Our next OurStoryBridge, Inc. story share features avid hiker, Heidi Roland, from North Elba Narratives in Lake Placid, NY. In her story titled “First Adirondack Adventure,” she recounts her first hike with her boyfriend (now husband) in the Adirondack High Peaks in 1982, and she also illustrates how she became a 46er. To listen to First Adirondack Adventure in its entirety, please visit this link: https://app.memria.org/stories/public-story-view/c3c58af5eb104c918e46aa6712147f51/
46ers support ADK professional trail crew for 21st consecutive year
For the twenty-first consecutive year, the Adirondack 46ers have pledged support for ADK’s (Adirondack Mountain Club’s) professional trail crew by announcing a $46,000 donation to fund trail projects in the High Peaks Wilderness for the 2022 season. This is in addition to a 2020 commitment to donate $25,000 a year to ADK for the Adirondack High Peaks Summit Stewardship Program through 2023. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack 46ers have increased their support of critical stewardship programs in the High Peaks Wilderness after another busy year in the Adirondacks. Last week they announced a $41,000 commitment to the ADK’s (The Adirondack Mountain Club’s) professional trail crew. This pledge was the second from the 46ers, announced shortly after a pledge of $75,000 to be distributed over three years from 46ers, effectively doubling down on their efforts to support the ADK Mountain Club’s stewardship program. The Stewardship Program is managed in partnership with the NYS DEC, and the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.
Over the last 20 years, the 46ers have donated nearly $350,000 to the ADK’s trails program, $298,000 of which in the last 8 years alone, when visitor use has reached its peak.
Amidst the global pandemic, and the resulting shortage of NYS funding, the Adirondack 46ers, (A group of people who have hiked all 46 mountains in the Adirondacks) have stepped up to provide financial support for the Adirondack High Peaks Summit Stewardship Program.
They have given $10,000 in 2020 and made a commitment to providing $75,000 of additional support over the next three years. The 46ers have been long time supporters of the stewardship program and have donated a total of $45,000 over the last three years as part of a joint commitment with the ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club).
In 2018, ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) and the Adirondack 46ers (46ers) entered a three-year joint commitment to promote stewardship and conservation throughout the High Peaks Wilderness.
The 46ers committed $71,000 in funding to protect trails and summits with ADK in 2018, $34,000 in 2019, and will provide an additional $41,000 in 2020 towards those efforts an announcement sent to the press says. Last year, their funding supported trail projects in Avalanche Pass and on Mt. Colden.
An effort will be underway to promote proper planning and preparation through direct conversations with hikers at trailheads and on the trails in the High Peaks Wilderness, February 16-18, the upcoming Presidents’ Day Weekend.
The organizers hope to increase engagement between hikers and experienced backcountry users to reduce the number of search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks and help to ensure the public has an enjoyable and safe outdoor experience. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack History Museum is starting a campaign to gather as many Adirondack 46er summit canisters as possible to incorporate in their Hiking the Adirondack High Peaks exhibit.
The Museum currently has four canisters, from Seward, Marshall, Santanoni, and Esther. Their goal is to be the repository for the entire collection, to be permanently displayed at the Adirondack History Museum. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack History Museum celebrated the grand opening of its “Hiking the Adirondack High Peaks” exhibit on July 20 with over 130 people attending a ribbon cutting and reception.
Museum staff and volunteers spent over 1,000 hours developing the exhibit. The interactive permanent display explores High Peak’s hiking history dating back to the mid-19th century. The exhibit highlights the work of the Adirondack Forty-Sixers, hiking pioneers, old time guides, and other historic and contemporary figures, such as Adirondack 46ers historian and founding member Grace Hudowalski. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake is set to honor The 46ers with the 2017-2018 Harold K. Hochschild Award at its annual benefit gala on Saturday, July 28 from 6 to 9 pm.
The Adirondack Forty-Sixers, Inc. is a hiking and service club whose members have climbed the summits of the 46 peaks over 4,000 feet in elevation in the Adirondack mountains of northern New York state. » Continue Reading.
The Ticonderoga Historical Society has invited the public to a dedication ceremony and program commemorating the accomplishments of Ticonderoga native Grace Leach Hudowalski on Friday, June 2 at 6 pm.
Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all 46 Adirondack High Peaks, was born in Ticonderoga in 1906 in a house which once stood on the current site of the Masonic Lodge at 10 Montcalm Street. The youngest of six children, she completed the 46 on Mt. Esther on August 26, 1937.
Following the marker dedication at 6 pm, the public is invited to the Hancock House, 6 Moses Circle, Ticonderoga, for refreshments and a showing of The Mountains Will Wait for You, a documentary about Hudowalski narrated by Johnny Cash. Those who knew Grace Hudowalski are invited to share their memories. » Continue Reading.
When many of the High Peaks’ trails were cut more than a century ago, the work was done by guides and hired hands. Keene Valley’s Orson “Old Mountain” Phelps created the first trail up Mount Marcy in 1861; Verplanck Colvin’s survey workers cut routes up Algonquin and Dix in the late 1800s; and Henry Van Hoevenberg developed a trail system for the Adirondack Lodge (as it was then spelled).
The early trails opened up the High Peaks to more people and laid the groundwork for today’s trail system, but some of the original trails continue to cause maintenance problems. » Continue Reading.
An Adirondack Park advocacy group wants the state Department of Environmental Conservation to re-establish a High Peaks Citizen’s Advisory Committee to address increasing usage and resulting impacts to the High Peaks Wilderness.
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve sent a letter to DEC Region 5 Director Bob Stegemann today, asking for the department to address the surging number of hikers in the High Peaks with a comprehensive approach that includes possible updates to the High Peaks unit management plan. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Forty-Sixers organization has seen a record number of people joining its ranks in recent years. Started in 1925, the club now has 9,425 members—more than a third of whom joined over the last ten years.
The club is open to hikers who have climbed its list of forty-six High Peaks, most of which top four thousand feet. It has seen a record number of new members each year since 2009. Last year, 606 hikers joined. » Continue Reading.
The Ausable River Association (AsRA) has launched an expanded porta-john program throughout the Ausable River watershed to address the persistent problem of human waste disposal. Each year, over a million people visit the Ausable River watershed according to AsRA; seventy-six percent of these visitors participate in outdoor recreational activities. These large numbers pose a challenge in terms of the proper disposal of human waste. In short, the watershed has a poop problem.
The High Peaks Summit Stewardship Program has reported a 64% increase in visitation to the high summits of the Adirondacks over the past six years. This increase has coincided with a shift towards a larger percentage of day hikers versus overnight users. In many cases these visitors are not prepared to, or informed how to, properly dispose of their waste. As a result, summit stewards, forest rangers, and other backcountry professionals have reported an increased incidence of feces and toiletry products being improperly deposited on, or directly adjacent to trails. » Continue Reading.
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Tales of the Adirondacks, Past & Present: Learning the Language of the Land by Ionah Scully
In recognition of November being Native American Heritage Month, our next OurStoryBridge Inc. story share is called Learning the Language of the Land told by Ionah Scully. Part of Adirondack Mountain Club’s OurStoryBridge Project, ADK Voices, the story is told from the perspective of Ionah Scully, a First Nation Syracuse PhD candidate, as she completes hiking the Adirondacks High Peaks 46 and reflects on her connection to the land and her ancestors. To listen to this story in its entirety, please visit the following link: https://app.memria.org/stories/public-story-view/dafc6acab8b04bb89fd1e3c83ecd962d/
» Continue Reading.