https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news.atomSilver Sculptor Handcrafted Silver Jewelry - Silver Sculptor Blog2024-01-16T07:38:20-05:00Silver Sculptor Handcrafted Silver Jewelryhttps://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/24-hoboken-jersey-city-women-to-watch-in-20242024-01-16T07:38:20-05:002024-01-16T07:38:21-05:0024 Hoboken + Jersey City Women to Watch in 2024Joanne Simmons
I was honored to be included in the Hoboken Girl's 24 Hobeken and Jersey City Women to Watch in 2024 list. Here is the full interview:
HG: Tell us about yourself, what you do for work, and where you live
JS: I grew up in London and moved to Jersey City in my late 20s. I was working for the Tourist Board for Britain which wasn’t fulfilling for me and I needed a creative outlet. I grew up making crafts and was always making things, sewing hats, making greetings cards, you name it. I would see something I liked and instead of buying it, I’d figure out how to make it. So when I couldn’t find any jewelry that I really loved, I decided to make something myself, I realized early on that I loved making jewelry, I loved how you could make anything from just a piece of sheet metal and some wire and transform it into something spectacular. So making jewelry became my creative outlet for a few years. I started my business and would work on it in the evenings and weekends and in 2015 I left my full time job to pursue my passion full time.
HG: What inspires you in your line of work?
JS: People, connections and my surroundings are my inspiration.
I really enjoy connecting with my customers and creating something special for them.
One of the most heartwarming aspects of my work as a jeweler is the opportunity to create engagement rings using stones from jewelry that have been passed down through generations. These pieces hold stories and memories that are deeply cherished by families. By incorporating these heirloom gemstones into engagement rings, I’m able to infuse new love stories with the history and tradition of the past.
There’s nothing more that I love when presenting the final piece to my customer and seeing the absolute joy that they have when they see it.
One of the reasons I love making jewelry is to bring joy to others. Selfishly seeing customer’s positive reactions to the jewelry I make brings me such joy. And that joy puts me in a vibrational energy that allows me to bring even more joy into my life.
By repurposing the jewelry into something new you’re doing something great for the environment. In this throw-away society that we’ve become, being able to work with gemstones that can be reused and recycling metal so that it can be used in something else is really important to me. I have been using recycled metals for the whole of my jewelry making career and using ethically sourced gemstones is also very important to me.
HG: What are your goals with your business + work in the community?
JS: This year I have embraced challenges, I have realized over the past few years, that for me, challenges are where I grow as a person and it’s good for me to have something to focus on. So, when the opportunity came up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, I jumped at the chance! It took me completely out of my comfort zone, I’m not an outdoorsy person, I don’t like to hike or camp, but being able to raise money and awareness for a charity that is close to my heart (my Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2021) was really important to me. I didn’t realize that climbing the mountain would be life changing for me.
When I came off the mountain, I had made new friends and bonds that would tie me to them forever. There were 9 of us on the climb, all strangers and we bonded in a way that only extreme circumstances can bond you with people. We are family now and I just came back from a mini reunion with 3 of the other climbers and in January we are running a 10k in Florida, again for the Michael J Fox Foundation.
But it wasn’t just the other climbers that transformed me, or the experience of climbing the tallest peak in Africa. It was the people of Tanzania that really changed me. I have gotten to know the guides and porters that helped us summit the mountain and listened to their life stories, the hardships they endure and the daily struggles, striving for a better life for themselves and their families. Not only that, but the danger they put themselves in to help others realize their dreams of summiting the mountain. We witnessed this first hand, when one of the porters from a different group fell and broke his leg on the Barranco Wall. The porters and guides carry all of the camp gear (from tents, to tables and chairs, to food, water and even toilets). This all needs to be carried from one camp to the next and one slip can kill you. Sadly the porter that had broken his leg was airlifted off the mountain and we found later passed away from a head trauma.
When we came back to America, I was determined to help the guides and porters that helped us to summit the mountain, so I put together a GoFundMe, to gather money to help them and their community. We have raised enough money to sendtwo Porters to Guide School which will double their income. We’ve enabled one Porter to go to English language school (an intensive boarding program for 6 months). This is a huge commitment from her as it means being away from her son. We’ve also raised enough money for her to go to Guide School once her English class is completed.
We’ve also raised enough money for the wife of one of the Porters on our trip to get an overlocking machine and sewing machine so that she can open up her own sewing business.
In addition to this, we’ve been able to donate money to a local orphanage so that they can get food and a sewing machine to make reusable sanitary pads for the girls, so that they don’t have to miss school and hinder their education.
And finally (and probably most importantly), we’re raising money to purchase hiking equipment that fits the Porters and Guides and keeps them warm and safe on the mountain. Hiking equipment is expensive and is not readily available to the Porters and Guides, so they are reliant on people giving them their hiking gear they no longer want at the end of each trip. I gave them my new hiking boots, my down jacket, backpack, base layers, socks, water bottles, hiking poles, sleeping bag, mattress etc, literally everything I owned, I left there for them. So we’re currently accepting donations of lightly worn hiking equipment or new equipment (we have set up an Amazon Wishlist) and I will be going back to Tanzania in March, with one of the other climbers to deliver everything.
Hoboken Girl interviewed me about the climb earlier in the year, and when I came back someone reached out to me to ask me all about the trip, she is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in February and she and her friends will bring over luggage of equipment for them too. She and I are now good friends and we work out together once a week. So many great things have come from climbing that mountain, new friends, overcoming challenges, serving my community and giving back. These three things are what motivates me to keep going each and every day.
So when I return to Tanzania in March, aside from dropping off the hiking equipment, visiting the orphanage that we were able to provide supplies to and reconnecting with our Porters and Guides, I hope to be connecting with some local organizations that work with female miners and Maasai Tribal women that provide educational opportunities, entrepreneurship, community development, mining equipment etc and learn more from them about the supply chain of ethically sourced gemstones that can be found in Tanzania.
HG: What is your favorite thing about living in the North Jersey area?
JS: I’m sure we all have a love/hate relationship with the Path Train, but honestly the ease of getting around, the proximity to NYC, not needing a car, but still being able to get to where you need to get to is key for me. I love being able to walk to the waterfront and look over at the skyline of NYC, that view will never get old for me and I’ll often walk down there and pinch myself that I live in one of the greatest places in the world. I fell in love with Jersey City as soon as I stepped off the Path Train, it just felt right and it has always been very welcoming to me. I’ve made lifelong friends and even met my husband in Jersey City! I love the community here, the arts community, the community I’ve found in fitness and my lovely neighbors in the Village area of Jersey City.
HG: What are your favorite local spots?
JS: My local spots are either food related or fitness related!
My two favorite eateries are right by me, Future (I just can’t get enough of their fried chicken wings and egg fried rice!) and next door, Sushi by Bou, the sushi speakeasy found in the back of Ani Ramen.
My favorite places to workout at are Jane Do and RowHouse, they both helped me to get into the physical shape I needed to be in to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Jane Do is more than a fitness studio, for me, it’s about the community of women that I have met there, each and every one of them are supportive, kind, strong, powerful and confident women. If you haven’t taken a Tramp class before, go there, they will take care of you and you will have fun, I promise!
I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Kerry and the team at Love Locked. They have supported me since they opened in 2015, they are treasured friends and when I go in there, I always get greeted with a warm hug and a friendly chat!
HG: Who are some local women business owners you look up to?
JS: Beverly Parsons runs Jersey Cats, a non-profit that takes care of unhoused cats in Jersey City. She works hand in hand with TNR organizations in the area and organizes fundraising, foster parents, adoptions, social media. Everything that the organization needs, she attends to while working a full time job.
Johanna Wood of Metal Cloth & Wood is another Jersey City jeweler, I have known Johanna for over 15 years and she is such a talented, kind person. She specializes in bug jewelry.
Tinika Green of Glim + Glow. Tinika and I met the year I moved here, she makes the most delicious smelling candles, their aroma fills the room (even when not lit!)
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/mount-kilimanjaro-did-i-make-it-to-the-roof-of-africa2023-08-14T17:30:00-04:002024-01-19T11:37:05-05:00Mount Kilimanjaro: Did I Make It To The Roof of AfricaJoanne Simmons
Many of you don’t follow me on social media, so I wanted to give you a little update. And then my plan is to write more in depth day by day updates from on top of the mountain. I also have video that I will share too - but I need some time to edit it all!
I’m back in New Jersey safe and sound and I know the first thing you want to know is “did you summit?” And the answer is yes!!! In fact all 9 of us did, which is incredible in of itself, add on to that, 4 of the team have Parkinson’s Disease.
Our team (or Kili9 as we’re now calling ourselves) were fantastic, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to share in this incredible experience. Each one of us brought something to the group with our knowledge and personalities, making us a true force. Of course it all helped that we had the same mission: raising critical funds for research (and ultimately a cure) for Parkinson’s Disease.
Together, the 9 of us spanned 6 decades, and with that came experience, wisdom and fun. There was Betty Frances Thomason just 19 whose dad has PD, Alex DiLalla, 28, diagnosed a year ago just two weeks before his wedding with early onset PD, Connie Qian, 32, whose father has PD, Laura Aldrich, 35, whose father passed away with PD, Justin Fields, 38, with early onset PD and a deep brain stimulator, Kristen Gillan, 46, whose mom is in the end stages of PD (and went on the Serengeti safari with Lucretia and I before the climb), me 47, my dad has PD, Mark Kohus, 52, diagnosed with early onset PD and Lucretia (my tentmate and who I had visited in NC a few weeks before the climb and gone to the Serengeti with) who is 67, has PD and is an absolute badass.
As I said, I’ll go into more detail in the coming week(s), but I didn’t want to go too long without sharing the amazing news that we all summited and that as a group we have now raised over $151,000!
It was a truly incredible experience, one that I will never forget and I have made friends for life along the way. I am so glad I signed up. The whole experience, from the months of training, the support of all of my friends and family and those that supported financially and towards my well being (acupuncture from Emily, mental, emotional and physical support from Sara, the crew at Jane Do, all the people that came on hikes with me - especially Shawn who hated every minute of them but came anyway), to actually being on the mountain and being supported by the guides and porters and especially the Kili9 and of course all of the people at Team Fox who had our backs and were thinking of us - and of course YOU - if you're reading this! It truly took a village to get me to the top of that mountain and the overwhelming love that I got from you all is what helped me get there. I wasn't going to give up because of you. THANK YOU.
From left to right: Connie (in the white hat), Betty, Kristen (in the back), Alex (in the orange jacket), Justin, Mark, Lucretia, Laura (in the back), me
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/day-5-6-summit-night-sunday-august-13th-into-monday-august-14th2023-08-14T08:30:00-04:002024-01-19T11:35:45-05:00Day 5-6: Summit Night Sunday August 13th into Monday August 14thJoanne Simmons
Get comfy, this is a long one, especially if you take time to watch the videos, which I suggest you do, because they give you a real sense of being there.
Summit Night
After trying to get some sleep after dinner, we needed to put on our 4 layers of clothing. I felt like the Michelin Man. Putting on all of those layers while lying down and maneuvering around was difficult in the small tent and I practically rolled out of it. I found movement in all of those layers challenging, so I can only imagine how Lucretia, Mark, Justin and Alex were feeling (one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease is decreased mobility).
This is what 4 layers of clothing looks like
We all assembled outside of the mess tent, we had our water bottles filled, our headlamps on, our hats and gloves and I had the Team Fox GoPro on. I made sure I had our Team Fox flag in my daypack, we were all set. We gathered in a circle, we had our four guides, Abel, January, Christian and Mathew and an additional 5 porters to come up with us to help us with our backpacks and anything else we might need. They would also be there to take any of us down, should we need it.
January helped me put my gloves on (I have tiny hands, so I bought children’s gloves, I had tried them on with my glove liners and thought I’d be ok, but actually, they were a little too small and they were tight to put on on my own). Because they were children’s gloves, they had wrist strings which were quite handy because I could take them off without worrying about losing them. It also meant that the hand warmers I had wouldn’t fit in them, so I used them as a layer in between my water bottles and their sock covers to prevent the water from freezing.
We were then led with a prayer in Swahili
At around 11:30pm we headed off. It took us quite some time just to get out of camp. Barafu Camp is massive because all of the routes meet here as their last stop before the ascent to Uhuru Peak.
It was difficult to get any range of motion in our legs because of the amount of layers we were wearing, it really restricted our movement, so you had no choice but to kind of shuffle up the mountain. I’ve been told it’s called the Kili Trudge. Slow and barely any movement, no lifting your feet as you normally would, which towards the end is all you can do anyway as your legs are just so exhausted.
We stopped frequently, it felt like every 30 minutes or so. I was happy for the breaks when we would congregate, there wasn’t a huge amount of talking, but if anyone needed anything they would ask and if someone had what that person needed, then they would be given it. Whether that was an energy boost (thank you Lucretia for giving me your Gu), an inhaler (which Kristen needed), or a pep talk (which I needed). It’s at this point I need to apologize to Betty. Betty was the youngest in our group at only 19, but perhaps one of the wisest. During my research before the trip, people had said that you had to dig deep to get through summit night. To figure out how to motivate yourself to get through it. And they weren’t wrong. I never quite figured it out, but Betty gave me some motivation, which I shot down, I immediately realized I was being negative, apologized and tried to get my head in the game. Justin said he just kept counting ten steps and would think of his girlfriend, then ten more. I can’t tell you what I was thinking, I was just so tired.
My memory of the evening is very blurry. A combination of the altitude, tiredness, darkness and hunger affected everything, from my body to my mind. I was struggling and emotional. I took this video during summit night. We had already been climbing for about 6 hours and we had so much further to go, it felt like it was never ending and not knowing how much further we had to go was not helping me. I have realized that I need to have something to work towards and if I don’t have an idea of the end goal or how to get there, I don’t work well. I need to have a roadmap. Working towards something, but not knowing how I’m going to get there, how long it will take and working in the dark and unknown is not something I enjoy - call me a control freak if you like! - I’m this way with anything I set my mind to. Actually as we usher in 2024, one of my resolutions is to relax and let go, instead of trying to control everything! And be open to opportunities coming my way
So while I was in this frame of mind, not knowing how much longer we had to climb, when it would be getting light, if I would be able to make it to the top, I recorded this video. It’s a raw insight into how I was feeling at that time.
I read a lot of books on business and since I’ve been working out more, the same thing comes up again and again. Get clear on your Why. Why are you working out? Why do you want to get fit and healthy? Why are you working on your business? Why is it important for you? My why for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was my Dad and it was at this very dark moment that I needed to think about why I was climbing, who I was doing this for. Having met Lucretia, Mark, Justin and Alex, Kristen, Laura, Connie and Betty, my why was extended to them and their loved ones too. Finding a cure for Parkinson’s is in our reach, there have been so many developments and findings this year alone that have pushed the research further. And honestly, none of this could have been done without the donations from people like yourselves. So thank you. You were all up on that mountain with me. Your support (donations, working out with me, thinking of me) was what ultimately kept me going and each and every one of you were in my thoughts that on that long, dark, cold night.
So we all kept going and going and going. And eventually the sun came up. We stopped for a rest and enjoyed the sunrise, you could see the curvature of the earth as we were so high up. It was such a beautiful sight, but not only that, it brought with it a renewed (and very much needed) energy. At this point, it was round 6am, we had been walking for 6.5hours with breaks every 30-45 minutes, which I was happy about. A couple of times I thought I was going to faint, Betty was behind me on one of those occasions when I was a little wobbly, she put her hand on me to stable me from behind and that helped, it sort of brought me back to reality. The second time Lucretia was in front of me and happened to look back at me as I was having another wobble. She shouted ahead to Abel for us to rest. I didn’t faint either of those times, but I was definitely feeling weary, which was a combination of the altitude, lack of sleep, and hunger. The last time we had eaten a meal was around 7pm the night before. We had our protein bars and energy bars, but that was it. The guides gave us ginger tea to drink during the night too, but I didn’t have any, strong ginger is not a taste I can ever get used to!
A little over an hour later and we arrived at Stella Point at 7:15am. I had started to get stomach cramps after sunrise and thought that for the first time on the hike I would need to “send a fax” on the trail (a poo - for those of you that haven’t read the previous blog posts). We stopped for photos, hugs and a welcome sit down. I think I must have told Lucretia I needed to go to the toilet (and by that I mean behind a rock - there were no toilets). The way Stella Point is set up, the sign post is in front of a large rock formation (I imagine it must be a lava rock formation) and that’s where we sat for our rest, so Lucretia and I went behind the rock. As I’ve mentioned before, there were no inhibitions we just dropped our 4 layers of trousers and went, we were close enough to one another that we could reach out to each other. The stomach cramps I had didn’t lead to a number two which I was surprised about, so I just pulled up my pants, as I did so, I looked down. Thank goodness that Lucretia had advised wearing sanitary pads to soak up any drips of pee, because those stomach cramps were not poo cramps, but period cramps. I couldn’t believe I had got my period at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I wonder if it was the altitude that brought it on as I was a few days early. There were some choice words I had at that point! The other thing to note about the rock that we were squatting at, was that it was facing the way we were heading towards Uhuru Peak and since we were slow, climbers from other groups that had summited were already heading back and so we were facing them as they were walking towards us!
This is the rock that Lucretia and I squatted behind!
So, we got ourselves situated and continued on our journey. Stella Point is at 18.885ft and Uhuru Peak is at 19,341ft, so we didn’t have much of an ascent, just walking for another hour to get to the highest point.
At this point, Kristen and Laura were both struggling. That’s not to say I wasn’t either, but I was doing ok. My breathing was labored and my chest was tight, but the dizziness I had experienced earlier had gone away. So I held back from the rest of the group and walked a little bit of the way with them, going slowly. January, Christian and another porter were with the three of us and I think eventually January got fed up of walking so slowly with me and he took my arm and we continued on, eventually passing the rest of the group ahead of us and for the first time on the mountain I was at the front of the group! It took us another hour to get to Uhuru Peak, it felt never ending, just trudging along, so incredibly slowly. I asked January a number of times if we were nearly there yet!
And eventually we got to see the crater and the glaciers and the signpost in the distance!
(Yes, this is a little long - but we were going slowly! Hopefully it will give you a sense of what it was like at the top)
Whilst I could see it in the distance, it still took a little while to get there, especially at the snails pace we were going at. We finally arrived at 8:30am.
Yes, that is chocolate from my protein bar on my teeth!
Connie arriving shortly after and then the rest of the group and finally Kristen and Laura. It was an incredibly emotional moment. Being someone that is emotionally stunted and tries to keep their emotions in check and not share them with the world, I cried and let it all out, it was impossible to keep the tears from flowing. It was a mix of emotions: elation, exhaustion, euphoria, exhiliration.
The moment everyone reached at the summit
We all got our photos at the signpost, our group photos and any other videos that we wanted. One thing I didn’t do, which I wish I had, was to take some time to explore the top and take a moment for myself to reflect on where I was, admire the view and the achievement I had just made.
Kili9 at Uhuru Peak
Alex, Justin, Mark and Lucretia at Uhuru Peak
We left Uhuru Peak at around 9:10am, I had been at that elevation for 40 minutes. Kristen was really struggling with her breathing and when I had asked her earlier if she wanted a photo at the signpost I clearly remember her response was “No, I feel like dog shit”, so I didn’t force her, but we did manage to get a few group photos, so at least she can prove she was in fact there!
So once again I held back to be with her, she had 3-4 guides helping her get down and once we were past Stella Point on the way down she was able to get some oxygen. I want to share this photo of me at Stella Point on the way down. Lucretia had stopped for a photo since she didn’t get one on the way up. She is looking great, I would almost say she was looking refreshed (considering we had been hiking for 10 hours pretty non-stop. Meanwhile, there I am in the background, looking disheveled, lost and unaware of my surroundings. Altitude bloats you, plus the 4 layers of clothing and I look like I’ve gained 50lbs!
I was obviously of no use to Kristen, but I wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone, even though she had January, Christian and a couple of the Porters with her. January asked me a few times to head down, but I didn’t. Eventually he shouted over “Jo, I beg you, please go down!” And so I took my orders and I went down withZakaria, one of the Porters.
It took 3 hours to get down, I had very little water because January was carrying my backpack with my water bladder, which would have defrosted by then, but he was with Kristen. I kept looking back for the others, Laura was on her own behind us heading down and Zakaria had her backpack with her water (and he was with me). The others I couldn’t even see, so I’m not sure who was with them apart from Abel. Zakaria ran out of water before I did, so we shared the last drops of mine. We could see Barafu Camp, it was getting closer and closer, but because it was such a big camp, it seemed to take forever to get there and our camp seemed to be the furthest away! I eventually sat down outside the mess tent at 11:30am waiting for the others to arrive. It had been 12 hours since we left camp the night before. There was some fruit on the table in the mess tent and although I was starving I didn’t touch it, I knew that if I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop and then there would be nothing left for everyone else! One by one everyone else apart from Kristen arrived at camp. We stayed in the mess tent hoping more food would arrive, but it didn’t.
Not the most flattering photo of me, but I wanted to share what I looked like when we got back to Barafu Camp. My lips are chapped, my legs felt like they would never be able to work again, I was a little sunburnt and my hair was sticking up from days of not washing it!
We discussed with Abel about where Kristen was going and he said she was being taken down to the next camp that we would be staying at. I think originally the plan was to stay at Mweka Camp which was 6 hours away, but Abel knew we would never make it in the daylight, so he asked a Porter to go down to Millennia Camp where Kristen was and tell them not to go any further.
We tried to nap before packing up, I might have slept for maybe 30 mins, but then we were at it again, packing up all of our gear and we were on the trail to Millennia Camp just before 4pm.
The stretcher graveyard on the way down to Millennia Camp
We arrived at Millennia Camp just before 6pm. Lucretia fell into the tent and didn’t move she was so exhausted. I left her to it and went to the mess tent for dinner, she and Kristen didn’t join us for dinner.
High Camp also known as Millennia Camp
You would think that it would have been an evening of celebration, each of us regaling one another with what we experienced, but that wasn’t the case, we all sat there in stunned silence, so tired we couldn’t even make conversation, all our energy was spent putting food into our mouths. And then we went straight to bed, ready for our last day on the mountain.
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/day-5-karanga-camp-to-barafu-camp-sunday-august-13th-20232023-08-13T19:30:00-04:002024-01-19T11:36:33-05:00Day 5: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp, Sunday August 13th, 2023Joanne Simmons
I woke up early again and enjoyed the view of camp. The sunrise above the clouds at Karanga Camp was just stunning. I was starting to appreciate the serenity of it all. Though I still wasn’t enjoying the camping, that never changed. We were now on the right hand side of Kibo (or south east if you’re a mountaineer) and so close to the base of it where we will start our ascent this evening. Inching closer to our adventure being over. But also to the pinnacle of the reason why we were here - to summit - was looming over us, we could almost see the peak from Karanga Camp and we were told if we got up in the middle of the night, we’d be able to see the headlamps of the climbers slowing making their way up to summit. I considered getting up to watch, but my warm sleeping bag kept me from doing so.
When I got up to use the Business Center (the toilet) that morning, I mentioned to January that the battery on my phone was dying, so he took it from me and charged it up. The solar panel I’d bought wasn’t getting much sun, so it never charged up. I managed to get two full charges from it though. And Kristen somehow was able to give us a few charges too. So between us all, I don’t think any of our phones died completely.
Below you can see the route that we would be taking to the peak through the night.
Just after breakfast as we were getting ready to leave, another helicopter arrived to airlift a climber off the mountain, from our camp. A few times during our stay you’d hear the helicopter off in the distance, you wouldn’t always see them, but you could hear them (we were told a few weeks after we got off the mountain that two climbers had passed away the week that we were on the mountain).
Abel showed me a photo he had of himself about 20 years ago that was taken at Karanga Camp, so I said let’s go down and find where it was taken and recreate it.
I don’t know if we got the exact same spot, but it was fun to see the before and after photos!
When we got back, the crew gave us a great send off, lots more singing and dancing, and we were on our way again.
As we were getting further up the mountain, there were less rocks and bushes and it started to feel like we were on the moon (or at least what I imagine the moon to be like), the grey dirt and small volcanic rocks which then turned into a slate like terrain, there was very little plant life. There was nowhere to pee in privacy. We were all on the same pee schedule and at this point had no choice but to pee side by side. Kristen and I would pretend we were at a club and going to the toilet together, like you would as teenagers. Somehow it happened that the women always used the left side of the trail and the men used the right.
You can see below how there are no rocks or vegetation to hide behind!
This lava rock formation is shaped like crocodile
Abel showed me a rock formation that looked like a skull and told me that he comes to visit it every time he comes up the mountain. He asked me if it were possible that it was a skull. I had no answers for him. But I do think about that skull like rock and wonder if it was the remains of someone caught in the volcano when it last erupted 360,000 years ago.
At one point in time, Shira was the tallest on Mount Kilimanjaro and when the volcano erupted, it formed Kibo. There are three cones on Mount Kilimanjaro. Kibo (the tallest and the one that we were summiting), with Uhuru Peak being the tallest point), Shira and Mawenzi. Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa, but also the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. It’s free standing because of it being a volcano.
On 6 October 1889, Hans Meyer reached the highest summit on the crater ridge of Kibo. He named it Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze (Kaiser Wilhelm Peak). That name was used until the country gained its independence from Great Britain in 1961, Tanganyika was unitedWith Zanzibar and the two names were put together to name the newly formed country Tanzania. That is when the summit was renamed Uhuru Peak, meaning Freedom or Independent Peak in Swahili.
Abel’s Grandfather, Yohanne/Yohani Kinyala Lauwo, was the first head guide to take Hans Meyer to the peak of Kibo. After a few failed attemptsby Hans Meyer, it was the expedition that Kinyala led that got them successfully to the summit. Kinyala lived until he was over 124 years old and led that first expedition with Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller in 1889, when he was just 18 years old. He was chosen to be the lead guide because of his physique, his knowledge of the area and being in the right place at the right time. Kinyala was part of the Chagga Tribe (a tribe that still exists in the region, there are tribes all over Tanzania, and the Chagga Tribe is the Mount Kilimanjaro area tribe of which Abel is still a member). You can read more of his story below, which describes how he was chosen. Our climb was Abel’s 1,024th climb and he has reached Uhuru Peak successfully all 1,024 times (and counting).
Today was a short hike, only 2 miles from Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp. But those 2 miles took us 3.5 hours. With an elevation gain of 2,222ft. That uphill was a bit of a struggle and we were told the elevation gain would be more tonight - summit night (around 4,000ft). I could start to feel my shins and calves having had a workout. Those are parts of my body I didn’t really focus on when I was training and if I could go back in time, I’d probably do some more workouts for those. It didn’t hinder me and they weren’t hurting, I could just feel them being stretched. The photo below looks like we’re just on a short nature walk, but it was steep, we were going slow and it was getting increasingly harder to breathe the higher up we went.
We took photos at the gate post like we always do and then headed to the mess tent for lunch. Barafu Camp was busy and our camp was set up quite a distance from the gate post. As we arrived we could see some of the climbers heading down Kibo from the night before. This would be us in 24 hours time.
Sleeping on the incline (not that much sleeping actually happens at Barafu Camp)
The camp toilet perched on the edge (thankfully we had our private (or privé - see what I did there?!) toilet tents, so we didn’t have to use these.
Abel briefed us a little on what to expect tonight and what we needed to wear. He told us to get everything out so that we were prepared, 4 layers on top and 4 layers on bottom. I asked him to come and take a look at what I’d laid out, to make sure I’d be sufficiently warm.
As we sat in the tent at lunchtime, I took a reading of my heart rate on my phone (I don’t know why I didn’t think to do it before. My heart rate is 110bpm at resting state. It wasn’t until recently that I realized why that might be. I thought it was because of the altitude. Connie and I had a chat after the climb, and she said she was surprised at how much energy I had, honestly, I was too. Usually on any given day I’m exhausted and need an afternoon nap, but somehow that mountain gave me energy. Connie thought it might be all the cardio workouts I was doing (if you’ve had any conversations with me, you’ll know one of my favorite workouts is trampoline class at Jane Do). Maybe it was the hiking, giving me a rush of endorphins? I don’t drink caffeine, I’ve never liked the taste of tea or coffee and I don’t like the bubbles in soda, so don’t drink those either. So my body isn’t used to caffeine.
Well, turns out, my new found energy was most likely the Liquid IV I was drinking. I was dividing a pouch of it in my water bladder and Nalgene bottle each day. It’s a multiplier so it helps your body to absorb the water and keep you hydrated. The one I was drinking was an energy one. I read the nutrition label, there was no caffeine in it. Or so I thought. It was only a few weeks ago that I re-read the label. Turns out there is natural caffeine in it and I was drinking about 2 cups of coffee worth of caffeine every day. No wonder I had energy and wasn’t able to nap in the afternoon when everyone else was and had boundless energy when we got to Lava Tower. Well, no complaints, except, maybe I should be drinking that energy drink on a daily basis!
Quite honestly the rest of the afternoon and evening was a bit of a blur. I remember us all sitting in the mess tent at dinner, around 5:30pm, nervous and excited about what was ahead of us, each of us discussing our game plan. Justin had figured out his water bottle situation (he only had two water bottles and no water bladder which had sufficed him until this point), we talked about our hand warmers, did everyone have enough? Where do you put the toe warmers (on the top of your feet, or the bottom - it was the top). Lucretia was making sure that whomever needed extras of her diamox got them if they wanted them, we were advised to have one in the morning, one in the afternoon (as usual) and one in the evening before we left. She was also handing out Decadron (I took one, not really knowing why - it was to help with altitude sickness - but if Lucretia recommended it, I was happy to take her advice. Lucretia was a nurse before retiring and she was knowledgeable about medication and I trust her implicitly).
I made sure I had my Ventolin rescue inhaler with me. I have mild asthma and I was unsure how my breathing would be with the altitude. It had been ok up until this point, but I was making sure to take my regular inhaler morning and night. We talked about how we should put boiling water in our Nalgene bottles. I don’t know why, I guess I thought I wanted to be prepared, but I filled mine up with boiling water just after lunchtime as I didn’t want to be in a rush after dinner and was worried there wouldn’t be enough boiling water for us all. That meant by the time we left later that evening they were lukewarm. We put our bottles in our spare socks to keep them warm and I put some of my hand warmers in between the socks and water bottle to keep the water from freezing. Our water bladders would be the first to freeze, or rather the tube would be. I had brought two headlamps with me, batteries run out a lot quicker in freezing cold temperatures, and I had read somewhere that the last thing you want to do in the dark and cold is fumble about switching out batteries. But Lucretia’s headlamp wasn’t very strong, so I gave her my spare. I didn’t have any spare batteries either, but I figured that it would all be ok. And it was.
And so we finished dinner, tried to get some nap time (if there was sleeping, it certainly wasn’t much) and get ready to leave. We were told to be ready by 10pm and we would leave around 11-11:30pm to start our ascent to Uhuru Peak.
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/day-4-barranco-camp-to-karanga-camp-saturday-august-12th-20232023-08-12T17:00:00-04:002024-01-19T11:36:21-05:00Day 4: Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp, Saturday August 12th, 2023Joanne Simmons
I woke in the middle of the night and could feel my legs had got a workout yesterday. So this morning when I properly woke up (early again!), I went to the toilet, enjoyed looking at the stars since it was a clear sky (I will say, the stars were just amazing, you could see the Milky Way. Always being near light pollution, I had never experienced anything like it). Camp was peaceful, just the cooks were up, you can hear them moving around, but they’re very quiet and aren’t disturbing our sleep. I did some stretching in the tent to relieve some of the dull aches from the day before.
I have a really sore throat, so I think I was snoring last night (Lucretia assures me that it was just a little snore that didn’t keep her awake). The dust from the moorland was… dusty! It was flying up from us trudging along and I was at the back of the group inhaling it all. Thankfully Lucretia had brought some cough drops/lozenges which was so helpful (she had thought of everything and I was very grateful for her knowledge).
Camping is getting easier. But not anymore fun. This morning my sleeping bag felt wet (on the outside), but it was just the cold and maybe condensation? I have no idea!
The Great Barranco Wall
Since I was up early and packing is getting easier and quicker, I had time to go up to a rock that had internet access. I was able to call Shawn (he was still up - thank goodness he’s a night owl! It was around 12:30am for him, 7:30am for me) and then I called mum and dad and hoped they didn’t hate me for calling them at 5:30am their time! They were very happy to hear from me. The thing with the internet, was I could see messages come in on What’sApp, but then I couldn’t reply because the internet just wasn’t strong enough. So they could see I had read messages but weren’t getting replies from me. Plus, there were a lot of messages and I just didn’t have time to reply to them all. And, I was enjoying being off the grid a little!
I did manage to get one text in, to a woman called Robyn. Mum had met her at one of the PD carer groups that she belongs to. Both of Robyn’s parents have PD and she graciously let me call her for an hour, prior to the climb to chat about her experience, as she had climbed Kili a few years earlier (for fun, not for MJFF). She happened to send me a text while I was on the “Reception Rock”, so I told her that I hadn’t been feeling any altitude sickness and that we were at Barranco Camp and she said “Whoohoo! That’s amazing news! Ah, I loved the next part of the climb - just awe inspiring sitting above the clouds! Enjoy every moment 🤗”. So I was happy to get that message and was looking forward to the day.
I took a video of Barranco camp, you can hear how labored my breathing was - and I was just talking, not doing anything else!
Of course, speaking to Shawn and Mum and Dad meant that despite being up early, I was late again for breakfast (of course I was). I must have been up there for about 45 mins, Mathew was also on the “Reception Rock” and told me to go to breakfast. I could quite have easily skipped breakfast, I wasn’t all that hungry. Apparently the altitude bloats you, so you’re not hungry, but you must eat to keep up your energy, even when you don’t feel like it. My fingers were cold from holding the phone to my ear, but I was able to warm them up at breakfast.
I found out later that mum had been dreading this day for me (climbing the Barranco Wall), she had read that people die on the wall. And as it happens someone did die the day we climbed it.
I seem to have been feeling the cold less than everyone else, I’ve been putting on lighter and fewer tops than the others and that seems to have worked for me (so long as my ears are covered, I’m ok). I guess growing up in a household where you put on another sweater instead of the heating was good practice for 30+ years later! I’m hoping that summit night I will appreciate the two more layers that I haven’t used yet.
Since it was misty when we arrived at Barranco Camp the night before, we didn’t take a photo at the camp sign, so we took one on our way out of camp.
Our obligatory group photo at each camp
We are starting 30 mins later than normal today and we will be at our next camp for lunch around 2pm (it was 2:50pm when we arrived), so a solid 5+ hours of hiking.
Once again we were the last to leave camp, I think this was strategic on Abel’s part, that’s why we left 30 mins later than we had been leaving camp on previous days. We were slow and I think he didn’t want us to hold up any of the other groups of climbers. There’s no over-taking on the wall!!
So we headed off, over a crystal clear stream, its source is the melting glacier from further up the mountain. This was one of our water sources. It may be obvious, but it’s worth mentioning, there’s no running water supply on the mountain. The 4+ liters of water that we were required to drink every day (x9 of us and 33 guides and porters), plus cooking water, washing water, porta-loo water etc were carried from camp to camp depending on where the water was. So for example, there was water from this river close by at Barranco Camp, but for Barafu Camp, it had to be carried 4km/2.5 miles from Karanga Camp.In fact, th river by Karanga Camp is the last water source on the mountain (depending on your route), so it serves Karanga, Barafu, High Camp/Milenia Camp and Mweka Camp. That’s a really long distance to travel with 100s of liters which all needs to be boiled to be sterilized. I remember there was one day that we were running out of water in the morning to wash our hands, but we were heading out, so it didn’t really matter.
Keep the water sources clean
So, if you listen to the video above (the one of the camp), I say how beautiful it is, and passing the river, that was lovely because we hadn’t passed too much water along the way, so it was nice to see some signs of the mountain being alive and not just a desolate landscape. I’d spoken to my family and Robyn had said how she’d enjoyed the Barranco Wall day, above the clouds, so I was in a great mood and optimistic about what a nice day we were going to have.
I realized very quickly that the cliff face that we had been camping under was the Barranco Wall and we were climbing that today. It was basically vertical.
If you listen to the audio on the video below, you can hear the point that I realize what is ahead of us, as Abel proclaims it to be “The Great Barranco Wall”. “Oh shit” was what was going on in my head when he said that. I’d watched videos prior to the trip and they mostly show the kissing wall, they don’t show you the wall from below. If you look closely you can see all the tiny hikers and porters and guides climbing the great expansive cliff face. It was a bit daunting. One mis-step and you’re injured, or worse…
We had a very stark reminder that we needed to be careful when a porter from another group was brought down, right past us as we were we’re heading up, on a stretcher. He had slipped and fallen and broken his leg and had to be airlifted out.
While we were taking photos at the sign, our porters were already on their way up, ahead of us. Not only was January one of our guides, he was also Camp Manager and the safety of the porters is his responsibility - they’re like family to him and he uses the same porters and guides on all his trips up the mountain. Unknown to us, he had been notified that a porter had slipped, so he ran up ahead to see if he was one of ours. Thankfully he wasn’t, but January stayed to help them and walked down with them til he met us on our way up. I remember being (silently) horrified as the porter was carried past us by 4 or 5 people and not for the first time (or last), wondering WTF I had signed myself up for. Why was I doing this? Was it worth it? I imagine we were all thinking the same thing. When I say during these blog posts, that the porters and guides were simply amazing, I mean it. Our lives were literally in their hands and we had to trust them implicitly. So if January told me to give him my backpack, or (spoiler alert) begged me to go down the mountain after I summited, I was going to take his orders seriously and do whatever I was told to do.
The porter from another group being carried down on a stretcher
If you had any fear of heights, there’s no way you could do it. Because we had our backpacks on which were weighing around 20lb or more with all our water, snacks, wet weather gear and first aid kit etc, we had to ensure that we were careful to lean toward the rock. There were three or four times where it was really difficult, you had to just hold onto the rocks with your hands to help pull you up. I mean this was mountaineering without the ropes. A lot of the rocks were worn down where climbers had been before, so you knew where you had to put your feet and hands, but the guides were also excellent and they helped to show us the way and pull us up when needed. I took off my wedding ring, I wasn’t wearing gloves and I didn’t want to scrape it on the rocks.
Climbing it was not easy, at all, it was exhausting. So imagine now having to do that with all the camp gear, tables, chairs, toilets, tents, cooking equipment, mattresses, our duffel bags and all sorts of things I have no idea about. That’s what the porters were carrying up, there were no shortcuts (“short cuts are wrong cuts” as one of our guides told us) we all took the same route.
About 2 hours in to our hike, the helicopter arrived for the injured porter, I don’t know what time he fell, but we were taking photos at the sign at 9:15am when January got notified and they passed us on the stretcher at 9:45am, the helicopter arrived at 11am. We watched as the helicopter took a pass round, it didn’t land first time around because of all the dust that was getting blown up by the propellers. Once the dust had settled they were able to land at 11:01am. They got the porter into the helicopter were off at 11:06am (thanks to the time stamps on the photos and videos I know exactly the times). The whole process took just 5 mins.
Recently I asked January what happened to that porter, this is what he told me:
“When i got down from mountain i would like to know his condition and then they said he passed away, they said he got injured in his head and the helicopter delayed”
The Kilimanjaro Porters Association (KPAP) was set up in ?2003. It brought in regulations to an industry that was not regulated previously. Now, Porters are not allowed to carry more than 20kg (our duffel bags were weighed at the gate and could be no more than 15kg). They cannot be paid less than $10 per day as a salary. This has drastically cut the number of porters that die, previously they could be carrying more than 25kg. Some companies would not pay the porters for months after the trip, or not at all, but now they get their salaries and tips as soon as they’ve finished the trip. It costs $5 a year to be registered and in the tragic event of loss of life, the family gets some money (though how much I don’t know) from KPAP.
The porter wasn’t the only death on the mountain the week we were up there, two climbers also died because of altitude sickness. Thankfully we didn’t know this until after we got back to the US. It probably doesn’t help with motivation when you have possible death in the back of your mind.
After the helicopter left, we continued on, scrambling up the rocks, my quads got a good work out that day and while I would say I was in good shape, I still struggled. There was one part where we all went up separately, I was second to last with Laura behind me. I was being careful with my footing, but I was slow and I hadn’t got to the top before Laura was right behind me!
Almost at the top of the Barranco Wall
The kissing wall (named because you have limited footing space so you have to get close enough to the wall to kiss it and kind of shimmy passed) was fun. We went one by one and a porter was there, making sure we didn’t fall, everyone got a cheer as they kissed it! The camaraderie from the group (not just the 9 of us, but also the guides and porters) was great, if we weren’t a team before this, we certainly were now. We were all looking out for one another and giving motivation when needed.
We still had another 2 hours to get to the top of the Barranco Wall and finally arrived at 1pm.
Finally at the top of the Barranco Wall
We stopped for a few photos and a packed lunch that we were given at breakfast, which consisted of biscuits/cookies, a chocolate bar and a juice box. We took a moment to appreciate the view, high above the clouds. Being so high up and away from the hustle and bustle of life, disconnected from the internet, friends, family, being alone with your thoughts, just the sounds of heavy breathing, boots trudging through the sandy/rocky terrain. And every now and again one of the guides shouting Guide: “One Team!”
Us: “One Dream!” Guide: “Non-Stop” Us: “To The Top!!”
Or “Oyo oyo oyo” Or “sippy sippy” to remind us to drink our water Or “pole pole” (slowly slowly)
It took us 3 hours to get to the top and then we had to cross some ravines, up and down to get to camp which took another 2 hours. Abel and I were bringing up the rear and the others soon went on ahead of us. There was one point when I looked around and there was no one in sight, Abel and I literally had the mountain to ourselves. I did have a brief moment of panic that if anything happened, who would be there to help us, you know a jackal or something coming out of the woods 🤷🏻♀️.
We were still in the moorland and we could see the remnants of the torched trees from the wildfires they had on the mountain in 2022. There are flowers in the Moorland called Paper Flowers, they’re also known as the Ever Lasting Flower, they’re very dry, but not brittle, and as you would expect, are like paper and somewhat translucent.
Paper Flowers
There hasn’t been any rain, but the terrain on the moorland was slippery with the volcanic gravel and I fell and cut my hand. Nothing bad, but I needed to clean it up and put a couple of band-aids on.
The torched trees from the wildfires
I fell and cut myself on the arid landscape
We soon caught up with the rest of the group and we could see the camp ahead of us, though it was far away and I could feel that I needed to send a fax.
So, there’s code words for peeing and pooping. If you need to pee, you say you need to send an email because you don’t need paper, if you need to poop, you send a fax (because you do need paper). Clearly those terms were created by men, because I use paper when I pee! Justin affectionately called the toilet that’s at camp “The Business Center”. Speaking of using paper when you pee, the mountain has a Leave No Trace policy, which means any toilet paper you use on the trail needs to come back with you to camp to be disposed of there. So Lucretia gave me a top tip, using sanitary pads to soak up the pee after you squat, instead of using toilet paper. And I have to say, it worked a treat! I thought I was being smart bringing ones with wings, but turns out they chafe your inner thighs when you’re walking so much, but thankfully Lucretia had packed extras of hers so she gave me a few 🥰
I managed to hold in my poop til we got to camp and I successfully had another day without pooping on the trail!
At Karanga Camp
When we got to Karanga Camp at around 3pm, we had another warm welcome by the porters, as always, and our gaiters and boots got a good dusting off. Then it was to our tents for the ritual of unpacking and getting our tents ready for bed. The porters knew whose duffel bags were who’s, so they were already in our tents. Then it was dinner time and bedtime. We never stayed up late, after dinner was eaten we always retired to our tents, exhausted from our day of hiking.
My phone battery is running out and I didn’t get to charge my solar panel the last few days, so I don’t know how much video and photos I’ll be able to take tomorrow.
Karanga Camp in the clouds
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/day-3-shira-2-camp-to-barranco-camp-via-lava-tower-friday-august-11th-20232023-08-11T23:00:00-04:002024-01-19T11:36:53-05:00Day 3: Shira 2 Camp to Barranco Camp via Lava Tower, Friday August 11th, 2023Joanne Simmons
This morning I set my alarm for 5am, I’m a punctual person by nature and I hate being late and feeling like I’m holding everyone up. So since it takes me forever to pack everything up I needed that extra time. To this day, I still don’t know how everyone else was able to get up later and still be packed and in the mess tent having breakfast before Lucretia and I. I think there was some sort of time vortex on Kilimanjaro that no one told me about. That being said, I there was one day (possibly the last day because I wanted to get off the mountain) when I wasn’t the last person at breakfast.
Breakfast of champions
It’s only day 3, but it feels like day 67. I never want to hear a zipper again and I never want to sleep in a tent again. Camping is so undignified (“On The Mountain Jo” wrote that. “Present day Jo” acknowledges it makes me sound like an entitled princess, but it was how I was feeling at the time - so don’t judge me! - You weren’t there, you don’t know the struggles I went through!!!). Everything takes 2x longer than it should and that’s without the fatigue of altitude sickness.
Today we got a glimpse into what altitude sickness is like. I didn’t feel too may effects from it, but a few of our climbers felt tired and nauseous and threw up later in the evening.
All of our duffel bags on the tarp before setting off
Getting ready to leave camp for the day
We headed off shortly before 9am and our walk was via the Temple of Karen’s (see yesterday’s post for what that was!). We decided to create our own and leave it there for the next set of adventurers to witness. All 9 of us placed a stone in chronological order. Mine was the 3rd from the bottom. We managed to get a photo of us with it, it fell down just before we left, but we didn’t take it as a bad omen!
Kili9 and our cairn
Some of the porters carrying literally everything we needed
Walking towards Lava Tower
It took us about 5 hours to get to Lava Tower which was only a 5 mile walk and an elevation gain of 4,000ft. Lava Tower is at 15,387ft elevation. Our kitchen and mess tents were set up for us so that we could have a cooked lunch to sustain us for the rest of the hike to Barranco Camp where we were staying that night. To my delight (but no one else’s) we had scotch eggs!! Hard boiled eggs encased in ground meat and fried, I’ll be honest, they tasted better than they looked, we called them hairy balls, or was it just me that called them that in my head? One of the things with altitude sickness is that you lose your appetite, so I had to make sure to eat enough and Abel reminds us at every meal to “eat, eat!”.
At the gate sign at Lava Tower
Hairy balls (aka Scotch Eggs)
It was pretty chilly, I remember having to close the “windows” on the sides of the mess tent.
There was some tired people in the tent at lunch!
The fatigue of the altitude and walking for 5 hours was settling in at lunch
After about an hour, we were on our way again, we were going down to about 12,795ft elevation to Barranco Camp and it took us about 2 1/2 hours to walk 3km. January took my backpack shortly after starting, everyone else had theirs still. I guess I looked weak! I didn’t feel like I needed it taken, but January told me to be flexible and honestly, I just took every bit of advice I was given, since I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. So, I put up a little bit of a protest and then relented. Actually, it was a good reminder for me in life in general: take help when it’s offered and don’t do everything yourself. As an independent person, it’s a really tough thing for me, but this year I’ve tried to lean into it.I don’t need to do everything myself and actually, sometimes you get further when you don’t.
January wearing my backpack on the front (his on his back)
I asked January what he meant by being flexible, this was his answer:
“Be flexible in life means that you can change your plans and adapt to new situations easily, For example you plan to carry your backpack from the gate to the top then you find out in order to reach to the top of Africa i have to change my plan and accepting the help and adapt.
I think we can all learn from that.
I was also reminded how teamwork, community and working together is so important. And I’ve been blown away by the Parkinson’s community, it’s really tight and we’re all working towards the same thing: finding a cure for PD.
Laura had a little flag attached to her bag with a photo of her and her Dad who passed away from PD a few years ago
Alex had a little fox attached to his backpack (for Team Fox)
And then there’s the 33 guides and porters, for just 9 of us. They fed us, put up the tents, guided us and got us ready for our days of hiking. We couldn’t have made it without each and every one of those strong men and women who put their lives in danger for us (and dangerous it was, if we ever needed a reminder, it would be the next day - more to come).
The 9 of us shared food, water bottles, medicine, anything we had doubles of that others might need. There’s a level of bonding that happens when you’re put in extreme circumstances. That kind of bonding comes fast and hard (that’s what she said) and it’s just so uplifting to know that I know I have 8 new family members that I can ask anything of. And our new extended family in Tanzania.
Each day, as we start to approach camp, if the porters have set up the tents and are waiting for us (which was every day because we were so slow!), they would come and meet us on the trail, take our backpacks and walk the rest of the way back with us. Once at camp, we would be welcomed with singing and dancing. This would happen at every single camp. And the porters would brush off the enormous amount of dust from our pants, gaitors and boots, making them look like new(ish) again. This was so helpful, the sheer amount of dust was extraordinary, so much so, that we all developed coughs from inhaling it and I started to get some nasal allergies too. Little touches like these welcomes made us all feel really special.
We went through some stunning scenery and although it was misty when we arrived in camp, it cleared fairly quickly and I got a beautiful photo of the mountain.
Barranco Wall in the clouds
Barranco Wall as the sun was setting
These 2 photos were taken within 30mins of each other.
Walking was pretty tough today. Whenever I felt the dull ache of a headache coming on, I drank water. I think I drank about 5l and I stopped around 6pm, just had a few sips with dinner. So that helped not pee twice through the night unlike the previous night!
We are stopping every twenty mins or so to pee, I think it’s a mix of the cold, the diamox (altitude sickness medicine) and the amount that we’re drinking.
At dinner (zucchini soup, pasta and vegetable or beef curry - it was all really good), Abel said that we did well today and he’s had groups where half of them have been vomiting at Lava Tower. Laura and Connie both threw up at Barranco Camp and they had their oxygen levels taken to make sure they were ok and could proceed. Abel said tomorrow should be easier.
What we climbed today, in terms of elevation is what we will be doing on summit night. Only add in colder and pitch black and it will be a much steeper incline.
So we’ll see!
We always seemed to be the last to camp and the last to leave, and we were slow. That meant that we didn’t have much downtime at camp, but it meant that we had the mountain to ourselves, we barely saw any other groups. And looking back, I’m really happy that is the Mount Kilimanjaro that we experienced.
We had the mountain to ourselves
There’s something to be said about disconnecting from the internet. I had my phone with me all the time as I was taking photos and video and writing these updates, but I was surprised at how I didn’t miss having internet access. There really wasn’t any downtime (see above!) and I was enjoying the company of everyone, getting to know everyone a bit better.
Oh and I found my protein bars when I unpacked at camp, so all is well again!
Tomorrow we scale the Barranco Wall.
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/day-2-shira-1-camp-to-shira-2-camp-thursday-august-10th-20232023-08-10T22:30:00-04:002023-12-23T19:20:24-05:00Day 2: Shira 1 Camp to Shira 2 Camp, Thursday August 10th, 2023Joanne Simmons
Our first night in the tents, was a good guide for how the rest of the week was going to go! I woke up at around 1:45am to pee. I had brought a pee bottle with me so that I didn’t have to leave the tent in the middle of the night in the pitch black freezing cold. I won’t go into the details, but it involved kneeling down and worrying that I was going to overflow and spill onto my sleeping bag. I’m happy to confirm that didn’t happen on any occasion, but the worry was always there!
I then couldn’t sleep for a couple of hours thinking about how I got here: peeing in a bottle in the middle of the night on the side of a mountain in Africa.
I woke just before the alarm which was set for 6am. Now that we can actually see inside the tent we found lots of little pockets to put things in which would have been really handy last night!
Lucretia in our tent
I had bought a sleeping liner with me, I had read somewhere it was good to have, but in reality, the leggings I was wearing at night kept sticking to it like Velcro and I felt like I couldn’t move my legs. So that was the first thing to never come out of its pouch again (once I finally got it in the pouch thanks to Justin for his help). Putting the sleeping bag in its pouch was equally as difficult. I tried twice to fold it and roll it into the tiny little bag, I got really frustrated and threw it against the tent in a fit of rage. Lucretia just laughed at my meltdown and said she was happy to see the real me! That calmed me down, we both laughed and she told me to stuff it in the bag, rather than folding. That worked. All these things that the novice camper in me had no clue about. I was learning! Fast!!
Camp with Kibo in the background
Because of all this, I was late to breakfast, everybody had already started on the oatmeal porridge (which we termed breakfast soup since there was always a soup at lunch and dinner).I’m not a fan of porridge, so I didn’t miss out by being late.
Breakfast in the mess tent
Every morning for breakfast we had a flat omelette, cut into squares, pancakes/crepes (but could have been chapati 🤷🏻♀️), and to my delight, there was also Nutella and some jam.
Me and the Nutella!
Abel joined us and told us what to expect today and what to make sure we had in our day packs. It was about 14c (57f) and windy.
We were also given a little lunch pack, a juice, some biscuits (English biscuits, not American ones!) and a chocolate bar. I must have left mine in the mess tent because I didn’t have it later when everyone else did. And in amongst all of the hurry in the morning of packing and the darkness of last night, I couldn’t find my protein bars. I figured I must have left them at the hotel when I was packing and repacking. But I didn’t starve, or I don’t remember being hungry anyway. I think Lucretia or someone gave me something to eat, our little crew of climbers were great, we looked out for one another and gave / leant each other things that we didn’t have.
While we were having breakfast, the camp was taken down and packed away by the porters in waterproof tarps that were carefully arranged and balanced on their heads and backs. I’d seen photos and videos online with the porters carrying all the gear, but nothing quite prepared you for seeing it in person, they are phenomenal and always, always, had a smile on their faces.
Getting ready to leave camp
When Lucretia and I woke up, we laughed liked school girls at the snoring that happened overnight in the tent nextdoor and the comment from Justin likening the snoring to “two wildebeest shagging in a sawmill” I always wear earplugs at night, so I had brought a few spares, which were eagerly snapped up at breakfast. I wish I had brought enough for everyone. But there were definitely some weary eyes that first morning!
Lucretia and I had many times just laughing at the whole ridiculousness of the situations we found ourselves in: the tiny tents, the weeing in the middle of the night, and all the things that we found silly, we would laugh like school kids, it was very cathartic and if I’m honest, probably got me through a lot of the tough times.
Lucretia and I in our tent
After some photos at the gate sign, we were off at 9am. I was at the back of the group most of the time with Abel our main guide. We have four guides with us: Abel, January, Christian and Mathew.
Team Fox at Shira 2 Camp
Abel and I
January and I
Christian and I
Mathew and I
Today was a shortish walk over the Shira Plateau, one of the worlds largest plateaus. It was fun to start to get to know everyone and the elevation wasn’t so bad that we could chat to one another. That being said, my breathing was heavy and labored. Even with all the cardio exercise I had done. A few days before leaving, I was able to do some breathing exercising with a trained meditation practitioner, which was so so helpful. I was able to slow my breathing down and get my heart rate down a bit too.
We got to camp around 1:15pm and were welcomed with a cooked lunch of fried chicken (my favorite!).
Fried chicken for lunch
While the others rested, I went to the kitchen tent and watched Adam and Peter cooking their lunch and dinner (I don’t know why, but I seemed to have a lot of energy, a lot more than I do on a regular day to day). They had different food from us, January told me it’s because they need different food to keep up their strength for the physical exertion they do. On my way out I managed to get the zipper stuck on the fabric of the tent, so that was embarrassing 😂
In the kitchen tent
After a short nap we went for a nature walk as Abel called it. We only went a couple of hundred feet in elevation, about a 20 min walk to acclimatize our bodies. Even just that short elevation helped our bodies acclimatize to the elevation, so that when we went to sleep, our bodies felt better at the lower level. We did this often on the trail, going high and sleeping low. We walked to a place where there were lots of cairns. Of course I was familiar with cairns, one of the pieces in my pebble collection is a cairn.
Temple of the Cairns
I added a pebble to one of the cairns, in that moment, I felt a deep connection with the earth and the climbers that had been before me and the climbers that would walk in my footsteps in the future. We called it the Temple of the Cairns (but it sounded like Karens in an American accent - so it was forever termed the Temple of the Karens for us!)
I added a tiny rock to this cairn
When we got back to camp, we were greeted with a beautiful sunset shining brightly onto Kibo.
During dinner, I realized that I hadn’t drank enough water, I struggled with the 4-5 liters a day, so I gulped down about a liter of water at dinner time. While I was doing it, I knew it meant I would be up all night peeing, but we were told to drink water and I was trying to stick to the instructions we had been given so that I wasn’t affected by altitude.
Of course this backfired… We left the dinner table at 7:45pm, we were all exhausted and went to our tents, it took me about an hour to get myself situated and I was asleep by 9pm. By 10pm I was up needing to pee. I didn’t expect it to go through me quite so quickly! And then I was up again at 1am to pee, this time I went outside to empty my pee bottle and while I was out there I figured I might as well pee. Lucretia also woke at the same time and peed in the tent while I was outside. We were then awake for about an hour before going back to sleep. But sleep was on and off for me and I didn’t wake up rested…
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/day-1-morum-barrier-gate-to-shira-camp-1-wednesday-august-9th2023-08-09T22:30:00-04:002023-12-23T19:22:21-05:00Day 1: Morum Barrier Gate to Shira 1 Camp, Wednesday August 9th, 2023Joanne Simmons
I’ll preface this update to tell you that I wrote part of it while I was there and part of it when I returned home, so there will be lots of present and past tenses mixed in! Bear with me!
I woke early at 6am, feeling a lot better than I did yesterday which was a frustrating afternoon of packing, unpacking and repacking.
I had a shower, finished my update from Serengeti, did a little video diary (which I tried to do throughout the trip and will eventually get to editing), had breakfast, got my bag checked in at the hotel of all the stuff I wasn’t taking up the mountain to leave there and then eagerly awaited our 9:30am start.
Yesterday at our briefing with Abel the head guide, and Deus, the tour operator, we were told that we wouldn’t be starting on the Lemosho Route, we were going to start on the Shira Route at the Morum Barrier Gate. Then we traverse over to Shira 1 camp where we pick up the Lemosho Route. That does mean that we miss the rainforest part of the hike which I’m a little disappointed about. But we go through it at the end of the hike (unless I’m airlifted down 😂).
We didn’t actually start the drive to Mount Kilimanjaro until around 11am, we then stopped at a gas station for about 90 minutes while some things were being organized for the trip. Lucretia bought us all a bandana with the Tanzanian flag and the different routes of Mount Kilimanjaro. We continued on to the gate and saw some giraffes on the way, so we stopped for some photos and a toilet break (the diamox that we had started taking for altitude sickness makes you pee - a lot!)
Me, Abel (our head guide), Lucretia
We arrived at Londorossi Gate at 3pm to an amazing welcome! At every camp in the morning or evening we were greeted by the porters and guides with a song and dance. I met one of our guides, January, named because his birthday is on January 1st. While we were having lunch of zucchini soup, vegetable stew, hot pasta and a pasta salad. Our duffel bags were being weighed to make sure that they weren’t too heavy for the porters to carry. They could weigh no more than 15kg (that’s why there was a lot of packing and unpacking last night!) and they were put on the bus that was taking all of the porters and guides to Morum Barrier Gate. We took a few photos at the gate and then we were also driven to Morum Barrier Gate through the clouds. It was about a 20 minute drive and we got our first glimpse of Kibo, which would take us 5 days to get to the base of and what we would summit on Sunday night.
When we got to Morum Barrier Gate, the porters were already there unloading our duffels, the tents, cooking supplies, food and everything we’d need for the next 7 days from the bus. They headed off before us, with all of our belongings balanced on their heads to set up camp for the night.
The first rookie error I experienced was my water bladder, we had filled them up at Londorossi Gate, but I mustn’t have screwed the top properly (actually something that I had to be really careful of for the rest of the trip, if it wasn’t perfectly aligned, it would leak 🤦🏻♀️), so when I got off the bus, it had leaked through the bottom of my backpack. Luckily there wasn’t really anything in it and Abel helped me use my rain coat to wrap round the pack, so that my bum didn’t get wet. It actually dried out very quickly and it was fine the next day.
The hike was short but still took about 2 hours, the altitude already had my ears popping. We started at 3400m (11,200ft) at 5pm and got to Shira 1 Camp as the sun was going down. As soon as the sun went down it got cold, down to around 15c (59f). But the sunset gave us a beautiful view of Kibo, our destination, lit up in an orangey pink hue, it was stunning. I was near the back of the pack with Laura and she shared a beautiful story with me about her Dad (who passed away in 2021 and who she was climbing for). This would be one of the many stories that we all shared with one another on the trip.
Second rookie error, I decided to wear cycling shorts, it was warm enough, I wasn’t cold. But what I wasn’t prepared for was the amount of dust on the trail. We were in the Moorland climate of the mountain, which was actually the climate zone that we were in for most of the trail and the dust would get everywhere - including our lungs and noses, so by the end of the trip we were all coughing. So no more shorts for me!
When we got to camp, 3,500m (11,483ft), the tents had been set up and our duffel bags were on a tarp. We were given directions on how to use the porta-loos that we had at each camp, this took me back to camping holidays in the Isle of Wight when we were kids. For some reason, it was the toilet situation that I hated most about camping when I was younger, so I can’t say it brought back great memories! We chose our tentmates: Lucretia and I together, Kristen and Betty, Laura and Connie, and as there were three men, Justin and Alex spent the first night together and Mark had the luxury of his own tent. We got our bags in the tents and set up our sleeping bags, blow up mattresses (on top of the mattresses that were provided) and as best we could we got everything else situated. I say as best we could, because it was dark now and we couldn’t really see what we were doing. I used the wipes I had brought to clean my dirty dusty legs and then it was time for dinner. We had popcorn and biscuits (English biscuits, not American biscuits!) for starters, then tuna, avocado salad, veggies, roast potatoes and probably a soup, as there was usually a delicious soup at lunch and dinner!
Abel came to the mess tent and told us our morning schedule:
Up early at 6:30am, wash at 7am, breakfast at 7:30am, leave camp at 8:30am. All duffels needed to be packed and ready by 7:30am.
We all went to bed after dinner, there was no partying (on any of the nights!), we were all tired and ready for sleep. It took about an hour for me to get myself sorted out and I was able to sleep quite well.
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/serengeti-to-moshi-tanzania2023-08-09T17:30:00-04:002023-10-19T17:06:49-04:00Serengeti to Moshi, TanzaniaJoanne Simmons
I’m in the waiting room of Kogatende airstrip waiting to board our flight to Arusha.
We’ve had an absolutely indescribable time in the Serengeti.
Lucretia and I arrived safely in Kilimanjaro International Airport, where we met with a driver that took us to the African Tulip hotel where we spent the night.
Kristen who was also joining us that same evening (Thursday), missed her connecting flight in Amsterdam, so she rebooked on Qatar to arrive at 7:30am in Kilimanjaro airport on Friday. Well, our flight to the Serengeti was leaving at 9:30am from Arusha airport which is about a 45 min drive from Kilimanjaro airport. So she had to get off the plane, go through passport control, get her luggage, drive to Arusha airport while repacking her bags so that just had a small bag for Serengeti. Anyway, miraculously she made it - and even boarded the flight before we did!
It was a small prop plane and we arrived at Kogatende Airstrip in about an hour.
It was a dirt airstrip, like nothing I’d even flown into before, so that in itself was a treat. When we were coming into land we saw zebras, wildebeast, giraffes, so that got us even more excited for the trip.
Juma who was going to be our game driver / guide for the few days we were there, picked us up and on the way to Kati Kati Tented Lodges where we were staying, we saw elephants, and more zebras, giraffes, wildebeast, impala, only this time much closer than we saw from the plane.
We were greeted by the staff at the tented lodges and they showed us the dining tents, the tents we were staying in and how to ask for a shower. The showers were buckets at the back of the tent which were filled with warm water and on a pulley system that was operated from within. We had to request a shower at the food tent (if you wanted one at the end of the day or at night after dinner if you wanted one in the morning), then Mister Shower would come over with his bucket, fill it up and he would shout through the tent that he was ready. He would stay nearby so if you needed more water, you would just call on him. I never needed more water, one bucket was always enough and it was the perfect temperature.
We were all tired/jet lagged, so after lunch we had a nap when we got settled and we had a briefing from Serengeti Balloon Safaris because we were doing a hot air balloon ride the next morning at sunrise. We needed to be up at 4:30am to be picked up by 5am. We then had some free time until dinner.
Breakfast and lunch were buffet style and always delicious, at breakfast the chef was there cooking omelets for us. We were incredibly well fed the whole time. I found it interesting that all over Tanzania, there is a strong Indian food presence. And for every meal, Juma, our guide was with us, answering our questions and chatting to us about life, he became a friend to us all during our short time with him.
The hot air balloon ride on Saturday morning was an absolute treat for me, probably one of the highlights. On the way there, we were lucky enough to see a pack of lions (it was dark though so I wasn’t able to get a good photo). We were in a 16 person basket and we didn’t go too high, we skimmed the treetops, but this was so that we could see the animals on the ground. We went over a few of the other tented lodges and actually on our last day they flew over ours!
We saw all sorts of animals from above and we even saw a leopard with its kill in its mouth.
Once we touched down, which was very smooth (and the basket remained upright), Zumo our pilot told us about how pilots got their name and why champagne is used to celebrate the landing. We then had a full English breakfast under the acacia tree.
We were then driven to the airstrip to meet Juma for a game drive and we just caught the wildebeast migration through the Maru River, which was amazing. At this time of year it’s the great migration of the wildebeast.
We then drove around and saw a ton more animals… too many to list (but I might add a list of them at the end of this)
We came back for a shower, dinner and then early bed as we were waking up early for drives. Also, we were having early morning wake up calls from the lions roaring nearby (well, more of a groan than a roar, but they were very vocal and very close - in the camp!)
Sunday we went for two game drives, we stopped for cooked lunch at the camp. We went to the Tanzania / Kenyan border and got out of the jeep for some photos at the border marker. While they we saw the wildebeast migration, as far as the eye could see, there were wildebeast walking 1 by 1 across the plains. It was incredible to see.
We saw monkeys, baboons and really close to elephants, giraffes.
If you’re looking to do a safari in the Serengeti, please let me know as I have lots of recommendations for you.
On Monday we were heading back to Arusha to pick up our luggage and then drive 2 hours to Moshi to meet the rest of the group.
We had a long wait at the airstrip, which was fine, they had good Wi-Fi and electricity to charge our phones. We watched the planes go by and noticed that our flight was going to Arusha via Mount Kilimanjaro Airport, so we decided to get off at Mount Kili and have our bags driven to our hotel (the tour operator - Deus - was in Arusha and picked them up for us). We had a very tiny plane on the way back, only 12 passenger seats!
Connie, who I had been hiking with a few weeks ago was flying in at the same time, so we met her at the airport also. Then we came to the hotel where the three of us (Kristen, Lucretia and I) stayed in a room together. We’ve become really great friends and I know that we’ll stay in touch for a long time. We’re already talking about our next trip together.
Tuesday we walked around Moshi, went to a craft market, a food market, had lunch and then back to the hotel to pack, bring our stuff for our briefing to make sure we have everything, repack, weigh our bags, take stuff out, repack, and weigh again. Finally ready! I was feeling nervous and apprehensive and little (a lot) frustrated with the packing and felt totally out of my depth having not done anything like this before. Then we had dinner and early night.
I haven’t posted too many photos with this update as the Wi-Fi is terrible and I only have an hour before we leave for the mountain! Eeek!
Animals we saw at the Serengeti:
Hyenas Topi Hartebeest Warthog Black backed jackal Crocodile Vervet monkey Leopard zebras Wildebeast Hippopotamus Girrafe Baboons Elephants Wildebeast migration Cheetah Impala Common waterbuck Eland Thomson gazelle Agama lizard Vultures Superb starling Kenya border Ostrich Buffalo
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/training-for-mount-kilimanjaro-july-update2023-08-02T17:30:00-04:002023-10-19T17:08:39-04:00Training for Mount Kilimanjaro: July UpdateJoanne Simmons
I managed to get a few more hikes in during July. I went to South Mountain in NJ with Shawn (he’ll be happy now that I’m not dragging him out on hikes!)
A few weekends ago I went to Asheville in North Carolina to meet up with Lucretia (one of the other climbers) to go hiking with her in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We went on three hikes: Mount Mitchell, which was a 7.4m hike with a 1500ft elevation gain, it took us about 4 1/2 hours. It’s the highest peak in North Carolina. It was wet, foggy and windy when we arrived and we were meeting a journalist and photographer for the Citizen Times who were interviewing Lucretia about the climb. I got my name in there too! She ended up on the front page!
That evening we had been invited to my friend’s parents-in-laws who are coincidentally friends with Lucretia (it’s a small world). We had a delicious dinner and I was very grateful for a full belly and great conversation.
The following day we headed up to Black Balsam Knob and Tennet Mountain for a 4.6m hike, with a 700ft elevation.
And the day I left we got a 3rd quick hike in to Mount Pisgah which was 2.7m with 740ft elevation gain and then a quick trip to the fire tower 1.6m and 370 elevation gain.
I had a bit of a nightmare coming home which involved staying at the airport terminal and arriving home a day later than expected.
The Saturday before I left I went with Connie, one of the other climbers, to the Giant’s Stairs in Palisades Park. We were just planning to do a quick 2.5m hike, but it ended up being 4.5m and scrambling on boulders along the Hudson River. It was the hottest day of the year and very humid, not pleasant at all! But felt good about doing it and I got to try out the solar panel charger, so I should be able to charge up my phone and take photos and video up the mountain.
Packing proved to be a little overwhelming, I had everything laid out in piles, one for the Serengeti, one for the duffel bag, one for what I was taking on the flight. Tuesday before I left was an anxious time trying to fit everything in into my case. Actually fitting everything wasn’t an issue so much as the weight. I ended up being 25kg (23kg is the limit for checked baggage). And everything else I stuffed in my backpack. We’ll repack the day before we leave for the mountain to make sure we’re each within The 30lb weight limit for our duffel bags.
I’m writing this on the tarmac at Doha airport, I met up with Lucretia at the gate, she happened to be on the same connecting flight as me, she got an earlier with a long layover.
Next stop Dar Es Salaam where we stay on the plane and then it’s just a quick flight to Mount Kilimanjaro.
Kristen (another climber) arrives a few hours later and tomorrow (Friday) we head off on our Serengeti safari.
I’ll try and post one more update before the climb starts next Wednesday.
Update: I wasn’t able to post this til now, so I’ll definitely update before I leave on Wednesday as I have lots to update you on!
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/how-i-found-myself-on-the-roof-of-africa2023-08-01T22:30:00-04:002023-12-23T19:20:41-05:00How I Found Myself on the Roof of AfricaJoanne Simmons
It all started in December 2022 when an email arrived in my inbox from the Michael J. Fox Foundation. I had been on their email list for a little over a year as I’d been doing little challenges here and there to fundraise for the charity. Something in this email caught my eye, a chance to be part of a small group of people climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, it mentioned all the keywords for me: "Challenge yourself to a physical, mental and spiritual experience". Let me be honest with you, hiking and camping are not activities I enjoy. In fact, I actively stay away from them! I didn’t own hiking boots, or anything that I would need on the climb and I rarely go out in nature (too many bugs!). But, I do like a challenge, I do like to travel and I do like to feel I’m making a difference in the world whether it’s a small act of kindness on my way into work, or something larger, like fundraising thousands of dollars. So, I sent off my application, I took a few days to craft it, to explain why I would be a good fit on the team, how I would raise the money (we each committed to raising $10,000 - I ended up raising over $16,500, as a group we have raised over $152,000) and how I would train for it. Two hours after submitting the application I got an email saying they’d love to have me on the team along with a link to sign up. I was in! I signed up immediately so I didn’t have time to think it over and dissuade myself.
A day later I was traveling back to England for Christmas to see my family and I announced what I had signed up for. There were a looks of horror and amazement around the dinner table.
For most of my teenage years and into my 20s and 30s I was not active, but when I gave up drinking in 2017 at the age of 41, I decided it was time to take control of my body, I was the heaviest I’d ever been and it was time to reverse that. Since then, I’ve found a level of respect for working out (something that’s taken 6 years to develop - but really a lifetime) and I’m enjoying seeing how my physique is changing and how empowering it is to take charge of my body and be in control of it, rather than eat mindlessly and let the flabby bits get flabbier.
Now it’s part of my daily routine and when I’m not working out, I miss it. It helps that I’ve found a place to work out that is an inclusive community of mostly women that lift one another up.
So I felt like I was in a place physically that I could accomplish the climb, I would still need to train for it, but I knew I could do it (altitude sickness withstanding).
When I came back from my trip to England it was time to get serious about training and fundraising. As I said earlier, I’m not an outdoorsy person, I don’t hike, I like the idea of it, but in reality, it’s not something I make time for, but my thought was, what isn’t there to like? Well, turns out there’s a lot, especially when you’re training to climb the world’s tallest freestanding mountain in the world. First off there’s carrying 20lb+ on your back. In the end I was training with about 30lb, so that when I got there, walking with 20lb didn’t feel too bad (I think that strategy paid off because it wasn’t too bad hiking with the day pack on the mountain for hours). Then as the weather got warmer, there were the bugs (something we thankfully didn’t have to worry about on the mountain, there really aren’t any). Then there’s the sheer amount of time that I needed to dedicate to working out (in general, not just hiking), I was finding that I was putting in around 15-20 hours of working out a week and so it was all consuming, working out, mental energy, researching what I needed to buy (I had nothing and knew nothing about hiking and camping, so I was learning from scratch), reading blogs, watching YouTube videos so that I knew what to expect. The YouTube videos had me wondering if I could actually do it, so I stopped watching them and nothing can really prepare you for what you’re about to embark on anyway.
At the beginning of May I hit my fundraising goal, I’m so incredibly grateful for all of the support I got from friends, family and friends of friends etc, knowing that I had them all rooting for me kept me going. It also meant that I could really focus on getting into physical shape. Mount Kilimanjaro is a non-technical climb, so of the seven summits (the tallest mountains in each continent), it’s the easiest one to do in that respect. But I didn’t want to take any chances of not being in the best shape I could be in and I didn’t want to be that person in the group that was holding everyone back. So I upped my workouts. Something I should have done more of in retrospect is actually hiking (see above as to why I didn’t do as many as I should have!).
There were 9 of us in total raising money and doing the climb for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. In the run up to the climb, we met online a handful of times and we had a private Facebook group to chat about our experiences and get to know one another a bit better. But we were all strangers and many of us met for the first time in Africa. The one thing we all had in common though was Parkinson’s Disease. Four of the climbers have PD and the rest of us have a parent that has the disease. Raising money for this incredible charity really was (and still is) a very important part of our lives, we’ve all raised money for the charity in the past and we will continue to do so. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to share in this incredible experience.
Together, the 9 of us spanned 6 decades, and with that came experience, wisdom and fun. There was Betty Frances Thomason just 19 whose dad has PD, Alex DiLalla, 28, diagnosed a year ago just two weeks before his wedding with early onset PD, Connie Qian, 32, whose father has PD, Laura Aldrich, 35, whose father passed away with PD, Justin Fields, 38, with early onset PD and a deep brain stimulator, Kristen Gillan, 46, whose mom has PD, me 47, my dad has PD, Mark Kohus, 52, diagnosed with early onset PD and Lucretia who is 67 and was diagnosed with PD 5 years ago. I can honestly say, those 8 men and women are family now, we are friends for life and will be a constant in one another's lives. I know that if I ever need anything, I just need to ask and they will be there for me.
And then there are the 33 porters and guides that got us up the mountain. The 9 of us had the easy part of the trip. The porters and guides cooked, packed, cleaned (camp, toilets and us!), set up camp, broke down camp, advised us, kept us safe, carried all of our belongings, danced, sang and countless other roles, many of which I don't even know about. Everyone had a job and they all did them with a smile on their faces. Putting their lives in danger for very little pay. There's absolutely no way we could have done it without their encouragement everyday. And I am forever grateful to them.
To say that the experience was life-changing is an understatement. Friends were telling me that I would come back a changed person. I didn’t think I would, but I did. It’s opened my eyes to so many new possibilities. I have a sense of accomplishment, I know I can do hard things (I had to really dig deep on summit night), I know that if I set my mind to something, I can achieve it. I know I will have a lot of challenges ahead of me - some will be self-inflicted, others not - but I will overcome them and come out the other end stronger, more confident and happier, just like I did when I came down from Mount Kilimanjaro.
I have achieved something I never thought would be possible - climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
We have put together a GoFundMe (read some of the porters stories) and Amazon Wishlist for the porters so that we can get them the hiking and camping equipment they need to keep them safe and uninjured on the mountain. We would love your support.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/training-for-mount-kilimanjaro-june-update2023-06-30T17:00:00-04:002023-10-19T16:51:04-04:00Training For Mount Kilimanjaro: June UpdateJoanne Simmons
We’re in the home stretch! This time next month I will be in Tanzania and on day two of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro! Eek!
Lots to catch you up on this month!
The beginning of June, I was still in the UK, I went on a lovely walk around Richmond Park with my friend Jenny. I was still having issues with my boots, but figured I just needed more walks to break them in. I ordered Kendall Mint Cake before I left, so I have lots of sugar to keep me going up the mountain!
My Tanzania visa was approved, despite looking like a psychopath (see May’s update for the photo!)
Shawn and I met up with our friends Beth and Cat and we had a lovely walk around a country park in Secaucus.
And Cat and I organized another couple of hikes together. One was to Palisades Park, we went on a very foggy day, but it was hot hot hot! Usually you can see Manhattan in the distance, over the Hudson, but we couldn’t even see the bottom of the park (we started at a car park which was at the top of the cliffs). We went down the Giant’s Stairs and then explored the bottom of the cliffs a bit, this is where the cliffs meet the Hudson River, that was really cool, Cat is an avid birder, so she was telling me what birds we could hear.
Cat and I also went to South Mountain, the day before July 4th, but all of the car parks were closed because a coyote had attacked a child and a park ranger. So we carried on in the car and found a car park that was open a few mins down the road, still part of South Mountain. We started off on a trail and shortly after found ourselves in a park with a lake, we walked around most of it and then found our way back onto the trail. All the time my boots were hurting. Shawn and I had done a tree the previous day to High Point in NJ, it was a 5 mile hike and again, my boots were hurting. As much as I thought I just needed to keep wearing them in. I knew it was time to get some new boots. So, with the advice of Jules and Peter who had just walked the Camino, I went to REI on July 4th to get new boots. I was fitted properly, got a show with a wide toe box and some insoles that curved around my foot.
Yesterday Shawn and I went on our first hike using the new boots and it was night and day! They’re so comfy and feel a little more confident that I can actually get to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro!
Also in June I practiced with the SheWee (a spout so you can pee without pulling your trousers down and squatting (things I never thought I would need to use). I only got a little pee on me!
A friend that I met through the New York Handmade Collective has climbed MK and she has loaned me her duffel bag (one less expense - this has become a very expensive trip as I had nothing for hiking). Pippi is enjoying lounging in it.
I got a little bit of press this month in Hoboken Girl (a local online blog): https://www.hobokengirl.com/mount-kilimanjaro-jersey-city-joanne-simmons/ It’s even longer than this update, so you might want to come back and read it!!
I just wanted to give a massive shout out to Sara (Shawn’s cousin’s girlfriend) who has been helping me train for the climb, we meet twice a week and she gives me homework to do (more exercise) each week. She’s been a huge help to me, encouraging me, supporting me and pushing me.
Speaking of personal trainers, I’m still in touch with my old PT Katie. Her in-laws live in North Carolina and they visited a few weeks ago. Her Mother in Law invited them to go on a hike with her friends, well, who should be on that hike, but Lucretia, one of the other women that is climbing MK with me for the Michael J Fox Foundation. What a coincidence! She has invited me down to NC for a 3 day hike at the end of July, so that will be good for me to see how I fare hiking 3 days in a row.
I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with all the things I need to do before I leave, for the business, seeing everyone, exercising and getting the last few things ready for the trek, but I know I can do it!
I will update you a little more in the run up to the trip and our Serengeti safari before the climb!
Thanks for all your support and encouragement and for reading this far!!
Jo
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/we-did-it2023-05-08T16:30:00-04:002023-10-19T16:32:03-04:00We Did It!Joanne Simmons
I can’t quite believe it! With your help, I have raised the fundraising goal of $10,000! And in fact, have surpassed it, with a little over $10,700 and counting.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you to each and every one of you that has followed me on my journey so far and has supported me and has faith in me to get to the top. Having your support will spur me on as we’re now counting down the days - less than 90 days to go!
EEEEK!
Jo xxx
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/training-for-mount-kilimanjaro-may-20232023-05-01T17:00:00-04:002023-10-19T16:44:27-04:00Training for Mount Kilimanjaro: May 2023Joanne Simmons
Well, May started off with a great milestone. I reached the $10,000 fundraising goal with the help of all of you and in particular Shawn putting out a link to his work colleagues and then my brother Michael donating the final amount. I am now at over $11,500 and it would be great to continue raising money for this great cause.
I was also featured in a local online news outlet called JC Times. If you haven’t had a chance to read the article here it is.
My friend Tinika and I did the New York Five Boro Bike Ride at the beginning of May. We didn’t make it to Staten Island, but we did have an amazing time, we think we rode about 30 miles around New York City. It was great fun, we had lovely weather and we’re going to sign up and do it again next year.
Some thing that I need to really work on in the run up to the climb, which is only nine weeks away, is more hikes up mountains. Shawn and I went to Bear Mountain a few weeks ago and it was quite tough. There are 1000 steps up the mountain and then you come down on some pretty scraggly rocks. It was not easy, so I need to definitely do more of the mountain climbs.
And a reminder: never give up
I also need to make sure that my boots are thoroughly broken in, I’m currently having problems with my little toe on my left foot, which keeps rubbing up against the shoe.
While we were on the hike up the mountain, I realized that I’m very goal orientated and I don’t stop to enjoy the journey so I think that’s something I need to work on: changing my mindset so that I actually stop and enjoy the hikes rather than just focusing on getting to the top (or bottom). Taking one step at a time slowly and enjoying the process. I think that is something that I do, not just on hikes, but in life in general, I focus on the destination and not the journey.
I also had the opportunity to go up to Scotland and did a 5.5mile walk around Atholl Woods by Dunkeld in Perthshire with my friend Louise. Such beautiful scenery.
I’m currently in London and I’ll be here until Tuesday. When we were in Worthing seeing Michael, Karen and Grace (and Ann), Mum, Dad and I went on a walk along the beach which is a pebbly beach and I zigzagged up and down the dunes which, I’ll be honest, was a great workout for my quads, I was exhausted afterwards!
That same evening we had a group call with the rest of the climbers for the trip which was really great. I got some questions answered, and I feel like I’m in fairly good shape. The things that I would like to work on in the next few months is releasing a few pounds so that I’m not carrying any excess pounds up the mountain, I need to work on my core strength and I need to be walking at least 3 to 4 times a week, and at least 5 miles each time and two of those need to be hiking up a mountain with the 15lb backpack.
So those are my goals for the next few weeks we’re definitely on the countdown now I have nine weeks to go. I have a countdown app on my phone and I’m starting to get a little nervous but I know that I can do this.
I also applied for my Tanzanian visa this month so fingers crossed that comes through soon. Which it may not, based on the passport photo I sent in, I don’t think I would approve me!
And finally one of the other members of the team sent me this picture, which shows you in a little bit more detail what the elevation and distances are to each camp (in meters and feet)
If you have any questions for me, please let me know. I will happily try and answer them in my next update. I hope you’re enjoying reading these updates I’m enjoying keeping a note of what I’m doing to prepare for this once in a lifetime experience.
And finally thank you to the anonymous donors, I don’t get to see who you are, so I can’t thank you directly, but thank you, I truly appreciate it.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/climbing-for-a-cure2023-04-07T18:48:44-04:002023-10-19T16:53:49-04:00Climbing For a CureJoanne Simmons
In August 2023 I will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Gah!!
Let me give you a bit of background as to how I found myself raising $10k and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro having never climbed a mountain in my adult life - and hating camping.
In February 2021, my Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, seeing the effects of this condition on my Dad's life, but also my Mum's has been heart-wrenching.
So, in 2022 I decided to raise money for The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, I cycled 50 miles and ran a 5k. I hadn't been on a bike in years and I hadn't fun for that length, ever. So I was challenging myself and taking myself outside of my comfort zone already for this amazing charity.
And I didn't want to stop there. An email came from Team Fox at the end of 2022 looking for volunteers to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, so I read it, thought "That's interesting" and didn't think about it again until 2 weeks later when I was with friends and we were declaring our goals for 2023. I said I would apply, thinking I wouldn't be accepted as there were only 12 spots available. I spent the next couple of days writing my application and a few days before Christmas I applied.
To my surprise an hour later I got an email saying I'd been accepted into the Mount Kilimanjaro climb.
So here I am! Exercising 8+ hours a week, researching altitude sickness, going on hikes and buying lots and lots of hiking and camping gear.
One of the things I'm doing to raise the $10,000, I've designed sterling silver earrings and a necklace in the shape of a mountain. All proceeds go to my fundraiser. If you'd like to purchase them or make a donation, I would so appreciate it!
I was recently featured in Hoboken Girl about the climb.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/training-for-mount-kilimanjaro-april-update2023-04-01T16:30:00-04:002023-10-19T16:28:32-04:00Training for Mount Kilimanjaro: April UpdateJoanne Simmons
I’ve just been plodding along (quite literally) this month. I’ve bought a stepper, so I’ve been using that while listening to an audio book, watching TV, or watching Shawn cook! This month we went to Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island, it was it a hike up a mountain, but it was hike out in nature.
I bought my day pack which has tons of pockets and loads of space to lose things, I’m happy with it, it’s practical and I’ll be able to use it again after the climb. Now I’ve got it, I’ll be filling it with 20lb weight and wearing it on our walks. I had a criteria for the features I wanted:
* Somewhere to put my poles * Opens up from the front not top * Place for water bladder * Pockets in waist band * Place for two water bottles * Waterproof cover * 25-30l
I don't like being touched by strangers 🤣
There's 20lb in there and I'm wondering what the hell I've got myself into!!!
Thank you Tinika for coming with me to get it and paying for it and taking these very special photos!!!
I had to compromise on the way it opens, but overall I’m very happy with it. The sales associate added 20lb weight in it, we had it in the table and I put it on from there, when I went to life it I almost fell backward, it was heavy, but nothing I can’t manage, I think I just wasn’t expecting it so wasn’t bracing myself!
Alex, one of climbers created this amazing graphic for us that we can use. He used a combination of AI and photoshop for it (I’m constantly amazed by what AI can do these days). Team Fox is the name given to to people doing fundraising for the MJFF.
I also had a chat with Deus who is the owner of the tour operator, he’s based out of Tanzania and California and his mother in law has Parkinson’s Disease which is how he got involved with the Michael J Fox Foundation. He’s so lovely, such a huge heart and an even bigger smile. He’s not sure if he’ll be climbing with us, but I do hope so.
If you haven’t seen, I created a pair of earrings and matching necklace with all proceeds going to the climb, if you’d like to purchase them, let me know! Some of you are in the UK, so I can bring them with me when I’m over at the end of May.
I‘ll be back in a month with another update. Just 3 full months to go!
Jo xxx
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/training-for-mount-kilimanjaro-march-update2023-03-01T16:30:00-05:002023-10-19T16:32:50-04:00Training for Mount Kilimanjaro: March UpdateJoanne Simmons
March went by in a blur! I got to meet one of my fellow climbers, Connie (I’d add a photo here, but I totally forgot to take one!) she’s so lovely and we’ve decided to do some climbs together starting in May.
I booked my flights and now it’s becoming a lot more real! I’ll arrive a few days before to acclimatize and I’m going to try and do a Serengeti safari and maybe some gemstone shopping, Tanzanites we’re discovered in Tanzania, so there should be lots of opportunities to pick some up!
I’ve made some sterling silver earrings and necklace in the shape of a mountain which are now available on my website. All proceeds go to my fundraiser, I’m so so close to my goal of raising $10,000 now!
There are still quite a few bits and pieces that I need to buy, the main things are a duffel bag and the backpack and then some odds and ends. April will bring a few hikes, some jump rope exercises oh and a visit to the doctor to be prescribed Diamox for altitude sickness and to see which vaccines I need.
And I got to try out some of my cold weather head gear (which I'm happy to say kept the wind and cold out!) - see below!
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/thank-you2023-02-02T15:00:00-05:002023-10-19T16:32:26-04:00Thank You!Joanne SimmonsI’m blown away by your generosity, thank you so much!
If you donated anonymously, I don’t get to see who you are on the backend of the system, so thank you to my anonymous donors, I appreciate you. And to everyone else, I think I’ve sent you a personal thank you message, but if I haven’t, THANK YOU!
Last night I had a kick-off call with the Michael J Fox Foundation and the rest of the team who are raising money and climbing the mountain. It was so lovely to meet the others and hear their stories and why they’re doing this epic challenge. I came off the call really excited and with renewed energy to do this (I’ve been having an inner dialogue with myself which goes something like “you hate camping, you couldn’t even manage glamping in a treehouse without a minor breakdown”, “you have no business thinking you can climb a mountain with a 19,000ft elevation - you get breathless walking up a set of stairs!”, “you have too much going on, you don’t have time for this” etc etc, I’m sure you can imagine!). But, the truth is, I can do this, I have plenty of time to train for it, I’m healthy and I’m stronger (mentally and physically) than I think I am(and than I ever have been). Two of the participants themselves have PD and I’m doing this trek for them, my Dad and everyone else that has this disease (thank you to those of you that have shared your stories with me about loved ones having it - it keeps me going).
So that’s it for now. My friend has given me a training outline, above and beyond what I’m currently doing for exercise and I start that this week.
I’ll pop back in at the end of the month with another update! Joanne]]>
https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/training-for-mount-kilimanjaro-february-update2023-02-01T16:30:00-05:002023-10-19T16:32:41-04:00Training for Mount Kilimanjaro: February UpdateJoanne Simmons
Shawn and I went to High Point State Park on the border of NJ and NY last week. It has an elevation of 1,800 ft, and is the highest point in NJ. We didn’t climb that high though, since at the car park we were already about 1,000 ft above sea level (the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro is 19,341). According to my iWatch, the elevation we hiked was 751ft. I had my 12lb weighted vest on plus another 5lb in my backpack. It was a 4 mile loop around the park and it actually wasn’t that bad. This is the first hike we’ve been on together in years (maybe ever?). My shoulders were aching with the weight of the vest and backpack, so that’s something I need to focus on, as well as building up core strength (and obviously quads).
When I tell friends I’m climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, here are some of the questions I get asked:
Where do you shower? There are no showers on the mountain. You get a basin of water to wash down with in the morning and after the hike in the evening.
How do you charge your phone to take photos and video? Not sure yet, obviously there’s no electrical outlets on the mountain, so Shawn is looking at some solar panel chargers for me.
Why?? Aside from the obvious, wanting to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research, the other reasons are: adventure, challenging myself, new experiences, meeting new people, getting out of my comfort zone, to inspire others, to feel a sense of purpose and from a more spiritual side: developing myself, understanding what makes me tick. They say that climbing the mountain is a spiritual journey which will not only challenge you physically but also mentally. I’m looking forward to seeing how this experience changes me, my life and my perspective.
What are you doing to raise money? So far I’ve been very lucky to have generous friends and family donating. I also connected with a different charity that was able to donate and I’ll be contacting local businesses to see how they can help. I’m also planning on doing some outreach to local bloggers to see if they will write a piece about the climb. I might be doing a raffle/auction - watch this space. I’m in the process of designing a mountain ring/pendant - not sure yet, which I will sell and the proceeds will go to the fundraiser. I’ve also been teaching jewelry making to an aspiring jeweler and I’ve been donating the money I get from teaching to the fundraiser. If you have more ideas, please let me know!
What will the weather be like? I’m going in August which is technically winter in Tanzania, but because it’s so close to the equator, it’s usually around 80F (27C). It’s also dry season. As we start our elevation, it gets colder and at the top of the mountain it can be between 20F and -20F (-7 to -29C). There are 5 climate zones that we go through: Cultivation Zone, Forest Zone, Heath/Moorland Zone, Alpine/High Desert Zone and Arctic Zone.
What are you doing to train? This is what my current training / working out schedule looks like, but each month it will change (for example, in March I’m going to add in running up and down stairs for 20 mins)
Monday: Personal Trainer: Focusing on building up leg strength, 30 mins Cardio: trampoline exercise class
Tuesday: Cardio: trampoline exercise class
Wednesday: Cardio: trampoline exercise class
Thursday: Cardio and strength: Rowing exercise class
Friday: Personal Trainer: Focusing on building up leg strength, 30 mins Strength training exercise class
Sunday (alternate Sundays): 4 mile hike
I’m also cycling on the peloton to build up the quad muscles 6 miles scenic ride with a cadence of 65 and a resistance of 40 (I'll increase this throughout the next few months)
Each week is a little different, depending on my schedule and in the next few months I’ll substitute one of the trampoline classes with a strength training class. I’ll also need to add in a few more hikes in nature - not just walks.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/training-for-mount-kilimanjaro-january-20232023-01-20T12:30:00-05:002023-10-19T16:33:11-04:00Training for Mount Kilimanjaro: January 2023Joanne Simmons
Let me give you a bit of background as to how I found myself raising $10k and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro having never climbed a mountain in my adult life - and hating camping.
In 2022 I cycled 50 miles and ran a 5k for The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. I hadn't been on a bike in years and I hadn't fun for that length, ever. So I was challenging myself and taking myself outside of my comfort zone already for this amazing charity. And I didn't want to stop there. An email came from Team Fox at the end of 2022 looking for volunteers to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, so I read it, thought "That's interesting" and didn't think about it again until 2 weeks later when I was with friends and we were declaring our goals for 2023. I said I would apply, thinking I wouldn't be accepted as there were only 12 spots available. I spent the next couple of days writing my application and a few days before Christmas I applied.
To my surprise an hour later I got an email saying I'd been accepted into the Mount Kilimanjaro climb.
Holy shitballs.
I’ve been trying to do some research about the climb, since I was woefully under researched when I submitted the application, which is just as well, as I would probably have never applied otherwise.
I have until the beginning of May to raise the money and until August to train for it, the climb is the first week of August.
After almost 4 weeks back in England eating too much chocolate and doing no exercise, I'm back in the US and raring to go - well, as raring as I get.
Here's my loose plan:
Walk for at least 1 mile every other day
Continue exercising at JANE DO and Row House in Jersey City.
Beginning May, start the training scheduled I've found online
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/inspiration-behind-the-thames-collection2022-08-23T15:34:24-04:002022-09-13T21:02:00-04:00Inspiration Behind The Thames CollectionJoanne Simmons
In May 2021 I went back to London to visit family. I hadn’t seen them since January 2020 (luckily I had just visited before everything shut down) I like to visit home (London will always be home, but I’ll also refer to New York as home, so you’ll have to figure out which city I mean in varying situations!) every 6 months or so, I find that each visit grounds me in a way no other vacation does.
Whilst there, I went to visit a friend in Battersea, so I took the bus to Chelsea and walked over the Albert Bridge, named after Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert. It’s such a beautiful bridge, and I know you will have seen it in various movies, such as Bridget Jones’s Baby, Sliding Doors and countless others (I’m a sucker for romcoms).
On the bridge are round geometric details, here’s a close up. I loved the design and thought how beautiful it would look as a necklace with a gemstone in the middle. I am inspired by architecture and love to incorporate it in my designs when I can.
Whilst I was inspired by the architectural details, bridges have a metaphorical meaning, they connect people, but also act as a way of getting from where you currently are to achieving your desired goal, to bridge the gap, if you will.
“Rather than focusing on the obstacle in your path, focus on the bridge over the obstacle.” – Mary Lou Retton
My mum would always say “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”, meaning, let’s not worry about it now, let’s focus on what we can achieve and have control of. Another one she’d say is “don’t burn your bridges”, two sayings I try to live by.
I decided to replicate the roundels using CAD (I use Rhino). I first made a double sided necklace, something I’ve never tried before, I used a lab created emerald on one side and a moissanite on the other. I love how you can wear it one way one day and a different way the next, depending on how you’re feeling. It’s also a great way to add two birthstones to a piece, so that you can celebrate two special people in your life.
I made the collection using one of my favorite stones, London Blue Topaz. I love this stone because of it’s color, but also because it’s named after my hometown and also because of its meaning: a stone of love and good fortune, and is also said to promote positive communication, openness, and honesty.
One of my favorite bridge quotes is from Martin Luther King, Jr. “Let's build bridges, not walls.”
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/inspiration-behind-the-layer-collection2022-07-27T13:39:24-04:002022-07-27T13:49:31-04:00Inspiration Behind The Layer CollectionJoanne SimmonsThe Layer Collection is inspired by Cook Fox’s 512W22 building in Chelsea. This modern building lines the High Line, one of my favorite places to walk and bring my loved ones that visit me in NYC.
The High Line is an elevated train track repurposed as a public park that escapes the city streets on the west side of Manhattan. 512W22’s concept of air and space intertwines with the high line by further executing the feeling of being lifted up in the air allowing a new sense of breath created from the space in between. Architecture and urban spaces living in harmony.
The clean lines and geometric shapes of the building lend themselves well to the aesthetic of the jewelry I make.
Here are a few more of my favorite buildings along the High Line
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/the-young-and-the-restless-wedding-bands2022-05-20T19:59:24-04:002022-05-20T19:59:24-04:00The Young and The Restless Wedding BandsJoanne Simmons
The marriage between Tessa and Mariah on The Young and The Restless is making history on the long running soap opera. They are the first gay relationship on the show to get married… and guess what? I got to make their wedding bands!
It all started with me making the engagement ring for Mariah. I was then asked to make a matching band and the wedding band for Tessa to match her engagement ring.
I created both rings in CAD and had Mariah’s ring cast and gold plated.
Tessa’s ring was channel set using imitation sapphire baguettes and round stones to match her engagement ring (which I didn't make)
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/the-young-and-the-restless-engagement-ring2022-05-11T09:48:34-04:002022-05-12T16:40:32-04:00The Young and the Restless Engagement RingJoanne Simmons
I was super excited to be asked by the costume department at The Young and the Restless to create an engagement ring for Mariah and Tessa engagement in January.
It’s an important engagement because it’s the first same-sex proposal on the show.
The costume designers knew exactly what they wanted for the ring, so I just needed to make it happen, but with a short timeline, it was crunch time and I had to call in favors at my casting company who made a mold of the ring I made (since multiples were requested for back-ups) and it needed to be plated in gold and set with an imitation emerald.
We went back and forth to make sure that what I was making was exactly how they had envisaged it…
And in the end, it came out perfect!
And watch out for their wedding this Friday! Maybe there will be some more pieces made by me!
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/ultimate-mens-accessories-gift-guide2022-04-01T17:00:00-04:002023-10-19T16:52:34-04:00Ultimate Men's Accessories Gift GuideJoanne Simmons
We all know men can be difficult to buy for and Silver Sculptor has endless gift ideas for the man about town.
Style, sophistication and sleek statement pieces will take your gifting game to the next level. Let’s dive into the ultimate men’s accessories gift guide:
Birthstone tie bars:
The birthstone of your loved one, child, or the gemstone for a special anniversary is bezel set into a tie bar which he can wear on special occasions, or adding a touch of sophistication to his power suit.
Money clip:
How about surprising that special someone with a personalized money clip that not only keeps their cash secure but also reflects their unique style and identity? Engraved with their initials, this small yet mighty accessory is a constant reminder of your thoughtfulness.
Ball marker:
Our personalized golf ball markers are guaranteed to elevate the game of any golf enthusiast. Whether they're striving for that elusive hole-in-one or just want to make a stylish mark on the green, our markers combine function and fashion with a touch of individuality. Engraved with their name, lucky charm, or a witty phrase, these markers are sure to spark conversations and envy on the fairway.
Collar stays:
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/diploma-in-fine-jewellery-creole-earrings-term-2-week-102022-03-20T17:30:00-04:002022-03-30T13:11:54-04:00Diploma in Fine Jewellery - Creole Earrings, Term 2, Week 10Joanne Simmons
One of my more favorite makes for this term, just because they’re fairly simple to make and fun!
I didn’t have too much difficulty with these and they were a great project to quickly make since I was working on the box clasp and the marquise ring at the same time.
First I needed ball up two ends of both wires (making sure the balls were equal sizes. This is fun! Using flux to make sure the balls were smooth, I used my torch to melt the ends of the wire. They then needed to be hammered flat to the same thickness as the wire.
Then it was onto twisting the wire. I was going to use my hand drill but the two ends wouldn’t stay in the end, so it did manually using a mandrel for my foredom, a vice and pliers.
Then onto the soldering block to solder the wires to make sure the twists stayed in place when they were bent around a ring mandrel to make the hoops.
I needed to create a little loop for the catch, that needed to be soldered in place and then I needed to create another balled up piece of wire for the post and hammer that down too.
Then the final part was to create the rivet for the hinge. I drilled a hole through the flattened wire parts and the post and then put a piece of wire through and hammered each side to create the rivet, then it was polishing and done!
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/diploma-in-fine-jewellery-box-clasp-term-2-week-92022-03-13T17:30:00-04:002022-03-30T13:12:11-04:00Diploma in Fine Jewellery - Box Clasp, Term 2, Week 9Joanne Simmons
This was a great project to work on. Still took a few hours, but I enjoyed it and it came with a satisfying click at the end!
A box clasp is mainly used for a string of pearls, the knitted end goes into the box and the other end attaches to the clip. But it can be used for other pieces too by soldering a jump ring and attaching it to a chain. The box we made was 1cm square, so quite big, but that was mostly so that it wasn’t too fiddly, but they do come in much smaller sizes and now I know what I’m doing, I’d like to make it with square tubing.
I didn’t take too many photos of this one as I was in the zone making the catch which probably took the same amount of time to make as the box, but had more steps which o forgot to photograph!
First I needed to create the walls and mitre the ends so that they fit up nicely together. It turned out a little lopsided, but not too bad, the walls were thick so I was able to file it down a little to make it a little more even. Still not 100% plumb, but good enough for me.
I enjoy soldering and would say I’ve pretty much mastered it at this point in my career, so any project that has lots of soldering I’m ok with!
Next up was the clasp, or clip. This goes intothe box and secures the two pieces together, it goes in with a click and is removed by pushing down on it, it’s kind of like a tension spring.
I started with a strip of metal, the same size as the hole I’d cut out of the box earlier, a few measurements later and a little bit of soldering, hammering and sawing, I was left with a piece that inserted nicely into the hole. I then needed to lift up two edges on it which would hold it in place and catch onto the wall when it was pushed inside the box and released. This needed a couple of goes back and forth to ensure they were high enough to catch the wall and were flush with it too.
Once I got that click to work and everything was secure, I needed to drill a couple of holes which would be for the string of a necklace (if you were using this for a string of pearls) and then onto polishing.
I wish I had thought about polishing the clip as I had gone along as that had a lot of file marks that needed to be cleaned up.
All in all, whilst it took a few hours, I was happy with it being a fairly simple project.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/diploma-in-fine-jewellery-marquise-5-stone-ring-term-2-weeks-6-82022-03-06T15:30:00-05:002022-03-30T15:34:39-04:00Diploma in Fine Jewellery - Marquise 5-Stone Ring, Term 2, Weeks 6-8Joanne Simmons
It got to the point where I thought I’d never finish it in time. The pieces were due in on April 4th, but I was leaving for London on March 19th, so everything needed to be finished by then so I could take the pieces with me and mail from there.
I’ll be honest with you, this project almost broke me, I learnt a lot, cursed a lot and in the end submitted a piece that quite frankly I’m embarrassed about (let’s see what my mentor says about it!). I wouldn’t be surprised if I got a fail for this one, but I'll be happy to make another and resubmit if that is the case, because I'm so unhappy with what I submitted.
I ended up creating the marquise setting differently to the way it was shown, I created the prongs using sheet, instead of wire and for the basket, I also used sheet, instead of a thick piece of metal that needed to be hollowed out. I think it was probably quicker in the end, and I got a nicer looking setting (albeit soldered wonky on the ring shank).
Here's my first attempt at the setting:
This was my second attempt at the setting and cutting the sheet for the prongs.
Soldering everything together was the challenge and I’d say I’m pretty good at soldering. There are differing solders that flow at different temperatures, so this comes in handy when you’ve got more than one solder join on a piece. You have hard, medium, easy and extra easy. You use the hard first, this glows at a higher temperature, then go down to medium, easy and extra easy as your last solder.
On this ring, there are 10 solder joints:
The ring shank (hard) (1)
The setting and claws (hard) (4)
The setting to the shank (medium) (1)
The tube settings to the shank (easy) (4)
Whilst I’d been working on the project for a number of weeks, I didn’t anticipate it taking so many hours, and I’ll be honest there was some fear of starting too, something I’m plagued with a lot and something I’m working on overcoming (this course is actually helping as it’s forcing me to get out of my comfort zone and do it since there’s a deadline). I’m very good at procrastinating!
One of the other students said they use a product called Hold-It! It’s a clay like substance and works like a third hand, keeping everything in place. Whilst it’s not a heat sink, if the solder does flow, everything will still be kept in place. I’ve got to say, it made my life so much easier, but it was also a hindrance as I’m a visual person and use my eye as a guide to where I need to solder and the clay was masking where all the settings were. I tend not to mark where things need to go and use my eyes instead.
It was coming up to the week of my trip and I still hadn’t finished it, in fact I had only created the marquis setting and the ring shank.
My first attempt at soldering everything together was not too bad, one of the tube settings was way off, so I thought I’d use it as design element and place the one on the other side in a similar placement. It looked terrible, so I had to unsolder them all and redo. Which I managed to do, however they were not placed evenly, but at this point, I had to go with it. Also, one of the solder joints on a tube setting must have flowed up the tube, because it was solid. That was easily fixed though when I came to setting.
So, the day I was leaving for London, I had to do the setting… it went fairly quickly actually and I’d definitely do a marquis setting again, however, just like the rest of the ring, it’s a little lopsided and also, it’s a little wobbly. But time was running out and I needed to set the four tube settings. I was going to use emeralds for these, but they’re a soft stone and I didn’t have time to be careful with them, so I pivoted and used clear CZs. They all went in fairly easily and I left the solid tube setting to last. I needed to drill a hole, which went straight through the shank aaargh! Now it’s the only one with a hole in the shank, so because it’s letting light in, it looks different to the other three. Well, so be it!
So that’s what I ended up submitting. Far from anything I had hoped to send in and with sooo many flaws. But, it’s done and hopefully I’ll at least get a few marks for submitting it!
Now I’m on the plane as I’m writing this and thankful that the term is over, I learnt a lot and enjoyed it. And very much looking forward ti next term. Maybe with more courage and less procrastination!
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/diploma-in-fine-jewellery-sister-clasp-term-22022-02-13T23:30:00-05:002022-03-30T13:12:46-04:00Diploma in Fine Jewellery - Sister Clasp, Term 2Joanne Simmons
Not technically part of the course, I had to create a clasp for marking as part of the tennis bracelet project. Since I was doing a necklace, I decided to give a sister clasp a go. One of the other students had done one and I liked the look of it. So I got out my Alan Revere Professional Jewelry Making book and looked to see what clasps were in there. He had a tutorial on the sister clasp, perfect!
I printed out the template (twice) onto label paper and placed it on the silver. He suggests gluing the two pieces together and cutting them together just once. But I decided to cut them both out. Mostly because the saw blades I use are very fine and they would have constantly broken at double the thickness of metal.
Next up I needed to file the sides down to round them out, making sure I did the opposite sides so that the flat sides were back to back and opposite.
There’s no soldering with this project which is a nice change for me. It’s great practice working with cold connections which I don’t have much experience with. I needed to cut a piece of tubing and saw a hole in each of the pieces to the right diameter of the tubing, making sure it was neat fit, not too large that it just slips through. Then using a ball bur I counter sinked the metal, this is so the tubing has somewhere to go on the next step. Once all this was done, I placed the two pieces together, put the tubing through the holes and I hammered it with a round headed tool that’s used to dome discs. This flared out the edges, I then flipped it over and did the same on the other side, then using a chasing hammer I made sure the tube was flush with the metal.
Then it was onto the polisher. I had to then solder a ring through the hole and chain and another jump ring on the other side of the chain.
It’s quite a simple but ingenious mechanism! But quite fiddly to make. All in all, another great project and I learnt more about rivets and cold connections.
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https://www.thesilversculptor.com/blogs/news/diploma-in-fine-jewellery-tennis-bracelet-term-2-weeks-3-52022-02-13T16:30:00-05:002022-03-30T13:13:03-04:00Diploma in Fine Jewellery - Tennis Bracelet, Term 2, Weeks 3-5Joanne Simmons
The next project for the diploma is the tennis bracelet. So named because during a US Open tennis match, Chris Evert’s diamond bracelet, broke and fell off her wrist. She asked the officials on the court if they could stop the match, until the bracelet was recovered.
For this project we were creating the setting for 3.5mm princess cuts (square stones), thankfully we didn’t need to set them
The project called for 20 gauge wire and 4mm square tubing. Not many materials needed for this one, but a few tools: ball bur, barrel bur (get US name of this), drill, rivet hammer (get name of this), anvil, saw and miter thing.
The first thing to do is measure the stone depth, round it up to the nearest mm and add 2mm. So each one needed to be 5mm.
I found that scribing it at 4mm and then using my tubing cutter jig to cut it to 5mm saved some time. I also did all of my drilling before cutting the tubing so that I had the whole length of the tube to hold onto rather than a fiddly bit of silver. It seemed to work well for me.
I needed to drill a hole just under the 4mm scribed mark and bur out a hole in the top part so that I could add a little C shaped wire to make it look like a little square mug. On the opposite side of the tube I had to but out a straight line to just above the 4mm line. Then I had to cut the tube at 5mm. And repeat…
After doing a few, I decided that making a bracelet with around 30 of these things was going to take some time, so I opted for the less time consuming option of turning it into a necklace.
Next up is to solder the C wires to the tube, clean up the solder joins after that I decided to tumble them. Then it was onto the riveting. Something I’ve been wanting to try for a while, but never got round to. I needed to drill two holes on either side of the square tube (the plain sides), and push through a piece of wire, making sure that it was on the inside of the C which was inside the next square tube (see photo for what I mean). The holes are to slot the wire through which form the rivet.
After a couple of test rivets, I was ready to go onto my actual piece. A few fell out in the test pieces, it was definitely trial and error, but they all stayed in in the final piece and I’m happy with how they turned out. Next time, I’ll ensure the counter sink is wider than the drilled hole and the drilled hole isn’t bigger than the wire. Overall though it was good and I’d like to incorporate them into my jewelry somehow.
I was feeling quite proud of myself and then I went onto the Facebook group for the diploma and found out that I needed to add a hand fabricated clasp for the marking, I could have been marked down 10 points. So… I’ll need to work on that next.