Sorry about the lack of updates for so long! I didn’t realize when I had to call it quits that my adventures in pain and suffering were just beginning!…I spent several days dealing with swelling. I had some muscle breakdown that seems to have caused something called rhabdomyolysis. This shut down my kidneys for a few days, so my whole body was swollen until my kidneys started functioning again. Once the swelling came down I got back feeling in my lower leg and the wound I obtained while sliding down South Maroon became very painful. That wound has finally started becoming manageable, but basically in the time between now and when I had to give up on the record I have been totally useless. I am so happy to be able to walk around again! Now it is just a matter of my overuse injury healing up, but I think that will be a long process.
The original plan was that once we were finished in California, a big group of teammates and friends would meet up at Mt. Rainier and we would all climb Rainier together as a celebration of successful completion of the 14er trip. I was afraid the trip to Rainier would be cancelled once I had to call it quits due to my injuries.
However, once Joe confirmed he was still happy to take everyone to the top, the planning continued. In the end Kim, Andrea, Steve, Calvin, and Axel all flew out together from Colorado to meet up with Joe and Kent (friend of Kim) in Washington. Natalie and I went back and forth about sending Calvin and Axel, and finally when we agreed, we were horrified when we saw what the cost of the airfare had become. So then we changed our minds and said they would not go. However, they both wanted to go so bad that they agreed to pay some of their own money toward the airfare, so in the end we relented and said they could go.
Natalie and I have been following the satellite tracker, and it looks like they all successfully summited this morning! Congrats to the Mt. Rainier team and we wish we could have been there!
