This is great! I think it is really nice that we have all these responses so far. If you are just reading these and haven't posted yours yet please do so. It would be really good to see everone registered's bio. If you haven't regestered yet do it now and post as I'm sure you probably keep coming back anyway but are just holding off for some reason.
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
How about a little bit about yourself
Collapse
This is a sticky topic.
X
X
-
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
~~Theodore Roosevelt~~
-
Hi--my name is Doug and I'm an alcoholic...wait--wrong post. All kidding aside, I'm 32 and love the outdoors. I went to college to be a history teacher, but dropped out in my junior year to ski in colorado. Seemed like a great idea at the time. Hung out in boulder for a while, then my father, here in NY, came down with als, better known as lou gerhigs disease. I moved back here in 95 and inherited a tavern in Oswego ny. I ran it until last may, when I sold it, and decided to become a mountain guide. Started all that, and was going to finish my training in the cordillera blanca region in Peru, but it got cancelled. So I went back to school for nursing. I know, how did that work out? But anyway, I finish in june, and then I think I might start my bid on the 7 summits on kili. I've currently got 30 high peaks done, and plan on doing alot of backcountry skiing, when you can pry me away from whiteface and gore this season. I'm also on the sar team here in cny, and participate on most of the searches for lost people. I found my first living person last week, after she had been lost for three days in freezing weather. Got to use my wfr skills. Good thread.
Comment
-
Originally posted by hillman1
I'm also on the sar team here in cny, and participate on most of the searches for lost people.
Are you in the Pioneers or Wilderness SAR? I was one of the founders of Wilderness back in 1971, when it was based in Tompkins County (Ithaca) and was called Tompkins County SAR Team. In 1979, after college, we moved it up to Cortland County and changed the name, and then in 1988 I moved to Minnesota and WS&R moved to N. Syracuse. If you are with the Oswego County Pioneers, is Huey Parrow still around? He and Dave Green were two of the orginals who were on the Legg search at Sanatnoni in '71.
Press on!
Hans"Come to the Forest, where the other you lives!"
Comment
-
Just a hiker too........
I'm 36, married with 2 great kids (wife's not bad either ). I've been actively hiking since 1998 or so and have gotten progressivly more addicted ever since (as have the rest of the family). It's something we do together (most of the time) and enjoy. Our primary focus in the last year or so has been to complete the 46.
We currently have anywhere from 9 (for me) - 15 (for my wife) left, with the kids in between. We plan to finish (all 4 of us, along with my brother) on Whiteface on Labor Day 2004. My wife and I will be 37, My son - 13 and my daughter 11.
Our family "treat" for completing the 46 will be a trip to Colorado for a couple 14ers (this was decided by the kids, btw). We all have similar, but slightly differing goals and aspirations. My son has aspirations of real moutaineering when he gets older and my daughter just wants to be out there where the wind is in her hair and she feels free.
By trade, I am a Medicolegal Death Investigator for a large Metropolitan Medical Examiners Office. Yes, it's kinda like CSI with none of the glory and all of the mess . I also train and compete in triathlons (Olympic distance) and coach swimming."I can feel your anger. It gives you focus. It makes you stronger. " Supreme Chancellor
Comment
-
OK....
I am 55 and started "hiking" pretty much when I started to walk.
Born and raised in "the sticks". We lived on top of a hill in a ridge of hills in westren New York. A dirt road and my "best friend" lived next door.. three quarters of a mile away below a small knoll on the hill. I could see no neighbors from my house.
We were Boy Scouts (got to Life), played in the streams and woods, hunted. trapped, camped, tapped trees, cut wood, did chores, milked, all that good ol' country boy stuff!
Divorced 23 years with 2 adult male childs... good guys and I love em' ta death!!!
Director of Ski and Snowboard School in winter.. special projects co-ordinanator in off-season... that is a very broad definition.. meaning anything , anywhere, anytime..
actually at a 4 season resort ... work outside just about everyday and have all my life.
25 years as construction landscaper before this stint
Glad ta meet'cha all.... Ron
Comment
-
Actually I'm not an alcoholic, I just thought that was funny. I'm on the oswego county sar team headed by Roger Fox. He seems to be some sort of higher up in the teams, because at the staging center for that rescue, he was the head honcho. By the way, I ski alot also. If anyone is up for some backcountry, pm me, or post on here. See y'all in the mountains.
Comment
-
My father was from Mars, my mother from Venus. Here in computer land I am more a stone age ameba than interplanetry tripper (I hope.)
I haven't been in the Adirondacks in neigh on 30+ years. Back then, when I was going to save the world, I went to some religious school up in Pottersville NY but I would need a map to find out where the heck I was. This weekend will be my 1st Vermont hike ..looking forward to it very much.
We spend the school year here in the states (my wife is a music teacher & I'm a carpenter) and spend the rest of our time in Quebec with an eye towards Labrador.
I'd like to know my way around the Adirondacks more. My understanding is that it makes up a large part of the Great North Woods. I would like to hike some of it's winter Mnts or traverse sections of the lowland on snowshoes or skis.
I would probably need to make plans with others who know their way around that neck of the woods.....till then I hope to learn a bit more from this board..thanks...spidergoin up country where the water taste like wine...
Comment
-
I am 31 years old and have been hiking in the Adirondacks for 19 years. I got started hiking in the Boy Scouts, and finished my 46 in high school along with two other hiking buddies. I moved to Virginia after college (SUNY Binghamton) to take a job with an environmental consulting company as a geologist.
I began to miss the Adirondacks and the work grew dull, so after 5 years in Virginia I moved back where I belong, in the Dacks. That was 3 years ago, and I still have yet to find a suitable long-term job, but I can't complain too much. My lack of real employment allows me to work every summer as a whitewater raft guide on the Hudson River, a job I absolutely love. I cannot imagine a better, more enjoyable job. Perhaps I could set up a gathering for this forum in the spring and we could go whitewater rafting. Since moving back to the Adirondacks I have also finished my Winter 46.
I also work part time at the Saratoga EMS, as well as at a local gym.
John
PS I'm still looking for work, so if you have any suggestions for an unemployed geologist, please PM me.
Comment
-
Trailpatrol
Somehow I can't envision you wearing Ruby slippers!"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
~~Theodore Roosevelt~~
Comment
-
Although my family has been vacationing in the Adirondacks for five generations and so I have been up there for anywhere from a week to three weeks per year since age 3 months, it was in the Boy Scouts that I acquired my passion for hiking/backpacking. I spent my first long-term trip on the NP trail from Blue Mt (Tirell Pond) to Lake Placid in 1992 and discovered the Hudson Highlands near my home in Dutchess County as dayhikes while training for the NP trail. The memories and images I retained from those day trips and crowned with the NP trek were never to leave me. Not having any money or a reliable car I spent high school exploring my native Hudson Highlands and then college in barren and detested Virginia taught me what a treasure we have in the Adirondacks (Johnnycakes -- I understand completely your need to pack up and get out of Virginia, it was unbearable especially when everyone down there talked about how pretty a state it was!).
After college I landed a job here in Connecticut (which I rate probably one step below Virginia) and I now spend most weekends somewhere in the Northeast on some outdoor adventure although I tend to gravitate to the Adirondacks. I've since completed the NP trail three times and am presently at 30 peaks towards the 46, 15 towards the 35 Catskills, and 51 towards the Northeast's 115. I work as an editor for a non-profit and moonlight with a part-time job as a proofreader at a newspaper. I'm just now ending my third semester of attending part-time law school. While I manage to keep busy, the mountains is where I clear my head, blow off stress and rejuvenate myself. Whenever I find time I continue to pop in on my old Scout troop for an outing here and there to give back to today's youth the skills and love of the outdoors that Scouting gave to me. I consistently lead a week-long high adventure trip for the Scouts each August, most recently paddling on the Allagash up in Maine.
I'm 25, my real name is Mike, and my trailname - RiseAboveHiker - is meant to convey not only hiking high altitudes but also the need to "rise above" the setbacks, discomforts and obstacles we meet in varying form on outings that in turn prepare us to deal with these challenges in our jobs and families in real life. How's that for a name?
I enjoyed reading about everyone else out there; it's a pleasure to make everyone's acquaintance.
Comment
-
Here’s my story. I grew up in Schenectady, NY and started hiking in the ADKs in 1978. After high school, I went to Paul Smith’s College, then transferred to Univ. of New Hampshire (B.S. in Forestry). After graduation, I entered the Army as a Lieutenant, served in various places (e.g. Ft. Bragg, NC and Germany) and got out as a Captain. After the Army I was bored, so I went to graduate school and earned an M.S. in Geology at Univ. of Pittsburgh. I started on a Ph.D. but dropped out and went to law school in Portland, OR. I now live in Chicago and practice corporate defense. For years I’ve been working on a scheme to get back to the ADKs, but the ruby slippers don’t seem to work and I don’t have the guts to quit my job and go. I’m 42.
Comment
-
Willie & Mike 1889,
Nice to see two other geologists on the board. Interesting that none of us are employed in the field.
RiseAboveHiker,
I was inside the Washington DC Beltway, and while I tried a few hiking trips in the Shenandoah Park, it just wasn't the Adirondacks. Oh, and the traffic SUCKED. At times I found myself thinking that I could relate to Michael Douglas's character in the movie "Falling Down" in the very first scene of the movie.
John
Comment
-
I have lived in the Adk Park my whole life. My passion has always been the outdoors. I did not do my first high peak till 1993. I could never figure why you would want to climb something you could not hunt or fish on. I wanted to do Marcy though just to say I did it. That sept. 93 trip got me hooked and I finished my 46 in oct. of 95. I took a short sabatical from hiking in 98 and really got back into it in 2002. I am working on my 46 in all 4 seasons and just for the pleasure of hiking.IT IS NOT A PARK
IT IS THE ADIRONDACKS
I WAS BORN HERE
IT IS MY HOME
IT IS WHERE I WORK
Comment
-
Wolfjaw--
I’m 50 (naw…pshhh…naw…). I am happily married (25th next September) and have a daughter in college and a son in high school.
I do database management to help keep a roof overhead. Since I live in the level landscape of central New Jersey (the Land o’ Lawns), I keep myself fit with karate—I can’t shoot baskets to save my life and jogging gives me the Cold Robbies. When I’m not found in the woods somewhere, I play music to keep to keep a spiritual roof overhead. I’m in a blues band (Catfish) and an eclectic acoustic band (Across the Street). We play out in local venues (pubs and bookstores, festivals and parties).That said, though, there is one venue I truly love above all others: sitting on the duff with my acoustic guitar accompanying the roar of a brook below me and the wind rushing high through the trees up above.
I began climbing the High Peaks (Lower Wolfjaw) with my family when I was 4 and finished the 46 on my own when I was 44 (Couchsachraga). In 40 years in between I climbed many of the major “trailed†peaks with my family; when the family stopped climbing, I continued on my own, climbing the remaining trailed peaks and then reclimbing many, resisting solo-climbing on the “trailless†peaks until I realized if I didn’t do them on my own, I wouldn’t do them at all. There were also a number of years when I didn’t come into the high peaks at all preferring, in the folly of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, to waste my time and squander good fortune. But I found my way back and if it didn’t make me stronger, neither did it kill me, I am now accompanying my son on his 46 (he’s at #17) and unless he chases me off or leaves me behind, he’ll have my company on all 46 and I will have an absolute blast becoming a 92-r
I really appreciate this site: its openness to the whole community and its acceptance of tangential posts. But most of all I like the fact that it is specifically about the Adirondacks--there is no place on earth I would rather be.
JW
Comment
-
Gothics---
I'm 17 year old girl near Syracuse, NY. I live on Otisco Lake. I have been car camping and hiking with my family since I was a baby. We had many family trips out to California, Texas, Idaho and Florida, and on the way we would camp out. out. My dad is a big outdoors guy so he taught me to apreciate the wilderness, and showed me that it can teach you a lot of things and gives you challenges. I had been hiking in the adirondacks many times, but never hiked a high peak.
Girl Scouts has also helped me explore the outdoors. I have lead numerous encampments, teaching outdoor skills like fire building, map and compass and outdoor cooking. I also have three older friends (freshmen in college) who have taught me a lot and took me on trips. I have hiked seven high peaks, we go backpaking 2-3 times a year. I was 13 on my first backpaking trip up Marcy. I earned my backpaking badge which helped me learn the essencials. Most of the planning was done for me but I learned what needs to be done. My second trip was up Cascade and Porter, taking the less traveled Garden route. I have also hiked the upper range, ended up hiking 17 hours straight, long story, but I learned that you have to be careful who you choose as hiking partners. I hiked Skylight most recently. I enjoy hiking because its fun to be with friends and meet new challenges. And its a good way to meet new people. You can feel free to be yourself and not worry. I would like to backpack more, and i'm starting an outdoor club, and looking for more peole who enjoy backpacking.
This summer I did a program called SCA (Student Conservation Assiociation) where I did trail work off Lake Chelan in Washington State for a month. I also backpacked for 25 miles. Western hiking has such beatiful sceanery. It was so amazing, especially when we hiked Courtney Peak for sunrise and saw numurous spectecular mountains surrounding us. If you ever get a chance to go to Washington, hike the Prince Creek trail off of Lake Chelan, I helped build it!!!. I love Washington!!!"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."
-Buddha
Comment
Comment