Two friends from Colorado are living proof that disabilities do not define what they can and cannot do. He can’t see. She can’t walk. Yet, they both love the outdoors, and together, they are literally climbing mountains.
Trevor Hahn, from Fort Collins in Colorado, completely lost his sight back in 2013 due to glaucoma. Meanwhile, Melanie Knecht was born with a congenital disability called spina bifida, meaning she was never able to walk. The pair initially met at an adaptive boxing class and then a few weeks later ran into each other while adaptive rock climbing, CTV News reported.
It was then that they got talking, and they realized they both shared a love for nature and the outdoors. The pair decided they could help each other and devised a unique way for them to experience hiking together. With Knecht safely strapped to Hahn’s back with an individual carrier, they tackled the outdoors. “She’s the sight,” he tells CTV News. “And he’s the hike,” she adds.
The first time they attempted a hike together was early 2019, when they tackled a Colorado trail. “It didn’t even hit me until halfway through that this is my first proper hike. My wheelchair was miles away in the car, and Trevor was my lifeline,” Knecht said.
During their walks, Knecht helps Hahn find his direction. “I describe everything I see and exactly how Trevor needs to move,” Knecht explained, per Good Morning America. “We both serve a purpose on the trail and a huge responsibility to each other,” Hahn told KDVR.
Since losing his ability to see, Hahn has continued hiking using a bell method. But he said having Knecht as a partner has given him a newfound sense of purpose, which was missing before. “It made me so happy to help someone experience what I’ve been able to experience my whole life,” Hahn said. “Just getting on top of a mountain, a car can’t get to it, you just feel that sense of accomplishment. The best part is being able to make her smile. That gives me purpose.”
Meanwhile, the partnership is giving her unprecedented independence. “I’ve been in a wheelchair my whole life, and it’s an amazing feeling to leave it literally miles behind on the trail. I even couldn’t get in it if I wanted to, and that’s a great feeling,” she said.
They both feel strongly empowered by their hiking arrangement and by helping each other experience the trails. “It’s just us, and we can be independent,” Knecht told CVT News. “And it’s an awesome feeling, like you are important with responsibilities to another person.”
Hahn and Knecht created the Facebook page Hiking with Sight, where they share and document their adventures. It was on their joint page that they shared their ambition to tackle a “fourteener,” which is a mountain over 14,000 feet high.
The two friends want to show how much they can achieve in spite of both their disabilities. “Everyone has barriers in their life. ... Barriers are only incentives to prove that dreams are reachable,” he added.
