Adirondack Peeks Winter 2023

eventually created an operation manual for the Historian’s Office that subsequent volunteers could use as a guide. The club solicited volunteers to handle specific tasks, particularly making sure that the 46er tradition of corresponding with hikers continued. Also, during the 1990s, the club had to deal with recommendations from the DEC’s High Peaks Unit Management Plan on several issues. The first was a proposal to mark the herd paths on the trailless peaks to keep people on the main paths and stop the proliferation of false herd paths. The Unit Management Plan also called for the removal of the canisters and logbooks that the 46ers had placed on the trailless peaks

sending in a report on new climbs. Finding her response in the mailbox was a special event. SR: I would love to have members send in copies of their correspondence with Grace and talk about their interactions with her. That would make a fun story. How did Grace influence you as a 46er? SL: I think those of us who knew Grace feel a responsibility to keep her memory alive and continue to tell the story of the Adirondack 46ers. SR: Has your writing been inspired by Grace? SL: In some ways I think so. Grace loved folklore and telling stories about people. She was interested in hearing hikers’ stories: what happened, what they experienced, and how they felt about it. When I write history, I try to focus on people's stories to make the material come alive. It’s still necessary to include names, places, dates, and context, all the things that some people find boring about history. But if you can tie the history you are writing about to people and how it affected them, or how a particular person impacted the course of history, then you have a story. SR: Do you know how Grace and Ed came up with the name for their camp? SL: That’s easy. All you have to do is look at the shoreline of the property to know where the name came from. It is strewn with huge boulders, compliments of the glaciers I suppose. SR: And hence the “Boulder” report which Grace wrote up until the Spring of 1997. As an active volunteer of the 46ers, could you talk about your experiences as a Trail Maintenance member? SL: After David and I finished the 46, we wanted to “give something back.” That’s a bit of a trite phrase that gets used a lot to encourage people to get involved with the educational and conservation programs of the 46ers. But it’s appropriate. We enjoyed the

he learned how to use a computer and it did help to streamline some of his responsibilities. Ditt had also prepared a manual that outlined his duties and responsibilities so that someone could take over when necessary. Grace on the other hand didn’t want anything to do with computers. She liked answering the close to 1,000 letters a year she received from climbers on her portable electric typewriter. And she refused to use form letters of any kind, preferring the personal touch. In addition, no one knew anything about Grace’s process. So, the Grace Committee was formed to try to document her responsibilities and organizational structure and then find ways to lighten her load. Initially there was a lot of handwringing about how to approach Grace on the need to develop a succession plan. But Grace was very pragmatic. She understood that she could no longer handle the workload by herself and that to maintain personal correspondence with hikers she would need help. The committee had several meetings with her to review her process and

back in the 1950s. There was also a suggestion from within the club to stop issuing numbers and patches for those who climbed the 46 peaks and focus instead on hiker education and trail work programs. It would take too long to explain the outcomes of all this turmoil, but if anyone is interested in how it all turned out read “Part IV: the 1990s” in the history chapter of Heaven Up-h’isted-ness! . SR: You can order a copy of the book on the Adirondack 46er website for only $38.50! We all should know the history and the book is such a great read! Grace believed hiking the 46 was life altering and therefore an introspective experience and encouraged new 46ers to write about their journeys. Did you correspond with Grace as a young hiker? SL: Yes, I did. As I’m sure is the case with most climbers who corresponded with Grace, I still have her letters. I remember the anticipation of receiving a reply from Grace after

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