Thursday, June 29, 2017

Spencer Morrissey Hikes 1,000th Adirondack Peak

On Sunday, June 25, Spencer Morrissey reached a major milestone in his hiking career: he climbed his thousandth Adirondack peak.

“It was kind of a sigh of relief,” Morrissey said. “It was kind of surreal, because I didn’t ever really think I’d get to this point.”

Morrissey chose Peaked Mountain near North Creek for his thousandth peak. He picked the mountain because it has a trail to the summit, which would make it easier for people to join him. Eleven people did.

Morrissey’s goal is to hike all of the Adirondacks mountains that are open to the public, or that he’s allowed to do through permission of the landowners. He’s counted 1,817 possible peaks. He’s not aware of anyone who has hiked 1,000 peaks, let alone all of them.

“Of the 817 I have left, a lot of those are private property,” he said. “My goal is essentially (to hike) all of those that are open to the public and get as many of the private peaks as I can through permission.”

Read more about Morrissey’s adventures at the Adirondack Explorer website.

Photo of Spencer Morrissey by Mike Lynch

 

 

 

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Mike Lynch is a staff writer and photographer for the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer, the regional bimonthly news magazine with a focus on outdoor recreation and environmental issues. Mike’s favorite outdoor activities include paddling, hiking, fishing and backcountry skiing. In 2011, he paddled the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail from Old Forge to Fort Kent, Maine. From 2007 until 2014, Mike worked as an outdoors writer and photographer for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake. Mike welcomes story ideas and can be reached at mike@adirondackexplorer.org.




4 Responses

  1. Jim S says:

    That’s incredible! Does the dog go too? It looks like a hiking hound.

  2. biranCall says:

    How is he going to deal with the mountains that have grown up or the others that flatten out (aka their peak goes missing)? I know he says there are 1,817 peaks, but with how much the ADKs change day after day this is likely a moving target.

  3. Congratulations, Spence! You’ve been at this a long time. It’s great to see you en route (in a bushwhacking way) to your final vision!

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