“I had heard about camping, but I didn’t quite understand it,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Why would anybody want to go out there with just a tent in the middle of nowhere with no cell service?’”
On her first trip, a campout at Lake Ray Roberts with her church, Irene got off to a rough start, having to haul all her supplies a half-mile to the campsite. But later on in the trip, she finally understood what people love about camping.
“The night came; it was pitch black and so quiet and you could see the stars,” she says. “I felt like I could hear things more clearly. I just remember feeling so grateful and blessed. It was an experience that I didn’t know I needed until I got there. And I was like, ‘Wow!’”
She came home determined to have this kind of trip again. She discovered that she loved to hike, and began planning more outdoor adventures. In 2018, she decided to start a blog. When it came time to name the blog, the right choice was obvious.
“I wanted something that expresses who I am, but also expresses my passion, which is hiking,” she says. “So I thought, ‘I’m Black, I love hiking, and I’m a queen. Black Hiking Queen.’”
Irene’s vision for her blog is to inspire people to get outside, go hiking and enjoy nature. She bought a camera and tripod and brushed up her photography skills. The results fill her social media accounts.
“It’s a labor of love for me,” she says. “I think about things that I wish I would have known before I started hiking that other people probably would benefit from knowing.”
Irene balances her blog with a full-time job as a high school math teacher. She enjoys the relaxation she finds outside, a contrast to the hustle and bustle of school.
“There’s no hurry to do anything — you can just breathe and relax and enjoy nature without feeling rushed,” she says. “You don’t have to be somewhere in an hour. It’s amazing.”
Spending time in nature has taught Irene about her own strength and resourcefulness and broken down any self-imposed barriers.
“There were some things I didn’t think I could do, like climbing peaks or hiking 10 miles — why would I want to hike that far?” Irene recalls. “Last year, I got on a horse for the first time, which is kind of crazy because I live in Texas. It was also my first year for whitewater rafting. One of the things hiking has shown me is how to push myself outside of my comfort zone and try new things.”
