Adirondack Peeks Winter 2023

TALKING POINTS Sherry Roulston, #12512, with Suzanne Lance, #1802WV

It is easier to become a Forty-Sixer than to be one. The art of being is to keep one’s sense of wonder after the excitement of the game is over. —Paul F. Jamieson, #146, in The Adirondack High Peaks

All photos courtesy of Suzanne Lance.

I t’s Tuesday, August 1, and Kim and I are driving to Schroon Lake to meet up with Suzanne Lance #1802WV at her camp, Boulders Edge. I am anxious and excited! I’m anxious because Suzanne’s list of accomplishments is long, and I’m hoping that my research has been thorough. I’m excited because I get the chance to see her property which, as its name implies, abuts Grace and Ed Hudowalski’s camp, Boulders! Pulling off the Northway, I take a few rights and a left when my GPS informs me that I am on Suzanne’s road with five miles to go! The road travels upward, weaving around tight corners and over a wooden bridge, and although the speed limit is 35 mph, I am at 25, tight fisted and expecting a deer, turkey, truck, or trailhead around each bend. Wooden placards of all shapes and sizes adorn the road announcing names of camps and families while driveways shoot off in all directions, some plunging downward to the lake’s edge. With all the heavy rain this summer, it is a miracle traveling on this bright, clear, cool day. Sixty-four degrees in August! Up we go, around one more bend, when we are greeted by a large yellow 46er A Conversation with Suzanne Lance, #1802WV

flag billowing in the wind. We pull in past the rustic twig sign announcing “Boulders Edge,” and Suzanne greets us on the porch steps. She is dressed in long pants and a blue, lightweight, long-sleeve button down. She leads us up the open, front porch that overlooks a vista of treetops and the lake below. Inside we are greeted by her husband, George Sloan #2651WV. Smells of pine and cinnamon mingle in the air. George was the president of the 46ers club from 1997 to 2000 and today, he appears to be manning the kitchen and preparing our lunch. A mutual friend of theirs introduced them over 35 years ago, believing they would hit it off based on their love for hiking. They were married in 1988 and spent their honeymoon at the Adirondack Loj while climbing Street and Nye. Their first quarrel transpired on their way down Street Mountain. Having decided to take a different route and eventually meet back up with the trail, they disputed on which direction to go. Although George was using a compass, Suzanne was already a 46er and remembered her father telling her about the iron ore rocks on Street Mountain that could impair a compass’s accuracy.

WINTER 2023 | 5