For many veterans, nature offers a chance for peace
FLORA PEAK, Colo. — Here at 13,000 feet, where storms sweep the ridges clear of trees and the quiet seems to stretch as far as the views, a group of combat veterans pressed on wordlessly on a blustery July morning, searching for something each had struggled to find since coming home from war: peace.
The group was almost halfway through a 3,100-mile hike along the Continental Divide from Mexico to Canada. With steady 20-mile days and a little luck, they would reach the finish before the predictable September snows of Montana. They hoped to also come away with a little perspective.
At the front was Master Sgt. Jeremy Tierney, an elite Army Ranger and Special Operations soldier. Since 2001, he had deployed 13 times.
“You get to see the worst of humanity. After all that I was pretty angry, pretty pessimistic,” he said as his blue eyes searched the ridge for a trail. A black bracelet clutched his wrist, etched with the name of a friend killed in 2002.
“This walk is for recentering,” he said. “I view it as my last deployment. I’m walking my way home.”
All over the country, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are on similar quests. By foot, boat, bicycle, even wheelchair, they are crisscrossing the land this summer, trying to cobble serenity from lives upended by combat.
Often mainstream remedies have already come up short. Many first tried therapy from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but gave up after encountering what they saw as poor results and too many bottles of pills.
The numbers of veterans embarking on cross-country treks have grown in recent years, said Sean Gobin, a three-tour Marine veteran who, after hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2012, started a nonprofit called Warrior Expeditions to spread what he felt was a life-changing experience to other veterans. There are now several other organizations that try to get veterans outdoors.
“Before modern times, armies would march home and they would get to decompress with their comrades. When I got out, I got a 20-minute Powerpoint,” Gobin said. “We’ve