As the days progressed, we moved higher up the side of a massive mountain called Kit Carson. Our gradual ascent in stages, on circuitous routes far off the beaten path, allowed the students to become well acclimatized to the altitude and get into shape physically. No one showed any signs of altitude sickness. Several days into the course, we came to a large snow and ice field, the remnant of a former glacier. On this icy expanse I taught the students a new set of skills that included roping up as a team, kick stepping to secure one’s footing in … Continue reading
Category Archives: Memoir
On the edge of a big meadow, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains looming in the background, I waited for the students to arrive. A herd of antelope grazed peacefully in the distance. Piles of backpacks and other mountaineering gear lay on the ground around me. The bus that Outward Bound had rented approached in the distance. When the bus came to a stop, nine Outward Bound students emerged, carrying their suitcases. Most of the students looked eager in anticipation. A few looked apprehensive. In 1977, I completed a master’s degree in experiential education at the University of Colorado in … Continue reading
On a whim, I decided to try out online dating. Several of my patients said they found their life partners on Match.com, or one of the other dating sites, and recommended that I give it a try. One of them warned me that you have to “kiss a lot of toads” before you find your prince. She urged me to give it a try. I told her I didn’t like the idea of kissing toads. She tried to convince me that it was worth it. With my focus on raising my son and giving medical care to my patients, I … Continue reading
On January 22, 2022, Thich Nhat Hanh left his body. If he saw my tears, he would have consoled me by saying that he hadn’t really gone, but simply taken another form. And if I entered into the present moment in a state of mindfulness, I would be able to feel his presence all around me in the form of a cloud in the sky or in the drops of rain falling to the ground. In the summer of 1997, my son and I went to Plum Village in France to see who this monk was who could crack … Continue reading
Colorado, January 1979 On a sunny Saturday in January, I drove with one of my friends from Boulder to the top of a high mountain pass in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We parked our car and headed off into the wilderness with our skis strapped to our backpacks. Our spirits were high. A few days prior to our outing, this particular area of the Rockies had seen a heavy snowstorm that dumped an estimated two feet of snow in the mountains. On the day of our outing, the weather had warmed to well above freezing. There wasn’t a cloud in … Continue reading
While camping in the area of Berlin shelter, I encountered two brothers, ex-soldiers I had met during their reunion at Plaza de Mulas, Santiago and Mateo—not their real names for the sake of anonymity, given the high positions they currently hold in Argentina. I saw the brothers hastily preparing their gear for an ascent to the summit the following morning. I asked if I could go with them. Without hesitation they denied my request. They felt certain that a woman would slow them down and prevent them from reaching the summit. I convinced them that if this should be the … Continue reading
Early in the morning on January 11th, 1976, I caught a taxi out of Santiago. After a few miles, the taxi broke down. I got out and within minutes a VW van stopped. A Uruguayan family traveling all over Latin America in their van, American style, invited me to ride with them. We had a delightful time laughing and sharing stories of our adventures. They drove me all the way to Puente de Inca—far out of their way. The major at the Puente de Inca army base informed me that the priests were already on the mountain, assuming that I … Continue reading
The day was clear and crisp and our spirits were high. We were loaded down like pack mules. Miguel carried two full packs, one lashed to the other. The base camp for climbers lay eighteen miles away—a two-day hike. Soon after departing, we entered the narrow Valley of Horcones, named after a fork-tailed bird found in the region. The valley continued all the way to the base camp, called Plaza de Mulas, the place where the pack mules gather while the soldiers unload the supplies. Endless rows of mountains loomed around us in all directions. The awe-inspiring landscape was … Continue reading
The end of my two-year commitment with the Peace Corps loomed on the horizon. I dreaded the day I would have to say good-bye to my Ecuadorian friends whom I had grown to love, especially my climbing partner, Miguel. In the fall of 1975, on one of our weekend expeditions high in the Andes, while lying in our sleeping bags side by side under the stars, Miguel and I reminisced about our many climbs together. Knowing that my departure from South America was only a few months away, Miguel proposed that we organize an expedition to climb Mt. Aconcagua, the … Continue reading
After a year of working in the lowlands with indigenous communities teaching health, nutrition, and home gardening, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture ran out of funding for further projects such as mine. I had heard the Peace Corps officials mention the serious need for bilingual materials for teaching Spanish to Quechua-speaking indigenous children who lived in isolated villages high in the Andes Mountains. I enthusiastically volunteered to take on this project. It seemed like a perfect fit, given my prior experience implementing bilingual and bicultural education in the Navajo boarding school where I taught for two years. The Peace Corps … Continue reading