#mtjme

#cysticfibrosisbadass shirt #liveyourlife #mtjme hat https://www.instagram.com/p/B4qZFexAAsX/?igshid=ioo8qzn4bvu8

#bebiggerthancysticfibrosis #mtjme hat, shirt https://www.instagram.com/p/B3uqnnpAdbk/?igshid=yeoeeoa8vo3w

Kicking off September with our CFer of the month! Madi Vanstone is 14, lives in Beeton, Ontario in Canada. She's loving life, loves riding horses & a huge CF advocate! Follow Madi on social media! Twitter: @MadiVanstone Instagram: CF Canada Website: www.madivanstone.ca PC: @ianpett ❤️ #liveyourlife #mtjme #cysticfibrosis #justbreathe #awareness #curecf

The total number of orphans worldwide is 17 times the population of New York City. Crazy to think about... What will you do to help that number? #bebiggerthanyourself #mtjme #liveyourlife #orphans #africa

(Photo credit Red Tide Productions)

Relincho Valley Some things just happen for a reason. Some call it Karma, some call it God, and some call it luck.   Through the first two days we had been hiking the same trek as another group. Most of them were Norwegians that spoke pretty good English. A lot of them had climbed Kilimanjaro and some even climbed Elbrus so they were in the same boat as us. Only one difference. They were a guided climb. We were the Solo Rapido Americanos. As we were packing up camp to start the trek so were the Norwegians. Lets just say it was a good thing they were literally two minutes faster than us this day. The three of us were certain the trail continued north around the mountain and into the far valley. I mean you could even see a start of a trail out of camp that way.  We knew we would have to cross the river soon after leaving camp. What we didn’t realize was that it was the wrong valley…. After the Norwegians started walking we said to each other “Where are they going?” quickly realizing they were going the right way and we had the wrong path. Soooo we followed them for a bit realizing the valley we needed to hike was right in front of our face. We came up to the river. John and I removed our boots and rolled our pants up to our knees to cross the frigid waters as Mark took the challenge of finding sketchy spots to hop the river so he wouldn’t have to remove his boots. Luckily Mark didn’t end up soaked and John and I made it across with numb toes. We played like we knew exactly where we were going when we caught up to our friends…..Nothing to see here…..Just some Americans climbing the highest mountain outside of Asia knowing exactly where the trail is going…….. As we dried our feet and continued our hike we entered the Relincho Valley that consisted of epic views and amazing "on the edge" hiking. In some spots one slip and lets just say “no bueno”. It was a lot of climbing at first gaining around 1,500ft in the first couple of hours and then turned into rolling hills. We eventually pulled away from the Norwegians after we noticed the trail was obvious heading to our next camp. We wondered what would of happened if we continued to go astray…….. (Photo credit to Red Tide Productions)

Sonny The Protector Sonny is the mascot to one of our awesome sponsors Sun Bum and is a Gorilla that just wants you to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. Lets just say Sonny travels a lot. He goes everywhere with me. He has been to the top of Mt. Elbrus in Russia, Mt. Toti in Colombia, and Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. Along with many other places around the world. One of the traditions we have started with Sonny is him being the protector of our tent. He gets stationed just outside the entrance to our tent letting people know they must pass through him to enter for any reason.  Not only does he protect us in our tent but he protects our skin as well as we use Sun Bum's lip balm and proline series every single day. Also you will notice me wearing Sun Bum's hats as well. They make all kinds of rad stuff like beach towels, shirts, footballs, frisbees, and yes you can even have your very own Sonny for the right price. Just go to trustthebum.com to get your rad SB swag. This Sonny that you see in the pic will be auctioned off to raise money to help Red Tide Productions, Mark Nolan, and Myself get to the top of some of the Seven Summits. You see we are climbing the Seven Summits to raise $1,000,000 for those affected by Cystic Fibrosis, but these mountains are not cheap to climb. We have covered our cost through all of the mountains so far but the expensive ones are coming up and frankly we aren't rich dudes so we need your help. We also are throwing in rad gear for certain auctions so you can have a piece of our adventures. One of the great things about Sonny is that he is always a conversation starter. EVERYONE asks about him in so many different languages as well. Why do you bring him? What is he? Do you take him to the summit? Is he heavy? Can I have him? Does he really protect your lazy ass?  The answer is that Sonny is a rockin' dude protecting other rockin' dudes. If you're interested in the auction with Sonny just let us know. We will be organizing it soon! If you are looking to sponsor three dudes to climb these epic mountains and have a company yourself. Well its a write off and just contact me ([email protected]). All we ask is that you be bigger than yourself and help us make the world a better place! Keep being awesome. Adventure on and Live.Your.Life.

Moon So Bright We reached our first camp (Pampa de Lenãs) after taking off from the entrance of the Vacas Valley around 6pm on January 2nd. It was definitely a long day due to losing our way at one point confusing a large white rock for a possible tent thinking it was camp. Sadly this also took us the wrong way and we had to back track after realizing we took the lower trail and needed the higher trail. After setting up camp and getting some water as we reached extreme dehydration the night grew upon us. As the sun set darkness covered camp, but then as we looked over the mountain top we saw what looked like an industrial flashlight on top of the mountain. We then realized it was the moon rising!!! It was the brightest I had ever seen the moon during any night in any location. It was truly blinding in the middle of the night.  John whipped out his camera and set up an exposure shot. Where he would leave the lens open for a bit to capture more light. What we got was mind blowing. The moon was SO BRIGHT that it literally lit up the whole valley and even though you look at this picture and think its the sun shining, its actually the moon. Those aren't dust particles. Those are stars with the bright moon lit over the land. To our eyes it was still dark on the valley with a bright moon, but this photo shows how much light the moon was putting off. I just couldn't stop staring at it...It was so beautiful. (Photo by Red Tide Productions)