Jennifer Mabus

Jennifer Mabus
Born (1989-11-06) November 6, 1989 (age 35)[1]
Reno, Nevada, United States
Other names"The Whimsical Woman",[2] "Starburst"[3]
Alma materUniversity of Nevada, Reno[4]
Occupations
  • YouTuber
  • hiker
  • engineer
Known forThru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
Spouse
Owen Frederick
​
(m. 2019)​
Children1
Websitethewhimsicalwoman.com

Jennifer Mabus (born November 6, 1989) is an American YouTuber and hiker. She spent 173 days thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail solo in 2018, filming every day of the journey, and posting vlogs to her YouTube channel covering every day of the journey as she hiked. She competed collegiately in cheerleading for the Nevada Wolf Pack.

Background

Mabus was born November 6, 1989, in Reno, Nevada, United States.[1][5] As a child she was a gymnast and dreamed of competing at the Olympic Games.[5] Due to multiple injuries she took an alternate pathway, instead graduating in 2012 with her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno where she was a student athlete, competing as part of the Nevada Wolf Pack as a cheerleader.[4][5]

Career

2017–2018

In 2017, Mabus started blogging and publishing videos on her YouTube channel.[2] On October 15, 2017, she filmed a thru-hike with her friend Emma at The Enchantments, publishing her first vlog of a thru-hike on YouTube three days later, October 18, of their hike.[6]

2018 Pacific Crest Trail northbound thru-hike

For 173 days in 2018 she thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, from south (United States-side of the United States–Mexico border) to north (Canada), making the 2,653-mile journey on foot on her own (solo) and vlogging the journey as she hiked.[7][8] She started hiking the trail with her father on Saturday April 14, 2018, and finished the trail solo on Wednesday October 3, 2018.[7] The trail name she earned during the journey was "Starburst" in allusion to her brightly colored backpack.[3] Video footage of the hike she published on YouTube as she hiked included every day of her 173 day journey, she edited her own videos, and posted the vlogs as she hiked with a few of the videos delayed in posting due to trail conditions, such as a lack of internet/cell phone connectivity, as well as running out of storage space on her filming device.[7] She was one of 1,186 hikers to make history in 2018 by setting an all-time record for the most number of hikers to cross the finish line in a given year of the trail's over 65 years of existence, which is a record that remains unbroken as of mid-April 2022.[3] The total thru-hike cost her $8,446.81, which included supplies, food and lodging, and miscellaneous expenses such as excursions to the spa and to see a SpaceX rocket launch.[9]

From the duration of the thru-hike, Mabus published 130 videos on YouTube that she filmed while hiking on-trail between day one and day 173, inclusive.[7]

Video type # of videos First video published date First video publishing delay Last video published date Last video publishing delay
Vlog of day(s) on-trail 124 April 17, 2018 3 days November 14, 2018 42 days
Update while on-trail 2 May 30, 2018 – September 2, 2018 –
List of supplies (hiking gear for on-trail) 1 June 10, 2018 – June 10, 2018 –
Question and answer 2 June 20, 2018 – September 21, 2018 –
Compilation of highlights from a section of the trail 1 July 8, 2018 – July 8, 2018 –
Total 130 April 17, 2018 3 days November 14, 2018 42 days

2019–2021

October 2019 she married U.S. Navy diver Owen Frederick and in October 2021 they had a son, Finley "Finn" Mabus Frederick, together. Following their marriage, Mabus coped with his deployment through the COVID-19 pandemic by continuing her joined thru-hiking and YouTube pursuits, vlogging her thru-hike of the 171-mile Tahoe Rim Trail in August 2020, which she accomplished hiking with fellow thru-hiker and YouTuber Dyana Carmella for the entirety of the trail.[10][11] On August 14, 2020, she competed the trail and was inducted into the "165 mile club" of hikers who had completed the thru-hike by the Tahoe Rim Trail Association.[12]

2020 Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hike YouTube documentation

The following videos Mabus published on YouTube documenting her 2020 Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hike.[11]

No. Day Date (hiking) Miles Video duration Date (video published) Video title
1 1 August 1, 2020 0 – 7.5 24:10 August 23, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Tahoe City to Ward Creek - Part 1"
2 2 August 2, 2020 7.5 – 19.4 20:51 August 27, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Ward Creek to Bear Lake Outlet - Part 2"
3 3 August 3, 2020 19.4 – 33.3 21:40 September 2, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Bear Lake Outlet to Fontanillis Lake - Part 3"
4 4 August 4, 2020 33.3 – 42.8 14:05 September 6, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Fontanillis Lake to Lake Aloha (Desolation Wilderness) - Part 4"
5 5 August 5, 2020 42.8 – 54.0 15:29 September 13, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Lake Aloha to Echo Chalet for Resupply - Part 5"
6 6 August 6, 2020 54.0 – 69.4 13:28 September 18, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Saying Goodbye to the PCT - Part 6"
7 7 August 7, 2020 np[a] 15:06 September 26, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Star Lake - Part 7"
8 8 August 8, 2020 np[a] 16:12 October 10, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Epic Campsite - Part 8"
9 9 August 9, 2020 np[a] 9:11 October 20, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Spooner Lake Trailhead - Part 9"
10 10 August 10, 2020 np[a] 11:57 October 28, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Spooner Summit Trailhead to Marlette Peak Campground - Part 10"
11 10 August 10, 2020 np[a] 12:48 November 4, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Water Pumps and Thunderstorms - Part 11"
12 11 August 11, 2020 np[a] 18:22 November 16, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Relay Peak - Part 12"
13 12 August 12, 2020 np[a] 16:19 December 2, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Relay Peak to Brockway Trailhead - Part 13"
14 13 August 13, 2020 np[a] 12:37 December 14, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // Last Full Day - Part 14"
15 14 August 14, 2020 np[a] 13:27 December 22, 2020 "Tahoe Rim Trail // FINAL DAY: Tahoe City Bound - Part 15"
a Miles hiked not in video documentation.

YouTube documented thru-hikes

No. Name Location Direction Miles Type Status Date started Date finished # of days # of videos Ref
1 The Enchantments Washington Out-and-back 20.0 Duo (2 people) Finished October 15, 2017 October 15, 2017 1 1 [6]
2 Pacific Crest Trail United States, Canada Northbound 2,652.8 Solo (1 person) Finished April 14, 2018 October 3, 2018 173 130 [3][7]
3 Tahoe Rim Trail Nevada, California Counterclockwise 171.0 Duo (2 people) Finished August 1, 2020 August 14, 2020 14 15 [11][12]

Influence

Making the unknown visible

One of the full-time hikers Mabus has influenced is Lily Tagariello, who in part derived her motivation and confidence for successfully thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2021 from watching Mabus's vlogs, which made a trail she had not been to before tangible virtually from afar, stating to Kinute of the impact, Lily Tagariello said, "Thru-hiking became the only thing I cared about, even before I ever stepped foot on the PCT."[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Mabus, Jennifer as The Whimsical Woman (December 1, 2019). "New Zealand Honeymoon || Hiking on the coast, Lion Rock, Piha Beach - I TURN 30!!". YouTube. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Giecek, Rudy (September 19, 2017). "The 'Whimsical Woman' shares what she learns on the trail". The Everett Herald. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "2,600 miler list: 2018". Pacific Crest Trail Association. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "53 Wolf Pack Student-Athletes Set To Graduate". Nevada Wolf Pack. May 18, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "The Whimsical Woman". Explore Washington State. March 27, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Mabus, Jennifer as The Whimsical Woman (October 18, 2017). "Enchantments Thru-Hike | Larch Madness". YouTube. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e Mabus, Jennifer as The Whimsical Woman (October 20, 2019). "Pacific Crest Trail 2018". YouTube. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  8. ^ Egan, Erin. "Hiking Thru - Episode #45 - Starburst aka Jennifer Mabus". hiking-thru.com. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  9. ^ Mabus, Jennifer as The Whimsical Woman (September 30, 2019). "This is how much it cost me to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail". YouTube. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Peterson, Samantha (May 4, 2020). "How one Navy spouse will literally walk through her husband's next deployment". wearethemighty.com. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Mabus, Jennifer as The Whimsical Woman (April 10, 2021). "Tahoe Rim Trail Thru-Hike 2020". YouTube. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "165 Mile Club: 2020 – 2021". Tahoe Rim Trail Association. 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Lawrence, T.H. (February 11, 2022). "The outdoors 'feels like home' to hiker". Kinute. Retrieved April 15, 2022.