U.S. Army veteran Stephen Simmons was struggling to deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder, so he developed his own treatment plan.

He likes to call it ‘adventure therapy.’ His therapists? A dog named Puppi and a cat named Burma.

For the past year, he’s been living out of his Jeep in the Southern Oregon wilderness. Instead of taking medication, Simmons works out his anxieties by swimming through streams, running along back-country trails and scrambling up mountains.

“When you’ve got PTSD, you’ve got a lot of adrenaline in your system,” Simmons says. “I think that’s one reason veterans have a hard time when they first come back.”

Re-adjusting to civilian life, he says, can actually be more difficult than adapting to life in a combat zone.

Simmons joined the Army in 1986 and in 2008 returned from his last tour to Iraq, where he served with the 29th infantry.

He struggled to deal with civilian life, but his claims for PTSD treatment were repeatedly denied.

Then the West Virginia native met a woman from Grants Pass and fell in love - with Southern Oregon.

He decided to stay, along with his rescued nine-year-old hound mix, Puppi (who gets her name from her still-girlish looks).

They typically sleep in Simmons’ Jeep in a church parking lot, using Grants Pass as a home base. Simmons is active with the Grants Pass Vet Center, but the bulk of their days is spent outdoors.

In March, he and Puppi were outside of a grocery store eating a sandwich when a homeless girl approached with a box of kittens. Simmons couldn’t resist adopting one of them, and he and Puppi became a trio.

Burma is a confident cat with no qualms about swimming in a stream, and he boldly scales mountains no (domestic) cats have ever climbed before. He looks at Puppi like an older sister.

Burma boldly climbs mountains that no cat has ever explored.

Simmons documents their adventures by snapping photos with his smartphone camera.

“I’m a picture-holic type of person,” he says.

His hobby caught the eye of his friend Lydia Davey, a Marine veteran who now owns a PR firm in San Francisco.

The two first met during a dog-sledding expedition organized by Outward Bound geared to help returning service members readjust to civilian life.

Earlier this year, Davey was writing an article about homeless veterans and followed Simmons around for a couple days.

He showed her some of his photos. After seeing one particularly powerful shot – of Simmons’ red, dirty and swollen feet – she felt like his photos and story needed to be shared.

“He’s a talented photographer and tells a story that’s about more than beautiful photographs,” Davey says. “There’s also this great sub-narrative of friendship and hope that can come out of depression about his circumstances, by focusing on the beauty around him. It’s inspiring on a lot of levels.”

Davey launched a Kickstarter campaign in August with the goal of raising $10,000 to produce a photo book. Within 30 days, they had raised more than $14,000.

The money has enabled them to produce a 56-page, full-color photo book called "The Adventures of Puppi & Burma."

Simmons hopes to share more of his pictures – he has a whole gallery of photos of Burma on Instagram - in a follow-up book called "Adventure Cat."

A third photo book, of course, would focus on Puppi.

Simmons also hopes to become a motivational speaker and share his experiences with others who are struggling with anxiety, depression or PTSD.

He credits ‘adventure therapy’ and his furry companions for his healing process.

“They’ve been a big pick-me-up,” he says, noting that pets can benefit veterans or anyone struggling with depression. “This type of lifestyle, getting out in the mountains with Puppi and Burma is very therapeutic for that reason.”

Book release event:

If you go: A book launch event for Stephen Simmons’ new book will take place from noon to 5 p.m. Monday at Hannah The Pet Society, 9432 S.W. Washington Square Road in Tigard.

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