Hey, humans how's it going? Thanks listening to another episode of hey human podcast. This is episode 04:11, and my guests are author Bonnie Tiff and author journalist Robin Flanagan again. Together, they wrote a book called climbing out an adventure in red discovering life after a loss. It's about 3 time cancer survivor Bonnie after the sudden death of her husband. True story.
She decided to summit mount Kill jar And in doing so, she discovers the healing power of friendship, self love and resilience. It's a great book. I really enjoyed reading it, shout out to my best, ellen Severe who has a book club and Bonnie and Robin we're a part of that. Ellen decided to read the booked in her club and Bonnie and Robin did Zoom in conversation. Really cool that they do that. If you're looking for a new book in your book club, they are open to that. Really
cool. Robin also the author of the celebrated book, m is for mindful. And a hundred things to do in Rochester. Big news. I just got back from the Portland Horror Festival in Portland, Oregon. Where I showed my film the first to the audiences there, and it was well received, and I came home with the Trump loyal award for the film, really exciting. It's a special effects award in service to the film. So in other words, art... I think it literally translates something about
the the trick of the eye. So it's a it's an award that honors using special effects in service too and a twist of the story, that kind of thing. So very cool. Huge shout out to Brian and Gwen Ka, who are the founders of Portland H and do all of the people that were there. Oh my gosh. I had so much fun. And the movies I saw, were incredible. I saw so many fantastic movies. Check out my social media because I go into detail about everything and Yeah. Very cool. Alright. General stuff. I'm on
Patreon at Susan Ruth. You can check out hey human podcast dot com for links and Learn more about my guests in the show. Check out susan root dot com to learn more about me and my other artistic endeavors, Follow susan Ruth and a hate human cast on social media, find my albums on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon music wherever music, rate, review and subscribe to hey human podcast on itunes or wherever you get your podcast.
Again, find patreon at patreon dot com slash she's in ruth, and it helps keep Hey, human, Ad free, which is great. Rate review and subscribe to hey, human podcast on itunes or wherever you get your podcast. And thank you for listening. Be well, be kind, be love, and here we go. Bonnie ts and Robin Flanagan again. Well come to hey human. Hi. Thanks for having us. Thank you. It may get a little confusing for our listeners, but hang in there, and hopefully, it'll all work out.
I learned of both of you because my best friend Ellen has a book group, and they... Their group did the book climbing out about Bonnie experience climbing Mount K jar. And there's a lot of backstory before I get into any of that. What I like to do on this show is ask my guests, where they grew up what shaped them as people and then go from there. Robin? Where are you from? I spent my first 8 years in Maryland, but from 9 to 17, I lived in Sedona, Arizona. So I feel
like that's where I'm from. My formative years. I started writing though, when I still lived in Maryland. My first story, I wrote at 6 It was called Santa Claus and the Magic pencils, and I still have it in a box and my attic somewhere. But I've been writing ever since. I feel... I always say I definitely don't take for granted, the fact that I always knew what I wanted to do. I always wanted to be a writer for a living. And so then when I went to Sedona,
I guess, part of my entrepreneurial spirit. I used to collect cans in my wagon and turn them in for money. I was a member of the sunshine sales club, which meant, I went door to door and sold gift wrap and greeting cards and got a dollar per item And I just was always looking for ways to I don't know Have to kind of make money and be on my own and be independent and and even though I grew up in sedona with all those gorgeous rocks, I did not come from a family of Hike. So I did not start hiking
until I left Sedona. I... Luckily, I go back every year, and now I'm kind of trying to make up for lost time. Bonnie? Well, I grew up in a very small town in the southern tier of New York state And the name of the town is Kenneth steel. Our claim to Fame in Canvas. We have... We we spell up on a hill the town Can see is spelled in Evergreen tree. With very charming. It is the world's largest living sun. Grew grew up in a medium sized fan. Like, grew up in the 50 and sixties.
And grew up with mom and dad, 2 sister and a brother. There were 4 of us. We lived right in town, literally 2 houses away from her school. Would it be in a small town and in that era, everyone is around you. We had lot... We had a lot of family and And and cousin who also live them town and you just sort of grow up with everybody, even your school people. People get close. I mean, in just a couple of weeks. I'm gonna be heading down, should celebrate my hip. Yeah.
High school graduation. With a lot of friends who are still staying in contact with. And, I mean, I currently live about 60 miles north of that town. So I didn't move very far away. Did you always stay within the proximity of where you grew up or did you ever live elsewhere. I all all did say in this area. Clearly, that's where you meant Bill? Yes. Yet. I I did not meet bill in hand steel, but I met bill. Bill and I worked together. Up the up in
the rochester to New York area. Robin, did you know about Bonnie being bonnie being a widow and her experience yet? Or is that something that came later? I definitely knew part of the story, but there's no way I knew as much as I did after I grilled and grilled and grilled. When we were doing interviews after the climb. It was a very, very long in... Process and she exhibited a lot of patience working with me. Was that hard for you Bonnie to reopen those.
Memories and to talk... I know that you like to keep his memory alive, obviously, but jeep... Was it hard for you to really go back and talk about the night that he passed away? That particular piece, of course, was very hard. You now, in through through much of Robin asking questions, we both cried a lot. We we have we had a lot of moments of that. But, absolutely, you know, we are talking about the night that my husband bill died and How died. That's certainly hard to hard to talk about. Yeah.
You were... You bold had experiences with cancer. And Bonnie, you had it twice? I did. I did. I had I had experienced breast cancer twice. Yeah. Just a few years actually about 4 years before we climb told general. And you're totally cancer free now. Since that, I actually had 1 more 1 more cancer experience, Once again, breast cancer. Right this minute I am cancer free. Good. Yeah. And Robin? I was married at the time of our climb, and my husband was also a, a cancer survivor
at that time. He's he has since had it 3 times as well, it has... Yes. Affected us both pretty pretty significantly. And we actually met before the climb. We met while training for the climb. The 2 of you. Met U. Bonnie and I met about a year before we climbed Kill jar. In 2008, we climbed, so we met in early 2007. And this was a group of people... The support group for people who have had some sort of experience with cancer.
Yes. Our our entire group, either either someone had had cancer or their were climbing for someone. Someone close to them who had had cancer. So as Rob just mentioned, as we were getting ready to 4 kilo jar, we, y'all we would meet about once a week, sometimes more often than that, but we would need about once a week and get together as many, you know, as many people as possible and get together mostly in in the local our local area... Local rochester and a finger lakes area, and we would...
That's and that's how we train. Let's talk about the decision to climb a mountain like Mount Ke, what for both of you, what drew you to that? Decision, which I consider insane. I'm a 1 and done, so I sort of consider it insane to at this point. Yeah. Many people do. Many people did. Well, for me, it was my husband... My husband, Bill and I outdoors was was what we did. You know, when our daughter was growing up, we renewed. We hike we cross country speed, and we can't... And so we did a lot of
that stuff. And then as we got older, we got a little more adventurous and we would go. We went up to Alaska a couple times on a canoe trip a rafting trip We did a 10 day backpack packing trip in Greenland, we did all of the big trips through a local outfitters center. So we got... We got very... We became very good friends with our local after bill Nye. His name is Rick and Rick will called me every a few months just check in and see how our was doing 1.
And he would always end with I'll, whenever you're ready to go on another trip, let me know, you know, I'll take good care of you. So I had been looking at his brochures and kinda of decided on this Romania gone to Romania, and that looked like a I looks like that would be a safe I would be in a hotel room or that breakfast room and and that it wasn't camping, but but it was climbing and it was. So I'm doing a lot of hype and so I thought
that sounded good. The day that I got ready to call him, and tell him that I was gonna sign up for that. I happened to pick up his brochure and I had noticed before a letter that he had on the back of the road brochure, and talked about how everybody's affected my cancer, and he's the the bottom line was, I'm not sure what this is gonna look like. But at some point, we will all end up at the top of Mount telling and gerald other. So I picked up the phone. I call him he answered.
And I said Rep I just read your letter. I have no idea what you have up to sleep this time, but count me in. Owen, by the way I wanna go to lighting to. Since I got to go Romania. I did I did I did that about... I think about 8 months before throwing general fine. And how old are you at that 0.57. Alright. And Robin, what was your inspiration? My story is a little bit more boring. I was sort of a tag along My husband was Patrick. He has a brother
named Matt. Matt worked for the American cancer society at the time and was good good friends with Rick and was going on the trip as well. And so Patrick decided to go on the trip because his brother was going. At the time, III wasn't going with them. And then I think just over time, it just sounded more citing. I like adventure. I like to hike. We both loved to travel. So it sort of was more like it checked off all the boxes for me, and I thought it would be a good
a good experience to have. During this time, you were working on your own memoir? Is that correct? Okay. Right. So I was working on a memoir. I had a, a tough time with infer fertility. I'd had 4 in vitro fertilization processes and 3 pregnancies that I lost. And so I was kind of writing about that, but getting very... I was kind of staying in the sadness of that and struggling with that. I was keeping alive something I was trying to move on from.
And after we got back, Patrick and I were having breakfast, and he said, you know, why don't you write about Bonnie? And so it really is because it he said that that this even exists and that was a Saturday morning. And as I as I write in the author's note of the book, I I thought about it waited till Monday, called Bonnie and just kind of sp this this is what I wanna do. Dah all. I just kinda sp it out, talked about how we had been eating breakfast
when the idea came up. And Bonnie said, Robin on Saturday morning, probably around the time you had breakfast. I was praying, and I said, god, I think it's time for me to tell my story, and Robin, god brought you to me, and I... We just started crying, or I did, I started crying, and then I was kind of laughing to myself that this thing that seemed so selfish had turned into divine intervention, you know, sort of but it just... I feel like it was meant to be.
It's it's about really being present in one's lives so you recognize those moments because either 1 of you could have issued that. What you you moved forward. And Robin said she talked about being mir in a way of of your grief, and I'm so sorry for all of that. That's... I can't even imagine, but I'm happy you have a daughter. Yes. Thank you. But there was an... Something that I wrote down in my notes of that that, Bonnie had said, you have to stop sinking. I thought that line was so powerful.
And so Bonnie, you as well kept seeing the sinking end of the ship instead of the the forest and the trees and the island you were heading toward. Do you wanna talk about that a little bit? The sinking part, and I think that's when you have especially at 7 months. I think that's pretty normal. You go down, you have to. I I honestly think that what saves you is because you you have to retreat for for a certain amount of tone.
Truly with something like that. There's no question that it 1 of the things that I often said that probably kept me going is it put you in shock. And it's the shot that gets you through a lot of things. And it's almost like, as you're coming out of that, and I I maintained it took me close the 18 months to really move out of that. And it's not like it's not as though. I lived in sadness all it. I didn't. I didn't... I have wonderful people around me.
I had wonderful family around me. I have people who put your care of me people who I could bounce off what whenever whenever I need them. But I think the idea of saying that I I was thinking. I think that's almost when I when I got to the point where I began to come out of that mode a shot. When I can't they began to feel things again. Like I said, I don't want anybody to get the impression that, 0II was just sad and horrified, you know, through that through those 18
months. I wasn't, but it did take me that long to took me. And I think I mentioned in the book took the 18 months stuff. Opened up that closet door and go through his closed. And when I did, it was a Sunday, because I threw on a couple of his shirts because I knew his long. And, then I could talk to him about it. And I could not have done that too much similar than. And that being said, you know, we're all different human beings.
I mean, some people, you know, that's certainly not the way that they would do it. 1 of the things that I often like to say about the book is the book is not a how to book. The book is a book of hope. It's not. It's not a book that everyone is gonna do it. The the same way. I think it definitely reads hopeful. It didn't seem Mir and sorrow at all. Firstly, I think that the the arc of the story is so well done. The pacing and the arc of the story, just as a person that likes to read books.
Yes. That what happened did an amazing job is that. Yeah. It's really great. What I think is so important even if people are think, Don't I don't wanna read a book about climbing a mountain and I don't care about that. It's really not about that. I mean, it's the metaphor. It's the... Yes. It's the everest that lives within all of us, all although it is Kill Jar, but that's the thing. And grief treats everyone differently. And you never know when it will rear
your, you know, rear its head. Grief could come on. We've all experienced grief, and we know that you might be totally fine for months or even years, and then something a smell or a look or whatever it is will set. Say you off, and then you just have to be in it. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Can you get eye. I mean, that... I love what we just said because you do have to be we can't deny it because that's when You will spiral back down. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't release if you deny it.
You have to get it out. I I think. I mean, you don't have to... Everybody's on their own journey, but to me, it feels like if you push it back down, it's just gonna cause other problems. Robin, would you learn about grief through this? Oh, wow. What did I learn about grief? Well, I think I think what I learned the most is Bonnie is is 1 of the strongest, if not the strongest person, I've ever met. Her attitude, the way she approaches things.
Separately, this kind of a tangent thing happening here and this particular question you're asking me as far as what I learned. But with my relationship with Bonnie. So I'm... My next book I'm working on is a research based memoir on religious trauma. And as you know from reading the book, it's has a lot to do with her faith. And there is no way, you know, 20 years ago, you couldn't say the word God without me leaving the room and tears. And so here's a woman who
we talk about faith a lot. I write about it a lot, and she wasn't threatening once. So she's somebody who lives... Her face. And so I know this isn't really about grief, but I feel like what I learn about it is just her approach So I think that, you know, I I haven't gone through anything like she has. I haven't lost a partner, I, you know, in the
same way or even remotely the same. But I think what I learned is that you can still be strong and loving toward the person you lost and keep that person alive and there's just so much more that I would look to her for how to you know, I guess, cope with my own feelings. There was never any doubt. There was just grateful. I don't know, Bonnie, You might say I'm I'm not hitting the mark here, but... Oh, you're hitting. Yeah. No. You're look got it.
Yeah. I would I could only hope to be that strong. I think some people feel grief and shame around their grief, Bonnie, you talk a little bit about your feelings around falling in love again. And so it's interesting it's an interesting trap we can get in as humans where we start feeling grief and and mad at ourselves for letting go of our grief. What does that mean? Are we disrespect people? And then that becomes its own vicious circle, how is that conversation in your head, Bonnie?
You know, I I think I never felt that at all. And 1 of the things that I am blessed to be able to... To say is, you know, when bill died, of course, it was very sudden. And to but looking looking back on what we had and what we did and how we lived our lives. I had no left. So to me, that was that was just so important. 1 of the things that I... Susan that I say this a lot because it's spent a number of iterations that out
my went. Through on the books so, I'm not sure if this was in the book or not. It may it may have been But 1 of the things that made me particularly feel good. 1 of... Or my my tent made who is sue in the book. We hike every Friday together. It's times Saturdays too. But every Friday, she would... She and a few other people come up to my house and and we were hike. And, so... And we hiked the long 1 day, we were... When I first began to to date, Jim.
She just very quietly said, You know that this means that you've had a really good marriage with bill. And I haven't just truly never thought about that. In in that light before, you know, that that's been, you know, we're kind... Reflected that. 1 1 from the other and that's certainly that the before we hope because that really was early on when I was because if what am I gonna do with it. But I never felt guilty. I truly... III had no guilt. I had no reasons Have guilt.
I continue to think that somehow, bill with God's health still looks open. And Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that the people that we lose throughout our lifetime have a... Have a a hand. They sit there. They drink their coffee in the morning and they say, what are gonna do today? Yeah. Yes. But they don't watch us go to the bathroom unlike what happened to you and you're on killing. Let's get into the fountain. Talk about what
that was like. I would start. In the front, but end up in the back. Probably every day, Bonnie were you, you were sort like that. We would we would kind of bring up bring the group up from behind. We were slow. Everything back off the time. And there about 30 people In our group, there were... What was it, well? Maybe 25 ish? 24 ish, 25 at... Yes. Mh. Yeah. In our group. In total, there were almost 40 of us. We were on 2 different trails? Whoa. So what was that like? What are
you saying to yourselves in your minds? Is your doing this to keep you going 1 foot in front of the other because I'm sure you are exhausted at points, you talk about it. I mean, most especially maybe we'll start close to the top. But most especially... I mean, when when you begin, truly from the first step, you're thinking, I was thinking. I I don't think I can do this. I mean, I had... There were some small mountains that I tried to climb back home
but I... That I couldn't do. Right I went up to me tried to declined not for time. I couldn't do it. I got about a half a mile from the top. Knew I couldn't go any further and turned around, the And that was okay. But, and then there were a couple of other things that I attempted to do and couldn't do. So... For me, Our very first morning that we woke up on the mountain. I woke up. I ran into the woods, and I threw up. And I got all my god. He's got Ripe is gonna send me back down.
I would worried. I mean, I was sick. Up a couple of times, and I managed to get some really weak oatmeal down me and that that stayed down. It turned out. I was just excited about taking my vitamins in anymore. I took my vitamins with nothing in my that they did lights on it. And that's... And and then I packed my stuff off and roll my been bag and got everything ready and that's that's what made
me sit. Because after that, I never never actually got it I never had another, like, a number of people in our trial. Had a lot of stomach problems. I feel like I probably ate some of their food because the food the food is good. I was eaten a lot, So I was good there. Certainly the most difficult day was on Summit. And Some at night, you start you start at about 11:00 at night, and you continue to walk just ever ever so slowly. I mean, the perk... Well, the
per... 1 of the first things that happened to me saw I'm at night was my tent may sued actually got sick before we left. And she got all herself back together. She tried to climb. We didn't get very.
And I I walked off the path her, rick literally took me and pushing me back on the path and I just... I mean, I cried because we had gotten still close, and it was it was a moment, And then at 1 point, at 1 point, there we stopped for a break in our quarter our porter had glass cups for us, and we would break and tea and glass cups and, you know, it it just felt surreal real. At the time. And then as as we continue to go, I would pass 1 of our very young 23 year old athletes
young man who... He was just getting so sick. That's how I would say in my head, I'm not sick. I'm just very hollywood, So 1 point, I somehow got lost from the group, but somehow rick and our African guy yous found me. And at that point, I... Because I I looked at Yous and I said, could you carry my hand? I said about I can't use it. So he not only carried my path but he stayed with me until we got to the very top. And he never when we... When we got close to the top, probably about 45 minutes.
What... He just took my arm, and he never he never let go. So it was literally and truly 1 step at a time. And I've said so many times, it was not my physical body. They got there. It was mud likely because I I know I could've have given up at any time. On that experience, I know there's but, you know, not big things like Pill Europe, but I know there's some things in my life since where I've... I think should I should I just stop? Should I give up at this point and there's some
time when I like, now. Gonna keep gone. Didn't be gone. See what happened. Step by step. That by sound. Yeah. 1 step time. The guides and the... Porter, they're, like, lungs on feet. I don't know how they do it. Yeah. They are amazing. Yeah. It's it's it's extraordinary. Robin what about you? So a few weeks before we went. Before we left for Africa, I had some pretty severe autoimmune issues going on, and they were trying to rule out lupus, and I didn't even know if I could go.
And I was on a medication, that when we landed and got to Africa, I didn't realize you're not because of the temperature, the medication it made my body swell. And then this was... The night before we were about to leave. My boots didn't fit. My legs and my feet were swollen. I thought all this a year of training, I'm here, and now I can't climb. So we have some doctors in our in our group.
And somebody let me support panty hose, and, we put my feet on a whole bunch of duff bags that were stacked high, and I slept with my feet as high as possible. And the next morning, everything had kind of... Gotten back to normal and I was able to put on my shoes and leave for the mountain, and I stopped taking the medicine. So I at least got on the mountain, which was great. And then pretty early on, around, at 13000 feet, I started getting pretty sick, pretty nauseous.
And at that time, I'd only the highest mountain I'd ever climbed was Mount Marcy in the Adi, and that's only 11000 feet. And Kill is over 19300 feet. So I knew that I still had a really, really long way to go, just taking it slow by the time we got to summit at night, I hadn't eaten in about 3 days, I had had a... Couple bites of granola bars, but couldn't eat any food. I hadn't slept in more than 24 hours. And it's just you kind of are running definitely on, you know, I don't even know
if it's adrenaline. I don't I don't know what it is, but you're running on something, and oxygen is 50 percent of what you're used to. There was a time on summit at night where I saw Rick look at me, and I saw doubt in his eyes, and I just that fired me up. I was, the same as Bonnie. You know, I was like, there's no way. He's gonna tell me to turn around. So I kept going. And the last few hours, I kept thinking about why we were there. Raising money for people with cancer, and
I just kept repeating to myself. My pain is finite, my pain is finite because I knew that people who have cancer, they don't necessarily know that their pain is finite. And I felt so grateful that I was in that position. So that's what got me to the top. Oh, and that stella point, which is you get to a place called Stella point, which is the the rim, but you have to walk another 45 minutes to get to the highest point on the top where the the markers are and the flags and the con
sign. But when you're at the rim we saw the curvature of the Earth at Sunrise, which is the site you just never forget. Wow. Incredible. Bonnie, would you think when you got up there? It it so hard to put it into words. It's so hard to put in words. It was because as Robin said, this was if it
was a cancer fund. And so 1 of the things that we all had is we all had a plastic poster if you will, that we could pull up and put in our backpack, and we had had countless people signed that poster you know, as a group, we raised over 200000 dollars for for cancer just on that that 1 time. And some of the messages. And that's the other thing that you think about as you walk up there are some of the messages that people have put on
there. You know, some are in in memorial, to people who are at, you know, some are to honor people who are currently struggling that truly was something that just... That was so important. And we all got our, we all got it got it out and had our pictures taken with that up there. Yeah. It really is hard to... You know, and I know this is Troy, but it's very hard to put it put in words. You've been working for a couple years.
Ports this goal in and you're there. And it's 1 of the most amazing feelings I have. Having that experience. I'm sure you had to pack very lightly. Was there something that you... Is a 2 prong, I guess, what did you think you couldn't live without and then realize that you could live with without on that journey? And and vice versa what are you so glad you had with you? Funny, do you wanna go because you had your shot necklace? I did have light shot necklace.
And that was a necklace that had been given to me on our Romania trip by our guide, steve, I had mentioned before that Rick headed heads up Packed harold Steve. His his brother Steve was the leader for our trip. He Steve had been over to Kill General a couple of years before then. And so he and I were doing lot, you know, nice talking about Bill General, and he had a show necklace around around his neck. And, he talked a lot about that, and he said that he had not taken that off.
Since he done it when he was at Code General. When I got home, he had put that necklace in the bottom of my in the bottom of my bed with just a beautiful note. Just a beautiful note of how you wanna to get that to me, and it was time time to pass it on. So so I'd certainly, I wore that. The entire thing that was that was very important. I don't know that there was anything that I have, that I felt like I didn't need. I mean, we were blessed and lucky that
orders carried our big men. We had we had to carry day pants with our reindeer gear and snacks and things like that, but but the reporters, the porter truly did the heavy lifting for us to get things Yeah, her robin in? This was so long ago. I know more about what Bonnie had than what I do what I did. But I think the only thing that I'm thinking of now is I brought a journal so that I could take copious notes of my a whole trip and that lasted maybe a day. I just didn't have it in
me too. I was too tired. I guess I could I could pretend that that well, I was too present, you know, I could I could make it about that, but I don't think that's the truth. I think that, that I was just too tired to even bother recreating the day every day. So I thought I couldn't live without it, but I guess I could. Did you miss me bank from home? My daughter she was 2 at the time. My mom my mom had them for 8 for 17
days or something like that. Yeah. Mh. Mh. Wow, how did y'all all maintain privacy on this trip? Was that a very humbling thing of trying to, you know, just being a human being and all of its it's fo, you know, special smells and things. Special smells. Well, I mean, the 1 that... And I don't know that we... No. I think this was in the door. But even... You know, like, they're in the day when you have to... Because because you do have to drink a lot. If you don't drink, you are gonna get it
so, you know, you're you're constantly drinking. And so at least for a lot of us we're constantly peeing. And and when you do, the 1 thing you cannot do... You can pay, I'm, you know, off the trail. But you cannot leave any toilet for any place. So we have 2 plastic bags in our pockets every day, 1 with clean, stuff, and 1 with and not clean stuff. So that was really something. I I mean I think most people who were on the trip had been previous Biker or campers, and you're trying used
to... Of course, here there's no what for the most part, let now once you get up to a certain elevation. There's the woods to go into anymore. So you try and find a rock the hide behind or, you know, and no. And then you just hopeful that when you get to him, they actually... They had a toilet set for us, you know, 1 of the tall narrow tents, and they did have a toilet tenth. So there we could go in and do our
big business. So you you hope that get things would work out in the body so that you could, you know, could do that in the morning or do that when you got to the camp at night. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely not a trip to be on your period for, I guess too. You a bad idea. To really time things. Great. Robin, what about you? Did you have any moments where you thought, my my shy is Or, you know, my modest is taking over.
No. I just remember, like, pass... Animals. We would all kind of find the biggest rock and all go at the same time. Hilarious. What is if you could sum it up 1 word of how that trip changed you, What would it be? I'm I'm gonna say friendship. Friendship, true, love in friendship. I mean, we. We still have... We still have friends who, you know, we began training with these people. We still hike with them Today 234 days ago were up. We were a bunch of us without hiking.
First Saturday of every month, the group still gets together and goes for a hike all these years later. Mh. I love it. I mean, 1 thing that has just stated my cart forever, it's this is definitely in the book. But when I came back down, I was beyond exhausted at that point. And I... And I'm thinking to my brain. I hope I can come the tent to get in there, and I somehow did, I got in there. And my friend too who wasn't able to do a climb of course she was in there.
And the first thing she did was take off my boots. And by the time, I got... She got to my second boot, I was sound, that makes me cry. Every time I think about. You know, that that's the kind of love and friendship that we've learned that we've learned to lucy and get. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What about you, robin? What's your 1 word? Perspective. It's help me now no matter what I do. I just tell myself well, I climbed Kill jar. I can do this. Yeah.
It's a major... That's some... Or do you think gil either of you will climb another mountain? I'm a 1 and done. Yeah. Another mountain. Yes, but not this high. Not the sign. Probably the same for me. Not yeah. Not good time. I mean, we went in and that was in the book too. We... Jim and I took a trip to base camp up done that was that was a amazing that was completely different kind of climb from general, very different. Mh. Yeah. Probably not. I mean we're...
And I shouldn't... We're in our seventies now and I mean, we still... We're still very active. We still do a lot of things, but probably not gonna climb kill them joe. Is Rick still giving tours? He does. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna interview Rick. I... When I was reading about Rick. I thought, now that's somebody. Oh, yeah. No. He would be great. 1 of you guys to introduce me the rick because I wanna interview. Okay. He's a character. We can do that.
Yeah. It's a character. He sounds like he's had a lot of interesting life experiences. Yeah. Thank you both so much for being on the show, tell everyone where they can find climbing out. They can find it on Amazon. It's climbing out an adventure in red life after loss. And thank you both. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Susan thank you so much. We appreciate you taking the time, and let us tell a little bit about us story.
Absolutely. There's a lot of fun. I'm gonna manifest with you that it gets made into a movie. I think it'll make a great movie. Why not? Great. You'll get credit. Thank you for listening everybody. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Great review and subscribe to Hey human podcast on itunes or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks. Bye.