Hiker Introduction: Kathleen

1.  Nicknames? 

The list is very long...Pink Bunny, Pinkalicious, Woody, Woodrow, Arms, Ox, Compton, Kat, Pinky Tuscadero (Pinky for short), Woody Jr, Velvet (from 7th grade Mathcounts...don't ask), the rest aren't necessarily PG-rated

2.  Previous hiking experience

Not much.  When I was 16 I went on a backpacking trip with my summer camp (Camp Olympia - best ever!) in Colorado.  We just spent one night on the mountain just below the tree line and hiked to 13 something thousand feet.  We did have to carry tents, food, sleeping gear, etc, so the packs were 35-40lbs a piece which is more than we'll have in Kili, but it was a good 6000' short of how high we are climbing...and a few (7) nights shorter as well!  Last year my friend Kim and I hiked Mt. Quandry just south of Breckenridge which is 14,285.  It was about a 5 hour round trip, so still pretty hard to get any real comparison there.  I wasn't a happy camper for the last hour or so we were going up and needed the phrase mentioned in #8 below on more than one occasion.

3.  What made you want to go on this trip?

The idea that I don't have to shower for a week?  Or that I started planning my candy packing list as soon as I committed?  Or perhaps really because I had nothing better to do and this sounded like a great way to continue my "retirement" from Ironman triathlons with a great group of friends.

4.  What legs of the trip are you going on?

I'm heading on the 3 day safari in Tanzania after the climb and then another 3 days on the small island of Zanzibar - it looks heavenly!

5.  What words/phrase do you think you will slightly overuse on the trip?

There will definitely be one too many f-bombs thrown down on my part as well as "really?!?," "are you kidding me?!?," and various forms of "uuuuuuuuuuugggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh."

6.  What is your greatest fear leading into the climb?

The number of times I'm going to have to pee on a daily basis.  No lie.  I drink tons of water as it is and we are supposed to drink even more on the hike.  And the drug we take for altitude is a diuretic.  Really?  I haven't wrapped my head around peeing on the side of a mountain where the temps are below freezing...over and over and over again.

7.  What are you most looking forward to after the climb?

Most likely a real bed and food of my choosing.  And flip flops.

8.  What is going to be your "special phrase" for "the altitude is killing me and you all better leave me alone or else..."?

Cupcakes

9.  Anything else we should know about you?

I like candy.  And naps.