Women brave the cold to learn new activities.
Read more: Local, Outdoors, B.O.W., Becoming an Outdoors Woman, DNRE, Patti Staples, Sharon Pitz, Clemene Mccarthy, Vicki Gormley
BIG BAY -- Sixty-five ladies visited the Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay this weekend to become outdoor women.
The DNRE offers a cure for winter cabin fever with its annual U.P. Becoming an Outdoors Woman program.
From dog sledding and snowshoeing to outdoor cooking and self defense, the program brings women outside and introduces them to a whole range of new activities to explore in the winter.
"It seems like we're all busy, and this is a good excuse or a good way of forcing you to get outdoors and enjoy that," said participant Vicki Gormley.
"They're all here for one thing--to learn more about the outside and just getting outside instead of being cooped up all winter and indoors," said coordinator Sharon Pitz.
It costs $175 for a weekend of scheduled activities, food and lodging.
A wide variety of women come to the U.P. BOW from big city women to even small town ladies. According to Pitz, this year's group ranges from ages 18 all the way to 90.
Ninety-year-old Clemene McCarthy attended her first BOW program five years ago and returned again this weekend.
"It's never too late to start," said McCarthy. "I would encourage anyone my age to."
People travel from all over the country to attend, and although they come from different places, at the program, they find common ground.
"We all come from different places, different backgrounds, but we still have things that are the same, experiences that are the same, and you can share them with somebody that you've never met before," said participant Patti Staples.
But the best part of the experience? Participants say it's just setting a goal and achieving it.
"It's really amazing to see that they are learning something and enjoying it," said Pitz.
