The effect of the outdoors started early for Natalie while growing up in Northwest Indiana. She didn’t know it then, but spending her summers in the water and dunes of Lake Michigan and the winters skiing in Michigan and out west with her family would someday be the reason why outdoors is important to her.

Since then, Natalie spends a lot of her time as an undergraduate student at Indiana University working towards a degree in Recreational Therapy. She tries to find her way to a sense of adventure every chance she can get. Sometimes adventure means working on an organic farm in Hawai’i, or earning some turns skiing wherever she can in the Midwest winters. Other times adventure is defined working as a Trip Leader for Indiana University Outdoor Adventures, where she has taken students Canoeing in the Canadian wilderness in Quetico Provincial Park and backpacking in various Indiana State Forests. Most of the time, adventure means letting stray cats into her house and going on late night bike rides with her pals.

This is Natalie’s first time leading trips for Cragged Mountain Farm, and she is excited to see what summer in New England has to offer. Her life smoothie is said to consist of a tasty blend of summer swims in Lake Michigan, board games, powder, caffeine, and her cat, Furrest Gump.