#accessable hiking

[pottergirl6]

Some photos from my Hocking Hills, OH trip from last summer. This was always one of my favorite places growing up, so it was amazing to experience it as an adult. It had some very accessible trails for my wheelchair!

[violent138]

I love the idea that Bruce takes the Batfam on hikes outside of Gotham, and puts up with the arguing over who goes in what car, packs everyone's favourite snacks, will race with the other car if enough passengers in his egg him on. Bruce generally stays ridicuously quiet while the kids jabber enough to alert everything living in the woods near them but will weigh in once the kids debate who's strong enough to wrestle a bear, chime in on unsolved hiker cases, build fires, and carry anyone that gets tired, all while sneaking awful pictures of them.

[aiscapades]

every month it seems i acquire a new injury. injured neck, sprained wrist, now a sprained ankle. like what the fuck is going on with me. i'm going to tourniquet leander like a water balloon and chug the luck right out of him

[abirddogmoment]

happy Sunday from the swamp 💚

[rebeccathenaturalist]

It's Disability Book Week, and I wanted to bring to your attention to one of my favorite trail guides, The Disabled Hiker's Guide to Western Washington and Oregon! While I am not currently disabled, I likely will be as I age, and most of us will end up disabled at some point in our lives whether due to health, age, or circumstance. Also, as a tour guide taking people out onto trails, it's really important for me to remember that not everyone has the same physical capabilities that I take for granted, so I need to take everyone's abilities and limitations into account when planning a tour.

This, then, is an excellent resource, whether you're currently disabled or not. Syren Nagakyrie has written a thorough guide to several dozen trails throughout western Washington and Oregon. Each entry has an exceptionally detailed description of what to expect along the way, as well as important information like whether there's cell phone reception, are dogs allowed, what the trail surface is like, etc. There's also a spoon rating, which gives disabled folks a heads-up as to what challenges may face someone using mobility aids, dealing with chronic illness, etc. And it's a great ways for those of us who are not disabled to understand that what may be an "easy" trail for us isn't necessarily going to be "easy" for many disabled people.

You can get the book directly from the author at https://www.disabledhikers.com/2020/03/19/the-disabled-hikers-guidebook or pick it up from your local indie bookstore!

[goldkirk]

every day i wake up and wish so badly i lived in a country with the right to roam

[alex51324]

Trip Report, part Deux!

Part 1 covered the cabin and hiking along the river on the first day. On the second day, I went into the Forest Cathedral of Cook Forest State Park, which is a section of old-growth forest with a lot of trails.

One of the neat things about the geology of this area is that the rocks tend to split along straight lines, so sometimes it takes a minute to tell whether you're looking at a house-sized boulder or the remains of something human-built out of the local stone.

Like this.

Or this:

There's a nice picnic area on the edge of the Forest Cathedral area, where several of the trails begin/end:

It features this bridge, which has been closed for repairs since the first time I visited, in 2017, but has now reopened:

This is very good news because the last time I was here, in fall of 2022, I had a hell of a time getting Sophie across this creek. There are spots where you can wade or rock-hop across fairly easily, but she Did Not Want To.

Here's a Sophie:

She likes to go for walks!

Here is a tree that also likes to go for walks:

Trees get creepy-crawly leggies like this when they sprout out of a fallen "nurse log," which provides nutrients to the seedling. The seedling's roots grow down along the sides of the log, and if it's already pretty big by the time the nurse log decays, it stays like that.

Close-up of leggies:

Another neat thing they have at Cook Forest is the paved trail, which is a short trail designed to be accessible to people with mobility impairments. It does a really good job of giving the sense of being properly in the woods, and they recently upgraded it with accessibility features for visual impairments. They have signs, in both print and braille, discussing points of interest that can be appreciated without sight:

And this cable that can be used as a guideline. The red square signals the non-sighed user that the next post has an informational sign.

And a different shape that signals that there's a bench opposite:

Also there are two trees with a love that transcends species:

Here they are again:

This guy is taking a big steppy:

[kkoct-ik]

not posting in 48 hours because i got stuck at the top of a mountain and had to spend the night in a shack with 12 other people

[pussyandpetrichor]

So, I hit post limit last night. Which is honestly embarrassing

[lilowoof]

ngl gamers, I think I'm gonna inevitably lose to the hormones and depression in the near future XD

Can't bring myself to be active cause I'm using a lot of energy to not vent post all the time. But fuck it, into the tags I go!

[gean-grey-blog]

We desperately need more accessible outdoor spaces. I was an infant the first time I went camping. March of last year I was doing 5 mile morning trail runs. Then I got sick enough I ended up a part time wheelchair user.

A little under a year after I had to give up even hiking, I've started actually getting outside again because my fam and I figured out adaptive boating. But every boat launch, every parking lot, is still a question of how accessible it is and how good a day I'm having.

People deserve to access the outdoors on wheels.

People deserve to experience natural wonders no matter their disability status, or health or mobility situation.

Especially given how often I've heard the advice "have you tried going outside?"

[thedickcavettshow]

Genuine question… how does anyone manage to get top surgery? Like how do you afford it first of all, and how do you have the time to get it and recover from it?

[sea-critter]

clouds + trees

[newtsnaturethings]

I cannot wait to go hiking and get more mountain peak pics for more art refs and practice.

the roads are still a bit too iffy

[morhath]

oogh I have to start packing. for my trip.

[coldcanyon]

putting print on hold tbh photography+collage are my newest pals i wanna spend some time w them for a while