Event Interests: Camping, Backpacking, Hiking, Sea Kayaking and International Travel 

Foz (as he is known to his friends) joined the AOC in Spring 2003 looking for a new group of friends to enjoy the outdoors with. Several months later, he co-lead his first event, pioneer camping at Cloudland Canyon. Since that time, he tends to lead overnight events (ie, primitive/pioneer camping, canoe camping, backpacking and international travel...anything with water, a beach, a mountain or a campfire.
Foz has also several officer positions within the AOC including Director of Marketing, Vice President and President in 2006 and 2007 and currently in 2010. 

Foz was born in Brunswick, GA and grew-up in Marietta, GA. He first developed his love for the outdoors on the barrier islands along the coast of southeast Georgia on St Simons, Jekyll, and Cumberland Islands. When not on an AOC event, Foz loves music and art festivals, traveling the U.S. and World for work and play, spending time in ViHi/Lil Five/Decatur and watching Georgia Bulldog football.

Over the next several years, Foz plans to backpack the Hawaiian Islands, horsepack the backcountry of the Yellowstone National Park, backpack parts of Utah and visit Belize, Costa Rica and Canada.

Follow Foz on Twitter: @AOCprez

Scott stumbled across the AOC in the summer of 2008, and found a whole new group of wonderful people and an endless resource of new and fun things to do. He wasted no time in getting involved and since then, his love for the outdoors quickly became a passion on the border of obsession.

When not in the wilderness, Scott can often be found indulging in his 2nd passion - engineering - as he tends to tinker with things endlessly. He is always looking for his next camping gadget... whether it's something purchased, dug out of the garbage and fixed up or home made.

Angela's love of the outdoors began at an early age.  She would often escape the house to venture outside and explore.  She was more interested in watching butterflies, drawing sketches of flowers, and climbing trees than playing indoors.  She absolutely despised wearing shoes and would often hike barefoot through the nearby woods.  The feel of the ground beneath her feet and the openness of the sky above created a lifelong passion for the outdoors.

Now, wherever work requires her to travel, Angela always packs her hiking boots.  You never know when a good adventure is just around the corner!  Angela has traveled to every state in the United States except one, Vermont, which she hopes to cover soon.  She has traveled to Peru where she hiked the Incan Trail, explored Machu Picchu, Lima, Cusco, and several interesting villages and sites.

Angela enjoys hiking, backpacking, camping, whitewater rafting, kayaking, exploring, photography, live music, and generally anything outdoors.  She hopes to help others gain an appreciation for the outdoors, conservation efforts, and wildlife.

After moving to Atlanta via Charlotte in late 1997 Brian traveled extensively for both work and pleasure and watched as his outdoor friends surrendered their backpacks, mountain bikes, and tents for suburbia, baby strollers and diaper bags. He joined the AOC in July 2009 to reconnect with the outdoors and find others with similar interests.

Brian has most recently picked up kayaking and can be seen many evenings on the Chattahoochee between his Roswell neighborhood and the Morgan Falls dam. Other than that he enjoys kayaking trips, backpacking adventures, sporting events, the occasional cave, and travel!

Garret grew up on the gulf coast beaches of Florida and loves anything involving the water. He joined the AOC in 2008 to get some exposure to land locked adventures and has gotten hooked on hiking, camping, and backpacking. Garret loves any event that involves new areas to explore and good company.

Geri joined the AOC in March of 2008 in hopes of finding new trails, and it resulted in her exploring the outdoors more than ever before. Within a few months, she was leading her first kayaking and camping event with the club.  The AOC has been a gateway to great friendships, new adventures, and personal challenges. 

Her favorite place is anywhere in the mountains.  She enjoys day hikes and backpacking with scenic views, and also has a lot of fun when kayaking, rafting, skydiving and hang gliding.  Her favorite activity is a night around a campfire under the stars, followed by sleeping in a tent - whether it was carried in on a pack or driven in with all the little luxuries of car camping.   Her most exciting AOC moments have involved jumping out of a perfectly good airplane and a bear and wild turkey sighting during a memorable trip to the Cohutta wilderness. 

Outside of the AOC, Geri works as a systems analyst and enjoys running, collecting music, taking photographs, and spending time with her friends and her pup.

Event Interests: Hiking, Camping, Caving and Kayaking

Hilke has been a member since April 2006.  Having thoroughly enjoyed the varied activities, exciting travels & meeting of so many great people through the AOC, she decided it was due time to become a trip leader herself at the beginning of 2008.  The excitement of trying something new, such as caving (including some swimming and climbing underground), rock climbing, and backpacking for 4 days on the Inca Trail, has her seriously hooked on the club and wanting for many more adventures. Hilke credits the AOC with providing her the avenues to try activities she would never have even thought of on her own.

She is originally from Germany, land of the outdoors, and moved to Atlanta after a 10-year detour to Florida (which is the land of sitting inside with the A/C cranked up). She loves the mountains and the seasons and is looking forward to planning some new and exciting upcoming trips.

Travel has always played a big part in her life, some of the highlights include horseback riding from Inn to Inn with a compass, a saddlebag and a friend through such far away places as Ireland, France and Ecuador. She's snorkled off the shores of a number of Caribbean Islands and skiied (the greens and blues) in Colorado, Utah and the Northeast.

Jacquie's looking forward to leading intrepid AOCer's on adventures to the more remote locations or adventurous trips, preferring the diversity and challenge of a variety of activities.

Originally from backwoods Western Pennsylvania, Jay made it to the Atlanta Metro in 2004 after spending time in Austin and NYC. He's always been comfortable in the woods since he practically grew surrounded by them. Unfortunately, he got pulled into the daily grind after college and found himself living to work instead of working to live. That changed a few years ago and he reclaimed his love for the outdoors when he found the AOC in the Spring of 2008. He's a Software Engineer by day, but you wouldn't be able to tell b/c he doesn't talk computers unless asked....then he'll get all kinds of geeky on you.

Jay uses hockey, racquetball, and softball as his adreline outlets during the week but likes to tone it down on the weekends. With the AOC you'll mostly find him leading flexible planned, low-key to medium paced events where you can get some exercise. But you will know on his events you always get to enjoy the serenity of the outdoors and a good conversation with old or new friends. On camping and backpacking trips, you WILL be forced to listen to him jam a few tunes on the guitar and sing around the campfire... Don't worry though, he's not too bad and he does take requests!!

Event Interests: Canoeing, Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Whitewater Rafting, Backpacking, Hiking, Mountain Biking, and International Travel

John is part labrador; he smiles a lot and can't resist the urge to jump in the water. Expect lots of water hikes and anything that gets the adrenaline pumping. He attempts to make his trips motorcycle-friendly so AOC members can ride to the event when possible.

John worked in the dot-com industry in New York City, only to realize that he wanted to be a goody-two-shoes and help people. He moved to Americus, GA to work for Habitat for Humanity. In between his for-profit life in New York and his non-profit life in Georgia, he took a six month, solo motorcycle journey from New Jersey to Panama and back. He learned enough language skills to speak broken Spanish and enough mechanical skills to break his motorcycle.

In 2006, he finally made his way back to a large city, Atlanta. He joined the AOC in 2008 and said, "These are my people." He grew impressed with the caliber of trip leaders, and he felt honored to become a part of this group.

Kevin Jessop, originally from the Northeast, moved to Atlanta in 2001 and took up several hobbies.  It wasn't until 2007 that he joined the Atlanta Outdoor Club.  He has been on a variety of trips but particularly enjoys SCUBA diving, Whitewater Rafting, Kayaking, Camping, Caving, Climbing and Hiking.  Kevin is the official CPR/First Aid instructor for the AOC.

Kristi grew up with somewhat nomadic parents moving around the United States, Japan, Germany, and has lived in Georgia her entire adult life. She has been active with the Atlanta Outdoor Club since fall of 2005 ever since her former backpacking group became inactive. Besides leading backpacking trips here in the southeast, she wants to explore more western states, including returning to Alaska, remote Patagonian areas such as Torres del Paine and exotic Asian back roads. She likes to study nature and create what she hopes to be unique photographic images.

Kristi's favorite time of a backpacking weekend is when all the tasks are done and everyone is sitting around the campfire conversing at dinner time - before or after the golden light of course.

Laura loves to travel, especially to National Parks, and has backpacked, hiked, kayaked, and camped in parks across the country including Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Guadalupe Mountains, Bryce, Arches, Zion, Mammoth Cave, Wind Cave, Carlsbad Caverns, Glacier Bay, Everglades, Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and the Smokies.

She discovered the AOC in February 2010 after an online search for a local trail brought her to the site, and she signed up for the first event that didn't have a waiting list that same night. Laura plans to lead many backpacking and hiking events for the club with her husband, Scott.

She joined the Atlanta Outdoor Club in 2008 and thoroughly enjoyed many trips. After appreciating other trip leaders for sharing their knowledge with her, she herself decided to become a volunteer in 2010. She mainly plans to lead trips that allow dogs since her little dog Sarah loves meeting others, hiking, camping and swimming as much as she does.

Event Interests: Backpacking, Mountain/Road Biking, Running, Kayaking, Canoeing, Horses, Whitewater Rafting, Hiking, Orienteering, Snowboarding, Photography, International Travel, Writing, and Driving Fast!

A chameleon by nature, Malisse likes to jump into every outdoor adventure and sport as if she were an expert. Her love for both came from her adventurous Colombian and Austrian parents at a very early age. Traveling, sports and outdoor adventures have been apart of her life since she was three years old. Not many people can say that they have traveled throughout four continents by age of 20. She has been very fortunate for her culturally diverse family which loves to travel!

Whether it is backpacking the Grand Tetons, the Adirondack Mountains or the Swiss Alps for six days, Malisse enjoys challenging events that push her to new levels. She is allergic to boredom; therefore she keeps her blood pumping with exhilarating trips and the love for the outdoors.

Originally from New York, Malisse moved down to Georgia with her family at an early age. She is better known as a Southern Yankee, filled with both a New York mentality and Southern hospitality. She recently lived in Chicago for a fun 2- 1/2 year work adventure. Her fondness for her family and the mountainous Georgia region led her back home to the South!

Favorite quotes:
"Great things happen when men and mountains meet"
"Do not just exist, live"

Marty's appreciation for the outdoors springs from his Boy Scout days on Long Island, in the suburbs of New York City.  Growing up surrounded by water, he feels most at home in or on the water and especially enjoys the thrill of whitewater.  Marty's summertime hikes and events almost always include getting wet.

After a decade in the Ozarks and some time in Florida and Chicago, Marty got hooked on hiking after moving to Atlanta in 2000.  Marty and Lynn McIntyre met each other on a Conasauga River hike in May 2000 and have been leading outdoor group events together ever since.  As hike leaders, they like to set a moderate-to-leisurely pace and take time to enjoy their fellow hikers and their surroundings.  The 'No Bitching Rule' is their creation.

"Life is a journey, take the scenic route"

Ralph is a native of Michigan, where he enjoyed camping, canoeing, and hiking as a youth.  He lived in Austin, Texas for 17 years before moving to Georgia in 1996.  After sending his youngest child off to college he re-discovered his love for the outdoors, joining the AOC in November 2007.  Since then he's been on the trail almost every weekend, usually joined by his wife Ann who he met on the trail.

Rhett was born in Pensacola, FL where he was raised on lots of beach activities (e.g. sailing, SCUBA, body surfing). After a couple of degrees and short lived careers he moved to ATL in 1985.  He then developed strong interest in whitewater kayaking, canoe camping and hiking. Over the years, trips have included kayaking The Grand Canyon, Middle Fork of Salmon River, Costa Rica, numerous canoe camping trips in Georgia and Florida, snow skiing out west and a ski trip to Chile. 

He joined AOC in 2008 for a variety of reasons including the wide variety of events, people, and abundant opportunities to go adventuring. When leading hiking trips average rate is 1.5 to 2 mph; tending to go slower speed when spectacular variety abounds.  When hiking alone on beautiful scenic trails with waterfalls, birds and wide variety of flora his tendency is to walk 100 feet stop, soak it in, look at the infinite variety, and later realize it took 3 hours to go those 2 miles! "

"For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawn to the outdoors. My early experiences include hiking, backpacking, caving and canoeing in the great Ozark Mountains back in my home state of Arkansas. In my younger days I spent many summers at a youth camp working as a counselor and recreation director. These early outdoor experiences formed the foundation of my life. 

Since joining the AOC in July of 2008, I have had a blast making new friends and hiking in a safe and friendly environment. I have quickly learned my way around many of the trails in north Georgia and just recently completed section hiking the Appalachian Trail through the state.  In July of ’09, I hope to satisfy a lifelong fascination with mountaineering with a climb of Mt. Rainier.
I enjoy leading hikes of all levels and hope to do backpacking and canoe/kayak events as well.  I’m especially interested in introducing new members to our great north Georgia outdoors."

Sharath always enjoyed being outdoors. Growing up in India, he was excited to visit the villages to enjoy the greenery and tranquility. After moving to US in 2000, he really liked the easy accessibility of the forests and the mountains. He hiked, biked and camped in multiple state and national parks and forests.

He likes various outdoor activities like hiking, camping, road and mountain biking, backpacking, swimming in natural waters, canoeing, trail building/maintenance and always ready to try something new. Along with providing excitement and peacefulness at the same time, for him the outdoor activities provide a quick and fun way to learn and reinforce various characteristics needed for a good life -- planning, setting a proper pace, persistence, curiosity to explore new things, facing new challenges, going the extra mile when it is hard, helping others, asking for help, making friends, enjoying the present moment, stopping to appreciate the beauty and just enjoying the journey.

He joined AOC within a few months of moving to Atlanta in 2009. He enjoys the camaraderie of the group and the tremendous variety of events.

Besides hiking and camping, Stefan enjoys a number of other outdoors activities including canoeing, kayaking and volunteering.

In fact, his first real job was with Pickett's Mill State Park where he worked closely with nature and visitors as a park ranger. It is there that he polished his skills as trip leader taking large groups on guided hikes.

While he enjoys the solitude of nature he prefers the company of friends, which is why he looks forward to many years with the AOC. You can expect Steven to provide easy to moderate hikes giving plenty of time for pictures and the occasional smelling of flowers.