Adirondack Peeks Summer 2023

headed northbound with my cousin Parker. It was his first backpacking trip, which in hindsight shouldn’t have been the entire NPT. We hiked the trail for nine days and it rained for eight of them—like, really rained, poured most of each day. One day he wanted to give up. I ended up adjusting the itinerary a bit and added an extra day before he could reach cell service and call his mom. We hiked just six miles and took some time to really dry out our gear and rest. It did the trick. He was fine and ready to go after that and we finished the trail. Even though it poured continuously, I still had the time of my life and immediately became a volunteer trip leader for the NPT. To this day, I’ve spent so many days and nights on it that I guess it speaks to the level of affection I have for the trail. SR: What motivated you to do the NPT in the winter and did you have a mentor? We have an outline of your itinerary and who you hiked with, so feel free to reference that if you like. MG: I had done my trip leader training with Diana Niland, the outings chair for the NPT Chapter at the time. After that we started going

SR: I've read that Bob Marshall was persistent in correcting history and wanted it known that Herb Clark was more than just a guide, he was their friend. I think about the guides I’ve hiked with, and friendships do tend to grow while exploring nature and working as a team. I would imagine as a guide you’ve met lots of people and made lots of friends. MG: Oh yeah! That's one of the most rewarding parts of this job: seeing them grow as hikers and finish their 46 or the NPT. I guided 23 of the 46 peaks for one man and was with him for his finish. We went out to dinner after to celebrate. SR: And you are embedded in their memories forever too! It’s a special relationship. So, when did you start climbing the 46? Was it after that running camp? MG: Yes, it would have been sometime in high school, but I didn't set out with the goal to hike all 46. I remember hiking Phelps one day and it was only later when someone referenced Phelps as a high peak that I realized I had climbed one. So, I hiked a few more without realizing they were high peaks and then in college I finally bought a guidebook and started thinking more about it. Still, I didn’t think I would hike them all. 46—that’s a lot of mountains! And then I had a third of them done and just kept going and finally, I realized that I was going to finish them all and become a 46er! SR: Do you have a fun memory of finishing? MG: I finished on Haystack in July of 2016. I was living in Vermont at the time and drove over to camp at Panther Gorge for the night and summited early the next morning. On top I celebrated with a dehydrated ice cream sandwich! Then I heard a familiar voice coming up from little Haystack and it ended up being a coworker, friend I hadn’t seen in a while, guiding a group of kids. It was great! SR: When did you first hike the NPT? MG: I first hiked in June of 2016

on hikes together and became good friends. Diana had this dream of getting a group together and hiking the trail in winter and she asked me to be her assistant and help plan it. We put out applications and had people apply. We were looking for specific skill sets and ended up with a team of six. We assigned tasks based on these skills. One person was designated communications leader, one navigation, one medical, one photographer, and so on; we all had our roles to play. Unfortunately, as my itinerary notes, that trip quickly changed course and didn’t come to completion. It took two days to retrace our trail back to the nearest trailhead. SR: Yes, and your itinerary indicates that two hikers dropped out during that first attempt, and one ended up with moderate frostbite on two toes. Was anyone with you through this entire winter challenge? MG: No one has hiked the entire trail with me. My cousin Parker has done all but one section with me. It's been a mosaic of people from that original trip or other friends that have strong winter skills. SR: There's no winter NPT patch

SUMMER 2023 | 7