Adirondack Sports January 2024

COMMUNITY
JANUARY 2024 19
Hiking the 46 High
Peaks as
a Family
BEAUTIFUL WATERFALL
ON THE WAY UP WRIGHT.
EDDIE, SOPHIE,
AND SCHATZI
ON OUR WAY UP
GIANT MOUNTAIN.
CAMPING AT
MARCY DAM.
MARCY SUMMIT.
By Emily Chromczak
THE KIDS LOVED THE
MUD ON TO WAY UP
STREET AND NYE.
It was my husband’s crazy idea and I can’t believe we
actually did it. It all started in 2015 when we hiked
up Cascade Mountain (#1) with our four-year-old
daughter, Sophie, our two-year-old son, Eddie, and our
three-year-old nephew, Jacob. Sophie and Jacob were
clearly very proud of themselves for making it all the
way without having to be carried (Eddie was in a backpack
carried by Chris). It was such a wonderful feeling
to see these tiny kids accomplish something difficult all
by themselves. On the way down Chris excitedly talked
about how great it would be if we could do all of the peaks
as a family.
In September 2016, three-year-old Eddie hiked
Giant Mountain (#2) on his own two feet. To be honest, I
didn’t think he could do it. He was still so little and Giant
Mountain is not easy. When we made it to the top he
exclaimed “Wow! Holy cow!” and on the car ride home he
kept saying “We did it!” and “You are so proud at [sic] me!”
In 2017, my dad, Ed Gravelle, joined us for Wright
Peak (#3) and we did Porter (#4) on our own. In 2018,
we were more serious about getting them done – made
easier by the kids getting older – and completed Big Slide
(#5), Street (#6), Nye (#7), Esther (#8) and Phelps (#9).
Big Slide was one of my personal favorites because it
wasn’t too difficult and there were gorgeous views along
the way. My dad joined us when we hiked Esther and
we were treated to a great view of Whiteface, which we
excitedly pointed out to the kids. We decided early on
that we wanted Whiteface to be our final peak so that
non-hiking family members could meet us at the top
for a celebration.
We camped for two nights in a lean-to at Marcy
Dam in 2019, when we hiked Iroquois (#10) and
Algonquin (#11). We were on the fence about whether
or not we should bring our aging dog, Schatzi, with us.
She had joined us for most of the hikes we had done so far
and she was a big, furry, important member of our family;
but she was 10 years old and had been slowing down. She
quit on the top of Algonquin and Chris ended up having
to carry her down on his shoulders – she was 80 pounds
so this was no easy task! We did enjoy a few more years
with her before she passed away but this was her final
Adirondack adventure with us.
The other peaks we did in 2019 were Upper Wolfjaw
(#12), Lower Wolfjaw (#13) and Armstrong (#14) on the
same day. This was a long day for young kids – they were
eight and six years old – but they did it! Our final peak of
2019 was Cascade (again) so that Eddie could be official,
since he was carried the first time!
We only completed two peaks in 2020: Rocky Ridge
(#15) and Marcy (#16), but we did a lot of other hiking that
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