In all honesty, writing this blog has been difficult for me. I've struggled with the topic and what to write about because my story feels far less compelling than those of the multiple myeloma survivors, physicians and caregivers on this amazing team.

Writing never came naturally to me - but hiking did. Hiking is something I'm extremely passionate about. I've been on the trails since I was a young boy and the mountains of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and New York taught me a lot about life. They helped mold me into the man I am today. Hard work, determination and reward were learned on those mountains.

Yeah, twenty plus years ago, hiking was all about me, bagging the next peak and checking mountains off lists. It became a numbers game and had I trekked to Everest Base Camp at that age, it would've been a serious feather in my wool cap.

Now that I'm older, the journey for me is all about helping Jen, Mark, Kirk, Stan, Ben, John and JP make it to base camp and achieve this mission. These survivors inspire and empower the millions of people worldwide battling cancer - they are literally Moving Mountains!

I imagine the rush of seeing the patients' faces at base camp will be even more rewarding than achieving my childhood dream of seeing Mt. Everest in person. Our collective high will be higher than any peak.

Just yesterday, this incredible team surpassed $375,000 in funds raised - all of which goes directly to ground breaking cancer research. I am privileged to be a part of the MM4MM Everest Base Camp team, and to help this meaningful cause.

As John Muir said, "you are not IN the mountains, the mountains are in YOU."