Miles, smiles and community with Miles Hike Club
Miles Hike Club gets out on trail with hikers of all ages — and WTA helped them get there. By Joseph Gonzalez
J. “Booby” Miles has lived all across the United States but didn’t fall in love with hiking until he moved to Washington in 2016. He was always interested in fitness and entrepreneurship, however. All three passions eventually melded together, starting when a friend invited him to hike Little Si.
“Hiking isn’t in the culture of some of the other places I’ve lived,” Booby said. “There’s also the stigma that hiking and the outdoors aren’t for Black people. Then I went on a hike with a friend to Little Si and absolutely fell in love with it.”
What started as a way to get friends outside has evolved into a business with offerings for all different parties. Photo courtesy of Booby Miles
Booby began putting together hiking trips, often pulling in friends from different social circles to visit his favorite trails. When a good friend and fellow entrepreneur recommended Booby turn his passion into a business, everything clicked. Booby created a page on Airbnb Experiences, and on Jan. 19, 2019, Miles Hike Club was born. The club’s mission is “to enlighten, inspire and foster memorable bonds as we unlock the adventurer in those exploring the great outdoors.” And throughout 2019, that’s what it did, offering scheduled group itineraries to stunning destinations on Washington’s trails.
Then the pandemic hit. Folks wanted to get outside more than ever, and in July of 2020, Amazon reached out to Booby with a request to lead corporate hikes. Miles Hike Club immediately added private and corporate hikes to their offerings so hikers and communities could continue to gather safely outdoors.
Getting outside is a great way find inspiration and build connections with friends, for hikers young and old. Photo courtesy of Booby Miles.
Things continued to evolve. While hosting a booth at the Columbia City Night Market, Booby was asked by a marketgoer if he ran programs for kids. At the time, he did not, but he liked the idea. It would give the club a chance to reach more people.
Stacey Kinney, the marketgoer who had asked the question, was a kindergarten teacher at St. Therese Catholic Academy in Seattle. The academy was running a 9-week after-school enrichment program to connect Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) students with the outdoors. Booby quickly developed a curriculum and began offering youth programs across Seattle in places like Seward Park, Kubota Garden and Madrona Park. Time and logistics prevented the kids from traveling too far from home, but Booby was able to build a connection between the youth and their trails next door.
Booby soon discovered that youth programs and trips for adults have different needs. Miles Hike Club’s first outing with St. Therese Catholic Academy was designed to educate the youth about trees, highlighting six local species and how to identify them.
Miles Hike Club youth programs have an educational element, like tree identification. Photo courtesy of Booby Miles
“By the end of the day, they only truly remembered one, and I was only really able to teach them about three. But it was still the perfect day. With kids, you have about 2 hours max to keep them entertained and educate them a bit,” he said.
In 2023, Booby became a father. He says that being a parent has helped him slow down and reframe the way he interacts with kids.
Other trips have included teaching kids how to read a map and lead a hike. Fostering connections between youth and local parks is a key part of trips. Booby estimates that in one group of 10 kids, only one of them had actually been to the park they were visiting, despite living in the same neighborhood.
“Our youth programs are really about building that beautiful relationship with nature so when these kids get older, they will have fond memories of being outside and can start breaking down stereotypes that the outdoors are only for a subset of people,” he said.
Booby met WTA CEO Jaime Loucky at a Washington state tourism conference in October 2022. Jaime connected Booby with WTA’s Outdoor Leadership Training program, which offers workshops for educators and youth program facilitators as well as other resources to help lead outdoor programs. Soon after, Booby attended a WTA snowshoeing workshop, picking up more skills to work with youth.
WTA provided financial assistance and REI lent gear to support Booby’s youth outings. That allowed him and his team to focus on nurturing relationships with green spaces, rather than worry about the cost for the club or participants. Students only had to pay for transportation.
Since that first experience with St. Therese Catholic Academy, Miles Hike Club has worked regularly with the Academy for Creating Excellence, an institution dedicated to empowering Black male youth and adults through community and educational programs. Miles Hike Club has also expanded to more schools and now works with elementary kids up to third grade.
Learn more about Miles Hike Club and their offerings at mileshikeclub.com
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