“When my hike was over, I missed how beautiful I felt on the trail. For five months, my body had been covered in dirt, bug bites, scrapes, and bruises. But during that time, I didn’t carry a mirror, and I didn’t have billboards or commercials telling me how I should look. Growing up, I always thought that nature was beautiful, but I had never seen myself as a part of nature — as a part of all that beauty — until I hiked the trail.”

-Jennifer Pharr Davis

Beauty is such a misused term often reflected as how we look on the outside without taking into account how we feel on the inside or how we treat others. I asked female hikers to share a moment when they feel beautiful on the trail. Some were deep, while others were a direct response to my article: Did Backpacker Magazine Get Women All Wrong? Here are some of the responses:

PC: @kobrienjewlery

“What makes me feel beautiful outdoors? The huge smile being in nature brings to my face. Knowing my body is getting me to the summit and back by putting one foot in front of the other (sometimes one hand in front of the other!). The bright and warm feeling in my soul when I hike past my fears and push the limits of what I thought I was capable of make me feel as if I am radiating beauty. My makeup is dirt, smushed bugs, scrapes and spiderwebs in my hair. They are all signs of battling the trail and badges of honor, proof of my hard work and the payoff I get from breathing fresh air, pushing my body and immersing myself in nature.” -Kim O’Brien

PC: @nhcanfields6

“I feel most beautiful knowing that I’m cultivating a love of nature for my daughter. That’s beauty!” -Leigh Canfield

PC: AJ Pate

“I work in a high-paced, high-stress job in a city that is never silent nor still. I hike to remind myself that there is more to this world than the sticky web of consumerism and rush hour traffic. There are infinite colors and patterns unique to the mountains and trails that no designer or artist has been able to truly capture for daily existence. Hiking reminds me of what is natural, joyful and beautiful. It reminds me that the only rules I need to live by are my own. Hiking makes me expansive in a way that takes my breath away. That’s what I really want from this world: to be left breathless.  I know you only asked for the one picture but here are a few others from that same trip. Shortly after these were taken I fell in the river and fried my camera and smart phone. All I can say is:  it was totally worth it.” -AJ Pate

PC: @lovemaine207

“Endorphins and accomplishment are all I need to feel beautiful.” -Willow

PC: @one.greyt.life

“Going on an AT trek with two other women, stealth camping along the way. Amazing time! No beauty routine!” -Jen

PC: @aoverton710

“I venture into the woods because it is there that I feel most myself, the place I feel safest, and the place where I found what I am truly worth… being a woman in the outdoors I feel my strength, power, and capability. No amount of sultry makeup, no skin-tight dress, or new hairstyle will ever make me feel more feminine and beautiful than being my real self in nature.” -Alyssa Overton

PC: Jan McEwen

“Our beauty regime on this trip. Nothing like removing sap from a friend’s hair.” -Jan McEwen

PC: @mountaincraft

“The epic mosstaches and beards we grey while hiking the Washington section of the PCT. Weeks without a razor-it was rough!” -Mountaincraft

Thank you to all the amazing women who participated in sharing their beauty! If you’d like to participate in the next reader post, tag #trailtosummit on instagram, facebook, or twitter telling me why you hike!

Last modified: September 3, 2017