Adirondack Peeks Summer 2024

Cheryl and Carly Wise at their finish on Skylight

Left to right: Dylan Kerner, Scott Kerner, Miles O’Brien, and Joe O’Brien

decided to embark on the journey of hiking in the high peaks. When they reached their first summit, Erin was overcome with emotion and broke into tears of joy with the feeling of accomplishment. They set a goal to reach all 46 peaks by her 46th birth day, and a week before that birthday, her goal was achieved by reaching the summit of Sawteeth. Erin Ulrich #15383 says she learned something new about her self on each hike. Bravery, persever ance, humility, strength, and letting go, to name a few. Solo hikes taught her how to enjoy her own company and the meaning of loving herself. When Tom LaPorte #14942 finished his first five high peaks at age 10, he did what all aspiring 46ers did at that time—he wrote a corre spondence letter to Grace Hudow alski #9, describing his hikes. School and other activities caused Tom’s hiking time to be sporadic and it was almost 20 years before he reached

HaBaSa hike, they took a wrong turn at the Johns Brook Lodge and were headed to Saddleback instead of Haystack. A couple miles later, Cher yl noticed their mistake and realized that would force them to go down the Saddleback cliffs, and she wanted nothing to do with that. Once on the Saddleback summit, the girls started down the cliffs, leaving Cheryl to de cide what she would do. Begrudging ly, she followed them down as they talked her through the descent, cre ating just one of the memories that will last a lifetime. COVID is also part of #15020 Kate Brown’s story. She and her daughters Julia #13422 and Char lotte #14781 relocated to a family house in Keene Valley when every thing shut down, and they decided it was the perfect opportunity to com mit to the 46er journey. Julia became a 46er in 2021 and Charlotte followed the next year, but Kate still had some work to do. Kate was also motivated by the fact that her grandfather (Clin

ton Miller #162) and father (Jonathan Miller #213) were 46ers, so Kate kept chipping away at her list. On a rainy day in July 2023, Kate completed her journey on Grace Peak with Julia and Charlotte by her side. Joe O’Brien #15069 and Scott Kerner #15066 are neighbors and became friends about 15 years ago, and both had sons born on the same day in 2006. Miles O’Brien #15068 and Dylan Kerner #15067 went to school together, played on the same sports teams, and their families vacationed together. In 2019, Joe floated the idea of tackling the 46er challenge before the boys graduated from high school, and the group finished their 46er journey in August 2023. In addition to the exhil aration of reaching all of the summits, the group feels that they learned many important lessons along the way such as preparation, research,

proper equipment, trail eti quette, and LNT principles. In 2018, Erin Ulrich #15383 decided she want ed to get more into hiking and work toward becoming a 46er, but she was out of shape at that time. She and her husband, John, began a fitness journey with the goal to one day hike the high peaks together. Over the course of 22 months of training and dietary chang es, they lost a combined total of 70lbs! On their 15th wedding anniversary, they

Kate Brown #15020 with Daughters Julia and Charlotte at Kate’s finish on Grace Peak

Erin Ulrich #151383 at the summit of Sawteeth.

54 | ADIRONDACK PEEKS