Dina

Dina grew up in Santa Monica, leading a very active lifestyle through hiking and mountain biking.  In 2003, after raising her daughter in Seattle, she moved back to Santa Monica.  In search of old hiking trails and exercise, she joined the LA Hiking Group on July 14, 2006.  After a year of joining the group, she ventured on to train for the LA Marathon and had taken up Taiko Drumming.

She enjoys volunteering and helping others, which made the “Baldy for the Blind” program a perfect fit. After attending the initial “Sight Guide” training, she realized that it was going to be a series of hikes with the summit of Mt. Baldy as a goal.  After hiking to the summits of Mt. Pilchuk, Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens, she knew the reward, Mt. Baldy would provide to the students at Braille. She was excited to take on a new challenge for herself and help guide someone who otherwise may have never gotten the opportunity.

The 4 months of hard work became a learning and growing experience for Dina.  She met wonderful new people and was able to listen to their own adventures and stories.  She once thought that losing her sight would be the end of her life, but these students have taught her that life goes on, and new challenges are made and conquered.

Message from Dina:

I have learned so much from each person and had actually found strength to conquer my newfound fears of obtaining new altitudes & distances, through them.  Thank you Chris for letting me be a part of this adventure and to all the guides & students for making this happen. Thank you to Drea, Jimmy, Meleni & the others for your documentation and a special thanks to Odet for warming my heart with her giggle and to DJ for getting me on that ski lift down!