Amy Anslinger

Amy is an Explorer Chick Guide who has been exploring the wilderness for over 30 years.  Her passion for the outdoors was sparked by an Outward Bound (OB) Course in Maine that set her on a path of adventure. She completed another OB course in Utah and a semester NOLS course in Alaska before earning a degree in Natural History and Outdoor Education from Northland College along the shore of Lake Superior.

Since that early foundation, Amy has lived around the country leading and inspiring people in some of the nation’s most adventurous destinations including western North Carolina, California, New England, Maryland, and Glacier National Park Montana. In addition, Amy and her husband were the Backpacker Magazine Get Out More! Road Team where they traveled the country sharing stories, educating, and inspiring people to experience the joys of the backcountry.

Amy led the Wright State University Outdoor Recreation Program in Dayton, Ohio for eleven years where she developed the trip program that included training student trip leaders and leading trips to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, backpacking the Wind River Range, Vegas multi-sport adventure, backpacking and trail work on the Appalachian Trail, sea kayaking the Ten Thousand Islands of Everglades National Park, and many more.

Some of Amy’s personal highlights include thru-hiking the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, being the first woman to thru-hike the 1,300-mile Buckeye Trail around Ohio, and backpacking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon fourteen times.

Since 2008, her personal adventures have typically included her now teenage daughters and husband. They have traveled to 49 states and dozens of National Parks including paddling trips to the Rio Grande and Boundary Waters, hiking to the top of Mount Katahdin, the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and sharing their backcountry campsites in Glacier N.P. with moose and bear.  Amy is currently the Wellness Coordinator for a Montessori School where she leads yoga, gardening, and wellness programs for grades pre-k-12.  She lives on a small farm south of Dayton, Ohio with her family, a flock of chickens, and two horses.