. That's pretty fun to.
Tori Gray:Oh my gosh, incredible experience. I mean I never would have thought that scooping poop all day would be as meditative as it was, but it was. It was so peaceful. I just loved that experience, and Robin and Corey are fantastic people, so if you ever get the chance to go, you should definitely stop in.
Jen:Yeah, yeah Well and I would imagine your dance training. You know that being a rich runner just period anywhere, i think is super impressive and the fact that you were doing it up there is like holy cow. You had some, you had, you had some cred already on the whole climbing situation. So you do that for a little bit like tell me, i guess because you're involved in a lot of really cool things kind of, how did you broaden your experience and start to pull these other things into your orbit professionally? and then, yeah, let's, let's talk then about how you decided to kind of pull the trigger and become a guide, because you can do a lot of things in the outdoors and not be a licensed main guide, but you took that step. I'm curious as to why.
Tori Gray:Yeah. So I, after my experience as the wilderness educator, i mean I loved baxter and I wanted nothing else but to just be in baxter all the time. So I actually returned to the following season as the ball kit ground ranger And then I took a law enforcement ranger job out in Colorado and then came back in 2020 as a roving ranger. So that was really being all over the park and I I loved having the versatility in my day.
Tori Gray:And then I got injured, i fractured my spine, i tore my meniscus and I just thinking, wow, i'm really not experiencing the wilderness the way that I would really like to and i'm not able to really share what I've gained through these experiences at baxter in a ranger role.
Tori Gray:So it's kind of like this double whammy of okay, my body's telling me I need to take a break and then also my social, emotional well being is telling me that it's time to slow down and really dive into this connection, this interpersonal connection with nature. So that's kind of how I transitioned out of that scope of out of the ranger role, wanting to heal more through nature, because I mean, living in baxter is a really transformative experience when you're completely surrounded by nature, i don't have any screen distractions. I basically just sat around and read, like I'm not sat around, but I read. I went out, i hiked, i learned, i listened to the teachings of the elements and of the trees, of the river, of the plants, the bees I mean all of it. You know there, every creature in the forest has a story to tell and has an overarching message or lesson to learn.
Jen:I like that as a kid. I just I'm sorry I'm going to interrupt you rude like that all the time. I'm just curious because for some people especially like digital natives is as you pretty much are That would be like scary and overwhelming and a lot of people would not embrace that jam the way that it seems like you did. were you kind of like that as a child or what do you think it was that made you look at it as a submersive experience where you were really just open to all of those experiences and the quiet and the peacefulness when I'm sure you weren't breaking up, like you know, drunken parties in the middle of summer as a ranger. You know what me? what do you think makes you embrace that where other people maybe would bristle at that?
Tori Gray:Yeah, so I just want to clarify that there were no drunken parties. Like being a ranger is a really serious job.
Jen:No, I know it's a serious job. I definitely know it's a serious job.
Tori Gray:I mean, it was one of those things where you know, especially being a campgranger, you just never knew when an emergency would happen and you have to be on call. So there were no drunken parties.
Jen:Oh no, no, i was just thinking like from the perspective of like when, the few times that I've stayed in Baxter, you know, like you know the 15 campers like that come every year during that weekend not you guys, but you know the ranger would have to go around and be like hey, okay, let's sell down here. Other people are here to enjoy nature. Yeah, and not the keg that you brought, okay.
Tori Gray:Yeah, okay, that part is true. So I, even though I'm the youngest of five children, i'm considered a late in life surprise. I came much later than everybody, so most of my childhood my siblings were often college or getting their first jobs, you know things like that. So I wasn't necessarily surrounded by by them all the time, so I had a lot of time to spend in the playtime. A lot of times my parents would be indoors doing whatever it is that parents do, and then I would be running around outside with my friends in the streets or you know, just constantly trying to find ways to explore and engage with my imagination.
Tori Gray:I did a lot of that as a child and I actually find a lot of peace and sitting in silence in the wilderness because to me it's not sitting in silence. There's a lot to listen to, there's a lot to feel. I'm very tactile. I love going around and like touching moss or touching how the bark on a tree feels. I love listening to the bugs and the frogs and if you listen long enough, you notice that there are slight nuances in them, same as the birds, i wonder what they're talking about or what it is that they're trying to convey to each other, and once there's tons of things to look at, i'm too preoccupied. There are mushrooms, there are bugs, there are rocks, all kinds of things. So the silence is a really powerful, powerful opportunity to do self exploration, but also exploration of your environment, and the two kind of are interchangeable, they go hand in hand.
Jen:I think, yeah, and so it sounds like it's that that experience, combined with that aptitude or just kind of you were wired that way to start with, which really then informs everything you do from there, really sounds like.
Tori Gray:Absolutely, and I was making a lot of discoveries, like a lot of personal discoveries and really finding ways to heal in nature, and and that is what really drove me, or a really big part of what drove me to become a guide is I had these, this two part configuration, i suppose, like I wanted to help others to experience the same transformative healing powers of the wilderness, because you know, there's lots of scientific studies have good that prove that being outdoors has a really positive impact on our overall well being.
Tori Gray:And the other part of it is I wanted to educate others about the wild places, about the history, about the reciprocity and the way in which we can coexist with nature and kind of integrate more of that spiritual context into our wilderness experiences, because right now it kind of is like there's a huge disconnect between the natural space and what humans have artificially created. you know we live in artificial houses and we're sitting in front of screens like we're always finding ways to further ourselves from nature And I really wanted to get that message out there that hey, no, you are a part of nature, you can exist, coexist with nature and we can find a way to cultivate these positive relationships with the outdoor space in a very sustainable way. So those are a lot of the core values to what I, what really propelled me into being a guide.
Jen:So you were doing some wellness stuff professionally to start with, right before you became a guide, like tell me kind of, how did you scaffold into this offering of wilderness guru?
Tori Gray:So being that dance was such a stronghold in my life for so long, just kind of movement In general, i know is very healthy for the body, very good for the body, and in those practices I learned a lot about meditation, she gone, different forms of yoga And those are all practices that were kind of sprinkled all throughout my educational journey and training journey as a professional dancer, professional concert dancer. That insert that.
Jen:What is a concert dancer? I need to ask, yeah, so these?
Tori Gray:are dancers who have more of an artistic approach to dancing. so modern ballet, contemporary, okay point, like those that realm. So background, this is like yeah, this is like you put on a nice cocktail dress or evening gown and you go to the theater like like going to see an opera. But instead of seeing an opera you're going to see a dance performance.
Jen:Yep, awesome, that's what I consider. I see big ballet aficionado wait once one time. So to me that's like a professional dancer and not necessarily the hip hop thing. But you know, i guess my generation said they're just, they're all good, it's all movement and it's all very. It's all stuff that I can't do. So I respect it highly.
Tori Gray:So that's where, like the concert comes in, they're like okay, we're going to a theater, you know we're not going to an awesome like hip hop battle or even like a showcase type kind of thing. is there just different? there's just different nuances in the same field, just the same. there's different, you know, subspecies out, yeah, yeah yeah, absolutely Alright, i digress, sorry.
Jen:Let's get back. let's get back on track, because I know you're doing all of the stuff you were talking about before, plus for spating or for therapy, plus taking people out and out and about in Baxter. so tell me all about that.
Tori Gray:Yeah, so I do offer Baxter State Park trips. I offer a lot of different kinds of trips will do like a yoga day, retreat, hike into blueberry ledges. So this is where some of that health and wellness practice comes into play. Right, we'll do, you know, about a mile and a half into blueberry ledges, beautiful place with gorgeous natural water slides. We'll have an hour long yoga session. Then we'll kind of take a little swim, if they'd like, while I set up an Ayurvedic inspired picnic. So everything that I serve on my trips are organic, ayurvedic inspired, oftentimes gluten free, because I'm gluten free myself, but I also accommodate for whatever dietary needs. I also prepare an herbal tea blend, whether that's a cold brew or hot tea, depending on the time of the year. I really think that the best way to really connect with the earth and kind of foster that connection is through ingesting it. I know that sounds kind of strange, but it for me, it really helps me feel connected to that plant, to those allies, when we're able to have that reciprocal relationship.
Jen:So yeah, absolutely so. Let's just, i am curious about this because I'm not quickly assembling this knowledge, but I'm just fascinated by the fact that you know, pretty much regardless of the time of year, there's always something to be foraging for, and so, even now that it looks kind of brown and grungy outside like it's the first week in May, what are the types of things that you might be going out to pick up and use right now from that perspective, from an herbalist or nutrition perspective?
Tori Gray:So right now you're going to want to look for. Things like ramps are really popular thing. They kind of look like a nice dark green leaf that sticking right out of the ground There's. Also fiddle heads are starting to pop up. I know a lot of people down in the southern part of the state are starting to see them. I'm actually going to go out this weekend myself and see see if I can find them up here. So two of the biggest ones. Also, as we get in progress into later May, you'll see things like violet stand alliance.
Tori Gray:This is all really great time to harvest blossoms because when you think about the medicine and a plant, you want to think about where the plant is sending energy, because that is where the most powerful healing properties and medicine is going to be. So in the spring time All of these plants are saying whoa, hey, i'm blossoming. Here's my beautiful flower pollinators come look at me. They're spinning all of their plant energies on blossoming. So that's the time to harvest the flowers, versus in the fall, everything starting to retreat back down into the earth. That's a good time to harvest your root things Also this time of year in spring, if you can catch them early things like Japanese knotweed.
Tori Gray:This is a great time to grab that, and Japanese knotweed is really great for mitigating the symptoms of Lyme disease. So if you know anybody who's suffering from Lyme disease I mean Japanese knotweed making that into a tincture is very, very restorative. I know an individual who uses it regularly to manage her lines and she says she has so much more energy, she feels so much better throughout her day. So it's it's a really great alternative option for folks with Lyme's.
Jen:Yeah, I feel like people, anyone who goes outside around here should be doing just taking it prophylactically, just because you just never know. I'm sure you've run across a tick at some point and you know.
Tori Gray:Yeah exactly down south but like with the fiddleheads and the ramps, they're so. They're just like they act like a dark, leafy green right. So they have a lot of that K, that K2, d3 thing going on. They're just so nutritious for the body in a great way to get the digestive system going. So dandelions especially are an amazing detoxer for the digestive tract. It really gets those enzymes going and those mucous membranes and allows your body to flush out any of that sluggish winter hibernation that you've been holding energetically in your digestive system.
Jen:And how do you prepare that? do you make a tea or do you eat the greens, like, like, just? I mean, i guess there's a lot of parts of the dandelion I think that you can use right.
Tori Gray:Yeah, you can actually use the whole part of the dandelion. I like to save the roots for the fall because of what I was talking about. The energetics of the plant go back into the roots in the fall, but in the spring and the summer I'll harvest the blossoms and I'll actually make the blossoms into a jelly. You're kind of like huh, why would I pair sugar with that? but trust me, it's so delicious. Dandelion has a really nice light floral honey taste, if that is making any sense when it's paired with sugar. When it's by itself it can be pretty bitter, but the blossoms have a lighter taste to them. The leaves and the roots are what's really bitter. And then you can pick up the greens and you can pluck the greens all throughout the summer and you can cook them up. You can cook them with garlic, you can blend them.
Tori Gray:I like to dehydrate my dandelion leaves. I dehydrate them and then I I kind of cut them and sift them and put them into my different dandelion leaves that I make, just because I think they're really quick and easy thing to add into different tea blends to get that, that flushing effect, that diuretic effect. I mean dandelion. In French is pissed of Leon means pissed the bed. It's a natural diuretic. You know, there you go.
Jen:All right, Pretty much says it right there, Exactly. That's awesome. So so all this is like super interesting. So you've had your wilderness guru business or I don't know. I assume you're calling in a business or like you've had this going on for a little over a year now, Like how have things gone? You know what? has what has gone the way you expected? I mean, it's kind of a tricky time to be trying to start something up when you're just kind of like, well, we're coming out of COVID, but are we? and you know?
Jen:there's just still so many random things coming going on that make this kind of a kooky time and nobody really knows what's what to expect, even though we never really knew what to expect. But now we all know we don't know what to expect. Like, tell me a little bit about your first year and what has gone the way you expected and what has been a surprise.
Tori Gray:Yeah, so I actually working in the outdoors and I think some other folks have been mentioning this too on the podcast that since COVID happened there's just been this explosion of more visitors in the outdoors than ever before And I mean it's really great actually, you know, to see all these people wanting to cultivate that relationship with the wild places. So with my first year I really honestly didn't think I was going to get more than a couple of trips. I just kind of put out my Katahdin hike dates I do group Katahdin hikes and private hikes too And I just kind of put them out there to see what would happen And almost all of them booked. And I had a very, very busy season last year And I had camp groups signing up. I had people asking about concierge services, so everything that I put out there was eaten up right away My yoga retreats, all that kind of stuff too. I was just really taken aback, honestly, by the success And I'm so, so grateful that it happened, because it just affirmed to me that I am in the right place, doing the right thing at the right time.
Tori Gray:Like this seems to be something that people really need And it's a business that's flourishing right now is the recreational guiding. I mean there's more guides, more recreational guides than there ever have been before, and it's because these individuals from cities and urban areas they want to have those experiences, they want to know what the hub of is all about and they want to feel it for themselves. Yeah, i think that was probably my biggest thing that I really didn't expect. Like I, when I first got my guide's license last May, i actually started guiding with another company out in Greenville. I was doing moose tours and either from a van or from a canoe and it was a great experience.
Tori Gray:But I got maybe like a month and a half into it And I was like I can't do it, i can't be in both Greenville and Millinocket at the same time Like I'm so sorry, but I need to focus more on my own business because it seems like right now that's the direction that everything is moving And I think, too, a lot of it is. People are very interested in this idea of a journey to getting to Katahdin. You know, when people go out with me it's not just a hike up to the summit and back down. You know, i stay with you the whole time and I help you with getting your gear all together. If you're wanting a training program, i might offer like a loose guideline And I always recommend to find a personal trainer, because I'm not quite one of those yet, but it will be on the docket for next season And I I have health and wellness coaching sessions.
Tori Gray:I am a health and wellness coach, so those are those amazing accountability sessions that people need because I don't know about you but accountability is the hardest part of starting a new training program or a workout And so having that space, holding that space for people to say, hey, let's check in, how's your week, like your biweekly goals, going, how do you feel you did, or how do you think it's working for you, what's not working for you, let's kind of flesh it out And then, moving forward, what are our new goals for the next set of couple weeks? And just kind of continuing on with that seems to be a really exciting aspect of the business that is just continuing to grow with each season.
Jen:Yeah, that's awesome And it is. There's so many different things And I will imagine that it's some. At some point pretty soon you're gonna you're gonna need to start throwing a few things away just because you're gonna have too many things going on at one time. But so tell me what? like? I'm just so fascinated by all this. What is your typical week look like? Or what do you? how, in the summer, do you want your weeks to look like? Where are you doing daily And like what? how does that all break out?
Jen:If you're at Liberty to tell me you know, i mean you don't have to share all your trade secrets, but I just think it's so interesting And I think it's hard for some people to put themselves in the position of like, oh, i'm going to put it out there and do this all the time, like what would I do? And I would imagine that there's a combination of getting the trips done versus planning, versus marketing, versus you know, you got a lot of different balls in the air, so tell me a little bit more about that.
Tori Gray:Yeah, that's a great question. I'm trying to figure out how to balance all that currently, but basically my obviously the biggest busiest month is going to be August, you know, followed shortly by July. So just an idea of like what my July looks like. It's mostly weekends are booked, you know that's Friday through Sunday booked, and then I have like a few like Monday, tuesday or Tuesday, wednesday that sort of thing. Weekdays are much more open. I really like to have days built into my schedule that are completely off, like okay. So when I sit down to make my calendar out for the season, i say, okay, i know that I definitely want to do this trip and this trip for myself, okay, and I block those out on my calendar whatever they might be a week long, two week long.
Tori Gray:Whatever those trips are, those are my trips. I will not book during those trips. Those are times for myself, my friends and my family. And then, other than that, i just try to book when I can what's manageable and reasonable for my body. So I'm not going to do a Katahdin hike three days in a row, like that's just not sustainable, you know. So it's about knowing my own body.
Tori Gray:Right now, this summer it's I seem to be doing a Katahdin hike once a week, starting in June, going all the way through down into August. Sometimes it's twice a week, like if I have a Sunday and then a Friday, or like a Sunday and a Thursday. There's like at least always three days in between. We need that downtime, you know, and it's not just downtime for my body, it's also downtime for getting the business a space to breathe, because when I do my Katahdin trips or really any and all of my trips an entire day is dedicated to preparing the food, and the day before that half of it is about going out and running errands getting groceries for that food.
Tori Gray:So those are all of those things that, you know, most people don't really think about when they hire a guide.
Tori Gray:They're like, oh, i'm rich, looking for the day And then all this food magically appears. No, i had to plan for it, and especially when you have a big group of a bunch of people coming from all over, they all have different dietary needs. So, really focusing on creating a menu that is going to accommodate all of the different dietary needs, making sure that you have access to those I'm up in Milanoch at Main. Some of these specialty ingredients I have to go all the way to Bangor for, you know so just kind of integrating those little business pieces And then you have your whole day of whatever your trip is. So you have your preparation time, then the trip And then afterwards you need time to unpack your gear. You know, unpack your gear, wash everything, reset, get ready for the next thing. So that would probably be the biggest thing that I learned last year is giving yourself space to breathe as a guide in between your trips and knowing your body's limitations.
Jen:Yes, and all of these things point to something that I don't probably say enough on this podcast or when I have people that stay at my property is like tip your guides, tip your guides. Well, because you've just heard all the different things they're doing, even before and after. They are spending time with you, keeping you safe and alive and like enjoying your day. So what are the logistics of getting people in and out of backstreet? Are they taking care of that themselves? Or, like because the last time we went and granted, it was kind of during COVID there was this whole like booking process and you couldn't just like show up.
Jen:You know there was a lot of advanced work that had to be done as far as getting into the park and getting to the trailheads that you want to get to or whatever, because it's not like you enter backstreet and immediately you're at the base of, you know, cretatin. You have to like go to where your place is and then go, go, go. You know it. Just how do you manage that? Or are you kind of setting your dates ahead of time and getting access to the places you need to get to ahead of time and then just kind of filling it in with people, or do they do their own thing, or how does that work So?
Tori Gray:I want to first say that Baxter is so much more than Cretatin. You know it's over 209,000 acres of land. The plot of land that contains Cretatin is 6,000 acres. So just kind of putting that into perspective. A lot of people come to Baxter for the mountain, but I mean, the whole park is just amazing in its own, and if anybody listening out there, if you go to Baxter, try to get away from the mountain crowds and really have those true wilderness experiences. Go for a walk on a trail that's lester traveled And then that's where you're going to find the peace. But as far as-.
Jen:And probably the moose. This isn't a side.
Tori Gray:Yes, be careful in the fall, that's when the bulls are in the rut. No, but it's fantastic. But as far as getting Cretatin reservations, that's the old, those are the only trail heads. There's three of them There's Cretatin stream, there's Abel and there's Rowingbrook. So those are the three parking areas for Cretatin. They're also campgrounds. So for reservations that's what you're looking at Anywhere else in the park you don't need a reservation for.
Tori Gray:If you're an out-of-state visitor, you just need to pay the gate fee and then you're welcome to go on in. It is free for main state residents to enter the park, but for everybody across the board it is a $5 fee for a Cretatin parking reservation. So with that I mean there's a couple different ways to go about it. You can get your parking reservation ahead of time, either online or by calling the reservations office, or you can kind of roll the dice and see if you can get there right when the gates open at 6 am and get into height Cretatin. That way, i'm going to tell you right now, it's not a very successful strategy. Unless it's a weekday in the shoulder season, then that might happen for you, but most of the time that is not the case at all. You're going to want to try to get your reservation ahead of time And you know the other option too is camping, like you can always camp at one of those trailhead campgrounds, so Cretatin Stream, a-ball or Roaring Brook.
Tori Gray:That secures your parking pass for the day after. So like, let's say you're camping on Friday night, so you go, you get to Baxter. You have to get there before 8 pm or you know the gates are closed, you can't get into your campsite, so get there before 8 pm through the gatehouse. You go, you get all set up, you sleep. The next morning, saturday you move your car from the camper lot to the day use parking lot and then you can hike your Cretatin.
Tori Gray:It's not like your Cretatin hike, it's not like you can go get there on your Friday of your reservation and say hey, i want to hike Cretatin. No, that's not how it works. You can't hike Cretatin and then spend the night. You have to spend the night, then hike Cretatin. So those are a couple of different ways to get into hike Cretatin. You don't necessarily need to have a parking pass if you're camping anywhere in the park, so say you're camping up at Dacey Pond but you want to hike from Cretatin Stream up the Hunt Trail. So as long as you get there before the parking lot is full, they have a space for you. So your camping fee includes a parking reservation for a Cretatin, if you would like it to.
Jen:Yeah, i do second your point, though, of the fact that it's a gigantic park that is just filled with amazing places to go and see and things to do, and so, yes, i would. And it's adjacent to Cretatin Woods and Waters, which is another amazing area to spend time in. That is like almost oh well, i mean, certainly people go there, but just so few people that you will see in if you get into the back country there too. So it's just a great area.
Tori Gray:I'll say the Cretatin Woods and Waters Monument is a great place to look for wildlife. This winter I was snowmobiling through there and I saw a lynx and three kittens.
Jen:So wow, yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, we paddled through part of it and it was like, wow, this is. It was pretty bonkers, like we didn't see really any other humans.
Tori Gray:Yes, much to my daughter's chagrin, but my husband and I really enjoyed it, that's the awesome, like the most amazing part about the Milanoca and Cretatin region is that it really is the last step of civilization before you're just surrounded by woods, and all of these amazing wilderness opportunities are right at the doorstep here in Milanoca.
Jen:Yeah, and it's one of those dark skies areas too. So I just find whenever we go up there, it's like if you can find an open spot to like lay down when the sun is starting to go down, within you know whatever 10, 20 minutes of when the sun does go down, your mind will literally explode. If you clear out at what you're seeing above you, it's just like if you had any doubt about the vastness of the universe and everything. It's just a place to go that you don't. You, no matter how dark you get when you're down, like in Massachusetts or whatever, you do not get that dark and it's just crazy.
Tori Gray:Yeah, it's like it's like in elementary school when our teacher would give us like a black piece of bulletin board paper and then we took glitter and just like splattered it on there. That's what the sky looks like It's just like splattered glitter.
Jen:Yeah, It is, It is. It's not All right. So we talked about how busy much busier you were than you thought you were going to be. How about one or two things that were less pleasant surprises about the last year or something that you didn't anticipate? that became something that was a little bit challenging for you.
Tori Gray:I would say I think probably the things that happened on trail specifically were we would get above tree line and then my clients would say, oh, i have a fear of heights. That was after my first couple of trips where that happened. I was like, okay, this is getting added to the vetting list of questions, like, do you have a fear of heights? Because if I know and you want to work through it, that's a very different experience. I can mentally prepare for it, i can make sure that there's a second guide on the trip. So if you decide that you don't want to go forward, that the second guide can walk you back down and I'll continue on with the other clients, versus being up there by myself with a group of people and somebody's petrified, glued to the rocks. It's like, okay, i can rise to the occasion and coach through that experience to make it a more positive outcome. And I have before, both in my guiding service and as a ranger with Baxter, i've been able to do that, thankfully.
Tori Gray:But just those kind of moments where getting those little last minute tidbits from clients, maybe because they weren't necessarily aware of themselves, like having that sort of phobia, i know it's really different, especially here on the East Coast we're constantly sheltered by trees. It's very comforting, it's very close and cozy, and so when people get up on the table lands, they're like, oh my gosh, we're above tree line even. They're like, oh my gosh, i can see so far. It's like the reverse of claustrophobia. I know the feeling because the first time I ever went out West I had that same feeling. I was like I can see for miles. So this is weird.
Tori Gray:And it was a little freaky. But I can't imagine what it'd be like experiencing that for the first time above tree line. You know that must be very, very difficult for people.
Jen:Yeah, well, and those chimneys are no joke. That was. I can tell you that I personally was the person who ruined everyone's trip that the time that I went up there, because everyone kept talking about the knife edge and I didn't have any issue with the knife edge, but, man, those chimneys scared the ever loving bejesus at me. I could not press hard enough against the rock And I was like you get, once you go past the first one, you're like I was like bawling my eyes out. It was awful, it was awful, i was just a mess.
Tori Gray:So when I survived, yeah, Yeah, the chimney is the most challenging part of the knife edge trail. It's like an 80 foot vertical drop and an 80 foot vertical climb right back up.
Jen:Yeah, when I ever got to the top and realized that there were countless other ways we could have gone to get up there, i like literally almost got divorced. So that's a story for another podcast, anyway. So all right, that's actually a really good point that, yeah, i mean, people are just the wildcard all the time, aren't they? You just never know.
Tori Gray:Yeah, and you know it's okay. I mean, i'm happy to roll with the punches, it's just I'm a planner, you know that's the business that I'm in. I'd like to know that.
Jen:Yeah, And part of why, part of what being a guide is trying to mitigate all the things you possibly can ahead of time, because that makes it that much more likely that everyone has a good time and is safe. So that is totally legit And people wouldn't necessarily think to offer that up Like I don't know. Maybe some people will just not self select for a trip like that, if they kind of have heard about the knife edge or something. But there's plenty of other people who I'm sure are like Oh, of course, And there's plenty of other hikes that are sketchy, that if you have that kind of a problem you are going to be freaking out at one time or another.
Tori Gray:So yeah, And this is exactly any of my trips like if you want to book with me, if somebody wants to book with me, you have to have a phone conversation with me. I will not take you up. Katahdin, you can't even book on my website unless you click yes, i have contacted Tori, so that is really important to me. I need to know who's coming with me up that mountain. At least in some way we need to have a conversation.
Jen:Yeah, that's legit, all right. so, and speaking of that, what makes you the guru?
Tori Gray:Okay. So I want to put out there that I myself am not the guru, my business is the guru. So I'm thinking long term, right with. The wilderness guru wanted to be a landing page for people coming to Maine, coming to the Katahdin region. Just say, okay, this is the place where I can plan my accommodation, like somebody's going to plan my accommodations for me, so I'll get all of the look, the best local perspective on accommodations, on restaurants, on things to do, souvenirs, and I'll also be able to book a guided trip, learn spiritual contexts, history facts, flora and fauna identification, glacial history you know all of these different things. It's a really educational experience, so much more than just a hike or a paddle or whatever it may be. And in addition to that, this person or this business, this guiding company, is going to help me feel physically, mentally and emotionally prepared for whatever wilderness experience I choose, to begin right. So that's where the guru part of it comes into. It is having a very well rounded and well cared for wilderness experience.
Jen:Yes, i'm sold. You definitely have. There's a lot of facets to what you're offering already, and I can totally see this burgeoning out the way that you are intending it to. So that's that's a good answer. That's a very good answer. I put a lot of thought into it. I love it. How about a couple more questions? What's your big goal for this year? Like, what are you looking toward? You talked about a few little things that you were hoping would happen, but do you have any overarching like? this is what I want for my business this year. So for this year.
Tori Gray:I just I want to get the word out more and I want to get more people not only with my trips out, with my trips but also with other great qualified guides in the area. I have a trusted professionals page that I put out there. So if you can't, you know, if we can't make our schedules work, i'll try to set you up with somebody who can. And then also, on top that, i'm really really excited for my Katahdin Flora workshop. It's a an overnight trip into Chimney Ponds, so it's a backpacking trip.
Tori Gray:And while we're there we're going to summit both Baxter Peak and Hamlin Peak, which is a very near and dear place to me, hamlin Peak very close to my heart. Really, this whole trip is like my, my heart maybe. And while we're up there we're going to discuss all of the alpine plant species that are up there, very rare for this region of North America, and we're going to be doing some citizen science observations and analysis And we're going to be submitting that research through iNaturalist to both UMain and IF&W and Baxter State Park, all for their conservation research implementations. And I'm just, i'm over the moon excited to talk about all of that and the glacial history of that of Katahdin and how things came to be where they are. That, i think, is really going to be the highlight of the summer. As far as trips go, it's fantastic. Yeah, i, i.
Jen:How many people do you, how many people are you looking to take on that? Only six, only six, okay, and that's people can get information on that on your website, i would imagine thewildernessgurucom, and then I'll. I'll give you all your details, right? You're at the Wilderness Guru on Instagram And then your guru wilderness pretty much on everything else Yes, right, yeah, okay. So definitely check that out, because that sounds fascinating, but you have to be in pretty good physical condition to do this trip. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say that.
Tori Gray:Yeah, you have to really really be physically prepared for that. It's a really long trip, like it's 3.3 miles. On day one It's an incline, then day two is like 7.7 miles right around there, and then day three is 3.3 on the way out. So just kind of.
Jen:So you're leaving your stuff at at Chimney Ponds, or right, but you are carrying everything in and then carrying it back out again and then summoning in between.
Tori Gray:So yes, exactly, and it's also a great trip for beginners into backpacking because I'll give you guidance on how to prepare your own backpacking meals, how to string up your bear bag, how to cook backpacking meals, how to pack all the gear that you need, and we'll also be doing daily yoga, so we have a nice time to stretch and we have journal reflections that we'll be focusing on and different kinds of enrichment activities, so it'll be a really awesome time.
Jen:Yeah, it sounds, it sounds amazing. So I hope that everyone I hope you fill that thing up like in a second, which you should, because it sounds amazing. All right, so, speaking of gear, my final question I like to try to remember to ask everybody what is your favorite piece of gear that cost you less than $50?
Tori Gray:Okay, so well, aside from the general safety things you know, like headlamp compass, you know all those kinds of things I'm going to have to go with, it's this spork that I found And it was only like $15. And inside it's a long handle spork so it can reach into those dehydrated backpacking meals. But inside of the handle of the spork is both a knife and a ferro rod, so you have a fire starter, a knife, a spoon and a fork all in one. It's a stick. It comes with a little bag with a string So it's easy to click onto your pack with a carabiner. It's. I think the company is Tapris or Tapiris T-A-P-I-R-I-S.
Jen:I'm not, don't quote me on that. Where did you find this thing? And like is it made out of? like titanium or something Like? is it lightweight?
Tori Gray:No, it is lightweight. The knife, I think, is made out of titanium.
Jen:But the you know, obviously the rod is not.
Tori Gray:The rod is not. The spoon itself is like a BPA free. I can't remember the materials right off the top of my head. I'm sorry.
Jen:Is it see-through the spoon itself or is it just? I don't know. I'm like, how big is the handle on this thing? You know what I'll do I'll send you the link to it. Oh yeah, cool. I'm so intrigued. I've never heard of such a thing and that seems really cool and really cheap for such functionality.
Tori Gray:Yeah, i mean it's a fantastic tool. I mean I take it with me on all of my backpacking trips, like I absolutely love it.
Jen:Did you happen across it online or did you? see in the store somewhere. Oh, that's so cool. Yep, I found it on.
Tori Gray:Amazon actually So nice. So if you have Amazon Prime, free shipping.
Jen:Yeah, very cool. That's a good answer. I'm gonna I'm definitely gonna find the link for that and slap it in the show notes, because that's super cool. All right, have we covered everything? What did we miss?
Tori Gray:Yeah, i just I wanted to also slide in there that you know, with my trips I always try to take my professional camera with me and get good footage. Afterwards I make sure that folks have access to a Google Drive link. It's just basically a big photo dump. I don't edit the photos, but at least you'll get access to all of your trip photos if you would like to. And I guess my biggest thing to put out there is I just want people to go outside. You know, i just want people to go outside and I want them to feel comfortable being out there And anything that I can do to get them to that point.
Jen:I'm here for it. That's awesome. That's a good mic drop moment, although I do have to say that's a. That's a huge value add. The photo dump thing, because you know. A you have a real camera and you know how to use it. But B like that way, if you're on the trip and you are much tighter than you thought you were going to be, you're getting a little bit delirious. You don't have to remember to take pictures because it's being captured for all of posterity, because God knows if you don't put it on Instagram later. It didn't happen, so you got to get your pictures off, exactly.
Tori Gray:Oh, i do want to put out there, like, when people go out, please be safe. you know. Like, make sure that you tell people where you're going, tell somebody who's not going with you where you're going, how long you expect to be gone. Those safety measures are super important. Maybe getting some Ira guide Yeah, ira guide, get a GPS, one of those little Garmin minis, something like that. you know, keep yourself safe out there and be prepared. you know, those are some really big things. And if you're planning for forage, please consult a professional. Make sure that you are getting your identifications correct. Make sure that you are harvesting sustainably, so we're not clearing out a whole patch of those fiddle heads. Make sure you leave at least one little frond. I like to say when there's one, it's done, you know. So, like, leave that alone. And there's all kinds of fun little tricks like that to help you remember to sustainably harvest when you're in the outdoors.
Jen:Yeah, absolutely. And yes, tori's from a part of the world where your phone may still not work. Ah, yes, that too, that's it. That's it, Yeah, reliably. And so don't count on that If you're going to head out into the actual wilderness, just you know, bring a paper map and know what you're doing. So, yeah, awesome, all right, well, this was great. Thank you so much. I'm so excited And we should definitely like keep the conversation going, because I need an accountability coach myself.
Jen:I'm here for it. There's so much, There's so many fun things that you're doing. How far do you? you probably have enough, as you said, business to be sticking around right where you are right now. right, You don't go very far fields, I would imagine.
Tori Gray:No, I typically stay right around in this area, but I have an exciting collaboration coming up with a guide on the coast. Nice Yeah. Now you might know her, Aislinn Sarnackie.
Jen:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean I don't know her personally, but I definitely was stalking her back when she used to work for was a BDN or, and you know. I think she's super cool and would love to land her one of these days, but I know she's been. She became a guide officially right, And she's been doing a lot more stuff.
Tori Gray:We actually. That's why I met her. We went to the same guide school. Oh no way. Oh, that's awesome.
Jen:Yeah, yes, and I have interviewed on her name is escaping me all of a sudden. I'm having a brain fart, tammy.
Tori Gray:Yeah, Tammy Rodgers Yeah.
Jen:Yeah, that was the school I did too. I did Tammy way back when and I always am always like maybe I'll just take the class, just to take the class. I don't think I could ever pass the test because I just don't have enough of that information like milling around in me and and or the curiosity about every single thing that I would need to learn. But I think it would be a cool experience.
Tori Gray:So yeah, it's like summer camp for adults. I mean, yeah, it's a really awesome experience. I, aislinn and I, we went to just the four day experience, but even then they incorporated some really awesome hands on stuff, but the whole shebang going for the whole week It was from what I've seen and read and here because they still keep in close contact with both Tammy and her son, gregory Sarnacky Yeah, everything is just fantastic. The food is delicious, the hands on skill building is really top notch. I mean, you're learning map and compass from a previous special forces forward observer.
Jen:Yeah, how can you beat that guy? I can't get you out of the woods.
Tori Gray:No one can. I can't teach you to get yourself out of the woods, Then nobody can. you know, it's all about building your own skills.
Jen:Right, right, absolutely, absolutely. No, that's cool, that's, that's very awesome. That's awesome. I'm glad you had a good experience there.
Tori Gray:So all right, well, thank you, go ahead. Yeah, sorry, i just wanted to say thank you so much for the series that you did with Jamie on marketing. Oh yeah, because as far as challenges go for guiding businesses, i think that is definitely number one. Top of my list is figuring out this massive undertaking of building a website, of getting social media up and running, of putting out ads and just really the whole technology side of it is is very daunting for those of us who are wood spoke.
Jen:Yes, yes, well, that's a thing I feel like. I mean, yeah, it's just daunting period for most people And it was one of those things that, when I started talking to her, i'm like, you know, and a lot of like the marketing piece of it, that even a lot of the stuff she was talking about, a lot of it is like common sense. It's just like you just have to constantly hear it and like let it register and be like you know what. I need to try this one thing, you know it's all. it's one thing to hear it, but then you have to like take action. And it's just like you know, my hope was, just by continuing to talk about it and how you could maybe apply that type of thinking to this type of a business, that maybe it would. it would stimulate some ideas and people. So hopefully it will land that way. Jamie, jamie's fun. She's a lot of a lot of energy. She's a little ball of fire.
Tori Gray:I could tell it was a really, really valuable series. So I just want to, from my heart for that.
Jen:Oh, thank you, i appreciate that I feel better. It took me so long to edit it because it was like this ridiculously long conversation that we had And I just have 50 million other things going on, and she kept me like is it coming out soon? I'm like, yeah, you know, we probably recorded it back in like November. I'm like.
Jen:I'm going to get around at some point, but I need to spend some time on it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right. Well, awesome, this was great, that trip sounds amazing And I'm just so excited. So thank you for doing what you do anytime. All right, bye, literally, please, anytime. All right.
Jen:Have a good night, tori. We'll see you later. A huge thanks to Tori for sharing her wisdom, enthusiasm and insider knowledge of the Katahdin region in Baxter State Park. If you're more excited than ever to experience Baxter's magic for yourself, but all the planning and details are stressing you out and making you think it's like going to Disneyland, i've got good news for you. Along with all the other wonderful stuff she does, tori and the Wilderness Guru provide trip consults and concierge services. So you should hit her up right now to get that late summer or fall trip sorted out and on the books. Head to thewildernessgurucom or click one of the zillion links in the show notes to get started. It's the little actions that lead to the biggest achievements. right, that's it for now. Speaking of concierge, got to put this episode to bed so I can go concierge the heck out of my family's annual end of school year car camping trip, because that is about all we're going to manage this month. But hey, whatever, it's still getting a little wild.