I spent most of Sunday battling my way up the steep slopes of Mt. Washington in the Olympic National forest. It was more like a inclined crawl than climb and in typical whiteout Washington weather, I was forced to spend nearly 30 minutes huddled behind a large rock waiting for the rain and fog to clear. With no real distinct route, I could only guess which snow chute might bring me to the correct ridge line and which my dead end at some big 200 foot headwall. In the end, I spent nearly six hours on the trail in what I thought would be a casual morning walk.

Still, it wasn't nearly as steep as the Copper Spur on Mt. Hood and I was traveling light - bringing my Yaktrax Extremes instead of full crampons and only one MSR Trekking pole. Ryan was on his way back to Norway and so I scrambled upward in silence. I'm comfortable by myself and enjoy spending time deep in my own thoughts, but I couldn't help but think about Maria and her dad's own life and death struggle happening 2,500 miles away.

We found out that Maria's dad, Tom's, cancer was getting worse the day I left for Seattle. She flew out to Boston early in the week to be with him and her family. At the time, we both agreed that it would be best for me to continue the Seven for Someone climbs and fly out afterwards. Unfortunately, his cancer was aggressive and he died on Monday. Maria called while I was driving down from the Mt. Washington trail head. I pulled over the car and cried.

I'd like to think that his heart was so big that there just wasn't enough room in the world anymore for all that love and kindness. Maria and I are expecting a baby boy in October so maybe he had to leave just so there would be enough time to transfer his enormous generosity to his grandson. I hope so. And if my son, grows up to be even half the man of his grandfather, I will feel proud and honored.

I will be temporarily pausing (finishing my final 3 peaks in Colorado next week) my Big City Mountaineers Seven for Someone fundraising climbs. It has been a difficult week to be away from Maria. But at the same time, rewarding - trying to help such an important cause like Big City Mountaineers has been very fulfilling. I know Maria's dad was excited about what I was doing as well. In the 60's he had played professional football for the New England Patriots but he then went on to become a public school principle in Boston. If there is one thing that Tom understood, it was the importance of helping out kids.

Please remember that the goal of my Seven for Someone adventure is to support Big City Mountaineers and their effort to provide critical life skills to under-resourced urban youth through their mentor led wilderness expeditions. Please help shape the future of our world by donating here: https://www.summitforsomeone.org/

Image: Lupine.