Where is my new pack?

It should be here tomorrow, so it says that UPS tracking system. I just ca't wait to try it and go hiking with it. The last time I went out was in the middle of August when I did Colden with the demo pack, made me feel like there was no gravity on my back.

Dan McHale pack is all I need for backpacking, hiking, winter hiking etc, we are so lucky that he is still making the packs that are so incredible. I just wish that Seattle was closer to the Adirondacks because there seeems to be a lot more gear stores over there.

Now I should check where my pack is for the 4th time today.

Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge

For this trip, we parked Dan's car at the trail head for Giant and our car on the other side in New Russia where the trail of Rocky Peak Ridge ends. Dan, as usual, ran up the first 4 miles as soon as we hit the trail, it was very steep and I thought I was going to puke, so I had to sit down for a breather. We took a few shots on the summit and kept going onto Rocky Peak Ridge.
The col between Giant and Ridge wasn't bad at all, and we were amazed to see oak trees that high in elevation. The bald summit of Rocky Peak Ridge was one of the most impressive view I saw in the Adirondacks, and the trail which was completely free of shades that lasted 5 miles, with blueberry bush on both sides was totally different from the Western high peaks.

Western High Peaks from Upperworks

The Western High Peaks is much quieter and unused compared to the Eastern High Peaks. We spent 3 days and met only three groups. The trail to the lean-to was pretty interesting, it started up with very flat road, got a little woodsy and ended with a mudfest. Those logs they put do nothing but trapping the water in the trail, I wish they didn't get too creative.

Cliff on herd path and through Avalanch pass

We planned to do both Redfield and Cliff on Jun 21st, but after reaching what it seemed to be the summit of Cliff, we started to get Nye fever, means 4 hours of bushwacking in thick balsam blowdown. Instead, we decided to take our way out through Avalanch Pass which turned out to be an amazing 17 mile hike. A cliff by Avalanch lake.
A col over Lake Colden.

Three days backpacking trip in the Dix range on Jun 14, 2006

We left right after work and got to the trail head at around 6:45, hiked 4 miles of fairly flat trail with a full pack and made a pretty good time. When we reached at the lean-to, there was still plenty of light. We set up our tent up the hill, had a quick dinner and went to sleep early for the next day hike.

The trail to Dix was pretty brutal, but what worse than that was all the ups & downs between Dix and Hough. It was only about a miles but took us about 3 hours. I got some nice shots from the simmit of Dix, though.

Rainbow in a storm

I should really chop those powerlines off, they are always in my way...

Naturalization process

OK, this one is going to be the one I acturally fill out and put in the mail. It's kind of funny how the fee keeps going up everytime I get the N-400(application for United States citizenship); this time it's $330 +$70 for fingerprinting, which is not too bad at all considering what you are applying for.

I think I will need to study a little bit about American history and the formation of the government which is going to be asked at the interview once my application is approved.

It is a huge decision to change my nationality, but I'll be excited to say that "I am an American."

Japanese Vegetable Seeds

My garden is coming along slowly. We had a very good amount of rain, which had caused a flood in New England region this week, and the soil in my garden softened up dramatically.

I'm excited about my Japanese vegetable seeds I bought from Kitazawa Seed Company (http://www.kitazawaseed.com/), they have amazing selection of asian vegetable seeds that are hard to find in the states. I was especially surprised to see that they had the seeds for Molokheiya (an ancient Egyptian spinach, loaded with nutritious minerals and vitamins).

Next week, I'll probably start sowing the seeds.

Love Shorts

Short movies are great. I saw them at the film festival in Lake Placid four summes ago. Most of them are between 5~15 minutes long, and some are really straight to the point and make you laugh.

My favorite is "A Ninja Pays Half My Rent", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i55sGiAMYGE&mode=related&search=ninja%20pays%20half%20my%20rent
Something about this five minutes film, it's just funny.

Another one that was extremely good was "Passing Hearts", which was about a boy who received a heart transplant visiting the donor's family.
I don't have much patience for 2 hours long movies anymore anyways, so I just keep looking for good shorts for now.

Dog on a leash

Dog Freedom: they can have as much as they want within their safety.

I'm glad to meet that friendly, little corgi that comes to play in our yard. We would have never known him had he been on a leash, but I wish that all dogs were on a leash unless they live in a fenced yard, so that they don't get hit by a car.

I've seen many dogs in the mountains, and none of them was on a leash. I think it's the owner's neglect, some people will argue that you are limiting your dog's freedom by leashing it which I disagree. If your dog is used to being on a leash and learn to know its purpose, they come to love it.

Fire rather than TV

Why would you watch television when you can watch fire?

Pond in a forest

We were looking for birch tree that was fallen and dry on that day. Walked around for a while, my dog was very happy, and found this puddle made with snow.
I played with color a little bit.

Vapor Trails

On this sunny winter morning, I heard more than three air planes going over my house within a few minutes. I had to go outside and see what was going on. The vapor trails in the perfect blue sky looked neat.

Paintings

The paintings I made about three years ago. Our friend, Dan had given us some of his work which were huge and very dynamic, and I got inspired.

They are done with fingerpaint for kids, I used good paper though.

Gothics

This is a view of Gothics from coming down on Basin. That day was one of the most memorable hiking trips I took. When we finally stood on the summit of Saddleback, we were not sure if we wanted to continue, so exhausted, but decided to kick on the last stretch on to Basin. And, we forgot about how hard it was when we saw the shiny slide of Gothics.