FINAL PREPARATIONS

I would like to give a special shout out to our daughter Sarah. Sarah has become our IT person, helping us spiff up our blog with videos and photos, as well as setting up our international phone to send text and photos to our blog while we climb..

Two special Kili experiences happened today:

WRGB heard about our climb and came to the house this morning for a story. Here's the video that ran on tonight's news, showing how much packing there's still left to do!



We met with Bishop Hubbard who gave us a very moving blessing, with wishes for our safety and transformation! Dave and I were both moved to tears.  Right on, Bishop Hubbard!  As head of the US Bishops Committee on International Justice and Peace, Bishop Hubbard traveled through Africa this summer.  See photo below. 

Happy Trails,

Linda and David

SYNCHRONICITY SURPRISES US IN COLORADO

Dave and I are coming down the homestretch, with our departure only a few days away. We have been in Colorado, spending Thanksgiving with Sarah and Ian in Breckenridge. Breckenridge is 9500 ft. and we climbed today and yesterday to about 11,000 ft. It was great altitude and cold weather practice. We tried out different sock arrangements (need those boots to be warm!)and layered up from balaclavas on our heads to wool liners on our hands and feet. The gear works!

We felt the altitude the first 24 hours-each of us had mild headaches. We drank lots of water and acclimatized pretty quickly--a good sign.

We had a wonderful encounter on our snowshoe hike yesterday.  We met a British couple, Phil and Elaine, on our climb up Baldy Peak (the trail is actually called Nightmare on Baldy--those western names are never subtle!) They were very friendly, so we told them about our Kili climb with Martina. Phil was keenly aware of our expedition, having heard Mary Carillo announce Marina's charity climb during Wimbledon, exactly the same time I heard Mary.  He had even thought of going himself! Phil amazed us, when he asked if he could make a contribution and took out $20 - right there on a snowy trail in the Rockies--incredible! He and his wife were so excited to just run into us like that. That excitement is an adrenaline high for us--exactly the sort of support that will push our bodies to the top of Kilimanjaro.  I promised them a photo on my blog.  See below.



Happy Trails,

Linda and David

in Colorado for 2nd to last training hike at 11000 ft

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KILIMANJARO SINGS TO US

Our mountain preparations have exposed us to some new and old music that I labeled Kili genre. I am counting on their beautiful melodies and lyrics to help us to climb all the way to the top.

• When Pat Humphries, a singer-songwriter friend of mine, learned last August that we were climbing Kilimanjaro she sent me an inspiring song she wrote about global warming, called Kilimanjaro. As if that wasn’t enough of a coincidence, Pat told us that she will perform at Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady on Saturday, December 11. December 11 happens to be our summit day! I have asked Pat to sing “Kilimanjaro” during her concert and send all those good vibrations across 8 time zones and into our bodies, minds and hearts as we make our final ascent.
I hope to play Pat’s song for the porters, Martina and the others. Who knows—maybe the film crew will include it in their documentary. Here’s Pat’s song, “Kilimanjaro”:



• The Missa Luba came out in the 60’s. It is the Congo version of the Mass and sounds very African. When the choir sings the Creed and gets to the part “and Jesus died”, the singing stops and the Death Chant is beat on drums. I hope to get to Mass in the small village of Marangu, the day before we start climbing and hear this music. Here’s a YouTube version:




Happy Trails,

Linda and David

BRINGING THREE BUCKETS TO KILIMANJARO

     Dave and I just finished reading Kissing Kilimanjaro:  Leaving it All on the Top of Africa by Daniel Dorr.   
     Dorr offers an invaluable tip:  everyone who climbs into thin air brings along three buckets at various levels of fullness:  Bucket 1 is physical training; Bucket 2 is mental training and Bucket 3 is your physiology and how your body reacts to high altitude.  Of course, Buckets 1 and 2 are filled by a climber's personal training regime.  Bucket 3 is a throw of the dice.  You can help acclimatizing by hiking slowly, drinking tons of water and taking diamox, but ultimately personal physiology rules the day. 
     We have pulled out all the stops for Buckets 1 and 2. 
          Bucket 1:  Physical Training:  We got a glimpse of a full Training Bucket on Wednesday's stair climb with Martina.  She is one fit 53-year old woman!  Thank goodness Kili can also be climbed by ordinary 60-somethings!  This is how we have tried to fill our first bucket in the past twelve weeks:  hiking, cycling the hills around the Helderbergs and sometimes in the gym, stretching (never enough on this part!), resting (short here too!), and tweaking our diet.  We could train harder but we risk old and new injuries.  We look for the balance between strenuous workouts without overdoing it.  Lately we have dropped back from 12 mile treks to 6-8 mile treks 
          Bucket 2-Mental Conditioning:   Filling this bucket has been very exciting.  I try to replace the old  No Pain No Gain style with different approaches.  My latest one is based on the Law of Attraction:  a completely positive mind, body, spirit attitude will bring a completely successful Kilimanjaro expedition.  That means eliminating negative thoughts and feelings and replacing them with joy and gratitude.  For example, no trash-talking in my head.  When a driver cut me off the other day, and I thought, "Damn it" I switched to "Hey--I'm having a great day!"  Not always easy but lots of fun to practice!
          Bucket 3:    We will see.  We will see.  We drink lots of water.  Diamoxx may be out for me.  I tried it and felt drunk for 10 hours.  We hike slowly anyway, so we should be last in the pack climbing Kili.  That will be a good thing!   

Happy Trails,

Linda and David
         
            

THE CLIMB BECOMES COSMIC

     Our Kilimanjaro adventure brought us lots of excitement the past few days.  To raise funds for the sports for kids programs, the Laureus Foundation, invited us to join Martina Navratilova on her climb up the 55 flights of stairs at the Bank of America Tower in New York City.  We followed Martina up the 1,000 ft. climb to the roof of this eco-friendly skyscraper.  Martina sprinted, while we went "Pole, Pole." (Swahili for Slowly, Slowly).  But we made it!  It was a test of our training--our hiking and cycling must be on the right track, because we weren't sore and our heart rates were fine. 
     Here's a link to the story of today's stair climb.  The reporter includes an excellent description of our trail, the Rongai Route:  http://blog.gvtnews.com/2010/11/10/martina-navratilova-scales-bank-of-america-tower-in-preparation-for-mt-kilimanjaro-challenge.aspx?ref=rss

         We met the Tanzanian ambassador to the UN today!  He told us that Tanzania is very aware of our expedition and wants to do everything to help our climb go smoothly.  Here's Dave, our friend Bob Preston who climbed Kili a few years ago and Ambassador Sefue, the permanent representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the UN.  When Ambassador Sefue was a boy he could see the snows of Kilimanjaro from his home.  He said that the glaciers are visibly decreased.  Scientists predict that the snows will be gone by 2025.  Since Tanzanians rely on the melting snows to provide water for his country, there is serious concern about the loss of one of their few water sources.   

Happy Trails,

Linda and David

KILIMANJARO BECOMES JUST A DOT

Hello to our Kili support team!   Four weeks from today, Dave and I will be climbing to Mawenzi Tarn at 12,990 ft.  I'm starting to get those overwhelming feelings as we plot out all that needs to be accomplished before our December 1 departure.

Here's a peek at what is going on: 

     Training:  Dave's body is doing a bit better than mine.  The tendonitis in my shoulder that kicked in when we first started training is calming down   This is very good because our day pack weight will be around 20 lbs., since we need to carry 3-4 liters of water to drink as we climb.  My left hamstring keeps feeling tight.  I am stretching and icing it, plus wearing my knee brace while I hike to be sure it is in good shape for Kili.
     Gear:  Dave, being a lanky guy with little excess fat, is thinking hard about staying warm.  During our training hikes in colder temps, Dave takes much longer to warm up than I do.  He slept on the porch last night to test his sleeping bag.  At 30 degrees, he was cold!  When the sun goes down on Kili it will be around zero degrees, not counting the wind chill.  Dave is thinking of stuffing a sleeping bag inside of a sleeping bag.  We also need to figure out and buy the right gloves, socks, rain proofing systems, etc. Plus, we must organize how to keep the weight in our duffle bags, which the porters will carry, below 33 lbs. each.  Organized Packing is very important so we an find our various layers of clothing easily from inside our tents when it's pitch-dark outside.
     Health:  We still have a few doctors and dentist appointments for final vaccinations and checkups. Need to prepare our medical kits: in addition to our malaria pills, we will bring pills for travels dysentry and other ailments, such as blisters.

So--it is a bit mind-boggling.  I could feel the shift from excitement to anxiety as I thought of all these tasks yesterday as we did another 12 miler up/down Greylock.  I read somewhere if you have a big worry, simply visualize it as a dot.  Cool!  Instead of Mount Kilimanjaro as a 19,340 ft. peak in Africa, it became a dot!  That was very calming!

Happy trails,
Linda and David

5th Graders fall in love with Mt. Kilimanjaro

     The support team just keeps growing.  My sister, Ann Marie, a teacher in New Jersey, told her colleague, Mrs. Puliatte, the 5th grade teacher, about our Kili climb. Mrs. P. is teaching her students about Africa and wanted to personalize her lesson plans.  All 21 students wrote letters to us.  They are delightful, full of enthusiasm and will certainly give Dave and me some sweet stories to share with our fellow climbers at the end of the day in our dinner tent.   
     Here are a few excerpts, in their exact words:

Bosung: "When I was in Korea, my father loved to climb mountains.  So, I climbed many mountains.  If I can climb Kilimanjaro Mountain, I will be so happy.  I wanted to climb Baik Du San Mountain because it is the tallest mountain in Korea.  But how can I not go to try climbing the Kilimanjaro Mountain?  If I get to the age of 23 I want to climb Everest Mountain.  If I climb the Kilimanjaro Moutain, it can be a good practice to climb Everest Mountain.  You will be the good mountain climber soon.  Good luck and bye."

Sue: also from Korea:  "I researched Kilimanjaro and learned some facts:  Number one:  Mount Kilimanjaro is about 19,360 ft. high.  Wait, Mt. Kilimanjaro is really high! I was so amazed and fascinated that Mrs. Burtis, you, will try to climb a mountain that my dad won't even do it!  (It is a joke!)

Grace:  "Why are you climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro if it is difficult?"

Martin:  "  I think it's great that you are doing this to support charity.  If I were homeless or in need, I would have really appreciated it.  I have been playing tennis since I was 5 and would have loved to meet a professional tennis player.  Meeting the record holder for the most grand slam singles titles would have been something to remember!"

I plan to meet Mrs. P's students soon and show them the Imax movie KILIMANJARO.  It includes 2 kids-about 11 years old, trekking to the summit. 

Happy trails,
Linda and David