We Are Ready...

Today we set out for the final leg of this big fundraising/training adventure.

We will spending 4 days in Ashford, Wa and Mt Rainier National Park, with RMI Guides. The first day we will meet our summit guides, spend a few hours checking our gear with the guides and discussing the plan for the following 3 days.

Thursday we will spend several hours in the Park learning about Rope Skills, Crevasse Rescue, Ice Ace Self Arrest, and several other tools to make sure we will be prepared for the climb past Camp Muir. Throughout the day our guides will be making sure we are physically fit enough to handle the ~9,000ft climb to the summit.

Friday we leave Ashford mid morning and head to the mountain for the beginning of the actual climb. One last trip to Camp Muir for Ryan and I, and a first trip for Dad. We should take about 6 hours to get to Camp. We will be going slow and steady so that we are not too tuckered out when we get to camp. We will need to reserve as much energy for the actual summit attempt. We head to bed in a tiny bunkhouse with the rest of our team for a short nap.

Saturday we will wake up around 1am to being the ascent. We will don our harnesses, ropes, crampons, helmets and take hold of our ice axes. The serious business begins! All the training, mental preparation, family/friend support and adrenaline is what we will be relying on to take ourselves to the summit.

We will pause the story here, take a moment to once again say thank you for the support and prayers.

Stay tuned for the finale of this story.

-Katie, Ryan and Jim

We have met our Fundraising Goal!

A VERY Special thank you to everyone that has donated to the American Lung Association Climb for Clean Air - Team Younkin. We feel so supported, loved and inspired! Eight months ago we sat in a small little room with a fabulous group of people from the American Lung Association Seattle, "selling" us the experience of fundraising, training and ultimately attempting a summit of Mt. Rainier. Ryan and I just sat there grinning from ear to ear, squeezing each others' legs as Lou Whittaker spoke of this great cause and why he supports ALA. Several of last years' climbers shared their views of the fundraising and the climb, all of them saying the experience could not be put in words, it was so amazing. We sat and listened, trying to determine if we could be one of the 2010 climbers. After leaving the information meeting we knew we wanted to try this adventure out, but the risks were adding up quickly. After sleeping on the idea, we decided the summer of 2010 was not going to be lost again to working overtime and a myriad of other excuses preventing us from getting outdoors. After we agreed to sign up for this amazing cause and the unknowns of the adventure, I called dad to see if he wanted to join us. Without saying more than "This summer" and "Mountain", dad said "Sign me up!" Part of signing up for the adventure was agreeing with American Lung Association that our minimum amount to fundraise would be $10,500 between the 3 of us. While we had the task of fundraising we also were expected to start getting physically fit and mentally prepared to climb Mt Rainer at the end of July. In December we started fundraising and hiking. We hit the ground running with both tasks. Our emails and phone calls to family/friends was working better than we had anticipated; so many people were happy to support our team and the American Lung Association. While the fundraising was going well, the physical training was going even better; we were getting out to a trailhead at least once a weekend. At the end of March we thought we were doing so well with our fundraising that we changed our goal to $13,500. $3000 more! Whew, what were we thinking?! Once we reached the minimum goal of $10,500 in April we had two months of no donations, no website hits, and no response to emails. I have no idea what got our friends and family interested again, [maybe it was my umpteenth email and facebook post on the topic ;)] but in June and the first half of July we managed to raise our last $3000. It was such a blessing to open email and see another friend support us and our cause. I must say that for me the last month of donations have really touched my heart because as the day of the summit attempt gets closer, I am really getting nervous. Having our friends and family show their support is a great reminder that we can do this; I can do this, and it makes my nerves settle. So we have reached our fundraising goal, the accomplishment feels unbelievable. Neither Dad, Ryan or I, would have guessed that combined we could raise $13,500; especially in hard economic times, with all three of us in the same social/family circles. We are fully supported, physically fit and now working on being completely mentally prepared...

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Last Hike Before We Head to Ashford

This past weekend was very full, with helping a friend move, having to work and supporting a friend's fundraiser, that getting to Camp Muir this weekend was not in the cards.  Although we couldn't find the time to drive down to Mt. Rainier, we still managed to fit in one more training hike with 40 pound packs before the summit attempt July 24th.
On Sunday, Ryan, Natasha and I hit Bandera Mountain trailhead at 7am!  We had an early start to get back into Seattle to support the Ericksons' Fundraiser and to stay out of the heat.  This trail is mostly in the sun after 11am.  Thank goodness we did not have to worry about the sun until about 15 minutes to the summit of Bandera Mountain because that last mile was steep!  Although the elevation of the mountain is only 5200ft we managed an elevation change of 3000ft, in just over 3 miles, in about 2.5 hours.  We held a great pace up the mountain to keep within our time constraint and in thanks to Natasha setting the pace with a lighter pack.  She looked like a gazelle compared to us,which kept us motivated to keep going. 
Not only was this hike a great workout, we had some of the best views for a hike only 75 minutes away from the house. 

Sitting on the top of Bandera Mountain, Mt. Rainier behind us

Mason Lake, camped there last year with Natasha and Jacob

We even had a glimpse of the Craggy North Cascade Mountains

Less than one and a half weeks away we will hopefully be on the top!