Guides Gone Wild

Fireside Chat with Trish & Bethany - and Announcing Last Tuesday Meetups!

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What you need to know RIGHT THIS SECOND is that we are kicking off the Last Tuesday of the Month Virtual Meetup - for any and all Guides Gone Wild peeps - starting NEXT TUESDAY, January 30th, at 7pm.

How can you join the virtual meetup, you ask?

CLICK HERE or head on over to GuidesGoneWild.com/meet and sign up for the calendar invite and Zoom link!

At this first meetup, we will be talking about visions and goals and hopes for 2024 - and the rest of the year, we’ll be inviting in the guides and conversations and accountability we need to actually get all the fun stuff done!

So where did this idea come from, you might ask? 

Well, grab a cup of hot tea, close your eyes, and picture yourself cozied up by a lovely woodstove in the Maine woods.... That’s where I was a few weeks back with my trusty sidekick Trish and Guides Gone Wild all star listener and guest Bethany Cass, on a spontaneous adventure at the Flagstaff Hut (Maine Huts & Trails).
 
I just happened to bring my little recorder with me so I could pick their brains about what they find valuable about these little adventures. 

Apologies for the janky audio, but I hope you enjoy a little eavesdropping into why little spontaneous spurts of nature are so AMAZINGLY amazing!

And in case you want to hear more of us talking all the feels!:

Jen:

Hi again I'm back. It's Jen. This is Guides Gone Wild, and I am not afraid to go from four weeks of radio silence to barraging you with my voice multiple times in one week. Ha, today we have a short little episode to share a little fun, a lot of stoke, and announce a huge Guides Gone Wild initiative for the year. What you need to know, right this second, is that we are kicking off a virtual meetup for any and all Guides Gone Wild peeps, starting next Tuesday, january 30th, at 7pm. How can you join this meetup, you ask? Get the details by clicking the link in the show notes or head on over to guidesgunwildcom slash meet and sign up for the calendar invite and zoom link.

Jen:

This month we're talking about visions and goals and hopes for 2024. And the rest of the year we'll be inviting in the guides and conversations and accountability. We need to actually get all of the fun stuff done already. So where did this idea come from, you might ask? Well, grab a cup of hot tea, close your eyes and picture yourself cozied up by a lovely wood stove in the main woods. That's where I, my trusty sidekick Trish and Guides Gone Wild All Star listener and guest, bethany Kass, found herself a few weeks ago and I happened to bring my little recorder with me so I could pick their brains a bit. I apologize for the janky audio, but I hope you enjoy a little eavesdropping into why little, spontaneous spurts of nature are so amazingly amazing. All right, so it's not really going to hear me, I'm going to put it down here.

Trish:

Come on, you're going to be.

Jen:

No, it won't hear me as background noise. So first off, let's talk about why we're here.

Trish:

Yes.

Jen:

Bethany, you're the instigation of this whole weekend. Why are you here?

Bethany Cass:

Yeah, so Maddie started the job in mid-December up at the Flagstaff Hut. Yeah, you're daughter, I'm Maddie, and I just was anxious to get up here. I mean, I had to get up here while she was here. So who was I going to get to come with me? Well, of course, of course, jen. Jen and her side kick, trisha, so it worked out perfect. You know, we had Friday night here and then Saturday was booked, so I get to stay in the staff quarters tonight.

Trish:

That's awesome. I didn't hesitate. Jen sent me a text and said Bethany, my friend from town, bethany because she was speaking to me and somebody else who has it ever met you she booked a night and I think I'm going to do the same and I immediately was like, oh, that I got to go. I got to go Especially after listening to your interview on the podcast, because I was so inspired by you. I was like, oh, I can't wait to see Bethany again.

Bethany Cass:

Well, she didn't know what hut she was going to be in until she came for training before Christmas. Yeah.

Jen:

I want to make that point because it's not always. You don't always have to plan these things really far in advance.

Trish:

Yeah.

Jen:

So in fact they've had some really good deals on putts days lately because people cancel past minutes.

Trish:

Yeah.

Jen:

Just follow the well their accounts, yeah.

Trish:

Yeah.

Jen:

So explain. I want to, bethany, I want you to tell your story of coming in here, because it was kind of fun. Was that your story from yesterday Like feel the truth.

Bethany Cass:

Oh gosh, yes, okay, all right. Yeah, here's the reality. My fail. Okay. So, maddie, we got Maddie some cross-cutter skis this winter because she's going to be up here. So I said you got to get some cross-country skis because you'll use them, yeah. So I initially planned on cross-country skiing in. So we parked at the trailhead and what was it? Three and a half miles in, no, not even. I mean okay, it was like a mile and a half. So I had this vision of me cross-country skiing in, but kind of forgetting that I've never cross-country skied with a 30-pound pack backpack on my back. So it took me a while to kind of get situated in the parking lot. But I got my skis on, I got my back on and I don't think I went more than like 200 yards and I fell and then I couldn't get up. I was able to wrangle the backpack off, but then I couldn't get my skis off, so then I couldn't get up. So I was so glad that I was all by myself. But now that I'm broadcasting this, now everyone knows.

Bethany Cass:

So I went back to my car, had an extra pair of snow shoes in there, so put those on and made my way here. So that's awesome. But yeah, I mean, cross country skiing with that kind of weight on your back is a whole different experience.

Trish:

I fall over enough just on cross country skis without a pack, so I knew that that wouldn't have been an option for me. She said you can either cross country or snow shoe in and I said well, feel free to cross country, but I'm definitely hiking in. I know that I can't do that.

Bethany Cass:

Just to say, my backpack was heavy because I was also bringing in all of the things that Maddie wanted me to bring up for her. So I actually have a lot lighter bag going back, but I was pretty full.

Jen:

I'm like picking myself out. We kept throwing stuff in. We're just like let's just bring this.

Trish:

We don't know Our bags are probably heavy.

Trish:

Yeah, I think my bag was pretty heavy and it's a little awkward. It's not the right size for me, so it was a little awkward just carrying it in general. But the weather we kept looking at the weather, not knowing and not ever being. I had never been here, she's been here before. Not ever having been here before, I had no idea how far we were going and driving in. It seemed like we were going in the middle of nowhere and with the threat of a storm coming, I was having a little bit of like.

Bethany Cass:

Okay, what are we doing?

Trish:

here, but everything obviously worked out amazing.

Bethany Cass:

Yeah, and yesterday was beautiful. Yes, and just so people know, you do have the option. You can have your gear snowmobile in. I think there's certain set times so I didn't want to be married to a time so. I just figured I was going to bring my bag in by myself.

Jen:

I think that that's what I think this is like. I mean, you know, it's inexpensive, for sure, but it's a very low stakes, like kind of back country-esque experience.

Bethany Cass:

Then you get here and it's so cool. Yeah, and we were saying this isn't a hot, this is the lodge, this is like a luxury, this is really nice.

Trish:

Yes, this is really nice. It's way nicer than I was picturing in my head, as far as I think you did say it was nice, but it's it's, it's spacious.

Jen:

It's like oh yeah, jen's nice Jen's version of nice is my version.

Bethany Cass:

I know, when we say luxury, you have to be it's relative. Yeah.

Trish:

This is luxury compared to camping and even the MC.

Bethany Cass:

Huts, this is, this is really nice. And just the couches, yeah Well, and the fact that you can have like a sort of a semi-private situation with the rooms and you're not just all in one big bunk room is sort of a bonus.

Trish:

So if you are coming like as a couple or with your family or you know, it's nice that you can have that private space. I the last time the only other time I'd stayed at the hut was, you know, the massive bunk room, and I was squished in the third bunk top, barely able to sit up, and so this is definitely like feels a little different compared to that.

Bethany Cass:

So the lodge and the bunk rooms are all heated floors. Yeah, so nice.

Jen:

Nice and tight and slated wall.

Bethany Cass:

And the best thing is they have the dry room. So like that. I've never heard of that before.

Jen:

Yeah, so that's our next visit, last yoga.

Trish:

Yes, exactly Hot yoga.

Bethany Cass:

I told Bethany I'm like naked snow angels and dry rooms.

Trish:

So three o'clock, you definitely need to hook Amy up. That's an excellent idea, Amy. That does the saltwater dipping the cold plunge like.

Jen:

Get her up, set up the dry room to be able to go in and warm up and you just go, Remember when it's first like just a little bit of ice, you could always take a hole out there and you know, or walk in, yeah.

Bethany Cass:

Or, and Mandy says, people do yoga. So, three o'clock this morning. I was feeling a little chilly and I got up. I went to the dry room, got a nice warm blanket, Brought it back to my bunk and I was like, oh yeah, I'm gonna pose it on up.

Trish:

That's all I needed.

Bethany Cass:

Awesome A little extra layer. I'm gonna put the crew. We have four amazing women. I mean. I've heard the staff is great. So Mandy came up here a week before Christmas, met all the staff. So there's three different huts and I don't know. There's like three or four people each hut. But yeah, this is like the all women staff.

Trish:

And they're fabulous and they're great cooks we had amazing.

Bethany Cass:

Mediterranean meal last night Well fed. Fluffles and salads, and.

Trish:

Yes, well, delicious cake. Yeah, it's very nice here. I would highly recommend and I would definitely come back, for sure. 100%, oh, craft beer. So good, so good.

Jen:

So talk a little bit about getting together in person versus getting together, why we spent two hours last night talking about how cool it was to just like.

Trish:

Yeah.

Jen:

Why doesn't?

Trish:

this get together. I know Well, I you know, for me I'm always excited at the opportunity to have an adventure, because I don't get out as much as I should and I'm trying to be better at it. But listening to your podcast, I was like blown away after hearing all this stuff. After meeting you once in the fall at the lodge and then hearing your podcast, I was like, oh my god, this is amazing. So I was super excited. I know so you're talking about time. It's crazy. I was so excited to come back and get to see you again and hang out because I was really motivated.

Bethany Cass:

Well, we were talking about that last night, like how, when you have that day, oh great.

Trish:

This is amazing, and now we're being served amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup after a nice two hour snowshoe hike.

Jen:

But yeah, talking about well.

Bethany Cass:

Well, we were talking about that last night. You have that day and you're just like this is amazing because you went skiing at Sugarloaf. Yes and you're just like OK. How do you repeat that? How do you make more of that in your life?

Trish:

How do you just make the time and make the and, like you were saying, excuses? I mean it is hard. It's hard when you've got kids, when you've got families, when you've got issues, which is where I'm at in my life right now and I know you're in a little bit of a different phase and your kids are even older, but it is hard. But I also know that it's like I needed. I need this, Like you were saying Absolutely, and no one else is going to make the time. I asked like I hadn't skied in what seven years? And yesterday, sitting on the chair left, I was just like ah, yeah.

Trish:

Like I was so happy Once I got over all the little hurdles, like oh my god, I don't have ski pants. It goes right back to the bike weekend Like oh my god, I don't have the right shorts, I don't have ski pants, I don't have the gear, and not using that as an excuse, just going, and I'm so glad I did.

Bethany Cass:

Yeah, and just coming back from like a two hour snowshoe hike, yeah, you're just. Your mind is just away from all of the stress and just everything. You're just disconnected. And I'm just always so happy, just kind of being in the woods and being in nature Refreshed yeah, very, very true.

Jen:

OK, so I hope this was enough to get you excited to join us in a few days for our very first Guides Gone Wild last Tuesday of the month. Virtual meetup next Tuesday, january 30th, at 7 PM. Come on over to guidesgonwildcom slash meet for more info. Hope to see you all good.