Before Curtis Jones could even begin his Tuesday morning hike of Mount Sanitas, a woman approached him excitedly at the trailhead.
“I’ve hiked this dozens of times,” says Susan Brooks. “I really wanted to manifest Curtis this morning!”
This interaction was not a one-off. In fact, over the course of 3.33 miles, we stopped dozens of times so that Jones could reach into his Sanitas-embroidered tote bag to pull out the custom hats he created with Fractel to commemorate his favorite mountain.
Every year, around 375,000 people visit Mt. Sanitas, and in the last year and a half, over 2,500 of them have walked away with this hat. It isn’t sold online or in stores, and the only way to get one is from Jones.
His goal is as simple as it is deeply challenging: to encourage people to be kinder to each other.
It all started in 2020 when he sold his seed company, Botanical Interests. Jones wanted to find a way to give back to the community he loves, and on a hike on Blacketts Ridge in Tucson, he purchased a Fractel hat and was very impressed with the quality and breathability.
He decided to reach out to the company to see if they’d create a colorway and custom embroidery to commemorate Mt. Sanitas. From there, he began ordering—and giving away—hats in bulk, providing the people of Boulder and beyond with a reason to smile, talk to each other, and maybe even pay it forward.
Over the course of around four hours, with plenty of time to stop and chat, Jones gets a range of reactions:
“I finally found you!”
“Right as we were talking about moving back [to Boulder], you came up with the hat!”
“I can’t believe we live here. We’re so lucky!”
“I’m here all the time, oh my gosh! This just completely made my day.”
“We just moved here. This is so perfect!”
"My husband is going to be so jealous."
"Want one for him?”
"Nope, he can come and earn it!”
“Every time I walk by someone, I tell them nice hat, so you’ve already changed the day!”
There's a reason people call him the "Mayor of Mt. Sanitas," or as I like to say, the Prom King. Jones finds immense joy in surprising people with this incredibly practical souvenir, but it's clearly more than that. He's hiked Sanitas around 800 times since moving to Boulder County in 1990 and still finds magic in every trip.
“It’s not the rocks and trees," says Jones. "It’s the people.”
Sanitas was there when he was incredibly stressed, trying to match the unprecedented demand for seeds during the pandemic—and he's witnessed numerous people who have come to this mountain to process the grief of losing a loved one.
On every hike, he carries around 100 hats with him, but he also carries the stories of every person he's met and who's stopped to talk to him after he approached with a friendly: "Hey, I've got something for you!"
Recently, Jones went to a restaurant where a group of a dozen people surprised him at dinner. None had known each other before the hats, but they'd slowly brought the whole group together. As he told this story, he reminded me, and himself, that it's ok to cry, especially when you’re moved by the joy of finding community.
Each time we really stopped and talked with a hiker or a group, we'd find common ground and, more often than not, people in common.
"That’s why I do this," says Jones. "They say six degrees of separation, but in Boulder it’s two or three."
With each hat, that number seemingly gets closer to two.
In addition to the hats, Jones is also getting more involved in the trail itself. He recently accepted a position on the board of the Boulder Open Space Conservancy and is excited to help fund trail maintenance and accessibility. Every time he goes up, he makes sure all the trail crew have hats and, of course, thanks them for the work they’re doing.
If you want to secure a hat of your own, keep an eye out for Jones on Mt. Sanitas and around town. He’s taken to carrying spares with him, even at the airport and on other hikes. To explore more of his stories and get involved, visit Facebook.com/MtSanitasMadHatterProject or Instagram.com/MtSanitasMadHatter.
And if you are lucky enough to join “the club,” please pass the kindness on, whether that’s saying hi to a stranger or taking care of the trails we love so much by donating to BOSC.org.