Ara Cook, loving her AdventureWomen trip in Machu Picchu, Peru!
We are writing this post in honor of Ara Cook, an Adventurous Woman in the truest sense, who very sadly recently died of cancer.
Ara’s lively spirit was truly infectious and she was a bright light to everyone she met while traveling with AdventureWomen over the past two years in 2012 and 2013. We will be forever grateful to have had the privilege of knowing her and seeing the beauty of Glacier National Park and Peru with her before she made her final journey onto a new adventure.
Ara came to Bozeman before her Glacier Hiking trip to meet Susan so they could share experiences about their cancer treatments and successes. Both being from Chicago (and loving that city), they had lots in common. During that time, Ara gave Susan a silver acorn – a symbol of strength, courage and good luck. Ara gave explicit instructions to Susan that she pass this acorn on to the next person in her life facing this struggle. Sadly, within the year, Susan was sending the silver acorn back to Ara…
Ara was a wonderful role model for all of us, right till the end. If you were lucky enough to travel with Ara or know her personally, please send us your comments and photo’s and we will add them to this gallery.
It seems that all of us have known someone who has had their hopes, dreams and future stolen by cancer. If you would like to honor a person in your life who has been brave and courageous, please send us a photo and/or comments and we will make a video and/or photo gallery, with your submissions, to honor them as well.
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- Shopping in Cusco, Peru
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- More shopping in Cusco
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- Ara and Cecelia on an early morning walk to see the Alpacas on Lake Titicaca
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- Hiked to the highest point on Suasi Island on Lake Titicaca, Peru
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- Walking to end of Suasi Island, Lake Titicaca
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- A visit with Martha, one of the native women on the island
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- Ara in Machu Picchu, Peru
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- Ara on the Glacier Hike, Montana
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- Ara joins the local herd of moose, on the Glacier Hike, in Waterton, Canada
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- Ara visits with Susan Eckert in Bozeman on her way to Glacier Park
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- Hiking in Glacier. Ara and our guide, Stacey Bengtson, at 2300 feet in 3 miles
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- On Suasi Island
