Alyssa B. / 28 / Research Coordinator for Cancer Survivorship / Wintergreen Lake, Hamden, CT
“Since moving to CT, hiking has become one of my favorite activities. This picture was taken at the end of my hike at West Rock Ridge State Park that I took on the gorgeous 80 degrees Easter Sunday this year. After my hikes, I like to sit by the lake and read a good book before heading home.”
Rachel Dougherty (they·them) / 24 / Project Coordinator for Rhize / Great Smoky Mountain National Park
“Omg omg omg. This pic is so old but I love it so much. I went on a month long roadtrip by myself four years ago. This was right after I got to Smoky Mountain National Park. I was filled with so much joy.”
Queer Girl and Cyrus
“As the five other women on my OKCupid will tell you, small-town life isn’t always fantastic, but at least we have pretty natural spaces! Here are some pics from our regular Monday night walk on the levy, with a bonus gif because Cyrus running back over with his tail waving like a flag will never not be adorable. (Also it was windy.)”
Alison / 31 / OH
“This photo was taken at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Ohio. I was apparently super excited to feel some sunshine after a long grey winter.”
Maggie / 23 / Videographer, Youtuber / My parents’ backyard
“In this charming photo that my dad snapped, I’m sitting alone by our fire pit, wearing s’mores socks and knock-off Birkenstocks, and waiting for my high school friends to come over and catch up.”
Abby / 28 / Botanist / Cleveland, OH
“I lead groups of field botanists in gathering data about plant communities in my city’s local park system. We set up 20 x 50 meter plots at randomly dropped GPS points, and my day to day job is to hike to those plots and identify every single plant within the plot, regardless of whether it’s flowering, or three centimeters tall, or a huge tree. It’s a total blast, and I love it! My office is the outdoors. These photos were taken in the Rocky River Reservation near Cleveland, Ohio. The photo in the forest was taken mid-springtime plot setup, and right before the photo was taken, my co-worker and I spotted a snake, fat from a recent meal, slither away and hide under the log I am pictured with! And in the photo in the river, our plot for the day was on a tiny sliver of land between sheer shale cliffs and the river, so we had to find a shallow place to cross the river. Just after my co-worker snapped this picture, a giant steelhead trout splashed and swam directly between us!”
Kay, Grace, Scarlett / 23, 24, 24 / Physics Lab teaching staff; Data Scientist; Software Engineer / South Hadley, MA, right outside Grace’s apartment
“We’re all spending the weekend together as a bit of a reunion, since we all lived together our senior year at Mount Holyoke. Scarlett is moving to Montreal at the end of the month, so we had to get together while we’re all in the same state. Sadly not pictured is Jesse (the final member of our crew), because we forgot to take a photo before she had to dash off to DC for job training.”
Yvonne Marquez, Gloria Delgadillo, Tungi / 26, 26, 4 / Autostraddle Senior Editor; Union Organizer; Photogenic Pupper / Ennis, TX
“Every April bluebonnets sprout all over Texas and usher in spring. It’s the state’s official flower and along with learning the Deep In The Heart of Texas song in elementary school, Texan children learn it’s illegal to pick them. Ennis, TX, a tiny town an hour south from Dallas, is famous for it’s “Official Bluebonnet Trail of Texas.” The trail isn’t playing and neither is Ennis, TX. The town boasts a “40-mile drive of breathtaking bluebonnets” and the town’s visitors bureau offers their very own app with maps and locations of the trail. We made our way to just one location and were stunned by the FIELDS of wildflowers. They’re really pretty and we had so much fun taking photos. My dog and partner are ridiculously photogenic and I loved hanging out with them that day.”
Juliette / 19 / Arts and Visual Arts Student / Canberra, Australia
“This photo was taken a few weeks ago when my friends and I went on a mini road trip to a waterfall. My mum thought we caught a bus there – I lied to her after she expressed her fear that I would be getting in the car with a ’newly licensed driver.’ Unfortunately my cover story did not hold up for long but luckily I didn’t get into too much trouble.”
