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RioVida Networks salutes Michael Muir
Access Adventure
Mission
To ensure a lasting quality of life for future generations by preserving and stewarding open space and fostering environmental awareness
Michael Muir carries on the legend of his great grandfather, John Muir
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir -The Yosemite (1912)
John Muir's great grandson Michael Muir started Access Adventure provide overland wilderness access to people with disabilities. In this acclaimed program, participants have the unique opportunity to enjoy stunning views of scenic natural areas while traveling on wheelchair accessible, horse drawn carriages. Michael Muir's motto is:
ANYWHERE WILD!
Making wild places accessible to people with disabilities. When John Muir first arrived in California by ship, he was bewildered and overwhelmed by the raucous energy of San Francisco in 1869. He asked a passerby the quickest way out of the city. Well, where do you want to go? the stranger inquired. "Anywhere Wild!" said Muir.
Muir Woods
John Muir’s great-grandson is blazing a new trail into the wilderness, opening a path to be traveled by people with disabilities. Fairfield, California horseman Michael Muir has lived with multiple sclerosis since he was 15 years old. Refusing to be daunted by the relentless course of his disease, Muir believes in challenging the limits of disability.
In 2001, he led an international team of people with disabilities driving wheelchair accessible horsedrawn carriages on a three thousand mile, ten month Journey Across America.
Now, after traveling by horse and carriage through seven countries, the extraordinary adventures of Horse Journey have led to the founding of Anywhere Wild!. Muir says, "We have shown that people with disabilities can accomplish amazing things.
Horses, combined with innovative adaptive equipment are the links that carry us back into a close relationship with nature and wild places. I know how important this has proven to be in my own life. It is something I want to share with others." Anywhere Wild! uses Thornlea carriages with a solar powered battery operated lift that accommodates up to 500 pounds, to bring aboard people with mobility problems, including those in wheelchairs. A simple lockdown device secures the wheelchair in place. The program has a traditional four-wheel carriage that can handle four passengers, including two wheelchairs, and a twelve passenger trolley that can carry five wheelchairs.
Anywhere Wild! offers remote, scenic, multi-day wilderness experiences for people living with mobility challenges. Muir has led bands of intrepid travelers on outings to Fort Hunter-Liggett, the Los Padres National Forest, the spectacular Lost Coast in Humboldt County, and the Fandango Pass area of the Old Oregon Trail in remote Modoc County. More exciting destinations are planned for 2008, including treks near Yosemite under the auspices of the Sierra Club.
