Adirondack Peeks Summer 2025

correspondence program and is what has made this club truly unique. From the very beginning, “46ers” (those who had already summited all 46 peaks) were busy writing to others who were following. This all got me thinking—how is a 46er made? Here is my conclusion: The Adirondack State Park in New York is mother nature’s mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, naturalists, kayakers, hikers, campers, climbers, and mountaineers. Wonderful experiences await tourists looking to explore the outdoors and to be active. The beauty of the mountains and the serenity of the lakes calm our hearts and open our minds. They invite us in to explore, and they etch memories like souvenirs on our soul. The wilderness “invites us in to explore!” That is the tipping point. That is the threshold. A ramble in the woods on a wandering trail, leaving chaos behind and finding peace ahead, is the doorway.

peak. Lastly, we become seasoned climbers, enjoying the whole process from planning a climb to recovery. Hence the Adirondack 46! The Adirondack 46er journey, however, is much greater than just climbing the highest 46 peaks of the Adirondacks. The journey is ultimately one that builds foundation under our feet, grit in our muscles, determination in our minds, and purpose in our hearts. It defines us and guides us. Yes, I know this all sounds a bit melodramatic, but that is what the journey does. It builds a new experience and then changes our perception of that experience in a way that fills all the nooks and crannies of the adventure with meaning, with purpose, and with passion. All this passion stuff is real; every person on this journey knows it and feels it. The correspondent program is an extension of that excitement which we enthusiastically share. The correspondents understand, they have been there, they have struggled, they have turned back, they have pressed on, they have summitted. They can relate to our journey and recognize that the hardest peak is never measured by the size or difficulty of the mountain but instead by the unexpected Whiteface Summit, 2017. L to R: Paul (me) and James Wolff (climbing partner).

Walking through that doorway, crossing the threshold, hiking up the trail a bit, hearing birds in their natural habitat, smelling the forest after a light rain, feeling the sun in a mountain meadow, and coming upon an unexpected outlook over a panoramic vista of a valley are all small steps that prop up our desire for more. We return from a hike with new memories and more motivation. Somewhere along this journey, we may be fortunate enough to step upon the summit of a mountain—to be at the highest point, exposed to the winds, basking in the sun—and feel the rewards of accomplishment that can only be achieved with struggle and adversity. It is through this progression of seeing mountains, adventuring into the wilderness, struggling to climb a mountain, and having the fortune to summit one that the spirit of a mountain climber is born. That spirit is a complex web of adventure, challenge, discovery, growth, humility, fortitude, courage, and passion. One mountain peak leads to two, leads to three, and so on. A new climber just wants to climb a mountain, any mountain. After a while, we become peak baggers, trying to climb as many mountains as we can. Then eventually a trophy climber, aiming for that one very special Wright Summit, 2011. L to R: Brock Boullianne (nephew) and Adam Mangiafico (son).

circumstances that befall us on the expedition. Each summit attempt is a truly unique experience My own correspondent, Brian Hoody, has been a wonderful sponsor over the years. I remember writing in after summiting Gray and having to cross the bogs that had floating broken timber walkways that were useless. He wrote back referring to them as the “floating bridges of Feldspar”—he understood; I laughed for days. I wrote

Panther Peak, 2022: Paul (me).

in after a failed winter ascent of Skylight. He wrote back “sometimes it’s just good to get away from it all and be out

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