Pre-Climb Preparation - Archive |
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This page is everything that I had posted pre-climb |
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2-15-2010: Well, it's here friends, D-day. Well not really D-day, but it's time to leave for Africa. All the months of preparation, all the anticipation, all the bragging I did to people, well now I have to put up or shut up. No big deal, I think I'm ready. Here are the last series of videos I took, including a great shot from a concert I went to last night. Hey, I'm on vacation, what can I say? Let's start first with the packing that took place during the day yesterday.
As in the past several weeks, last weekend was no exception. My buddy Tom was going to make sure I did my hike, and of course he was all full of energy and wanted to do the whole 14 miles x 16 inches. I say 16 inches cause, like in the past, the snow was really deep. Of course I had a sore knee again but it went away over night and I was able to make Yoga on Sunday morning.
I went to this great show last night. We planned this a couple months ago, seeing Dark Star Orchestra at the House of Blues in Cleveland as my "send off" show. And they sent me off! They are the famed Grateful Dead cover band that recreates Dead shows in their entirety leaving the audience to guess what show it was, then they tell the audience at the end. Last night was a show from April 13, 1983 at the Patrick Gymnasium, U of Vermont. Here is a killer jam from Eyes Of The World. Enjoy!
More video from Saturday's hike. Water is important on Kili, and water not freezing is as important as actually having water.
My dog, what can I say. I love this dog, Bandit. This will be the hardest part, leaving her. Hopefully I will be able to log on from an internet cafe in Africa and see this video to remind me of her.
Okay my friends, this is it. I doubt I'll be updating this until late on March 6th. Remember, beginning on February 19, you'll be able to follow our climbing party with live updates provided by our guide carried by Google Maps. Here is the link again, it is also on my main page but basically click on this link, then scroll the left hand text menu all the way to the bottom and look for BACLx8. That will be us! See you on the other side. Remember, as I always say, "Life is Grand," "Enjoy The Ride," and "Play It Loud!" Yea haw, I'm off to Africa! ___________________________________________________________ CLIMBING PARTY UPDATE: Well we are now eight strong going up the mountain. This will make our total climbing party, from my estimation, about 30 strong. That is approximately how many people total it will take to get 8 thrill seekers such as our selves up the mountain. So we just received word that our 8th member has signed on, a man name Marek from British Columbia. Watch the video below, or check out our "Climbing Partners" page for more information.
Today's Lesson! Click here to learn why things are not always what they seem. View the slide show of some of the preparation.
Check the weather in Tanzania RIGHT NOW. Or even better, view our Climate Zone page for a temperature reading of all 5 climate zones. If you need to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius or visa versa, click here! I have also posted this helpful line in the right hand column so one can refer to it easily at anytime. ______________________________________________ I invite you to watch this brief video on Mt. Kilimanjaro, it's taken from the IMAX film that was made over a decade ago. Enjoy!
2-13-2010: Okay, so it's 6AM Saturday morning and I spent the last 15 minutes searching for this typo I found on the web on this site. I opened the page here in DreamWeaver and can't find it, can't remember what it was, and now feel I need to explain. Okay, I admit it, I'm going a little crazy. Anticipation killed the cat? Why not, that works for me. I'm ready to get on that big jet plane. Yesterday I said goodbye to my coworkers, I will see them in about a month. They have all been great, supportive and part of my heart as I journey. I now am saying goodbye to many of my daily friends realizing that each time I part from someone I won't see them again until the other side of the mountain. Then there's my girl, Bandit, she's still in bed but she'll get to do 14 miles today in deep snow. I will miss her for sure. My other dear friend, my Ipod, is loaded with plenty of, well let's see, tons of Grateful Dead, and Widespread Panic, then there's the smattering of all my favorites, everything from Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler & Emmy Lou Harris, Gillian Welch, Charlie Robison, all my Floyd, all my Sade, Tracy Chapman to tons of African music I picked up at the library and about 5 Krishna Das double CD's for my mountainside yoga practice. I also downloaded the entire second season of Breaking Bad for my entertainment on the plane. I've got books, music, 4 pounds of energy bars, clothes, gear, and a heart full of memories, dreams love from my family and friends. I'm packed I think, man I can't wait. And I think I'm threw with looking for typos, they are what they are. "Oups," here's another! Actually, that could be the French spelling for "Oops." Bruno, any help? Just a reminder, you will be able to follow the climb by following the link on the main page. It won't be active until we depart base camp on February 19th. Remember, I will be 8 hours ahead of Eastern time. ____________________________________________________________ 2-11-2010: It's funny, I walked into my yoga class tonight and the instructor asked me how many days till I leave for Africa. I realized i hadn't counted the days in a while, apparently I reached the point where you just quit counting. Now I am just counting backwards, 3, 2, 1, Blast Off! Three days folks, and I'm going crazy. My head is spinning with all that I have to do, but I'm crankin' a long and I have a great support staff. So where are we? Well climbing partners Barry and his son Sachin, (remember they are from the UK?) are already in Africa, they are on a pre-kili warm-up climb of Mt. Meru. Here is the email I received today:
I am so excited too, I will be traveling with Sade's new record, first new disc in 9 years, title Soldier of Love. It came out tuesday, just in time for a perfect trip. I also went to Border's Books tonight after yoga and picked up a yoga book and two works by Barbara Marciniak, perfect reading for the mountainside. Luckily one of my stocking stuffers was a book lamp, that's packed already. Speaking of packing, last night I packed my suitcase, in fact it is still packed. I will unpack it though, that was only a test run and I'm still scheduled to hike this weekend. My workout this week was cut back a bit since straining my knee on Saturday in the deep snow. We only made half the hike and not only were Tom and I dead tired, Bandit was basically crawling at the end. Other than a few loose ends, I think I'll be ready. Only three days. Yea haw! Also, my new friend and climbing partner David Betz in Kalamazoo has provided me with updates as to his equipment search and training. He also has a nice support staff who made contact with me today. I wonder if she'd mind if I posted her email.
Then I received this wonderful email from my yoga instructor when I returned home after Yoga and Borders:
I really love Yoga. I can't wait to do Yoga on the side of Kili each morning, listening to Krishna Das and Sade Adu. Life is grand, and I'm enjoying the ride! ____________________________________________________________
2-7-2010: Well the clocks are moving fast, the calendar has peel out marks on it, and basically I feel like I'm leaving in the morning. This is how it feels to me today. Yet I have 8 days until I leave, it feels like not enough time. The walls are closing in on me. I have so many things I need and want to do before I leave. This includes making sure all my projects are up to date at work, finished, completed, with ready-made remedies in place should an issue with something I completed arises so my coworkers can solve the opportunity. Then there is my home, my pets, my beloved dog. Luckily I have a wonderful friend who will live her for the 21 days, and thanks to him I know everything will be watched over, protected, cared for, and knowing him, projects completed. He only had one request, that I stock the home with everything he will need to survive for 3 weeks, so that he never has to leave. That's been my life long dream, to have everything here I need and never have to leave. I prefer to have my supplies air dropped in, and never leave. Yet I decide to go to Africa? Now that I just typed this, I realize also that I won't see dog Bandit for 21 days, this will be tough. I love my dog, she is really everything to me in so many ways, and so being apart from her, alone on that mountain, may spark some emotions around missing that mutt. Sounds foolish doesn't it. Then there is the issue with supplies, gear, paperwork, maps, plans, etc. etc. I think in these areas I am pretty good. I have my yellow fever shot and paperwork, I have my visas for Kenya and Tanzania, I have my airline tickets, I have my hotel reservations, Angie's brother who lives in Nairobi will pick us up at the airport and provide accommodations the first two night, we have the bus tickets to Arusha, I bought books for the flights, I have pens and paper to write, thanks to my mom and sister, I have all my gear. I sent them the list and they made an "Amazing Race" out of it. They went through that list like a forest fire. So as far as the gear goes, if anything, I have too much. Speaking of gear, skyping with Angie last night she told me she is now to the point of weighing all her gear, which is a pretty good idea. According to what we know, we will be taking basically about 45 pounds up the mountain, that's 15 that we carry and 30 that our sherpa will carry. This includes our bedding materials, water, clothing and who knows what else. Angie has inspired me to take a whole new attitude towards my gear today and I will start weighing it as well. I hope to do some "gear work" today before the superbowl starts. I have some dear buddies coming by to hang out and watch the game. If there was a way to time stamp this update, one may notice I am not in my beloved Power Yoga class this morning. This is because I hurt my knee yesterday hiking in 16" of wet, newly fallen snow. It really couched me for the evening and surprisingly it feels somewhat better this morning, I didn't want to push it in Yoga. I will take this day off to allow my knee to heal. That is hard for me cause I love my Yoga classes, and especially Jennifer's Sunday Power Yoga. I could write a whole book just on my Yoga experience of the past 6 plus months. I will say, if you are looking for something fulfilling and really good for your health, seek out a local Yoga studio and start going. Yoga may be the best thing that came about as a result of this trip for me. I love it!
2-2-2010: Many development have taken place. Our climbing party, a diverse group of 7 which includes a father and son from the UK, a French couple from Montreal, a solo guy from Michigan and Angie and myself, have all made contact. It seems each one of us is excited in our own way. We have decided to meet for dinner the night before the trek begins. Looks like we will meet in the Indian restaurant in the Impala hotel in Arusha. So far in total, we have 3 website arising out of our group. Be sure to follow the links to their sites. My friends and family have really enjoyed the slide show/video posted on Bruno and Nathalie's site. Here is a link to that slide show if you want to get pumped up for this journey like I have.
It appears that maybe I solved my boot problem, I will go with another test run this Saturday when I hike another at least 14 miles on Saturday with a full pack with water. Only 11 days until I leave for Africa and not only do I have much work to do at my job, I also need to prepare my home for my guest who will be staying here for 3 weeks along with tidying up any bills, correspondence, responsibilities that I may need to address over the 3 weeks I'll be gone. It's quite overwhelming actually. But like any big project, it begins with the first action, and like on the mountain, I'll get to the top by continuing to place the next foot in front of the other. It's gonna be a wild ride! I cannot wait! 2-1-2010: I am another step closer to the summit. Today I received my Yellow Fever vaccination. Though I am deathly afraid of needles, when the receptionist said if you are going to climb a mountain, surely you can handle a little needle? I couldn't back down to that so I took it like, well like a little baby. I didn't look and it was over before you know it. I found out I am NOT afraid of needles, I barely felt it. Its funny how the mind can make me believe one thing, therefore I believe it to be true. Then when I experienced the actual moment, it wasn't what it was supposed to be. It was painless, and really nothing worth even remotely thinking about other than worrying about navigating the rush hour traffic to get there. This lead me to question my mind around my beliefs about climbing Kilimanjaro. Are there any beliefs in my mind that could hold me back, make me second guess myself, or maybe even avoid an adventure that may be offered to me? Another task I have to add to my list is to examine what preconceived notions, beliefs or ideas I hold about the mountain, about Tanzania, or Kenya? I want to approach this adventure with a "dog's mind." This means to go through each moment with not preconceived story or judgment, just let life happen, observe it, appreciate it, then move on. When I watch Bandit on our long hikes, she just approaches the path ahead with enthusiasm, gratitude and a simple desire to experience what comes next. She's not thinkin' about bills, her job, her tax payment, her weight. No, she's focused on the path ahead, and what comes next. I hope to be able to approach Africa with the same enthusiasm and storieless existence. I will just be "Man," "Traveling in Africa," "Climbing Mountain," "Experiencing Life." This is my opportunity to really drink in a wonderful experience. It's hard to believe in exactly two weeks from this moment that I am writing this, I will be on a plane enroute to Amsterdam, where I will connect with Kenya Airways to take me into Nairobi. I can't wait! You may also remember I mentioned my hiking boots were not up to par. Well I may have solved the problem in pulling out the insoles that came in them and replacing them with gel inserts. They seem to be much better but I'll know more after this weekend hike. The key for me was to finally pull the insoles out that came in the boots. I tried putting the gel pads over the insoles making my boots too tight in the toe section. Now they see comfortable, and with enough room in the toes. We'll try 'em Saturday. Late night development: I just received an email from a nice couple in Montreal who will be joining our climbing party. So now we're up to 7, lucky 7! They have a website, check it out! Their names are Bruno and Nathalie, they are French and living in Montreal. They definitely add some wonderful color to the palette. This expedition is shaping up nicely! 1-31-2010: Today I received the following email, the name has been removed but the vibration is loud and clear. Now I have someone to look for on the mountain. Pretty cool!
This is exciting to me. I am excited for them, then I realize I should also be excited for me. So I am. Today I secured a pair of B1 hiking shoes to be worn as an alternative to the Asolo boots, which now I am not sure about. Time is running out and the search will continue. Happy Sunday to all of you out there following this adventure! ___________________________________________________________
1-30-2010: The workout continues. Today my friend Tom and I hiked 14 miles. It seem my feet may have developed an.... issue. I am wondering if my shoes may be one sized too small. Today I wore my sock liners, merino wool socks and have inserted gel pads in my hiking boots. My toes seem somewhat compressed in the fronts of my boots. Tonight they are sore, but no more sore than other weekends. What got me thinking this way is my buddy Tom bragging about how great his boots felt. I thought to myself, "I could never say that right now, my feet are killing me." I might need to quickly begin to think about different hiking boots.
Also on my agenda, as proposed to me by my mother and sister on a Skype conference call, is to call Verizon the see about having my phone unlocked for International calling. I also made sure to have their email addresses in my cell phone and tested the Text/email function. My mother is new to this technology and now understands how texting works. Today my sister met a woman that went to do work in Africa with her church group. Her resourcefulness led her to ask what types of things would the African people enjoy receiving. Interestingly enough she replied, "Pens, paper, and hats." No problem, I'll take a handful of Lario Ransomi pens and I have a stack of Cub Cadet baseball caps. Duly added to the list! The lady also said that the African people, though they may seem not to have all the great things we have, are basically happy people. Here's some video from the cave along the way today during our hike.
My sister also requests that I purchase her this special fabric available in local African markets. Measuring 2 meters in size, she said it is the same fabric that most African women wrap around themselves for dresses. It is only 17 days until I leave. My mother has also read enough to convince me that I must get my Yellow Fever shot, so looks like I need to make some phone calls on Monday, time is running out. I will call my doctor to make appointment to get Diomox prescription as well as find out about the yellow fever shot. Water is important. I will have to carry at minimum 3 Liters a day, we are supposed to consume up to 5 liters. Here's more on that topic.
_____________________________________________________________ 1-24-2010: As I prepare my travel I was going through emails from our guide service. Here is some interesting reading from an email I received early on. It is related to the Excel series climb I am taking: "Our excel series is a very exciting series that spends the night with a small lightweight support team in the crater at
5729m after summitting Kilimanjaro. The following morning we launch excursions to a number of fascinating and
rarely seen features within the crater from the Reusch Ash Pit at the crater's centre, to the rapidly retreating edges
of the northern and eastern ice fields. This is a truly unique opportunity. "You should also be aware that amongst those requesting to spend a night in the crater; around 20% change their minds while on the mountain after consulting with the guide and agreeing that they have failed to obtain a sufficiently safe level of acclimatization for this option. You would need to be aware of all of these considerations before moving ahead with a crater excursion request." 1-18-2010: Well friends, it is 28 days until I leave my sunny cold Ohio home for East Africa. I cannot wait, as I am getting quite restless. I have absolutely no fear for the climb, the cold, and the strange land. No, the fear is getting all of my work caught up so I can leave for three weeks, getting my home in order for my dear friend and caretaker. Need to square up my dog, my cats, my fish, the wild birds, everyone needs to have a months supply of food. Plus I need to get my bank account in order along with bills that need to be paid while I am gone. I’ll set those up before I go. So I have a lot to do, therefore the reason for the angst. Once I get there, heck I’ll be ready baby! Well this past weekend my friend Tom and I did the big 14 mile hike. I will call it grueling for the snow had begun to melt, then froze again so instead of trudging through a foot of fresh powder, we hiked in frozen, bumpy, slippery footprints in the half melted snow. It was hard on the feet but great training never the less. And Tom does not like to take rests. We barely stopped except to grab some food from the backpacks and take in some views along the way. Otherwise we kept a rather determined pace. Of course I supplemented my weekend with yoga. In between all that I spent my time reviewing my gear, trying it on, locating all the zipper compartments, trying to figure out what works where, and how. My mother, who is not only very excited for me but also has been instrumental in securing gear for me as well as checking reservations, etc., bought me a wonderful Marmot 35Litre day pack. So I spent a considerable amount of time loading it, unloading it, trying it on, figuring out what goes where with it. It really is nice. She also loaned me the largest possible travel suitcase allowed on a plane. This thing is huge! My plan is to check through the big suitcase with most of my gear, hopefully the stuff that airline workers won’t want to steal, then carry on my day pack with all of my electronics in it. And I have plenty of electronic gear. Off the top of my head I have two cameras, my good one and my cheap back up, my iPod, noise canceling headphones, external speakers for the iPod, Maui Jim sunglasses (2 pairs), cell phone for in case it works where it works, binoculars (small and compact), and other stuff I can’t think of right now. My goals is to carry what I would be totally upset about if I lose. The good news is I get in a couple of days early, so incase my luggage doesn't make it with me, hopefully it will be delivered before the climb. Or course then I need to lug it around Africa in 100 degree temps afterward. Seems kind of strange carrying winter stuff in my suitcase in Africa, but hey, it’s part of the excitement that I accept. My Tanzania Visa arrived on Friday, so I am set there. Need to get my Kenya visa next. I will work on that today. Life is good, I am really excited and cannot wait to get on that mountain. Thank you all for reading this far, which also means your on my web site, so a sincere “Thank You” for coming in. Just reading this is support enough. Thank you! 1/10/10: Wow, One, Ten, Ten, that's a strange date. Only 35 days until Africa! The training has consisted of hiking, hiking and more hiking. Yesterday my pal Tom and I hiked 14 miles through deep snow, testing the gear and the legs. Needless to say I was happy to walk on level flat ground again when we finished. It was tough walking in the snow all day, but great training. The other thing about our hikes are they are straight through, at a brisk pace. This will not be so on Kili, which will be a very slow pace in order to acclimate as we climb. So I think our 6 hour power hikes will be good training for the mountain. You may have noticed I put up a slide show from yesterday's hike. It was simply just an amazingly beautiful day. Today, I worked on securing more gear, tying up loose ends, downloading pics and understanding this new camera, and updating this site. The celebrities are still on their ascent up kili in raising awareness for clean water for Africa, you can see pictures and video from along the way as they go. It has inspired me even more. I'm getting really excited now! 12/31/09: Need to be inspired? I was, by The Prodigals on New Year's Eve at P.J. McEntyres in Cleveland, ringing in the New Year, 2010. This will be the year that I climb Kilimanjaro, God willing. One tool that will carry me to East Africa and up on that rock is music. I will utilize many sources but one will be the power from The Prodigals, whom I plan to spend St. Patty's day with at the House of Blues in Cleveland when I return. Check them out here, performing The Open Reel. This song also made it into the movie Pride and Glory during the fight scene. Band leader Gregory Grene on the accord ian and Trifon Dimitrov on the 5-string bass, are amazing. Gregory first, then Trifon, then by both follow, or lead, each other.
12/30/09: New Year's right around the corner, another decade about to come to a close. Got the visa requests mailed out, and did another hike tonight, in the dark. It was a little tough to follow a trail I have never been on but thanks to my Mag light and map, it wasn't so bad. Bandit got a nice work out as well. All of the gear seems to be functioning properly. Two days ago, we took a 9 mile hike through the back woods area of Hinckley Reservation in 8 inches of newly fallen snow.
This was two days ago, today we finally did get our visa stuff mailed out, me for Tanzania, Angie for Kenya. Then when we get those visa's, we both get to play do the switcheroo and I get Kenya and she gets Tanzania. Then we hit more bridal and hiking trails, much of which we hiked in the dark but the snow made it easy to see. I didn't take any photos tonight but I do have sore legs to prove it! Hiking in snow is great training for Kili. Again my gear really met the challenge. I'm lovin' this! 12/28/09: The workout continues, hiking, hiking, hiking. Testing the gear is the focus, along with building leg endurance through hiking. 48 more days until I leave, I actually counted the days on the calendar this time, so I admit my last post of 54 days was inaccurate, and maybe a little optimistic since now I have less days to prepare. On the agenda today is to mail my Tanzanian Visa request, payment, passport, etc. I admit I am a little concerned that I must mail my actually passport to a Tanzanian bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. since I actually called and had spoken to him. I was also somewhat.... ummmmm... put off by the manner of the person on the phone. I mean it was my first actual contact with a real actual Tanzanian. It was the first time I heard the native accent, it was the first time I drank in the attitude and persona of what I can expect in this country I plan to visit. I found the person, a male, smug, irritated and short of patience, though I realize that he probably fields a million calls from idiots like me with stupid questions after not following the clear instructions on their web site. The bottom line was basically follow the instructions on the web site.
12/25/09: Merry Christmas to all. Well it's 50 days till our planes leave for Africa, 54 until we begin the ascent. Can't wait. The excitement is brewing. Now speaking for myself, Tim R., Christmas has been very good to me. My family is awesome, they continue to support me and motivate me. My mother has continued to supply me with gear to keep me warm, tomorrow I will pick up a pair of the best base layer body armor a mountaineer could ever have: Acer'tyrex Rho. She also supplied me with a synthetic Northface mid layer guaranteed to keep me warm and dry. She also purchased me the pair of Asolo mountaineering boots that I have been testing and breaking in around the Hinckley Reservation. My sister and her family surprised me today with the most awesome Lumix 10 megapixel camera with wide angle lens so be assured the pictures will be crisp, clear, spectacular and in large quantity. Angie gave me boot liners and energy gel. Oh also my mother gave us both glove heat pads, and shoe heat pads. So we are slowly but surely amassing our gear. I still need a headlamp among other things. Angie already bought us collapsible walking poles too, those are really nice as they have tested very well. Things are moving along. Angie is in Ohio, part acclimating to the cold and pushing me to hike double what my normal routine has been. She's really strong and in great shape. I had a shoe issue yesterday, took today off cause it's Christmas and we'll be doing a double loop tomorrow. We pack things like eggs, energy bars, fruit and water. With Bandit in tow, and a new leash thanks to my mom, we will hit the trail early, then visit the Edge to pick up my gear that has just arrived. Gonna be a great day of exercise. Also, tonight we visited another supporter of our climb, my uncle Art and Aunt Lavina. They donated to our cause and have been very inspiring especially with wonderful scientific nutritional advice. This is something Angie has a vast knowledge of so as they conversed in terms I know little about, I sat back and had the heavy eyelid thing going. So I have some wonderful support from my family and friends. Which by the way, I'd like to mention my dear friend Tommy Discenzo, who hikes with me daily. Tommy is a wonderful singer, songwriter and musician. Check out some of his music on his website if you can. I would appreciate it, send him a note too. My other lifelong bud, Tom Brand has also gotten into the action supporting me and hiking with me. He teases that he will loan me his portable GPS but... well we'll see. He's been hiking with me as well. . Lastly for now, I want to thank my dear friend Lario Ransomi, the famous Italian racecar driver. He has loaned me his Casio watch with altimeter, barometer and compass, plus it tells time. Go figure. Thanks Lario. This journey is really shaping up. So many people are inspired, so many people support me and so many people are excited. I love you all and can't wait to deliver the goods. As I always say, "Enjoy the Ride!" ____________________________________________________ 12/18/09: I know you are probably wondering what is happening. You haven't heard much via this web site, I mean you probably received a printed card or something with this rather long email address, which is the reason for the printed card actually, and you decided to visit the site. Thank you. Then maybe you've been back and noticed that there really wasn't much new information. Okay, there was no new information. Sorry, that's okay, we can take it. Well, from now on (Oh my God here comes one of those internet promises to update the site everyday then you come back and barely anything changes) we will update this site.... regularly. How's that for vagueness. But really, that is the plan. See, looking at the calendar we noticed that we leave for Africa in 60 days. We begin our ascent up Kili in 64 days. So time is of the essence for sure. Okay, what have we been doing? Besides trips to each other's places, Cleveland and Austin, three Widespread Panic shows, various other concerts, an indian sweat lodge, hiking in several different states (both geographically and mentally) a bluegrass festival, journey through the foods of life (Angie is an awesome, healthy-style, cook) and various other adventures, we have been busy preparing for the trip to Africa. With determination, we have been collecting our gear. Angie picked us up some very nice collapsible walking poles. These will be very useful both in the ascent and the descent. They are light, they are sturdy with shock absorbing technology and they collapse down for easy transport both to Africa, and strapped to a pack if we don't need them at the time. I (Tim) picked up my hiking boots. I spoke to several people more experienced than I, did some Internet "sole searching" and went with my gut. I struck gold in that I chose an Asolo boot from Zappos. They weren't cheap but they are simply awesome, as I have been breaking them in for the past several weeks. These boots are solid Gortex, so they are warm and they are waterproof. The boots feature wonderful lateral support and they incorporate a "brake" technology in the heel for easy descending. I have tested the brake feature and I feel it is definitely worth looking for in a boot that one plans to go down hill in. In fact, look where I tested this boot my first time out in them.
This was the climb up, now I turned to my left and took a picture of the view, check this out...
Then I turned uphill and took the next picture.
My point is this, my new super-duper Asolo hiking boots took me right up this baby, loose shale and all. My trusty walking pole (I only took one this day cause I had my dog's leash in the other hand, which she had basically abandoned me at this point) did the job in providing me upright stability while climbing this ridge. Once at the top, we experienced yet another dimension that will confront us on Kili, bone-chilling, wind blowing, freezing cold. This was a cooooolllllddddd Ohio day. It made me wonder what I was getting myself into. Of course I had to have my cell phone glued to my frozen ear as I told Angie every detail of this adventure. Here's a picture from the top, or should I say "the summit?" All 341 feet of it! Add 19,000 feet and I'll be standing on top of Kilimajaro.
This is a place in the Metroparks in Northeast Ohio, USA, known as Cedar Point Hill. It is really beautiful all year round, including this frozen day. Oh, and this is my dog Bandit. She is truly my best friend, and we go everywhere together. There is only one place we won't be going together and that is Kilimanjaro. Sorry girl! Another wonderful feature of hiking this portion of the metropark is the 165 steps up the other side. These steps are wooden, they are steep and when it's cold, they have ice. This day was no different. Now before you look at the picture, I must warn you it is blurry. I plan to retake this shot, but for the time being look at this stairway. On the right hand side is a sheer drop into the Rocky River. Notice how the stairway curves around to the left and down down down. I like to go up and down this several times, as the other ridge you saw as well. Once you get moving up these stairs, you think, "ah, this is not big deal," then you look up and realize your not even half way. Sometimes I'll use the view as an excuse to stop and catch my breathe.
I must also mention that this workout routine was suggested to me by a mentor of mine, Dieter K., who made several loops a day preparing for his hike in Peru. It was great advice and well taken. Thanks Dieter!
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Bandit was having fun on the trail today. Here she is in full glory, hightailin' back to me!
