New Jersey’s Matthew Covey recently completed four hikes with his son shortly after signing up for the Legion’s fitness, mental wellness and community service challenge.
During his career in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard, New Jersey Legionnaire Matthew Covey developed a fondness for meteorological technology. And over the past couple of years, he’s also developed a passion for hiking.
He combined the two passions in July, taking part in the annual Seek a Peak fundraiser for New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Observatory, a private, nonprofit, member-supported institution whose goal is to advance understanding of the natural systems that create Earth’s weather and climate. He and son, Ryan, raised money for the observatory through hiking in Seek a Peak.
But Covey and his son also hiked for another: The American Legion’s USA 250 Challenge. The challenge encourages American Legion Family members, other veterans and all Americans to participate through three categories — fitness, mental wellness and community service — in order to engage more American Legion Family members and others to participate as the nation approaches its 250th birthday.
Covey, a member of American Legion Post 1000, learned about the USA 250 Challenge in an email. He signed both his son and his wife up for it; participating in Seek a Peak to support the Mount Washington Observatory was an ideal starting-off point.
Covey retired from the military as meteorological technician and in the early 2000s took a trip up to Mount Washington, where he learned about the observatory’s mission. He’s been an advocate ever since and learned about its annual fundraiser last year. Recovering from hip replacement surgery, he couldn’t participate but decided to do so with his son this year – while taking the USA 250 Challenge.
“I’ve been dealing with some physical challenges,” Covey said, noting in addition to his hip replacement, he recently found he has a torn meniscus in his knee. “It’s just trying to stay fit, physically active with the physical challenges I have right now. (The USA 250 Challenge) just resonated.”
Covey hasn’t been hiking very long. He played soccer until he blew out his knee at age 30. He later dislocated his hip while on active duty. Meanwhile, his son began hiking in 2023; Covey began doing smaller hikes with him and worked his way up to longer ones as his hip recovered.
During their most recent foray, Covey and his son hiked twice in the Adirondack Mountains, up Lonesome Lake in New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch State Park, and then closing in the southern Presidential Range to Mount Washington as part of the Seek the Peak weekend. Their journey took place on four days spread out between July 13-20; Matthew covered around 14 miles over those four hikes.
“I love doing this (with Ryan),” Covey said. “I don’t like hurting. But once you get up there and you see the sights and everything, it’s something you can’t see just by driving up a mountain. That’s the motivator for me. And being with my son and doing things we like to do together.”
- USA250 Challenge