Story

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have returned home from Tanzania (safely)!

Both the project visits in Dar es Salaam, and the climb were incredible, and truly some of the best experiences of my life. While in Tanzania, we visited foster families that are supported by VSO. Funds are donated to help the families start very small and modest businesses to sustain their families. It was great to see the types of projects that VSO supports and the funds we raised go to!

Climbing and camping on Mt. Kilimanjaro took much physical effort and mental focus each day……. We spent a total of 7 days climbing and descending, disconnected from everything but ourselves and our desire to experience one of the greatest mountains in the world. The final night was the hardest I have ever pushed myself!! I made it to summit night at midnight on the 6^th day, and then climbed to Gilman’s point, standing at about 18,700 feet, the rim of the crater, after climbing for almost 6 and a half hours since midnight……..it was extremely rewarding to reach Gilman’s point at sunrise, just me and the mountain…I was thrilled!

I wasn’t able to continue on to the highest peak, Uhuru, beckoning at only about an hour and a half ahead……. At such a high altitude, the lack of oxygen was getting the best of me, and the doctor on our climb advised me and some others at that point to descend back down to the Kibo (the next descending point)……It was a tough decision, but I wanted to make sure I was able to walk down (rather than be carried down!J). At around 7am, I began the 3 and half hour descent back down to Kibo, rested a few hours and immediately the entire group descended another 5 hours to the next camp…..talk about a long day!

I’m very proud of this effort and absolutely could not have done it without your donations to VSO and your encouragement and support.

I put together a slideshow of all my best pictures!

Please let me know if you’d like more pictures, have questions, or would like a DVD copy of the slideshow that I’ve linked to below!!! Please take a look, as I think it best recaps the experience! Make sure you turn on your volume J

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4859808938959461604

Thanks!

Melissa

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Hey there!

Thanks for visiting my site! I greatly appreciate your encouragement and support!

**Note: US friends, family, and colleagues: This site is in British pounds (GBP). I've provided a currency converter for your convenience so you can adjust your donation accordingly: www.xe.com**

So here goes......my initial journey begins......I will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in June 2008! This 10 day trek is my way to both challenge myself to the MAX mentally and physically, and raise money for an exceptional cause to help others. My trek will be raising money specifically to support communities in East Africa.

I will be climbing the 5,985 meter summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro via the Rongai route which will take 7 days there and back. From what I have heard of this climb, while it is quite the physical challenge, it takes even more mental endurance to make it to the summit!

Yes, I will be throwing away the makeup, the high heels, showers (that will be a challenge in itself), and let's not forget tossing my favorite accessory... Diet Coke......for this one! This journey is going to be all about helping others who live in extreme poverty, and challenging myself to ultimate heights.

I truly believe you can reach any goal with the right drive and of course an extremely positive attitude! While I'm confident I will succeed in this journey, this isn't going to be an easy one! I will need the support of you all!

I look forward to updating this site often with details around my training, and of course pictures when I return! So please visit often!

Please note that all funds raised will go to VSO (not to my flights, visas and insurance, gear, etc!) I have committed myself to this goal and any portion that I do not raise through fundraisers, I will donate in order to meet this goal.

Thanks everyone! I greatly appreciate your support!

Melissa

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Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Voluntary Service Overseas will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

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**Offline Donations**

Lanny and Cyndi: $20; Grandpa and Grandma: $100 + some of my gear!!!

Aunt Ceil: $200; MeasureUp: $200; Fay and Wayne Morris: $100; Shamrockin Shindig Fundraiser in Charlotte: $80, Sofia Bemnet: $20

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Update: May 16th-18th, 2008 -
The SMOKIES! Mt. Leconte in Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains! Thanks to my coworkers David, Craig, Brooke and Julia for hiking and camping with me!
Mt. LeConte is located within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At 6593 feet, it is the third highest peak in the park and the sixth highest in the whole Appalachian chain. The mountain rises abrubtly from east side of the French Broad River Valley in Tennessee approx. 30 miles south-east of Knoxville. The summit towers nearly a vertical mile above its western base near the busy tourist town of Gatlinburg. The mountain actually sits about 2 miles north of the main ridgeline of the Smokies, connected to Mt. Kephart by a ridge known as the Boulevard.
http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150497/mount-leconte.html
Info on Bears in the Park!
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/black-bears.htm
You can check out some of my pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Melissa.H.Steinberg/MtLecontSmokiesTennessee

Update: May 10th, 2008 -

EXTREME HIKE!!!!!!!!!! Mt. Baldy in California! Pictures to be posted soon! My new picture on the left is from this past weekend's hike! Thanks to my friend Mike for planning the hike.......it was TOUGH!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_San_Antonio

You can check out some of my pics here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2365790&l=437fd&id=4929027

It turns out that 3 days after the hike, there is a FOREST FIRE in Mt. Baldy! Yikes!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wildfire14-2008may14,0,663405.story

Update: April 5th, 2008

Thank you SO MUCH to all of my friends (and their friends!) who came to support our fundraiser last night, even in the pouring rain and tornado watch!!! It was a blast! We were supported by over 120 guests who came out to the brewery for our Ale for Africa benefit. Together, Emily Reilly and I raised over $1,100 going directly to VSO in less than 3 hours. Special thanks to Sweetwater Brewery!

Update: March 29, 2008

AMICALOLA FALLS HIKING! Congrats to this week's "storm trooping hikers"! Thanks go out to: Lindsay Gail Morris, Jessica Brittany Steinberg, Sarah Leslie Dunn, and last but not least, Cooper Morris Hernandez!!!!!!!

Friday night: Road trip! We hop in my Explorer (I'm still driving that car), and head north from Atlanta to Dawsonville! We swing by Duluth to pick up Lindsay and Cooper (Lindsay's dog) in the backseat......Cooper is sandwiched between Jess and Lindsay. Sarah's up front with me. We were hoping to get a cabin at Amicalola falls, but they were packed!!!......well, we ended up at the Best Western by the Dawsonville outlet mall.......which wasn't the ideal camping feeling we had in mind, but at least it was "pet friendly".....and so were the rednecks tailgating in the Best Western parking lot as we pulled in.....sketch! I've realized that living in hotels each week has totally turned me into a hotel snob....it was fine, up until the next morning, when Cooper escaped out of the hotel room and bounded full force into the hotel lobby jumping on the men downstairs........I go running after him unsuccessfully trying to get him....Lindsay comes running........finally we corral him back upstairs....little 9 month old Cooper isn't so little anymore (black border collie/shepard about 70 pounds).

Saturday: Time to wake up!!! (Cooper decides that when he is running around our room licking all of our faces). We "gear up" and drive another 20 miles to Amicalola falls...its hazy and gloomy, but we're sticking with it....5 minutes from the park, and it starts to rain......just a little.......then the sky let's loose.......but......we're still going!!! We all trek through the visitors center and decide the trail we will blaze today! We're at the base of the Appalachian trail!!! We would like to go on the 8.5 trail (we think going all the way to Maine is a bit aggressive ...)...... but its pouring buckets, so we decide on the 2 mile trail up to the top of the falls! It's a hike, and much different from Kennesaw and Stone Mountains! We're leaping over puddles and running streams of water filled with red Georgia clay! There are some awesome views of the mountains! We trudge to the top and there is an INCREDIBLE waterfall (largest east of the Mississippi) that is crashing over the rocks, and the pouring rain is intensifying it! We take in the sights and then make our way back down the mile long slippery winding staircase wrapping down the mountain and around the falls! We stop for a few photo ops, making sure to get more of the scenery than ourselves....by now we are completely drenched from the storms pouring through! We make it down to the base, and hike another mile or so until we reach the parking lot where we started. By now, its thundering hard, so we decide it's best to cut this visit a tad short!!! We try and dry ourselves off (and the soaking wet dog!!!) before we all get back in the car for the ride home..........It was a great time, awesome sites......and I will definitely be going back soon for a long day hike.......Who's coming with me?

http://www.gastateparks.org/net/content/go.aspx?s=64.0.0.

Updates: March 26, 2008

FUNDRAISER: FRIDAY, APRIL 4TH - "Ale for Africa" SWEETWATER BREWERY - ATLANTA - 9PM to midnight! $20 donation at the door for all you can drink SWEETWATER beer! www.sweetwaterbrew.com

WEEKEND HIKING: SATURDAY, MARCH 28/29 - AMICALOLA FALLS - DAWSONVILLE, GA - let me know if you want to come with me! - www.amicalolafalls.com

Updates: March 22, 2008

SHOUT OUTS TO THE STONE MOUNTAIN HIKING BUDDIES: SARAH LESLIE DUNN AND JESSICA BRITTANY STEINBERG.......3 TIMES UP AND DOWN....WITH THE AGGRESSIVE BACKPACK!

My Latest Blog: March 3rd, 2008

Just over 3 months til Africa...And I'm kickin it up a notch! The hiking has ramped up....that's for sure! 70 degrees and sunny in Georgia and perfect weather for training! Well, maybe a little too perfect, I should probably practice in some cold, wet conditions, but hey I was pretty happy that the weather man's prediction of a beautiful sunny weekend came true! This meant that not one, but two hikes were in store. By now I've been hiking with a backpack (although it is my black North Face from college, I promise this is what it is really intended for, rather than looking like I was roughing it across campus)! I have some seriously fierce hiking boots....I'm extreme.

Saturday: Kennesaw Mountain - 6 mile trail....funny note: Jessica found the same tree........

Sunday: Stone Mountain - 4 miles (up and down 2 times).......funny note: guitar man made a repeat performance :)

Thanks to this weekends hikers: Roxy!!!, Mom!!!!, Jessica!!! (Thanks Rox for the awesome power bar recipe!)

Thanks to some previous weekend's hikers: Mom!!! Dad!!! Jessica!!! Steph!!! Allison!!! Marin!!! Thanks for kicking my butt up the mountain in record time!

Bootcamp in Charlotte starts bright and early at 5:15am tomorrow!!! Yes I know I'm crazy and sleep deprived...but it will all be worth it! I decided it was time for another round of punishment, although I'm not quite certain it will be as aggressive as BTB bootcamp! We'll see!

Who's hiking with me this weekend?.....

Until the next hike, and as Stephanie would say....

Peace and Peaches!!!

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November 11, 2007

So seven months until Mt. K.......time to start training!

I decided that I'd keep all of you posted with how my training and fundraising is going - and hopefully throw in a couple of funny antidotes along the way...

Off to Stone Mountain! I figure Stone Mountain and Kennesaw Mountain will be my best bet locally...at least to start off with...

What unsuspecting victim will I drag with me to climb this rock??? Takers? Anyone? Thanks goodness I was able to commandeer one of my friends (Thanks Marin!)!

We get to Stone Mountain....We finally figure out the parking situation....We end up at "Confederate Drive"….:) We see a granny looking lady near the entrance of the park - where we need to go first to figure out how to get an annual parking pass (hey, I'm serious here)...

The park is pretty empty. There is a red velvet rope to corral the mass of visitors waiting in line for tickets...but there is not a soul in line, so we walk right up to that eager granny with the Stone Mountain apron on. "Excuse me", she croaks. “You need to go through the ropes.....!”

Ok, there is NOBODY in the line....."Um, there is nobody in line", I say ever so sweetly....Granny persists, "No! you have to go through the ropes!!!". Ok ok, Marin and I laugh hysterically, and turn around and walk like idiots in spirals of red velvet rope. Are we on a hidden video show? Hysterical and ridiculous at the same time.

We get to the base of the mountain, and you know what? I totally forgot that there really is no path up the mountain per se....It’s just a bunch of jumbled rocks...and they are STEEP! At one point, they had railings up that you had to grab if you didn't want to go sliding backwards down that thing! Finally about 30 or so minutes, and 1.3 miles later, we make to the top! And it's chilly up there!!!

The view is incredible actually - you can see for 60 miles in all directions on a clear gorgeous day like this.... (That’s where the person reading this is motivated to come with me next time ). And there is great people watching if that's your thing too.

Marin and I start descending and all of the sudden, we hear someone belting out, "There is a house in New Orleans, they call the Rising Sun!!!!!!!" A shirtless homeless looking man with a guitar is strumming, singing, and walking himself ever so slowly up the mountain.....Hey, this guy's pretty good...but he's going UP the mountain, and we're coming down....since we wanted a concert, we decided to follow him back up the mountain! Meanwhile, he continues singing and playing his guitar...We keep a safe distance.

He then stops and asks a 2 year old and her mom, if they want to play his guitar....The granola mom lets her bare foot daughter (on a very rocky mountain) go near the dirty lone wailer....There apparently are not qualifications to become a parent.....We then hear a little tiny girl say, "This mountain is BRUTAL!" time for us to head back down now...despite his talent, we decide that twice up the mountain is a bit aggressive for training day 1!

Until the next hike......

Melissa

Many thanks for your support!!! See below for details of my intinerary or more information about VSO.

My Itinerary:

http://www.vso.org.uk/accentureglobalkilimanjaro/2008/itinerary.htm

More about VSO and Tanzania:

http://www.vso.org.uk/accentureglobalkilimanjaro/2008/about.htm

More about VSO:

http://www.vso.org.uk/