ADIRONDACK TRAILS

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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!
ADK SUMMIT STEWARD PROGRAM Page 11 Danielle holds the record for interacting with the most people in a single day—a whopping 403 people on one Saturday on Cascade! 2012 Crew L to R: Patrick Murphy, Julia Goren, Alena Giesche, Cameron West, Kevin Berend, Eric Coe Volunteer Stewards: As always, we couldn’t do the work that we do without our volunteers. Volunteers provided 37 coverage days this past season! Frank Krueger – Frank has been with the program for ELEVEN years now and has been a major asset to the stewards, the program, and the new volunteers. Ian Ellbogen – Ian has been with the volunteer program for three years and has been an invaluable help on busy holidays and with the program in general. His help extends during the off-season as well, during which he helped the steward program initiate sponsorship with OR. David Warfield – This was Dave’s second year with the steward program. He has spent a great deal of time hiking above treeline, and did some mountaineering in Chamonix, France, this past August. Ethan Collins—Ethan was back for a second season as a volunteer with the steward program this year. He is a high school student, ardent fly fisherman, and dedicated rower from Avon, NY. Ethan’s spirit and sense of humor are always invigorating. Danielle Mangold—Danielle was new to the Summit Steward program as a volunteer. A past ADK employee, she has extensive experience hiking in the High Peaks and educating the public. Education - Usage and Outreach: The weather this summer was atypical for the Adirondacks. It was overwhelmingly sunny, dry, and beautiful throughout May, June, July, and August. September and October brought some much needed rain to fill the streams, including some cold, wet days. Not surprisingly, the gorgeous weather brought hikers to the peaks in droves. Contact numbers were very high, no matter how you choose to count them. We hit a new record for overall contacts (20,567), a new record for contacts for a single day (403), and this year was in the top three for average contacts per day. Year Total Contacts Days Covered Average 2012 20,567 269 77 2011 19,211 275 70 2010 16,539 243 68 2009 18,420 283 65 2008 12,350 198 62 2007 14,043 199 70 2006 14,004 242 58 2005 12,541 195 62 2004 11,217 157 71 2003 11,177 139 80 2002 12,663 205 61 Total Contacts 1990‐2012: 327,597 Public outreach in addition to the coverage on the peaks continues to be an important part of the Summit Steward program. In addition to programs (Antioch University, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering, Adirondack Botanical Society, Johns Brook Lodge, Gordon College’s La Vida Program, Adirondack Research Consortium, (to name a few), I also published an article on the program in Peeks, the magazine of the Adirondack 46ers. This article was reprinted in Adirondac, next to an article about the Summit Steward program written by Christine Bourjade. This piece (particularly when paired with
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ADIRONDACK TRAILS

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