To Experience the True Power of a River, Military Veterans Use Rafts

Robert Dosh -- who goes by Doshi -- lives in Indiana, far from the roaring muddy waters and steep, red-stained canyon walls of the upper Green River in western Colorado. But every year he finds himself launching rafts off a sandy beach and floating down through the towering dark walls of the river corridor marking the entrance to the Gates of Lodore.

Every year in September, Doshi leads Military Outdoors veterans on this same journey: four days and three starry nights rafting on the Green River as it cuts through Dinosaur National Monument. Starting at the Gates of Lodore, the Green winds for 45 miles through several deep canyons, joins the warmer and wild waters of the Yampa River, and takes passengers to places of geologic and archeological wonder -- places difficult to visit without a raft. 

Doshi first experienced Dinosaur National Monument in 2014. That same year he attended the “This Land Is Your Land” symposium in Salt Lake City, organized by the Sierra Club, OARS, and the University of Utah to explore outdoor adventure as therapy for veterans. Part of the symposium was an invitation for veterans and their spouses to take a guided raft trip through Dinosaur.    

Doshi and his wife have kayaked and paddle boarded before, but this was their first rafting trip together. It was also a chance for Doshi’s wife to see him amidst a group of veterans. Doshi spent 8 ½ years on active duty in the Army and 3 in the Army Guard, but he separated before he met his wife. On that first trip, as veterans bonded over shared experiences, Doshi said, “[my wife] gained a new appreciation for who I am.”

Several months after the Lodore trip, the organizer -- Stacy Bare -- reached out to all participants and asked if someone was willing to step up and organize a yearly Gates of Lodore outing for the Sierra Club’s Military Outdoors program. Doshi had been moved by the symposium and his experience on the Green River, and he felt strongly about helping other veterans reconnect with nature, so he answered Stacy’s email and volunteered to be the trip leader. 

Over the next three years, Doshi organized two veteran trips a year on back-to-back weekends in September, each taking around a dozen veterans, 9/11 first responders, and their close friend/family members on that same magical stretch of river. 

“Each trip is unique because the river is unique, the people are unique, and my outlook on life is different.  Even after the end of my 6th trip, there are emotions and memories that are new and exciting.  The one constant is the amazing culture and experience.” (Doshi)

In “real life” Doshi is a leadership coach and busy parent of 5. On the river, he turns off his phone (there’s no cell service anyway), doesn’t look at a watch, and instead takes the time to befriend each veteran, spouse, and river guide. He says getting to know people and hearing their stories is his favorite part of the trip. 

“These trips have changed me in a positive way.  They remind me to stay open to the struggles of individuals and the power of love and support of people around you.”

Doshi has witnessed change and healing in at least one veteran on the trip each year. He remembers one veteran in 2016 was especially closed off to the group at the outset. “She hardly engaged with us,” Doshi recalls; but: “by the end of the trip, she was laughing, joking, and interacting with everyone… I have continued to see her progress through my contact with her.”

When asked why he thought this veteran, and other veterans, may experience personal healing in Dinosaur National Monument, Doshi remarked that the river has a way of calming people. Vets receive a respite from whatever stress and turmoil they may be facing. The power and vastness of the canyon, combined with intimacy of a small group of fellow veterans, provides a safe place for people to open up and be present.  

Doshi has a tradition of gathering each rafting group around the campfire at night, and posing three questions:

What was your "Moment of Awe" today?

What did you learn about someone else on the trip?

What are you grateful for?

Participants take time to reflect. Canyon walls rise above them and reveal a sky of brilliant, shining stars and a distant rising moon. The light dances dimly on the water below, as if the river moves too fast for it to catch. The river rushes forward, forever running downstream while the massive sandstone and quartzite cliffs stand silently by, watching. This place is special, and veterans’ answers to Doshi’s questions demonstrate how impactful a place like Dinosaur National Monument can be.

“I’m awestruck by how incredible and beautiful Lodore is.”

“I learned that Gene built and repaired the same fuel trucks that I drove on deployment.”

“I’m grateful to be alive, and be here with you all.” 

For Doshi, these moments on the Green River are the reason he continues to take the time and effort necessary to make the Military Outdoors trips happen. “We are all on a journey,” he says, thinking about the veterans he has met and what brought them to the Gates of Lodore. “We, as leaders, are there to help ease the journey a little bit.”

For information and to get involved with Military Outdoors, visit our website: www.sierraclub.org/military