When the going gets tough

Date: July  3, 2016

Trail:  B.C. Mountaineering Club  (M.C.) Trail

Weather: Sun throughout the  day.

Climbers: Bill, Salim Kamani (also part of 2016 Kili climb team), Jane and son, Salim "Sal" Devji

Climb Time: 3 hrs 15 min.

Many of us have heard of the phrase:  “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And I’m amazed at the people I’ve met along the way who embody the above phrase.

Last Sunday, Salim Kamani (part of the 2016 Kili climb team) and I had the privilege of meeting and hiking with Jane Devji and her son Salim up the BC MC trail.  It’s a trail next to the Grouse Grind (see https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/bcmc-trail/).

The BCMC Trail is located just east of the Grouse Grind and offers a less busy alternative workout. The start of the trail is the same place as the start of the Grind before branching off onto the Baden Powell, then left at the junction up the steep hill to the Grouse Mountain chalet.

There are no man made stairs like the Grouse Grind.  It’s a hiking trail strewn with lots of roots and rocks of all sizes and most difficult near the top because of many loose rocks. The initial part of the trail is steep but eventually tapers off.

Jane and her son Salim Devji have climbed Kilimanjaro on more than one occasion.  Once in 2009 and a second time in 2013 with the Alzheimer Society of BC. Unfortunately, she was not able to summit either time whereas Sal, her son, was able to.  You can check out Jane’s profile when she and her two sons, Sal and Aly, joined the Alzheimer’s Kilimanjaro climb team in 2013 (http://ascentbc.ca/the-2013-ascent-team/.

The BC MC trail, right from the very beginning, is strewn with loose rocks, protruding roots and a fairly steep incline.  It takes some effort to keep to the trail as one switches back and forth on the way up. Jane, in spite of her age of 74, was able to head the charge up the BC MC trail. Salim and I were trailing behind, struggling to stay close to her.

She and her son have been training every Sunday morning climbing the BC MC trail since the beginning of June. They are preparing to go back to Tanzania this August to climb Kilimanjaro for a third attempt for Jane to summit. When we’d slowed down at one point in our ascent I asked her, “Why are you attempting a third try to summit Kilimanjaro?”

I was  both amazed and inspired by her response, “If I quit then my sons can say you quit so we can quit too.” She is being a role model for her family. That's when the going gets tough, the tough get going! And I can attest that Jane is one tough Kili climber and I believe that when she hits Kilimanjaro this August, 2016, even at the age of 74, she will summit Kilimanjaro.

I wonder how often, in the past, I have given up when the going got tough. Moving forward, I will remember Jane Devji and follow her lead. Don’t quit when the going gets tough!

Until next post, happy climbing.

Bill

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Catching Up!

Hi Everyone!

So sorry that it has been a while since I’ve updated my blog.   I’ve been away and am now back but discovered I need to do major catch-up with all that’s needed to be done before   Spencer and I leave for Kilimanjaro in September.

Yes, it is coming up fast. Only two months away.  July and August are going to be very busy months. In the past two weeks, I’ve been doing major catch-up (see below) and will be restarting my blog posting as well.

I didn’t realize I had so much to do:

-          Meet with a personal trainer, put together  a training program for   mid-June all the  way through July and August

-          Started a diet program to get healthier  and to lose some major pounds to reduce the weight I’m carrying up Kilimanjaro

-          Go on multiple hikes  weekdays and weekends, hiking must now be ramped up

-          Connecting with more people who have been to Kilimanjaro and back.  One can never get too much heads up information for a successful climb.  I will be blogging more on this moving forward.

-          Lots of planning and meeting putting together a charity event for August 21^st titled Answering The Call - a charity event for Alzheimer Society of BC and the Down Syndrome Research Foundation

-          Nailing down the travel plans for Africa, Kilimanjaro and the details of the actual climb dates, September 10 – 18.  Initially, the   climb was targeted for the beginning of October but   certain plans did not come through resulting in   us shifting the climb to the September dates as noted previously. It may prove to be better as a full moon is expected on the date of our ascent to the very top. Not sure if I’d mentioned it but the  ascent date to the top starts around midnight and we will be hiking in the dark with a full moon lighting our path way up (ok, I know it won’t make much of a difference)

-          Begin to start pulling all the necessary equipment together. It is a long list given we have to accommodate all weather conditions from very hot temperatures at the bottom of Kilimanjaro,  to potential heavy rain as we climb through the rain forest area, to desert like weather. Then we will be experiencing possible -10 temperatures with snow at the very top.

Can you tell I am behind and have a lot of fast track ramping up to do for July and August before we depart early September?

Until the next post , be happy…

Bill    (The Blind Guy who thinks he can climb Kilimanjaro!)