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Unable to hold a job or apartment, Sauls became homeless and addicted, smoking crack when the liquor stores closed for the night and the beer ran out.

But his path shifted on Jan. 5, 2015, when he sought shelter at the Union Gospel Mission on East Hastings Street after losing his sleeping bag. There, he entered the mission’s six-month, 12-step alcohol and drug recovery program.

Sauls also credits the mission’s wilderness program, called Expeditions, with playing a major role in his recovery.

On a recent trip to Cheakamus Lake — with his new sleeping bag and a dog-eared copy of The Life Recovery Bible he totes wherever he goes — Sauls described his first Expeditions trip to Keats Island, where he dove into Howe Sound.

He remembered floating in the water and feeling cleansed, then praying.

“I knew that I was on the right path to my recovery,” he said.

After recently losing friends to the ongoing fentanyl crisis, Sauls wants to share his story of recovery with media in the hope that others might benefit from hearing about his experience.

Expeditions has led hundreds of former substance users into the wilderness since its inception in the spring of 2013. Back then, Jason van Dyk, a graphic designer at Union Gospel Mission, pitched an approach to recovery that would take men outdoors to connect with nature, each other and a higher power.

Van Dyk worked with addictions counsellor Jack Wagner and other staff to develop the Expeditions program for male participants and graduates of the mission’s recovery program. Expeditions takes as many as a dozen men canoeing and backpacking for up to 10 days, twice a year, and also offers several overnight camping excursions and hikes. Participants have tackled the West Coast Trail, Black Tusk and Bowron Lake.