{"id":15255,"date":"2026-06-20T11:57:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T11:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=15255"},"modified":"2026-06-20T11:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T11:57:31","slug":"drag-me-outside-fuses-high-camp-and-hiking-in-portland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=15255","title":{"rendered":"Drag Me Outside Fuses High Camp and Hiking in Portland"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Published June 20, 2026 05:07AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

By all accounts, the bushtit is a small, gray-and-tan bird with a long tail and a short, stubby stature. Its plumage is rather boring in color, giving the gold ball-sized bird a plain appearance. It\u2019s not the type of bird you\u2019d expect a flamboyantly dressed drag queen to rave over\u2014but then again, Efemmera Gendera is not your average drag performer.<\/p>\n

Efemmera Gendera is the drag name of Fiona Skye, 29, cofounder of Drag Me Outside<\/a>. The urban hiking club in Portland, Oregon, fuses queer community with biology, and does so with campy, kitschy energy. Skye earned her master\u2019s degree from the University of Kentucky in 2025; she wrote her thesis on the bushtit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always joke that I got my master\u2019s in bushtits, so I have degrees in both bush and tits, and those are my drag credentials,\u201d Skye told me over the phone.<\/p>\n

Skye and Everett Hosp, 27, who performs\u00a0as a drag king under the name Thespis D. Light, are especially qualified for these campy, inclusive hikes\u2014between them, they have decades of wildlife-and-environment experience.<\/p>\n

Dressed in full glam, the duo encourages high heels on the trails, but welcomes all walks of life. Their goal, they said, isn\u2019t to summit a mountain but to take people on accessible, leisurely strolls through Portland\u2019s natural areas, and teach them how to simply be in nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are just a couple of funny little trans drag performers who like to get dressed up and go outside and teach people things,\u201d Skye said. \u201cWhile doing that, we\u2019re educating people about things they might not otherwise have thought about? Ecology is international, and we\u2019re all on the same planet. We\u2019re building community in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skye and Hosp launched Drag Me Outside in March 2026 and have amassed thousands of followers in just a few short months<\/span> (Photo: Alison Surico)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Skye and Hosp met when they were both new drag performers in the Portland area. They connected over their shared love of biology\u2014and Pattie Gonia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had this idea of following in Pattie Gonia\u2019s footsteps because we love her so much, and we were like, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s bring nature and education to drag,\u201d Skye said.<\/p>\n

They started giving tours in March and have since amassed thousands of followers on Instagram. Their social media feeds have been flooded with overwhelming support, but the two say they are most inspired by non-traditional learners and the diversity of attendees they have met on their hikes: older people, younger generations, members of the queer community and allies, self-proclaimed non-hikers, those with advanced degrees, and those without.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been so heartwarming to see the range of people who are drawn to this space,\u201d Hosp said, adding that a part of their work is making hiking safe for all people, especially those who might otherwise feel uncomfortable on the trail alone. \u201cWe encourage people to come as they desire to be. It doesn\u2019t matter what you wear as long as you wear clothes suitable for the weather.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosp spent five years as a park ranger focusing on interpretive work and community outreach. Before that, he was a wildlife rehabilitator in Florida and grew up hunting with his father in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile out in the field with my dad hunting, I learned so much about ecology that you could never learn in a classroom. There are some things that you just have to be outside experiencing to understand, and that kickstarted a lifelong love of wildlife, ecology, nature, and science\u2014and a connection to the land,\u201d Hosp said.<\/p>\n

That deep connection to the natural world also shaped the two\u2019s understanding of identity and queerness in nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause, oh boy, it\u2019s there. Outside is gay. Period,\u201d Hosp said. \u201cWhat we are doing is intrinsically a part of what\u2019s going on in society. We are students, but we are also teachers. We are people of this land, of this community. Pretending that nature and queerness aren\u2019t all a part of the same thing and not educating about it\u00a0is going to be our downfall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community and feeling a sense of\u00a0belonging in the outdoors, especially as a trans person, can save a person, Hosp and Skye said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to stand out in the woods and say, \u2018I am here. I am trans. I am a drag king, and I\u2019m not going anywhere,\u2019 feels amazing and insane in a way that I never would have been able to describe to 16-year-old me, who had no idea that being happy as yourself was a possibility,\u201d Hosp said.<\/p>\n

Skye and Hosp say they hope their work inspires everyone\u2014especially younger people\u2014to listen to their hearts and forge their own path.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor folks who are looking up to us, I see you, and I love you,\u201d Skye said. \u201cAnyone who is trans in the United States right now, but specifically trans youth, there is a future for you, and we are fighting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hosp
Though heels are encouraged, people of all walks of life are welcome to join a Drag Me Outside hike<\/span> (Photo: Alison Surico)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n