Polar Plunge

As my departure date nears, I've been thinking about things I'd like to do before leaving Oregon.  Among them were annual events that I had done in the past (I will leave too early to participate in this year's Smith Rock Spring Thing, but I hope to break my own records at next month's Hope on the Slopes), hikes I still haven't taken (I'd like to summit the small, cratered butte just behind Bachelor), and rocks I still haven't scaled (my boss is convinced that we can still take a swing--unfortunate pun unintended--at climbing Monkey's Face).  There is also at least one even that, in the past, I heard of too late to take part at the time.

During the summer and fall, when I run along the Deschutes, I take advantage of its melted-snow composition to ice my shins when I finish.  It's always effective, though sometimes I have wait until the tears clear from my eyes before I can stagger back out of the water.  On February 18, I will join many other Bend residents in the Polar Plunge, jumping into the frigid mountain river in the middle of winter to raise money for Special Olympics of Central Oregon.  Since I plan to take part in another fundraiser closer to my heart next month, I won't ask anyone to contribute to both.  Instead, I will pay the full registration for each myself, and suggest the following method for your choice of donation.

If you would like to support the American Cancer Society, or reward my habit of skiing as much as possible every weekend, donate to my Hope on the Slopes campaign in March.  However, if you want to support Special Olympics, or would like to punish me for any past, current, or future transgressions, click here and make your donation.  I plan to use this site in the future to raise funds for various causes I support; consider this a beta test.