2019 Adventure Team: Chilkoot Trail

In 2019, a group of adults set out to complete the Chilkoot Trail – an iconic trek that retraced the steps of the Klondike Goldrush. Travelling through the Alaskan wilderness to the base of the Golden Staircase, it was hard to imagine that men and women before did this trek with not just the 50lb packs we carried on our backs, but with their entire worldly belongings (including an infamous piano that was lugged over the pass!) And did we mention, this wasn’t just any group of adults? Each of the trekkers lives with Type 1 diabetes and was demonstrating a life without limits in a world where the terms diabetes, disability, and chronic illness are coupled with ‘can’t’, ‘shouldn’t’ and ‘better not’s. Split into two groups, the 2019 Adventure Team came together to help redefine Type 1 diabetes and show the world that we can, should, and most definitely will. Although never the intention, it was humbling to realize that diabetes was the very least of our worries in our days filled with intense weather (both snow and scorching sun), steep ascents, and vast valleys. Diabetes came easy. Perhaps it was because we were surrounded by the people who get it most – our slipstream was small but oh so powerful.