A little about us, our adventures, and what makes us Unqualified.
Left to Right: 1. King’s Canyon NP, 2. Bar Harbor, Maine, 3. Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic NP
Hi there! We’re Adam and Anisa. Welcome to where we’ll talk about everything that makes us Unqualified Hikers. From hiking adventures to road trip itineraries to outdoor cooking recipes, we’re here to make people more aware that you don’t have to be the most experienced person on the trail in order to enjoy the outdoors.
You don’t have to be the most experienced person on the trail in order to enjoy the outdoors.
Who are we?
Hi there! We’re Adam & Anisa. We have been adventuring and traveling since we first started dating in 2016. But after being stuck inside for most of 2020, we felt re-invigorated to start pushing ourselves to travel more. We started going on local hikes, and then those trips quickly expanded into weekend trips and eventually cross-country road-trips, visiting dozens of new national parks and cities over the past 3 years.
We both grew up traveling and exploring the outdoors. Now we’re having the best time doing it together and combining our passion towards one project!
In 2021, we started Unqualified Hikers to help document our trips and help us relive our memories. Now, we want to be able to share it with others and give everyone some tips and hope to inspire you to venture out and make some of your own memories.
Why We’re Unqualified
We know it can be hard to know where to start when there’s so many people telling you to not venture out if you aren’t skilled enough. “It’s not worth the risk,” “don’t do something that you know nothing about.” But here’s the thing — everyone has to start somewhere right?
We know from our personal experience that there is such a thing as being safe AND enjoying the outdoors without being a professional mountaineer or search-and-rescue team member. We started hiking again together in 2021. Lo-and-behold, we climbed Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental U.S., in July of 2022. And we aren’t even close to being done.
Ignore the Negative Nancy’s. If you want to do something, do it — just be smart about it. Know your 10 essentials, know your physical limits, and just get started. It’s as easy as that.
Here we go!
While we’re well aware we’re unqualified to give any professional tips, we love to share what we’ve learned with others so others can feel comfortable getting started. We’re stoked to get this started, and we hope you’re ready for it!