Re-living the experience through film...

Although I really haven't had a solid block of time to sit down and go through the footage minute by minute, I did duck down into my editing suite (also known as my basement) today for an hour. I smiled and laughed and grimaced and most of all remembered and re-lived the 10 days that was Hike For Survival. I watched the progression of nerves and stress on the first few days of the hike through to the elation and thrill of the last few days as we realized what we had achieved. I was worried that we hadn't captured the essence of the adventure as quite often the most exciting things happened off camera because we didn't have the cameras rolling 24/7 but I was wrong. You can still live the adventure through our reaction to the excitement and hear our thoughts and our emotions in the video diaries we kept. The vistas are amazing and the camaraderie apparent. I am really excited to begin editing this thing together. Now to just find the time... - Ky

The enormity of the task fades so quickly...

I just received an email from a friend who wanted to congratulate me on finishing this adventure. I realized again through the email, what I had achieved. When I finished the hike on Saturday I felt like I had been to places in my mind and body that I had never been, tapped into resources of energy and determination that I never knew existed. Just to put one foot in front of the other. To get from West to East of the Sierra Nevadas. I had gone beyond exhausted to a place that I had come out the other side feeling healthier than I had in a long time. It was a false sense of health as I was not supplying my body with nearly enough nutrients to compensate for the high level of activity we were doing, but it felt real none-the-less. I felt like I was making good decisions but looking back on the footage from the trip, there were times I could barely string a sentence together. Brains need food to function... And yet I sit here on my couch feeling not so different to 2 weeks ago (perhaps less stressed now the task is accomplished) and the enormity of what I achieved has faded. I need to remember to celebrate this adventure. The thing that Thomas and I did was something that not many people in this world could have dreamed of attempting, let alone succeeded in achieving. Thank you to the people out there that are reminding me of this - Ky

Donating to great causes...

Hike For Survival was done with the aim to support 2 very important charities: Adelaide Women's & Children's hospital and Homeboy Industries. The hospital saved the life of a very special girl, Ruby Shaw, who plans on becoming a stunt woman (although I try to talk her out of it). Homeboy Industries helps struggling youth find opportunities to carve a new positive future for themselves. Under the Causes section of www.hikeforsurvival.com there is a "donate now" button. Please help us help these amazing organizations...

Back online...

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the delay in updating this site. We resurfaced into the modern world sometime on Saturday afternoon and it has taken us a while to get our bearings. Firstly I'd like to thank Rachanee so much for updating this blog site daily. Our GPS allowed only texts of 44 characters out one at a time, and even then only 1 out of 2 texts apparently made it out of the wilderness. Keeping this in mind, Rachanee did a wonderful job of interpreting and reposting our adventures. It also meant that all the exciting texts such as "trapped between smoke from a fire and thunderstorms" and "Just stumbled across 4 huge bears in the dark" are apparently floating around somewhere in space yet to land in cell phone range. Our journey was in truth, much more exciting, intense and interesting than our GPS has lead you to expect. Over the next few weeks I will share our adventures here and watch for photos soon to be posted on the HFS site - Ky