Mount Washington

Our shelter

When my roommate asked me if I wanted to climb the highest peak in the Northeast… my immediate reaction was “Are you kidding me?!?!?... DUH!” Getting a chance to live on the East for the last 6 months have been a blessing, especially as I re-acclimate to the States and try and figure out what my next move is. Mount Washington has a peak of approx. 6,288ft, known for erratic weather, and includes a 4-mile stretch of hiking that gains a 4,000 ft.  Sounds like fun, right? Well I have never done anything like that, so I figured, why not?!?

Emily, my roommate, and I packed all the hiking essentials, including peanut butter, Oreos, bread, lots of water, a couple PBRs, and great attitudes before making the 4 hour drive to New Hampshire where this hiking adventure would begin. The drive was beautiful, twisting and turning through the mountains of New England. Many signs promised of likely moose-sightings (which never came true) but kept our interest as we approached the visitor center, which also served as a base-camp to the hike.

We left the visitor center around 6pm, thinking that a 2 mile hike to the camp ground would be a breeze, but little did we know, as 8pm approached we were fighting for sunlight. Luckily, summertime allows for long days, but this tough hike to the campground was just a glimpse into what our hike to the summit would be like the next day.

We slept soundly in a shelter, and awoke early the next morning to take on the mountain. We were unaware what kind of feat this would be. Although only about 6 miles to the summit from the base cape, hikers will gain close to 4,000ft in elevation. There were points during the hike there I found myself on all 4s, clinging to the cliffs. However, some of the overlooks were breathtaking. It was worth every bead of sweat, every labored breath, every thought of defeat. The weathers held up for us most of the trip, which was a concern because Mount Washington has a history of drastic, quick weather changes.

Once we hiked all the way to the summit (which sadly is right into a parking lot), we took the time to rest, eat lunch, and bask into our triumph. Because the weather was seemingly holding out, we decided to take some different paths on the way down to see other overlooks and peaks. Even with the detours, we were able to get back to our base camp around 4pm. We rested again from our day on the mountain, enjoyed a PBR, played some cards, and then headed to be around 9pm.

The real excitement awoke us at 10pm. The campground supervisor frantically knocked on our door and swung it open. She alerted us that she was bringing in two hypothermic hikers. Two 20-something men were ushered into our shelter, one doing much better than the other. They began to strip them, getting the cold clothes off of them, and hydrate them. It was extremely nerve wracking because the weather had turned quickly to a rainstorm. These two experienced hikers were caught out, too far from the campground, and had no choice but to keep walking. Hypothermia can happen so quickly and set in without warning. At one point, one of the men started vomiting violently, and seemed to be slightly delirious. Thankfully our campground supervisor was very professional and experienced. She handled it beautifully, and made sure they were okay before getting them to sleep.

We awoke early to head home, in hopes to explore New Hampshire on our way back to the farm. The men who were recovering in our shelter seemed to be getting back on their feet by the time we left, so we headed out. On the way back, we chatted and enjoyed the downhill trail as a contrast to the ache in my muscles. We wished luck to the hikers headed in the opposite direction, more so to those who looked like they were slightly ill prepared. This hike was not only something I was happy I did while I was on this coast, but also was a great opportunity for my roommate and I to really bond. There is something about being at the mercy to the side of a mountain with someone else that brings you close to them. She and I and the mountain, that’s all there was that weekend. I hope to conquer more mountains during my life, continuing to push body, my head, and my heart.  

Health, Wealth and Sexiness...

Three things that are very important (and I often cheers to them)... but I want to focus on the first for now. Ever since moving to Heifer International's Learning Center (Heifer Farm) in Rutland, Mass., I have found a new passion for food and agriculture, and have taken many steps to further my education in the American farming industry and different health benefits coming from nutrition and sustainable organic agriculture. I feel like I literally cannot get enough information into my system about these topics. I have spent HOURS watching documentaries, HOURS reading various books, and HOURS talking with other informed people about food and how it effects people. These have been incredible sources of information, and because of my growing internest in these topics, I have decided to bring my life more in this direction. I want to devote myself and my being to learning, spreading, and enjoying sustainable organic farming and agriculture. I think there is so much people dont know (so many things I didnt know, until I arrived at Heifer Farm) and I want to be influential in educating those people. I think people NEED to know where their food comes from, what their food is made of, how can they improve that food to benefit not only them, but their families and the world. I have realized that focusing on food brings you on a journey to ultimately effects every single thing on this Earth. Its incredible. I hope to one day bring my knowledge and passion back to West Africa and work with those whom cared for me during my Peace Corps service, but for now, I am enjoying spreading this love and info with my friends and family on the home-front. Eventually I will go to grad school, and continue my education in this field, which I am very excited about.

But for now... I wanted to share some of the resources that I have watched/read/listened to that pushed me to do more research and developed this new found passion. I hope you enjoy some of the below documentaries as they have truly inspired me.

The first documentary I watched was The Botany of Desire, based on the book written by Michael Pollan. He is my food-geek crush. An incredible individual who has written MANY books on food and the food system. I have also read Omnivore's Delma which was incredible as well. I look forward to reading In Defense of Food and listening to Cooked on audiobook, which I recently just purchased. I think he is an engaging man who makes learning about agriculture interesting and motivating. This documentary was particularly interesting because it didnt totally focus on food but talked about a couple different things (food, flowers, etc) and how they have evolved over time. I recommend it to all out there, whether you are a foodie or not. It has interesting information that anyone would find beneficial to know.

Forks Over Knives is one of my favorite documentaries that I have seen so far. I think it is interesting and informative. There are some incredible interviews with very important food and nutrition experts, focusing of the author of The China Study, Dr. Campbell. I highly recommend this documentary to anyone interested in learning more about a plant based diet and how it can benefit your health. There is also a sequel to this movie which I have yet to watch, but I hear great things about. 

The China Study is the vegan bible. It is referenced in all literature about food and nutrition and is considered "The most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted". It covers a 20-year-study done in China of 65,000 peoples' diets in rural areas. It is very interesting, however, slightly dry. Its kinda like reading a textbook. If you are very interested in the body chemistry of food/nutrition and their effects on illness and disease, then its AWESOME. But I kinda geek-out on this stuff.  I am currently re-reading this book and loving every minute of it. 

Hungry for Change was the next documentary I watched. I enjoyed it and I thought it had interested interviews with very interesting people. It talked more about the benefits of a raw-style diet (eating nothing that has been cooked over 180 degrees). I like this idea, but I also that into realization that this is a hard commitment to make. I think it is something to strive for, but not something I think I could do all the time. It was a good documentary to watch to be introduced to some prominent names in the industry and find out some interesting facts about eating a plant-based-raw diet. 

Food Matters was referenced in "Hungry for Change" so I decided to watch it next. I enjoyed it, but did not think it was the best of the bunch. But I felt like it was biased. It talked a lot of ways to self-medicate with food, which I agree with. I think we can effect our health with our nutrition and what we put into our bodies. However, it also really put down all Western medicine. I think doctors are there for a reason and have a lot of good things they can offer us in our health care system, however I did agree that we can take our health into our own hands simply by paying attention to our diet and what we consume. Take this one with a grain-of-salt when watching. 

I explored my local library to find more information about raw-eating and came across this book, Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. She has a series of "Crazy Sexy...." books and this one goes over her battle with cancer and finding that food helped her put it at bay. She is still struggling with cancer, but she is able to live daily, comfortable, without treatment by committing herself to a raw-plant-based diet. I think its an interesting book that has some great information in it and can be adapted to anyones life. At the end of the book she gives guidelines to a 21-day cleanse. I did not do it, but I am tempted to do it in the future. The book it funny, quirky and I enjoyed reading it.

After reading the book, and more exploring of the library in Holden, MA, I stumbled across the documentary of Kris Carr, called Crazy Sexy Cancer. I wanted to learn more about Kris and her battled with health. I thought this movies was inspiring about someone who was dealt a bad set of cards and turned it around. She is a fun, bubbly person who is extremely positive about life. I can appreciate that and admire that about her. Exploring how diet effected her disease was interesting to watch and motivating for me. I recommend watching this for everyone. 

I then came across Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead by Joe Cross. He is an Aussie that found juicing to be a solution for his obesity and diseases brought on by poor diet. I thought this was not only engaging by pushed me to action. After watching this movie and seeing the success of Kris Carr in juicing for her own health, I decided to take on a personal challenge. I am trying to juice for 3-days each month. Not only do I feel like it "reboots" my system, but it reminds me of better eating habits. Sometimes I find myself mindlessly eating or drinking too much and if I can have an intense, 3-day cleanse it will reminds me that there are better ways to treat my body. I have done it now for 2 months and feel great. I know that there is a lot of debate on juicing and fasting, but all documents I have read state that short-term fasting has shown positive effects on the body without any of the downfalls that long-term fasting can cause. I really enjoy own I feel during a juice cleanse and I recommend doing short-term ones to help "restart" your body. I followed Joe's diet plan on my first cleanse and have become more creative since then. 

Vegucated was another one I watched. This documentary followed a vegan woman take 3 non-vegan New Yorkers and have them follow a vegan lifestyle. It also went into the farming practices here in America. I thought it was disturbing to see some of the images in this documentary, but extremely informative. I think many Americans go on the "ignorance is bliss" kind of attitude toward food, and I think thats ridiculous. I think everyone should know where their meat, poultry and dairy come from. Ignoring this information is putting blinders on. This documentary is whitty and relatable. Not all the people in it agree with a vegan lifestyle, but take on the opportunity to investigate more about their food system and I really respect that. Its not about being vegan or vowing to eat only plants for the rest of your life, its being informed and making informed choices. 

Food Fight was an inspring a lovely documentary about local agriculture  It covered what some people all over the United States to change their food system. Whether is was in a school, in a neighborhood or in someones backyard, this documentary went through many different gardens and discussed the benefit of growing your own food and teaching the youth of today how to grow their own food. I thought this was great because while currently working for Heifer International, I feel that educating the youth is my most important job. They are who will be taking on this world and by passing on this information, I am doing my job to preserve the good things in this world. Hearing the inspiring stories in "Food Fight" was motivating! I think everyone should watch this and let it captivate you! 

Last but not least was King Corn. This documentary follows two friends who take one acre of land to grow corn on in a effort to find out where their corn would go in the American food system. I thought this was so interesting because we underestimate how many things in our diet that is actually made of corn. I did not grow up in an agriculture area so the idea of vast plains of corn is a strange concept to me. But after watching this movie, I feel like I understand the corn industry a lot better and have formed opinions on what I think is okay and not okay to have corn in. I think this again should bee seen by more people because underestimate how many things they eat daily that contain corn. Again, an "ignorance is bliss" attitude is what most people take on this topic, but I think all should know. 

Other great documentaries that I have seen in the past and recommend if this topic interests you: 

As you can see, I have a lot of passion and interest on these topics. I think it is extremely important for people of all generations to understand their food, where it comes from, and how it effects you. I know after watching and reading these various things I have integrated the information into my job, passing on the gift of knowledge. I think it doesn't have to take a foodie like me to appreciate what these documentaries have to share. Its important for all Americans and all people around the world to know whats going on in the agriculture world and how it effets the people and the world. I am excited to move my life in the direction to continue to spread this knowledge around the world and especially to younger generations. I want to be part of making this place a better place to live.