WINDHAM, N.Y. – The Adaptive Sports Foundation’s Warriors in Motion® program will be hosting its hiking event next week from August 30-September 1.

The Warriors in Motion (WIM) program provides participating injured United States servicemen and women with a basic knowledge and practice of wellness and the importance of lifelong healthy living. All Warriors in Motion programs are goal oriented and empower the warrior to take charge of their own fitness and wellness.

This hiking trip will be U.S. Army veteran Rachel Bazile’s first adventure with the Adaptive Sports Foundation, and she’s looking forward to it. “I’m very excited. I love to travel and it’s a new adventure for me and it’s somewhere new,” Bazile explained. “I’m looking forward to meeting new veterans and I’ll also be bringing a couple of veterans with me that I know.”

Bazile will be carpooling with two other warriors who will be participating in next week’s program, Manny Fernandez and Deb Dixon.

Eight warriors and several volunteers are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday at around 11:30 a.m. for gear fitting, a meet and greet and a lunch. To get the week started, the first hike will be to Eagle’s Keep Rock Thrones in nearby Elka Park, located southeast of Windham. The WIM team will travel along the Pecoy Notch Trail for just under two miles and a gradual climb of 600 feet. After the group  descends back down the trail, they will head back to Windham to check into their hotels and get ready for dinner, which will occur at 6 p.m. at the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center.

Wednesday’s hike will take place at Windham High Peak in East Windham. The ASF shuttle bus will pick the warriors up from their hotel at 9 a.m. and head over to the trailhead. The Warriors in Motion team will then start its over five-mile trek up the mountain until they reach the summit, covering about 1,800 feet of elevation, which should take all morning. Everyone will have lunch with a beautiful view at the peak before heading back down and back to their hotels around 4 p.m. Dinner will once again be provided at 6 p.m. back at the ASF lodge.

On Thursday morning, the ASF shuttle bus will take the WIM team to North-South Lake for the week’s final excursion to Inspiration Point. This trail is about 1.5 miles long and a slight climb of 400 feet, a nice leisurely hike on the final day of the adventure. The warriors and volunteers will descend down the path and head back to ASF for a lunch before going their separate ways.

“I wouldn’t say I’m an avid hiker, but I live near the beach and I walk there once or twice a day,” Bazile said. “I participate in adaptive sports, surfing, skiing, ice climbing, a little bit of everything, so I try to stay active. This is going to be a first for me. Hiking is interesting, and it should be fun.”

Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the ASF will be able to provide all meals, hotel rooms, snacks, water, sports drinks, sunscreen, bug spray, ponchos (if necessary) and maps, both digital and paper copies. If you’d like to donate to the Adaptive Sports Foundation’s Warriors in Motion program, or any of the other programs the ASF has to offer, click here.