Climbing for a Cause with Type 1 Diabetes


November 30, 2021

By Alex Day, type 1 diabetic and WNPF’s Marketing/Communications & Database Manager

Climb for a Cause is a program in which community members and employees from local companies and foundations show their love for Washington’s national parks by participating in fundraising climbs on Mount Rainier, Mount Shuksan (North Cascades) or Mount Olympus (Olympics).

Alex and Kacee hold up a WNPF buff
Alex and Kacee show off a WNPF buff

For most people, November is a magical time of year. It’s the beginning of the holiday season, bringing Thanksgiving, quality time spent with loved ones, festive music, and good food. November is also National Diabetes Month, so for many people like me who live with type 1 diabetes (T1D), it’s a time to celebrate how we’ve overcome the challenges of life with a chronic disease.

It’s a time for us to raise our voices and tell the world that diabetes isn’t a death sentence, and we are just as capable despite our condition. When I think of all that I’ve accomplished despite my diabetes, one of the things I’m most proud of is taking part in WNPF’s Climb for a Cause program this summer.

You see, every decision I make is impacted by my chronic disease. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the pancreas doesn’t make insulin, resulting in blood sugar building up in the bloodstream. The cause, in cases like mine, is unknown – and so far, there is no cure. Because my pancreas doesn’t produce insulin, I must take it manually and monitor my blood sugar levels around the clock to keep them in range. I manage my diabetes using a continuous blood glucose monitor (CGM) and an insulin patch pump that administers insulin through a small device I wear attached to my body.

For the most part, I am capable of anything anyone else is – I just have to be extra thoughtful of what my blood sugar is doing. If I take too much insulin or get too much exercise, my blood sugar can drop quickly to dangerous levels, which can make activities like hiking, biking, and running challenging. But I embrace that challenge because those activities – and being outdoors in our parks – are some of my absolute favorite things.

Climbing Mount Rainier, though, was a whole different ballgame.

Climbers hike up the trail at Paradise
The WNPF team begins their climb at Paradise

When I joined the WNPF team and heard about Climb for a Cause, I knew I had to give it a try. After all, it’s one of the coolest ways to experience a unique aspect of our national parks – getting to climb a volcano. I signed up right away.

As I began training, I realized it wasn’t going to be just another hike. No, this was going to be one of the most challenging physical experiences I’d attempted to date. But I was up for the challenge. I spent several months hiking two to three times a week with my partner and our pup, Finn. We carried packs loaded down with 50 pounds of water to prepare ourselves physically, and we worked our way up to hikes that reached 1,000 feet of elevation gain per mile.

A water bottle with a WNPF sticker is held in front of a mountain
Alex holds up her WNPF sticker-decorated water bottle in front of Little Tahoma at their Ingraham Flats camp

Our climb was scheduled for the last weekend in July. Over the course of the spring and summer, we tackled dozens of hikes near the Seattle area. Some of our favorites were Mount Walker in Olympic National Forest, a portion of the Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier, Snow Lake Trail in Alpines Wilderness, and the Boundary Trail at Mount Saint Helens. Closer to home, we really enjoyed dozens of training hikes in Snoqualmie National Forest, including the Bridal Veil Falls/Lake Serene Trail, Dirty Harry’s Balcony Trail, Bandera Mountain, and Mount Dickerman.

That last one, Mount Dickerman, was our test. I knew if we could accomplish that challenging hike with our packs, we were ready. We could, and we were. Unfortunately, when the time came for us to climb Mount Rainier, we made it all the way up to high camp at Ingraham Flats before we were turned around by weather. But I have no doubt that we could have reached the summit if not for that.

What I enjoy most about climbing is the mental aspect of it – you have to be incredibly focused on what you’re doing in order to safely make your way along the trail. In a lot of ways, that’s what life with diabetes is like. You must be vigilant, but ultimately, it doesn’t have to hold you back. Sometimes, it even makes you better.

I learned so much about myself climbing Mount Rainier as part of Climb for a Cause. The fact that I was raising funds to support the park that has given so much to me over the years just makes the memory that much more special.