Ruby's Nature Nuts — Hiking Club
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Ruby's Nature Nuts
Nuts about God's creation
A hiking club for girls · Southern California

Get outside.
Grow together.

We learn skills, hike trails and have fun with friends. Sleeping under the stars, we appreciate God's beautiful nature.

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"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Psalm 19:1
How it started

Ruby kept coming home dusty and happy

Ruby always wanted more time outside. Lizards on the rocks, water over her boots, a hawk circling the ridge — she noticed all of it.

She felt more alive and connected to God outside, and she wanted her friends to experience it with her.

So she started inviting friends. That's the whole club: get girls outside, teach them to take care of themselves out there, and let creation do what it does — point straight back at the One who made it.

Ruby and Adam at Thousand Island Lake below Banner Peak
Thousand Island Lake, below Banner Peak — September 2026.

Three things we do, every time

1

Be outside

Day hikes in the canyons close to home, and a couple of overnights a year where we carry everything on our backs.

2

Learn something useful

Map reading, water filtering, knots, fire safety, what to do when the weather turns. Skills you keep for life.

3

Sit down together

Snacks, a verse, prayer, and a real conversation at the top. Nobody is in a hurry and nobody is on a phone.

Out there so far

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Campfire and s’mores after dark
Campfire and s’mores after dark
Thousand Island Lake below Banner Peak — Ansel Adams Wilderness
Thousand Island Lake below Banner Peak — Ansel Adams Wilderness
Full pack, alpine lake, September 2026
Full pack, alpine lake, September 2026
Alpenglow on Banner Peak from camp
Alpenglow on Banner Peak from camp
Puffy weather in the high Sierra
Puffy weather in the high Sierra
Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills — the whole crew, thumbs up
Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills — the whole crew, thumbs up
Top of Mt. Baldy, 10,064 feet
Top of Mt. Baldy, 10,064 feet
First light on San Gorgonio, worth the early alarm
First light on San Gorgonio, worth the early alarm
San Gorgonio summit — 11,503 feet
San Gorgonio summit — 11,503 feet
Sandwiches on a snowy ridge
Sandwiches on a snowy ridge
Full pack, loose rock, still smiling
Full pack, loose rock, still smiling
Snow in June, high in the alpine
Snow in June, high in the alpine
Back-to-back in the meadow grass
Back-to-back in the meadow grass
Some trees take more than one wingspan
Some trees take more than one wingspan
Tide pools on a foggy morning
Tide pools on a foggy morning
Snack break — the part everybody votes for
Snack break — the part everybody votes for
Green hills after the winter rain
Green hills after the winter rain
Sitting out over the river at the end of the day
Sitting out over the river at the end of the day
Desert boulders and a good hat
Desert boulders and a good hat
Suspension bridge, all the way across
Suspension bridge, all the way across
Found the waterfall
Found the waterfall
Rock hopping up the creek
Rock hopping up the creek
Cold water in Icehouse Canyon
Cold water in Icehouse Canyon
Sunset from the ridge above town
Sunset from the ridge above town
Certified Nature Nut behavior
Certified Nature Nut behavior

Just back from the Sierra

Ansel Adams Wilderness · September 2026
Ruby with a full pack above an alpine lake
Three days of food on her back, still grinning.
Ruby and Adam at camp as the last light hits Banner Peak
Last light on Banner Peak, straight from the tent door.
Ruby in her puffy jacket in the high Sierra
Cold mornings are worth getting up for.

Coming up next

First overnighter
Parents welcome

Bonelli Park Campout

San Dimas · Friday, November 20

Drive in, set up your own camp, and sleep outside — no hiking required. Campfire dinner, a scavenger hunt, nature trivia, s'mores, and a devotional from Ruby.
About the club

What is a Nature Nut?

A nut is a seed. Small, tough on the outside, and packed with everything it needs to turn into something enormous — if it lands in the right place.

That's you. You are already carrying everything you're going to become. What you need is the right ground and a few seasons of good weather.

A seed doesn't strain to grow. It just stays put somewhere good and keeps taking in what it's given. Every hike we take is really about three things a nut needs.

Ingredient one

Sunlight

God's own creation

You cannot grow in a closet. Get out where the light is — real weather and distance, a sky you didn't design. Creation is the first thing God ever preached, and it is still preaching.

Ingredient two

Good soil

Places to be together

Roots need somewhere to grow. A campfire, a sitting log, a long slow climb where the talking finally gets honest. Good soil is just unhurried time in the same place with the same people.

Ingredient three

Good food

His Word and each other

Trail mix keeps you moving for an afternoon. Scripture and real friends keep you moving for a lifetime. We bring both, and we eat and commune together.

"She is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither."

Psalm 1:3

Signs you might already be one

You pick up rocks and keep them.
You'd rather be sweating than bored.
You have a collection of homemade bows and arrows.
You ask how much more time you get out here, and hope the answer is a lot.
You think a sunrise is worth losing sleep over.
Who can come

Girls, with a parent along for overnights. No experience needed and no fancy gear required — borrow what you don't have and start with a day hike.

Ruby in her puffy jacket high in the Sierra
A girl with arms spread against an enormous pine
Three hikers in front of a waterfall
Where we're going

Meet-ups

One on the calendar right now — our first night out. Details go to families beforehand; ask Ruby or Adam Hickerson.

Kids around the campfire at night
First overnighter
No hiking in
Parents welcome

Bonelli Park Campout

Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park, San Dimas · Friday, November 20

Our very first night out as a club, and nobody has to carry anything up a mountain to get there. We drive in, and every girl sets up her own camp — tent, pad, bag, the whole thing — so that the first time she does it, it isn't in the dark at 9,000 feet. Dinner cooks over the fire, and the night keeps going from there.

Think of it as the shakedown run: learn your gear, find out what you forgot, and get comfortable sleeping outside before we hike in for real.

Campfire dinner
Cooked over the fire, eaten together, nobody eating alone.
Trail scavenger hunt
Teams of two, a list of things to find, and bragging rights.
Nature trivia
First shot at the Trail Trivia badge.
S'mores
Obviously. Bring your own stick or find a good one.
Devotional from Ruby
Around the fire before bed, in her own words.
Set up your own camp
Pitch it, sleep in it, pack it back up in the morning.
When
Friday, November 20
Where
Bonelli Park, San Dimas
Hiking in
None — drive-in campsite
Parents
Welcome and encouraged
What to bring
Everything on the packing list except the food and the filter — this one is a chance to try your real gear close to the car. Borrow what you don't have; ask Ruby or Adam.
Next up after this
Once everybody has a night outside under their belt, we start planning the first hike-in overnight. Ask Ruby or Adam Hickerson to get on the list.

Things to do while you walk

Miles go faster when something is going on. Pick two or three per hike — the leader calls them out.

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"Two are better than one… If either of them falls down, one can help the other up."

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
One night on your back

Backpacking packing list

Our real go-to list, refined after the Ansel Adams Wilderness trip. Tick things off as they go in the pack — your list stays saved on this device, so you can check it again at the trailhead.

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Ruby carrying a full pack above an alpine lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness
Ruby's rule

If you can't carry it all day, it doesn't come.

Load your pack the week before and walk the neighborhood with it. Anything that made you grumpy after a mile gets left home. Aim for a pack that's no more than about a fifth of what you weigh.

Leave it better

Everything that goes up comes back down with you.

Orange peels, pistachio shells and apple cores count — they don't belong on that mountain any more than a candy wrapper does. Bring an extra bag and pack out something that isn't yours.

"Let us throw off everything that hinders… and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Hebrews 12:1
Earn it outside

Stickers & prizes

Every badge is a real thing you did, not a thing you showed up for. Do the work on the trail, get the sticker at the end of the hike.

The badges

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What they add up to

Stickers go on your water bottle. The rest you have to come get.

3
Sticker sheet
Your first three, printed vinyl, bottle-proof.
6
Club patch
The embroidered badge, sewn on your pack.
10
The hat
Ruby's bucket hat with the badge on the front.
All
Head Nut
A pin, and you help lead the next hike.

How trivia works

Somewhere in the middle miles the leader calls a trivia round. Ten questions about what's actually around you — that tree, that track, that cloud, that bird. Get the answer wrong and you get the story behind it, which is better anyway.

Answer ten right across a season and the Trail Trivia badge is yours.

Design your own

If you think of a badge this club should have, draw it and bring it. Good ones get printed with your name on the back of the sheet.

Badge artwork is still being drawn — the circles above are placeholders for the real stickers.
A hiker with peanuts in her teeth, grinning at the camera

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord."

Colossians 3:23
Ruby's Nature Nuts badge
Ruby's Nature Nuts
Nuts about God's creation.
Want in, or want the dates? Talk to Ruby or Adam Hickerson — they'll get you on the list.