Turn your pain into power. Part inspirational memoir, part practical guide, Hiking Your Feelings offers a toolkit to unpack your “trauma pack” and step into the best version of yourself.

Join wellness advocate and wilderness guide Sydney Williams for a book signing and discussion of her new book, Hiking Your Feeling: Blazing a Trail to Self-Love, as well as a guided walk through the park. The book will be available for purchase at the MTRP gift shop.

The hiking portion will be optional and will be along the Father Junipero Serra Trail, a flat and accessible trail for all abilities.

About the Author:

Sydney Williams is the founder of Hiking My Feelings, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the healing power of nature. She is an author and a certified Wilderness First Responder, an instructor at the Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park, an instructor at the Field Institute at Sequoia National Park, and a founding member of the Outdoorist Oath. Through it all, she centers empathetic storytelling and allows her curiosity and enthusiasm to lead the way.

This event is organized by Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the park. Your ticket helps the MTRP Foundation preserve and protect the park we love.

SXSW weekend means getting outside, y’all. Gossamer Gear, Hiking My Feelings, and The Trail Conservancy have all teamed up to host a wonderful Sunday morning at Festival Beach. You’ll be able to meet fellow trail enthusiasts, pick up trash, and enjoy Texas spring all before making it to your next SX event. If you’ve been meaning to get outside in ATX, then you won’t want to miss this.  

During the event, you’ll have the opportunity to chat with Sydney Williams, founder of Hiking My Feelings. This organization is on a mission to improve community health by creating opportunities for people to experience the healing power of nature. Sydney will be speaking at SXSW about her newest book, Hiking Your Feelings, on March 9th, and she hopes to do even more for the ATX community by leaving it better than she found it. To learn more about her events, you can visit her SXSW event page here: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2024/events/PP134183

Once you’ve picked up all of your trash, you might win some prizes from Gossamer Gear. 

Gossamer Gear is located in Austin, Texas, and focuses on creating functional, lightweight hiking and backpacking gear. If you come back with the most trash or the weirdest piece of trash, you could be the recipient of a new daypack. With smaller raffle prizes to offer, you’ll want to stick around until the very end. 

Participants will meet on the Bulter Trail at Festival Beach (Google Pin Location). Parking will be available at the Estacionamiento Edward Rendon Parking lot and street parking along Chicon Street. Please come prepared in comfortable clothing to hike and pick up trash. TTC will provide trash grabbers, gloves, and bags. You will only need to bring a filled water bottle and yourself. 

Join us for a mindful morning.

Join Sydney Williams, author of Hiking My Feelings: Stepping into the Healing Power of Nature and put the lessons she learned on the trail into practical application with a moderate hike to two summits in Mission Trails Regional Park: North and South Fortuna. After we get our summit selfies, Sydney will guide you through some of the prompts for reflection from the book, then we will return to our starting point. Books available for purchase and signing.

HIKE INFORMATION: Fortuna Mountain Trail - 6.2 miles, 1,348 feet elevation gain

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE TRAILHEAD

Along with Balboa Park and Mission Bay Park, Mission Trails Regional Park is one of the premier parks for outdoor recreation in San Diego County. This loop trail tackles both North Fortuna and South Fortuna peaks and with the elevation gain (and loss, too) it is a great workout for anyone wanting a bit of their nature fix in the city.

Accessible year round you can find the beginning of the trail located at the end of Clairemont Mesa Blvd. The trail can be busy, especially on weekends, so arrive early to have a better chance at finding available parking.

There are great views of the city and out to the Pacific throughout the hike, and it is a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle - if only for a few hours.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ELEVATION PROFILE + MAP

Full Hike Itinerary

• 7:45 am: Meet at Trailhead parking lot to stretch

• 8:00 am: Hit the trail, we're starting at 8am to beat the heat!

• FIRST GROUP STOPPING POINT: meditation

• SUMMIT TIME: We'll bust out our trail journals and do a self-reflection exercise while we have our snacks.

What to Bring + Wear

• Plenty of water (I carry at least 2L, and if you use a water bladder, we recommend also bringing a water bottle that you can mix electrolyte powder into)

• Snacks

• Trail journal (we can provide one with a donation of $10 or more)

• Pen

• Sunscreen + Sun protection (hat, sun hoodie or long sleeve shirt, sunglasses, a cooling towel to wet and wear around your neck, etc)

• Comfortable shoes (if you don't have hiking shoes yet, we recommend Salomon - shop here)

• Dress , as it will be in the high 60's in the morning and warm up to high 80's-mid 90's by mid-day

What about the weather?

If we don't get to the trailhead, we can't hike. That said, we will not hike in dangerous weather conditions. We will meet at the trailhead and if the weather isn't suitable for hiking, we'll go to breakfast!

EVENT PARTNER: Gnarly Nutrition

Our partners at Gnarly Nutrition are sharing some of their Electrolyte powder with us for this event so we can stay hydrated before, during, and after the hike! Did you know their electrolyte powder just topped the charts? That's right, Outside Magazine tested 23 different electrolyte drinks and Gnarly Nutrition won! When you fall in love with it on our hike, you can shop here and use code HIKINGMYFEELINGS to save 15% on your purchase!

EVENT PARTNER: LactiGo

Be in Nature, Without Soreness

At Hiking My Feelings, we are on a mission to improve community health by creating opportunities for people to experience the healing power of nature. Getting out in nature helps people reconnect with themselves, and make lasting improvements to mental, physical, and spiritual health.

With LactiGo, we want to help people get out more by taking muscle soreness and pain out of your journeys into nature. By reducing the soreness and burn in your muscles while hiking, all you have to do is focus on moving at the speed of your breath. LactiGo helps reduce the discomfort in your muscles, meaning you can hike more without the pain.

Don't let muscle pain slow you down from achieving your goals; get out there and enjoy nature!

"Last year I hiked up Mt Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48, and experienced zero muscle pain or burn!" - Sydney Williams, LactiGo athlete

Questions? Email hello@hikingmyfeelings.org

We are headed to Morrison, Colorado to see Stick Figure at Red Rocks on June 5th, so let's hike it out and get ready for the show!

Whether this is your first time or your 100th time, join us for the ultimate Red Rocks experience with the Hiking My Feelings crew and Stick Figure Family. You can participate in as much or as little of the activities if you want - here's what we'll be up to:

• 5:00am - Sunrise on the Rocks: We'll park in the Upper South Lot at 5:00 am and meet at the ramp past the porta potties. Bring your coffee, water, tea, a camera, and all the good vibes! We'll watch the sun come up over the city of Denver, marvel at the fitness enthusiasts who master human tricks on the stairs and seats, and visualize how incredible it will be to spend another night under the stars with our Stick Figure Family.

• 7:00am - Hike Dakota Ridge + Dinosaur Ridge: No trip to Colorado is complete without a hike, and we've picked the perfect one! When you're sitting in the Amphitheatre, Dakota Ridge is the ridgeline you can see behind the stage. After sunrise, we'll head back to our cars and carpool over to the Dakota Ridge Trail Head. This hike includes Dinosaur Ridge, which is the #1 site in the WORLD for dinosaur tracks! We have some epic photo spots picked out for this adventure, so tuck a Stick Figure flag in your bag and let's do it!

• Grab some food: Before we head back to Red Rocks to start our concert experience - we'll grab some grub in Morrison.

HIKE INFO - Dakota Ridge Trail + Dinosaur Ridge

• 5.5 miles

• 1,099 feet elevation gain

• Rated MODERATE on AllTrails - please review the link to get familiar with the conditions

• Dog-friendly

Before you arrive, please fill out the waiver.

If you're interested in joining this hike and want to coordinate carpooling, talk about the trail, and get to know your fellow hikers, be sure to join our private social network. We will update with specific meeting points and further details as we get closer and can keep an eye on the weather and other activities related to this show.

This is where Hiking My Feelings started!

Join Sydney Williams, author of Hiking My Feelings: Stepping into the Healing Power of Nature and put the lessons she learned on the trail into practical application with a short hike to the summit of Cushi-Pi (aka Stonewall Peak). After we get our summit selfies, Sydney will guide you through some of the prompts for reflection from the book, then we will return to our starting point. Books available for purchase and signing.

HIKE INFORMATION: Cushi-Pi aka Stonewall Peak - 3.9 miles, 890 feet elevation gain

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE TRAILHEAD (Parking is $10 at Paso Picacho Campground)

Want to see some of the best that Cuyamaca Rancho State Park has to offer? Hike up Cushi-Pi aka Stonewall Peak and enjoy the view of the surrounding park and nearby Lake Cuyamaca. The hike up the east side is a popular and relatively easy trail. The elevation gain is about 1,000 feet, but doesn't seem like it with lots of switchbacks surrounded by Cuyamaca's characteristic plant and rock scenery and ever-better views. When you reach the top, climb the stairs and behold the breathtaking 360 degree view. When you get your fill, you can go back down the east side, or head down the "back" side, which heads northwest and circles back around. When there's snow, the "back" side is where it lasts the longest, and you can enjoy an easy, meandering descent.

This excursion includes gentle switchbacks through canopies of black oaks, sycamores, and other coniferous trees. Great views of Anza Borrego, the Laguna Mountains, (on clear days) the Salton Sea, and 30+ miles to Palomar Mountains are the reward for all who make the ascent.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ELEVATION PROFILE + MAP

FULL HIKE ITINERARY

• 8:00am: Meet at Trailhead parking lot to stretch

• 8:15am: Hit the trail!

• FIRST GROUP STOPPING POINT: meditation

• SUMMIT TIME: We'll bust out our trail journals and do a self-reflection exercise while we have our snacks.

WHAT TO BRING + WEAR

• Plenty of water (I carry at least 2L)

• Snacks

• Trail journal (we can provide one with a donation of $10 or more)

• Pen

• Sunscreen + Sun protection (hat, long sleeves, sunglasses)

• Comfortable shoes (if you don't have hiking shoes yet, we recommend Salomon - shop here)

• Dress in layers, as it will can be around high 40's in the morning and warm up to 70-80 degrees by mid-day

What about the weather?

If we don't get to the trailhead, we can't hike. That said, we will not hike in dangerous weather conditions. We will plan to meet at the trailhead and if the weather is gross, we'll go to breakfast!

EVENT SPONSOR: LactiGo

Be in Nature, Without Soreness

At Hiking My Feelings, we are on a mission to improve community health by creating opportunities for people to experience the healing power of nature. Getting out in nature helps people reconnect with themselves, and make lasting improvements to mental, physical, and spiritual health.

With LactiGo, we want to help people get out more by taking muscle soreness and pain out of your journeys into nature. By reducing the soreness and burn in your muscles while hiking, all you have to do is focus on moving at the speed of your breath. LactiGo helps reduce the discomfort in your muscles, meaning you can hike more without the pain.

Don't let muscle pain slow you down from achieving your goals; get out there and enjoy nature!

"Last year I hiked up Mt Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48, and experienced zero muscle pain or burn!" - Sydney Williams, LactiGo athlete

Questions? Send us a note!