(uplifting music) (birds chirping) (wind whooshing) (birds chirping) (adventurous music) - [Alison] Hey, y'all, we are back for season three.

Can you believe it?

(adventurous music continues) This show, these experiences, the people, are changing me.

I can honestly say that I'm not the same person I was when I started.

(adventurous music continues) This season, I'm going deeper.

My journey is taking me all across the Pacific Northwest, from the mountains, to the seas.

I'll be doing activities like shredding down powdery slopes near Mount Rainier, foraging an old growth forest in Snoqualmie, cruising an urban skate park in Seattle, and wading knee-deep in coastal marine habitats of the Puget Sound.

I'll be exploring the depths of the outdoors, embracing activities that are not the first that come to mind, and continuing to showcase activities that have historically had limited racial representation.

I cannot wait to share all of the adventure with you.

(energetic music) (upbeat acoustic music) I'm excited to head to Discovery Park and get a little trail run in.

(car rumbling) - Oh, me too.

We've been trying to get together for a run for so long, so this is amazing.

- Forever, and it's like the most beautiful day.

- I know.

- [Mary] Fall colors, fluffy dogs.

- [Alison] Yeah.

(laughs) (upbeat acoustic music) (car door thudding) - Join me today as I go for a trail run in Discovery Park to catch up with Mary Brown, a trail runner and mountaineer who has built a life for herself centered around the outdoors.

I'm looking forward to a good run, and maybe some inspiration for my next adventure.

- My name is Mary Brown, and I am a bit of a renaissance woman in the outdoors.

I've done a little bit of everything, from Cyclocross bike racing, to mountaineering, to trail running, backpacking, back country skiing, but I love it all.

(soft music) I grew up in Palmer, Alaska, a small town, and I spent a lot of my time growing up in the outdoors.

From a pretty young age in elementary school, I did a lot of running, track and cross country.

In high school I was Newark Ski Racer.

I was also on the All American Snowshoe team, which is not really glamorous or really fun at all.

(Alison and Mary laughing) - I've been to Palmer, and I know that it's not that diverse, so I wonder if being one of the only black people there, if that impacted how you felt about yourself, or about being in the outdoors.

- I think, growing up in Alaska, which was not a terribly diverse place, I didn't know I was taking up space until I left, and realized I was taking up space.

So I think I've always done it, and when I realized I was doing it, I thought, "I should keep doing this."

(laughs) I think I got a lot of that from my dad.

I would say my dad is a bit of a trailblazer himself.

He went up to Alaska from New Jersey for college, met my mom, who's white, so they were in an interracial relationship in a small town in Alaska, and my dad would go out hunting with us kids, and backpacking, and biking.

And I always really looked up to him, and he's always been my biggest fan.

Mountaineering is climbing up a peak, whether it's glaciated with crevasses, or rock climbing.

When I first started mountaineering, every time I went out, (energetic music) I was terrified that I was going to die.

You see all these photos of me in my younger years, I just look so concerned.

(laughs) - I mean, that sounds completely valid.

(laughs) - But then, as I gained more comfort with the skills, the gear, the weather patterns, I really started to enjoy it.

(energetic music continues) It's a way to push yourself, to experience a beautiful place, with wonderful people, hopefully, and have a sense of accomplishment.

I've met some of my closest friends climbing and mountaineering, because the level of trust that requires, the level of being able to like, psyche people up and support them, the humor, just the funny stories, there's nothing else like it.

My second date with my partner was actually a climbing date, and I just knew, (laughs) we're a great team.

- I guess that's one way to do it.

(laughs) - Yes.

(laughs) The history of mountaineering really has been a lot of white men conquering big things, and naming and claiming them.

(lively piano music) Can you tell me about how you are decolonizing mountaineering maybe, and bringing more of us into the space?

- I think a lot of the work I've done to decolonize mountaineering for myself, it has started with myself, so learning about the history of the land, trying to be more in community with the space, and trying to share that with others, knowing that it's not all about the summit, it's about who you're with, it's about the experience you have, and I think that mindset tends to be more inclusive and more welcoming to people.

What I've been trying to do recently is invite more people of color in the outdoors to be with me, (laughs) so I'm not by myself.

- I haven't done mountaineering yet, but I did climb Kilimanjaro this summer, and I was really surprised that I loved it, because, in my mind, this idea of like climbing, and getting to the top, like you have to conquer mountains?

But experiencing it, I did have this sense of like, I can do anything.

And it was as much about getting to the top as it was the entire journey.

Right, like spending time with people, everyone being focused on this singular mission.

- [Mary] Whether you are mountaineering or trail riding, it's all about who you're with.

(energetic electronic music) I've really spent a lot of time thinking about like, what is a good life for me.

And it's being outside, it's spending time with friends.

And life, it's pretty short, and I just wanna make sure that I'm taking the time and enjoying my life now.