Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Climb is over, or is it?

The mountain was amazing. The climb, the people, the sights, the emotions - will never be forgotten.

I was put into a position of humbleness and reliance from the start when my luggage did not arrive to California when I did. The kindness and concern of the other climbers and Breast Cancer Fund staff were imminent from the very first day, and continued to amaze me all week.

Here is the mountain and our East Coast team, ready to start on this journey together. Our team of 6 consisted on 3 breast cancer survivors - Jennifer (FL), Amy (VT), and Deb (RI). The other three of us - Jess (VA), Victoria (VA), and Meg (VT) were not survivors ourselves, but all had too many people and stories close to us that involved battles lost and won against breast cancer. Our fearless leaders, Mount Shasta Guides, were Ben and Dane.



Base camp at Hidden Valley (9,500 ft) was AMAZING - the pictures don't give it justice, but here they are....


We awoke dark and early at 2 am and had our crampons on and we climbing at 3 am.

This was a super cool site and the sunlight started to lighten the sky and cast Shasta's shadow on the land below.

Jess and Deb roped together and going UP!

After almost 10 hours of this (above) the summit was in sight!


Getting closer....


CLOSER...............................


One last push to the top -----


MADE IT!!

WHOOHOOO!!!!!


The view from the top was amazing of course, but like they say - the summit is just the place you turn around! Now time to go back down, but my strength - and the strength of those who helped me get here - will not be left behind or forgotten.


"So, how was it you ask?"

It was awesome. Having trained and prepared and fundraised for 8 months I was ready for this; I was ready to climb this mountain.

The climb itself started around 3 in the morning, which after no sleep was pretty darn early and I was a bit sleepy, but my team needed to me climb, just as I needed my team to climb. Together we set our rhythm of one step at a time up the mountain.

The energy of the team was inspiring and the focus and rhythm of each step, each breathe, was meditative. I knew I could make it to the top, but it was a harder climb and journey than I had imagined when in town looking up at the slopes and peak of this mountain. Now, on the hearty, steep slopes with my crampons digging into the snow and my ice axe steadying me the climb was real and it was strenuous.

On the mountain I learned that you not only have to dig deep within yourself to find strength in hard, trying, and tiring times, but you have to absorb the energy, love, joy, and strength of those on the journey with you as well. For this climb it was the energy and determination and strength of my climb team, the guides, and other BCF climbers on the mountain that flowed into me and helped me do more than I could do alone - reach the summit.

My take away lesson is that we all have love, energy, skills, and smiles to offer each other along the way - through all the hills, peaks, and valleys of this life. Sometimes we need them from others and must accept this. Other times, we simply need to offer them to others. Together we can get higher, and accomplish more, than we ever could alone.


Thank you all.

Climb On,

Jess










www.breastcancerfund.org/climb09/Jbarton

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Heading for the Mountain

It is almost here.... the BIG Climb!

I leave this Friday, June 19th, to fly out to San Francisco where I'll meet Victoria, the other girl from Virginia! We'll then rent a car and drive up to Shasta to take snow school Saturday morning.

I've tried to start packing ... lots of gear to figure out how to pack so I can carry on my backpack and check a small suitcase. I'll also be staying out in CA for a week so I gotta pack tight!


Here are the snacks that will sustain me up the mountain... some turkey jerky, trail mix, a variety or CLIF and Powerbars, electrolyte mix, dried fruit, goldfish crackers, and for when the going gets really tough -- chocolate covered espresso beans .... YUM.


After 115 miles of training hikes, 8 months of training at the gym, and raising almost $7,000 I'm ready to be there looking up at this magnificent mountain.... take a look, she's a real beauty!

If you'd like to follow the teams progress while out at Shasta you can do so via the Breast Cancer Fund’s blog: http://www.breastcancerfund.typepad.com/!

Thanks for your support!

Climb On,

Jess


"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." ~ John Muir






Thursday, June 4, 2009

Endurance Hike - Three Ridges

Last weekend I decided to go on an endurance hike with longer miles and lots of elevation gain, but less weight. The trails were in Three Ridges Wilderness area. I started at Reedy Gap off the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked the AT/Mua-Har loop that included Bee Mountain and Three Ridges Mountain. The AT started up from Reedy Gap as a cleared path over a meadow, but soon turned into woods and ran uphill along the spine of Bee Mountain.

Looking out from the second rock outcrop just at the saddle of Three Ridge Mountain, you get a great view of The Priest just across the Valley.

Me pointing to the summit of Three Ridges Mountian where I'm heading....

After passing up and over Three Ridges it was down, down, down many switchbacks to Harpers Creek. There is an AT shelter here along the cascading creek, a very nice place to spend the night I'm sure!
After crossing Harpers Creek it was back up, up, up all the elevation I'd just lost. After a mile or so the AT brought me to the Mau-Har trail, which I took back to Reedy Gap. The Mau-Har followed the cascades of Campbell's Creek for about 4 more miles.


Hiking up along all the waterfalls and cascads was gorgeous, but it was very very hot and humid and I was getting a bit dehydrated and tired by this point!

Finally, after 13 miles and 8 hours of strenuous hiking, I made it back to the meadow and the car, where a bottle of hot, but delicious water awaited me!





Climb On,
Jess


www.breastcancerfund.org/Climb09/Jbarton

Monday, June 1, 2009

Memorial Mountain

So I'm a little behind in my blog ... I have done a few wonderful training hikes since my last post, but I'll skip those for now and tell you about Mount Rogers and the land of wild ponies:)
For Memorial Day weekend Mike and headed to far south west Virginia to hike the state's highest peak, Mount Rogers. Rogers is in fact the talled peak East of South Dakota that does not have a road going to the top of it, so to get there you gotta hike!

We started our 2 day backpacking excursion at Grindstone Camp ground and hiked in on the Mount Rogers Trail. Although the trail bears the summit's name it is the least traveled route to the top, probably since it's the longest ... but that how I roll -- the longer less traveled path!

The path was beautifully vibrant green and we didn't see many people until we got up to the campgrounds near the summit. After maybe 4 miles or so we got on the AT to take us the rest of the up. You can see the first white blaze of the AT in the background behind Mike --


After more miles and uphill hiking we were rewarded with wonderful views of the high meadows of Grayson Highlands.

This is also where the wild ponies roam and live!


The tallest peak in Virginia turns is a humble one, not boastful of its towering heights. In fact its gentle slopes make the summit not stand out from the rest of the mountains around and you would never know by the eye that it was in fact taller that all the other peaks around. We walked up the short summit from camp after filling out bellys with dinner and dessert. It was quite on the top as the sunlight of the day was growing dim. We enjoyed our solitude and then hiked back down before dark.


I thought Mount Rogers would be a good training hike not only phsyically, but mentally because you don't hike it for a summit view, there is none. As with Mount Rogers, I will need to not fixiate on the summit of Shasta, but rather the experience all together and moments of the journey captured along the way.


The next morning we packed up to hike out and not too far from the ridge where we camped there was a really cool rock outcrop, which of course I had to climb up to see what I could see, and man could I see -- the view went on for miles and miles...




Proof once again that the best views are not always from the summit, but often seemingly random moments along the way.

Climb On,

Jess

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

SKIRT!


Check out the May 24/7 with article in SKIRT! Magazine this month at http://richmond.skirt.com/node/36458
The photo was taken at a local park near my house the morning after my big "Concert for the Climb," needless to say I was more than a little tired, but hopefully it doesn't show! I went back to bed and slept the whole day after the shoot!
Thanks SKIRT! for helping me promote my Climb Against the Odds!
Climb On,
Jess




Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Yard Sale!

I headed home to South Carolina this past weekend to help my parents throw a HUGE YARD SALE!!

Day One: Clearing out and setting up! As you can see...there was a lot to clear out!

After clearing stuff out of mom's garage, the next step was to set it all up in Grandmother's driveway and garage next door (my parents live beside my Grandmother). Here is Grandmother's garage during the setting up and organizing...


We borrowed tables from church, they were a HUGE help and we used all of them to sit stuff on!


Day Two: We got an early start and took the tarps off the tables to unveil the loot for sale just in time for the first customer at about 7:30 am!


I made some signs to let everyone know that proceeds from the Yard Sale went to my Climb Against the Odds with the Breast Cancer Fund!

- Dad poses by my signs -


Mom was the one in charge of the sale since most of the items were hers and many were from her days as a K-5 teacher. She also sold a lot of her the plants she potted from her wonderful garden and was on hand to help with prices and to answered questions about all the items, plants, etc. for sale.


We raised a grand total of $990 dollars at the Yard Sale!! Check out the money box -- we chained it to the table so there would be no fast get-a-ways with it! :)


Thanks mom and dad for your help and support during my fundraising! Thanks also to everyone who donated goods for the sale, and of course thanks to all the yard salers in Simpsonville, SC for buying our stuff!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Canary in a coal mine


" The continual increase in cancer cases cannot be dismissed as a statistical fluke. It is part of a greater problem: environmental illness on a global scale. We should see each new case of cancer as a "canary in a coal mine."

Canaries, small finches with rapid metabolisms, were the companions of coal miners, always there to warn of the greatest threat: deadly methane gas. Methane has no natural color, odor, or taste. The small you perceive when you turn on a gas stove is added. That added odor allows you to detect a leak or an unlit burner. If miners saw the canary acting funny or falling off its perch, they knew that methane gas was building up in the mine. When the bird went down, it was time to get above ground.

An increase in cancer among pets is another sign that something is subtly and quietly poisoning us.
Many of us own dogs and cats that live in our homes and ride in our cars. They drink the same water and breathe the same air as us. The result: they also have skyrocketing rate of cancer. Rover's biggest nemesis used to be a speeding car, now its a tumor. The cancer rates of some "indoor" dogs have tripled in the past thirty years. To date, the reaction of animal doctors is the same as that of people doctors: build more hospitals and offer more chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments. Instead of looking for the cause, we are focusing on the cure. We have forgotten our grandmother's axiom: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." '


~ Excerpt taken from "Serve God Save the Planet" by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD