Earlier than Cole might stroll, he was climbing. Amy, Cole’s mom, remembers decreasing his crib to the most secure setting, solely to show round and discover him pulling himself up and launching over the rails–not but a 12 months previous, however already reaching for what lay past.
“He was simply so curious,” she says. “He wanted to know what was on the opposite facet.”
That curiosity didn’t outline how Cole’s life ended–it outlined how he lived. He approached the world with surprise, braveness, and an openness that invited others to see it in a different way, too.
On February 11, 2024, Cole’s life was minimize quick on the age of 23 in a motorbike accident. His time was temporary, but it surely was full, formed by his perception in No Dangerous Days and his deep love for the outside. The way in which he lived continues to information those that carry his story ahead.
A Life Lived with Intention
Cole didn’t simply hike trails–he skilled them absolutely. Mates usually struggled to maintain tempo as he bounded forward, pausing solely to share the subsequent breathtaking view.
“He acquired a lot out of each single day,” one good friend shared. “Even when issues had been laborious, he by no means wrote a break day as dangerous. He’d discover journey by driving down a street simply to see the place it went, or by discovering new music and insisting you hearken to it too.”
At 5 foot six and 130 kilos, Cole was small in stature however huge in presence. A lot of his buddies–most of them over six toes tall–naturally adopted his lead.
“You all the time knew when he was in a room,” Amy says. “When he was upstairs, we known as him Thumper as a result of he made a lot noise. He was a power and simply so obsessed with life.”
That enthusiasm discovered its truest expression open air. From the Hocking Hills and Rockbridge in Ohio to trails in West Virginia and Colorado, Cole approached nature with childlike surprise.
“After I hiked with Cole, it felt like I used to be seeing every thing for the primary time,” Amy says. “He observed the timber, the celebrities, the way in which the sunshine shifted and he wished everybody else to note it too.”
The Which means Behind No Dangerous Days
Cole had No Dangerous Days tattooed on his leg as a private reminder.
“He instructed me that no day was solely dangerous,” Amy explains. “There was all the time one thing optimistic when you had been prepared to open your eyes and your coronary heart and actually look.”
It wasn’t blind optimism. Cole understood that perspective takes effort, particularly on laborious days. Generally, he believed, you needed to dig deeper to search out the nice, but it surely was all the time there.
“The quiet of the outside made him be happy, alive,” Amy says. “That’s the place he discovered peace and perspective. He used to say that once you step exterior and sit alone with your self, you understand it’s not the place–it’s you. Generally you simply want a reset.”
“Since being with out Cole, holding onto his motto–No Dangerous Days–has been a problem,” Amy says. “However I’ve discovered that the nice in a very laborious day usually exhibits up quietly: in being there for a brand new good friend who has additionally misplaced a son, in checking on a neighbor, or in selecting a easy act of kindness. Whenever you develop into the nice in another person’s day, it has a means of discovering you, too.”
Selecting a Reset: West Virginia and His Nana
Within the fall of 2022, Cole selected precisely that–a reset.
He went to reside together with his Nana on her 23-acre farm in West Virginia, a part of what was as soon as a 95-acre household farm initially owned by Amy’s great-grandfather. Cole helped restore the property and immersed himself within the land he cherished.
“He adored his Nana,” Amy says. “Residing along with her wasn’t unintended–it was intentional. He wanted grounding, and he discovered it along with her.”
Throughout that season, Cole determined to get a canine–one who might sustain together with his tempo and share his love of the outside. Daisy Mae, a “newspaper canine” Cole discovered by an area dealer paper, turned out to be the proper match–energetic, adventurous, fiercely loyal, and all the time prepared for the subsequent hike.
“Not like his buddies,” Cole joked, “Daisy has no downside getting up at 5 a.m.”
Each Friday, Cole took his 82-year-old Nana on an journey. He purchased her boots and poles at REI and instructed her, “We’re gonna get your steps in.” Collectively, they found hidden coal mines, a mountaintop lake, and numerous quiet moments that turned treasured recollections.
On Sundays, he took her to her small nation church, drawn to the oldest members of the congregation.
“He all the time sought out the oldest individual within the room,” Amy explains. “He believed individuals who had lived lengthy lives had the perfect tales–and tales mattered to him greater than something.”
An Previous Soul Who Cherished Tales
Cole believed adventures led to raised tales, and tales had been what made life significant.
In August 2023, he backpacked 26 miles on Part 8 of the Colorado Path with an in depth good friend. Even when his good friend struggled to maintain tempo, Cole observed each element and made positive the expertise was shared. “That journey captured who he was,” Amy says. “Adventurous, curious, beneficiant together with his consideration–and all the time wanting others to see the world the way in which he did.”
A Mom and Son, Deeply Related
Cole and Amy shared a rare bond, exchanging greater than 46,000 pages of texts–photographs, music, reflections, and each day moments woven collectively.
Sunrises and sunsets turned their ritual. As a baby, Cole would wake Amy to look at the dawn. Later, once they had been aside, they shared photographs throughout the miles, staying related.
Their final journey collectively was in October 2023 at Nana’s farm. After Cole tackled a plumbing restore, he introduced they’d earned an journey. They hiked a path he was excited to share, Daisy Mae alongside them. That night time, they sat on the entrance porch glider, listening to the forest come alive, watching lightning bugs dance as the celebrities carried out overhead.
“When Cole shared one thing he cherished, there was a childlike pleasure in him,” Amy says. “It was pure. It was infectious.”
Turning Grief into Function: The No Dangerous Days Undertaking
After Cole’s passing, Amy confronted the inconceivable query: How do you go on? The reply got here by one other query: What would Cole do?
Neither the primary nor the second Christmas with out him felt celebratory. However Amy knew Cole cared deeply about others, particularly veterans experiencing homelessness. She, her husband, and her mom donated blankets, sleeping baggage, hats, gloves, and scarves to an area volunteer workplace in Columbus in his title. They known as it the Cole Stevens’ No Dangerous Days Undertaking.
As the primary anniversary approached, Amy feared folks wouldn’t really know Cole’s spirit. She was decided his story wouldn’t fade. So she taught herself to construct a web site to share his story and values.
“Cole believed you might be taught virtually something when you tried,” she says. “He was all the time studying from YouTube movies. I took a web page from his playbook.”
Selecting the American Climbing Society for Cole’s donate web page felt proper. It aligned completely with a younger man who believed that experiencing life absolutely usually started on foot.
A Legacy Rooted within the Path
As a Life Scout, Cole cherished studying about timber, monitoring animals, and immersing himself in nature. He believed kids wanted time open air–away from screens–to note magnificence and achieve perspective.
By way of the No Dangerous Days Undertaking, donations in Cole’s reminiscence help the American Climbing Society’s mission to assist folks take pleasure in, share, and protect the climbing expertise.
As a substitute of sending flowers, a few of Amy’s colleagues donated 23 timber–one for annually of Cole’s life–to Monongahela Nationwide Forest. Every year on his birthday, a ranger escorts Amy and Cole’s Nana to “Cole’s Forest,” the place the timber stand collectively on the mountaintop.
“The ranger instructed us it was a large donation for one individual,” Amy says. “They knew he was deeply cherished.”
“We examine on their progress for him,” she provides. “Seeing their development appears like a mirrored image of his enduring spirit. That’s what he would have embraced–experiencing the world and noticing its magnificence.”
Discovering Cole within the Skinny Locations
Early in her grief journey, a person who had walked this heartbreaking path far longer than Amy shared phrases that stayed along with her.
“Cole’s not in that little vial of ashes,” he instructed her. “He’s within the skinny locations–the locations that take your breath away. Search for him there, and also you’ll discover him.”
Carrying His Spirit Ahead
Cole lived extra life in 23 years than many do in a lifetime. His absence is loud–however so is his presence.
“I’ll all the time be Cole’s mother,” Amy says. “Due to our relationship, I understood what mattered to him, I felt it. Persevering with his story appears like a calling.”
“Whenever you don’t have the chance to make new recollections,” Amy displays, “those you do have develop into every thing.”
For many who by no means met Cole, Amy gives a easy invitation, one which captures how he lived:
“Breathe within the contemporary air. Take the scenic route. Discover the wonders round you. Absolutely admire the folks you’re keen on.”
“Hike as many locations as you’ll be able to. Chase the celebrities. Make the recollections. Discover your skinny locations. Share it–and keep in mind: No Dangerous Days.”
To be taught extra about Cole’s story or to donate in his reminiscence to American Climbing Society, go to colestevensnobaddaysproject.internet. Each donation helps proceed the legacy of a younger man who believed that life’s best adventures–and best classes–are discovered on the path.
