ADIRONDACK TRAILS

Page 10
ADK SUMMIT STEWARD PROGRAM
The following report was submitted by Julia Goren,
ADK’s Summit Steward Coordinator. It’s hard to
believe that another year has already gone by and
the 23 rd season of the Summit Steward program has
drawn to a close! Columbus Day weekend ended
with a few inches of snow up on the peaks, a sure
sign that the summer hiking season is officially over
and winter is on the way. The summer was
beautiful, sunny, and BUSY, with record numbers
of visitors.
As our visitation numbers continue to
increase, the need for the Summit Steward program
remains clear. While hiker ethics have changed
dramatically in the past 23 years and many visitors
to the summit have met stewards before or are
familiar with the message, we still have many new
hikers to the area. There are always new people to
educate and to enlist in the cause of alpine
stewardship!
Personnel and Scheduling: The 2012 Summit
Stewards were a pleasure to work with. They were
hard-working, eager to learn, and enthusiastic about
alpine stewardship. It was an entirely new crew to
stewarding, yet they brought a wealth of field
experience and boundless energy to the job.
Kevin Berend—Kevin was new to the Summit
Steward program, but very familiar with the High
Peaks. He spent last summer working as an SCA
Backcountry Steward in this area, during which he
weathered Tropical Storm Irene at the Lake Colden
Interior Outpost. He is studying at Monroe
Community College and is hoping to pursue a
career in the environmental field. Kevin’s extensive
experience and ability to handle any situation were
a real asset to the program.
Eric Coe—Eric was new to the Summit Steward
program, but is studying Biology at SUNY Oneonta
under Dr. Sean Robinson, a former steward. Eric is
an experienced rock climber and a cycling
enthusiast. His unflagging energy always kept
things lively on the summits.
Alena Giesche—Alena graduated from Middlebury
College where she studied geology and dance as
part of her Environmental Studies degree. She was
new to the Summit Steward program, but has
extensive experience as an educator. Her fluency in
French was greatly appreciated by our Canadian
visitors. Alena spent 6 weeks of the summer out on
crutches with a broken foot (a souvenir of a busy
Fourth of July weekend), but managed to make a
triumphant return right before Labor Day.
Patrick Murphy—Patrick recently graduated from
Marshall University with a degree in Evolutionary
Biology. Also new to the program, Patrick wasted
little time in mastering identification of the alpine
plants. His skills in plant identification were
invaluable for our Botany projects this summer.
Cameron West—Cam is a graduate of St.
Lawrence University. During the summer of 2009,
he did an independent study hiking all of the 46
high peaks and photographing and speaking with
hikers on each summit. Thus, Cam came to the
program with considerable knowledge of the area
and comfort interacting with visitors. In addition to
his stewarding skills, Cam is an accomplished
backcountry baker!
Julia Goren—I’ve been a part of the summit
steward program since 2006 and enjoyed this sunny
summer when I was not melting in the heat!