Adirondack Peeks Summer 2025

MOUNTAIN VIGNETTES High Places

Paul G. Mangiafico, #15995

A fter 40 years of hiking and climbing in the Adirondack high peaks, I have now joined the ranks of the 46ers. We 46ers are a diverse group of outdoor enthusiasts that share a common passion for adventure and the desire to climb to the summits of mountains. My personal 40-year journey has been filled with hiking, rock and ice climbing, mountaineering, trail running, backcountry skiing, triathlon, and more. I have introduced many others to the joys of the outdoors as my mentors did for me. And now, I would love to share some of my reflections and philosophies with others who also share a passion for these wonderful endeavors. MY JOURNEY My first exposure to the Adirondacks was as a teenager, hiking and rock climbing. My first big wall rock climb was, at the age of 20, up the vertical face of Cascade. There were rusty old pitons up there, so I know I wasn’t the first. My first multi-pitch ice climb was Roaring Brook Falls on a cold and crisp February day, with a light, picturesque snow falling in Keene Valley. The first high peak summit was Mount Marcy, hiking with college friends. I did not even know there was such a thing as the 46ers until I had already summited five or six peaks. Even after that I did not know there was a correspondent program for several more years. I have always kept an adventure journal and thought participating with the correspondent program would be fun. I kept at it, not particularly trying to “knock off” all the high peaks,

but whenever I did climb one, I would send a letter to the club historian and look forward to a response. This two-way correspondence (much like a pen pal program) fostered the foundation of climbing passion that has propped and sustained the club for nearly a century. Eventually, I was assigned to Brian Hoody as my correspondent and found him to be thoughtful, supportive, encouraging, and funny— more to come. In the last 10 years, I decided I should also stand on the summits of all 46 high peaks, join the 46ers, and become a correspondent myself. So, I got to work and made sure that I included annual Adirondack outings to my busy list of life adventures and responsibilities. I finished last year, on a beautiful autumn day, summitting Sawteeth with my current climbing partner, James, (also earning his 46 with that summit) and my eldest son, Paul. HOW I SEE IT AND SOME REFLECTIONS Warning: I am a hopeless philosophic romantic and, my kids say, corny. The Adirondacks is revered for its natural beauty, majestic mountains, graceful forests, rambling brooks, and placid lakes. But it is the 46 high peaks that draw the climbers. Climbing encompasses all the wonderful experiences that bring us to the wilderness with the additional elements of challenge, risk, and achievement. Climbing and summiting a mountain is as metaphorical of life as it gets: triumph over adversity, self-reliance and partnership put to the

test, strength through humility, and deep appreciation of basic existence. And, if all that were not great enough, we get panoramic views of spectacular landscapes typically reserved for eagles. It is not surprising that these mountains draw adventurers, and it was not long before those climbers started sharing their experiences and passion with others. On May 30, 1948, the Adirondack Forty-Sixers Inc. started. Grace Hudowalski served as the club’s first president and maintained communications with climbers aspiring to become 46ers. Aspiring 46ers would write to Grace after each successful summit, who in turn would write back. Grace’s influence on climbers to document their journeys has been the driving force behind the creation of the

Cascade Summit, 2007. L to R: Paul (me); kids: Paul Mangiafico, Faith (Mangiafico) Rea, Adam Mangiafico, and Donna (spouse).

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