Hannah Ricke: From Art to Nature and Back Again

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Photo courtesy Hannah Ricke

Hannah Ricke

Hannah Ricke in the Alps

Hannah Ricke is a very determined woman, who has proven that she’s got gusto for everything she undertakes. From a successful art career to hiking solo in the wilderness, she’s an inspiration to people who cross her path.

You gave up a successful art career to engage in nature and hiking in the outdoors. What prompted this major lifestyle change?

I love goals and write them down in my journals often. And I realized that I had achieved all my goals with MentalPaint; a yearlong contract creating collages for Reese’s Book Club, designing album covers, sales goals, they had been met! 

Yet, I had dozens of unmet goals with my backpacking venture, currently called TwoWilderness. I want to teach people how to solo backpack, I want to take my one woman show about backpacking on the road, I want to create bigger, badder art … So what was I still doing spending most of my time with MentalPaint? 

Also, I blew up on Instagram in 2020, and since then, social media has become less meaningful to me. I want more in-person interactions, more human-to-human connection. 

So I am giving myself a year to end MentalPaint and transition to TwoWilderness.

You've hiked thousands of miles and claim that the shape of your brain has changed. Please explain that, and how has it affected you?

My first night on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in 2019 was my first night of backpacking ever. I hadn't even tested my gear and was a complete novice. I thought, “How hard can it be?”

Since backpacking 1800 miles in 2019 (I didn’t make the whole 2650 miles of the PCT), I think about backpacking every day. My experiences seeing nature on foot, being entirely alone with myself in the wilderness, and hiking a marathon every day for five months has changed everything about my life and the way I see the world. 

Nature is no longer an option for me. It is a necessity. Solitude is no longer an option either. I have the capacity for aloneness, being elf sufficient, and have the perseverance that I never would have gained without undertaking backpacking. 

You solo hike and also have organized group hiking. How did the group hikes come about? Is it all about empowering women?

Backpacking is so intimidating. There is so much gear that’s needed, and you are the one who must carry it all! A one-person tent! A sleeping bag! An air mattress! Your cookstove! Where to begin is the most important question.

So I thought, “I’ve done all this research already. I can make it easier on people if I walk them through the intimidating beginning.” My emphasis is going solo. Group trips are meaningful, of course, but I think solitude in nature is the best way to experience it, and also gain your own strength.

When I led my first pack trip in June of 2023, I told the women, “We are not going on a group hike. We are a group of women, solo hiking.” And I told the women, “My goal is to show them two doors to two wildernesses: the one inside themselves that is begging to be explored, and the one out in nature that is always waiting.” From this thought came my name, TwoWilderness.

So, yes, it’s about showing women unique, wonderful landscapes where they will empower themselves. And it’s about falling in love with nature. You protect what you love. 

How does one reach out to you regarding group hiking?

I want this new venture to be fully functional and financially sustainable in 2025. So, if people are just curious about a solo-hiking woman, they can follow me on Instagram and Threads at @two.wilderness and at www.twowilderness.com.  If they’re ready to really consider joining me on a “group solo hike”, I am working on “Building Bravery” hikes and applying for small business grants so that I can buy all the expensive hiking gear, so it’s not so intimidating (and cost-prohibitive!) for people!

Another good way to experience backpacking vicariously is to come to one of my readings. I have a one woman show that I’ve performed in Milwaukee and, randomly, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A simple format: I read the journals that I keep while backpacking. My audience gets to experience everything I’ve seen, felt and learned in a safe, warm environment.

I have so many goals, and I feel full of wings. Definitely follow me. So much more is coming, but I am building it from nothing right now. 

Do you create art any more? If so, how is it different from before your life of hiking? 

I will always create; I must! My muses are nature and the brave women, two of the most visually rich entities ever! I find ideas for paintings just tumble out of my head when I’m backpacking, and I find visual art is the perfect way of illustrating the inner life of a solo hiker. 

I’ve backpacked around the world and have used my photography in my analog collage work. I also am a writer and have pulled quotes from the journals I keep while backpacking in my work also. But I want my art to get bigger and bolder. It is my goal to get accepted to artist residency programs in our national parks. 

It is all so interwoven. It is such a rich world to explore.