You can read more about our workshop leaders on our BIOS page.
Wild Edible Plants of Southern Appalachia with Cara-Lee Langston of Wildcraft Kitchen - Join us for a quick dip into ethical foraging! Learn to identify, harvest, and prepare some common Southern Appalachian plants that can be used as food or herbal medicine. The biodiversity of this area is so rich that we won’t have to go far to see many interesting plants like spicebush, pawpaw, bloodroot, wood nettle, jewelweed, and more. Cara-Lee Langston is a South African-born nutritionist, herbalist, forager, grower, wellness cook, and educator.
Restorative Yoga for All Bodies with Elea Soler of Sphinx Movement - Get ready the wind down after a day on the trail with this 30 minute restorative session. Focusing on relaxation and release, this session will have you holding poses intended to rejuvenate the legs and feet and relax the nervous system. We will do only a few calming poses, holding them for longer amounts of time so that the body can truly relax. You will leave feeling refreshed and rested!
Intuitive Eating for Health with Paz Merino of Sphinx Movement - Revisit food and your relationship with food with a fresh eye. Learn better practices to nourish your body and mind, the importance of real food vs over-processed food, learn to read labels when shopping and how to eat to heal in a world of chronic diets and mass marketing.
Resilient Feet with Paz Merino of Sphinx Movement - In this hands-on workshop you will explore the intricate mechanism that is your feet, the “roots” of your body. Paz will filter the nonsense and contradictory information to give you the necessary tools to recognize function vs dysfunction, and through practical exercises you will learn how to build strong and resilient feet.
Rewilding Made Easy: Simple Practices to Be In Relationship with the Earth with Carrie Radcliffe of Atlanta Botanical Garden Center for Conservation - This workshop will provide simple yet deep guidance in orienting yourself to the places you live and visit. Acknowledging the land, its inhabitants, and the elements wherever you find yourself - it can be as simple as educating yourself, creating simple rituals, and developing reciprocity. Be informed, aware, and in relationship with the natural world by utilizing basic practices that can be done anywhere. We will review some options to engage the mind, body, and spirit and leave with handouts and resources that can be tailored to every person, place, and season.
All About That Peach with Joy Black of Trained by Joy - It’s no secret that we need strong glutes for all the trail adventures we love! This workshop is designed to give you a better understanding of how to train and strengthen your glutes, in a way that you may have not done before…from the inside out.Your glutes and pelvic floor are BFFs - and Joy will teach you how it all works and how to make them both stronger!
The Best ME in the Outdoors with Dr. Kim Rodriguez of Kirocare Family Wellness and Latinas Running - The messages we receive from mainstream media and even from friends and strangers can affect our how we feel about ourselves and how we show up in the outdoors. This interactive workshop will help us question our internalized limiting beliefs and narratives and helps us tap into our creativity and envision a more liberated version of ourselves in the outdoors and beyond!
Intro to Photography with Cherisa Hawkins - Whether you shoot with a DSLR, camera phone or wind up camera this beginners photography course focuses on the basics of adventure photography for everyone. You will learn how to shoot amazing images of your adventures outdoors. We will discuss framing your subject, aperture, exposure, tools that I use to edit, posing and what really makes a photo great. (Hint: it’s not always about having the most expensive camera). My promise to you is that you will leave the course feeling more confident behind the lens.
Guided Reflection & Journaling - with Paz Merino of Sphinx Movement - As the weekend comes to a close, the Women’s Trailfest invites you to come and sit at the top of this experience . With breathtaking morning views from Black Rock State Park you will unwind and reflect and set an intention for you to receive in the near future as a reminder to stay wild.
SOLD OUT - Optional Add On Kayaking Adventure with Alarka Expeditions ($55 per person) - Depart after breakfast and head ~40 minutes north of Clayton for Cultural and Natural History Tour of the Little Tennessee River. This 9 mile river trip takes you through a biodiverse ecosystem with rare and endemic botanicals and a rich cultural history and relevance to the Cherokee people who stewarded the land and water here for generations. Kayak, shuttle, PFD, paddles, and lunch are included. No previous paddle experience is required, and the trip will conclude by 3pm.