Scrolling through her Instagram, you’d never guess Gabbi Thomas grew up surrounded by more concrete than trees. The Portland-based solo camper’s path to the outdoors started with healing her own skin condition. Thomas moved home to Maryland after being laid off from a job in Chicago, and began struggling with a chronic issue that flared up on her face. She looked into what worked for others and experimented with herbal medicine, an experience that shifted her perspective on plants and foraging. After a trip to Portland to visit a friend, she felt called to stay—moving here in 2022 to study herbal medicine at a local apothecary and spending every free moment she could outside, rain or shine. “I think I have a higher tolerance for solitude than most,” Thomas says. “I love being with myself, and I love being outside. Those two things never really seemed odd to me.”

She soon found community through groups like People of Color Outdoors (POCO) and Black Futures Farm. Today, she shares her Pacific Northwest adventures with over 100,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok combined—both with the appropriate handle @gabtheforestelf. There, she covers everything from solo camping to safety tips to a life-changing climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. And while winter is a season many reserve for rest and hibernation, Thomas is pushing full steam (or snow) ahead with cold-weather camping trip. “I definitely try to honor seasonal changes of slowing down,” she says. “But as I’ve gotten deeper into this relationship [with nature], I also don’t want to just go inside and shut myself away from these changes and these sensations.”

Favorite place in town to clear your mind? Portland Japanese Garden. It’s great year-round.

Favorite part about winter? Snow and stillness.

Go-to Portland restaurants to take out-of-towners? Sushi Mazi and Laurelhurst Market.

Food you hate that everyone seems to love? Oysters. I’ve tried.

A retail store that’s Portland’s best-kept secret? Rerun.

Eternal playlist song? “Hyperballad” by Björk.

Favorite Oregon road trip? Three Sisters Wilderness—you see so many different mountain peaks.

Favorite book? Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Local winter dish you love? Pot roast with mulled wine.

Go-to item you can’t camp without? Dark chocolate.

Favorite herb? California poppy—it’s a very slight sedative. I use it a lot if I feel anxious.

Best advice you’ve received? What we think, we become.

Worst advice you’ve received? Be practical.

Scariest career moment? Footsteps by my tent at night when solo camping.

What’s your mantra? Mind over matter.

Who’s your hero? Sophia Danenberg, the first Black woman to summit Mount Everest.

The best gift you’ve received? My friend Joshua Hood gifting me a bow.

What excites you the most about the future of Portland? As I get deeper into my outdoor career, there’s a lot of support [in Portland] surrounding that. And there’s lot of really cool individuals in that industry pushing the envelope.

Three words that describe Portland? Quirky. Nature. Coffee.

Three words that describe you? Forest elf. Capricorn.