Wednesday, August 23, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The Bunkhouse
Chronicle
Craig Rullman
Columnist
A little help
Before the Milli fire
started getting that strange
look in it’s eye, filling the
sky with smoke and causing
the evacuation of Crossroads,
my wife and I were pleased
to host a couple of through-
hikers attempting the Pacific
Crest Trail.
Because of the fires in
Central Oregon, numerous
trail closures, and active mea-
sures by our much-adored
firefighting professionals,
they were forced to abandon
the trail at Elk Lake.
We were happy to help in
whatever ways we could.
We were brought into this
hosting and support enterprise
at the invitation of Sisters res-
idents Kathryn Godsiff and
her husband Allan, two abso-
lute gems of Sisters Country,
in support of a marvelous
organization called Warrior
Expeditions.
Warrior Expeditions spon-
sors transitioning combat
veterans on through-hikes of
the Pacific Crest Trail, the
Appalachian Trail, an across-
the-nation bicycle ride known
as the Trans-America trail,
and an epic paddling adven-
ture from Minnesota to the
Gulf of Mexico.
Warrior Expeditions is
open to any veteran who has
served in a combat zone.
Warrior Expeditions was
created by Marine Corps
veteran Sean Gobin who,
in 2015, was given CNN’s
Turner Broadcasting “Hero”
Award for a program he
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started called “Walk Off The
War.” That original organi-
zation has grown exponen-
tially and become Warrior
Expeditions. They now enjoy
the broad support of numer-
ous gear and equipment
manufacturers, and are united
under the notion that modern
military to civilian transitions
are often inadequate for vet-
erans to process their experi-
ence in healthy ways.
Gobin took up the idea
after his own return to civil-
ian life, when he com-
pleted the 2,185 miles of the
Appalachian Trail.
Several weeks ago, we
were thrilled to meet one
of the first through-travel-
lers crossing into Sisters
Country, a Special Forces
veteran participating in the
Trans-America bicycle ride.
Kathryn and Allan hosted a
fine meal at their home on
Willow Ranch, and Mark,
who was utterly exhausted
from his months of endless
pedaling, shared many fine
stories of his incredible trip
across the country.
Mark, who wasn’t shy
about sharing some of the dif-
ficulties he has faced in the
aftermath of nearly two dozen
deployments, was off the
next morning, after a power
breakfast made by Kathryn,
and reported later that he had
safely made the Oregon coast
and completed his remarkable
and life-transforming trek.
Next came Patrick, who
enjoyed a night with the
Godsiffs, but still needed a
ride around the closures the
following day. Patrick is orig-
inally from a very small town
in Kansas, where his gradu-
ating class could fill a single
school bus.
Patrick, who as I write is
still on the trail, somewhere in
Washington, has lost almost
40 pounds on his trip up the
PCT thus far, which worries
him some.
“It doesn’t matter how
much I eat,” he told us, “It all
gets walked right off.”
Talkative and sincere,
Patrick told us that after leav-
ing the Marine Corps he has
spent much of his time vari-
ously riding bulls in Arizona,
setting up promotions for
archery companies, work-
ing toward his private pilot’s
license, and trying to focus on
the next best steps in his life.
So my daughter and I
drove Patrick and his gear up
to Frog Lake, in the shadow
of Mt. Hood, where the PCT
crosses Highway 26. Back
home, the Milli fire was still
just a few puffs of smoke, the
sun was shining, and nary an
Eclipsalypser was hogging
the road in one of those fabu-
lous jalopies we have seen
since.
We pulled into the sno-
park and stood around the
truck looking at the trailhead
and up the trail, where it
curved away into the shadows
and trees, but Patrick, it was
obvious, was in no particular
hurry to get back on the trail.
I tried to encourage him
with a “Canada is just up
there, a little ways,” remark,
but that fell pretty flat. So
we talked some more about
archery, and rodeo, and that
strange world that has done
so much to define us both: the
Marine Corps. And finally,
just when I was about to ask
if we ought to turn around and
give him another day of rest,
he said, “I better get after it.”
And so he shouldered his
pack, and got after it.
We took in two more
veterans the next day. They
were here just long enough
to get some good meals,
do their laundry, sew back
on a few buttons, do some
BookFacing, and watch the
explosion of the Milli fire.
With the sudden conflagra-
tion of vehicle traffic for the
eclipse, they ended up staying
an extra day.
On the morning of the sec-
ond day we had breakfast at
The Gallery, where the plates
are always delicious and
bountiful, and we spent the
rest of the day on the porch
back at the Figure 8, watching
15
the growing columns of
smoke, swapping stories of
foreign lands and yes, drink-
ing plenty of cold beer.
And in the way of these
things, spending time with
these veterans ended up being
more helpful to me, in many
ways I think, than it was to
them.
The visits from these vet-
erans, who are working so
hard to find their new place
in civilian life, were a terrific
reminder that we are never
alone. Somewhere, along
every trail, there are people
willing and able to provide
support. Mostly, these guys
just needed some real food, to
do some laundry, and to sleep
in a nice bed for a couple of
nights.
But sometimes, in our own
lives, we might forget that no
one really finishes out the
trail alone, and from either
pride or embarrassment sim-
ply forget, or fail, to ask.
And now that the Milli fire
has run many of our neigh-
bors out of their homes, let’s
not forget to offer ourselves
up to help. One of the rea-
sons it is so great to live here
is that we almost never do.
But at the same time, it never
hurts to say “I can help” loud
enough for someone else to
hear it.
Don’t be tardy for you
back-to-school haircut!
Call Jeff at the
Hair Cache.
152 E. Main Ave. • 541-549-8771
Jeff • Theresa • Ann • Jamie • Shiela • Terri • Shanntyl • Brittany