Hearing the excitement of her peers, Paige was reinvigorated. While maybe not thrilled that she was still quite far from the parking lot, she was not going to miss out on what sounded like a pretty impressive view. We made our way up the final stretch of uphill terrain to meet the rest of the group who were spread out across the lookout, taking in the view of their home down below.

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“Have you ever seen a Nature Valley commercial?” Fatou, a ten-year-old hiker from Boys and Girls Club Dorchester asked me on our most recent adventure in the Blue Hills Reservation. I nodded, evoking an excited response, “Well this,” she said, gesturing to the rising dirt trails and trees bright green after a morning storm, “looks just like one of them!”

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“By bringing youth, or anyone for that matter, into nature you are allowing them the chance to connect to the natural world around them, and maybe for the first time igniting a passion for the protection and preservation of that space. But even more than that, you are helping them find an escape in the beautiful and natural world belonging to all.”

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With each turn and tip of the boats the girls laughed and screamed with thoughts they might get splashed or the boat would tip over. But as time went on, they got more comfortable and started leaning over the edge to touch the water. They took turns steering the boat and using the tiller, learning how to hike the sail up and break it down, and we also talked a lot about wind currents and what would happen if there was no wind at all!

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“The fact is that too many kids do not grow up with the same outdoor access that I had. There are many factors that make immersive outdoor experiences difficult to come across for low-income families: costs, lack of transportation, few or no friends/family with outdoor skills, no access to out-of-school outdoor programs.”

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