On October 4 th Chelsea Owens and I hosted our first day hike as the new Eastern Sierra Chapter of Pass to Pass. We are based in Bishop, California and picked the trail around Convict Lake just outside of Mammoth Lakes, CA as our inaugural walk. Chelsea is a Physical Therapist at Northern Inyo Hospital in Bishop and we met when I began the LSVT Big program offered there this past summer.
During the month long Big program I told Chelsea about Pass to Pass and how I had talked with them 3 years earlier about local hikes. At that time, I was asked if I had any interest in starting a local chapter here but that seemed daunting and out of reach by myself.
Chelsea checked out the Pass to Pass website and at the end of our month she said she was interested in doing more for the community and asked if I would join her in opening this new chapter.
After a few discussions and a couple phone call with the folks at Pass to Pass we were off and running. With less than two weeks’ notice we scheduled the first day and reached out to our contacts in the local Parkinson’s community. We posted a few flyers in both towns and hoped for the best.
Between Chelsea’s clients, my PWR! Moves classmates, support hikers, colleagues, friends and family we were surprised to see a huge turnout for the event; 19 adults, 1 child and 3 dogs. There were 8 of us in the group with Parkinson’s.
The trail around the lake is fairly gentle, has stunning views and the fall colors were an added bonus. It was a beautiful day and we all made the 2.5 mile lap around the lake. Spirits were high as we strolled along making new friends and sharing stories. All in all, I’d call it a very successful day.
Looking forward to the next one!
Chris Keith
