Vann climbs Mount Whitney
<p>From left, John Ukich, David Vann and Mike Haenkey smile at the top of Mount Whitney June 5, a hiking excursion that took a last minute turn to raise money for pancreatic cancer.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Days before departing, the first check came in the mail.
The $65 donation may seem like a drop in the bucket when it comes to fighting pancreatic cancer, but for David Vann, it was the first step in what he wants to be many.
"I think she timed it purposefully so we got the check just before we left," Vann said of the donor, who will remain anonymous, and the check that arrived days before Vann and his friends embarked for California.
As for actual steps, Vann knows about those too.
Vann and his friends John Ukich and Mike Haenkey climbed Mount Whitney June 4-5 - the tallest mountain in the continental United States.
"I'm pretty close to being recovered," Vann said of the physical toll it took to scale the 14,500 monster in California's Sierra Nevadas. "It's not a technical hike, but it's a long ways."
The climb includes endless switchbacks to gain the elevation. Switchbacks - those windy, steep trails - can be heartbreaking on a hiker.
But back to the check - seed money as Vann now sees it.
Originally from the Seattle area, Vann always envisioned he'd hike Mount Whitney. He had hiked all the peaks and summits across the Northwest while living there, summits like Sloan, Baker and Hood.
It was at the last minute Vann decided to try and turn the adventure into a fundraising effort for combating pancreatic cancer.
It's the disease that took his first wife, Helen, in 1997. This year, 45,000 people will be diagnosed with it, and 38,000 of them will die. It gives those affected a 6 percent chance of surviving five years.
With little fundraising experience to rely on, Vann announced to The Press and the Inland Northwest affiliate for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network his intentions to hike for fundraising, if not awareness.
So when the first check came, Vann saw it as his start.
Where it goes from here, he still has to figure it out. But raising money, one check at a time, is the end goal.
"It seems like more opportunities have presented themselves," he said. "And more ideas to pursue."
To help: Call Alex Monteiro, affiliate for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, (650) 279-1909 or Vann, 765-7659.