Adirondack Peeks Summer 2025

SR: Sounds like Seymour is one that you bypass, why is that?

SR: Oh, yes, the Rocky Peak—maple honey ham sandwich!

TG: Well, my father was always leading trips up the Sewards and they were never my favorite. I finished my second round when I was 22, my third at 33, fourth at 44, fifth at 55, and my sixth at 66. I’m just going to make sure that I finish once every eleven years. I’m sure I’ll finish my seventh round, however, I’m not sure about my eighth. SR: Anytime you want to hike Seymour, I’ll go! You became 46er #211 at the age of 11 on Rocky Peak Ridge in 1961. Your younger brother Peter became 46er #240 on Santanoni in 1962. Was your father guiding you up the peaks? TG: My father was not pushing us to climb. Again, climbing the mountains was what you did; Peter and I had friends who hiked, so we hiked with them. During that time, my father was the guide for the Healy family and was helping Sandy Healy, #158, become what was then the youngest 46er at age 9. Sandy and I were the same age. I just didn’t have that great of interest in it at that time. However, when I was 10, my father was leading a group up Cliff and Redfield and he told me I should come along. So I did, and on that hike a girl finished her 46 and it motivated me—I finished a year later. TG: It wasn’t a big deal—how much champagne can an 11-year-old drink? We did have a party on our porch, and my uncle, who was a long-time legislative correspondent in Albany, gave me a letter signed by the governor congratulating me on my finish; I don’t think Nelson Rockefeller had any idea that his signature was stamped on this letter. It looks impressive though! TG: Win Rockwell, #212. My parents suggested that I be generous and finish 15 minutes after Win because if we finished at the same time, the numbers would be assigned alphabetically. Win thought that was a ridiculous idea and, indeed, now the difference between 211 and 212 doesn’t make much difference. TG: There was still just a herd path over from Giant to Rocky Peak and a cairn on top. It was cloudy and not a beautiful sunny day, but 46 years later, our anniversary climb was a beautiful day. We climbed it from New Russia with a bunch of friends. Mickey Healy, #164, who started Simply Gourmet Deli in Lake Placid with the 46er sandwiches, brought three Rocky Peak Ridge sandwiches for Win, Mickey, and me to eat. SR: How did you celebrate your 46? SR: Who did you finish with? SR: Not at all! Which trail did you take?

TG: For a while, in their original location, there was a picture on the wall of the three of us eating our sandwiches on Rocky Peak Ridge. SR: At the age of 12 you were already helping your father maintain the Hedgehog trail in the summer, a trail he had originally blazed in 1953.

TG: And he apologized for it, to his dying day.

SR: Why is that?

TG: Because it goes up over this totally viewless mountain and down again. It became a trail that no one wanted to maintain so I finally decided that ATIS would do it. SR: At 16, you helped Jim cut the trail from Lower Ausable Lake to Gothics via Pyramid Peak, with a side trail to Sawteeth; you’ve been quoted as saying that it was his best trail yet. Why is that? TG: It added more to the hiking experience by adding an alternate route to Sawteeth. You didn’t have to go up and down the scenic trail or use the scenic trail at all. Also, it tied in Pyramid with its fantastic view. There was pushback from Trudy Healy about this trail because she said her favorite bushwhack was from Gothics over to Pyramid, where she could enjoy the view and know that no one would disturb her. One day when we came down from working on the trail, my older cousin, who was political minded like his father, the legislative correspondent, and my younger brother were picketing on the bridge with signs like, “Unfair to Random Scooters” and “Save Our Bushwhacks.” I have pictures of them marching on the bridge below the Lower Ausable Lake dam. In 2020, ATIS rebuilt this bridge because the two masonry piers had reached the end of their life expectancy. We assumed that the bridge had been there for about 80 years; however, the stonemason who took down the piers said they were 40 years old. I went back to those pictures of the protest and sure enough, as of 1966 it was wooden crib piers that held up that bridge. After a little research, I discovered that the bridge was originally dedicated to Henry Goddard Leach, who served as ATIS president from 1927 to 1937. When he died, his bequest to ATIS paid for the rebuild of the bridge and caused it to be named the “Leach” Bridge. When ATIS replaced it—at no small expense—we changed the name to the “ATIS” Bridge, but only after I had ascertained that none of Henry’s relatives would be offended at the change.

10 | ADIRONDACK PEEKS