Wilderness Recovery Guide
The Wilderness Recovery Guide for Hikers & Backpackers
The Wilderness Recovery Guide is a free email series for hikers and backpackers rebuilding after injury, illness, or chronic pain.
Each email offers practical tools, real-life strategies, and insights specifically tailored for adventurers recovering from injuries, chronic illnesses, or recurring pain.
These archives are here to support your journey back to the wilderness, helping you rebuild confidence, resilience, and strength, one step at a time.
Stay connected, explore previous guides, and rediscover your momentum.
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Previous guides
Guide email 21
What is Health Coaching?
What is health coaching? Why knowing what to do is not enough, and how coaching turns health goals into small, doable steps.
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Guide email 20
2025 Summer Recap
A personal 2025 summer recap from the Sawtooths, including backpacking goals, training consistency, setbacks, and lessons from recovery.
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Guide email 19
Practice vs Habit
Why practice can be more useful than habit when life changes, and how goals, skills, practices, and actions help hikers keep building.
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Guide email 18
The hardest part of planning your next hike
How do you know what hike you are ready for? A guide to balancing ambition, capacity, recovery, and confidence when planning your next trip.
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Guide email 17
What to do when you get injured
What should you do after an injury on the trail? Start with emotion, trusted mantras, gentle movement, patience, and support.
Read emailGuide email 16
Rebuild to Roam: Activity Tracking & Progress Monitoring
A look at Rebuild to Roam activity tracking, including hike logs, pack weight, training progress, and tools for monitoring your return to the trail.
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Guide email 15
The Heart of the Rebuild to Roam App
Why the Rebuild to Roam assessment and trail maps exist, and how they help recovering hikers find their current stage and next steps.
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Guide email 14
"Is this goal realistic?" (New tool to help you find out)
A backpacking training calculator update for planning doable hiking goals around mileage, elevation, pack weight, terrain, and timeline.
Read emailGuide email 13
I'm building the recovery tool I wish I'd had (beta testers wanted!)
An invitation to help test the Rebuild to Roam web app, built for hikers and backpackers rebuilding after injury or illness.
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Guide email 12
Your Brain on Movement (It's Pretty Amazing)
Does walking support brain health? This guide teaser points to the full article on BDNF, mood, memory, and resilience through movement.
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Guide email 11
Your Body's Hidden Network
A guide teaser on fascia, force transmission, and why movement helps connective tissue stay supple, responsive, and adaptable.
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Guide email 10
Your DNA is Listening to Every Step You Take
A guide teaser on how movement talks to your DNA through epigenetics, gene expression, and cellular signals that support recovery.
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Guide email 9
Why Your Joints Need Movement
A guide teaser on joint health, cartilage repair, and why progressive movement can help knees adapt instead of simply wearing down.
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Guide email 8
Your Body's Trail Crew (And Why It Needs You to Keep Moving)
A guide teaser on the lymphatic system, swelling, and why gentle movement can help your body clear waste and recover after effort.
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Guide email 7
Kicking Off Our “Nature Trail” of Movement Adaptations
A guide teaser introducing the Nature Trail of movement adaptations, from muscles and circulation to bones and whole-body repair.
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Guide email 6
Default to Movement
A guide teaser on defaulting to movement, mechanotransduction, and why the body needs movement signals alongside rest.
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Guide email 5
Major Update! A New Home for Free Resources (and Why I’m Making the Switch)
An update introducing the new Movement & Mindset resource home, built to make free recovery tools easier to find and use.
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Guide email 4
Pillar 3: You’re Not the Only One on This Trail
A guide teaser on common humanity, the self-compassion skill of remembering you are not the only one facing struggle on the trail.
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Guide email 3
Pillar 2: Learning the Skill of Self-Kindness
A guide teaser on self-kindness, supportive self-talk, and learning to guide yourself through recovery with patience and steadiness.
Read emailGuide email 2
Mindfulness: The Skill That Makes Everything Else Possible
A guide teaser on mindfulness, body awareness, and choosing your next step with less judgment during hiking recovery.
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Guide email 1
Ready to Build Some Trail-Worthy Self-Compassion?
A guide teaser introducing trail-worthy self-compassion for recovering hikers, with links to the mini-series and questionnaire.
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