Not just mountains

I used to believe that the Adirondacks were simply far-away mountains. My family has a history with the Adirondacks. My mom and her brother grew up in Rochester New York, a mere three hours from the boundary of the park. During high school and college, my uncle made the trip up to his friend’s cabin in the Shadow of Mt. Marcy. From this home base, they explored the park in its entirety eventually summiting all 46 high peaks. To my uncle, the mountains were not just mountains but a playground where love of the wilderness became imbued within my uncle’s personality. I know he never let go of the playground lessons taught by those mountains. From scuba diving to safaris, my uncle never stopped exploring the natural world.  Going to the mountains were for him, the perfect lesson plan.

The Adirondacks are not just mountains but the home to lifelong friendships. When I was on my own backpacking adventure in Yosemite another venture of the Adirondacks happened to be on my trip. This short, nerdy, and thin kid had, hiked the 46 peaks in 35 straight days. It was do doubt phenomenal feat but, that was not what struck me about his trip.  The weather for his trip was less than stellar. He had spent 35 days slogging through the mud, shivering in lean-to, and fighting with stoves that refused to light. Nevertheless, he had been with his five friends and they had toughed it out through all of it. With the kind of nostalgia that only a recent high school graduate can muster, he felt that he had never been closer to a group of people. He felt that there was no better way possible to experience the end of high school. He felt that there was no better way to experience the uncertainty that came with it. To this kid, the mountains were a challenge worth conquering.

The Adirondacks are not just mountains but some people’s entire lives. The author of our Atlas, Jerry Jenkins has spent most of his life trying to understand the ecology and history of the Adirondacks and the people living there. If you asked Jenkins what that Adirondacks meant to him, I have no idea what he would say. But, I guarantee that it would be different from every other person in the world. In fact, I’d wager that you could ask every person who has had an experience with the Adirondacks what that meant to them, and each one would give you a different answer.  I used to believe that the Adirondacks were far away mountains but now I know that those who have been there have held on to their experiences for years. The Adirondacks aren’t far away at all