AMERICANWAY

VETERANS the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges was therapeutic. Black says that even as Mother Nature unleashed her worst —105 degrees at Hat Creek Rim Trail; 20 degrees in the high Sierras — meeting the challenge was therapeutic. "It's my reset button that will allow me to see not only the best nature has to offer but the best people have to offer." Not all of the healing adventures require quite as much gear as a six-month hike, how- ever. In the world of Joe Mornini, executive director of Team River Runner, "a boat and your butt and you're in the club." Ba sed in Rock v i l le, Ma r yla nd, Tea m R iver Runner is a nonprofit organization with 45 chapters in 28 states that promotes "health and healing through paddle sports," including kayaking. T he stor ies ema nati ng f rom such en- deavors can be amazing, including one in- volving Lonnie Bedwell, a Nav y Gulf War veteran. Bedwell was part of a 262-mile Colo- rado River kayaking excursion with three other vets, including a double amputee. They served as his guides, which was a necessity because Bedwell is blind. Still, he says he felt "protected the entire way" thanks to verbal descriptions from his Team River Runner guides. "Being on the water together took us all above and out of the disability for a while," says Bedwell. "It's powerful." The veterans benefit in other ways from the adventure organizations. Team RWB en- courages civilians to join, finding that their association with veterans has a positive im- pact. Team RW B sur veyed 1,141 civilians and found that 45 percent felt disconnected from the active-duty/military/veteran com- munity before joining a Team RW B event. Afterward, 75 percent said they had a better understanding of the challenges faced by veterans. " We can't abandon the veterans who have served our country," says Morgan. Namrata Trivedi, a clinical pharmacist, was one of the civilians who ran the 6-mile Golden Gate Bridge course with Team RWB. Afterward, she stretched out near the dark- blue Bay waters, the irony not lost on her. "My job is to dispense drugs," she says, tightening up her shiny, windswept black ponytail. "And running with this group was far better than any medication." Virginia, Gobin sent 14 veterans on the Ap- palachian Trail, six on the Continental Divide and five on the Pacific Crest Trail. For Kev in Black , a vetera n of Deser t Shield, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, a five-month adventure lugging a pack weighing more than 30 pounds for the 2,660 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in The Appalachian Trail's challenges and risks are massive: rock y terrain, ex haus- tion, black bears, poison oak and blisters the size of hockey pucks. Gobin figured his "transformational experience" could be repli- cated for others with challenges similar to his own. In 2014, through his nonprofit organiza- tion, Warrior Hike, based in Charlottesville, Molly Blake is a San Francisco-based writer. She has written for The New York Times' At War blog, The Costco Connection and USAA Magazine. She wrote about veterans who become farmers in the June issue of American Way. 4 6 N ov e m b e r 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY Awarded Top Global Matchmaker Amber Kelleher-Andrews CEO w w w.kelleher-inter national.com +1.415.332.4111 Los Angeles | San Fr ancisco | Las Vegas | San Diego | Scottsdale Seattle | New York | Chicago | Dallas | Houston | Boston Atlanta | Washington DC | Denver | Miami | Stockholm | London single, successful, selective...simply too busy?

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