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FEATURE: Where the Snow Never Meltsby Rick McNamaraphotos by Chuck Matlock  In his epic book, The End of the Game, Peter Beard writes, "...19th century Africa turned out to be less dangerous to unwary travelers than the conference rooms and journals of the learned societies." He is describing the skeptical response from experts at England's Royal Geographical Society to early reports of snowcapped mountains of Africa's equator. They refused to believe the people who faced up to the dangers and saw the mountains for themselves.CCPOA members know all too well these experts who never walk the line. They ignore what we report to them because it contradicts their opinion of what the world should look like. Media reports and editorials blame some unspecified failure of the Department of Corrections on CCPOA. Sacramento's conference rooms and learned societies want to make worse the staff shortages we already face. They want to lower wages and reduce benefits, making the recruiting of good, new employees that much harder. They are risking our safety when tired employees make critical decisions. They complain that we sabotage reforms, but they never give an example of either a reform, or a failure of one. Some critics call the SHU torture, while we know it to be a major reform with demonstrable success in lessening prison violence and street crime. This shows those of us who understand the situation best -- CCPOA members who walk the line -- our critics' true inability to grasp reality. The reason I make the comparison between 19th century dogmatic critics and their 21st century peers is because of a once in a lifetime opportunity that C.O. Chuck Matlock and I experienced this past winter. Chuck, I, and a half-dozen other Pelican Bay officers enjoy the challenge of mountains and backcountry. Our interest takes us to the summits of Mt. Shasta, Mt. White Peak, and Mt. Whitney. We also like hiking in the mountains of California and Oregon. Chuck, an Eagle Scout, is the group's spark plug. His stories inspired me to try mountain climbing. He is first class at trip planning. All of us drew the line, though, at his suggesting we try climbing Mt. Rainier in Washington, or even Denali (Mt. McKinley) in Alaska. As correctional officers, we practice the evaluation of risk. Most of us still have small children at home; true mountaineering seems like too much danger. However, one truly high mountain exists that does not present constant risk of ice falling, crevasses opening, and hypothermia setting in: Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. At 19,340 feet tall, Kilimanjaro is the most popular ultrahigh atmosphere destination on Earth. In 2003 I suffered major injuries to my feet and knees, followed by a slow recovery. CCPOA's Benefit Trust Gold Shield protection plan prevented my family's financial ruin. I returned to work at Pelican Bay in early 2005. Around that time, National Geographic Explorer magazine called Alpine Ascent's trek to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro one of the 25 best adventure travel trips in the world. Climbing to the summit is a perfect way to celebrate my recovery, I reason. It would also satisfy Chuck's desire to do a true, world class mountain. THE JOURNEY BEGINS Patrick Smith of Kifaru (www.kirafu.net) sponsors us with a pair of his bullet proof daypacks. We start searching for more sponsors. At the time, CCPOA's ardent campaign against Schwarzenegger is in full swing. We agree to carry the Pelican Bay chapter CCPOA banner to the summit, thus showing that CCPOA will go to any height to stop him from using us as scapegoats for his political failings. My therapist, Mike Zing at Pacific Northwest Physical Therapy, also decides to sponsor the trip. Eventually, CCPOA headquarters hears about our climb and supplies us with T-shirts for our guides and porters. In Tanzania, brand new T-shirts are a big deal. The look on our guides' faces says it all.  Our guides are constantly chanting "Pole, Pole" (pully, pully), meaning slowly, slowly. What they really mean is you don't have to move fast, but you do have to keep moving. Realizing this, I begin saying "Pole, Pole - Chop, Chop." Leonce Moshi, our main local guide, finds this very amusing. Leonce is sending his two sons to a private school that costs twice as much per year, per student, than the average Tanzanian earns. He is away from home about eight months of the year guiding on the mountain. He hopes his oldest boy can go to Oxford University in England. Leonce walks our seven day trip in 15 hours. We respect him greatly. The guides and porters are the true heroes of Kilimanjaro. Behind the scenes they are moving a mountain of equipment. They are providing us safe, delicious meals, and they're looking out for everyone's safety. Because they make it look so simple, it is easy to overlook the fact that very few people can make the trip without them. Our group of 17 uses about 83 porters and guides. We live well and we tip well. Working on the mountain is very hard work, but the pay is very good by Tanzanian standards. Rains in the afternoon on day two helped by reminding us to pay attention to equipment. Some of our team are suffering headaches and vomiting from the altitude at the two highest camps. Rock walls and lunches above 15,000 feet make the days pass rapidly. Waking up on summit day at 23:00 we start climbing at midnight. It is straight up over 3,000 feet, walking on loose lava scree until sunup. I have problems balancing around 5 a.m. All 16 of us summit between 6:30 and 7:00. We call home using our cell phone. Altitude is doing strange things and it is exciting to be here. Our families say we sound like we are drinking. Cell phones work perfectly on the whole mountain, and in most of Northern Tanzania. Staying in touch with our families allows us to share the experience, keeps them from worrying, and raises our spirits. Our team descends after a little more than 30 minutes at the summit. Chuck and I are back in camp resting a few minutes after noon. The whole group gets back, eats, and begins descending again by 14:30. An hour later, it is raining and hailing. The Kifaru packs easily hold the weather at bay, and from the complaints I hear, none of the other daypacks are keeping gear dry.  The park service manages the mountain well. Trails are recently improved, and new restrooms were in abundance at the higher camps. Climbers pay $700 in fees for our access to the mountain. One team member pulls a back muscle, so park rangers help him for the last couple of hours. The rangers respond very promptly. They go past us climbing rapidly to reach the rescue operation. Chuck and I recognize the look on their faces. It tells us they are on their way to do something serious. Our years on the line have taught us that something is up.The sunshine returns as we reach our final camp at about 18:15. At 10,000 feet, the thick air tastes as good as the Kilimanjarobrand beers we are now enjoying. Flying to the Serengeti the day after we get off the mountain, we see migrating gnus, large African antelope. In minutes, we are photographing lion, leopard, cheetah, nyati (cape buffalo), and more. We take an incredible hot air balloon ride at sunrise, and a Masai family welcomes us to their compound, where we stay in luxurious Safari Lodges. We drive to Nogorogoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Tarangire National Parks. Hippos, rhinos, and elephants roam these parks; thousands of zebras block the view. Tanzanians are industrious people. Tourism is vital to their economy so service is excellent. While we are seeing some resentment, we also see a lot of smiles and genuine waving from people who are not part of the tourist scene. Tanzania is widely regarded for its wildlife management. The United Nations conference on trade in wildlife products and its war crimes tribunal for the Rwandan genocide are being held in Arusha, Tanzania. We eat our fi nal African meal in Tanzania at their compound. BACK HOME  Chuck Matlock is everything you could ask for in a climbing partner and a C.O. He always shows attention to detail. Safety is second nature to him. He keeps his sense of humor front and center. In fact, monkeys "gassed" him two days in a row, but Chuck never retaliated. Unfortunately, his imitation of a talking zebra is terrible. CCPOA's critics don't believe in our dedication. They don't believe we are professionals.They don't believe we bring solutions to the table, and they didn't believe we would get California voters to see we are not the problem. But you and I go to the mountain every day. We are the hardworking porters making it happen behind the scenes. We have dreams for our families, just like Leonce Moshi does. We desire to succeed -- like Arnold does -- and in real life we are tougher. California's communities are not safe and secure without us. Eventually, the Royal Geographic Society accepts the existence of snows that n |
