Kilimanjaro, Aconagua, and Beyond

Nathan Tidwell, ‘00, has been climbing mountains with his family ever since he was a missionary kid in Thailand and Burma. When he attended Southern, he found plenty of opportunities to get outdoors such as hiking, all-night softball, and weekend hiking trips with the Outdoor Club.

Since graduation, Nathan has worked in many positions from a civilian contract negotiator in the Department of Defense to his most recent role as the coordinator for Regional Refugee and Humanitarian Response in the Horn of Africa. In addition to caring for their two children, his wife Margie (Jones) Tidwell, ‘02, worked as a foster mother for abandoned and severely malnourished children in Ethiopia.

In his free time, Nathan stays true to his roots, hiking to test himself mentally and physically and to explore the extremes of Earth’s beauty. He has summited Kilimanjaro and several peaks in Washington state. Most recently, he climbed Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest point in both the Southern and Western Hemispheres at 22,841 feet above sea level. As his group neared the summit, it was cold and dark. The higher they climbed, the colder it got. The moon faded away, leaving only stars.

“As our team trudged slowly up in the darkness, we could only see as far as our headlamps, yet we knew that by pressing on the upward way, we would be okay,” Nathan shares. “The faint gray of dawn gave us courage as we continued the climb. The stars reminded me of God’s promises to protect us and never forsake us.”

By Angela (Ford) Baerg, ‘06