Women who love the outdoors but are reluctant to venture into the wilderness alone can now benefit from safety-in-numbers. / (min cost $ 0 ) or signup to continue reading It's a decade since Reese Witherspoon's solo trek in the film Wild inspired a generation to lace up their hiking boots. But many Australian women feel unsafe alone in the bush and are increasingly seeking gal pals to explore the great outdoors.
Standing beneath a waterfall and rocky ledges lined with ferns and moss, a group of women trekkers in colourful raincoats bask in the crisp air of the Blue Mountains in the 400-metre-deep Grand Canyon. Mile-long to-do lists, overflowing email inboxes and the seemingly impossible juggle of work and family life melt away in the canyon's ancient rainforest gullies. "Hiking in the Australian bush is my happy place," says Cathy Grant who is on the trek with her adult daughter and a dozen others.
"Our lives are so busy, always racing from one thing to the next that we can forget to notice the beauty around us." A recent viral TikTok video sparked a global debate about women's safety in the wilderness after seven out of eight women interviewed in the clip said they would rather be stuck in a forest with a bear than a man. Frith Graham - the founder of GirlsTrek, a Brisbane-based tour operator specialising in women-only hikes across Australia and overseas - says safety fears are "definitely a factor" in the surge of bookings in recent years, with women seeking ways to counter.