Margot Frederick
Founder of MargeTravels

My Story: From Solo Hiker to MargeTravels Founder

Hi, I’m Margot Frederick, founder and host of MargeTravels, a small-group hiking travel company created for women who want to see incredible places, challenge themselves, and stop waiting for someone else to take the trip with them.

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I didn’t grow up as an expert hiker. In 2018, I took an impromptu solo trip to Yosemite National Park and hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls in running shoes, carrying one bottle of water and no snacks. I didn’t even know what AllTrails was.

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But national parks weren’t completely new to me. Growing up, my teacher parents took our family on summer road trips across the country, stopping at national parks and historic sites along the way. I still remember our Yellowstone trip being documented on a VHS camcorder and the photos eventually framed in our basement — basically the 1990s version of Instagram.

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How MargeTravels Started

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Over the years that followed, I traveled throughout the United States, visited dozens of national parks, and hiked hundreds of miles. Somewhere along the way, I realized how much I liked the person I became when I traveled.

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Planning trips, navigating unfamiliar places, hiking difficult trails, and figuring things out on my own gave me confidence. I eventually realized I wanted other women to experience that same feeling of accomplishment.

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In 2023, I invited a small group of women to join me in Glacier National Park, still my favorite place on the planet. The trip went so well that the same group committed to Yellowstone the following year before we had even made it home.

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MargeTravels grew from there.

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What I Do Today

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I design and personally host small-group hiking trips for women in some of the most beautiful places in the United States, including Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, North Cascades, Big Bend, and Utah.

These aren’t passive sightseeing vacations. We wake up early, hike challenging trails, cover a lot of ground, laugh a lot, adapt when weather or trail conditions change, and experience places in a way that feels earned.

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My role is part trip designer, part host, part trail partner, and part problem solver. I scout destinations, build the itineraries, research the hikes, manage logistics, and travel alongside the group.

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I’m also Wilderness First Aid certified and a lifelong athlete. I played Division I volleyball at Cleveland State University, and that athletic background still shapes the way I approach hiking: preparation matters, teamwork matters, and doing hard things can be incredibly rewarding.

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Why I Created MargeTravels

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MargeTravels is for the woman who has looked at a mountain, a trail, or a trip and wondered, “Could I actually do that?”

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You don’t need to be the fastest hiker.

You don’t need years of outdoor experience.

And you definitely don’t need a ready-made group of adventurous girlfriends.

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You need to be willing to prepare, show up, trust the process, and find out what you’re capable of.

That’s what I love most about this work.

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