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Hello alll!
Sorry to make this quick posting….hectic schedule lately! We are on our way to Baxter State Park now to resume where we left off…..to finish our business with the Big K! It is the week where we are gonna conquer the spirit of Deafblind hiker achieving his dream!!! At this time, there are at least 10 people coming and supporting him! Tomorrow will be our first attempt to hike/climb if the weather is in our favor and our team’s readiness. We will have remaining 4 attempts rest of this week. Wish us a best luck and relatively injury-free journey! There are so much things to share with all of u, but we need to get going. I promise I am going to share all of these stories after our journey! Love to all of you who support us since 2010! Good luck to USA Men’s soccer team in the World Cup! RamSham out!!!
Oh my…….it is less than 2 months to climb the Big K!!!!!! It is time for me to work on fine-tuning on plans and errands!
UPDATED AS OF 30-APRIL-2014 – between now and Saturday 21-June-2014 – Some information below may be changed/added….please keep checking here from time to time.
Hello folks!
After getting my car into the shape for long road trip from New Jersey to Maine with help of my dear friend, Ed M. and my dear father, I was able to drive up to Maine this past Wednesday 5-June at last! Cane and I checked out the weather forecast for next few days and decided to wait out on Tropical Storm Andrea’s drenching rain. We couldn’t believe that the hurricane season already began last week! Gosh! Hope for minor or less-impacted hurricanes/tropical storms this summer in New Hampshire and Maine area. We decided on 4 sections of hiking we are going to do. Here is the breakdown of sections:
Section 1: ~95 miles between Rt. 26 in Grafton Notch, Maine and East Flagstaff Road in Stratton Maine
Section 2: ~19 miles between Rt. 16 in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire and Rt. 2 in Gorham, New Hampshire
Section 3: ~32 miles between Rt 2. in Gorham, New Hampshire and Rt. 26 in Grafton Notch, Maine (notorious and infamous Mahoosuc Notch!)
Section 4: ~114 miles between Rt. 15 in Monson, Maine and Katahdin Mountain (northern terminus of Appalachian Trail)
We are going to do Section 1 as soon as the weather becomes calm for us to begin our hiking season of 2013 with 256 miles left to go!!!!!! We have logged in over 1,900 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia (southern terminus of Appalachian Trail). Unbelievable, isn’t it!?!?!
You might noticed that there is no section between East Flagstaff Road in Stratton, Maine and Rt. 15 in Monson, Maine (~57 miles). We hiked that section in 2010.
We hope to complete our AT journey this summer without any major delays or injuries. *crossing fingers* I am so excited to get away from the civilization once again and hiking among the nature once again. 😉 By the way, for those of you who want to send me a care package, please get in touch with me via email right away to set up an arrangement.
Your steadfast support and cheering on us are much-needed and always welcome here!
Wish us well and happy trails on our first Section 1! 😉
Hello, folks! Spring is approaching, but Spring seems to be here already…here in Northern NJ, we are in balmy low 70’s deg F! Unbelievable. That’s the ideal hiking condition, except Cane is in Maine and I am here in NJ. Darn! I am so itchy to get back on the AT. I am sure Cane is too. This Winter is strange….snowed once here in NJ. Hope we will not be whooped with snow, rain, tornadoes or anything later this early Spring.
Cane and I are working on preparation and re-organizing our equipment and food to get them ready for AT journey this year – our 3rd year of journey! Around 600 miles left. Here is a quick itinerary: Hike north from Kittatinny Visitor’s Center in NJ (Delaware Water Gap) toward North Adams, MA, then leap frog to Franconia Notch, NH to hike north through the White Mountains toward East Flagstaff Lake, ME, then leap frog to Monson, ME to hike toward the final destination – Katahdin. We already hiked VT and section between East Flagstaff, ME and Monson, ME two years ago. We are aiming to resume our hiking on or after 21-March which is this month. We hardly WAIT!!!! Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming news. 😎
Someone made an inquiry when Cane and I will resume our hiking. We plan to lace up our boots in early April from Rockfish Gap in Northern Virginia. We plan to hike VA, WV, MD, PA, NJ, NY, CT and MA from April through first week of June. That’s around 800 miles of hiking. Pray and cross fingers for us to accomplish our expedition between VA and MA. If we do not reach MA in time, that’s ok and we will pick it up at other time. Take one step at a time. 😎
Upon my arrival in USA after 3-month of working overseas, I received a large envelope. I opened and found 18 thank you cards from 5th graders in Scotch Plains, New Jersey where I gave a presentation about my Appalachian Trail experience this past December 2010. I read each card and my smile got bigger each time! I had some tears in my eyes that these students are backing me and Cane 110%! Here is the link where you can view some beautiful artworks these students did:
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| Thank you cards from 5th Graders |
Enjoy!
Roger and I arrived in Atlanta this morning and took the MARTA to North Spring to meet up Roni’s dear friend/sister, Elisa, whom she hadn’t seen each other since 1995 for a lunch. It was wonderful lunch to catch up with each other’s news and for Roger to share his envision of AT. After lunch, the Hiker Hostel picked Roger and me up and headed for Dahlonega. Such a gorgeous hostel in beginning of Appalachia Mountains range. We re-evaluated our backpacks to remove any unnecessary items to mail them home. Now, it is less than 12 hours before we take the first footstep on AT for 5 millions footsteps (I saw a really tall hiker named “Skywalker” which I discovered his book on the end table at hostel. I picked it up and saw his quote about first step toward 5 millions footsteps….so I decided to borrow his quote since I liked it so much!!!! Here is his website: http://www.skywalkerat.com/ I repeat – he was realllllly TALLLLL!!!!). It gives me a goosebumps to even ponder about that. Of course, I am nervous in some ways, but with touch of optimistic vibes and support from my friends, loved ones and family…it just tides me over to begin my journey with Roger to help him pursuing his dream at last. Wow…..
Folks, I may not able to send updates for a while until we arrive in town with electricity and Internet. Wish us well on our way – follow the white blaze trail! 🙂
Roni and I landed here in Atlanta safely…hopped on subway to meet Roni’s friend for lunch…A shuttle bus from Hiker Hostel gave us a lift to the hostel…we rested the most day..reorganized our backpack getting ready for BIG DAY tomorrow 🙂
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Last night, Roger and I slept in the backyard in our separate hammock at my parents’ house. It was in high 30’s, but I was so cold on my back especially my shoulder area! I didn’t sleep well. UGH! Good thing that I am working on solving that problem before I leave this Monday morning. I think I need to get better sleeping pad as insulation and sleeping bag liner to increase the temperature rate for my sleeping bag. My sleeping bag is Dreamwalker 450. My sleeping bag’s temperature rating is:
Temperature rating EN 13537*: Upper Comfort = 19°C / 66°F; Comfort Women = 8°C / 46°F; Comfort Men = 3°C / 38°F; Lower Extreme = -11°C / 12°F Traditional North American Rating = 1°C/35°F
I asked Roger if he slept ok. He said he slept ok except for his cold feet. He plans to buy fleece socks to see if it will remedy the “cold feet” (no pun intended 😎 ) situation.
Hopefully, tonight’s sleeping will improve for us.
AT DeafBlind Dream 