Women Out West Tours Offers Customized Outdoor Excursions
Women Out West Tours is a queer-owned and run Transformational Travel company. It was founded by Mary Hueske as a result of a 10-day solo trip she took through the wilderness of Southern Utah. Taking time out from the daily grind and communing with the majesty of nature led to a transformative experience that Mary wanted to share with other women:
“I love to discover what lights people up and help them move in that direction. As a connector, reflector, motivator, and reverent passenger of this planet, I build trips which inspire deeper connections to self, others, and the land.”
The company – which is cis, trans, straight, lesbian, and nonbinary inclusive – curates destination and custom tours for women and hosts specialty retreats. Currently, for the Fall 2022 season, they are leading 5-day hiking tours through Torrey, Boulder, and Escalante Utah. Attendees will experience the grandeur of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (GSENM), Dixie National Forest, and Capitol Reef National Park while enjoying stops at multiple slot canyons, bridges/arches, desert waterfalls, jaw-dropping overlooks, and Hoodoo playgrounds. (For those that aren’t familiar, hoodoos are tall skinny shafts of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins.)
There will be several options of accommodation depending on the tour dates you choose including the luxury yurts and historic farmhouse located in the heart of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. There will be a culinary team on hand who will know your food preferences ahead of time and will have planned accordingly. Their sole purpose will be to serve you healthy, hearty, heart-and-soul nurturing food.
The hiking choices, which are variable depending on the needs of the group and your guide, range from 1 to 6 miles round trip. There will be easy to moderate exertion with some light scrambling, walking over sloped rock, and walking in sand. The pace is unhurried and no one will be left behind. The comprehensive itinerary makes navigating transportation, lodging, meal planning, hiking choices, entrance fees, and optional activities easy. All you need do is show up and enjoy. Tour groups are kept small, to approximately eight people per excursion, to maximize the intimacy and enjoyment of the experience. Travelers looking to customize the itinerary in any way or looking to book a private excursion with friends are encouraged to contact the team through their website.
Currently, Women Out West is booking trips that are comprised of hiking excursions only and a handful of retreats that can be combined with hiking such as “Opening to Intuition: Re-Visioning Your Life” with Reiki master and full-spectrum Doula and Intuitive Kiera Grantson. This retreat will feature an itinerary of moderate hiking, exploration, and play paired with Reiki circles, daily cacao ceremony, channeled guided meditation, and intuitive readings, designed to access the wisdom we all hold within. There is also “The Firefly Tour” facilitated by Robin Douglass of the Coming Out Late Podcast. The guided hikes provided by Women Out West will form the backdrop for facilitated and organic discussions about the joys and challenges of coming out later in life.
In addition to all this, the company is looking into exciting expansions for 2023 including trips to the coast of central California to explore off-the-beaten-path beaches and forests and Pacific Northwest tours.
To get more information or to book your spot on one of these amazing tours, visit the Women Out West website.
