Take a hike, Jeff! Online community responds to request for man’s search for ‘women to hike with’

As it turns out, sending an open request to hike with the ladies of Spokane and North Idaho might not be the best approach a guy can take when it comes to meeting new people.

Such is the lesson that Jeff Heatwole, a Spokane single father and music teacher, learned last Saturday.

In a Facebook group for hikers in Spokane and North Idaho, Heatwole, 35, posted what he believed to be an innocuous invitation: “Looking for women to hike with:)”.

“I was just trying to get different perspectives and maybe just, you know, make new friends that are the opposite sex to just, kind of like, balance out the social circle between men and women,” Heatwole said. “I didn’t realize how absurd it was at first.”

The absurdity, however, was not lost on thousands of people from Spokane, Idaho and elsewhere. Under Heatwole’s post, the local hiking community concocted dozens of outlandish tales of their hikes with “Jeff.”

“I was mauled by a bear up in the mountains. Jeff chased off the bear, then cradled my bloody head and whispered lullabies as I died peacefully. It was beautiful. 10/10 would hike with him again if I hadn’t died on that mountain,” commenter Jayden Cornett wrote.

Another commenter, Anna Marie, wrote:

“Went on a hike with Jeff. He showed up in a fleece that said ‘Safe Space Sherpa’, handed out ‘Goddess Fuel’ trail mix, and tried to lead a sharing circle about emotional vulnerability on the mountain. When someone twisted their ankle, he fired a FLARE GUN into a tree (which caught fire), then tried to put it out with kombucha.

“Honestly? 10/10 entertainment. Highly recommend hiking with Jeff if you like chaos, snacks, and unhinged feminist energy.”

Heatwole could only laugh at himself.

One of his favorites was Tim Baylan’s comment: “Great kisser that Jeff. Let me tell you.”

“After rereading it after a couple hours, it just got funnier and funnier, just thinking about the scenario and how absurd it is,” Heatwole said. “Like, obviously (…) women aren’t comfortable just hanging out with a random guy out in nature, away from everybody in general.”

Jessica Dancy commented: “Jeff….. I’m still tied to the tree. Are you ever coming back??”

Despite the jokes and storytelling in the comments, Heatwole said he made the post in the midst of struggles with his mental health, including depression and anxiety. He commented under his initial post, detailing his struggle.

“Overall, its been really helping keep my mind focused or, you know, at least distracted from negative things,” Heatwole said. “And so I’ve been cracking up laughing at people’s stories and just staying distracted, and it’s just felt really supportive, I suppose.”

Heatwole said a number of people reached out directly to share their own mental health struggles. As of Tuesday, he had scheduled three hikes with group members.

“They’ve been helping me in a way that I felt like has been more beneficial than the medication was,” he said.

With the boom in popularity, an admin for the Facebook hiking group made a dedicated group for posts about “Jeff.” The decision was met with approval, both for appreciation of a space to continue posting, and for removal of “Jeff” posts from the main group.

“The naysayers will be feeling real silly when Jeff walks by with his entourage of women to hike with,” Amy Clark commented.

In the new group, Heatwole pitched the idea of doing a charity group hike on Aug. 2 to raise money for mental health care. The details have yet to come.

“I just want people to keep the jokes rolling, but also try to recognize that this situation came from a place of a bit of a mental health crisis,” Heatwole said. “I just want them to donate if they can, and keep supporting the community and keeping an eye out for people that are going through hard times, and kind of support all that like they’ve been doing for me.”