Lakeland Teen Climbs Kilimanjaro To Spread Stepfather's Ashes
POSTED: 2:45 pm EDT June 19,
2006
LAKELAND, Fla. -- A 14-year-old from Lakeland said reaching the top of Mount Kilimanjaro was bittersweet.
Garrett
Robinson made it, but he was alone. He had to spread the ashes of the
man who was to be his climbing companion. The boy's stepfather, Steve
Pickett, died in an April 2005 car accident. The stepfather had
made the almost 20,000-foot ascent in August 2004 for an HIV/AIDS
support group he helped create called Friends-Together. The top wasn't as cold as he expected, according to a release sent on behalf of Garrett and his mother.
Three others climb were with him in Tanzania: Julie Sprague of Naples,
Aki Komulainen of Stuart and Mark Tatro of Atlanta. But the boy was the
only one who made it to the top.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.








