Cordova, Alaska's Orca Lodge, at the height of the rainiest July on record, was the perfect setting for (what turned out to be an all-women's) writing+adventure retreat with the indomitable Cheryl Strayed. We hiked, we shucked, we laughed, we listened, we wrote. Mostly, we reconnected with our authentic selves in a gorgeous and inspiring location, surrounded by brand-new, forever friends.