RamSham: Milestones!

We left Duncannon this morning and survived our thunderstorm hiking on top of the ridge. Sheesh! Anyhow, tomorrow, we will hit 300 miles mark since we left Rockfish Gap in Shenandoah National Park a month ago (18-April). We logged in around 1,400 miles already! Cane continues to amaze me with his determination and perservance! Almost 2 weeks left of hiking – we plan to stop hiking on 3- or 4-June for a couple of months. We shall return hiking in August for a couple of month. We are heading for Port Clinton – around 60 miles of hiking from Duncannon. Until next time, folks!

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RamSham: Semi-Rainy Day today…

Rain stopped at noon and we made a quick decision to hike around 8 miles to Blackburn Center to stay for a night TODAY.  That way, we can arrive in Harpers Ferry tomorrow and take care of Cane’s boots problem right away.  Cane’s boots fell apart after only 2 weeks of absorbing some abuses from the rocks.  He has to find very strudious boots that can withstand tremendous amount of abuses from the rocks this weekend or he will hike bootless!  😎

Catch y’all later, folks!

RamSham: One of rainy days

We elected not to hike today due to soggy and cold rainy day today.  It is not fun and easy to hike on the trail in that weather condition.  We are taking the “rainy day” today at Bears Den and hanging out with other hikers – Rockpuncher and Bear Jew – who have been hitching along with us since Pass Mountain Shelter after Thornton Gap in Shenandoah National Park.  They are fun and sweet couple from DC who wanted to hike from Swift Run Gap (a bit more south of Thornton Gap) to Katahdin.  Other hiker, Kermit, is a sweet woman who knows a bit of fingerspellings and sign language.  The hostess of Bears Den, Hopeful, knows some sign language because she wants to be able to communicate with her two children with “Baby Signs”.  Hopeful’s husband’s name is Red Wing.  He went out of the way to get me gluten free pizza, so I can eat it with other hikers who were having pizza last night at Bears Den.  After that, I got to wolf down a pint of Ben’s and Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.  Mmmmmmm!

Not a bad idea to stay in on rainy day, eh?  😎  Our arrival in Harpers Ferry will be pushed back to this Friday.  We are looking forward to meeting our friends this Saturday.  I plan to post the schedule for this Saturday before this Friday at 18:00 (6 pm).  Stay dry and warm, folks!

AD-Cane: “Roller Coaster” Trail

The “roller coaster” trail we entered a 13.5 miles section with 10 accents and decents. We stopped at Bears Den Hostel on 7th or 8th mountain for a night and get back to trail again tomorrow morning to head up to Harper Ferry which is 19 miles. We look forward to seeing folks on Saturday. Time for pizza now yummy… We need lot of CARB and energy getting ready for tomorrow. 🙂

RamSham: Shenandoah National Park toward Front Royal, VA

We are hiking in Shenandoah National Park for around 60 miles north toward Front Royal, VA.  This week’s weather forecast doesn’t look good on top of possible thunderstorms and rain storms, so we do our best to get through.  Have a good week, folks.

RamSham: Media Gallery

Just a note that the pictures and video had been uploaded.  Here are the links:

Here is the link to our videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/atdeafblinddream

Here is the link to our photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/atdbdream

http://wp.me/pntmN-9k

Or if you want the direct link to the photo album, here are the links:

https://picasaweb.google.com/atdbdream/20April2011?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/atdbdream/18April2011?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/atdbdream/15April2011?feat=directlink

RamSham: Approaching Harpers Ferry…

We plan to hike around 5 days to Front Royal, VA, then from Front Royal, VA to Harpers Ferry, WV, it may take between 4 to 5 days. We plan to arrive in Harpers Ferry around 6-May – the weekend of Mother’s Day.  Please join us for a get-together day on Saturday 7-May for lunch or dinner.

We would love to ask our friends in DC/VA/WV/MD area to come out to Harpers Ferry for get-together lunch or dinner over the weekend. Please leave your comment here on the blog or contact us via email if you want to meet us up.

RamSham: First visit to hospital for this year’s hiking

Cane hiked for first three days, this past Monday thru Wednesday, however something was not right. He was experiencing “wardrobe malfunction”. Not like what you might picture of what occurred to Timberlake/Jackson episode, but it had to do with his boots. He wore his boots from last year, but for some reasons, either his feet grew a bit bigger or his boots shrank a bit. He was not hiking comfortably, so his toes kept “beating up” for miles and miles.

Yesterday, we took a zero day to re-organize our things and wash our clothing. Cane and I went to the outfitters for Cane to buy a new pair of boots. He got a Keen boots. When we got back home, Cane said his big toes (yeah, both) were throbbing and he was wondering if he should seek medical advice. Raffle Queen’s husband told him that he went through same thing and he conducted his own medical fix by drilling a hole in his toenail to relieve some pressure. Cane thought he could give the drill a try on his injured toenail. However, as soon as he saw the hand-cranking drill, he decided to decline and opted for ER and be in professional medical care. I thought it was a smart move. We, Raffle Queen, Cane, and I, went to ER last night. They made a hole in his toenail by burning a hole with special instrument. It was so cool! The pressure relieved at last. Raffle Queen got to take the special instrument home for “just in case” situation. LOL

I experienced a minor “wardrobe accessories malfunction” – my orthotics were giving me some troubles (hotspots, blisters) on both sides of my feet and toes for first 2 days. On first day, I tried to hike with new trail sneakers, but my feet were swishing all over inside the shoes with orthotics. I gave up on trail sneakers. On 2nd day, I hiked with a new pair of Salmon boots that I wore last year, but with orthotics in it. It gave me hellish hiking in the morning. At lunch, I took my orthotics out and put the insoles back into the boots. I applied moleskin all over my feet. Ahhhh, it felt much better hiking with insoles. Looks like my orthotics issue is put on hold for now.

Today, Raffle Queen, Cane and I hiked around 7 miles in cold and rainy weather. Cane felt good with his boots and healing toe with “tiny” hole on toenail. It looked like his “wardrobe malfunction” issue may put to rest at last.

RamSham: What a day before TAX DAY!

Gosh….what a looonnnng day today! I woke up in Baltimore, MD. My friends, Paul and Cane, wanted to borrow my car to go out for a breakfast while I was working for a few hours. Paul came back right away to tell me that my car’s muffler dropped to the road. My face dropped to the floor, so did my heart. Oh no….lucky, my family was with me. My father, Paul and I discussed the options. I decided to go to Sears to see if they can do the temporary patch on my car, so we can drive to Waynesboro, VA today. I went to check on my car and to my relief, my muffler was intact….just the end part of the pipe part broke off and dropped down due to corrosion. My mother gave me the string to hold the pipe in its place until I get it to Sears. I went beneath the car to put the string on the pipe then drove it to Sears.

Uh oh…..after a few miles of driving, the car came up and tried to tell Paul (he sat in passenger seat) that they saw the sparks flying beneath my car and suggested to us to pull over to check it out. I told Paul that I was going to keep going until I get to Sears. We made it. After discussing the problem and options with the mechanic, we decided to use the bungee cord to hold up the pipe. The kind mechanic did it for free…..he refused to accept the tip from Paul and me.

We had around 3 hours of driving from Baltimore, MD to Waynesboro, VA. However, after passing through Charlestown, WV and driving in the country, the cows in the pasture were literally RUNNING, ahem, more of GALLOPING across the pasture. I was shocked by this scene as they normally do not run when people or cars come around….they just chewing and munching. I told Paul that it was sooo cool to see them galloping!!!!! Paul told me that my car became too loud due to pipe not connected to the muffler (I forgot about it), so that was why it scared them into GALLOPING AWAY FROM US!!!!! I was like….ohhh, that was bad enough!

Courtesy photo from Paul Eddie

Courtesy photo from Paul Eddie

Courtesy photo from Paul Eddie

Paul thought the pipe maybe dropped to the road again, so we stopped on side road. I looked beneath the car and yes, Paul was correct – the pipe came down again! ARGH! The bungee cord MELTED due to heat emit from the pipe!!!!! We drove and noticed the man mowing the lawn, so we stopped by to ask for some help. The man gave Paul some metal coat hangers. Perfect. However, we needed to find a place for me to get under the car to fix the pipe. We found the ditch. I went under the car to hold up the pipe using the metal coat hangers. It took a long while. I got all dirty with gunk, mud, and dirt on my hands. Got pipe into its place at last and off we went to hit I-81 South toward Waynesboro, VA. We stopped by the gas station for me to wash my hands (it took a several washings to get them off from my hands!).

Upon our arrival in Waynesboro, VA area, we joined Paul’s sister’s family for a dinner. We enjoyed our dinner. With 1.5 hours of driving, my temporary fix with metal coat hangers still held the pipe so far. We left Paul’s sister’s house to meet up with our beloved hiker named Raffle Queen to stay with her this week. Cane and I met her on AT last year and became very good friends. It was so good to see her again! She helps and supports all of us hiking AT this week in Shenandoah NPS, then hikes with us this Easter weekend. Despite long day today, it is so good to finally make it to Waynesboro, VA and spend time with Raffle Queen. Meanwhile, I have to figure out what to do with my car’s pipe situation this week while hiking AT. C’est la vie! (That’s life in French).

RamSham: Lacing up our boots….SOON!

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. 😎