Wimberley’s hiking store with a social mission

The Budaful Hiker

Wimberley’s hiking store with a social mission

By Bonnie Eissler

Andrew and Holly Maxwell came up with the idea to open a “hiking store with a social mission” while driving home to Texas from New Mexico several years ago. It may have seemed like an oddly specific and possibly crazy idea with little chance of success to some, but the couple saw things differently and their vision became reality.

The Budaful Hiker store in Wimberley sells outdoor clothing and hiking gear, everything anyone could possibly need for outdoor adventures, but this is only the first step toward the Maxwells’ larger mission of encouraging people to get off the couch, go outside and spend a lot more time outdoors. To foster a stronger sense of community, group hikes are scheduled every week.

The hikes are a great way to get exercise, enjoy nature and spend time with our fellow human beings. “They’re beginner level hikes over beginner level terrain that last about 1-1/2 hours,” Andrew says, “whoever shows up is welcome, sometimes there are two to four people, but there have been as many as twenty.” There’s also a quarterly hike that lasts longer and the group goes out together for a meal after the hike.

Although Andrew enjoyed sports when he was younger, he didn’t become particularly interested in the outdoors, hiking and camping until he attended Ferrum College, located near the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. With so many scenic trails for biking and hiking and the mountains just footsteps from the trails, “it was impossible not to get involved in outdoor activities,” Andrew says.

Andrew finished his college years at Texas Tech which is

See BUDAFUL HIKER, page 21

Andrew and Holly Maxwell. Photo courtesy Budaful Hiker.

where he met his future wife, Holly. Since she is a Texan, Andrew is a Texan too. “I wasn’t allowed to leave,” he says. They make a formidable duo and clearly have natural talent as entrepreneurs, with several businesses besides The Budaful Hiker, including the ice cream shop next door to the hiking store (Monster Treats) and Natural Tribute.

“My passion was recreation therapy, how nature impacts people and how human beings are naturally attracted, drawn to spend time in green spaces,” Andrew says, “I wanted to do something related to the therapeutic benefit of being outdoors.”

When Holly and Andrew make buying trips to trade shows specializing in the Outdoor Industry, they look for little subsections, “not the biggest or most popular brands” with products that are in line with the store’s mission, although some of their earlier finds, like Cotopaxi (an adventure and apparel company based in Salt Lake City, Utah) are much bigger names now. They look for companies that are environmentally friendly and give back to the community in various ways such as using recycled materials or donating a portion of profits to charity.

Natural Tribute sells hand drawn art work including stickers and shirts designed by Andrew to connect and inspire people with nature. He has teamed up with several non-profits and is using his art to raise money and awareness. “I was 34 years old when I discovered that I liked drawing,” Andrew says, and this opened up opportunities that he never expected.

One of Andrew’s drawings helps Earthviews raise money for the Puget Sound Project through sales of T-shirts, hats and stickers that feature the Salmon design. This conservation campaign, one of Earthviews’ many conservation projects, helps to protect the habitat for salmon, oysters, clams, orcas, and hundreds of other important marine specimens.

Purchases of Owl stickers give back through another non-profit partnership, San Antonio-based Black Outside, Inc. that serves to reconnect Black/African-American youth to the outdoors with culturally relevant outdoor experiences like overnight camping and day trips to nearby state parks. Finally, the sales of Andrew’s Elk design goes to help ELK, an Environmental Learning center for Kids in Denver, Colorado. ELK helps a diverse community develop a love for the outdoors and a desire to protect the environment.

Our connection to nature is more important than most people realize and spending time in green spaces is essential to our humanity. The Budaful Hiker is a reminder that too many of us live sedentary lives, with far too much time inside the house or workplace, watching Netflix and television, playing video games and following myriad links down rabbit trails in a digital world. The natural world is calling us to unplug, come out and play, hike, explore, and remember how good it feels to be outside.

Photos courtesy The Budaful Hiker.

FYI • The Budaful Hiker is located at 13911 Ranch Road 12, open daily from 10 am to 6 pm. Call 737-600-5553 and visit the website at thebudafulhiker.com for descriptions, photos and prices for clothing, gear and many other products, and for information about community hikes. You can also visit naturaltribute.com, earthviews.com, blackoutside.org, and elkkids.org to learn more about various projects and how you can help to support their efforts.