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Chelsea Murphy

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Encouraging a more inclusive and equitable outdoor community while celebrating and representing Black motherhood in the midst of a dominant culture. Join me here.

Shifting outdoor culture. Inspiring joy + liberation.

she_colorsnature

Here to help you find your way outside 🌿
🏕️ Black motherhood in the outdoors
🍄‍🟫 30 minutes OUTSIDE everyday
📍 PNW 💌: shecolorsnature@gmail

Come hike with us 🫶🏾 My first installment of mom’ Come hike with us 🫶🏾

My first installment of mom’s summer hike journal because approximately 47 people this month have reminded me how fast this time with young kids goes. So I’m just going to leave this here 🌳🍄🌼

📍ICICLE GORGE TRAIL, rated easy on @alltrails. On the ancestral homelands or the Wenatchi peoples.

⭐️ My review: Kid friendly | 4.7 mile loop | river access | 360 feet elevation gain | ~2 hours hiking time (not including a stop for lunch and dilly dallying) | Forest Service parking permit required | Bathrooms open and clean | Bridges, babbling brooks, nature rich, butterflies, chipmunks, wildflowers, swimming, places to stop and rest! Happy hiking 🥾

#MomsSummerHikingJournal #SheColorsNature #BlackLivesMatter #BlackMomsHike
#TeamBronco_Ambassador at #BroncoWildFund supporte #TeamBronco_Ambassador at #BroncoWildFund supported event curated from the ground up by @indigenousrrf at their annual Rising Roots Spring Camp 🌼🪶 

@fordbronco continues to “connect people to the outdoors, responsibly” through Team Ambassadors like me. In this season, that looks like serving many Indigenous communities of Washington state. Bringing them back to their Land, their traditions and having their native language being spoken and heard there for the first time in over a century. The work Indigenous Roots and Reparations Foundation is doing is SO important now more than ever!

Thank you @fordbronco @ford and #BroncoWildFund

🎥: @bravespace_media 

2025 Bronco® Big Bend® model with optional equipment, available Ford accessories, and extra-cost color option shown.
PART TWO ✌🏾 The best part about this trip aside f PART TWO ✌🏾

The best part about this trip aside from the sweet family time was going all the way into California to see the Redwood trees and realizing the dramatic coastline and sea stacks get better in the second half of the state - but we just needed to keep going 🤎

Down the 101 and back up again just in time for our @hiforrest concert at the Tacoma Dome!

**if you are reading this, please know that this is what we did - but there are so many amazing ways to spend time in the coast and you can’t really go wrong! Have fun. Reset, and get outside 🌳🌊🫶🏾

📍SAVE THIS FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP OUT WEST 

We scored the last campsite at Alder Dune CG over the holiday weekend and couldn’t have found a better home base to visit the Sea Lion Caves and Thor’s Well! 

We loved Yoda’s Hut and Coastal Pizza - so good!

This was by far the cheapest air bnb in the area and it was only an hour drive into California to see the Redwoods!

Great hosts, clean, cozy and a view of the bay. Sleeps 5-6 people! 

Best breakfast burritos of the whole trip. We kept up with the theme of food trucks! 

On the the way to see some giant trees!

My kids first time walking among the Redwoods! Jedidiah Smith Trails are very accessible and not far from the California state line.

Measuring the trees with each step

Adventuring with dad 🤎

Whew! Past time to wash some clothes! We loved this laundromat in Gold Beach. My husband took the kids to Sunset Pizza and the kids played at the arcade while I did a few loads!

This spot was one of my favorites along the way! Close to the beach, bathrooms and the site was both large and private! Would absolutely travel back for an extended stay here!

Everyone’s learning how to put the trailer up and down!

Such a cool stop! Have you been down in this hole at low tide? Risky business!

This place gives Tillamook a run for their money. Make sure to get two scoops, one chocolate and one vanilla. Thank me later!

We stayed here on the way in and on the way out! My kids became Junior Rangers for the first time, they were so proud!

My Bronco needed to stretch her legs on the sand 

🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️

These concert tickets were one of our kids Christmas pres
We joined the pop-up tent trailer family 👋🏾 The b We joined the pop-up tent trailer family 👋🏾

The best part about this first trip was that it was mildly spontaneous. We had some rough dates, we knew we wanted a trailer to camp with the kids down the coast, we knew the coast was designed for sight seeing and camping along the way… but we didn’t have an itinerary, or a single reservation (gasp 😮‍💨). My husband and I have done trips like this before and it *usually* always works out, but we hadn’t done something of this magnitude with our little ducks in tow yet. Irresponsible? Maybe. My biggest fear was being stuck on the side of the road with the kids with no where to go for America’s holiday weekend. I also worried that the trailer we purchased from a proper stranger would be a lemon. It all worked out, AND MORE! 🌊🐚☀️🌳

We are a public school, team sports, church going family - we both coach year round, I run my business and love my 3 kids everyday in every way, my husband works a 40+ hour job where he needs to be present. Our family needed to unwind from the grind. This was it. The freedom of going where we wanted, when we wanted, as a unit. The Oregon Coast did not disappoint, and our trailer is a friggin gem 🤎

We bought a *new to us* 2012 Jay Series by Jayco pop-up tent trailer and took her on a maiden voyage down the Oregon Coast. 9 nights of camping, 2 nights at an Airbnb for a proper home base (and shower) before entering Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park.

It all worked out. We purchased on a Sunday, got it registered on Monday and were camping under the stars at Fort Steven’s State Park by Monday evening. If you or your family are in the fence about camping or investing in something to make it more enjoyable, let us be a testament to all of the possibilities! 

What other questions can I answer? 

Who else in this community has a pop-up tent?! 

**If you are headed down the Oregon Coast don’t let everyone’s opinions of where they’ve been or your favorite bloggers “10 stops you MUST MAKE” give you analysis paralysis! It’s all wonderful! Every city has something incredible to offer! The dramatic coastline spans from north to south! Make the trip yours
BLACK PEOPLE DO CAMP (a photo journal) Y’all bett BLACK PEOPLE DO CAMP (a photo journal)

Y’all better believe I was givin the head nod to every brother or sister down the Oregon coast I saw. Few and far in between as they came. I know we are camping, but where we camping at? Because it’s not on the west coast 😂

I care about exposing my multi cultured kids to camping and the outdoors so they know that these public lands are for us too. Camping is for us too (if we want it) and we are having a time!!

black people camp 🏕️✊🏾 

#SheColorsNature #PopUpTent #CampingWithKids #OregonCoast #TeamBronco_Ambassador
Murphy Family Road Trip 2026 🫶🏾 We started this t Murphy Family Road Trip 2026 🫶🏾

We started this trip with some time away from work, a direction we wanted to go, a few thousand dollars to get a used trailer, and a dream to unwind from the grind. Everything else we flew by the seat of our pants and it couldn’t have been more freeing. My husband said before we made the purchase: “This is either going to be the worst decision of our lives or we are going to wonder why we didn’t do it sooner”… 

Happy to report it was the ladder 🤎

SWIPE to see all the first half of the trips places we camped, sites we saw, activities we did and the ancestral homelands we were on along the way ➡️

On the ancestral lands of the Clatsop-Nahalem confederated tribes and the Kathlamet peoples.

On the ancestral homelands of the Nehalem, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and of the Grand Ronde peoples.

Eagles, Seagals, puffin, murre and other bird species being incredible atop Haystack Rock

Had so many ABJ’s I lost count. My kids never want to see these again - but we were just trying to save some money and not eat out for lunch 🤷🏾‍♀️

On the ancestral homelands of the Tillamook peoples

On the ancestral homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Nestucca peoples

On the ancestral homelands of the Salmon River, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples

On the ancestral homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples

Sea Lion spotted 🦭

After this stop we stayed one night at South Beach State Park, but we were packed in like sardines and it was my least favorite CG (hints why no photos). But it allowed us to get up early the next day to check out the nearby Aquarium in Newport ➡️

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is located on the ancestral homelands of the Yakina peoples.

On the ancestral homelands of the Siuslaw peoples

A moment of mom time from the trailer

On the ancestral homelands of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples

Breeding season 🤯

On the ancestral homelands of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples

Thank goodness I tightened up the Velcro on my Teva’s before heading down to see th
I gave my 9 year old a screen free digital camera I gave my 9 year old a screen free digital camera on our recent hike, and she had a blast. 4.5 miles, no complaints, fully immersed in nature - vibes 🌳🛘 Steal this idea if you are having trouble keeping your little kids feet moving, or your teenage kids engaged!

You better tell her how awesome her photos are in the comments. I told her y’all would love these!

Enjoy, from Etta and her @campsnapcamera we got from @outwardboundusa THE RESET - 24 hours of no screens day we had back in January!

I hope you find your way outside today 👋🏾
#TeamBronco__Ambassador Summit recap☀️🚗 From Fil #TeamBronco__Ambassador Summit recap☀️🚗 

From Filson Headquarters ➡️ fly fishing ➡️ off-roading ➡️ Bronco® x Filson™ reveal party to showcase the team up with @fordbronco and @filson1897

A whirlwind of fun, deepening community and fresh new vehicles! 🤎

✨Disclaimer: 2025 Bronco® Big Bend® model with optional equipment, available Ford accessories, and extra-cost color option shown. 2024 - 2026 Bronco® models with optional equipment, available Ford accessories, aftermarket equipment, and extra-cost color options shown. 2027 Bronco® Filson™. Preproduction model shown. Actual production vehicle may vary. Available early 2027. Always consult the Owner’s Manual before off-road driving, know your terrain and trail difficulty, and use appropriate safety gear.
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