Warrior Hiker Thomas Gathman’s first response about the hike from Hatchita, the starting point of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), to Silver City was yelling out the word, “blisters.” Even though the six Warrior Hikers who are hiking the CDT right now are men experienced with desert deployments and the hardships of war, they have already faced some hardships on the first leg of their journey.
Gathman told the story of how he had forgotten to pack his ground sheet for the trip so he improvised when he found a table cloth in a dumpster behind a community center in Lordsburg. Then one night, as he was lying in his sleeping bag on top of the table cloth, he felt something on his neck. He brushed it off, turned on his head lamp, and realized it was a wind scorpion, also known as a camel spider. Gathman said he knew what it was because he had seen camel spiders during his deployment to Iraq.
“No sooner did I reach for a rock, than that spider reared up on his back two legs,” Gathman said, laughing as he recalled the event. “It was clearly aggressive. I grabbed that rock, got rid of that thing, and then wrapped myself up in my sleeping bag real tight and called it a night.”
Despite that encounter, Gathman said he was going to sleep outdoors as long as he could.
“I’m happier living out of a backpack,” Gathman, who walked the Appalachian Trail through Warrior Hike last year, said. “I was happy with my life, but when I was on the trail, I was really happy. It all clicked and I decided I would try to figure out how to make it my career.”
For each of the six men, hiking the CDT as part of the Warrior Hike walk off the war program, the reason to hike this grueling 3,100 mile journey across desert plains and mountain snow caps ascending to 14,000 feet in elevation is different and each have their own personal goals. A group of veterans are simultaneously participating in the walk off the war program by hiking the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crescent Trail at the same time as these six who have chosen to venture out on the CDT.
The six men were all at a private party held after the Silver City gateway community designation on the CDT celebration Wednesday. The men were recognized and honored at the late afternoon celebration. At the private party, which was held in their honor and the men were recognized once again by the local veterans groups.
Ricky Davis, a former machine gunner in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said he is coming to terms with some of his war experiences.
“I’m starting to let things go,” Davis said. “I can feel it.”
Davis, who now lives near Wilmington, N.C., said he didn’t plan enough water for his trip and suffered dehydration during the last 22 miles of the trip to Silver City.
“If it weren’t for these guys, I don’t know what would have happened to me,” Davis said. “The desert is not anything to play around with. It’ll get you.” The men are walking approximately 20 miles a day. They discussed their blisters. Gathman said he was a believer in using duct tape on his.
Chris Rickert, a former rocket launcher and explosives technician for the Marines in Afghanistan, said he is planning to quit smoking while he is on the trail. He said he was already having a hard time on the thru-hike due to his cigarette habit.
“What better time to quit?” He quipped.
But Rickert got more serious when he said that after he’d hiked the first seven miles of their journey, he realized he hadn’t been negative since he left Pennsylvania, where he lives.
“I realized why I was out there,” Rickert said. “It’s giving me the sense of confidence again. Confidence in myself. When I got out of the service, everything went downhill for me.”
Rickert added that he now lives on the CDT trail. Rickert wants to move out West after he’s done with this hike.
“Half the journey’s deciding where I’m happy,” Rickert said.
Rob Voorhis, who deployed to Afghanistan and the Philippines as an electronic intelligence intercept operator, told the story of how he got pulled over by Border Patrol while looking for cell phone service before they started hiking. He was looking for cell phone reception so he could call home. Home for Voorhis right now is Virginia.
Andrew Brennan, a Black Hawk pilot for the army in Afghanistan, was very concerned with whether the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to win their hockey game during the party, but his goal on this trip is to live without being connected to the outside world.
“My family doesn’t even know I have my cell phone on me,” Brennan said.
Brennan said 9/11 happened while he was a junior in high school. From that moment, he wanted to join the military and he described himself as someone who’d been married to his job. But now medically retired from the Army, he has been struggling to find his way.
“What’s my passion? I have five and a half months to reflect and figure that stuff out.” Brennan said.