By Laurelle Walsh
American Legion Post Adjutant Tristan Gilbert is looking for ways to “roll out the red carpet” in Twisp on Sept. 20 for a trio of Pacific Crest Trail through-hikers participating in Warrior Hike: Walk Off The War.
The three hikers — all veterans of recent U.S. military conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait — have been on the trail since early spring, hiking north on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from the Mexican border to Canada. By the time they reach Rainy Pass on the North Cascades Highway, they will have walked nearly 2,600 miles, with 70 more to go.
According to the Facebook page “Warrior Hike,” the warrior hikers — Eric Sorensen, Anthony Jaramillo and Anne Dios — passed through Mt. Shasta, California, on Aug. 1 and are pressing north.
Walk Off The War aims to help veterans recovering from the traumas of war through the therapeutic effects of long-distance hiking. The program provides support to the warrior hikers before, during and after their summer-long journeys on America’s National Scenic Trails.
Veterans’ organizations along the way support the hikers by providing transportation, food, lodging and pick-up points for resupply boxes. Sorensen, Jaramillo and Dios will have a rest stop in Twisp on or around Sept. 20, and Gilbert said he is looking for community members to shuttle the hikers from Rainy Pass, provide dinner and breakfast, laundry facilities and perhaps some gift cards for groceries. Twisp River Suites has already offered lodging for the night.
To help out, email Gilbert at adjutant@americanlegion.info.
