Adirondack Peeks Summer 2023

MOUNTAIN VIGNETTES Grandmother and Grandson Complete the Forty-Six High Peaks Together M ary Beth Harris, #1797, was born and raised in the Adirondacks in the town of Long Lake. She climbed her first high peak on New Years Note from the editors: Mary Beth’s neighbor, Dotty Schnure, published an article in the Hinesburg Record on September 22, 2022, about this impressive accomplishment from a non-46er’s perspective. With encouragement from friends (Dotty Schnure and Lauren Waite, #1325), this story has been edited for PEEKS magazine.

Day, 1963 (Marcy). After college, she met Terry Harris, #1798, her husband to be, and they started climbing high peaks together and finished their 46 on top of Haystack on September 11, 1982. Thirty-four years later (2016), Mary Beth and Terry’s six-year-old grandson, Elijah, is taking swim lessons at Long Lake Town Beach when he meets lifeguard Josiah Esper, #4626W. Josiah tells Elijah that he and his twin brother, Brecken, #4625W, were the youngest 46ers back in their day (1999). He then shares enough notable hiking tales with Elijah to send him home an nouncing, “I want to be a 46er!” “Do you really want to climb mountains, BIG moun tains, forty-six of them?” Mary Beth asks. The answer is a resounding “YES!” And that’s all it took for Mary Beth to start planning to climb the forty-six high peaks again. She planned the shorter hikes first and they com pleted two of them that very summer. After that, Mary Beth knew Elijah was serious, and that they were really going to embark on this challenge together. Getting to the trailhead at the crack of dawn was imperative because Mary Beth felt she was undoubtedly the slow est hiker on the trail and needed as much daylight as possible—and a parking space! Some of the

Cheeseburgers, in particular, would flash through his mind. But the thing that kept him going during his most tiring moments were his grandmother’s stories. On the long days, as hard as it was for Mary Beth to slog out the last few miles, she told all the stories she could think of about her past world. No fiction, just real-life memories about her life and their family. She would belt out “The Ants Go Marching One by One” a few times when needed. Mary Beth told Elijah how they were going to celebrate when they finished the forty-six. She insisted that whatever type of celebra tion they decided on, it would involve relaxing! The first time Mary Beth did the high peaks, she let Terry do most of the planning. While hiking with Elijah she saw so many things she had forgotten about or had never seen the first time. It was a lot harder than she remembered, too! Terry was an incredible hiker and all-around athlete. He hiked a few moun tains with Mary Beth and Elijah in the beginning and then suffered a leg injury. It was a minor slip, but he heard something snap and couldn’t stand or put pres sure on his leg. Terry thought it was a femur break or a fracture. The summit wasn’t far, so Mary Beth ran up to get cell phone service and called for help, which ar rived and transported Terry to the nearest hospital in Elizabethtown. The rangers surprised Mary Beth when they insisted on hiking down with Elijah and her. She told them they were fine, but they were determined to assist her. They even helped transport Terry’s be longings from John’s Brook Lodge to her car. She will never forget their kindness and remains appreciative. Before a hike, Mary Beth always told people where they were going, their route, and the time they would

hikes were utterly exhausting, espe cially the 19-mile day one out to Al len and back. How ever, Elijah never complained or felt discouraged. He was happy to be outside, and he just put his head down and kept going no matter the weather or the number of miles. Elijah said that when he got really tired, he dreamed of hot food and sleeping in his bed.

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