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by Mike Sepal
Special to the Miner
Mammoth – Warrior Hike is a non-profit outdoor therapy program which supports combat veterans who are transitioning from their military service by thru-hiking America’s National Scenic Trails. This summer, two veterans will be hiking all 800 miles of the Arizona Trail, from March 15 to May 16. During their journey, they will be stopping in Mammoth on April 4. Warrior Hike is in the process of inquiring to see if VFW Post 2767 would be willing to host these veterans during this stop.
By hosting veterans in your community, you are providing them with a much needed rest from their journey, in addition to helping them reintegrate into society by establishing meaningful relationships between them and your community’s veterans and citizens.
The Warrior Hike program has a list of support which would be most beneficial to the veterans who are hiking the Arizona Trail. which includes transportation to and from the trailhead, lodging and use of amenities, and dinner. In other words, the little things in life that most of us take for granted would be appreciated by these men who have forgone them, for a time, for a cause that is near and dear to many hearts.
In 1948, Veteran Earl V. Shaffer told a friend he was going to “walk off the war”.Starting from Mt. Oglethorpe in Georgia, in his worn boots and carrying his army rucksack, he walked for four months, becoming the first known person to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail In 1965, he hiked from Maine to Georgia, this time to Springer Mountain which had become the new trailhead at that end; thusly becoming the first known person to complete a trip in each direction. At age 79, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his first through-hike of the Appalachian Trail, he made another hike from Georgia to Maine in 174 days.
Warrior Hike follows in the footsteps of Earl Shaffer, in using long distance hiking for its therapeutic effects. For more information on the program, including various hikes and hikers that have been, visit online at www.warriorhike.org.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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