Adirondack Sports May 2024

MAY 2024 5
FROM THE TEAM
Into Nature
Getting outside not only changes your
perspective, it actually alters the way
your brain works. Most of us know that
being in nature is good for us. We enjoy
the beauty and peace of being in a natural
setting and taking a break from the pressures
and routine of daily life. Research
has shown that visiting a forest or trail has
real, quantifiable health benefits, both mental and physical. Being around trees
or in a green space improves health and has lasting benefits including reducing
stress, lowering blood pressure, increasing attention span and ability to focus,
increasing energy levels and much more.
This forest bathing is not just for the wilderness-lover; the practice can be as
simple as walking in any natural environment and consciously connecting with
what’s around you. Spending time in nature helps you focus too. Focusing on multiple
activities or even a single thing for long periods of time can mentally drain us,
a phenomenon called directed attention fatigue. Spending time in nature, whether
it’s for a walk, run, bike, hike, paddle or swim, gives our brains a break, enabling us
to be better focused for our family, job or school.
Enjoy this issue and we hope it gives you inspiration to get outdoors
and be active.
CONTENTS
5 FROM THE TEAM & TRIBUTE
7 NEWS BRIEFS
9 BICYCLING
Away We Go, On Our Bikes!
13 RUNNING & WALKING
Many Race Options in June
17 PADDLING
Fish Creek/Rollins Pond Loop
21 MOUNTAIN BIKING
Growing and Improving SMBA
Locally Owned & Independent
Adirondack Sports & Fitness, LLC
15 Coventry Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065
(518) 877-8788
info@AdkSports.com
ISSUE
25 NON-MEDICATED LIFE #280
Lifestyle Strategies: Prevent Diabetes
28 ATHLETE PROFILE
Triathlon with Mark & Tonia Wilson
31-37 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Make it a Great Summer!
41 HIKING & BACKPACKING
NPT: A Perfect Two-Week Vacation
45 COMMUNITY
Our Boston Marathon
49-55 RACE RESULTS
Top Spring Finishers
Publisher/Editor/Founder: Darryl Caron
Art Director: Karen Chapman
Consulting Editor: Mona Caron
Adirondack Sports is published 12 times per year with a
monthly circulation of 25,000 copies. © 2024 Adirondack
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TRIBUTE
Robbi Mecus
By Pete Nelson
My wife and I have an inholding deep
in the High Peaks, the northern border
of which lies along an historic survey
line. Part of the Old Military Tract, it was
first surveyed by John Richards in 1812,
then remained untouched until 1921,
NOONMARK MTN.
EMILY SCHWARTZ
when surveyor A.H. King reran the line, finding some of Richard’s own marks and “boxing”
them for identification. I’ve bushwhacked part of the line, but not the part where these old
survey marks might yet be discovered. Richards’ blazes are no doubt long gone, however
King’s, made a century ago, might still be visible to the trained eye.
There are a number of fellow history buffs who share my interest in old survey lines, but
rooting around for fading marks at 3,500 feet, in dense montane forest and miles from a road,
struck me as very likely to be a solo endeavor. Well, I was wrong: it turns out that looking for
old survey marks, especially in hard-to-find places, was one of the passionate interests of NYS
Forest Ranger nonpareil and Adirondack polymath Robbi Mecus, 52, who died April 25 while
ice climbing in Denali National Park.
Robbi and I had known each other for several years, so she was familiar with the location
of our land, though I didn’t know of her surveying interest until she sprung it on me in an
excited burst of conversation one afternoon, right in front of her house, which we pass on
the way to the trailhead we use. “I really want to get up there and follow that line,” she said,
“plus there are some survey marks behind Round Mountain I’d love to go hunt down with
you… it’d be great!” I was more than game, but Robbi was a pretty busy woman, so it took
a while to carve out an opportunity. Earlier this spring I emailed her to set a June date for a
backwoods sojourn.
Robbi was a casual friend and colleague. We hiked together here and there. We ran into
each other on a regular basis. We worked on Keene’s inaugural PrideFest together. But I was
not a close friend, not part of her intimate circle, nor a member of her climbing community.
That’s exactly why I felt compelled to write this tribute. I don’t know if Robbi knew how much
she meant to me, how much I liked her and viewed her as an inspiration for a meaningful life
well lived. But I do know this: Robbi is in the Adirondack firmament. She was the caliber of
person that ends up having things like mountains named after her. She made the Adirondacks
an immeasurably better place, both for people who knew her and for people who will never
know her. She’s not done, either: her legacy will continue to have a beautiful and meaningful
impact on the Adirondacks for years to come. Robbi Mecus was, in a word, exceptional.
No one needs to be convinced of Robbi’s prowess as a Forest Ranger. She was as good
as it gets: superbly skilled, dedicated, and indominable. In March, she was featured in the
New York Times for a rescue on the shoulder of Mount Marcy, in deep snow, well off the trail.
Fading boot tracks led her to a nearly frozen hiker who was immobilized along a treacherous
stream basin (by coincidence, I’ve been in the exact place, in winter, researching for an article
about source waters, and its mighty tough terrain). She saved his life. She saved lots of lives.
That’s the job all rangers do, bless them.
It’s not appropriate to merely say that Robbi was an ally in the work to help the Adirondacks
become more welcoming, inclusive and equitable, to be a place of greater belonging for all.
Robbi was an exemplar, not just an ally. As a proud transgender woman, Robbi was a leader
and role model for all who would work to better human society. She had unimpeachable
integrity and courage, which she illuminated every day simply by living in this world on her
terms. She was a brilliant example of the best of what a community of belonging can be.
With transphobia and virulent discrimination on the rise these days, I cannot imagine the
challenges that were presented to her, but she was above all of them.
Robbi talked about how her employer, her co-workers and her community embraced her
when she came out. So many things were right in Keene Valley: we had her back, and she had
ours. How can we not make progress together with people like Robbi to show us the way?
I love my community more and more every year, but I know that something beautiful is
missing, and we will have to strive to compensate for the loss. I love the Adirondack backcountry
and have ranged it with confidence for decades. But I know my margin of error has
just been reduced. The Adirondack wilderness has lost something valuable. Robbi is gone.
Then again, when we’re in the heart of the forest or on a high buttress, places where we come
to terms with the most important parts of ourselves, places where a word like “timeless” actually
means something, maybe not. –Originally published, April 30: AdirondackAlmanack.com.
Pete Nelson is a teacher, writer, essayist and activist whose work has appeared in a variety
of Adirondack publications. Pete is a founder and coordinator of the Adirondack Diversity
Advisory Council, which is working to make the Park more welcoming and inclusive. When
not writing or teaching mathematics at North Country Community College, Pete can be
found in the backcountry, making music or even walking on stilts, which he and his wife
Amy have done professionally throughout the US for nearly two decades. Pete is a proud
resident of Keene, and along with Amy and his dog Henderson owns Lost Brook Tract, a
40-acre inholding deep in the High Peaks Wilderness.