I hear you on this! I see this often on mainstream media where women are shown playing the piano or flute; rare it is to see a woman jamming on drums or picking up a guitar.

Keep up the great work and thanks for your post!

And one of the first people we encountered on the trail — an African American mountain biker!

Personally, I believe black folk are not going to get serious about outdoor activities until black folk realize that hiking, backpacking, skiiing, etc., are not “white” activities. I don’t want to sound too pessimistic, but I know more black people who have platinum grills than backpacks or sleeping bags. I hope that this is due to my location (FL) and not a trend country wide. I know growing up in the country in NC it wasn’t that way. A lot of black kids grew up camping and hiking there, until we got to high school and it wasn’t the cool thing to do anymore. There were no rappers or sports figures hiking, so we didn’t. As my oldest kids were growing up, I wanted them to experience a lot of the things I did growing up, so I got back into outdoor activities. And this is the best way I see getting more black people outdoors…starting with children. I know not everyone has kids, but for those who do, we want our children to well rounded,which includes giving them a balanced picture of the world. Life is more than basketball and hip-hop. Showing them that there are no boundaries, racial or otherwise, to the great outdoors can be extremely effective in helping to raise balanced, healthy, kids who will challenge real boundaries they encounter in life.

Like I said, I’m trying to stay positive, and reading the various post here help greatly. One day I won’t be the only black face I see on the trails!