POP S TAKE US TO THE TOP. The Story of How Father and Son Summit. The Highest Mountain Peak in the 48 Contiguous States

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1 POP S TAKE US TO THE TOP The Story of How Father and Son Summit The Highest Mountain Peak in the 48 Contiguous States A Life Lesson and Metaphor on: Ascending, Determination, Perseverance, Recovery, Reconciliation, Relationships, Setbacks, Success and Love Mt. Whitney Summit 09/14/2016

2 About the Author My name is Mark Lees and I was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved to San Diego in I now live in Oceanside, California. I have a son, Sam, age 28 who is a student at Humboldt State University and who is my hiking parter, and thankfully got me started into the sport of hiking January, I have a Masters Degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Chapman University, as well as a certification from the California Association of Addiction and Recovery Resources as an Addiction Recovery Specialist. Much of the work I have done over the past 12 years has been counseling, case managing and coaching people with mental health related disorders and substance abuse issues and concerns. My private practice, Hiker Therapy, is a way for me to offer mental heath and substance abuse recovery healing and repair using nature and hiking as a holistic therapeutic tool. For fun and self-care I like to Hike, Starbucks to both energize and relax, see as many baseball games as I can each MLB season and am a big believer in the mental health calming and healing powers of music with my favorite being Jazz.

3 Prologue The spirit and metaphorical essence of this book was inspired by my son Sam and I reconciling our relationship through the sport of hiking and attempt at summiting Mt. Whitney, at feet, the highest Mountain Peak in the contiguous 48 United States. This story offers hope to those whose life and relationships are in need of healing and repair. Many times when we let it be, let it go, face ourselves and start to focus on the changes we need to make in our own lives, those around us will take notice, turn towards us and start to make changes in their lives as well. This book also tells the journey faced by those in recovery. When referring to recovery in this story we are talking about individual and family recovery from alcohol and other drug abuse and addiction. However, as this story tells, it doesn't matter who or what you are recovering from, most of us in life have been brought to our knees based on a need to recover from something. These pages will speak about facing fears, insecurities, anxieties, self doubt and the lessons setbacks and perseverance can teach. Some of what you will read here will speak to the painful realities and reminders of how our humanness affects our lives and our relationships, especially the relationships with the ones we hold dear to us and love very much. Finally, Pop s Take Us To The Top is about Love, Love between a Father and Son that was always most certainly there but a Love that had been wounded and was in need of reconciliation, unconditional positive regard and acceptance.

4 This book also offers a perspective by Sam and I on how to plan and prepare for what you need in order to hike a difficult and challenging mountain trail. It is not a technical book on how to hike Mt. Whitney. This is not the book for that, nor are we experts on hiking mountains. However, we can share with you our experiences hiking Mt. Whitney and what worked and what didn't work for us on two separate occasions. You bought the book and with that comes our insights, practical information and personal on the trail adventures from our attempts at the summit of Mt. Whitney. Some of the useful information provided was gathered from resources, websites and books written by others who have hiked Mt. Whitney numerous times. I have provided links and book titles for you to resource from. This book will be of interest to anyone who is into hiking and has a curiosity, desire and goal to hike the highest mountain peak in the 48 states. 30,000 people each year attempt to summit Whitney, with 10,000, or one-third of those 30,000 able to reach the Peak. Quite simply 33% who those awarded a permit to summit Whitney each year make it, 66% do not. This attests to the odds not in the hiker s favor and as this story will tell, a powerful reminder to Sam and I. Statistics and numbers aside, Mt. Whitney is a very doable hike, an unbelievable accomplishment and for me a Top 5 life time experience shared with another Top 5 Lifetime experience, my Son Sam. Once you ve been up there, your mind, body and soul are changed forever, I think about it every day. -Pops

5 The Beginning: 4th Grade and Then 47 Years later It all started when I was in 4th grade at Jane Adams Elementary School in Redford Township, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan and where I grew up and lived for the first 20 years of my life. The year was Mrs. Harris my teacher clearly stated Class today we are going to learn about the geography of the United States, starting with the highest point in our Countries 48 contiguous states, Mt. Whitney in California, and the lowest point in the 48 contiguous United States, Death Valley, also in California. As soon as I heard Mrs. Harris say that, my fascination with the Highest Mountain Peak in the country had begun. I had no idea how, with who or when this was going to happen, but I knew that I wanted to be standing on top of that mountain one day 47 years later the Universe introduced me to the who I was to attempt hiking Mt. Whitney with when Sam, came to me one Winter night in 2011 and presented me with this invitation. Pops, we have absolutely nothing in common, you love sports, I like sports. I love music, you like music. I have been hiking with a friend and his father, let s you and I go hiking together. The seed had been planted, little did I know that this invitation from Sam would evolve into the next part of the Whitney equation, the how and the when. More importantly Sam suggested and introduced me to an activity that would renew my sense of adventure for life, become my passion and open the doors of change and growth for us both in unimaginable ways. Welcome and please enjoy POP S TAKE US TO THE TOP

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