Dog Mountain Hike

Dog Mountain Trail (Mt. Seymour, North Vancouver)

Hike Date: May 17, 2016 (Tuesday)

Time: 6pm – 10pm

Rating: 3.85 out of 5 (92 reviews)

Difficulty: Easy (Hah! Yeah, Sure!)

Preparation and training for the upcoming Kilimanjaro climb means more hiking wherever and whenever possible (in addition to my weekly Grouse Grind climbs). So, on Tuesday, when the opportunity came to join Cory and Dave on an easy hike after work I jumped on it. Given that it was an after work hike with not too much time available before it turned dark, the Dog Mountain trail on Seymour Mountain was chosen. According to the Vancouver Trails website, it was an easy hike as noted below.

"The Dog Mountain Trail is a short, easy hike from Mount Seymour that offers a spectacular view of Vancouver on a clear day. While the trail has minimal elevation gain and is only about 5km return, it should be noted that the path is a bit more technical, requiring careful steps along several sections that are covered with slippery tree roots. Therefore, some hikers may find this trail on the more challenging end of the "easy" rating."

…and , they weren’t kidding. When it was designated as an “easy” trail, they forgot about guys like me and after having hiked the trail, I can attest to the fact that it is aptly named. It is a dog’s trail. They are nimble enough to jump over logs, skip on rocks across muddy or running streams, run up and down snow covered and sloshy terrain, and walk throughout the trail with no problem.

It took us almost two hours to walk about two thirds of the trail when we had to turn back before it got really dark. It was slow going because of all the many small tree logs, roots, rocks and snow covering the trail. Going up the various slopes wasn’t too bad but coming down the wet root infested trail was treacherous but with both David’s and Cory’s detailed trail descriptions we managed to make it back to the parking lot at 10 pm without any mishaps. I can now say I’d been given a preview of what it will be like to ascend to Kilimanjaro’s summit on the last day as it will be done during the night in darkness in order to catch the sunrise at the top of the mountain. I had also put my new hiking boots through their paces as I’d hiked through mud, water, snow and ankle deep streams and they came through all the various terrains with flying colours.

Thanks to Cory and David, I now feel more prepped than ever to tackle Kilimanjaro. However, from a visually challenged perspective, I’d rate the trail difficult. There are not too many flat spots along the trail and the many roots, rocks, tree logs strewn throughout the trail with its melting snow resulting in heavy muddy and water logged spots elevates to trail to more than just a “walk in the park”.

You can read more about the Dog Mountain trail at

https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/dog-mountain/

Until the next blog, Happy Hiking.

Bill (The Blind Guy who thinks he can see.)

Skyline Trail

Alzheimer's Kilimanjaro Alumni’s on Skyline Trail

A great benefit of joining the Alzheimer Group for the Kilimanjaro climb is meeting all the many Kili Alumni’s. In the group picture above, eight of the people are Kili Alumni climbers. They were able to give Salim, a new climber, Spencer and myself, a whole lot of valuable tips, tricks and traps when climbing Kilimanjaro. Tips like make sure you climb slow, wear the proper socks for the terrain, bring clothing you can layer, use solar chargeable batteries to ensure you have a good battery source for your electronic devices, and under no circumstances run up to the top. Slow motion is the way to go and many other tips.

Sandy, a veteran of the Ascent for Alzheimer Kilimanjaro event, organized an alumni climb to meet the new wannabe Alzheimer Kili climbers. We met on the Skyline Trail at the foot of Grouse Mountain (see https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/skyline-trail/).

Hike Date: May 14, 2016

Weather: Excellent with sun, dry and hot, 22 Celsius

Rating: 3 out of 5

Difficulty: Intermediate

I hadn't heard of the Skyline Trail until Sandy organized the alumni hike on this trail. It’s difficulty is rated as intermediate. However, I found it to be easy compared to the Grouse Grind. There were times when the trail would narrow with lots of bushes growing on each side covering much of the trail going up. I’m told by the Kili alumnists that Skyline was much harder and steeper than Kilimanjaro itself and that it’s only on the last day of the ascent climb when it becomes a steep hike. I’ll have to take their word for it for now until us wannabe Kili alumnists can confirm it.

The last part of the Skyline hike brought us to the foot of the Cut, a favorite ski hill of Grouse Mountain skiers. I remember skiing the Cut many years ago as a young university student but it sure feels different now as a hiker going up the Cut instead of down the Cut on skis.

At the bottom of the Cut we were joined by none other than the oldest couple who’d ascended Kilimanjaro, Esther and Martin Kafer. They had joined the Alzheimer’s Ascent For Alzheimer’s charity event 5 years ago when they were 84 years of age. They are now 89 years old and are still climbing mountains. Amazing or what?! We all had a delightful visit with the Kafers as we hiked the rest of the Cut with them to the top of Grouse Mountain finally resting in chairs in front of the main lodge.

All in all it was a good hike day! More about Kili alumni’s later as you follow my summit challenge.

Bill (The Blind Guy who thinks he can see.)

The Rongai Trail

The Rongai Route to The Rooftop Of Africa

There are many routes up to the top of Kilimanjaro. The Alzheimer Association of BC has chosen the Rongai route as their main route for their Ascent For Alzheimer charity event. They’ve had a very high success summit record with the Rongai route. Given their success history we will follow suit.

Check out the following link to find out what Spencer and I will be trekking:

http://eszter-rabin-uaqs.squarespace.com/rongai

Overview video of the Rongai route:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KacO5dnnX8E

See what others have gone through. Kilimanjaro Expedition video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LZgppwpO4A

Other Rongai expeditions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_MDYDdHHhA

So, what exactly will be involved? We are planning to take eight days to climb the summit, a longer period than normal, for a climb like this. The theory is, the longer one is exposed to high altitude the higher the probability of summiting Kilimanjaro. They say altitude sickness is the number one issue to watch out for on Kilimanjaro as it is about 19,350 feet at the summit, with  a lot less air than at the bottom of the mountain. No one knows when one will be affected with altitude sickness. From the young, to the old, to the super healthy guy or gal to the average healthy person, all can be affected and that’s with or without  preventative altitude medication.

Check out the stats on the success summit rate and other FAQ’s on the following link:

https://www.gadventures.com/faqs/kilimanjaro-trek/

In Tanzania, we will be staying at the Marangu Hotel (http://www.maranguhotel.com). It’s actually been a coffee plantation for over 100 plus years that has been turned into accommodations for Kilimanjaro adventurers.

There will be more to explore in future blogs.

Bill  (The Blind Guy who thinks he can see)

Are you kidding me?

Are you kidding me?  You are going to do what?   You crazy? or, what!!?? Etc, etc, etc.

Excellent! Great!   It's wonderful you are doing  this. Let me know when you are doing this and I'll support you. Etc, etc, etc.

I've gotten comments on both sides of the fence. Most are incredulous that I'm even contemplating this. The very next question they ask is, "Who is going with you?" As if I couldn't do it myself and that I need to do it with someone else. Yes, no worries, my son Spencer is coming along with me. He is going to be my guide and we will be doing this together as a father and son team.

What gave me the idea of even climbing any mountain you may ask? It started out with two friends, Henry and Reza, taking me up the Grouse Grind. Five years later and I am still doing the Grind every Saturday morning from the opening of the Grind to the public to its closing for the season in the Fall. I have found it to not only be mentally and physically challenging but also an exhilarating goal achieved every time I've reached the top. It has been spiritually and mentally therapeutic as well. I have learned many life lessons from the Grind that I will be sharing throughout this Blog as you share my journey on the way to Kilimanjaro in September (specific dates to be finalized).

Climbing the Grouse Grind was as far as I'd ever thought of mountain climbing. It was tough enough as it is when one has vision but much more challenging without vision. My first year on the Grind was not too bad. I still had some vision and was able to climb it in about one and a half hours but as my vision began to deteriorate I began to slow down and am now only able to climb the Grind in about 2 hrs or so due to my less than 1% vision left. Thus I was totally surprised when someone pointed me to Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind guy who summitted Everest. You can check out his achievement at  http://www.touchthetop.com. It's an amazing story. It piqued my interest on how he did it. There was even a movie made of this achievement called Touch The Top. His youtube videos talked of his journey to climb some of the tallest mountains in the world before Everest and the life lessons he'd learned along the way. When he came down the mountain one of the things he did was to bring blind kids to Everest's base camp.

That intrigued me. It put a whole new meaning to the phrase "The Blind Leading the Blind." I thought that one day I wouldn't mind helping with such a cause. Help expand the world for blind kids.

I was jerked back to reality by a fellow Grouse Grinder (mentioned in my Blog profile) that I should probably climb Kilimanjaro first before trying Everest, given my situation. Especially since I hadn't climbed any serious major mountain in the world as yet.

Kilimanjaro? I didn't even know where Mount Kilimanjaro was. That's when another friend, Eric Muir, pointed me to its location and mentioned that with the proper preparation, I could probably make it to the top. He'd  climbed it himself and thought the only challenge was going to be altitude sickness as opposed to it being a "technical" climb needing full mountaineering training and equipment. He'd also pointed me to  an expedition of 25 climbers, of whom 9 were blind kids, that had summited Kilimanjaro in  2009.

Check out the following links:

25 Team Expedition with Blind Kids and the youngest blind kid who'd summitted was 13 years old:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbE295wJ168

See also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rFWQfcHHfQ

That  piqued my interest even more. If a 13 year old blind kid can do it, why can't I? In fact, as I was doing more research into the mountain itself, I came across Esther and Martin Kafer, the oldest couple who'd summitted Kilimanjaro.

Check out their youtube video, Esther and Martin Kafer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZJJgy7vybM

Huffington post article on oldest couple from Vancouver to climb Kilimanjaro:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/03/esther-martin-kafer-oldest-couple- kilimanjaro_n_1937621.html

That did it! Blind kids summitting Kilimanjaro, oldest couple summitting Kilimanjaro and Eric, amongst many others I've met to date have said it can be done, even with little to no vision.

Thus the challenge began. First to get past the mental block that it is a crazy idea, that I can't do it given my situation, then comes the decision and commitment to do it with Spencer's support. We're targeting September to do the climb. Now begins the next difficult phase, preparation and training.

Cheers,

Bill (The Blind Guy who thinks he can see.) and Spencer (The Guide)

A son's tribute to his Mom

Below is Spencer’s tribute to his mom at her memorial Service, February 14, 2015:

First of all, I’d like to thank you all for coming this morning to celebrate the life of my mom.

Over the years, my mom had created an image that all moms should instill in their children. That image is how to be strong, optimistic, persevere, work hard and to be passionate in everything you do.  The passing of my mom has recently triggered many of the characteristics that she’s instilled in me.  The one characteristic that I want to focus on is passion. She has introduced me to an indescribable amount of passion for family, friends, work, and to her duty as a servant of God.  Her image has inspired me to be passionate and to care for my family, friends, and studies. Her strength, optimism and perseverance is what drives me to keep pursuing my studies through these difficult times and most of all she has taught me to always put others before myself.

Before my moms passing, I had never really thought of the memories that I’ve shared with my mom nor have I ever really thought about all of the things that she’s taught me or has done for me.  Ever since university began, a lot had been taken for granted and I was never around as much as I should have. Yet she was always there for me and put me before herself.  With her being sick in the hospital, I was around home a lot more than usual and it was then when I realized that I had lost touch with my mom.

So with that being said, one of the many memories that I’d like to share with you is very recent and it may have been one of the most meaningful memories that I’ve had with my mom.  As some of you may know, before things took a turn for the worse, her condition was stable and she was improving. It was during that time where she would always tell my dad and me to go home and there was one night just as we were about to leave, she said “hug me son, I love you”.  Right then, it hit me that she was always just there no matter what’s changed between her and me.  With that memory ingrained in me, everything came rushing back, all of the positive memories of our family vacations, to just coming home to her sitting on the couch watching TV with Scruffy or her staying up with me all night playing Spider Solitaire while I study.            

Even with all of these memories and teachings, she has left us far too soon. She had plenty more memories and teachings to share with my dad and me and in spite of recent events, all we can do now is to live for her. She would want us to be strong, persevere, and to live life with passion. Our lives are too short to do any less. We will miss you dearly and we will love you forever.

Goodbye for now, Mom.

Spencer