Adirondack Peeks Summer 2025

not only will I volunteer as a summit steward this summer but occasionally, I’ll probably be paying for a massage to be able to keep doing it. SR : What trail is your favorite for hiking? TG: I would say the East Trail to Rocky Peak Ridge and Giant is my favorite hiking trail. SR: Is there a trail that you’re most proud of over your career? TG: I guess it would be the Rooster Comb trail and the Adirondack Rail Trail. The Rooster Comb trail took a lot of work getting all the pieces together—landowners and DEC permission—and working with the ADK crew to pull it off. That trail has proved to be quite popular while mostly holding up to the use due to

The Jackrabbit’s daughter and 1937 ATIS Group with leader, Alice Johannsen, having climbed Marcy to celebrate the centennial of its first ascent.

the quality of the initial construction. However, because of the number of people and businesses that the Adirondack Rail Trail has impacted, I would say that makes it my ultimate favorite. I worked for 30 years to make that trail happen. SR: The Adirondack Rail Trail is a 34-mile, multi-use trail for hiking, biking, birding, skiing, and snowmobiling that goes between Lake Placid, Ray Brook, Saranac Lake, Lake Clear, and Tupper Lake. Why did this trail take so long? TG: My involvement started when the DOT and DEC formed a Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) for the Adirondack Rail Corridor to determine the best use for the corridor. The options ranged from full restoration of rail service to full recreational use. I was a member of that committee from 1990 to 1992. A study had determined it would cost 17 million to rehabilitate the corridor for full rail service, but there were no estimates for either the cost or the benefits of recreational use. I was the only member of the 25-member committee that favored full recreational use. During this planning process, the state allowed the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society to patch up four miles of rail going south from Thendara and operate a tourist train they called The Adirondack Centennial Railroad. They thought they might get 20,000 people or so the first year. They got, like, 50,000 people. And the next year they got 60,000 people.

I was the only member of the 25-member committee that favored full recreational use.

Then the following year, the numbers started to go down and continued to go down every year after that. Funding was later awarded to extend the roundtrip excursion to Utica. Even though the numbers of riders kept going down, the rail interests became entrenched enough that we, ARTA, had an uphill battle to convince NYS to change course and not to continue expanding the rail service. When the state began to consider expanding the tracks to Tupper Lake to expand the existing Lake Placid to Saranac Lake tourist operation, I wrote to the governor’s office and said don’t spend another $20 million to do this because it won’t work. That letter may have been what prevented that extension, but the rail interests kept insisting that this train was going to help the economy and kept pushing for more rail to be restored. Eventually, the snowmobilers began to realize that there were fewer weeks they could ride because the rails were in the way. SR: So, you started working with your adversary on a common goal?

SUMMER 2025 | 15