Adirondack Peeks Summer 2023

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

AdirondackPEEKS Volume LXI No. 1, Summer 2023 OFFICERS Laurie Rankin, President Brian Sutherland, Vice President Siobhán Carney-Nesbitt, Immediate Past President DIRECTORS Carla Denn, Winn Rea, Brant Schneider, Greg Sodaro, Becky Swem, Sheila Young APPOINTED OFFICERS Treasurer Philip Corell Recording Secretary Bill Lundy Outdoor Skills Workshop Coordinators Bill Lundy, Dan Auwarter Office of the Historian Lee Nesbitt, Siobhán Carney-Nesbitt Archivist Jane Meader Nye Trailmasters Michele Mccall, Brian Hoody, Mary Lamb, Mark Simpson, Curt Snyder, Doug Varney Website Liaison and Content Manager Joe Ryan Manuscript and photographic submissions for PEEKS should be mailed to Sherry Roulston at 24 Layman Lane, Plattsburgh, NY 12901 or emailed to peeks@adk46er.org. Orders and Payments Jim Houghtaling, Membership Coordinator, P.O. Box 4383, Queensbury, NY 12804 E-mail: treasurer@adk46er.org Outdoor Skills Workshop P.O. Box 126, Lake Placid, NY 12946 Volunteer Trailwork adk46ertrailwork@gmail.com For additional information on club activities and to register to become a 46er visit the club’s website, adk46er.org, or send an email to officeofthehistorian46 @gmail.com. Adirondack PEEKS is published twice a year by the Adirondack Forty-Sixers, Inc., a nonprofit organization. PEEKS is free to members in good standing. To receive a copy, register to become an Aspiring/Contributing member of the 46ers by creating a website account at adk46er.org. Adirondack PEEKS is printed by Walsworth Merchandising Dave Freeman Membership Jim Houghtaling Editors Kim Morse Sherry Roulston Editorial Offices

Experience/Sustainability/Generosity T hose three words exemplify what the Adirondack 46ers organization's purpose is and what our membership does. We gain important skills and experience while climbing the peaks. That experience results in a great love for the mountains and the communities that surround them. That love and experience encourages us to think about sustain ability on the trails, summits, and parking areas and as it pertains to the communities we live in and visit. The joy of summiting a high peak is equal to the joy of building up the treadway on a trail, cleaning up the roadside, or educating new users. Through the experiences we have, our desire to think sustainably turns into generosity both in terms of the amount of volunteer time our members provide and in terms of the generous monetary donations our members give to the organization. We turn those generous monetary donations into donations to other organizations around the area. In 2023 we are donating over $86,000 to various organizations who do work in the Adirondacks. It can be a formidable task to climb all 46 of the High Peaks of the Adirondacks and yet many have done so. In this issue of PEEKS you will see that we had a record year in 2022 with 887 finishers. That is our largest class ever and it sounds like a lot, but consider a few other numbers, please. Our Trailhead Stewards are stationed at two locations from mid May through Columbus Day, three days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. In other words, we are not at all of the trailheads every day, 24/7. Yet at those two locations we saw over 15,000 visitors on those days alone! The stewards' generosity of time to provide accurate and appropriate educational information to visitors so that the trails, summits, trailheads and communities can sustain their visit is what we do. As you can see by the numbers, 887 finishers yet over 15,000 visitors in just the time we are at the trailheads means that many who visit are not ever planning on being 46ers. That does not mean that we cannot encourage them to recreate sustainably when they visit. Many visit iconic locations such as Indian Head and Fishhawk Cliffs, waterfalls, swimming holes, climbing areas, ski centers, bike trails, and museums or, perhaps, drive up Whiteface. We hope they are supporters of Adirondack communities and outdoor spaces and work toward sustainability, too. Finishing the 46 is a great accomplishment and we congratu late those who finished in 2022, but there are still formidable tasks to be done to protect those High Peaks that you love so much and the Adirondack communities that you either call home or visit often. Please give some thought to what you can do as a 46er and as a visitor; we have made every attempt to provide options so that you can contribute to being a generous 46er. There are tasks that you can do from home (Correspondent Program), at a trailhead (Stewarding), along a roadside (Adopt-a-Highway), at an educational workshop (OSW) or out on the trails (Trail Crew). Perhaps you can make a monetary donation over and above our $10 annual dues. All of these items contribute to the ongoing task of protecting the places we love. With your help, Experience, Sustainability, and Generosity will continue to exemplify our organization for years to come. Thank you. Laurie Rankin, #5525WV

2 | ADIRONDACK PEEKS