For the week of Sept 25 - Oct 1, 2002

‘Crossing Divides’ book signing benefit for Expedition Inspiration

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Chapter One and Expedition Inspirational Fund for Breast Cancer Research are hosting a book signing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. at Chapter One in Ketchum.

The book, "Crossing Divides: A Couple's Story of Cancer, Hope, and Hiking Montana's Continental Divide," juxtaposes a journey taken by Scott Bischke and his wife, Katie Gibson, a cervical cancer survivor.

The book tackles cancer from three perspectives: the spouse’s perspective on dealing with a mate’s illness the healing power of nature, and finally the intertwining story of the hike across Montana with the difficulties of struggling with cancer.

The couple met in Boulder at the University of Colorado in 1982.

Married in 1988, they moved to Corvallis, Ore. where they both worked for Hewlett-Packard Company, Bischke as an environmental engineer and Gibson as a computer project manager.

Exploring wild country together—hiking, biking, canoeing, and skiing—is their preferred mode of existence.

Bischke's book, "Two Wheels Around New Zealand," published in 1996, chronicled the year they spent traveling in the South Seas. During the course of their journey, they biked more than 8,000 kilometers.

Adventurous, healthy and fit, it came as a shock to the duo when Gibson’s cancer was discovered after a routine Pap test in 1992.

In February 1993, a radical hysterectomy was performed. They struggled through two more years of bad news, surgeries, improvements and disappointments interspersed with running in marathons and sea kayaking trips.

By 1998, Gibson and Bischke planned the hike that would take them across the 800-mile stretch of the Montana section of the Continental Divide Trail. It took three months to complete the walk. The longest daily hike was 16 miles; the highest peak climbed was nearly 10,000 feet.

"Cancer and grizzlies both force us to consider our impermanence; both have the power to rudely rip away our complacency about tomorrow's certainty. Suddenly, living now is the only assured option," said Bischke.

After the journey they moved back to Bishke’s home state of Montana.

"Crossing Divides" was published by the American Cancer Society, April 2002.

 

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