Don, Brian, Mary and Joyce Healy.
Our great friend Don Healy is off to climb Mount Everest! You remember our friends and neighbors the Healys. I took the picture above at Brian's thirtieth birthday, and we traveled with them to Amsterdam.
The Healys are intrepid travelers but this really takes the cake: Don is heading to climb the highest mountain on earth. He and Joyce left in March and are now in Kathmandu. They will start trekking to the Mount Everest Base Camp on Thursday, April 1st and arrive there on the 11th. Then Joyce will head down the mountain while Don climbs to the summit. He hopes to be there on May 18th, his 65th birthday. He'll be back in New York in June – that's one long journey.
Three years ago Don was preparing to climb Mount Rainer in Washington when he had a serious bicycle accident which broke his hip and required a complete hip replacement. Undaunted, he returned to his interest in mountain climbing and seriously trained to get back in shape. When he makes it to the top of Mount Everest, it will be a first for a climber with a hip replacement. Don has a great web site up called Everest Hip Hop which tells his story and also includes a blog which he will be updating so we can follow his adventures.
Mount Everest is more than 29,000 feet high. It's part of the Himalayan mountain range and is located on the border of Nepal and Tibet. Of course it is a perilous journey with inherent dangers including altitude sickness, extreme weather and hazardous wind. All of Don Healy's loved ones say: God speed!
Click on the image below to go to Don's web site and follow his blog:
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