We recently connected with Yvonne Temal and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Yvonne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Steping out of our comfort zone. This is always a risk we take and sometimes it comes with lessons, growth and something bigger than we could have imagined. Back in 2017 I took a risk to stop leading hikes for an all womens hiking group to pursue creating a coed group of my own. I was excited but extremely nervous. I questioned if I could do this on my own, however, I wouldn’t be able to answer that if I didn’t try. I then started Hiking On Purpose a coed hiking group who advocates for our veterans, mental health, chronic illnesses & more. Our journey has been full of purpose, connection & community. We have blossomed into more than I thought we would all because of a risk taken and this year I’ve also gotten back to leading all women hikes along with introducing men only events for June (men’s mental health month) with the help of my friends in the outdoor community. Our goal at H.O.P is to continue making a difference one hike at a time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Yvonne Temal. I’m the Latina founder of Hiking On Purpose. I’m extremely proud to be part of the bipoc community in the outdoors. We provide a space for healing in nature by leading others into it. We have also done so through yoga, sound baths, meditation, journaling and Men/women only events along with our coed events.
We are very focused on mental health and overall wellness. We process grief together and share our small & big wins together too. I’m proud to be able to provide a space where everyone can join in and be in tune with nature and themselves as well as with others. We strive to strengthen the bonds within the community and do better for Mother Nature while on this earth.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

From injuries and surgeries to being back on the trails. I have suffered with a chronic illness since 2017 (endometriosis) and have gone through 2 surgeries which kept me off the trails for 2 to 3 months. However in 2021 I fractured bones in my right foot while on a hike. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hike again. I was off the trails for 2 years and within that time I rotated between a wheelchair, a boot and crutches. Ultimately, I had to learn to walk again which has been one of the hardest things Ive experienced. Being off the trails with this injury for this amount of time really affected my mental health as it kept me away from one of my passions and the outdoor community. I was told by my first physical therapist that I most likely wouldn’t get to hike again. I didn’t take no for an answer and found myself with another physical therapist who had faith that I’d be back. Well, we did it. After a year of hard work, dedication and determination I made my way back (carefully) onto the trails. After 6 months of strength and trail training I managed to summit my favorite mountain again, Mt Baldy (it had been 5 years from the last summit).

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Possibly the biggest lesson learned and that life continues to teach me is that we can’t do it all alone. This is why we have community. We have the ability to reach out, connect and communicate to help us reach a greater purpose and what better way to do that than together.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @hikingonpurpose @thevonn3only
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Jonathan “Indi” Aparicio

Julian Juarez