WHY WE TREK
by Kris Kampf, GWR Clinical Supervisor

We are fast approaching the spring trek, kayaking in the San Juans. I can smell the salt air mixed with evergreen already. We may even get to see a bit of spring bloom; the tiny white flowers of the Madrona tree are especially fine. A strong case could be made for GWR heading out on trek just for the sheer beauty of the Pacific Northwest, but those who have been on trek know there is so much more to gain from time in the wilderness.

Treks continue to be an integral part of the early recovery building experience at GWR because there is a strong symbolic connection between treks and recovery. Trek is a metaphor for recovery that allows the trekker and the trek group to experience the connection of body, mind and spirit in the presence of challenge and difficulty, as well as in solution and completion. On trek there are moments, hours, or even days when a voice whispers or screams to an individual. "This is too much. I can't do this. I'm done, I quit." The moment passes; the day of travel reaches a destination, and eventually the trek comes to an end. The successions of crossroads are successfully navigated.

Anyone who has ventured down the path of early recovery can tell you about the whispers that devalue recovery or the committee that loudly protests "life wasn't that bad." Perhaps the committee loudly asserts clean and sober equals gray and boring. The committee may suggest that one substance that could be used "moderately." In the end, the fear and boiling negativity about recovery leads to a fimiliar crossroads. "This is too much. I can't do this; it's b.s. I'm done; I quit." If, through a trek experience, you have been in this mental and emotional crossfire and walked ...continued on page 2