Washington Trails
Association
Trails for everyone, forever
Washington Trails
AssociationTrails for everyone, forever
Angelic Friday has been an integral part of WTA's team for years, but her love of the outdoors began much earlier. | By Tiffany Chou
You can often find WTA’s Angelic Friday deep in the backcountry on a Lost Trails Found trip, leading an all-BIPOC WTA volunteer work party, pulling together trail projects for the Emerging Leaders Program or hitting the trail just for fun. She’s been an integral part of WTA’s team for years, but her love of the outdoors began much earlier.
Angelic grew up curious about nature and excited to spend time outside. As a kid, she played on the beaches of Bainbridge Island, watching crabs and finding sand dollars. She explored the woods, where she discovered hidden forts and old tree houses. And she joined the Girl Scouts, sometimes spending a full week in the woods at camp. She calls her relationship with the outdoors as a child “playful.” Things like hiking weren’t on her radar — yet.
“I was the kid that was like, ‘How long do we need to be out here? Are we almost there? I’m tired.’ Girl Scout leaders and everyone that met me at camp could probably attest to that,” Angelic said. “I did enjoy being outdoors, but I wouldn’t say I was necessarily someone that you would find doing a bunch of activities like hiking and camping all the time.”
Throughout her teen years, Angelic found herself stepping away from the outdoors, filling her time with other summer activities. She kept busy by participating in — and coaching for — color guard (including flag and wooden rifle spinning), playing the bass clarinet and alto saxophone, being in the marching band and enjoying many other hobbies.
A few years after high school, she moved to Arizona for something new. She had lived in Washington for so long, and it was all she knew.
In Arizona, Angelic found another kind of beauty. She delighted in driving to the canyons to stargaze and looked for other ways to get outside when it wasn’t too hot.
Angelic learned that time outside was important for her mental well-being. Photo by Angelic Friday.
Only a couple of years later, though, Angelic chose to head back to Washington — she missed the gray Pacific Northwest. Back in her home state, her relationship with hiking took off. Her goal was to find friends to hike with and get out on trail.
“When I was away from Washington in the desert, I missed the green trees. I missed wanting to be outside and walking and not having it be too hot,” Angelic said. “Being away from Washington really showed me how much I enjoy being outdoors.”
Like it did for many others, life turned upside down for Angelic when the pandemic hit. Hiking became a mental sanctuary for her.
“It was an activity I could do with friends and by myself. In a world where so much was happening with the pandemic, hiking became my favorite activity because I could ‘turn off’ and have that alone time and space if I needed it,” Angelic said.
Angelic’s growing love of hiking began to spread to her professional life. Her first foray into the outdoor industry was working as a Washington State Parks park aide. The work included some trail maintenance and a lot of connecting with the community. Although she enjoyed the experience, she learned that her true interest was in more complex, involved trail work.
“Being able to do some basic trail tasks made me want to make a bigger impact, be a good steward of the land, help others and give back,” Angelic said.
WTA’s professional Lost Trails Found crews take on projects deep in the backcountry or technical work that requires additional training or time. When Angelic saw a job posting for the crew, it seemed like the type of work she was looking for, so she sent in her application and crossed her fingers.
The summer of 2022 was Angelic’s first season with WTA and the Lost Trails Found crew. It was her first time doing such intensive trail work and her first time backpacking. Although it was like being thrown in at the deep end, she embraced the crash course.
“It was all completely new for me. I had never done anything in this realm before,” Angelic said. “I had a bit of imposter syndrome, and it felt nice to come to a place with a welcoming environment. It made me feel like I could take the time to learn and sharpen these skills.”
Over time, she became a trail expert, taking over as crew leader for Lost Trails Found in the summer of 2023.
After her first season with the Lost Trails Found crew, Angelic was looking for something to do in the off-season. One of the reasons she had wanted a career in the outdoors was because she knew it hadn’t always been the most welcoming for people of color. She wanted to make a difference in the historically homogeneous industry.
A couple of folks she met during her first season with Lost Trails Found had a powerful impact on her. Her crew leader, Zachary Toliver, was Black. As a Black woman, it was a big deal to Angelic to see someone like herself in an outdoor leadership position. And Austin Easter, Angelic’s supervisor, was a strong mentor. Both Zachary and Austin encouraged her to take on more leadership opportunities, which eventually included applying to lead WTA’s Emerging Leaders Program.
Angelic has worked with our Emerging Leaders Program for 3 years now. Photo by Angelic Friday.
Every year, the Emerging Leaders Program hires four participants and one crew leader from often-underrepresented communities to train them in trail work, as well as offer opportunities for professional development, leadership and networking with other outdoor organizations and BIPOC leaders in this space. Angelic has now spearheaded the program for 2 years, fostering an inclusive space for these individuals to blossom into outdoor leaders.
“Professionally, meeting the cohort and creating more spaces for people of color to interact with the Emerging Leaders has been inspiring. Seeing them grow and develop connections while learning and honing these skills — and seeing where that success takes them after the program — has been fulfilling,” Angelic said. “It has been empowering as a Black woman to enter and take up space in this industry. To enter this traditionally marginalized space and help change the narrative to make these spaces more inclusive, supportive and inviting. To help pave the way for more BIPOC individuals to know there is a place for them here and uplift their voices.”
These days, when she’s not leading a Lost Trails Found crew or working with the Emerging Leaders Program, Angelic organizes and leads all-BIPOC volunteer trail work parties and helps out at WTA’s gear libraries, so that our partner organizations can borrow items like tents and snowshoes for group trips.
Angelic has continued to work with WTA for many reasons — the mission, the trail work, the culture — but there’s one thing in particular that keeps her coming back.
Angelic introduced her dad to backpacking on a trip to the Olympic Coast. Photo by Angelic Friday.
“I continue to work for WTA because of the people. The community I’ve been able to make within WTA has been amazing,” Angelic said. “It’s been really cool to have a lot of genuine and authentic people to work with. You don’t get that in a lot of other spaces.”
In Angelic’s free time, she often searches out her own pocket of nature. One of her highlights this year was sharing her outdoor joy with those closest to her. She took her dad on his first-ever backpacking trip, at the Ozette Triangle on the Olympic Coast.
“He’s been a strong advocate for me and proud of what I’ve accomplished with WTA. It was nice to share that part of my life with him. He had never experienced the outdoors in that way,” Angelic said. “He enjoyed being out there and learning backpacking skills, like filtering water and cooking with a backcountry stove. He wants to spend more time outdoors and said it was life-changing for him in some ways, for us to spend time together like this and for him to become comfortable with backpacking.”
Angelic has spread her love of the outdoors in many ways: by making a career out of it, by spending time outside with people she cares about and by incorporating time in nature into her everyday life. Finding peace and a community within the outdoors has been a lifelong journey for her, and she’s excited to see how it will keep teaching her and helping her grow in the future.
“It’s been a joy to learn more, to meet other individuals in this industry and also to share my knowledge,” Angelic said. “Getting out, enjoying your time, finding wonder and curiosity — there’s so much to learn. The Earth is ours, and it’s nice to learn how to be a good steward and enjoy the benefits, the healing and everything else that comes with being able to enjoy your time outdoors.”
