About the hike
The Wilderness Heals Pledge Hike was founded in 1996 by volunteers and staff at the Elizabeth Stone House (ESH) to raise awareness about the issues of mental health, domestic violence and other forms of trauma impacting women. The Hike also offers individuals and organizations innovative means to express their support for ESH and to supplement the resources available to women and families participating in Elizabeth Stone House programming.
The drama, solidity, and serenity of the natural world can provide a healing environment for mental and emotional ills – including the traumatic effects of violence and fear that are part of many women’s lives. A 2007 study performed by the British mental health charity Mind calls for ecotherapy to be recognized as a clinically-valid frontline treatment for mental health problems. Ecotherapy involves getting outdoors and becoming active in a ‘green’ environment as a way of boosting mental well being. Meeting the physical and emotional challenge of a wilderness hike can also be extraordinarily empowering for women, permanently altering their perception of the world and themselves.
The three-day Wilderness Heals Hike covers several parts of New Hampshire's White Mountains. Routes offer a range of trails accessible to women with varying levels of experience including a backcountry camping option. Hikers will spend three days hiking and two nights at AMC huts, which provide beds, blankets, dinner and breakfast. The backcountry camping option affords hikers the opportunity to experience the wilderness in a supportive environment. Participants on this leg pitch tents and cook their own food. Round-trip transportation between Boston and the trailheads is provided.
Any woman who wants to meet the physical, emotional, and fundraising challenge of this Hike is welcome to participate. This includes current and former ESH residents, staff and board members, mental health activists, athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, business women, recovering couch potatoes – anybody. By coming together as a group of women, using their bodies, strength and vitality to gather resources to benefit the Elizabeth Stone House, they will all experience the empowerment; self-help, mutual support and healing that are at the core of the Elizabeth Stone House’s very effective programs.
