FULL OF LIFE

Honoring a lasting legacy of true friendship

A hike meant to be the start of forever for college sweethearts ended tragically before it began. John Sidells and Rachael Richards were traveling to begin a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail when a tragic accident took John’s life. Rachael started that hike with Erik Schultz six weeks later in honor of their friend. Today, they remain friends, work together, and are deeply invested in preserving John’s memory and the lasting legacy of the CDT.

Rachael: John and I met in high school. He was a year older than me and we were actually “frenemies” in high school. We were always picking on each other, but in retrospect, I’m sure it was just expressing an adolescent crush. I went to UC Davis a year after John and ran into him and Erik playing frisbee on the quad. We officially started dating my sophomore year.

We were both very interested in environmental conservation and grizzly bears, so we planned this hike as a hike-a-thon across the CDT in Montana to raise money for a local organization protecting wildlife and landscapes.

The day John died was the first day of our trip to drive from California to Montana to start our hike, and we planned to visit our mutual friend Erik along the way. After an amazing day climbing and hiking in one of our favorite spots near Davis, John drowned after trying to save our dog who slipped into a nearby river. It was John’s 23rd birthday.

Erik: John and I met as incoming freshmen at U.C. Davis in 1987 and immediately hit it off. He was an easygoing and adventurous person who, early on, decided to prioritize pursuing his passions over material gain. He had such an infectious smile and laugh, and he never seemed upset about anything. We shared so many adventures in so little time!

R: “Full of life” is how everyone described [John]. He just exuded this playfulness and love for life that was contagious to anyone who met him, and he loved to make people laugh. A sweet memory is of him dressed up in overalls and playing banjo for the little kids at the Davis local pumpkin patch. They would come running and crowd around him as he smiled and played and laughed, with his big bouncy hair and huge smile.

In the aftermath of John’s sudden death, Rachael resolved to honor his legacy by continuing with their planned hike, and Erik felt compelled to join her.

R: I remember clearly the day he died thinking, “I will complete our hike.” I hadn’t told anyone yet, but when I first saw Erik a few days after John passed, he came up to me, hugged me, and told me, “I don’t know if you’re still planning on completing the hike, but if you are, I’m going with you.” Six weeks later, Erik and I were on the trail together.

The first couple of weeks were miserable. We were lost, it rained the entire time, and we were first truly dealing with the reality of John being gone.

E: I don’t think stopping was ever an option we even considered—to honor John meant fulfilling his vision for the hike.

R: We have way more than 53 days of incredible stories to share, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. John’s dad, and about 10 college friends, surprised us at our last food supply in Glacier with some of John’s ashes, which we spread along the Glacier portion of our hike.

E: The biggest impact of the hike wasn’t due to the physical challenges. The sense of independence from carrying everything on my back through such a landscape was immeasurable and inspired me to dream bigger.

During the hike, Rachael and I plotted how to get involved with my family’s charitable foundation and leverage its resources to contribute to the causes we cared about. Now 30 years later, Rachael is running the foundation and devoting the entirety of its resources to making the world a better place.

R: Erik and I first came up with the vision of what today is now The Arthur B. Schultz Foundation or ABSF. The details have changed, but the optimism and dreams for making the world a better place started during our days together on the trail. He’s more than a brother and mentor to me, and I love and respect him deeply.

In 2023, Rachel and Erik made a generous and remarkable gift to the CDTC in memory of their friend John and the lasting impact of his life and to further the CDTC’s mission of completing and protecting the Trail.

E: Honoring John’s memory and inspiration is the primary legacy, but we also intend this gift to help support CDTC’s efforts to both complete and enhance the trail in the near future. As a trail and a landscape that changed our lives forever, we just want to give something back to ensure that the CDTC can continue working effectively to enhance the trail and the wild areas it traverses.

In our professional lives, Rachael and I are both advocates for foundations to invest their resources in harmony with their charitable missions. I’ve launched a different nonprofit foundation spawned from the original one Rachael still runs, focused on supporting and financing social and environmental small businesses—both in the developing world and in underserved parts of the U.S.

R: CDTC has managed to accomplish an incredible amount, and the times I’ve personally had on different parts of the Continental Divide have been some of the most memorable and consequential of my life. I also hope people will learn about John, his love of life and wild places, and be inspired by his legacy and motto of living life to the fullest.

The gift to CDTC of our interest in the Kachuwa Impact Fund exemplifies our commitment to equity and environmental responsibility, and we know these values are shared with CDTC.

Kachuwa invests in small businesses and real estate targeting the following impact themes:

• Environmental conservation and stewardship

• Renewable energy and energy efficiency

• B-Corp, LEED, organic, and/or fair trade certification

• Majority ownership and/or leadership by women or BIPOC

• Employee ownership

• Cooperatives

• Democratic workplaces

• Sustainable agriculture, forestry, and land use

• Social justice

• Community wealth building