Welcome!

I decided that it would be easiest to start a blog about my training for Mount Rainier and other Seattle adventures - though these adventures have continued on to North Carolina recently!

Most recently are photos from cooking some fabulous gluten-free food and my brother's work with Habitat for Humanity at the University of Maine!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Camp Schurman

So, Kyle and I set off to do some training work at Camp Muir--where I am going to be spending the first night of my Mount Rainier Climb on Aug 3rd. But the road was closed, so we headed over to the other base-camp, Camp Schurman. The approach hike was beautiful, but when we got to the snow, we found that my crampons weren't working out so well (better to find this out before the climb)!! So we did some self-arrest practice on the icy slope and then we climbed the ridge to the right. Only to reach the top at sunset and the the most breathtaking image of my life. The sun setting over the mountains in the distance and the enormous mountain to our left full of open crevasses, glimmering in the last bits of sunshine. It was truly, spectacular!! At close to 8,000 feet it was as if we could touch the summit. We headed back down in the dark wth our headlamps with a field of stars above our heads, Mars in the distance over the mountain, and the shadow of the mountain over us. If all goes well, in less than two weeks I will have successfully completed the journey to the summit with pray flags full of names and thoughts and prayers for families that have been touched by breast cancer. One step closer to finding a cure...


These are a few of my favorite photos from the climb, you can see the rest by clicking on the link on the map at the bottom of the page.
















Here is a map of where we were and where I'll be staying the first night of the climb! The red box in the bottom right of the map is where we will be staying the first night and the purple box in the top right of the map is where we were last night.


Friday, July 20, 2007

Climbing for a Cause

Published in the Fairfield Citizen~News, 7/20/07, by Rita Papazian

Hints at the direction Heather Ann Brauer's life would take surfaced early.

In first grade at North Stratfield Elementary School she recalls winning a first-place award for creating "Quick Catch" in the Invent America national contest. Her idea was to string a net across the driveway to prevent balls or other toys from rolling into the street and creating a possible danger.

"I was always into creating and inventing," said the 23-year-old doctorate candidate in molecular and cellular biology in the Paul Lampe lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash.

She was always looking to make something better. Today, this former Fairfield resident who lives and studies in Seattle has her mind set on a loftier goal to make something better.
Brauer is joining more than 100 women and men from across the United States who will strive for the summits of six mountain peaks in the Pacific Northwest, Eastern Europe and Africa this summer as part of the 10th anniversary of the "Climb to Fight Breast Cancer" presented by Safeway. Organized by the Hutchinson center, the fundraiser, in its ninth year, is anticipated to raise at least $500,000. Brauer's personal goal is to raise $5,000.

She has a personal reason for setting off in early August on her hike up the mountain. Her mother, Cindy Brauer of Congress Street, is a cancer survivor and so is her mother's close friend, Judy Connell, who Heather calls her "aunt."

In a letter to prospective donors, Brauer said, "On a beautiful day in Seattle you can see the magnificent backdrop of Mount Rainier, a symbol of beauty, grace and strength. Thus, it is only fitting that I dedicate my climb to two beautiful women who carry themselves with immense grace. They are both incredibly strong breast cancer survivors. My mother has been a constant model of love and perseverance in my life, always giving to others with all of her heart."
Climbing up Mount Rainer with a 50-pound pack on her back is the least this 5-foot-4-inch, 107-pound woman can do to pay tribute to her mother and aunt, who have successfully faced their bouts with cancer.

Brauer described Mount Rainier as a "beautifully sculpted dormant volcano." It is encased in more than 35 square miles of snow and glacial ice. Its peak reaches 14,441 feet into the clouds.
"It's exciting and for a really good cause. And I think about how my mother has fought. It's worth raising money for," said Brauer, whose thesis is focused on finding a biomarker a protein in the human blood that would help in identifying breast cancer and thus lead to early detection and increase the survival rate.

"While my project is far from finding a cure, the finding of these biomarkers could dramatically decrease the mortality rate associated with breast cancer and better the quality of life for breast cancer patients and their families," she said.

To prepare for her trek, Brauer has been doing extensive training, getting up at 5 a.m. to hike up the mountain. Also, she competes in triathlons and recently ran a half marathon.

Brauer always has been an active person. She competed in cross-country events at Fairfield High School before transferring to a private school in Kent. She went on to Kenyon College, where she majored in chemistry and continued her studies at science camps while an undergraduate. During her freshman year of college, she became active with a woman's center and participated in a lot of events raising awareness and funds for breast cancer. Upon graduation, she enrolled at the University of Washington, where she is now doing her post-graduate work, which she describes as "neat" in the way researchers, like herself, can do something to better people's lives and "help a great part of the population.

Brauer's love for hands-on projects harkens back to her studies at Fairfield Woods Middle School, where she recalled in sixth grade creating a quiz board, which was a box with an electric circuit of the Great Barrier Reef. Green and red lights would indicate right and wrong answers.
While she misses her family in Fairfield, which includes her parents, Jeff and Cindy, her aunt and uncle, and her grandmother, she loves living in the Northwest, which gives her opportunities for outdoor adventures such as hiking up Mount Rainier.

Reflecting upon her adventure ahead, Brauer said she is mentally and physically preparing herself. "Climbing is easy. Fundraising is the hard part," said Brauer, who sees firsthand with her work in research what donations can do to help with the breast cancer cause.

"I'd climb anything to get rid of breast cancer," said Brauer, noting how government funding has been cut substantially in recent years. "Getting money is very competitive."

Christi Loso, spokeswoman for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said Brauer is "a young woman with remarkable drive and vision, who is just beginning to fulfill her passions for science and helping others."

Anyone interested in helping Brauer reach her financial goal as she climbs Mount Rainier can send a check, made out to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, to Heather Ann Brauer, 1100 Fairview Ave. N., Mailstop M5-C800, Seattle, Wash., 98109.

KOMO 4 Clip 2

KOMO 4 Clip 1

Friday, July 13, 2007

Prayer Flags




Please email me the names of people you would like me to climb in honor or memory of. I will write their names on the prayer flags tha we will carry with us to the summit.




Note on Prayer Flags: You are receiving very special prayer flags this year. Please write the names of your loved ones on them and take them to your summits. They were brought back from Nepal by Committee Chair Karen Kilian--here is what she says, "The prayer flags were blessed by the Lama Geshe in Pangboche. He was told what the flags were for by our Sirdar, Ang Temba. He said prayers, blessed the flags, tossed blessed rice over them. I've attached a photo of him and Ang Temba which I took when we visited him. As you can see from the photos in the background, he blesses a lot of climbers!"

Itinerary



Photo of the group that reached the summit on July 4th...soon that'll be me!!


August 2nd, 4 p.m. – Gear check at Alpine Ascents International office in Seattle, meet your guide, teammates and make sure your packs are filled with all of the right gear.

August 3rd, 6 a.m. – Meet at AAI offices for transport to the trailhead.

August 3rd, Day 1 – Arrive at Paradise area on Mt. Rainier and finish last minute packing before taking off on the 4-5 hour hike up to Camp Muir. This is the best night to watch the sunset to the West over the Olympic Mountain range and the Puget Sound if the sky is clear.

August 4th, Day 2 – In the morning you will practice snow travel skills, rope handling and probably test out your crampons. In the afternoon you hike up to Ingraham Flats – where you will set up your high camp for the night. You will be going to bed after dinner, so you might wish to bring something to cover your eyes if you have a hard time falling asleep with sunlight.

August 5th, Day 3 – Rise and shine – the early mid-night wake up call is a shock to the system, but well worth it. This is summit day and the early start insures that you will summit before the snow softens on the glacier and that you are safely back at camp before the snow becomes difficult to walk on. Climbing while the sun is rising is a beautiful and memorable experience – not to mention the photo opps are amazing! You will break down camp, pack up your packs and descend to Paradise. In the past some of the climbers have made arrangements to have friends or family members meet them at the trailhead. Keep in mind that cell phones do not work in woods, so you can’t call them to let them know when you will arrive, but the guides will be able to give you a window of time when you meet for the gear check.

Mailbox Peak






Kelly and I climbed Mailbox Peak last week. 4000 ft vertical over 2 miles, and we made it to the top in 2 hours. The view 360 and pretty spectacular!! We could see Rainier the whole way up, a constant reminder of what I am training for! It was beautiful...here are some photos :)