When A Saunter Starts to Taunt Her: Exploring the Outdoors with Disabilities

This first-person creative nonfiction piece examines engaging with the outdoors, primarily through walking and hiking, while struggling with diagnoses of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos (hEDS) and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). The author also considers how growing up with a parent whose disabilities made it more difficult to enjoy hikes impacted her own perception of the ableism inherent in the design, architecture, and infrastructure of many state and local parks. The author discusses the importance and struggle of teaching environmental literature through the lens of Disability Studies and advocates both for visibility as well as concrete changes to make hiking and sauntering in the outdoors more accessible for all