Kelly Nelson

Hiking with the pack since March 2019, Kelly brings great energy and humor to her groups!

Kelly has had a lifelong love affair with dogs and the outdoors.  An Arizona native, she worked her way through college in North Carolina as a veterinary technician where she was affectionately nicknamed "the dog whisperer" and where she relished the opportunity to learn about, work with and come to respect not only all breeds of dogs but dozens of other animal species as well.
 
After graduating from East Carolina University in 2007 where she studied psychology and neuroscience, Kelly began her career at the University of Utah in the bio-engineering department doing research and development on a neural prosthetic chip for a government funded bionic arm project, and a few years later moved to the University hospital's Moran Eye Center to study the biochemistry and biophysics of age related macular degeneration and other inherited ocular diseases.  After a very fulfilling twelve years at the University of Utah, Kelly is excited to make a career change that will enable her to spend more time with her husband of fifteen years, their six-year-old son, and their autism therapy dog: a five-year-old, eighty-pound labradoodle named Sawyer.
 
In addition to her love of hiking and dogs, Kelly is an avid skier, world traveler, musician, computer nerd and an adventurous spirit with an insatiable appetite for learning and trying anything new.  One of Kelly's life motto's is; "experiences are always better than things" and she is so excited to meet and have new experiences with the Hiking Hounds pack and have a great time doing it!

Kirby

Kimbery Plummer

Kimberly has been working with Hiking Hound since Fall of 2019.  She likes to ski, climb, sing, and enjoys being one of the best "Dog Aunties" in Salt Lake.  A good day for Kimberly involves friends, food, and an adventure!  She enjoys bicycle touring and has circled Europe for three months in the Fall of 2018 and completed a coast to coast USA trip in 2014.  A Jill of All Trades, Kimberly has experience as a Park Ranger, a Cycling Guide, a teacher, a gardner, and a videographer/content specialist for a dot com. She will speak Spanish if you want to raise a bilingual pup!  In her lifetime, Kimberly has owned a Choco Chow named Max, two orange tabbys named Buford and Slippers, and two turtles names TipTup and Mitch M.

Michelle Olandese

Nora Dahlberg

Nora joined Hiking Hounds in August of 2019, and has been hiking strong ever since!

Nora moved to Salt Lake City on a leap of faith after working for a year post-graduation from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine with a double-major in theater design and studio art.  After exploring the theater industry on Broadway, working on shows such as “Frozen,” “The Lion King,” and “Phantom of the Opera,” as well as smaller theaters at home in Washington, DC, Nora realized that living in concrete jungles just wasn’t going to cut it.  When a friend from high school called looking for a new roommate in Utah, Nora landed herself in Sugarhouse!

By far, the hardest part of Nora’s move west was leaving her family’s six-year-old Irish Terrier, Rosie, in DC.  Having grown up with dogs but having no dog here in Utah [yet], Nora is unbelievably excited to be spending time caring for and loving your canine companions!

An avid hiker, skier, and all-around outdoorswoman, Nora grew up spending her summers exploring the woods of Maine.  She’s summited Mount Washington in New Hampshire and hiked numerous lengths of the Appalachian Trail. In addition, Nora has travelled West to hike the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and a number of other National Parks.  She will now tackle the Wasatch the right way--with dogs!

Ronan Connelly

Zoe De Haan

Zoe began adventuring with Hiking Hounds in ______ of ____!

Zoe, twenty-two-years-old, found a passion for both dogs and the outdoors having grown up in Salt Lake City.  She has been working with dogs since she was sixteen at doggie daycares and as a veterinary technician. Zoe's sidekick, a Great Pyrenees named Summit, enjoys tagging along Zoe's hikes in the snow and rivers. Rain, snow, or sunshine you will find Zoe playing outdoors!