Tag Archive: Western Breach

1. Happy 21st Anniversary!

   January 15, 2015 1:09 PM 2 Comments

   John started a new job in August, and since then he has been asking me (repeatedly) to gather some photos of the two of us to display in his office. So I purchased a frame that would hold 19 photos, and I came home to start picking the ones I wanted to include.

   The only problem was, I found over 100.

   So I decided to take a different approach. Using Shutterfly, I made two posters that would hold 30 photos each. I love looking at all of these reminders of how much fun we have together.

   I’m so lucky to have you as my partner John Hetrick! Thank you for 21 wonderful years, and here’s to (at least) 21 more.

   

   See if you can match the place to the picture.

   Anchorage	Ennis Ireland	Lake Bled Slovenia	Roatan Honduras
   Arusha Tanzania	Ennis St Patricks Day Parade	Lake Louise	Scottsdale
   Baltimore	Funchal Portugal	Lava Tower Tanzania	South Beach
   Banff	Glendale Arizona	Ljubljana Castle	St Lucia
   Buenos Aires	Governor’s Arts Awards	Madeira, Portugal	Summit of Kilimanjaro
   Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul	Guadalajara Mexico	McNight Gala	Superstition Wilderness
   Cliffs of Moher	Havasupai Falls	New Orleans	The Concorde Room
   Cork Restaurant	Inca Trail Peru	Olomana Peak Hawaii	The Modern Waikiki
   Costa Rica	Isle of Skye Scotland	PF Chang’s Marathon	Vancouver
   Cross Lake	Key West Florida	Phoenix Art Museum Fundraiser	Venice Italy
   Denali National Park	Kibo Tanzania	Phuket Thailand	Waikiki Beach
   Denmark	KoKo Head Hawaii	Prince William Sound	Western Breach
   Diamond Head	Kotor Montenegro	Puerto Vallarta Mexico	Whiskey Row Half
   Dublin Ireland	Krka Falls Croatia	Recoleta	Zanzibar
   Dubrovnik Croatia	La Récréation	Reid’s Palace, Portugal	Zion

    

2. Day 11: Lava Tower to Arrow Glacier Camp

   June 19, 2012 10:00 AM Leave a Comment

   Do you mind if I put a lot of pics in this post? Because the day’s hike was super short and steep and I think for that reason I stopped a lot to take pics. The views were so beautiful and the angles were stunning, too, since we were so often perched on sheer cliffs.

   Anyhow, there aren’t many stories to tell, except that we had French Toast for breakfast, and we got to camp and unpacked, and then we hiked 1/4th of the way up the Western Breach to get acclimatized and to see where we would be the next day, or “D-Day” as Kapanya called it. And Manase made empanadas! You remember how much I love empanadas, right?! So here goes. Click on an image to start the Gallery.
   

   

   Here are our porters hiking out of camp.

   

   Hiking out with Lava Tower in the background.

   

   Heading towards Arrow Glacier with a great view of the Western Breach.

   

   Trish with the Mountain.

   

   Porters on the trail with cliffs in background.

   

   It’s cold up there.

   

   Cindy and her tent.

   

   Arriving to Arrow Glacier Camp.

   

   Unpacking.

   

   Acclimatization hike up the first quarter of the Western Breach.

   

   John and Trish at our turn around on the acclimatization hike 16,500 feet.

   

   Here’s a view of the clouds below as the sun started to set.

   

   Stanley and Vincent serving us dinner in the mess tent.

   

   Manase made emapanadas!! OMG!!

   I also took some video at this camp so you can get a feel for it. Here’s our cook Manase talking with Larry and Cindy, and then a view of camp, and then Stanley at the end. Remember I told you that Stanley always spoke to me in falsetto? It was super cute. Oh, and one fun fact. Manase and Stanley are brothers!

   Here are the specs we started with:

   Day 5 of the Hike
   Lava Tower to Arrow Gacier Camp
   1 Miles
   1 to 2 Hours
   Start 15,092 Finish 16,103
   Gain of 1011

   Here’s what my GPS said:
   .74 Miles
   1:14 Hours
   Start 15,205 Finish 15,924
   Gain of 702

   All in all, it was an easy day, another indication that our whole trek was well staged, because we knew the next day would be tough. We ate a light dinner and went to bed early, anticipating our 4:00 am wake-up call.

3. Kili Training

   April 4, 2012 6:59 PM Leave a Comment

   

   With 70 days to go until the start of the Kilimanjaro climb, we’ve done a lot of work to get ready for the big trip. We’ve ordered massive amounts of gear including cold weather clothes and sleeping bags. We’ve lifted major weight at The Bar Fitness in Ahwatukee with our friends Kaylee and Brian. We’ve hiked all over the beautiful trails of South Mountain. We’ve booked flights and lodging for the travel not included with our Climb and Safari package. We’ve renewed passports and taken steps to get visas and vaccinations. We’ve lined up the house sitter and updated all of our documents. We’ve also been reading lots of guidebooks and blogs, and talking to others about their experiences with the hike.

   In the coming 70 days there’s still a lot to do, most importantly, getting in the best physical shape possible for the challenges of the mountain. The 3 toughest days on the mountain are going to be:

   Day 6, when we take 7 to 9 hours to move 2 miles and 2,397 feet up the Western Breach.

   Day 7, when we take 1 to 2 hours to climb 841 vertical feet in 1 mile to the summit at 19,341, then descend 6 miles in 9,041 vertical feet in 6 to 8 hours (oh my knees are killing me just thinking about it)!

   Day 8, when we will take 7 to 9 hours to hike 6 miles in 4,722 vertical feet down the rest of the mountain.

   My favorite training hike on South Mountain is a 7.4 mile loop that takes about 3 hours. It starts at 1329 feet, tops out at 2550, and offers a net gain of 1450 and a net loss of 1450. Seems I might need to start doing that twice a day. I envy our hiking pals Rich and Lisa who live in Denver, since they have access to some serious elevation. I think we’ll try to get some Humphries hikes in this May so we can challenge ourselves.