Amyloidosis‏

In 2007 my father, Dennis Blake, was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, Amyloidosis. After years of battling the disease, the correct diagnosis was finally given less then a week before he passed. Amyloidosis is a rare blood disease that can affect one or more organs when abnormal deposits of the amyloid protein are produced. It is debilitating and life threatening. The disease meant nothing to my family weeks before we first heard the word, and then it defined the rest of our lives. It is only in the last 25 years that physicians have started to understand the disease. I have been hiking the Appalachian trail for a little more then a month. Hiking 8 to 12 hours a day, I have had plenty of time to think of my father and what kind of differences I could make in his name. I would love to make this epic adventure about more then myself. The amyloidosis foundation's mission is to increase education and awareness in hopes that it will lead to earlier diagnosis and improved treatment. My goal is to raise $1,000 in the name of my father. I have roughly 200 miles left. Just one penny per mile adds up to $20 when I complete the trail of 2,000 miles. If anybody would like to donate a small amount per every mile I complete, then I am confident that I can reach my goal. Here are the directions and the page link for the donations: Check "In memory of" and add my father's name "Dennis Blake"

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Back in the saddle again!

More beautiful country these last few days. I've been hiking in the heart of vermonts ski country. Ski slopes have been visible from most vistas and we have shared a couple summits with ski lifts. No complaints though, the scenery gets better everyday. We have bagged Styles Peak, Bromely mt. Peru peak, Bear mt. And killington mt. The mountains get bigger everyday. We are less then 50 miles from New Hampshire border.
Over the past week our crew, the high end homeless, has splintered. Sabertooth hiking behind me. Squirrel and Blue hiking a short distance ahead of me since Sunday. On Tuesday I arrived in Rutland, Vt. Squirrel and Bluegrass were waiting with Squirrels parents. His parents treated us to Ponderosa and took us to the Long Trail brewery where the beers were on Mrs. Conway. A most enjoyable day that got better when we arrived at the Long Trail Inn and found Sabertooth enjoying a drink at the bar. A glorious reunion indeed! Sabertooth said it best, "let's finish the game."
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