Steve Lombardi
03/02/2006, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa

Some of we climbers carry journals. Mine looks more like that of the one carried by the broken hearted lover in the English Patient, with family and friend photo images pasted inside, a copy of my passport, itineraries, prescription drug regiments, shopping lists, a poem or two, trail maps, climber bios, contact information and a bunch of titbits of data just in case I am lost along the dusty trail. I make a new one for each climb and upon arriving home the journal is set in a wooden timepiece box. At night while in the tent, for whatever reason, when sleep escapes I or I'm missing someone at home I write in it. Otherwise all you get to look at are the Nalgene bottles! Or worse yet taking dumb pictures of yourself wondering what you would look like to the outside world and it may not be pretty at 16,200 feet.

Did you know that porters snore too?

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Steve Lombardi
03/02/2006, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa

Sir Edmund Hillary answered, 'Because it was there.' And everyone may think that too simplistic, but maybe not so. It's all about one's life journey. Hopefully at some point in our lives we ask the question, 'What is the point of all of this?' or 'Is that all there is?' Life is about more than just living. It's not about the first day or the last day but about the journey in between. It's about the bulls you've ridden on the day-to-day trail that count not the buckle you get at the end of some tournament. And so we climb. And we climb high and sleep low. We climb when our bodies tell us no more or our tired bones scream for mercy and turn our heads to lower altitudes. But the more you climb the more you come to the realization that climbing doesn't build character. Instead, climbing reveals the character within. And so, we march on, one step at a time, one breath at a time and one camp at a time. Because anyone who has climbed high in Africa knows: Anyone can eat an elephant. You just have to eat it one bite at a time.

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Steve Lombardi
03/02/2006, Africa

After sending that first post I noticed it had a misspelled word in the title. Blame it on hypoxia. I apologize for the spelling. This is my third trip back to Africa and Kilimanjaro so there is so much more to report that I could go on for a long long time but right now is the lion feed. But before I go, Jamie took this image and it's really a solid piece of work. Not me but the mountain peak. As promised more later but those lions are hungry and so allowing Dan and Scott to get thinner is not a good thing when you're as slow as I am. Onward we march...... Steve

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