our mission 

TRAIL MAVENS EMPOWERS WOMEN TO BE THE fire starters, THE tent pitchers, AND THE map readers, CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR adventure, leadership, AND starry-night campfire conversation IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS.

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We bring the topo maps, firewood, and Pinot Noir.
You bring your desire to teach, learn, and meet other dynamic women.
We make sure you get outside your comfort zone.
You walk away with finely-tined skills, confidence, confidantes, and stories for days.

 
 
 
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An update

as of 2020, trail mavens is no longer running group adventures.

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(Our decision to pause trips feels weirdly prescient in the age of coronavirus.) However, we remain a thousand percent committed to making women feel connected, grounded, and like they can do anything they set their minds to.

Now, we’re creating online experiences for groups of women who are itching for change, longing for deep connection, and want to harness this weirdo time in the world for good.

Sound like you? Click here, or on ‘Coaching Circles’ in the menu above.

 
 
 
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- Iyara G.

I think Trail Mavens brings out the best in me and maybe the best in the other women too, judging by how well we all come together, get along, and make things happen. 

I feel like when I'm out there in nature with everyone, I am my best self.  I do the best I can with what I have.  I help others. I am compassionate toward myself and others. I listen. I learn. I laugh. I share.  And I love.

 
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our founder

Sasha Cox

Sasha Cox

I was born and raised in two capital cities: first Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and then Washington, D.C. My single mom - decidedly a city girl - raised me, and since she called the shots when it came to family leisure time, we went camping only once when I was a kid. The closest I got to nature was looking kind of like a bug because of the bowl haircuts my mom gave my brother and me.

Years later, I abandoned city life for decidedly greener, tree-filled pastures at Stanford. The improv class I took there was ultimately my most influential undergraduate experience, as it completely reshaped my life philosophy.

I learned the principles of accepting failure with grace, saying yes to adventure, putting the needs of my partner above my own, and trusting that my partner would do the same for me. On my improv team, I met the women who I would call my best friends for the next decade (and beyond). Finally, I learned I loved the off-the-cuff nature of teaching, and that I was pretty good at it.

I went into my first serious adult relationship at 20 knowing virtually nothing about the outdoors, but brought an improvisor's spirit to my first car camping trip in Yosemite, and was completely hooked. A year later, I was on my first multi-day backpacking trip (coincidentally my first backpacking trip of any kind) through Peru's Cordillera Blanca. The beauty, the emotional intimacy created with my backpacking partner, and the physical boundaries I pushed were intoxicating. I was also intrigued by the fact that my body refused to poop for over 127 hours. Take that, Aron Ralston.

Every subsequent relationship I pursued was with someone who could be described as a mountain man. I picked up skills from each one of them, and delighted in occasionally knowing more than them. I felt empowered in my knowledge and my comfort with discomfort.

As I edged into my late twenties and early thirties, my friendships with other women became paramount in my life. For years I'd been close to lots of guys, and suddenly I found I preferred the support, insights, and questions my female friends provided to the easy banter of my bromies.

Two of my best friends and I started a monthly get-together where we'd cook, coach each other, drink wine, and generally nourish each others' spirits...and never spend time outdoors, a realization I made while boiling oats over an open flame on a trail in western Bolivia in April 2013.

I realized I had no idea what, if anything, they knew about the outdoors, because it wasn't part of our ordinary dialogue. I decided on the trail that day that I'd start a business devoted to getting women outdoors. There would be no men in sight; women would be the teachers and the students. They'd walk away with new friends, new knowledge, and a new appreciation for their own unexplored capacities.

Oh, and my body *finally* learned it's OK to poop outdoors.

 
 
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- Katherine J.

 

When my relationships with the people closest to me started to get bumpy, I realized my relationship with myself needed some work. I thought; when was the last time you did something scary, tried something new, and met new people completely outside of your world?

Trail Mavens allowed me to do just that.

 
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Our Team

guides

support crew

Shelley Davis
Program Manager

 
 
 
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- Eirinn D.

I was really nervous going into the trip. It's never easy showing up to a situation where you know no one and you have no idea what to expect, but I've always found in my life that the situations that push me outside of my comfort zone tend to be the best experiences.

This trip did not prove otherwise.

How often do you get to be in a life-changing situation with a group of women of all different ages and backgrounds and experiences? It is impossible to walk away from that not having learned something or gained a different perspective.

 
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press

 
 

- Krupa P.

Endeavors like backpacking and hiking definitely require a certain level of physical strength, but through this trip I realized the power of mental strength. I now believe there's no goal you can't achieve if you're committed, confident and determined.

There were a few times I didn’t think I could finish the hike - but I did, and with about 40 pounds on my back! That took a lot of mental strength and self-coaching. Now, I apply that not only to physical activities, but life goals in general.

 
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Our partners

 

 

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