A Tale of Two Climbs

Captainsblog: Stardate 64913.7 (thought I grew tired of that.. didn't ya!)

In November of 2008 - approximately 6 months prior to my surgery, my partner and I went to Saugatuck Michigan for the weekend.  A friend had given us a gift certificate for a B & B there, which we utilized, and had a marvelous time.  Saugatuck is a great place, very artsy and lots of neat things to do.  One of those neat things is that that you can climb Mt. Baldhead.  Mt Baldhead is a tree covered sand dune which rises from 560 ft. above sea level to 800 ft at its highest point. If you go down on the opposite side from that which you climbed up, you'll be on the shore of Lake Michigan.   There have been stairs ascending Mt. Baldhead since the early 1900s.  The set of stairs we climbed in 2008 had been there since the 1950s.  They were rather worn, but still sturdy-ish.  Jen and I tacked the climb as we wanted to see the view. As we began to ascent, my heart began to pound, each riser, each landing, made me doubt my ability to make it to the top. But I am STUBBORN... kept going.  I felt lightheaded, my hips were screaming, my heart pounded.  I remember thinking, "this is the stuff that heart attacks ware made of!"  At one point, I did consider stopping, but just about then, a 20 something couple went zipping past me and I thought "oh HELL no" and was determined to make it to the top, which I eventually did.  We rested at the top for a while before coming back down.  Jen told me that she worried about me, and that I hadn't looked good, she was afraid I was going to have a heart attack or something the way I looked. With her training and experience as a firefighter and 1st responder, I didn't take that lightly.  It was two or three weeks after that climb, that I decided to have bariatric surgery.  The left half of the picture below was taken at the top of Mt. Baldhead after I caught my breath somewhat, on that first climb. The right half was taken a few days ago.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years.  We again went to Saugatuck, this time with one of the express purposes being, that I wanted to tackle Mt. Baldhead, and kick its ass, as opposed to it nearly doing me in.  We were surprised to see that a new set of steps had been built, still numbering 282 to reach the summit.  I read online that it cost $99,990 to replace the steps.

This is a view of the steps, from the bottom, even now, looking up made me think "holy shit!" but I was resolved to do it, and was also confident that I could do it without endangering my life.   So up we went!  We stopped for a breather a few times, but we made it. I didn't feel dangerously winded or have the feeling of impending doom I experienced on the last time up. It was a breathtaking experience, but this time, it was the VIEW that took my breath away... not the climb!  

Year Two Goal: Climb Mt. Baldhead - Check ✓

Thanks for hanging with me my friends... peace OUT! ✌