One Year of Girls Gone Hiking Utah. Here's What We Built.
A year ago, I had an idea. Get some women together. Go outside. See what happens.
What happened was way more than I expected.
The numbers (because they're kind of wild)
In one year, Girls Gone Hiking Utah has:
Hosted 26 hikes
Partnered with 2 incredible local businesses — Btone FITNESS and Ritual Hot Yoga
Hosted 3 special events
Brought on Lex as our Community Facilitator and Hike Lead
Put hundreds of women on Utah trails
Not bad for year one.
But the number that actually gets me?
It's not any of those.
It's the returning faces.
It's the girl who showed up to her first hike nervous and quiet, and now she's the one hyping up the new girls at the trailhead. It's the friendships that started on a dusty trail somewhere in the Wasatch and turned into actual, real friendships. Group chats. Dinner plans. People who genuinely show up for each other.
That's the thing nobody tells you when you start a hiking group. You think you're building an outdoor community. You don't realize you're actually just giving women a reason to find their people.
Watching that happen — over and over again, all year long — has been one of the greatest joys of my life.
So what's next?
Year two is going to look a little different. In the best way.
We're expanding. More trips. More terrain. More reasons to get outside.
Here's a peek at what's coming:
More adventures across Utah — we're exploring parts of this state we haven't touched yet
Expanding our brand outside of Utah — because why stop at the state line, Girls Gone Hiking is for women everywhere
Hawaii in February 2027 — yes, really. Start saving.
More women getting involved — if you've been wanting to play a bigger role in GGH, year two is your year
We're building something here. And we're just getting started.
Come celebrate with us 🎉
This Saturday, April 12th, we're throwing GGH a birthday party — and you're invited.
It's a BBQ, it's our people, your people, and it's a chance to celebrate everything we've built together this year.
Thank you for being part of this. Every single one of you is the reason this community is what it is.
Here's to year two.
— Mel
