This weekend while I was day drinking or cracking' some shells while swallowing some suds my 9 year old niece June was finishing up her Adirondack High Peak journey by joining the ADK 46'ers. Starting at age four she and my sister have, for some unknown reason, have spent 263.22 hours
traveling 393.92 miles climbing up to a total of 95,986 feet to complete the climb of the 46 highest peaks in the Adirondack Park. The highest in Mount Marcy at 5,344 feet and the lowest is Couchsachraga at 3,820 feet. Being outdoorsy and adventurous no doubt runs in my family and being
the oldest it no doubt somehow comes from me and my DNA. Well maybe my sister has a little bit to do with it as well, since she did things like bike across Vietnam and like Asia after high school. And I can't forget my bother in law who's a Mountain Man through and through. I looked back into my archives of pushed-to-my-limits of physical exhaustion to see where I stood as a potential 46'er.
In 2019 I joined my family to tackle Ampersand Mountain. I took a look at the list of all 46 High Peaks and their heights but mistakingly Ampersand wasn't on the list. I've come to learn this is "an excellent hike", hike?, really.
I thought I was going to die by the time I got up there. At 3,353 feet to the summit it's 500 feet shy of the lowest 46. However, I have scaled Whiteface Mountain which comes in at number five in height at 4,857 feet. It was 2004 when Ryan, Sean and I took the trip and motored up
the backside of Whiteface to get to the summit. "Motored up" meaning we drove up almost to the top and then took the exhausting climb of like 200 feet to finish the journey. We did the same thing in 2007
and was there the moment Norm Mueller completed his journey to join the 46'er club. It's a big deal and for many it's a Bucket List kind of thing, and June did it by age 10. And I can't forget to include my
sister Megan who joined that club as well. I'm hearing my other niece Eden, age 7 (above), is on her way to join her sister (I'm sure there's no sibling rivalry there) and Mom in their huge accomplishment. And while my sister and her daughters really did this all on their own,
and in no way did any of my DNA, and lack of physical prowess, have anything to do with their success I will say I may have a played a small part of their story going way, way back. In 1989 I ventured up to Saranac Lake for the first time. Just outside of town along Route 30 we camped at Mountain Pond and
I climbed to the highest, well lowest, peak, or rock, for the above picture. That was 1989, I was just a tot at age 21. While there I explored around a bit and found Paul Smith's College. But how it connects is this. I came back to New Jersey and introduced the idea of that college to my brother Ryan, and then my sister Megan. Ryan passed but Megan went, and never came back. She settled in Saranac Lake some thirty years ago, attended Paul Smith's and went on to SUNY Plattsburgh. We have made numerous trips to
visit and over the years and I purchased the above two houses on The West Branch of the Ausable River in Ausable Forks. Unfortunately the Hurricane Irene flood of 2011 pretty much washed through the houses ending my dreams of having a place up there. But thankfully my sister and her family give me reason to visit and stay connected.
And things come full circle. Next month the next member of the family will be exploring the North Country and settling down near Saranac Lake. Lauren will be finishing her education at Paul Smith's and we are just as excited as she as she becomes a "Smitty". So, you see, it's all about me, and all of there successes in life can be traced back to my trip back in 1989. It must have been a long, long time
ago because that looks like a spinning rod in my hand. Oh, how the times have changed. Bur seriously, congratulations to my niece June and sister Megan and best of luck to Eden and Lauren on their Adirondack journeys.While up there next month of the college move in maybe I'll just take some time away for myself and tackle Mt. Marcy, why build up to it, I'll just start from the tallest down.
