by Karen Viola. I hike for mental health. I enjoy doing it with others, but it is medicinal for me when I bring just my self along. With paper and a pen. This ‘treatment’ began years ago in a small wooded park near my workplace at the time, as a self-prescribed way to revive my ‘here and now’, which was being squeezed lifeless by the grip of where I’d been and where I was going. These little doses of solo time helped me notice for the sake of noticing. My sketchbooks filled with twisted roots, vines, and weathered stumps still alive with decay. Sentinel trees interacted and posed in a magical theater of the round. How had I missed all this before? I became enamoured with the very concept of a blazed trail, a scrolling menu of sensory delights and in-season specials… it made me hungry for more.

by Brayden Donnelly. Today, on October 1st, 2017, my 23rd birthday, I choose success. Success in finding happiness through friends and family. Success in advocating for the continued conversation surrounding mental health stigmas. Success in capturing the beauty of, and protecting the importance of, our shared trails and outdoor spaces. In a relatively short period of time I was both unfortunate and fortunate enough to have experienced the highs, lows, and confusion of anxiety disorder and depression. I #hikeOctober because I finally understand that the only way to change the world is to put one foot in front of the other.