Within Lincoln Mountain Open Space, which sits in the eastern plains of Douglas County, is a place special to Mark Maloney.

After hiking 30 minutes up the park’s small mountain, he would settle in an area atop the mesa, near the northwest corner. There, he said, you could see the entire Front Range.

The 88-year-old Vietnam veteran found so much peace in that spot, he decided to donate a bench there in honor of his fellow soldiers who no longer could make the trek up. Transcribed on the bench is a message: “Rest, enjoy, appreciate. You made it to this spot. Never forget those who cannot.”

As an avid hiker, biker and runner, any chance to get outside, he’d take. Even into his early 80s.

“I never dreamed I was going to be disabled,” Maloney said.

But in 2020, Maloney was in a mountain biking accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury. Now his ability is limited because of paralysis, unable to explore on his own like he had so previously enjoyed.

“Nature played a really important part of my life,” he said. “I knew there was no way I was going to get back up there.”

That was until last year, when Maloney discovered a local branch of Luke5Adventures. The nationwide nonprofit helps individuals with disabilities explore nature through the use of adaptive equipment.

“We had a huge celebration when they carried me up the first time,” Maloney said.

The Colorado Springs chapter of Luke5Adventures opened last summer, led by Kelly Jean Leggett. The chapter operates as a ministry of Rocky Mountain Calvary Church and is free for participants. It’s the organization’s only branch in the Rockies.

“The point for us here in our chapter, with my heart, is to provide opportunities for families, individuals, friends, their caregivers, to do an activity together that they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise,” Leggett said.

The group usually hikes on Saturdays from June through September, and sometimes into October (depending on weather). The team is equipped with five adaptive chairs, so they can accommodate five hikers each outing, supported by a group of volunteers so family and friends can join in hassle-free.

A minimum of four volunteers are assigned to each hiker, Leggett said. The volunteers, called Sherpas, help carry the hiker’s equipment. The chairs operate similar to an old-fashioned mountain rescue rig, in which two people on both ends help move the device, enabling them to be used on different terrains.

To plan, the chapter assesses applicants and those who will join to determine what hike would be best. It also lets them know how many Sherpas they might need, and if they’ll need additional adaptive equipment.

The organization was founded by Kevin Schwieger, who was inspired after “a conversation that never happened.”

Schwieger, an associate pastor, had just returned to his parish in the suburbs of Cincinnati. It was 2019, and the outdoorsman was eager to share stories of his recent treks.

As he walked into the church, one of the first people to greet him was 70-year-old parishioner Debi Rosen. She was a wheelchair user, the result of a car crash that occurred 20 years prior.

“I walked up to Debbie, and I almost said, ‘Hey, Debbie, you should have seen’ — and I was about ready to describe all of this that I had experienced. But in the moment, it felt awkward and inappropriate to share all this excitement about something that she could never experience,” Schwieger said.

So, the two went on to discuss other things. But it was the conversation they never had that haunted Schwieger. That experience led him to create Luke5Adventures.

“I just started looking for equipment that would enable us to get people like (Debi) to the places where I had been,” Schwieger said. “I was not talking about just some city park somewhere, I was talking Grand Canyon or Pikes Peak.”

The nonprofit refers to the adaptive chairs as “Rosies” in honor of Rosen, who died last year. Rosen was able to join Schwieger on several expeditions through the program.

The Colorado Springs chapter started out with two Rosie chairs, and was able to purchase two more after receiving a grant through Disabling Barriers, a southern Colorado nonprofit that awards grants to organizations that support children and young adults with disabilities.

Most recently, the ministry bought a different kind of chair called a Huckleberry, designed by a father in Utah for his daughter. This piece of equipment only requires one guide, with a backpack-style harness system that makes for a lighter load.

Leggett was inspired to open a chapter of Luke5Adventures after seeing a story about it on “The 700 Club.” At the time, Leggett’s mother-in-law was battling Lewy body dementia. While previously an avid hiker, the dementia restricted her movement.

“It had been my hope that we could get her back out on a trail before she died,” Leggett said. “Unfortunately, she died before we were able to do that.”

Leggett was also motivated by her aunt, Marilyn, who had Down syndrome.

“I went through some experiences growing up with her and her family that just placed a real desire in me to change the way that people view those with disabilities,” Leggett said.

“She had a huge impact on my life. I don’t think I would be who I am without her.”

Through the ministry, Leggett hopes to share the peace she finds outside with others who aren’t able to access it as often.

“I myself love hiking. It’s just something about being out in nature, away from all of the traffic and houses and power lines and just being out in the middle of nowhere — and we just take that for granted,” she said.

“The world that we live in now, there’s just so much noise and just to get away from everything, I think is important for everyone, really.”

Some of the chapter’s favorite places to hike are Red Rock Canyon, Glen Eyrie, Spruce Mountain, Mount Lincoln, Sandstone Ranch and Garden of the Gods. Leggett like to keep hikes within an hour of Colorado Springs.

Because this is the only chapter near the Rocky Mountains, it’s a popular destination for those participating in the organization’s Hike of a Lifetime program. Similar to Make-a-Wish, this program helps individuals with disabilities to knock out a “bucket list” location they would never be able to do on their own.

Soon, the organization will embark on its 1,500th hike since its founding, Schwieger said, and two more branches will be opening this summer.

Looking to the future in Colorado Springs, Leggett hopes to expand the chapter to partner with local school districts to help children with disabilities participate in field trips, something the Cincinnati chapter has done successfully.

As for the name of the organization, it is a reference to a biblical story in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 5, in which a group of friends take their paralyzed friend to see Jesus. Desperate to break through the crowd, the friends end up lowering him into the room through the roof, and Jesus heals him.

“That group of friends was relentless, creative, undeterred — would stop at nothing to enable a friend of theirs to go see something amazing that he was not able to do on his own,” Schwieger said. “And that’s what we do.”

And Maloney, he’ll be planning his next adventure.

“I never dreamed I get back to these places,” he said. “Even though I was being carried, I was able to enjoy the experience.”