He Came, He Saw, He Conquered

[Jon Schlaman]

I just drove 5 hours each way to pick up Chris from Bearskin Meadows summer camp. Him and 5 other diabetic teens and a few counselors spent the last week and a half climbing to the peak of Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental United States. Chris did not want to go on this trip, and I half expected to hear him complain all the way home about how hard it was, but I was really suprised to hear that he totally loved it. He had a great time up there, and one of his counselors said that he was leading the pack most of the way. Apparently he is in better shape than I thought. He came back with a feeling of accomplishment that I have not seen in him before. They crossed rivers, they slept in below freezing conditions (one night he says it was -2 degrees). He said it was slow going because they stopped often to check blood sugars and treat lows. He is hoping he will get to go again in 2 years when they do their next hike up the mountain.

[Sugar Plum]

That's great. I wish I had such adventures. I only went to day camps as I child, and an overnight camping trip as a treat towards the end of summer. It's a great way to build up a healthy appetite and the whole camping experience stays with you. I would not go camping now. It looks like everything got better after you took the bulls by the horn and hung in there.