240.) Summit Sessions #88: From 0-to-46 with Matt Clement

0:00What's up everyone? Summer is over and the fall is the perfect time of year to reset. Rebuild your training routine and finish the year strong. So that's why we're launching the next great range athlete team. It kicks off officially the first week of October on October 5th. With the program, you're going to get a structured training plan and train alongside a team of people working towards the same goal. You'll all be building consistency, staying accountable and becoming strong, fit and mountain ready. Whether you got an adventure on the books or not, having a body that can go do it, that's what it's all about. So if this sounds like something that you need to help you finish the year strong, head over to greatrangeathlete.com and join the October team so we can finish the year strong and ready for whatever adventures come next. All right, let's get into this week's episode. This is the 46-46 Podcast Summit Session where we'll talk all things at AeronDoc Backcountry and Beyond.

1:02From high peak stories and adventures to trail tips and tricks, we'll dive deep into the heart of these mountains and the people who passionately climb them. At AeronDoc maps and spruce traps to bushwax and backpacks. It's all here at the 46-46 Summit Sessions. Hello everyone and welcome back to the 46-46 Podcast. Summer is gone. It's super sad. But the fall is here. So if you like fall, especially in the ADK, now is the time to get here. The temperatures are cool and crispy in the morning, you know, kind of like mid-40s. And then they're getting to the low to mid-60s in the afternoon as highs. So if you like that type of weather and that type of fall temperature, which many people do, now is the time to get yourself up to the AeronDoc Park, but I will miss the heat of summer.

2:05Although I will say I don't really think summer came this year as well as I would have liked. We didn't really have many really nice weeks. We had a day here, day there, two days of rain in between. But beggars, camping choosers, such as life, the fall is awesome too and the fall is here. This week on the podcast, I have a summit session. We're going to have a conversation with Matt Clement, who just finished the AeronDoc 46. He is a 46-er. So we're going to hear his story and it's really fascinating and interesting to me because his story in my opinion represents something that a lot of people overlook. So many people think of this idea of hiking the 46 as this gigantic life-long journey that they can't start because it's going to take forever. And Matt's story is interesting because it's just something that took a couple of years hiking here, hiking there. It wasn't a long, crazy journey and it wasn't something that took over. He just did it little by little and before you know it, it comes to fruition. And I think that's something a lot of people

3:09overlook. That's why I want to have Matt on the podcast to talk all about it. But Matt, welcome to the 46-er 46 podcast. Officially, you are the guest. Welcome, dude. Thank you. Thank you very much, James. It's an honor to be here and it's honestly pretty wild to think about the fact that I'm here, a guest on this podcast. Gosh, I'd say a mere 16 months after even hearing of who you are and completing all 46 of these high peaks in the amount of time that I did and it's just a great honor to be here talking about it and I'm excited to share my story with you and all the listeners that are out there. Cool. It's great to have you here. And you know, you're sitting in your gear room there. I see the 46-er patch on your backpack now. So that's an awesome room, by the way. Is that your attic? Is that your garage? Where is that? So I'm down in the quarter of my basement that is finished. And when I started this journey

4:12last year, I essentially started from nothing. I didn't have any of the proper gear or equipment. Thankfully, I've got a wife that supported this habit at times referred to as a midlife crisis, but it's more than that. And ultimately, I decided that I really needed to organize this stuff in a way that just we weren't tripping over because not only did I get into it, my oldest son started on this journey with me as well. He is not finished. School has taken a priority, which is fair. So yeah, no, this is just a wall down in my basement and it's got all the hiking gear. And if other listeners may agree that it's a slippery slope from hiking to camping to backpacking. So I've got a pretty nice wall here, some gear that I've accumulated, whether right from R.E.I. or Facebook Marketplace or from some friends as well. So yes, I got the patch right here on my pack the night that I registered as a 46 or about two weeks ago. That online store opened up right away

5:19and I got that patch mail to me four days later. Amen. Rightfully so. It's a well-earned patch. And I tell this to every person who I hear finishes the 46. So I get messages or emails or whatever. It is something that you earned and it is a title that nobody can ever take away from you. It is something that you had to do and that is really that's one of those things in life that I think is priceless when you think about because these memories and this journey that you went on and anyone who's hiking the high peaks knows it's not easy. So kudos to you, congrats to you for completing the 46. But I'll tell you do that back that background of yours. You should have like a YouTube channel or a podcast or sell because it's just so it's decorated so perfectly in terms of you know it's so like Feng Shui and you got the backpacks there, the snow shoes there. It actually looks like a gear shop. So do you have a YouTube channel? Well you know James the funny that you mentioned that that is in the works now that I've put this out there kind of kind of hold myself to

6:21it. But I have an idea about a channel. I have you know of what I kind of want to present and it's almost a visualization of the hikes. Very cool. Before I started I picked up your book James last spring. The recommendation of somebody on the Adirondack subreddit and so I read your book the 46 peaks in 18 hikes. There's a little bit of a plug there for you if you don't have it pick it up. It is a great introduction to how the heck do I hike these high peaks in the Adirondacks. And so I don't know where I was going with that. I just kind of went on a ramble there. So no what I'd like to do. Ha I caught it. Your YouTube channel is saying you just it just looks it's just decorated so well behind you. Yeah what I what I would like to do after you know I've completed now these 46 high peaks is to get out there and kind of do a visual representation of what a hike is like I picked up your book last year which was a great you know for me at least an introduction to

7:25hiking in the Adirondacks the 46 high peaks in 18 hikes and reading through it was fantastic. What I'd like to do is just kind of get some images to go along with it and there's pages out there there are there are you know YouTube pages out there that do it already but you know it's something that I'm interested in so you know what that could be something that will be coming out down the road. Well it's very cool yeah like I said you got the you already got the basement decorated nicely and it's it looks great so good stuff so you guys see your patch there what what is your what was your 46th or numbers so you just finished you know come what two weeks ago now was it? Yes I finished two weeks ago when I stood a white face it was a beautiful rainy morning my finisher number was 17,354 and what I thought was fascinating about it was I had registered last year as an aspiring 46th which allows you to you know have some access to the website it allows you to volunteer with the organization which I've yet to do but again it's on my list of

8:29things to do one thing at a time but I do want to get out there and do some trail work and so when I registered as an aspiring I my number was in the 30,000s which you know just maybe realize there are 30,000 people that have registered as somebody that wants to finish this this journey in fact my brother-in-law who has been doing a lot of hikes with me registered even before I did and he's in the 26,000 range so he's not yet finished he is up to number 21 I did that with him a couple days ago this past weekend so he'll get there Zach I believe in you what we're going to make that happen buddy and I'll then hopefully get round number two done with you but yeah to have somebody that's registered as 30,000 and to have a finisher number of 17,354 it's just wild to me that just tells me how many people out there that are still working on it or maybe have abandoned their

9:29quest but it's just wild to think of the amount of people that are pursuing this goal I'm really impressed that there's 30,000 people who have officially registered just think like how many people are hiking the high peaks that are definitely not right not registered but like they're just going through it you know they'll they'll get their number or whatever at the end that's actually incredible I I would have not thought that there's that many people actually actively pursuing this thing so I'm assuming that that 30,000 you might not know this but that 30,000 I would assume is does not include actual 46ers I'm sure that's just aspiring 46ers that could be wrong but I would assume yeah I'm not sure how they would go I might my thought I saw it as there's they've handed out those numbers just to say all right here you go this is what your number is going to be as an inspiring individual I would have to see maybe someone else yeah I don't know and see what their number comes out to I'd have to assume it's a different list but what do I know yeah it could it could be it could be just numbers added at the end but I and then

10:33they just kind of fill in the numbers as official people instead of aspiring number 30 you know thousand youth I'll become 46 or number 17 3 17 or whatever was you were who knows but anyways good stuff cool there's a lot of people out there that are hiking the high peaks it's it's good to see it's again it's a life changing journey it's an adventure and I cannot recommend it enough for someone who wants to take the journey and wants to experience the highs lows figuratively and literally that comes with running around in those mountains so obviously we all know if you listen to this podcast it completely changed the trajectory of my entire life my family's life and it's done the same for so many other people so hit me Matt what's your background how did you get into the hiking in the high peaks you know I know it's very new so let's talk about that but like what was your introduction to this crazy place known as the ADK so like many people in this area

11:34I'm familiar with the Adirondacks I've driven through the Adirondacks countless times at this point my wife and I both went to St. Lawrence University which is if we're looking at the map of the Adirondacks I live down in Troy home of the original Troy 4-6ers so it's almost like the south east corner past there of the Adirondacks and Canton New York almost St. Lawrence is in the northwest so I would zigzag through countless times and you skirt around the high peaks sometimes take a detour on 28 and when I got bored with 28 through through long lake and in Indian lake and you see the high peaks there and I was always fascinating with them but I never thought hey I should go and hike those mountains it just seemed like something that was unattainable and for a lot of different reasons as well just I wasn't there mentally I wasn't ready to allow myself to do that that wasn't allow myself to say hey you know what you would probably enjoy hiking you should go do that so it took a lot of years for me to come around to it in the meantime I picked up skiing so I've

12:37always been a winter mountain enthusiast and would just stick to resort skiing and that still is primarily what I do but last it was last March I was skiing with a friend of mine and we were at Gore Mountain and we stopped at one of the lodges Mid Mountain Lodge and we looked out to the windows of North and you could see just all of the mountains there covered in snow and my jaw dropped and I said my god this is right here in in our backyard it looked like you know you were out west almost just the defining aspects of of of those mountains there was just awe inspiring to me and so that's when I said man this is right in my backyard I am wasting opportunities I should be up here doing something up here and that kind of planted the seed for me so I got a little curious about am I okay you know what I would like to do that but I have no idea where to start literally don't own a

13:43thing that you know would be considered proper and I get it you don't need to have all of the right the correct your necessities thoroughly to go on a hike but it certainly helps like you could do it in sneakers and sweatpants that would be silly but it can be done and but I wanted to do it the right way so just kind of looking around the Adirondex subreddit and then of course came across your book which was fantastic because for me it was a great how to guide here is where the trail heads are oh okay if you would ask me if 16 months ago where's the garden lot and what's upper works and what is this kuchakara what I would think I would look at you like you had three heads so for me it was a great you know this is where you go to hike these these mountains that I think I would be able to do them in 18 hikes no it took me 22 so I was close but you know I got it done in

14:4422 separate hikes but it was just a nice starting point of like okay you can pair these two together and then you could do these three at a time and boy if you're crazy you could do all five and I did that with the dick strange I got five done in a day so for me it was all right let's check this out I had some old hiking shoes that you know from years ago I had a ski backpack and my son saw me reading your book and he's like what are you doing then I have three boys so I'd be remiss if I did not mention chase Connor and Carter 17 15 and 12 chase is going to a senior year of high school and he said yeah dad I might want to do that with you could I and and what father of a teenage a child is going to say no I don't want to spend more time with you son as you're about to go off the college in two years yes of course and so we started with cascade importer had a great time followed up with felps and tabletop and I'm not going to go through the entire list but felps and tabletop we learned boy we need to have a water filter because we ran out of water so there were

15:46some lessons that we learned along the way but I allowed myself to say hey I I deserve to be happy and to do this and I'm not going to get too deep here we don't need to tease that out too much but I had always been drawn to the mountains when I was younger I would say and we're talking when I was ten or eleven twelve man if I could have a shopping spree anywhere man it would be at EMS I would just go ham in EMS that would be amazing but again for a lot of reasons I just didn't allow myself to do it and last year kind of was that turning point when I said you know what enough of this I'm going to go do this I talked to my wife about it and said I would like to go you know with chase we're going to start to do this and we you know I kind of know what I'm doing I know where to go and again reading your book it was just about all here's all the how prepared you need to be for this because as you said it what the mountains don't care about you know they don't right so you need

16:49to approach them with respect and you need to be prepared otherwise terrible things could happen to you probably won't you know what why take that risk so my wife said yeah absolutely and kind of I probably had no idea what she was agreeing to to begin with as well at that point so that probably helped as well no clue I could be because she admitted it took her about six months to realize that this was more than follow the dopamine hobby that won't last because she's seeing all this gear being bought and we've been down this path before James and I've followed the dopamine and you know let's say that I have projects that I've not finished so it took her while to realize oh wow okay the undertaking that is required you know and you don't have to spend all the money in the world but you do need some gear to get going with this if you want the right gear also the time commitment that it would take oh you're going on a hike again oh lord okay well what else do we do and not much all right well then I want to go do this this makes me happy

17:52and you know I got a shout out to Alexis because she has supported me for this entire thing she's been amazing and understanding of how much this means to me and I was I was joking with her and I said all right I only have about 16 hikes you know 16 peaks left in the final countdown she's like true but let's be honest it's not like you're gonna just never hike again afterwards you're gonna do something out so yeah June of 2025 the end of June I think it was June 24th 28 somewhere in there Jason I did cascade and porter and we were up the next week to do felfton tabletop and after that hike is when my wife insisted on a garment in reach because I showed her some videos of taking the scenic route up the sauté and she was then I think then she understood you know how serious we I had to take going into the high peaks because until then she's like well

18:54what do I don't know why you need that you're just kind of going for a walk in the mountains and I said oh yeah yes but it's a little bit more than that sure oh very it's definitely more than that and I'll tell you dude I got the in reach explorer well into hiking I got the in reach explorer when I started the north field plastic trail because we're like really in no man's land you're never up on a mountain where you can get cell phone service like you know we all know on the summit you can text and whatnot but the NPT is when I bought the in reach because there will be no service and it's so crazy now thinking how long I hiked without the ability to help myself if something God forbid goes wrong so they're worth their weight in gold I look at it as it let's say you need that in reach whether it's even just sending your loved ones the hey everything's good we're we're good you know that message or like you have messaged me on our

20:01group hikes via the in reach to let me know about where people are and like that's been awesome communication but also let's say you actually have to use the the SOS I'll tell you what in that moment you would trade way more than the $450 it costs to have that in reach explorer or anything similar in that moment like if you actually needed it in fact if you needed to call to get rescued you'd pay thousands of dollars at that point to have that so it's so I cannot recommend it enough if you're hiking anywhere in the high peaks it is a great investment it's like a life insurance policy granted you do have to pay for it like a policy because you do have to have a subscription which is I think 14 bucks a month or something with Garmin but I think it's I think it's a I think it was a good purchase for the wife back home to have that piece of mine that she can contact you I have this I get the same from my wife so kudos to you for picking that up smart move it really

21:04was and it allows her to track me along the way of course you know it's kind of where I am and it's not like you know she has to know where I am at all times but it's the piece of mine she gets it now she understands it I showed the video of like hey look at Chase doing this and before I had Chase had done that one section I actually told them I said you know what so if you were to slip and hit me and I fell down here we haven't we've been on this hike for four hours and not seen another person so here's how you connect your iPhone to satellite you know like I'm trying to walk him through all these steps and then you know so when I I showed that to Alexis she said no you just need to press a button you just can't be doing it that way you need to be able to press a button and get that help but yeah that is I thought about you know now that you mentioned that how many hikes you were on solo for you know five six peaks without and early in the morning as well right you were first on the trailhead for 30 right so I listened to all of your hikes I know

22:06how you're out there and you're not seeing me for hours and you just never know so I think it's just I don't know things that it's smarter to have it yeah rather have it not needed the need it and not have it my dad also loves to track what I'm out there so I always send the the morning the morning like you know follow me text or whatever whatever the garment sends I send it to my dad and to my my wife and the funny thing is I always forget to I always forget to text any of them when it's done I just turn it off right so then all of a sudden like it's coming they've gone used to it now now they assume I'm probably done if they're tracking and it's not on anymore but I'll then get the message from I'll get a text message or a phone call from my dad later that night hey just checking to make sure you made it home because and that you're not actually somewhere lost and dead out in the mountains you know right so I should get better at letting them know when I'm done versus just turning it off therefore you know making it making it seem like the nightmare that they're

23:09trying to avoid by us yeah yeah they'll probably appreciate that yeah probably probably be good at me but cool so you mentioned you you said awesome that you're that like you doing this started by seeing the mountains while you were skiing so you're doing something else and you're like man there's so much more out there like that sounds like that's obtainable it's right there like I should take advantage I think you told me you grew up in Philadelphia right outside of Philadelphia is that correct yeah yeah so you didn't grow up seeing these mountains or being close to them so that makes sense that hey I live here I should take advantage of this so I think that's cool the fact that you decided to tackle it with your son and you're going through that journey with him what what a what a treasure I always I've you know you know I have three daughters they're 12 7 and 3 and we'll go hiking occasionally some like small little mountain but I always ask them I say so which one of you is going to be the first 46th and they'll just point to each other like they're like not me now you're gonna do it no and I'm not gonna do it you're gonna do it so hiking is not

24:12or they're not really grat taking bitten the they've been bitten by the bug in that in that term yeah the fact that you're able to do that with your son I think is super cool it's been it's been an amazing journey and you know I'll also mention you know that the offers out there for all three of of my boys so you know I wanted to make a point of understanding like hey look it's not just me and Chase thing it's it's all three of you and I've gone camping the other two enjoy camping more than Chase enjoys camping so we've done some more camping there and then my youngest Carter and I have done some fire tower hikes so that's kind of what he and I have been doing that's great so I'm hoping that I can kind of parlay that one uh into some high peaks eventually with them I think it's one of those things where I don't want to and I think you probably appreciate this as well as you don't want to force them to do something that they're really not going to enjoy absolutely I'm not one if they don't want to be there I people ask you know parents

25:12ask me all the time how do you get your kids to go hiking because they'll see pictures of me with them I literally only go take them if they ask which you know maybe like once a summer they'll ask twice a summer they'll ask to go hiking but hiking with children or kids are really great quite frankly anybody you know adults kind of wine probably more than kids half the time if you don't want to be there it's not fun whether you're with kids or adults it's not an enjoyable experience if they don't want to be there so it really is and I don't want them resenting me and then growing up to hating it because like absolutely dad made me go on another hike I never want to hike again because we had to go and he said it was an easy climb up sautice or whatever it might be and no thank you that's not for me so you know I'll take it when I can and and they know um that the invitation is always open um to them and my and my brother and my Zach is trying to do the same with his time he's like hey well yeah and you know he and I have done 21 high peaks together like I said my brother-in-law and you know our conclusion is well maybe we just need to start with some

26:15smaller mountains you know maybe it'll be hey why don't we go do you know a noon marker or why don't we go do the Lake Placid 9 and mark our way up of which I am a finisher and by the way I still have to send you a check and my registration form for that one to get my Lake Placid 9 or patch you know I don't even think I have checks at this point so you know maybe I'll just sit sitting in a sitting in a bin right next to my desk right now all right I got to get that patch but I did like that by the way it was funny when I did the Lake Placid 9 I almost did it backwards because I think I finished on Cobble Hill so I didn't do it necessarily order from easier to more difficult but you know that's neither here nor there but so my brother and Zach and I both said like maybe we start with some other hikes we don't have to go from zero to high peak like he and I did and Chase we just were like let's do this the mountains are here let's climb these mountains not knowing what we're getting into and realizing that wow I'm not really prepared

27:18to hike these mountains physically either you know somebody like yourself I had lost some weight right so you talked about that story and you know I'd lost some weight and think and like all right let's go do this and then realizing that I don't have the mountain strengths to do this or I do but man it's gonna be painful and I'm gonna cramp up like nothing else and so you know not to you know promote more of your programs here James but let's I mean heck I joined the Grey Range Asli program eventually and that's done wonders for me to kind of finish this whole thing but yeah getting into the mountains and not realizing how difficult it would be so I was a little ignorant it's not like I looked at the mountains and boy these are gonna be easy I knew that they would be difficult I guess I didn't understand the extent of how difficult they would be and how I would be limping and in pain for a couple days afterwards on the longer heights hey everyone it's James as

28:20hikers and as human beings it's crucial for us to keep our physical fitness and physical health in check so that is why I launched the Mountain Strength app and it's available to download inside the app store right now so that you can start training at home in the gym in a way that keeps you strong fit and trail ready all year long inside the app you'll have access to over 15 different training programs for all levels all equipment whatever you need there's something in that app for you ready to keep your strong fit and ready to run around in the mountains all year long that is the Mountain Strength app spelled MTN Strength downloaded in the app store or head over to 46 outdoors.com right now to get started yeah and that's that's the thing that's I mean that's honestly why the Lake Plastin 9 or why I created it was so that there could be a very linear progression you know I'm a I like lifting weights right so linear progression it's a it's a weightlifting term and principle and everything I created a linear progression for mountains to lead you to the high peaks

29:25for that literal reason that you're talking about you just don't know what you don't know and then you tackle you jump into the high peaks and realize whoa this hits differently than I expected versus if you had you know your cobble hills your mount joes your van hoenbergs your hurricanes and you kind of work your way up little by little by little it it it's easier on you you learn so much and now you're so beyond ready for the high peaks by the end of those nine and that was you know big reason for it but your story is many people's story they just jumped in the deep end without realizing that a there are lots of smaller mountains most people don't don't don't know that and be it actually is pretty hard harder than you are and going to anticipate it being pretty much all the time yeah and it's funny because when chase and I did those first four hikes like I said we you know we we managed to get them done we learned hey we need a water filter here

30:27although later on listening to another guest of yours and you also being a proponent of like Adarondack water hmm just drink it if you need to and really embrace this we should have just taken a big swig but the scoop and swig yeah a lot of people give me a lot of black about that up oh well I drank hundreds of leaders of scooped water out of fast flowing very clear smooth rivers and not had an issue and air schlimmer has had thousands and my hiking partner also same story no issues but you do what you want I'm just letting people know this is what I do I'm not saying this is the right thing but this is just how I do it I scoop you know I carry a filter and I do filter but you know what if there's times when it's just out working or it's just right there and I'm like you know what I'm drinking that water too but sure so when chase and I were going out we we thought you know it like hey we've got four high peaks under our belt now let's try to tackle the lower great range you know inspire by what you had done so like hey let's take the scenic

31:32crowd up Sawteeth which is beautiful it's scenic it's gorgeous I don't forget taking that but by the time we got the gothics we said boy I don't know if we're going to be able to finish Armstrong and and the wolf draws here so we had to you know what we made the we made the right decision and descended from gothics we did not continue on so we kind of knew like you know what or the right decision is to just to kind of and I don't want to say the word bail because that's that the right word because of what we achieved that day we had done Sawteeth up and over pyramid which pyramid by the way in my opinion top five view from that yeah right there of topics over to saddleback and in my son you know chase will say gothics this is top view and I can't argue with that either so we did you know we accomplished a lot that day but we didn't get out we didn't accomplish everything that we hoped to but as we went down we realized hey all right

32:32you know what we made the right decision I recognize oh gosh maybe I'm not as prepared for this as I thought and the mountains they're not going anywhere it's not like anything's going to happen to them they're still going to be there a year later when I did a summit arm strong and the wolf draws so we made the right decision and we we we had that that miserable walk out on Lake Road which is a right of passage and we said we would come back another day to tackle them no smart move dead yeah and then you you were on the the gray range athlete arm strong hike and then you did the wolf jaws was that your first time when you hit those this past summer with us was that the continuation of that those it was you didn't do them another time okay cool well that worked out to them another time so worked out very well it did right and you know and being with the mountain strength training program of being able to go on the team arm strong hike which is a great benefit I decided hey I'm going to go over and I'm going to grab these wolf jaws and

33:38ended up doing that with you know Jen and Deb shout out to you both and then you know four other individuals that I can't recall their names but we went over there and it was a it was a great hike to capture the wolf the wolf jaws although you know I underestimated just the descent off of the other side of lower wolf jaw to get down because we kind of went a long way around but um yeah that that was great to kind of grab those I knew I you know that's the thing once you're up there you're right there and if you've got the time and you've got the energy and you've got the leg strength left well all right I already walked in the three miles on this road I might as well go grab these two peaks right now versus you know coming back up here and walking the three miles again um and that's what I explained to a lot of people it's like hey I'm not out here just to like proved everybody hey look I did three in a day no it's being efficient with my time and understanding that I'm up here I'm away from my family and again I can't say enough uh you know about my wife

34:44you know I'm not allowing me but you know understanding so out of my respect for them is well I'm going to be efficient with my time because that means that I'm not gone for three weekends I'm only gone for one Saturday so one Saturday allows me to get three peaks versus three separate Saturdays and um you know it wasn't a rush to get them done as quickly as I could although I I did because it's fun and I enjoy the hell out of it so I I would do this every single weekend if I could but it was you know it was I wanted to be respectful of of you know my my wife saying yeah go ahead I'll you know I'll take care of the boys now they're all older they're mostly self-sufficient right how they're driving the school um but it's still like I'm way for the family so yeah when I was up there grab an arm strong like absolutely I'm gonna get the wolf jaws um you know and there were a lot of other days when it was I would stay at the trailhead the night before because I don't want to drive three hours um in the morning to get the stewards um or I'm getting to the Adirondack

35:46lodge at you know four thirty in the morning because I've got a long day ahead of me and I don't want to be getting home at ten o'clock at night so if I can get home at five o'clock and that just means I'm getting up at two a.m. to drive the two hours up to the lodge I'm gonna do that um it's just you got smart with your time you know um little day trips here and there and yeah I also you know recognize that you know it is a privilege to be this close to it I mean I can't even tell you how many times I've been like man James just drives out of his on his neighborhood and he just sees this every day my god that lucky well you know what um it is one of the perks there's a lot of there's a lot of cons to the Adirondack living but that is definitely one of the pros that's for sure but just running into so many people um it was so what Jason I a couple weeks ago we did a sunrise hike on Algonquin we we got on trail at 12 o' 5 a.m. and we were heading off trail by you know 9 30 10 and we ran into a group um from western New York um and I'm blanking on his name

36:55right now outdoor chronicles outside chronicles yeah Michael don's yeah so I ran into him yeah and uh I've I've chatted with him on um on your your great range athlete uh a group on the school app and uh so I got to meet him that day but they were all from Buffalo and I recognized like man this is a this is like a track for people coming in from western New York and I've run into so many people from western New York that come up to the Adirondacks and it's like gosh it's right here this is a day trip for me like I'm home in my own bed tonight you know granted uh I'm a little tire because I've got on the road at 2 a.m. but like man I get to go home and sleep on my own bed what a privilege to be this close to be able to take advantage of it oh yeah absolutely you know think about so I think I think the name of her episode I think I read mentioned this in a recent episode too shout out to Isabelle Carpenter from Buffalo I think her episode on the podcast is called the grit 46 if you haven't listened to it my god it's one of the best episodes or the best stories that anyone has

37:56told on this podcast but I think it took her 50 trips from Buffalo to get the 46 high peaks because it was just so many times of you know having to turn around not making it you know just a million reasons that come up but she kept coming so you know you obviously you're right you know up 87 I've been like plastic it really is an unbelievable privilege to be so close to just go hiking and it's also why I I am spoiled in the sense of I don't want to travel far to hike because I don't have to so many times people are like what are you gonna go do when you I've been asked so many times when I'm going to do what I did for the 46 high peaks when it comes to the podcast when I'm gonna go to New Hampshire and do the 48 like they I've been asked that probably 50 times over the years and my answer is always I traveled five to six hours one way for work for 16 17 years so when it comes to fun and hiking I don't have to so I'm not going to I'm just not gonna travel because I don't have

38:57to because like we talked about before this is the pro of living here they're right here right in my backyard so it is a spoiled privilege to not have to drive far to have such a crazy mountain adventure so I can I can relate to that yeah so many Western New Yorkers shout out to all of you except for those of you who write go bills in the snow I find that so annoying and you're all probably laughing right now like all those Western New Yorkers we love our bills but man I always find that so annoying so not shout out to you people but do what you will but anyway shout out to you guys for making such a long drive and you will not find people though real talk you will not find people who sweat and live and breathe and appreciate the Adirondacks more than just the Western New York community as a whole it's it's fascinating how the Adirondack Park how much it means to so many people that you know live five six seven hours away from here it just means so

40:00much so it is neat to see that so I appreciate that story though appreciate that yeah everyone is everyone's drawn to the Adirondacks right I think you said it that the Adirondacks aren't calling and I'll go one step further and say like we're all drawn to them in some way shape or form and I'm not trying to get too deep here but there is there is that element if you let it it could definitely pull you in and it's not a bad thing because there's a lot of lessons to be learned as well right the the mountains will teach you lessons if you let them and that's one other thing you know that I've gained from this journey so to speak is just you know um you know being better prepared in and a lot of aspects in life is you know I get excited that that night before I almost feel like it's Christmas and I'm going on a hike the next morning I'm like oh my gosh I can't wait to wake up at two o'clock in the morning to go drive two hours to go and uh suffer for eight hours and then drive in two hours home and cramp up for because nobody's making me do it I oh my gosh I get

41:03so excited to do that but the night before um set not my pack and just going through the checklists of everything that I need to bring ensuring that I have it there and being you know double triple checking that stuff um you know I think it it's helped me prepare in other aspects of life as well just to understand this is you know uh to slow down and and just to understand all right I need to take my time with this I don't want to be up here without this water filter or um you know without my emergency blanket you know do I need an emergency blanket in uh in in in in September no probably not but Jason I did sunrise out onquin and it was about 35 degrees about two weeks ago so I'm going to say yes it is nice to have an emergency blanket in summer so it's just made me realize how important preparation can be and and I enjoy it I enjoy going through itemizing all those things and packing and and getting ready to go and um you know I also use it as an opportunity you know

42:08when things kind of go wrong on hikes um to to review what weren't wept what went wrong so that the next time I can avoid that you know I did the dicks range in one day so I did all five in one day and I set out that morning only planning to hike um dicks mountain that was it wow and wow right so I went out there and I uh I I bring a battery back up I always bring two head lamps you know I bring a water filter um and uh I set out and I used my uh I have a GoPro with me which has captured some some of the lighter moments that are out there and um so I I'm making my way up up the x and I'm using my my GoPro I'm I'm taking photos at one time I think I face time my wife to be like hey look at this you know I got a got a got a got and I'm chewing up the battery on my phone and I'm chewing up the battery uh yeah I'm not realizing it on on the battery pack and I'm on the

43:09top of the x there and I'm talking to gentleman that says hey you know I got a go over the grace and I said oh you're gonna do that and then you're gonna come back he's like no you can go out uh is it the the the bokeh forks trail there we go thank you I always I put you that one so he said yeah yeah you can go that you can hike all the all we have to 73 and it's only a mile up the road to to round pond trail ahead I'm like oh okay all right so I'm looking at him like and I I map it out I'm like all right so it's only gosh it's only a couple miles longer than when I'm hiking already you know if I were just to go back out so yeah why don't we do this well you know I did it um but I get them a comb and I'm starting to realize like all right I'm get a little bit low on water well there's no water up here once you're on on the range is so to speak so you know I didn't plan for that get over to grace in a regard I need some water and that's when my water filter fails and um it's not filter was not filtering I'm like okay all right well this is uh

44:10this is a little frightening here but uh okay I'll figure it out and um and then I noticed that well gosh my backup battery died okay well this isn't good and it's getting a little later in the day and uh oh gosh my phone is at like eight percent and that's an unmarked trail out of there and that trail is not easy to follow at time and um thinking quick I ended up because I had I had the in reach I had the Garmin for communication purposes only I had not used the Garmin as a navigation device so it's that sounds and before my phone died I was able to share um the uh the the the route from all trails to the explorer app because Garmin has like a million apps is ridiculous hope your podcast isn't sponsored by Garmin but if it was you could edit that out it's not what I welcome their phone call okay very good make it happen Garmin I have sold so many Garmin in reaches to people so I would like I would like my cut but anyway let's get a little kickback

45:14on these so before the phone dies I do get the directions on the Garmin and I'm following the Garmin out and I'm kind of like all right all right I'm I'm I'm running on empty here I'm not I'm overheated too because this is like July so I'm getting okay and I'm I don't have the water because my water filter failed and you know eventually yes I just grabbed some water right out of the out of the broke find no issues but I took that moment walking out so my point to all of this James is I'm walking out and I'm not and I'm I'm I'm I get down on myself for a minute I'm like you what did you do like you you only were gonna hike this one peak now you did all five look what happened now you're you your your phones about to die it's getting darker here it's not dark yet but the sun has set behind the mountains and you could still have two hours of daylight but once you're behind the mountains in the summer with all the foliage it gets dark in there and I'm trying to find a path that is effectively a herd path I don't believe it's a marked path out it's also a

46:15very low traveled trail you know obviously the herd paths up the mountains are like basically maintained trails like they're so obvious whereas the lesser traveled trails not so much all the time it was difficult so I it gave myself about a minute of scolding myself like what were you thinking you you clown you you know blah blah blah blah and then I said you know what are I hang on no we're not doing this right now I'm not gonna spiral here because it doesn't do any good I got to keep my wits about me what can I learn from this so I spent that you know the 45 50 minute hike out and that's generous it was longer than that you know doing a complete you know review of like where did I go wrong and it's not that I went wrong it's that all right well next time factor in the elevation gain and loss instead of just looking at you know flat miles like oh yeah it's only two more miles okay well no two more miles plus a lot of up and down so let's next time

47:17factor that in you know let's let's be a little bit better with our battery pack usage and maybe you know what let's get a small backup for that like it's a little silly but you know what I I'll I'll I'll carry the extra of whatever pound you know the green weenies out there probably get to get mad at being feet you know what I'll carry that a little extra I carry a backup water filter I carry a backup battery because I don't want to put myself in that situation again and if I'm hiking you're a great range athlete you're a great range athlete so you don't mind a couple extra pounds in your pack because you build a nice strong back to handle that absolutely not I don't even know when I train for the gRA on you know I'm doing the rocket home I put 40 pounds in my pack so when I get out there and that's 25 pounds does it feels like I'm wearing nothing at all it is fantastic so I reviewed everything and I learned from that so when I am hiking out I'm like all right next time let's just plan accordingly let's plan a little bit better let's not take some guy's word that it's only a mile up the rook it's 1.6 miles James uphill from more that trail is to round pond

48:22and I don't think this person listens maybe she does listen but that good Samaritan that pulled over a quarter of a mile into the hike it said you want to ride and I I was I couldn't thank her enough and I did get a ride to round pond but you know I learned and that was that was the more that was the most difficult hike that I did in you know because I really I scared myself just with the water situation scared myself with the battery I'm like I'm not not I was like I'm not going out like this because I still had you know a gas in the tank I still made it out but you know you still need water you could be the strongest person in the world but you need that water totally to help you get out and yeah that was that was a learning opportunity a lesson learn and I think I'm better for it absolutely you know we you mentioned it before the mountains will teach you things if you'll let them and if you'll listen then you got that from my book so I appreciate that that sentiment has has struck a chord with you the thing is as we always can talk about these

49:30these lessons with by like laughing when it when everything turned out okay right like we wouldn't be laughing if it didn't turn out okay so thank god we're able to have these conversations and you know chuckle about the what happened but it would really it would be really foolish to not say all right well what can I learn from what happens so I can apply it next time because I might not be so lucky next time you know things can go wrong and if you don't take those lessons that you can learn out there and apply them next time you are playing with fire in the mountain that's why I say the mountain so don't care about you because the freaking don't they just don't they will treat you the same way they treat the other person and the next person and that person and you got to do the same things you got to climb the same slabs you got to climb the same boulders you got to grab the same roots like it's the same experience for everyone which is why it behooves you to listen learn apply

50:33and be better next time and also share your story like you're doing right now with other people so they can learn from your your mistake or your experience not that it was a mistake it was just a lesson learned right like that's kind of why this whole hiking thing especially in the high peaks in the 80k why there's everyone's got that that initial that immediate bond right you're out here doing this very weird thing that no one else in the world cares about but you're out here doing it and you guys have you have that that bond so for you I guarantee especially down in Troy you know you're driving up the north way you'll start to see more 46 or stickers or you'll be at a gas station and you'll see a 46 or sticker on someone's car and you'll just strike up a conversation because hey we have this thing in in we have this thing in common so I have a 46 or sticker on my van I've been in Saratoga so many times on a Sunday driving back to the city like to go back to work and pump and gas

51:35and someone will see the 46 or sticker and like they just were hiking and they'll come up and we'll chat have a little you know where'd you hike today and because you just have that instant bond and I think that's a beautiful thing about about the 80k specifically so I really do this for though no absolutely because you know it's one of those things I had to learn from it and it's it's on the you know I don't want to say it's one of the more dismal stories to borrow a phrase in the out of randex but you know it's one of those stories where it's like hey this happened to me it wasn't the best thing but I learned from it and then you get the stories like where you know I think you had this incident as well ironically going through the the floating logs over New Opalestcent River I mean if that's almost a right of passage getting on those those floating logs where I was hiking I was doing cliff and redfield from the Adirondack lodge which you know wasn't the I probably should have done it from upper works but I had never explored that section of the park and mind you I I understand it's a small section of the park but it's still

52:35a section of the park I hadn't been to so I you know do that Lake Arnold Trail which I've I've convinced Lake Arnold Trail is the worst trail in all the Adirondacks in terms of you know just uncomfortableness with all the rocks that you have to walk over it is just it's brutal and going up to the section of the floating logs never been there before didn't realize that the beaver activity was rampant that day I learned that later from a ranger and you know like you took a nice drink you know it right in the river on the the best part about that is I had my GoPro mounted to my you know on my chest and here I am thinking like all right you know I'm going to record all this stuff for later use so I did capture this moment and I've got my trekking poles and I'm standing there on a log and I'm balancing on and I've got my poles down and I'm narrating this thing and I'm saying you know for those of you that don't know or understand why trekking poles make sense to use and I'm kind of sticking the pole down there showing like how deep

53:36the water is and like you can use them for stability and before I even get a chance to say that boom I'm in four feet of water up to my chest sitting down that's fun and all I could do is laugh I caught it all on video so that's one of those moments where it's like I could have been spitting that I could have been you know you know I rate like oh my god it was 8 a.m. I had eight hours of hiking ahead of me instead I was just it was fine I laughed about it all the way to Felsbar lean to where I was actually able to change some clothes because I had another change of socks another shirt the pants dried out there was no biggie but um all you can do is laugh that's it all you can do is laugh in that situation yep a couple years ago during in a similar story a couple years ago I think this would have been the Lake Placid Classic half marathon in 10k of 2024 I believe it was raining so hard that by the time you left your car and walked to like

54:40pick up your registration like at the horse showgrounds you were so wet like as if you jumped in a pool and it literally never stopped for the entire race we got record rain that day so that race was so you're so wet your shoes are squeaking and you can't help but just think this is so dumb that it's funny now you know and I think there's so many times in the mountains you you experience that same this is so dumb that it's funny that this is what's happening or of course this is what's happening right um you know and of course I shared that on my Instagram page you went my I believe viral for me you know I don't have a million views on uh you know I think you said you you went viral the other day on uh uh but the spider webs something um and uh you know for me my small page uh you know getting you know 30,000 views on there was uh you know it was pretty cool and uh the amount of people that said you know you could walk around those right and it's like yeah thanks you

55:44know I didn't uh didn't see the marker saying I'd never been back here and uh you know what lesson learned I walked around it on the way out thank you very much but uh lesson learned lesson learn lesson learn lesson maybe I should not go this way on the way um maybe I should go around um so yeah you know it all my my journey in the Adirondacks took me about 14 months to complete um which was fantastic I don't think I had any back-to-back days out there um I had you know Dicks Range was five in a day that was my big really big day um you know otherwise it was just hey I'm gonna come up on a Saturday I'm gonna hike maybe I had a day off during the week I would come up and just uh and get that done um you know and it's been an incredible journey and um I think a message after I did the sewers I did you know what I did the sewers I had a week off excuse me Santanonis I did the Santanonis and um I was I did that on a uh on I think on a on a

56:51a Tuesday I did a fire tower with the Carter on Monday um we were camping up at Lake Harris I took him swapped with my wife in the McDonald's parking lot I'm like here's your son I'm going back to the mountains and I woke up early and I got the Santanonis done um by the way made the mistake of turning off air plane mode on the top of Panther Peak got an alert that there were thunderstorms in the area so now up on this mountain I'm like oh my god thunderstorms in the area I'm on this ball peak what am I doing I'm an idiot you know fine there were no thunderstorms you know in the meat area it was all good but I got it that you know I went back I stepped to the camp next and I woke up I'm like man I'm fine my legs don't hurt at all I could go hike Alan mountain right now like I I was that level of prepared so I'm in my 30s at this point in terms of how many mountains I've done um so you know I'm pretty well on my way to finishing this whole thing off and I was like you know what if how did I woke it up a little early I did sleep until like nine o'clock um had I

57:56woke it up earlier I'm like you know what my legs feel great I was ready and I could have tackled Alan mountain that day and um you know it was fine I did giant nubble instead because I still wanted to go do something um but yeah by the end of like this journey I was I was ready I was flying up in down mountains and uh you know you know the whole great range athlete um program has been you know I I think kind of crucial to my success in there like I have strengths uh you know you know total body strength that I haven't had before um you know I'm able to fly up these mountains am I still out of breath yeah but you know what I keep going um I'm not stopping I'm able to continue so it's not I'm not I'm not the fittest man out there right there are are you know we all we all know the trail runners and all the respect in the world the trail runners I don't know how they do that every time I try to run I feel like a fool but then again my backpack is like 20 pounds and it's not built for trail running but you know I'm able to just keep going and you know what I'm

59:00breathing heavy I'm not out of breath I can have conversations you know with people I'm sweating but I'm not stopping and I'm able to kind of summit that mountain and you know when I get up there it takes you a minute and then I'll call my breath then here we go I'm good to go let's continue on it so you know I'm a big proponent of the program I talked to a lot of people about it I've got a colleague of mine that just joined our our workplace maybe six months ago turns out he had listened to your podcast years ago and he's like oh you hiked you you listen to this podcast I'm like my friend I know this gentleman and I've hiked with him and he's like I got to get back into I got to get back into better shape my kids are two and four now I think I can I got to get it back out there with you next summer so Anthony the pace you listen to this buddy make it happen let's get on the g-r-a and let's let's climb some mountains buddy I love I appreciate the enthusiasm and like think about though you mentioned how those first few highs cascade porter felps and tabletop you mentioned how you were pretty beat up after them like how does that feel for you now

1:00:03the fact that you know you did the santa nones and you could have gone and done Alan the next day and you feel phenomenal when you are running out there like there's no physical the physical fitness subject is not anything that holds you backly how does that feel real talk honestly it feels it feels awesome you know for lack of better phrase or word right there it's incredible to think like this is what I've been able to accomplish that I can I can get up and down these mountains without any issues it doesn't make me you know afraid to go and tackle a big day looking at my times from this weekend felps and tabletop six and a half hours of moving time I looked at my times last year with with Chase when we did felps and tape eight and a half I shaved two hours yeah it's a lot my moving time I shave you know my pacing went from 38 minutes to 25 minutes so it was just incredible and you know incredibly proud of what I'm able to do now and put in the work

1:01:09you know there's a lot of times when I'm doing those GRE workouts I'm like oh god I got to do this other cycle again and you know like this is I got to put in the effort here but it's all worth it it's worth it that I can I can climb these mountains and I'm not flying up the mountains like I said I'm not setting records I'm not an FKT guy in fact I'm constantly amazed at the people that can go out there you know Bethany and Kate when they were on months what a years ago talking about their their their FKT attempt I can't even believe that they were able to do that all all all the credit to them I'm so impressed by that having said that though I'm able to just get up Allen mountain without any issues and get down Allen mountain and hike out nine miles and just get my car drive home and like I feel great I feel I feel phenomenal the next day I don't even add feel the next day at this point let's put it that way last summer I was searching for like anti cramping you know supplements like my legs were cramping up they were a mess I was barely I

1:02:15could get it done but I was in pain the entire time and now I'm able to get home I'm not cramping up on the drive home and I'm I'm feeling fine the thing that hurts the worst honestly is the bottoms of my feet from doing the rock walk and but we can't do anything about that except for maybe more cushioning but now honestly got the end of the day the the thing that hurts the most is the bottom of my feet my legs no issues whatsoever so the program you know I'm not here just to kind of sell the program to the world but you know I'm not shy about talking about you know what it's done for me and it works you want to be a better hiker and you want to get up and down those mountains without you know any issues and approach them with the attitude of I'm going to do this today and I'm going to feel fine tomorrow I mean this the program works I appreciate hearing that I appreciate hearing that and the things that I have found just from my own journey is the biggest benefits you get with strength training is as you said being able to keep going your muscles can

1:03:19keep going your heart can keep going and you can therefore not be worried that your fitness will be a limiting factor in the mountains what a different experience that becomes in terms of just going out there and enjoying the experience the hours you're out there shorten which is awesome right like you don't have to be as worried because I'll tell you a 14 hour days very different than a 10 hour day and a 10 hour day is very different from a six hour day or a seven hour day you know and then additionally is the following day when you wake up and you just you know you feel like you know you got little soreness like you worked out but nothing beyond that what a different experience it is then feeling like you've been run over by a Mack truck and then backed up again by the Mack truck right yeah and then you know what I think in terms of like my my wife saying like well hey you know last summer she'd be like well we've kind of lose you for two days on Saturday you're gone and then Sunday you're on the couch for covering so I was like oh yeah I guess I kind of am and

1:04:20now they want to lose me for one day so you know it's kind of I'm giving that time back to them as well so it's helped me just be able to be around you know the family in the next day and not be laid up on the couch unable to function because I can't walk like no dad can't do anything today dad is cramping up and dad just needs to put his legs up now that's still able to get up and kind of do what he has to do so yeah that's that's been a great thing well I love that and it's also I think I mentioned it last year too I was doing the program it's helped with the skiing as well I mean hell towards the end of the the my new new new mark program that I was on I was up skiing a tremble with a friend and I want to say I ski 24 25 runs that day I ski for about seven and a half hour straight my buddy was just you know he wasn't feeling it that day and he was in the lodge which is fine so I was just out there by myself I was lapping this mountain up a trumpet it was empty that day so there are no lift lines and I was able to go to a 4 30 without any issues I skied

1:05:24that entire day so you know it translates really well to you know kind of other sports so it's helped me in that arena which has been true that's great you know a strong body can do whatever you want and that's that's what it's all about whether you want to hike whether you want to you know ski run mountain bike it doesn't make a difference strong is strong and a stronger bodies go further I say it all the time on my social media and I stand by it but I'm super stoked to hear this dude it's been fun hearing those stories I definitely had not heard so many of these stories it's been awesome getting to do some hikes with you throughout this journey and watch it unfold so thanks for letting me be a part of that journey from time to time as well and just sharing it with us sharing it with your teammates and all the stuff it's been cool so let me ask you a couple rocket fire questions just don't think just answer what was your number one favorite mountain hey sack hey stack great choice hey stack has a magical quality to it because it's so far away and then then that little hay stack and then like the walk out to you know big daddy hay stack as

1:06:29I always call it what a cool experience very cool all right what was your least favorite well at least favorite this is weird because yeah it was um street or not okay the other it was a winter hike with my brother in law and um we were just really brand new to that I mean last with chase last summer I'm like can you believe people do this in the winter they're nuts as we were going up cascade six months later I've got these snowshoes on and I'm doing it and my first venture with snowshoes was actually right now gonquent and that went great but right and street our street night just some reason I don't know I was really struggling that day that was a lot of effort for minimal payoff I did not have fun that day um even though I had to army crawl under some blowdown that was interesting but um I just it was one of those hikes where I don't know what it is I almost feel like I need to go back there and do it in the summertime just to redeem myself but I didn't enjoy it it was miserable um so I kind of think of those two as like oh gosh

1:07:34I sure I am not enjoying this at all I don't that there was one of those where I said I don't know if I can finish this how about that I was like I don't know and this is before the GRE program and I was like I don't know if I'm going to be able to do this today and I was already maybe in the teens for my for my journey so like I had you know 11 12 13 you know um high peaks under my belt and I was just questioning whether or not I could do it so sure so we asked did you when you started like I started hiking here was 46 on your radar or was it more I'm just gonna hike some of these and maybe eventually I'll finish them or from the start were you tackling this thing I didn't even get that question out of you I went from zero to 46 James okay sure I'm between there was no same hey right yeah there was no hey I'm gonna go and hike um you know uh in the west Canada wilderness so I'm gonna go and uh maybe do I didn't like like I said last try and even

1:08:36know what mount drill was I even know what mount van hovenberg was even though I gone past there dozens of time I didn't realize there was a mountain there I just saw that's the Bob said run um I just said you know what I'm gonna do this I want to I want to hike the 46 um I'm not gonna spend time with these other ones right now I'm just gonna go all in and you know what maybe that was the right decision maybe it wasn't but for me it worked um you know uh uh some other planning yeah what it made sense to start with other mountains but uh um I enjoyed this journey simply because it was also like I want to do something that's really challenging and I want to prove myself that I can do this um and that uh you know uh because if only sometimes because I tell people about it like you do that what are you insane what's wrong with you why are you doing this at four in the morning I don't know what's kind of fun so uh it started out with just I'm gonna do this this is a challenge to man I love this and uh so yeah I went from like I said

1:09:37I went from zero to 46 yeah no I appreciate that I like I like I like tasks I like accomplishing things what is a start what is an ending let me do that and you know obviously the mountains have the same like you could still have that mentality and the star is the trailhead the end is back at the trailhead and that's the thing but I'm I'm a big picture guy by nature that's just kind of how I am so very cool I like that I appreciate that so as I wrap up this podcast there's always a few questions I like to ask everyone so I'm gonna ask you as well first question nice and light and fun what's something that's unique to you that you always have in your backpack when you're out there unique to me that's always in my backpack oh lord I'm trying to be a piece of equipment could be a fun thing could be food you always bring with you I always have my GoPro I got my GoPro on there I love recording my hikes I love um I love walking out there by myself and I'm recording and narrating what's going on I don't know if I'm ever gonna post the again you know the YouTube channel right

1:10:40eventually I'm going to but like these things where it's just like I'm I'm I'm either filming B-roll or I'm just kind of talking to myself about like you know what I'm seeing or I'm just talking about like I wonder if you know my my great great great grandchildren ever come across my YouTube page and say like wow what was great great great great man grandfather Matt doing and uh you know just like I like to think about that so I've always got my GoPro going um you know whether it's on my chest or on my head or I've got a selfie stick for it so yeah that that's me all right I appreciate that next question in your opinion what makes the Adirondacks a unique place so you grew up in the Philadelphia area with the college and this general neck of the woods but what makes this park so unique in your opinion what I like about it and I was commenting to my brother and law about this when we were out sitting on felps the other day was from that view from felps there are no manmade structures right there there are no roads you cannot see lake placid you can't see the JBL you can't see any lean twos it is

1:11:47wilderness and I think that what makes it unique is just the the fact that it's that protected land that nope we're not going to develop this do you know how many amazing I look from this perspective how many amazing ski resorts you could have up there right there in the high peaks I know we've got white face but from felps I thought about it last year I'm like this little bowl here from felps to tabletop this would be an awesome ski bowl this would be phenomenal I would love to shred this up my god but you know what no we can't we know we're not doing that we have to protect this and I love the fact that you sit there and there is not one manmade structure that you can find from that view sitting on the ledge of felps and you can get that other places I understand that but I think it's just the fact that it's protected in the way that it is that makes it so damn special sure final question why do you hike it's messy it's muddy it's wet it's cold it's hot what makes you go out there time and time again it's that sense of accomplishment it's the feeling that

1:12:57I set my sights on this peak no one has made me do this I'm going to go hike nine miles to the base of allen mountain and then I'm going to suffer up this mountain enjoy the view then I'm going to suffer on the way down and I'm going to walk out and no one's made me do that but I set my sights on it I made a goal and I love every minute of it love it it's that type two fun that oftentimes is type one fun when I was climbing the upseward in a rainstorm and the trail turned into a brook and we're just soaked and I loved every minute of it nobody's making us do this we say that time and again it's just that I'm going to I have a goal and I am going to achieve this goal today and I'm going to have so much fun along the way and I ride that high

1:13:59all week afterwards it is it it's incredible that dopamine high and that dopamine rush that I get after a hike is just I could live on that for days so that's why I hiked the Adirondex I love it's the it's the the doing hard things on purpose element and how that benefits mentally physically all the things very cool well Matt I appreciate you coming on the podcast thanks so much for being here where can people find you online best place to find me instagram um matter on dac hikes so Matt iron dac hikes if you just want to spell it out like that matter on dac hikes I I post there quite often and I'm pretty active in a lot of the hiking communities on on Facebook as well so you might know me my bank my trail name of math squash but you're going to find me with the handle matter on dac hikes that's going to wrap up this episode of the 46 of 46 podcast if you want to join the next great range athlete program it starts October 5th head over great range athlete dot com

1:15:02or for all the different ways we can help you get strong and fit so you can enjoy all of your mountain adventures even more head over to 46 outdoors dot com that's 46 outdoors dot com whether you want to join the training app get some coaching whatever you want we got you covered at 46 outdoors dot com head over there and check back on Fridays for new mountains new stories new guests and new episodes right here on the 46 of 46 podcast see you guys next time remember to always leave no trace do the rock walk and if you carry it in carry it out I'll see you on the trails