Gearing Up

It's down to the wire now - only one month till my summit attempt on Mt. Shasta. The fundraising is almost complete, but please feel free to donate because I'm not there yet - 76% complete! The only other part of the climb which I hadn't put together was the last bit of supplies for the trip. I have most everything that I need, but having never done any significant climbing at altitude or on glaciers, there were some items which I was lacking.

Well, thanks to REI's Anniversary sale, I was able to gear up with relatively little expense - how exciting for me. I had to buy things like new hiking socks, a headlamp, some waterproof over pants, glacier sunglasses, and even synthetic underwear! I was able to get all of this gear, and even a little more and still manage to get out for around $300! This wasn't money that I really wanted to spend as I've been trying to save money for a change, but at least I didn't have to pay for everything full price!

The only other thing that I got was the book, "Into the Wild" by John Krakauer. I know that the movie just came out on DVD, but I loved reading "Into Thin Air" so much that I had to read the book first. I've only had it for a few days but I'm already half way through - if you haven't read it yet, skip the movie and buy the book, it is amazing.

In a month, I hope to be standing on the summit of Shasta - I'll be sure to write about it...

-climbing jonathon