Summit for Danny Kilimanjaro 1999

Kilimanjaro 1999

Sky's The Limit!

A Summit for Danny (and all our kids) began back in 1999 at the base of Tanzania's formidable Mount Kilimanjaro. Local businessman Bob Bryant, whose beloved son Danny died four years earlier of a drug overdose, scaled the 20,000-foot peak with the aspirations of raising money to build an Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Center and turning his personal tragedy into hope for others. He succeeded. The first Summit for Danny raised over half a million dollars toward the project.

Bob proved, both to himself and to the community he loves, that there was no mountain high enough for a good cause. From that point on, there was no stopping him. The following year he would gather together a prestigious group of community leaders to take on an unnamed mountain in the Canadian Arctic.

Bob Bryant's Summit Journal

Transcribed By Nick Kelly and Tom Working

The following entries are transcribed from satellite telephone calls received from Bob Bryant through December 26th 1999. Material is edited for purposes of continuity. Updates were posted when Bob contacted us.

Day 1

"Good morning - this is Bob Bryant, calling from the Mountain Village Lodge in Tanzania, Africa. We landed at 9:20pm last night on the 25th, and even though we were up for 33 hours, we feel good. On our flight's descent, we got our first real view of Kilimanjaro - what an incredible site! The top was white against the dark sky.

Today we took in the excellent weather and we'll be visiting Arusha National Park, anxiously awaiting our ascent on Monday. Kilimanjaro's beauty matches its size - it is the largest free-standing mountain on earth.

Thanks to all of you at home who are supporting our efforts on A Summit For Danny. Talk to you soon. Thanks."

Day 2

"We stayed overnite at camp Machame, up at 10,000 feet. It's late afternoon now, and it's been a full day. We departed this morning for Machame Village where we started our climb.

The park entrance was found through a dense catalogue of tropical vegetation - rubber trees, fig trees, and begonias to name a few. Our quick trek through this forest opened into an area of tall grasses and giant heather.

Again, Thank you all for making this a reality and supporting our efforts!"

Day 3

"Good morning - Last night, we were up at an elevation 12,600 feet at camp Shira. Yesterday's scenery of tall grasses and fig trees contrasted very much from the volcanic landscape we later encountered. It's strange to think something so gentle as a forest floor could be so close to a sprawl of obsidian dust and rock."

Day 4

Yesterday morning's communication was our last with Bob. Efforts at contacting him didn't work, but we expect a call in hopefully late tonight.

Day 7

"Hi, it's Bob Bryant calling from Kilimanjaro. We are up on the mountain and we just completed our climb successfully, we reached the summit. It was the Summit For Danny for the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. We just wanted to wish everyone at home a happy new year, and keep those contributions coming in. Thanks very much!"

Sponsors of Summit For Danny 1999

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