Adirondack Peeks Summer 2023

L ooking back on something one has written 50 years ago is always an interesting—and sometimes humbling—experience. Fortunately, rereading my article, “The Future of the Adirondack Forty-Sixers,” (Spring, ’73 issue of PEEKS ) did not turn out to be a “humbling” experience. In fact, much of what I predicted seems to have actually happened. My most quantifiable prediction, when the organization would reach 2,000 members, was pretty close to the mark—I’m just glad I didn’t try to predict the number of members beyond that point. The more significant issues that were being debated at the time were more complex—most notably, whether the organization should disband when it reached 1,000 members. (It was around 800 members Reflections on a Fifty-Year Old PEEKS Article Tony Goodwin #211 as of the end of 1972.) Some argued that the Forty Sixers were responsible for the recent surge in the number of hikers and campers using the high peaks, thereby being responsible for the accompanying deterioration in trail and campsite conditions. In reality, this surge was being felt in mountain wilderness areas across the country, and the game of peak-bagging could be neither blamed nor credited for the increase in the numbers. The issue then being debated in the pages of PEEKS was whether disbanding would actually have a positive effect. Several others’ commentaries agreed with my assessment that the list of peaks was “out there”; and that others, including camp groups, would just create their own patches and keep the game going. My article stressed that the Forty-Sixers could be a very positive force in providing education to new hikers. One initiative that started soon after was the Outdoor Leadership Workshop, an effort that continues to this day. More recently, Forty-Sixer Trail Stewards provide education at trailheads. I also suggested

that the Forty-Sixers could help in influencing any regulations designed to protect the wilderness. That hasn’t really become a major function of the Forty Sixers, although there was a Forty-Sixer representative on the DEC’s High Peaks Citizen’s Advisory Committee in the early 1990s. Perhaps because I was writing this article from a distance (Fort Polk, Louisiana) I was unaware that Dr. Edwin Ketchledge (“Ketch”) had already begun to tap into the Forty-Sixer membership to do some hard physical work—namely, hauling seed, lime, and fertilizer up Algonquin to start the process of restoring the alpine vegetation. And what better group to go to for this effort than those who had climbed not only Algonquin but 45 other high peaks? This led to Ketch also starting

a 46er trail maintenance program (also called “Trail Crewer”), which remains the organization’s most significant and visible contribution to wilderness stewardship. In his commentary at the time, Treasurer Ditt Dittmar complained that many hikers finished the 46 high peaks, paid dues (all of $2),

Clearly, it is the trail maintenance program, and more recently the trail steward program, that have provided a way for 46ers to give back and therefore remain engaged with the organization.

got the patch and other logo gear, and then never contributed again. That failure to continue with the organization is perhaps explained by the fact that up until the 1970s, the Forty-Sixers were more or less just a “mutual admiration” society that held a couple of meetings each year. By contrast, Phil Corell, the current treasurer, reports that many of the newer members are still actively paying dues and in many cases participating in one capacity or another to pay something back to the area they love. Clearly, it is the trail maintenance program, and more recently the trail steward program, that have provided a way for 46ers to give back and therefore remain engaged with the organization. I would therefore like to conclude that the organization has successfully adapted from the time when it took fifty years to register the first 800 finishers to today when that many, or more, finishers are registered each year. I would be especially pleased if I could believe that in some small way my article helped with that evolution.

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