50 Mile Hike for Charity

[Raul Perez]

Hello fellow hikers,

During my last multi-day hike in November 2010 my hiking buddy (Gear Slug) and I were talking about doing one hike a year in the name of charity while educating those about hammock camping.

This year we have created an event called “The H3 Initiative: Hammock Hiking for Humanity” with a local charity organization. The organization is called Strength for Life which provides free fitness classes to cancer survivors and those going through chemo-therapy to help recover faster from the treatments. They also provide wellness weekends which helps promote a healthier living and eating lifestyle for cancer survivors.

My family and my fiance’s family have had serious bouts with cancer. More recently after I created this event my fiance’s father has been diagnosed with colon cancer in an very advanced stage so this event has taken on a more emotional attachment in my heart.

Our goal is to hike from the base of Bear Mountain, NY and hike north on the Appalachian Trail to the Connecticut border which is about 53 miles. We plan on hiking about 10 miles a day or more. I will be providing a video at the end of our hike and each day I will discuss something unique about hammock camping within the video.

We will be receiving no benefit from this organization of any kind (ie no food or travel expenses picked up by the charity). And because of this I have worked out that a percentage of the donations generated from this event will be directed to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Thank you for your time in reading this event posting.

Please see my signature for a direct link to the event and the organization we are hiking for.

Kind regards,

Raul

[Raul Perez]

To be more explicit 20% of donations generated from my event will go to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy

[Raul Perez]

I had the organization update the event page to reflect that the AT Conservancy will receive a portion of the donation.

Did some prelim planning and the miles for the day seem to be as follows:

10-14 miles Day 1

8-10 miles Day 2

13 miles Day 3 (Morgan Stewart Shelter)

8 miles Day 4 (Telephone Pioneers Shelter Possibly)

10 miles Day 5 (ending at Ten mile River Shelter in CT)

Day 6 - about a 7 mile trek to the train station

[Ontiora]

That's a nice thing to do! Good luck, but enjoy yourself above all- that section's one of the best in NY, especially the part near the Hudson.

[mweinstone]

now thats a regular old charity walk that can be respected. but just to be sure, the 20% never goes thru your hands right? good job sir! hope to hike with you one day.

[Raul Perez]

Correct I dont want any money going through me at all that's why I set up the site with the charitable organization. Once the hike is completed and they send the donation I will request a copy of the remittance to the AT Conservancy to make sure everything was conducted accordingly.

I'm an auditor by trade ;)

Raul

[Pro Vagabond]

This weekend I found out my step brother has cancer throughout his body (liver, spine, colon...), so thank you for what you are doing. I'm looking to do something like this near where I live.

[mweinstone]

one day cancer will be cured . and on that day, we will lay that victory at the feet of the fallen.

[Raul Perez]

Pro V,

I'm really sorry to hear about your step brother. I pray he responds well to the treatments!

[Mags]

This is a great example of how to do a charity hike. All proceeds go directly to the charities and there is no question if the hiker is using a charity hike to pay for a vacation. And a portion of the proceeds actually go to help out the trail. Win!

[Blissful]

I couldn't tell from the site exactly what the charity is? Or did I miss it?
I mean I see from your posts above but maybe on the website donation page it could be spelled out exactly what Strength for Life is.

Hope it goes well.

[Raul Perez]

Blissful,

On the top of the donation page it says "Home". Click it and it takes you directly to the site.

Or check out www.strengthforlifeny.org (http://www.strengthforlifeny.org)

Same thing.

Hope this helps,

Raul

[Raul Perez]

Just to clear some confusion my donation page is apart of the charity's events and therefore linked directly to the charity's website. This was set up by the Charity founders themselves (Jacqui & Debbie) and they were the ones who offered to donate the additional 20% to the AT Conservancy. Really nice people let me tell you.

[Raul Perez]

So far we raised $510 which equates to $102 raised for the AT Conservancy! Our goal is $2,000 which would give the AT Conservancy $400.

Please help us reach our goal. The link is in my signature.

Thank you!

[Raul Perez]

Shameless Bump now at $650 with the AT Conservancy getting $130.

[Raul Perez]

Now at $725 (2 donors will commit within a few days) so the AT Conservancy will be getting $145 right now. I could really use the hiking community's help in this endeavour.

[Raul Perez]

I'm heading out from Bear Mt to William Brien shelter for an overnighter April 9th to dial in my gear if anyone wants to tag along.

Total donations up to $815. Thanks for the support so far!

Raul

[Raul Perez]

Did my overnight hike. Everything seems to be dialed in just fine. My strength and conditioning training is working out quite well. Based on the soreness today I need to do more stairmaster equipment and calf raises to adjust to the work load.

When pushing myself I'm covering 9 miles in about 4 hours in moderate to difficult terrain. I feel I'm ready for this adventure as it will be the longest trek of my backpacking adventures and will pave the way for a longer adventure I'm sure.

I am still below my mark and could really use the help of the hiking community to at least break $1,000 for this charitable organization. Remember 20% also goes to the AT Conservancy to assist in the maintenance of the trail.

If you feel my quest is worthy of your donation please see my signature below to the event.

My best,

Water Monkey

[Raul Perez]

Well Gear Slug bailed on the hike had unforseen obligations that just took precedence.... I'm still in and going to go solo as long as my fiance's dad and aunt stay fairly healthy (now diagnosed terminally ill).

Now I have to get a SPOT... or else my Fiance is gonna freak.

[Raul Perez]

Did a lot of reflection based on the past weekend and recent loss of my hiking partner.

I can push out more miles than I give myself credit for. Hell I knocked out 9 miles in 4 hours and arrived at camp the first day at 330pm with napping mid day.

I am probably going to revamp my original itinerary and push out a 16 mile day the first day, 10 mile the second and reach the first shelter RPH, push out another 16 mile day and skip over a shelter and land at Telephone Pioneer, Head out to Wiley for 9 miles, then victory lap it to the train station.... weather permitting obviously

Another thing... I'm gonna need more food... really at dinner time. Maybe it was the cold but I was hungry that night by 2am and I ate quite often. As stated in my 3 season gear video, brother I can eat. I'm going to look into more filling items. I mean I had the spicy chicken from hawkvittles (yum) and stuffed 2 tortillas with it and then had half a bowl to finish off and I wanted more. I actually lost 2 pounds from that hike and it wasn't much.

I purchased the Spot II tracker. I'll set up a webpage so my family can track me because my Fiance is not happy... I mean NOT happy I'm solo. Maybe I'll link up the page here if you guys are interested.

I'm now projecting a 4 1/2 day hike

[10-K]

Well Gear Slug bailed on the hike had unforseen obligations that just took precedence.... I'm still in and going to go solo as long as my fiance's dad and aunt stay fairly healthy (now diagnosed terminally ill).

Now I have to get a SPOT... or else my Fiance is gonna freak.

Hey Raul - I've got a SPOT you can borrow. I'm leaving town for the BMT in 48 hours so let me know quick.

[Raul Perez]

dude too late It's scheduled to arrive today from REI. I was gonna buy one anyway for next year for my thru hike of the NPT the loss of my hiking partner this trip just forced my hand sooner.

Thanks for the offer though!!

[Raul Perez]

Have fun on your BMT hike!!!

[Raul Perez]

Almost 2 1/2 weeks left until I hit the trails. My co-workers, managers, partners and my martial arts friends really stepped up the past 2 weeks and placed some generous donations.

Right now at $1,335 which means the AT Conservancy gets $267 to help maintain the trails. Still far from $2,000 which was my goal and getting no help from my bailed out partner too.

Very little donations from the hiking community unfortunately. If you feel my event is worthy enough please see my signature.

[Raul Perez]

Unfortunately I received saddening news about my Fiance's father. His cancer has spread and only has a few more weeks left.

I am postponing my trip until late June mid July. Once a solid date has formed I will provide details.

Raul

[perrito]

You have my sincere sympathy for you and your loved ones.

[Raul Perez]

Today my Fiancé’s father has passed due to colon, rectum and stomach cancer. He was diagnosed late January 2011 2 weeks after I asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

A very nice man who was a Navy Korean War veteran. He loved spending time with his grand kids and was notorious at cheating while playing UNO and always lost at Monopoly.

He mixed up the names of the kids’ favorite tv characters to get a laugh from them for example he called the Big Show (WWE Wrestler) the Big Story as well as other funny sayings such as “Jump on my chest and lets see who’s the best”… I still to this day have no idea what that means but it still cracks me up.

I remember having him over all the time and serving him Amoretto on the rocks which was his favorite drink at my house while complaining how uncomfortable my couch was (it really is though so I couldn’t fault him). He was a wonderful cook and at one time in his life owned a deli which he claimed Bruce Springsteen came to frequently to practice his guitar before he made it big.

I pray that he is at peace now and that the suffering he endured the past 2 months has been put behind him. He is survived by his wife, 2 brothers, 2 sons, 2 daughters, and 7 grand children.