The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) unites us. From Gateway Community residents to thru-travelers, and everyone in between, our diverse community is connected by our mission to protect the CDT. We are showcasing stories of the people and places that make up our community with our series, Voices of the CDT. Each month, look out for new stories that highlight these diverse experiences, histories, and faces, against the backdrop of the awe-inspiring Continental Divide.
INTERESTED IN SHARING YOUR CONNECTION TO THESE LANDSCAPES? SEND US YOUR STORY AT [email protected] FOR A CHANCE TO BE FEATURED!
Rising Routes
AN ORGANIZATION EMPOWERING EQUITABLE, ACTIONABLE IMPACT THROUGH THE NEXUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND MENTAL WELLNESS
Based in Denver, Colorado, Rising Routes is dedicated to bringing people together at the intersection of environmental stewardship, social justice, and mental health. Their unique approach addresses the overlap between these fields by leveraging scientific research, Colorado’s great outdoors, and relationships with diverse stakeholders, including program leaders of outdoor-centered organizations; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practitioners; governmental agencies; and grassroots organizers. Rising Routes’ goal is to provide Denver’s diverse communities with actionable avenues for civic engagement. The organization encourages conservation of natural resources, bringing people together with a focus on community and equity, and increased empathy in how we face systemic problems. Using the outdoors as a medium, they are fostering comprehensive and holistic approaches to challenging issues that are rarely connected.
Director of Operations, Mary McKean, shared her experience and involvement with Rising Routes with CDTC. Mary has a full-time job as a planning specialist for the National Park Service, and joined Rising Routes as a passion project because she was looking for a meaningful and localized way to advocate for equity and accessibility, both in the outdoors and in the realm of civic engagement. She’s motivated by the shared vision of Rising Routes and the small leadership team that leverages its wide-ranging skill set for equitable, actionable impact. As someone who grew up loving nature, Mary also feels excited about the opportunity to be part of a movement that is bringing people together to confront bigger societal issues while connecting through the outdoors.
Rising Routes began by convening events through Meetup, growing its community to over 950 members. Pre-pandemic events included sunrise hikes in the mountains and coffee meet-ups, often in the form of GratiTuesdays – times to have “mind-body-heart check-ins and meaningful conversation about the positive things in our lives.” Past trips like hikes to Lake Isabelle or Jasper Lake, just below the CDT, offered opportunities to connect with the outdoors along the Divide and fellow members of the Rising Routes community.
Mary explains that the leadership team of Rising Routes has a broad range of outdoor leadership skills and is continuously working to create strong connections to other outdoor, mental health awareness, and social justice groups. Their collaborative approach is designed to utilize the diverse partners’ complementary strengths in the pursuit of shared goals. Mary also emphasizes that Rising Routes is working to promote the idea that “you don’t have to drive into the mountains to benefit from the outdoors and be part of the outdoor community — you can connect with nature wherever you are.” This entails empowering people with actionable and culturally-relevant tools – like practicing spatial awareness – to be present and observant of the natural world in urban environments, and to better understand local environmental policies and issues. They hope these actions will help to break down barriers to what can be seen as an intense and inaccessible outdoor culture in Colorado.
In addition to the co-founders, Jason Swann and Marisa Jarae, the entire core team of Rising Routes has spent time on the CDT and feels that time on the trail is part of what makes them so passionate about protecting the CDT and other outdoor spaces. “When you’re on the trail in a rugged environment, you’re forced to understand what you can control and what you can’t. There are so many things you can’t control, like weather and terrain, but also so many things that you can control, like where you set up camp, how far you choose to hike each day, and most importantly: your mindset. Learning to let go of what you can’t control forces you to embrace a more productive attitude about the things that are within your power,” Mary says. She connects this dichotomy — learning to let go of the uncontrollable and working to harness the controllable — to the fields of social justice and conservation, saying: “This particular lesson from the outdoors is one that we really embrace and want to use to help guide people through at the intersections of mental health and wellness, social justice, and environmental stewardship.” For those who feel overwhelmed by the many contemporary causes they would like to support, Mary offers some advice: ‘“Being in the outdoors can help you think through your identity and identify how you can make change.”
Rising Routes is on a mission to help everyone feel like they belong in the outdoors and on the way, foster a healthy learning environment for all. While in-person events have been put on hold due to the pandemic, the staff of Rising Routes is currently engaged in a long-term strategic planning initiative, and looks forward to resuming re-vamped programs in the future. This will include expanded offerings to support program leaders in better integrating mental health awareness and social justice work into trips in Colorado’s great outdoors.
To learn more about Rising Routes or to support the cause, check out their website or Instagram.
