25 ◦ she/her ◦ my thing is that I take a trans pride flag up many mountiains ◦ over 600 different peaks as of of 2024 ◦ if you live in the PNW of the US and wanna ski/climb/mountaineer/hike, hmu ◦ :)
Hello people of Tumblr!!! My name is Vera and I'm a trans woman who spends her time hiking a trans pride flag up many mountains. Over the last two years, I've done this on over 500 peaks in the Eastern US, and now I've shifted out to the Western US where I plan on doing this many more times over the next few years! This post is kind of an intro to me, and if you have any more questions, feel free to send them my way! Also do be aware that I'm a Reddit refugee who's new to this site, so if you have any helpful advise, please let me know because I'm still figuring things out as I start to transition away from that dumpster fire of a website! :)
Who am I???
My full name is Veronica Ashcroft (she/her), though I usually refer to myself by my nickname, Vera. I am a transgender hiker and aspiring mountaineer from the Northeast who spends a lot of time outside. I recently bought a van and have converted it into a little mobile-living space, and that combined with my recent decision to do seasonal work means that I have a lot of free time on my hands – free time that I intend to spend hiking and peakbagging as much as I can!
What is peakbagging?
Peakbagging is a style of climbing mountains where the goal is to summit a peak. This can take on many different forms, from just generally trying to summit peaks as a goal of climbing/mountaineering, to religiously pursuing lists of mountains grouped together because of their height, significance, etc. The way I personally approach peakbagging is to summit as many peaks as I can within a given timeframe, usually following some list that I either created myself or borrowed from an outside source. Most people who peakbagg do so over the course of months or years, so I'm definitely on one extreme with how much time I put towards my peakbagging projects
Which mountains have I done, which am I working toward, and what will I tackle in the future?
In the summer of 2022, I took a trans pride flag up the Northeast 115 4000fters list, which is a rather descriptive name, given that there are *basically* 115 4000ft mountains in the American Northeast. In the spring of 2023, I bagged the New Southeast 202, which includes the tallest and most prominent peaks in the Southern Appalachians. I spent nearly a year after that grinding through most the New Northeast 131, which comprises a number of the 1000ft prominence peaks in the American Northeast. Although I had to put that project on indefinite pause, I still climbed over 200 peaks as part of it. This fall, I'm road tripping through the American Southwest and will be climbing a number of peaks there - stay tuned for the specifics of those!
Why take a pride flag up mountains?
The simple answer is because I was already going to do these mountains anyway, and taking a pride flag up them allows me to promote trans visibility in the outdoors and spread some positivity in the process. And we trans people need some positivity in the world right now. Politicized transphobia is on the rise, and trans people have become one of the key targets of right-wingers. It was already bad a few years ago and it has gotten worse - I invite you to look at the news if you wanna see what I'm talking out. Obviously taking a flag up some mountains isn't in the same league whatsoever as these political assaults from the right, but we really do need some positivity to stay sane and hopeful in these times. And I'm certainly not going to single-handedly do that - I'm neither that arrogant nor ambitious to claim something like that. But even if my projects positively impact only a small group of people for a brief period, that will be good enough for me
Why take a trans pride flag though?
I'm trans, and I'm also a lesbian and sometimes gender nonconforming - I like to joke that I'm a couple different flavors of queer. Intersectionality is important, and when I started these projects last year, I choose to emphasize my trans identity by taking a trans flag up because that was the part of my identity most under-assault. Truth be told, I was originally planning on using a rainbow flag for my current work for the reason of trying to have my projects appeal to a wider queer audience. But then, the onslaught of anti-trans laws intensified last year, and I was being reminded daily that a lot of people really do hate me for who I am, and I know that those people would already be angry to see a queer person taking a rainbow flag up mountains - but they'd be livid to see a trans woman doing the same with a trans pride flag. Or to put it another way, on a personal level, my trans identity is the target for most of the bigotry I face, and so that's the part of my identity that I want to push back with the most
Why am I not doing something more useful with my life?
With the onslaught of bigotry showing no signs of relenting, I see queer people all over wondering what we can do to fight back. And to be entirely honest, hiking a pride flag up a bunch of mountains definitely isn't the most efficient use of my time and energy right now in that political context. It would probably be a much better idea for me to join one of the many political groups and organizations fighting back against this onslaught of bigotry, rather than doing projects like these. And I know for a fact that some people will look at my project and be disappointed that I'm choosing not to do that. But honestly, hiking makes me really happy, and I've spent the majority of my life profoundly unhappy dealing with issues of depression and gender dysphoria. And now that I'm in a position where I can actually do something like this, I'm gonna, because for most of my life I couldn't even imagine myself having agency over my own life. And, although I'm well aware that the scope of my project is ultimately quite small, I've had enough people both online and irl come up to me and tell me that my projects helped inspire them, or at least just brought some trans positivity in an era that is increasingly frightening for queer people - and, to me, that makes it worth my time
What can you do to help?
If you enjoy my project, please reblog and share it with other people - the more people who view/follow what I do, the more effective I'll be in getting the message across!!!
Is there anywhere else you can follow me?
Yes! I also have a reddit and an insta that I post to, along with an account on peakbagger detailing the nitty gritty of my hikes. Additionally, I have a personal website where I put detailed trip reports and lots of photos, so be sure to check those out!!!
What if you have any other questions?
Reach out! I love it when people message me! Do be aware, I do spend most of my time in mountains with spotty reception, so I might take a few days to get your message!!!
Also a good time to add that, after nearly a year and a half of construction, I finally feel like my website is in a presentable state!
I post trip reports there that contain information and photos I typically don't include on my posts here, along with some writing by/about me. If any of that strikes your fancy, feel free to check it out!!!
these murderous idiots are teaching young girls and women to be afraid of calories when eating a LOT of calories is literally vital for performing well in competitive sports. and then claiming it's 'natural' to uphold sex segregation bc of this imposed malnutrition. it's fucking crazymaking.
the mechanics here are truly horrific. systematically deny [cis] women athletes adequate nutrition and hydration, overwork and injure them. deprive them of the ability to realize the true extent of their strength and skill. segregate athletics based on false ideas of "sex" based on generations of malnourishment and poor training. blame trans woman athletes for the mere possibility that one might beat a cis woman, while claiming that the cis woman's defeat is inevitable. create emotionally stressful and often sexually humiliating tests to "purify" competitive athletics rather than foster the physical health of athletes. continue punishing all women for daring to play sports + have bodies.
PSA: most trans people on hormones don’t pass after a year. I think the prevalence of “passing at 11 months!!!” type stories has given a lot of people the impression that somewhere around there is when people start to look like what they want. And like yeah, some people do, and fucking great for them, but you don’t see nearly as many people talking about how they don’t pass at that point because a) people share those things online less often and b) those posts get less traction because they’re heavier
Me? I passed for the first time at 7 months. I passed for the second time at 19 months. That fucking sucked. I felt like I had been given exactly what I wanted and watched it get taken away from me, and the idea that I should be passing more regularly in the months following really ate away at me and made me feel like I “failed” in my transition - I legit thought that I would never pass
It certainly didn’t help that, in addition to overwhelmingly seeing narratives online of passing early in one’s transition, every piece of medical information that was presented to me said that most changes would happen over the first two years. Maybe I was deluding myself, but baby trans me thought “oh that means I have two years to transition or else I fail because hormones won’t do anything past that”. And that ate away at me more than the not passing, cause I felt like I was “missing my chance” at having the body I wanted
And boy was I wrong, in the last year (my third year on hormones), I feel like I’ve seen more changes than I saw in my first year. My boobs are filling themselves out, my body hair is getting even lighter, my skin is noticeably softer even though I stopped moisturizing/doing most of my previous skincare routine. Hell, even my hips and ass have gotten wider. And this was *all* during an era that the medical information I was presented with gave me the impression that any changes that did occur would be minor
To show you what I mean, compare one of my first trans-flag photos, taken at 11 months on e, verses a semi-recreation I did earlier today at 33 months on e (same clothes and roughly the same pose/lighting, different mountains)
Notice a difference? I sure do - and to prove to you that this happened in the third year, here's a similar photo of me in between these two at 23 months on e:
I’m usually not one for transition timelines, mainly because my whole project is kind of a transition timeline, and if you wanna look through and see more of what I'm taking about feel free to either scroll a few posts down on my blog, or check out my google drive with all the photos from my projects. The difference doesn't look *too* dramatic to me, but some people I know irl have expressed that it is
Regardless, the point I'm trying to make here is that my experience on hormones was *not* passing at one year - and that's the experience of the vast majority of people I know who've been on hormones. Puberty takes many years, and yeah, that can suck to hear when you're expecting it to take two, but trust me, it's a healthier mindset to think of yourself as continuously moving in the direction you want, rather than waiting to arrive at a particular destination
If you've started hormones in the last year, be sure to give your body the time it needs to make the changes you want - transitioning is a marathon, not a sprint
"You put the government on the spot when you even mention Vietnam. They feel embarrassed — you notice that?… It's just a trap that they let themselves get into. … But they're trapped, they can't get out. You notice I said 'they.' They are trapped, They can't get out. If they pour more men in, they'll get deeper. If they pull the men out, it's a defeat. And they should have known that in the first place. France had about 200,000 Frenchmen over there, and the most highly mechanized modern army sitting on this earth. And those little rice farmers ate them up, and their tanks, and everything else. Yes, they did, and France was deeply entrenched, had been there a hundred or more years. Now, if she couldn't stay there and was entrenched, why, you are out of your mind if you think Sam can get in over there. But we're not supposed to say that. If we say that, we're anti-American, or we're seditious, or we're subversive…. They put Diem over there. Diem took all their money, all their war equipment and everything else, and got them trapped. Then they killed him. Yes, they killed him, murdered him in cold blood, him and his brother, Madame Nhu's husband, because they were embarrassed. They found out that they had made him strong and he was turning against them…. You know, when the puppet starts talking back to the puppeteer, the puppeteer is in bad shape….." —
― Malcolm X, 1965
“It is well known that the black race is the most oppressed and most exploited of the human family. It is well known that the spread of capitalism and the discovery of the New World had as an immediate result the rebirth of slavery which was, for centuries, a scourge for the Negroes and a bitter disgrace for mankind. What everyone does not perhaps know, is that after sixty-five years of so-called emancipation, American Negroes still endure atrocious moral and material sufferings, of which the most cruel and horrible is the custom of lynching.”
― Hồ Chí Minh
Feel free to link your kofi and your writings here, this post has gotten way more attention than I anticipated and it should be spent on supporting you.
And read my articles at: substack://share-url?url=https://substack.com/@bundleofstyxx&r=6jb0qs&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile&shareImageVariant=image
Hey y’all, I was asked to share this fundraiser for Sam Nordquist’s family as they continue to deal with legal costs surrounding his murder.
If you’re in Minnesota, come to Seward Cafe on December 4th. If you can’t make it, you can still help out by sharing this or giving to them.
Sam Nordquist was a Black trans man who was tortured for three months by multiple whites before being lynched in February 2025. His family is still handling the case against his assailants and are having to deal with travel and legal costs.
I'll always hate how, for white-collar workers who spend most of the day sitting, it's seen as quirky and cool to have a standing desk - and employers actively encourage people to get those desks. Meanwhile, for working-class people who have to stand all day, it's seen as lazy and disrespectful to sit down on the job - and employers actively punish those who do
It's just such an obvious bit of classism and it drives me up the wall how flagrant the double-standard is and how few people seem to see the problem here
thanksgiving is a holiday based on a falsified narrative full of white guilt and the erasure of history so what are some good native organizations to donate to this coming thursday
please also consider looking into funding native/tribal food sovereignty projects if you have food to donate or money to spare. friends, please add more if you know of them and have links to provide:
native american food sovereignty alliance
meskwaki food sovereignty initiative
friends of pine ridge reservation
first nations development institute
you can also buy food/gifts from indigenous sellers or donate to gofundme fundraisers made by indigenous people who need help getting groceries, paying medical bills, or paying rent. do something to help us and our communities.
try water projects too, like the navajo water project: https://www.navajowaterproject.org/
Help DigDeep bring clean, running water to hundreds of American families. Nearly 40% of Navajo don't have a tap or toilet at home. We can fi
a lot of reservations are fucked over on water by illegal oil drilling, pipelines, or other breaches, like in the navajo rez’s case: contaminated by illegal uranium mining.
I would like to put my endorsement to the Sovereign Bodies Institute, home of the database of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The database is trans-inclusive, the data protocols follow the desires of the families of MMIW, and this holiday season, they are collecting donations to buy gifts for the families, especially the children, of missing and murdered women.
I’d like to add Feeding Nunavut, the cost of living in the isolated north for Inuit is up to and sometimes over 5x the prices the rest of Canada is used to.
adding Great Plains Action Society, who do amazing work in the area I live in. Iowa is among the most ecologically devastated areas on the continent due to Big Ag and pipelines. Our indigenous comrades’ work is at the center of all liberation struggles here!
Absolutely wild to me that Indigenous People’s Day day is only observed in half the country while the other half still actively celebrates genocide day
Except for the states where there’s a joint celebration, which just gives such “Joint MLK Robert E. Lee Day” energy, which is also a holliday in a few states
If I died 5 years ago, my parents would have buried a son. It wouldn't have been my name on my tombstone. Who would have grieved for me? Who would have looked at the tombstone of that boy and wept for the woman that was buried beneath that ground?
It wouldn't have been my mom. Not my father. It wouldn't have been my brothers. I doubt my now ex even would have grieved for the real me. A handful of souls would have grieved for the woman that they lost, while a service was held for a dead boy in a suit.
The world would never have known me.
They say there are three deaths. When your body ceases to function, when you're consigned to the grave, and when your name is spoken for the last time. What if your name is never spoken? What of the woman who never heard her name spoken from another set of lips?
I see you, nameless ones. I may never be able to speak your name, for I do not know it, but I will grieve for you. You will not be forgotten for as long as I have tears to shed.
This post is getting some traction again and so I wanted to make an addition to this post.
I'm 26 years old now. I've been transitioning in one way or another for almost six years now. The family members that I still talk to call me Claire. I am reintroducing my brother into my life, as well as his wife, because he apologized for his actions and ignorance when I first started transitioning. I get to be an aunt to my nieces, and a sister to someone who always called me brother.
Things were hard when I started transitioning, not everyone was accepting, and those who were still messed up a lot or were being performative. Nowadays? I have people in my life who have only known me as a woman, people who would go to bat for me in a heartbeat if someone tried to insult me or my gender.
This isn't to say that things are perfect, I still don't talk to my father or his side of the family. I don't talk to my brother who raised me, or have any substantial relationship with a lot of people who i used to call friends. I lost a lot of people in my life by being who I am, but it wasn't a loss. Those who couldn't love me as I am don't deserve a place in my life, and for those who are scared of this transition because you're afraid of losing those people: please live for yourself, make the choice that will lead to you being happy with who you are.
It's been 6 years and I can proudly say that I am a vibrant, beautiful, and strong woman. Stronger than I ever could have been without taking this journey. I have made friends, memories, mistakes, and I have grown so much since I began that it is hard to even recognize the person I was at the start. I chose to live for me, regardless of whether anyone stood by my side or not.
For those just starting your journey, I'm so fucking proud of you. I know that you can keep going, and find support for who you authentically are. For those who haven't been able to start, I feel for you, and I want you to know that I'm still proud of you. No matter where you go in this journey, you are valid, loved, and seen. I hope someday you get to look in the mirror and love the person that you see.
To everyone who is on this journey with me and everyone who has ever been a part of this journey, you are loved, you are beautiful, you are amazing, and I know that we can make it through whatever the world has in store for us. We will carry the torch for one another.
To those who we've lost on this journey: You will never be forgotten. You will always be loved and cherished by those who knew you, even if they never got to meet the real you. My brothers and sisters in this life of ours, we fight together, we love together, and we will live for each other. I love you all. 💕
