A celebratory climb up Mount Princeton

Hiking Mount Princeton in central Colorado would be challenging for anyone, let alone someone like Liz Hallock ’02, center in photo, who just months ago couldn’t take a 10-minute walk. Hallock and her uncle, Kenneth Hallock ’70, left, are in remission from lymphoma. He finished his last treatment a year ago, and her last one was in March. To celebrate “getting through it as a family,” said Liz, her uncle suggested they climb Mount Princeton on Aug. 6. She decided to raise money for First Descents, an adventure program for young-adult cancer survivors. 

Although Kenneth had to turn back at about 13,000 feet, his effort spurred Liz on. Determined that one of them reach the top and motivated to raise money, Liz and her cousin Thatcher, Kenneth’s son, right, reached the 14,197-foot summit. By mid-August, Liz had collected $500 for First Descents. The climb, she says, was a way to “pay it forward to the next person” so that others would “experience nature’s healing.”