Seymour woman plans hike to Kilimanjaro summit

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Trekking up, down and around the dirt trails of Jackson-Washington State Forest, Seymour’s Elizabeth Eaken prepares for her greatest hike yet.

Spending up to six hours on her feet at a time, with a 15-pound pack on her back, the trails serve as a training ground.

She knows the upcoming task won’t be easy, but that’s part of the fun for Eaken.

While the 38-year-old Seymour resident has completed three Ironmans — and countless other endurance events over the past decade — a new opportunity recently presented itself to Eaken: Surmounting the tallest mountain in Africa.

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Next month, Eaken will participate in a weeklong hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Kilimanjaro, which stands at 19,341 feet on the Kenya/Tanzania border, is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world.

Eaken, who joins a group of around 40 other hikers, said she will spend five days ascending the mountain and two going back down.

While Eaken has climbed mountains in Tennessee, Wyoming and Colorado, she said she has never hiked anything like Kilimanjaro. She guessed that the highest she has hiked is around 9,000 feet.

She got the idea for the hike from some friends who live in North Vernon, who she will join the hike with Tanzania.

“I have some friends who did a tour with this company and went to Machu Picchu (Peru) last summer,” Eaken said. “They alternate (locations), and this year, they’re going to Kenya. They asked if I wanted to go, and I couldn’t say no. It wasn’t anything I’ve ever planned to do. I’ve never been to Africa. A lot of it is a new experience, which really attracted me to it.”

Before committing to the hike last fall, Eaken had other plans.

“Originally, I had intended to do Ironman this year before (Kilimanjaro) came up,” Eaken said. “It’s a change of pace. I’ve been doing triathlons for close to 10 years now. It was just the opportunity. I didn’t know if I would ever get the chance again to climb Kilimanjaro. I feel like Ironman, we’re lucky because it’s always there. I could do it next year, and I’m hoping to still be doing it when I’m 60, 70 or 80 years old.”

In November, Eaken received a training plan to prepare for the mountain.

“The tour group is actually focused toward runners,” Eaken said. “They gave us training plans, and it’s both strength and high-intensity training. You can hike all you want, but it doesn’t really prepare you for the altitude. It’s also training for being on your feet for a long time while carrying packs.

“The training schedule has us doing something every day five days a week. Most days, it’s just an hour. It’s not nearly as intense as an Ironman. It’s nice to have a little break from that.”

Eaken said the high-intensity training is geared to help the altitude. While the hiking itself doesn’t worry Eaken, the altitude is a small concern.

“The mileage isn’t that aggressive,” Eaken said. “We start in the rainforest, and the entire hike is about 50 miles up over five days. It’s mainly the elevation that slows you down. It’s 19,000 feet, and I’ve read that at the summit, it’s 10 percent of the oxygen content that it is at sea level. Essentially, it’s like climbing two flights of stairs, but it takes 40 minutes to do.”

Following the hike, Eaken and the group will spend a week in Kenya on a safari.

Eaken said endurance activities offer more than a physical challenge.

“I think that I’m a naturally anxious person,” Eaken said. “I know that when I’m doing endurance sports, I feel very focused. I like that feeling. Normally, in daily life, you see all these options of what you should be doing and you wonder if you’re doing the right thing. When I’m out on a long bike ride or on a long hike, I feel like I’m doing exactly what I need to be doing.”

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