Veronica Ashcroft is hiking her way through the Northeast 115 challenge — summiting 115 4,000-plus foot mountains in the Northeast, including the 46 High Peaks — with a trans pride flag in her bag in an effort to promote the visibility of trans people in the outdoors. Ashcroft started the challenge on May 23, and she’s hoping to finish on Sept. 16 — a range of 115 days. By Sept. 3, she’d flown the trans pride flag on the summit of 100 out of 115 peaks.

Ashcroft, a college student in the Northeast, knocked out 30 of the 46 High Peaks during a two-week break from classes in June. She’d planned to hike all 46 peaks during that time, but she said she reached the limit of what her body was physically capable of. She said that between the 20-plus mile daily hikes and not getting enough sleep or food, it can be hard to keep going. She came back to the Adirondacks over three separate weekends to finish up the 46, finishing on Dix.

This wasn’t Ashcroft’s first time climbing the 46 — she first completed the 46 in the fall of 2020 while she was staying in the area and attending school remotely. Ashcroft made a connection with the Adirondacks that fall, hiking and exploring the area with friends. As someone who’s lived in 15 different places throughout her life, Ashcroft found a piece of home in the park.

“I grew up in a military family, so I haven’t really ever lived in one place for a long time,” she said. “Because of that, I kind of think of the Adirondacks as one of my places that I’m from.”

Veronia Ashcroft is seen here holding a transgender pride flag on the summit of Mount Marcy, peak 64 of 115. (Provided photo — Veronica Ashcroft)

Ashcroft said that part of the reason she wanted to do the 115 challenge was to redo the 46.

“They’re fun mountains, even if they are challenging at times,” she said.

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Peak visibility

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Veronia Ashcroft is seen here holding a transgender pride flag on the summit of Grace Peak, mountain 91 of 115. (Provided photo — Veronica Ashcroft)

Ashcroft started transitioning last year while working a trail crew job in Tennessee, and she said she was often the only visibly queer person in any given space.

“That feeling like you’re alone, it can prevent you from wanting to do stuff in the outdoors,” she said. “I know that from personal experience and I know that because I know friends who don’t really go on hikes, or don’t do as much outdoor stuff as they typically would have, because they’re afraid of feeling marginalized or stigmatized because of their queerness.”

This summer, Ashcroft said she’s experienced some discomfort on the trails. She said she’s typically a “visibly trans person” while hiking. Some hikers have refused to acknowledge her while walking by on the trails, and others have snickered or laughed after she passed by. Still, Ashcroft pressed on to reach each summit.

“I know I’m not the only one who’s ever experienced that, and to kind of confront some of that feeling and stigma with just … taking a damn pride flag to the top of each mountain — it’s kind of an empowering way to push back against that,” she said. “Really, at the end of the day, the purpose is to give people the confidence … to kind of make other trans and queer people feel like they belong, like they can do this too.”

Ashcroft believes she’s accomplishing her goal. She posts about her hiking challenge on social media, and she’s talked to a lot of people about the project over the last few months. Many of the comments on her Reddit posts applaud her efforts as inspiring.

“YESSS! NEVER CHANGE!” one commenter wrote. “I’ve been following your adventure from the beginning and just wanna say seeing each one of your triumphs pop up on my feed makes my f***ing day. … As cheesy as it sounds, you inspire me to keep climbing my own mountains.”

Ashcroft said she’s always willing to talk to other people in the LGBTQIA-plus community via her Instagram, @sapphaverana.

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Finding a happy place

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Ashcroft knew there was “something different” about her in her early teenage years. At the time she didn’t really understand what she was feeling — the only representation she saw of trans people were negative and harmful stereotypes.

“I very much internalized that,” she said. “That was both prevalent in our media and society as a whole as well as in the communities that I found myself in.”

Ashcroft said she repressed her feelings until she grew older and started hiking in college, when she said the outdoors helped her to feel more comfortable in herself. Within a year of starting college, Ashcroft said she was questioning her identity again. The second time around, she said she found acceptance in the outdoor community.

Transitioning in rural Tennessee last year wasn’t easy, Ashcroft said — there were times at the grocery store or at campgrounds when she’d be faced with stares and angry glares. But in the face of negativity, Ashcroft said she found positivity among her friends and acquaintances in the outdoors. The key to finding comfort in her identity was finding her “happy place” — hiking — and Ashcroft said she encourages others who are struggling with their identity to seek their own happy place, whether that’s in sports, art, video games, or something else.

“You’ve got to put effort into finding what makes you happy, you’ve got to put effort into finding what makes you comfortable. And once you find that, you’ve got to put effort into keeping that up,” Ashcroft said. “But once you have that and once you’re keeping it up, life gets a lot better.”