A huge thank you (asante sana!) to everyone who supported Becks and I on our incredible journey to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro! All of your prayers, well-wishes and financial support enabled us to experience the trip of a lifetime. We learned Swahili words (“jambo”, “pole-pole”), drank tent tea, met new people, and learned a lot about ourselves. And together our little Climb to Fight Breast Cancer (CFBC) team of five (Matt, Mark, Laurie, Becks, Dabby) raised over $50,000 dollars to fight breast cancer!! None of this would have been possible without YOU so congratulations on being part of the CFBC team and for letting Becks and I represent you on this expedition.
Also a shout out to our head guide (John Hauf), our Chagga guides (August, Romley, and Afrikan), and all of the amazing support staff that made the trek such an incredible experience. Three warm meals a day, tent tea, and a latrine tent just for our group made for luxurious accommodations on the mountain. They were a first-rate crew and I’d highly recommend Alpine Ascents if you’re interested in doing a trek or climb.
Even when it doesn’t seem like it, God is always at work behind the scenes doing his thing, inviting us to trust him no matter the outcome. Yesterday a huge hurdle was jumped: bought my airline ticket for the trip – chalk up one positively answered prayer! Tried to book on-line to no avail so ended up calling customer service; good thing since she was on the phone with me for about an hour trying to get the system to release seats and let her book a round-trip flight. Whew! Now I just need to find my darn passport…I haven’t seen it since moving a couple of months ago, but it must be lurking around here somewhere…
A huge “thank-you!” to everyone who has contributed – in so many ways, both big and small – to the cause and to our climb.
“God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” [Ephesians 3:20b; The Message]
No, I didn’t strike gold or find Ponce de Leon’s fabled fountain of youth, but I did discover something nearly as difficult to find: the trailhead for Mt Washington (Cascades)! While going through a box I discovered my copy of 55 Hikes around Snoqualmie Pass by Harvey Manning and Ira Spring (Photos).
Directions: Take I-90 east and get off at Exit 38. Turn right at the stop sign, then drive a half-mile to the parking lot for Olallie State Park (Upper Twin Falls trailhead), elevation 1,200 feet. The trailhead can be found on the left-hand side back near the bathroom. Forget about finding any signage that announces Mt Washington as it doesn’t exist. Head up the trail a little ways and it dumps you out on the Twin Falls trail. Turn right and you quickly run into the Iron Horse Trail, which continues back up to the left. However, our trail is not the wide path. Continue heading to the right and a few hundred feet up the trail there is an unmarked but obvious path on the left-hand side. The path takes you past waterfalls and through old growth forest, up, up, up. After 1.5 miles or so you’ll come to a fork in the road where a little wooden sign points to the right. Follow this path another 1/4 mile or so and you come to Owl Hike Spot, which was my destination for the day. Another 4 miles and (a few more switchbacks and forks in the road) and you should arrive at the summit of Mt Washington.
Went to see a foot and ankle specialist last Wednesday about my achy right ankle. Apparently, when I point my foot downward (plantarflexion) and outward (eversion), the tendons of the peroneal muscles in my right foot pop out of the groove they are supposed to stay in (officially known as Peroneal Tendon Subluxation). Often this is due to an ankle sprain, but I don’t recall having ever had an ankle sprain. The specialist thinks it might be because the groove is naturally too shallow – but seems odd that I haven’t had any problems with it prior to the ripe old age of 40. Maybe hiking all over creation in heavy all leather trekking boots put extra strain on it? Regardless, if it continues to give me problems, it will likely mean surgery to keep from tearing the retinaculum vertically – essentially splitting it into two. This is one of those cases where two is definitely not better than one! Thankfully Dr. Rodney Yen – Foot and Ankle Center of Redmond doesn’t think that it will be a problem for our Kili climb in August, which is good news since non-surgical treatment may involve placing the ankle in a short-leg cast for four to six weeks; however, non-surgical treatment only works about half the time – and full recovery from surgery can take up to six months. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn’t come to that! : )
Wow! Yesterday was a beautiful day to climb Mount Si….no rain and temps in the 60s. Of course, this meant quite a bit of trail traffic…from three year-olds to hikers training to climb Mount Rainier or Mount Shasta (kudos to the woman I met with the iron skillet in her pack!). And dogs of every breed: Bernese Mountain Dog, Labs, Boston Terrier, Weimaraner, a Dachshund (no idea how those little legs propelled it up some of that terrain), and, of course, Beck’s very own Meg.
Creek at Mount Si
Though I’ve climbed Si several times, this was the first time I decided to take a side trip to the creek. What a lovely little area, perfect for snapping a few pictures, having a nosh, and contemplating life while catching a few rays.
Mount Rainier peeking out from behind some clouds
But eventually it was time to press onward and upward, and the views after scrambling up the rock pile at the top were super rewarding. Even Mount Rainier was gracious enough to make a semi-appearance (looking as snowy as I recall from last week). Super happy to report no ice burn this week!! A few more days and my nose should be back to normal from the previous weekend’s climb.
Seattle visible in the distance
Now if I can only figure out my boots: last week they were awesome and this week they gave me blisters on the trip down. Same boots, same socks, same liners. Any tips from our experienced readers?
Many thanks to Michelle at Switch-Itz for making seriously cool, special edition necklaces for Babes Climbing 4 Boobies! Make a donation of $25 or more (and provide contact info) and one of these sweethearts will find their way to you! 
And be sure to check out Michelle’s site for additional bottlecap jewelry collections!
Neither glistening snow nor icy wind could keep bc4b and some friends (thanks Kristin and Anita!) from taking a day hike up Mt Rainier from the Paradise parking lot over Memorial Day weekend.
At one point during the hike I was looking around at the winter wonderland and had to remind myself that June 1st was only a couple of days away! Visibility was poor and my darn glacier glasses (Julbo Dolgan’s) fogged up to the point that I couldn’t use them so I ended up with slightly burned eyeballs (hopefully the Julbo Dirt shades with anti-fog will perform better). Several of us also ended up with burns on our faces due to the tiny pellets of ice swirling in the wind. On Sunday I could have replaced Rudolph on Santa’s team!
Although bad weather kept us from reaching our goal of Camp Muir, we did get to eat a yummy meal at the Copper Creek Restaurant. Already looking forward to the next visit and another round of hot apple cider, beef stew, and hot-out-of-the-oven blackberry pie! Hopefully the weather will be a little more friendly next time.
Babes Climbing 4 Boobies (bc4b) follows the (mis-) adventures of Rebecca Lashley and Dabby Phipps as we train to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa in August 2010. The purpose of this adventure is to raise at least $20,000 to support breast cancer research, prevention, and education by the Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle WA.
Please click on the “Donate Now” button in the right sidebar to give to the Climb to Fight Breast Cancer. Every gift helps! It may only seem like a couple of bucks, but if EVERYONE GIVES, the goal is reached! Thank you for your support!
Ok, it may not be all prettied up yet, but the BC4B blog is now officially up ‘n running! Guess something good came out of my back going out on me last weekend.
