Professor Mary Ann McGarry. October 30, 2017

Alex and Sage had the pleasure of speaking with Professor Mary Ann McGarry last Monday.  Professor McGarry is the Chair of Plymouth State University's Department of Environmental Science and Policy.  In this episode of GraniteGals, Professor McGarry discusses hiking the Four Thousand Footers, hiking with her daughter, the importance of Bicknell's Thrush, environmental science education, and much more. 

(Note -- much of New Hampshire lost power last Sunday evening, including us.  The power was just turned on in our home last night, and both Alex and Sage are trying to catch up on their schoolwork since most of their work is done over the internet.  Therefore, in an effort to help out the girls, I, Trish Herr, edited this episode of GraniteGals and posted it to this website).

Professor Linda French. October 2, 2017

Dr. Linda French, astronomer, Program Director at the National Science Foundation, and Professor of Physics, discusses hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  

Professor Linda French with Alex and Sage, and Prof. French's husband Ron Emmons

Allmuth "Curly" Perzel. September 10, 2017

77-year-old Allmuth "Curly" Perzel, Triple Crowner (she has hiked the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail), world trekker, and recent redline finisher (she has hiked all the trails in the White Mountain Guide) discusses her love of hiking, the adventures of redlining, the time she was benighted on Caps Ridge Trail, and much more.  We were honored to have her with us and she was a joy to interview.

Zoey Ceriello-sachetta. September 11, 2017

On this episode, hear seven-year-old Zoey Ceriello-sachetta talk about why she likes hiking the Four Thousand Footers, when she plans on finishing her first round of the NH48, scary snake encounters, and much more. 

Rachel Kowalsky. August 31, 2017

Rachel Kowalsky and her intrepid dog, Isis, are avid four-season White Mountain hikers who have hiked New Hampshire's Four Thousand Footers, Vermont's Long Trail, and sections of the Appalachian Trail.   Her hiking continues in spite and because of her diagnosis with Hashimoto's Disease and, more recently, rheumatoid arthritis.  In this episode, Rachel discusses her love of hiking, her experiences hiking in NH and Vermont, her adorable and trail-hardy dog Isis, and her decision to hike another round of the Four Thousand Footers for rheumatoid arthritis.

The Cohos Trail

We hiked the Cohos Trail over the last couple of weeks so we have not been able to interview anyone recently.  We will be back to posting interviews in a fortnight.

You can read about our Cohos Trail adventure here.

Liz Wyman. July 5, 2017

In this episode, Liz Wyman talks about her hiking and guiding adventures in the White Mountains.  She discusses guiding, animal encounters, and how her knowledge in botany positively affects her hiking experience.

This is Alex; I was at camp when Sage interviewed Liz Wyman, so Sage was the sole interviewer for this episode.  Although Sage interviewed Liz Wyman, when it came time to edit the podcast, I was back from camp and did the editing myself.

Sage interviews Liz Wyman

Tammy Daugherty. July 2, 2017

In this episode, four-season hiker Tammy Daugherty talks about surviving breast cancer, hiking with her daughter, her plans for The Grid, sexism when it comes to hiking, and much more. 

Since Alex was at camp, Sage interviewed Tammy and edited this episode on her own.

Tammy Daugherty hiking with her daughter, Emma

Allison Driscoll. June 21, 2017

For our sixth episode, we interviewed Allison Driscoll, creator of the Trail to 4K Challenge, avid four-season White Mountain hiker, local media marketer for Gossamer Gear, and 2014 John Muir Trail thru-hiker.  You can read more about Allison and her adventures on her blog, www.trailtosummit.com.

In our interview, Allison speaks of her experiences hiking both here in the Whites and on the JMT, the creation of the Trail to 4K Challenge, her handling of sexism in the hiking world, and much more.

Trish Herr, mom to Alexandra and Sage. June 14, 2017

Hello everyone!  We went on vacation with our dad for a few weeks and the timing of the interviews was thrown off a bit.  This week, so we can release an episode on time, we decided to interview Trish Herr, our mom.  After this episode, we will go back to interviewing other, non-family, female hikers.

Trish (Mom) is the person who has taken us hiking from the beginning.  She's the one responsible for getting us out there; it is almost always the three of us when we hike, whether it's New Hampshire or the John Muir Trail or highpointing, etc. - she is and always has been the adult with us (though I, Alex, now go solo in the summer from time to time).  Trish (Mom) has kept records of all our hikes on her website, www.trishalexsage.com.

Click on this link to download the mp3 of the interview -- Trish Herr, June 14, 2017

        Portrait by Alexandra Herr (May 2017)

Any day now we hope to have the iTunes podcast account good to go.  We've done what we need to do on our end...it takes time for the blog host name to transfer.  If it hasn't happened by the end of this week then we'll start investigating.  Right now though, the transfer process is still within the normal timeframe.
 

Paula Santucci, NH Women's Hiking Group. May 9, 2017

This episode features Paula Santucci, co-creator of the popular NH Women's Hiking Group on Facebook and avid White Mountain hiker.  Highlights include learning how the NH Women's Hiking Group got started, how female hikers in the Northeast are providing such a strong atmosphere of support for other hiking women, and how Paula's wife almost stepped on a bear cub.  (!)

Please note this episode was recorded via Skype.  This was the girls' first recorded interview with someone over Skype and they are still learning how to deal with sound issues when recording in this format.  Sound quality is good, but you will notice a slight echo from time to time.

Click here for the link to the mp3

[This is Trish posting this time around -- the girls interviewed Paula and created this episode a few weeks ago, before they left on vacation with their dad.  I am posting the episode today on their behalf to keep with their goal of having one episode out every two weeks.]

Samantha Brady, May 5, 2017

We had the pleasure of interviewing

Samantha Brady

for this episode of GraniteGals.   Samantha is a Search and Rescue volunteer and an avid four-season hiker, and she works at the Mt. Washington Observatory.

In this recording, Samantha talks about her favorite and least favorite 4Ks, the ups and downs of working on the Northeast's highest summit, her time with Backpacker Magazine's 2014 Get Out More Women's Tour, the rewarding experience of being a Search and Rescue volunteer, and more! 

Download the mp3 here

. 

Note: we will eventually offer GraniteGals as a traditional podcast.  We need to change our blogger host first though, and in order to do that we must wait another three weeks (it's a technical issue with host licensing agreements).

Pam Wilmot. April 27, 2017.

For our second podcast episode, we had the pleasure of interviewing Pam Wilmot, four-season White Mountain hiker and Appalachian Mountain Club group hiking leader.  We interviewed Pam at Common Cause Massachusetts in Boston, MA.  In this interview, we discuss everything from Pam's favorite Four Thousand Footers to her experiences on Rainier to her enjoyment guiding groups both here in the Whites and overseas.  It was a great interview, and we thank Pam for her time.  Click on the following for the link to the mp3 --

Granite Gals, Episode Two: Pam Wilmot.  April 27, 2017