I never told anyone about this. On the very last Mt Marcy hike, in 1974, I was picked to lead the trip. Dave Gelfand was to help me. Everything went great. We actually climbed Mt Skylight, in addition to Mt Marcy, which is next to it. On the third morning, Dave, I and another counselor (his name escapes me after 36 years), set out to climb Mt Colden. Just before we struck out, I witnessed the other counselor shooting up in his thigh with a hypodermic syringe. I asked him what was up with that? He told Dave and I that he was a diabetic. I didn't know much about such things and didn't give it much of a second thought.
Just as we were approaching Mt Colden's summit, the diabetic dude collapsed- out cold. Dave and I tried frantically to get him to come to. Finally, he opened one eye and mumbled "get me sugar...". I didn't have any, nor did Dave. I started to run down the mountain. When I got to the bottom, I ran into a couple of hikers. I explained to them the situation and they reluctantly gave me a large bag of chocolate chips. I thanked them profusely and proceeded to run back up Mt Colden.
I made it to the top in what was surely a world speed record for climbing that mountain. He was still unconscious when I arrived. We slapped his face and got him to wake up a little. We started to feed him the chips. After a few seconds, he became wide awake and consumed the entire bag and wanted more. I convinced him that we should get down off of that mountain and get back to the trailhead to meet Bernie. He complied. We got back to the campsite, saddled all of the campers up, and made the long, downhill hike back to Tahawus parking lot.
When we got to the lot, Bernie was waiting there for us. He was livid with me and didn't want to hear anything about that we practically saved the guy's life, there on the top of Mt Colden. He also didn't care much that for possibly the first, and only time in Balfour Lake Camp's history that 3 of the Adirondack High Peaks had been conquered on one trip. No thanks were given, but none were expected. However, I ended up with an exciting memory with a happy ending, which I will always remember.
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My very first backpacking trip in my life was the 1970 Vanderwacker trip. I got so many mosquito bites that I couldn't tell where one ended and another one started. I think that I built up a resistance to them because they don't seem to bother me so much now.
Actually. I think Vandewacker was '73 also...
There was also the Mt. Vandewacker trip that Lanny lead. I remember by that time we'd all moved on from blueberries to other things that grew in a field. We climbed to the top, and by the time we were above the tree line visibility was down to zero. I clearly remember you charging up the mountain, probably 100 yards ahead of everybody else.
Yeah, I was on that Pharoh trip also. I had completely forgotten about the blueberries.
That sounds like one helluva good time^
I lead the hike up Mt. Marcy in '73. We didn't make it because it poured rain all night long and we had no leanto and no tarp or any kind for shelter. A couple years later my wife (who worked at Chenawa) and I came back and we hiked Marcy. Now skip ahead about 35 years and my son and I decide to hike Marcy. We get a late start and end up hiking back to Marcy Dam in pitch black with 1 flashlight. Two miles from the Dam I fall on a rock and bust the flashlight. We hiked the last mile and a half with the light of a cell phone and me with a sprained ankle. Finally making it to Marcy Dam we put up the tent - not being able to see 2 feet in front of us. Then of course a huge Black Bear decides to show up and take one of our back packs and scare us to death....standing over us about 5 feet away. Never again will I be climbing Marcy!
Those early backpacking trips were life changing moments for me. It set the stage for how I would live the rest of my life. After seeing other places besides Long Island, I knew that there was another world out there. A natural world that was not all pavement, buildings and millions of people. I can still remember how the high country of the Adirondacks smelled- it must have been the Balsam Fir trees. All alpine environments have a similar smell. That smell reminds me of freedom and good times.
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