Class of 2008: Six graduates
June 29, 2008
It was so happy to have Gary Deng joined this 14 miles 2-ways Seven Hills Trail trip because he was the one who suggested this trip. 14 hills and 14 miles in addition with un-favorite weather conditions made this the toughest trip ever in Nature You. In this class of 2008, only 6 hikers could make it to the end.
I predicted we needed 8 hours to complete the course. The weather forecasted rain and thunderstorm would start around 1pm. I called the team to arrive Visitor’s Center before 7am so we might have 6 hours to achieve the goal. In case the weather turned bad early, I might have a chance to change the course to go downhill instead of staying at the summit. Gui Dan picked up Sam and David and Warren picked up Jennifer from Queens. Wilson picked up Gary Deng from Manhattan. I picked up Moon and Eric from Brooklyn. Hong Wei surprised me when she presented at the trailhead with Wilson. I was puzzled because I didn’t think she could finish even first 7 miles fast pace hiking with us. I hoped she could surprise me one more time. Therefore, we had 11 hikers started this signature trip of Nature You at 7:30am.
First mile was relatively flat so I turned on the turbo and took the first break at the junction of Orange Trail. Gary came from the back told me we lost 3 hikers within first mile. Hong Wei could not follow so Wilson had to quit and brought her back. Gui Dun twisted his ankle so he knew it was impossible to finish even 6 more miles in the mountain. 8 hikers climbed the first hill, second hill, third hill, fourth hill and took a long break at the river. We all enjoyed the time of cooling off the heat with running water. It was a humid day and I sweated liked a water boy. As I had put Gui Dun’s car at the 7 miles point we knew we could get water supply there. We climbed fifth hill which was the greatest viewpoint on this trail. We took only a few pictures since time was running out. If we wanted to complete the trip safely, we had to finish half way within 4 hours. When we saw Gui Dun at the 7 miles point at 11am, we knew our pace was incredible. We hiked 2 miles per hour on this hilly trail which was the normal speed of hiking on flat trail. Gui Dan had also finished 4 miles since he walked from Visitor’s Center to this parking lot along Seven Lakes Drive.
We took early lunch by the Lake Sebago. Sam and David decided to leave with Gui Dun so left only 6 hikers to challenge the reverse direction of Seven Hills Trail. I expected another 4 hours since it was getting hotter and more tired. The sky was still clear at this moment so I thought we could make it. I led the team with the pace which was not too fast but with minimum breaks. Moon and Jennifer followed closely and other 3 guys always in a group. We passed the great viewpoint and went downhill passed our most favorite lunch spot. We went uphill to reach the eleventh hill and noticed the sky had been turned cloudy. The appearance of the clouds was like heavy curtains hanging in the sky. We knew heavy rain was on its way. Rain was expected as we all prepared raincoats but we still had 3 more hills to go and we had to finish the summit portion before thunderstorm kicked in. I hiked in full speed with the girls under heavy rainfall. Actually, the rain cooled off the air and made the trip more enjoyable. When I told Moon and Jennifer we had finished the number fourteenth hill, they all smiled with great achievement on their eyes. I waited for the whole group to reunion at the junction of Orange Trail when I knew we were all safe from thunderstorm attack. We were lucky that thunderstorm was later than the announced schedule today.
Last 1.5 miles was basically downhill and flat which was a leisure walk in normal day. Moon questioned why this section was longer than the one this morning. Even some of us were tired but nothing would stop us to complete the trip at this moment. We hit the finish line at 2:30pm which was only 3 hours to complete second 7 miles. It looked like we didn’t slow down at all even after the morning exercises. When I saw the cars at the parking lot, I had the feeling of astronauts coming back to the Earth after a trip to the outer space. Welcome home. Here I would like to announce the graduation candidates of class 2008 which included Moon, Jennifer, Warren, Gary and Eric. We could present you a graduation diploma after your achievement to this challenging trip with such an incredible speed.
