PAIGE HUDSON, FORMER TEACHER AT SHALIMAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, RECENTLY SUMMITED AFRICA'S HIGHEST PEAK, MT. KILIMANJARO IN TANZANIA.
People didn't need to know Paige Hudson ’s name to know her story. For people trekking up Mt Kilimanjaro “that woman from Florida ” had become the stuff of legend. Guides, porters , other hikers all wanted to know if the 52-year-old former elementary school teacher had finally made it to the top on her third try. “It was so funny,” Hudson said Monday afternoon, only days after returning from Tanzania . “I know I was there three times, but I don’t like to count the second because I was sick when I got there.” Hudson first tackled the mountain last December , but stopped just shy of the top. In June, she flew overseas again with the intent to reach the highest peak, but three days in, strep throat and a sinus infection forced her to turn back. On Oct. 3, she started again and told her guide, Simon, only one of two outcomes could play out this time: death or success. During the eight-day adventure, Hudson thought about turning about back – even asked ab