I love a good thru-hiking survey (insert: halfwayanywhere.com), and yet I finish reading them and am hungry for more talk about menstrual cycles and general female-bodied questions. So I created this. If you’ve thru-hiked, long ass section hiked, or section hiked any long distance trail in 2022, I would love for you to join the conversation about all things periods and thru hiking. Link to survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSceQJNG56hgFkdtkvVAq5eX9gBI1n7rdPPti60UuTymibpQkA/viewform

This survey is intended to capture the experiences of people who have uteruses and who menstruate, including women, non-binary and trans folks, while on their 2022 thru-hikes. The overarching goals of this survey are to start a conversation about menstrual cycle health on trail, increase body literacy, and generally devillify & demystify menstrual cycles.

The survey will take approximately 4 – 15 minutes, depending on how lengthy your answers are.

I knew very little about my menstrual cycle when I thru-hiked the Pct sobo in ’16 compared to what I’ve learned since then. I watched close friends lose their period all together from the physical stress of the trail, switch birth control methods right before trail which wound up ending their hike, and generally just struggle along the trail with their periods. I had so few conversations with my fellow menstruators (please make this a word, Google) while on trail. Since then, I dove headfirst into understanding menstrual cycles and I have since become a certified menstrual cycle educator through Claire Baker’s teachings and have cultivated an entirely new relationship with my cycle. I still experience PMS and cramps sometimes, yet I see my cycle for what it is, a cycle of creation beyond just creating tiny humans as well as a communication tool from my body to…well, my body. We are cyclical beings, linked up closer to the cycles of the earth than we likely realize. We are also hiking big miles while actively bleeding, and that’s something to talk about. I think our bodies are incredible, worth listening to, and worth talking about. There is magic to be had in hearing one anothers’ stories and increasing our body literacy together. So let’s talk.

I can find a handful of resources online about how to manage periods on trail. I’m glad those resources exist, AND I want to expand this a bit, I want to have conversations about not just managing our periods, but utilizing them and working with them. Grabbing hold of our increased energy during out cresendo of estrogen around ovulation to go for those personal best mile days when they’ll come most natural for instance. Knowing how long our luteal phases are so we have a better idea of when Pms and our bleed will arrive. Knowing days we are going to need more space from our hiking partners, and the days our inner critic is most likely to settle in. Periods are so much more than just managing blood.

We’re covering a lot here, and if anything doesn’t apply to you or you feel it’s too invasive, you can skip any question, or choose N/a if it doesn’t apply. Answer only the questions that you’re comfortable with.

Your email will never be sold or shared, and is only collected in order to share the results with you.

Thanks for taking the time to expand this conversation.

Much Love xx
-Spice