Sarah WallockI saw a photo of a girl I vaguely knew on Facebook, Jav, rocking a bright blue cap with a huge smile strewn across her face. The page she was tagged on was called, Mt. Sanitas Mad Hatter Project – Random Acts of Kindness. The description reads: In 2025, Curtis Jones began to give out Mt Sanitas hats as a gift, a random act of kindness. The hat represents the spirit of what humans can and should be/do to change the world! Email us YOUR random acts of kindness to show the world it can be done!
I clicked through the page and decided to give it a follow.
Last year, my where’s wallock Outdoor Inclusivity Awards gave people, businesses, brands and communities a little recognition and hope. The awards, made-up entirely by me, aimed to celebrate inclusive outdoor communities that gave me faith and a sense of belonging in Boulder. It felt good to be part of something and spread kindness. Many featured nonprofits proudly shared the award logo I made with their followers. We all need something to be excited about!
After watching Curtis’s page and pondering the “why” kindness, why now, why Sanitas, why him, I knew I had to get in touch and discover what was behind these glossy, chic and outdoorsy hats that meant way more than just looking cool. They clearly embodied something greater than this lure and the friendly enigma behind them.
I messaged Curtis asking to write about Mt. Sanitas Mad Hatter and received the warm and welcoming reply:
Jav just sent me a link to your book … YOU ARE WAY COOL! Am I even worthy compared to your amazingness?! I gotta order the book!
Before he typed, before he spoke, before we met, I knew he was my type of person. That’s what travel is and why you can do it in your backyard on your local mountain. Being a traveler is being open to experiences, connecting with others, sharing stories and looking at the world through new perspectives. I was ready to hike a mountain I’d hiked hundreds of times with the Mad Hatter himself and gain a new perspective. That’s traveling, even if it is in your own backyard.
What began as a lingering curiosity about a retired man’s new purpose developed into a mountain hiking book tour and getting to know my neighbors. I donated 9 books that were collecting dust in my closet, but Curtis generously offered to pay me for them after distributing to fellow trail goers and excitedly calling me a “famous author.”
We met at 8am on a Wednesday with Jav and a few other familiar local faces. Of course, I had to notify my fave local nonprofit Trail Sisters of the enigma’s invitation for me to join him up the mountain. They were thrilled to hear of this new collab. Cyndi, a 72 year-old trail runner from the group, arrived to happily pick up a signed copy of my book. The mix match of energy of kind people, cute dogs, and fresh mountain air was vibrant. I started to feel confident and more at ease after meeting a random man from Facebook.
As we ascended a thousand feet, Curtis reflected on how compassion and community-mindedness may now replace his former spirit of competitiveness that we’re all too familiar with in our athletic mountain town. Jav chimed in to add that there’s so much more to running than just distance and time. Our group of three strangers, me, Curtis and Jav, were also now three runners. The commonalities kept resulting in “aha” moments.
As we flowed up and down the trail, pausing for conversations with trail goers, petting fabulous dogs and dodging wobbling branches, it was meditative. On the trail, without music, not running at the speed of light, we were pretty still, present and connected. It was the perfect place to meet and travel to as a little hat-wearing book-giving cheerleading club of locals.
I tried to understand Curtis’s “why,” but I wasn’t nearly as shocked as some of the fellow travelers we met. Kindness exists all over the world. Whether an airport attendant in Lima hooks it up with a free bag or someone invites you over for dinner in Fez, Morocco or you drop your passport, forget your wallet or trip and make a total fool of yourself: compassion, humor and smiles are universal. He sold his highly successful company after 26 years of hard work and needed to dive into his next thing.
Having a purpose matters
He said as we traversed switchbacks ascending to the peak.
The smartest people I know are just like Curtis. They aren’t loud. They’re soft spoken. Excellent listeners. Perceptive, intuitive and kind. He had a desire to feel part of his community and give back to the mountains that had given him so much grounding over the years.
The thing I’ve been surprised from about most with the hats, of which I’ve given away 1,700, is that people feel seen and recognized
he said calmly and confidently.
People don’t generally feel that sense of recognition
he went on to ponder after nearly a year of trail hat giveaways.
We all want to be acknowledged
Each person or group we approached had an expression of glee. It’s the same face I’ve seen in Vietnam when I try to speak Vietnamese or in Ecuador speaking broken Spanish. It’s a face you see, locked eyes with another person, when they feel recognized in you. Maybe when you giggle with strangers at a silly scenario. Or perhaps when you hear communal sobs during a movie in the theater. Or when you brace yourself for a jump-scare during a thriller.
Two totally different people anywhere in the world could have nothing in common, but that linguistic effort, appreciation of both being on a trail or going for a run, or connection of a mere shared experience, that is what we are lacking in 2026 in our increasingly digitized world.
This morning on Sanitas, I was fully connected, fully alive, fully myself and tapped in. Curtis’s hats aren’t about a hat at all. They’re about restoring his faith in humanity.
In dark times, we look to each other and our communities for support. As we shuffled down the face of Sanitas, one of the hikers we picked up along the way, a somatic therapist and addiction recovery counselor, chimed in a known quote from her work,
The opposite of addiction is connection
As I vow to break up with my screens this year, I’m looking to my neighbors, friends, family and community to help restore my faith too. Like Curtis taught me, having a purpose matters. Getting away from your screen and going out for a hike might remind you, you’re not in this alone. Curtis’s hats which circumnavigated the world from Australia are a symbol that mean so much more than a random act of kindness. They’re a conduit to changing people’s lives and opening their hearts.
Check out his page to see images of people bringing their little slice of Sanitas all over the world.
Awesome post. Hope you’re doing well. 😀
Gary! What an honor to have you as a reader. Thanks for following my journey- sending you lots of love and hoping you’ve been getting out with your camera.