Create Your Future
Jesika Lucarelli & Tallie Martin, Great Mountain Guide Service
"Hey, New Girl, don't take any sh*t from anybody!"
And so began the friendship between Jesika Lucarelli and Tallie Martin that spawned Great Mountain Guide Service of Millinocket, Maine.
I happened across Great Mountain Guide Service on Instagram, when someone shared a picture from a trip these two were guiding on the Cutler Coast. Except it looked like no overnight backpacking trip I'd ever been on - the picnic spread these hikers were feasting on was something right off the lawn at Tanglewood.
I commented on their next level set up, and next thing I know I’m exchanging messages with Jesika and we’re grabbing coffee for an early morning pod-chat. I mean, how many hairdresser-turned-private-chef-turned-hunting-and-whitewater-guide-slash-yoga-instructors is one going to have a chance to meet in a lifetime?
Jesika and Tallie are So. Fun. But they also get real about what it takes to patch together an outdoor career here in the northeast, a nomadic cycle of guiding, ski resort and restaurant work. These two are grinders, and 2020 by all accounts has been a pretty challenging year, but their energy, enthusiasm and upbeat natures definitely come through in this interview. I guarantee by the end you’re not only going to want to hire them for your next Katahdin ascent, but also to chaperone your next girls' trip to Vegas…
Check out Great Mountain Guide Service's trips and retreat offerings on their website, as well as their so-called ‘sister’ company, Maine White Tail Adventures. As Tallie mentioned, they’re @GreatMountainGuideService on Instagram and Facebook, and they are worth a follow for their #friendshipgoals and adventure picnic ideas, if for no other reason.
And while you’re feeling social, are you following Guides Gone Wild on Instagram or Facebook yet? Because there just might be a little extra inspiration from our guests that makes its way over there a few times a week...
More links and inspiration from Jesika and Tallie:
Penobscot River Trails - Grindstone, ME
McNett River Knife - no longer available, and McNett became Gear Aid back in 2016. But this one is probably close!