I’m a 2’er – A long walk in the Adirondack’s (with pictures!)

On Sunday, May 29th I had the pleasure of taking a long walk in the woods with Travis.  Travis has been hiking for almost 10 years and now has 22 peaks under his belt.  Obtaining a “peak” occurs when you climb to the summit of a high peak in the Adirondack’s.  Their are officially 46 peaks which when originally mapped were all above 4,000 feet.  However, modern technology has proved that some were lower than 4,000 and some higher than they thought.  In the end 46 peaks remain.  Travis explained to me that their is even a 46’er club for all those who have climbed to the top of each peak, check out the link to see visit their website (Their are about 6,000 members, living and deceased that have attained the 46’er status).  One gains access to this club by submitting a letter to the group via snail-mail (US Postal Service) upon the completion of each hiking trip.  In my case I will be submitting a letter to the 46’er club explaining my first hiking experience and letting them know that I am officially a 2’er.  Travis will likewise send them a letter with a 22’er in the top right hand corner letting them know that he know has achieved 22 peaks in his adirondack hiking career.  The 46’er club maintains a record of all these letters so that when a hiker finally achieves the distinction of having reached the peak of all 46 they will be recognized by the club.  Imagine, if I can climb a few peaks each year over the next 30-40 years I could have a documented trail of where I was, who I was with, and what the experiences were like.  It would be a little life-time journal of sorts.  Travis mentioned that even his (~7-10 years of letters) includes stories of past girlfriends, people he hasn’t seen in years, etc…  I can’t imagine where I will be or who I will be with in 10 years.  But it would be cool to see Travis in the 40’s (or done) and myself in the 20’s of peaks climbed in 10 years. Time will tell.

Here are some pictures (some with titles referencing what they are of) from our hike.  We ended up climbing both Phelps and Tabletop.  It took us about 7 hours and 15 minutes and that included about a 45-1hr detour because we are both horrible at directions:) Enjoy!