Four Summit Summer

Many of you supported this annual summer fundraising quest which began in 2017, when I embarked on hiking the 2,650 mile long Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), which I completed in 2021. Starting last summer, I set a new goal for myself: to summit all the 10,000 foot or higher peaks that lie along the PCT. I began by summiting Mt Baker (Kulshan, in Native Lummi) and Mt Adams (known to Indigenous peoples as Klickitat or Pahto), climbing a combined total of 14,132 feet.

I am now embarking on what I hope will be a four summit summer: Glacier Peak (known as Takobia in the Sauk-Suiattle dialect of the Coast Salish language of Lushootseed), Mount Hood (known as Wy’East by the Multnomah tribe), Mount Rainier (known by the Puyallup people as Tahoma, meaning “mother of waters”), and either Mount Shasta (Withassa) or Mt Lassen (called Kohm Yah-mah-nee by the indigenous Nah-Kan-Koyom Maidum people). If the fourth summit is Shasta/Withassa, my total elevation gain across the four peaks will be just over 30,000 feet.

This annual fundraiser will support Donkeysaddle Projects and families with urgent needs, including:

Abdallah:

Abdallah is a 14-year-old boy in Gaza with a rare chest and lung disease which is potentially life-threatening. I first met Abdallah in 2015 when I was reporting in Gaza for Al Jazeera America.

Mohammed:

Mohammed is a 17-year-old boy in Gaza who was shot above the knee by an Israeli sniper, severing his nerve and leading to the amputation of his leg. I first met Mohammed in early 2019 when I was reporting in Gaza for +972Magazine.

Misk:

Misk is a toddler who lives in Khan Younis refugee camp in the south of Gaza. She and her sister were both born with profound hearing loss. The family needs support with Misk’s treatment, including speech therapy and transportation back and forth to medical appointments. DSP founder Jen Marlowe has known Misk’s family for over 20 years, and they have been featured in her reporting from Gaza.

Kim Davis:

Kim Davis is the sister of Troy Davis, an innocent man who was executed by the state of Georgia in 2011. Donkeysaddle has been partnering with the Davis family since 2009, in their struggle to end the death penalty and to amplify Troy’s story. Kim has been in and out of the hospital for over eight months, and has been wheelchair bound. Medical bills are mounting, as are bills for transportation to medical appointments, ambulance bills, and more.

Your donations will provide the majority of the funds to ensure the kids’ medical and health needs for the next year. It will also support Donkeysaddle Projects vital work in the world, which you can lean more about at: https://www.donkeysaddle.org/