Warriors on the trails


By Taylor Goodrich American Trails


  length of the Appalachian trail because he, in his own words, intended to    60 years later, inspired Warrior Expeditions’ founder, Marine Corps veteran Sean Gobin, to walk the same trail when he returned from deploy- ments in both Iraq and Afghanistan in 2012. The long distance trail had a   By 2013, just one year after completing the hike himself, Gobin had founded


W


hen you visit the website of Warrior Expeditions you’re immediately met with a pic-


Warrior Expeditions with the express purpose of giving other returning war- riors the same opportunity he had.   helped 14 vets complete the journey from the start of the trail to the end, providing them with top rated gear, a $300 per month stipend while on the trail for any supplies they may need, and community support along the way in the form of food, lodging, and ongo- ing communication. It wasn’t long before Gobin real-


ized that in order to truly serve all vets and open this opportunity to everyone, he needed to create a more adaptable program that could also serve those coming back from deployment with injuries.


As Gobin describes it, realizing that a paddling expedition could better serve returning warriors with lower


extremity injuries, he got out a map of the United States and looked for the  which turned out to be the Mississippi River.


He then researched if it was even possible to paddle the entire length of the Mississippi, reading message boards and any other information he - ed “Warrior Paddle” in 2015. Now in its fourth year, Gobin describes Warrior Paddle as very successful as an adaptable program that helps ensure Warrior Expeditions is able to serve all vets.


When it comes to creating an


accessible program however, Warrior Expeditions did not stop there. They further added “Warrior Bike” in 2016,  Trans America Trail. The organization


Hiking on the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail 22 SPRING 2018 AmericanTrails.org


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