Dolores Kong and Dan Ring have backpacked all 270 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maine and have climbed virtually all the peaks that are 4,000 feet and higher in the Northeast. They are members of the White Mountains Four Thousand Footer, the New England Four Thousand Footer, the Adirondack 46Rs, the Northeast 111ers, and the New England Hundred Highest Clubs. Dolores is a Certified Financial Planner(tm) professional and senior vice president with Winslow, Evans & Crocker, Inc. (member of FINRA/SIPC), in Boston. A Barnard College graduate, she is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in public service from her previous career as a staff writer at the Boston Globe. Dan is a writer and has been a statehouse bureau chief in Boston for a variety of newspapers. He graduated from Boston College with a bachelor's degree in English. Dan and Dolores are married and live outside Boston.

They maintain a hiking website: www.fourthousandfooter.com.