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Max Hart

@onbeingmax

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Queer & trans 🏳️‍⚧️
Certified life & leadership coach 🌱
Wilderness adventurer 🏔️
Give me dirt🪱
@whidbeycompostcollective

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I grew this kale!

I also grew a whole-ass website for my coaching practice, which is now officially live!

Building it took me… ahem… a minute. Honestly, it felt harder than hiking the PCT. Not even kidding.

Communicating the coaching work I do clearly, while maintaining my voice and full humanness, pushed me up against some seeeeerious edges. I compared, I tried to get it “right” by following marketing formulas (and learned I am incapable of following marketing formulas), I second (tenth) guessed myself, I literally built and scrapped the whole thing several times.

I had to laugh at myself though. There I was, trying to write about the very things I was doing in the process of writing about them. That is some grade-A universe humor right there.

My coaching identity, Wilder Ground, has been brewing for a few years now, and I’m really proud of what it’s become.

And you know what? I think the website that represents it needed that time to brew, ferment, and break down into nutrient-rich soil amendments… wait no, wrong thing. I’ve been deep in compost! Actually though, maybe the same thing applies 🪱

If you’re curious about what I do and who I am, it’s all there. And of course it will keep evolving and growing as I do.

I offer a free 30-minute discovery call for anyone who’s been thinking about coaching or wondering if it might be right for them. And if someone in your life comes to mind, I’d be so grateful if you shared this with them as well. Link in my bio to schedule time with me.

xx,
Max

wilderground.com by @onbeingmax

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3 months ago

One year ago today I started a five month (and ~6 million step) journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, from Mexico to Canada.

Today I am feeling nostalgic and a little envious of one year ago me, when everything I was doing funneled into a single mission: get to Canada. It was admittedly more mentally taxing than I had anticipated — planning resupplies, planning water carries for long dry sections, finding rides, making decisions about wildfires, getting off trail for weddings. And yet it was still simple, because ultimately everything I was doing pointed to the same place.

There was never any question about what I was doing. I just had to keep walking. And you know what? I miss the walking part too.

Reflecting on my favorite moments, the things I will remember forever, it all comes back to the people I met. The people who became my trail family, my parters in slowly devolving into feral creatures, the people I laughed uncontrollably with and commiserated with and made daily plans with.

A lot of people have asked me what I learned, or what is coming with me from the experience. Learned? Maybe that blisters can form on top of blisters on top of blisters on top of blisters. Seriously, I didn’t know how many layers could happen. It’s astonishing.

Taking with me though? Friends for life ❤️

Special thank you to my own personal trail angel @aleah_chapin , who dropped me off at the start, spoiled me with delicious food at multiple points along the way, and drove me back and forth from obscure parts of the trail multiple times. She’s a real one.

And thank you to everyone who supported me with rides, mailing boxes, and sending me words of encouragement ❤️

And of course to the one and only @sprinterpct , for always being there to save our asses.

#pacificcresttrail #backpacking #pct2025 by @onbeingmax

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6 months ago

Our aerated static piles now have walls! 🤓

We’re trying out Microbins, a composting method honed by O2 Compost. Like our aerated static piles, the bins are never turned, and since the microbes that break down food scraps need a steady supply of oxygen, a bouncy house blower sends air through perforated PVC pipes to keep it aerated 🌬️

Each 4’ x 4’ x 4’ bin holds about 2.4 cubic yards, and at our current scale one weekly pickup fills one. Food scraps now go straight in instead of being held with bokashi until we have enough for an aerated static pile, which significantly cuts down on labor 💪

Our consultant, Peter Moon of O2 Compost, is helping us test the method, and we’re exploring building bins with schools and other communities 🪱 by @onbeingmax

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an hour ago

WORM FOOD 🪱

@off.kilter.farm by @onbeingmax

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15 days ago

Indigo dyeing with @rowdysproutfarm ! I want my hands to be this color forever 😍 by @onbeingmax

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21 days ago

One year ago today at the northern terminus 🥲 Beat up, bedraggled, elated, perpetually hungry, perpetually full ❤️

Still missing the PCT and my trail family every day! by @onbeingmax

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24 days ago

This might’ve been the greatest weekend I’ve ever experienced from the moment I arrived until the very end @singwiththetrees 🌳✨🤍🎵 by @onbeingmax

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3 months ago

As we celebrate this Pride Month in dazzlingly gay fashion, let’s hold sight of what the first Pride was.

It was a fucking riot 🧱💪

Trans and queer folks fought for the right to exist openly so that future generations could live more freely. In many ways the collective consciousness has moved toward more acceptance, actually more than acceptance… recognizing and honoring the gift that queer and trans folks are to this world. We challenge the overculture just by living as ourselves. Our very existence inspires people to question the stories they’ve been fed about who they are supposed to be.

Imagine what would happen to the people in power if we all started questioning the bullshit they feed us?

In truth, they’re scared of OUR power. Even as so many recognize our collective strength, beauty, and capacity to lift people up, rich white men are trying to legislate trans folks out of existence because of it.

In 2025 alone, more than 600 anti-trans bills were introduced at the state level. More than half of all trans youth aged 13-17 in the US live in a state that has passed at least one restrictive law. According to a Movement Advancement Project survey, more than 400,000 trans people have left their home states since the 2024 election because staying wasn’t safe.

But we are not done rioting and caring for each other. There are numerous projects helping trans people relocate to safer states. I am fortunate to live in one of those safer states, and to volunteer with one of those projects:

Project Open Arms is a grassroots arm of TRACTION PNW that helps trans and gender-diverse people who are relocating find housing, jobs, healthcare, and community. Right now they need more volunteers and donations to keep up with demand.

Volunteer or donate at the link in my bio

Happy Pride, queers ✊🌈🏳️‍⚧️

#happypride #thefirstpridewasariot #transrights #protecttranskids by @onbeingmax

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4 months ago

We are excited to announce a new partnership with @mutinybayblues ! 🫐

They will be hosting a new food scrap drop-off kiosk and processing site in Freeland, as part of their growing network of community initiatives on the farm. Members will soon be able to drop off their food scraps then head next door and grab some delicious coffee and scones at Jupiter! ☕️

This partnership represents a big step for the Compost Collective toward establishing a decentralized network of drop points and processing sites. The more we grow our capacity, the more food scraps we can divert from the landfill, which can then become nutrient-rich soil amendment for use here on the island 🪱

Stay tuned for updates on our progress at Mutiny Bay Blues! 🙌

🔗 Link in our bio to learn more about Whidbey Compost Collective and become a member!

#compost #communitycompost #blueberryfarm by @onbeingmax

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5 months ago

Wow wow, we are officially sold out!! And we can’t wait for this summer 🌲🌲

We’ve got a lot more to share with y’all in the coming months — stick with us here (and keep an eye on your inbox) as we prepare to gather in July!

-Matt, Anilee, Asher, and Max
🌲🌀🌱 taken in Ben Lomond, California by @onbeingmax

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5 months ago

On this day 10 years ago, I started walking the ~535 mile Camino de Santiago across northern Spain. Like on the PCT I met so many incredible humans from around the world. We spent many mealtimes talking about blisters, we celebrated milestones (though with better provisions), struggled through miles, and laughed uncontrollably out of sheer delirium. Totally different trail experience in terms of, well, everything, and yet the same immediate sense of comraderie.

About halfway through I remember vividly being in incredible foot pain, and yet feeling like I would be happy to only ever walk the Camino for the rest of my life.

Turns out not much has changed. More trails please!

Here’s to 10 years 🍻

#caminodesantiago #backpacking #blisters by @onbeingmax

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5 months ago

we’re over the moon that there are already 40 of you signed up for Sing with the Trees! we figured it would be a good time to share some more information from our website about what we’re planning — music, nature education, and our incredible location in the mountains north of Santa Cruz. if you’re on the fence about coming, drop us a line here or via email: singwiththetrees@gmail.com

- asher, anilee, matt & max taken in Boulder Creek, California by @onbeingmax

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6 months ago