The 46 of 46 Podcast

After backpacking the 138 mile Northville-Placid Trail it was time to get back on top of some mountains and what better hike to tackle on Independence Day than what backpacker.com ranks as the #3 "Hardest Day Hike in America", The Great Range Traverse. Ten mountains, eight high peaks, 21 miles, 8000' of gain, and 17,000' of elevation change on the Goliath of all Adirondack hikes. A defining day fo...

This week on The 46 of 46 Podcast Summit Sessions I'll sit down in the studio with my friend and frequent hiking partner Jonathan Zaharek who was only 24 hours removed from his FKT (Fastest Known Time) attempt at the Unsupported thruhike record of the 46 High Peaks here in the Adirondack Park. This is an episode you will not want to miss as Jonathan breaks down his attempt, his planning, the good,...

Day 8 and my final day on the Northville Placid Trail. The longest mileage to date at 24.5 miles was the only thing that stood between me and my goal of completing the NPT. The final day is finally here. The 46 of 46 Podcast: The Northville-Placid Trail Edition is sponsored by Crua Outdoors. Crua Outdoors makes the world's best insulated tents and outdoors gear. Check out their website for tents,...

Day 7 and I'm back at the Piseco Route 8 road crossing to begin my final 2-day section to Northville. I'll have new hiking partners coming along the journey on this final 40 mile stretch to Northville to complete my NPT journey. Tonight's destination will have us camping at the fina lean-to on the trail at beautiful Silver Lake. On top of new friends this section will bring more new things into th...

Day 6 would complete this 2-day section and bring Jonathan and I from Spruce Lake to the town of Piseco on one of my shortest days on the trail at only 14 miles. A terrific hike as we continue southbound past Spruce Lake and a some tent campsites, to the "Future Headquarters Bob and Matt Campwood" sign at the Cold Stream, and finishing with the road walk in Piseco. Today's journey will mark 100 mi...

Day 5. The first day of my third section here on the NPT. This two-day section will have me hiking with a new partner, Jonathan Zaharek, where today we'll go 24 miles from Wakely Dam at the Moose River Recreation Area southbound to Spruce Lake #3. I'll discover one of my favorite sections of the trail here, as well as my most challenging stretch of the entire trail (where 100 yards took us 40 minu...

Day 4 on the Northville-Placid Trail and the only day hike on my journey as I section this trail over the course of a month. Today's trail will be quite different from what Josh and I experienced on our first section as we traverse northbound from Wakely Dam to Lake Durant. The 46 of 46 Podcast: The Northville-Placid Trail Edition is sponsored by Crua Outdoors. Crua Outdoors makes the world's best...

Day 3 on the Northville-Placid Trail will take Josh and I home to Lake Placid from the Cold River Lean-To #2 and complete our first section of the NPT. The day was supposed to be an easier 13-mile day but turned into the most physically and mentally draining day of the entire section. Winter, you can go away anytime now! After today I'm well over 50 miles into the NPT with much more hiking still t...

Day 2 on the Northville-Placid Trail will have Josh and I planning to hike from Kelly Point to Duck Hole, but due to a waking up covered in two inches of snow and a winter wonderland at the Kelly Point Lean-To's, along with a slight mileage miscalculation along with slower winter conditions we called an audible and hiked to Cold River Lean-To #2 here on day 2 of our first section of the NPT. The 4...

The Northville-Placid Trail is a 138-mile backpacking trail through the Adirondack Park and this season of The 46 of 46 Podcast is going to take you on the journey with me all 138 miles. I sectioned the trail and each episode will take the listener through every day on the trail with eight episodes chronicling all eight days. In this first episode I'll begin my journey hiking northbound for a few...

Created in 2013 the Trans Adirondack Route traverses from the top of the 6-million acre Adirondack Park to the bottom over the course of 235 miles through the most remote backcountry in the Park. On this Summit Session I speak with the Fastest Known Time holder Marilyne Marchand about her experience hiking the TransADK Route and we will break it down day by day from start to finish. Grab your map...

In this special Northville-Placid Trail edition of the Summit Sessions I'll bring back fan-favorite Kenny Kendall to talk all things Backpacking gear. We will go through a complete gear rundown of everything I took on my 138-mile Northville-Placid Trail hike. Everything from my backpack, to my sleeping setup, tents, clothes, food, cookware, shoes, and more. If you're planning to do some backpackin...

In this Summit Session I'll speak in depth with John LaFarnara, a Buffalo, NY native, about his entire journey becoming an Adirondack 46'er in a single year while living 350 miles away from the Adirondack High Peaks. John's 46'er journey dealt him punch after punch but he persevered and kept moving forward despite many set backs, moving both literally and figuratively one step at a time to accompl...

Pitchoff Mountain is a part of the Adirondack 100 Highest List and is a mountain I've hiked numerous times. This day however in an attempt to see this peak from a new perspective I climbed up via a trail I've never explored and it turned out to be better than I could have ever expected. Sometimes taking the trails-less-traveled will reward you in a big way.

When hiking in the backcountry there's always the very real possibility of a day hike turning into an unplanned overnight. After getting lost on the trail after hour 15 Jay and his crew found themselves in a tough situation deep in the remote Santanoni range. Find out what Jay did right and wrong in this fascinating story of a day hike not going to plan.

In this edition of the Summit Sessions we talk all about the high peaks, all 552 of them. While there's only 46 high peaks in the Adirondack Park, one challenge of sorts, known as "The Grid" involves hiking all 46 of them in every month of the year totaling 552 total high peaks. An unbelievable task and my guest tonight is over 400 peaks in as she works towards her goal of Gridding the high peaks.

The Adirondack Park is a remote and a desolate wilderness. The home of unexplainable things happening deep in the forest. Things that conventional thinking can't explain. What happens late at night down at the Couchsacraga Bog will leave Andy and Sara running for their lives in the latest edition of The 46 of 46 Podcast ADK Campfire Stories series.

Scarface Mountain is a lone peak towering above the towns of Ray Brook and Saranac Lake that often gets flack as "not having any views". This however is not true and the actual hike and woods the trail runs through make for a terrific hike and therefore I'm declaring this mountain the most underrated hike in the Adirondack Park.

A Northville-Placid Trail thru-hike story from start to finish. In this episode Danielle Rootes takes us day-by-day through her entire thru-hike of the 138 mile Northville-Placid Trail, a single trail stretching across the heart of the Adirondack Park in upstate New York. Grab your NPT map and follow along as Danielle breaks down all 8 days on the trail in what is undoubtedly the most NPT informat...

On this edition of the Summit Sessions I'll speak with two hikers who spend next to all of their time in the woods off trail, bushwhacking their way around the Adirondack park and seeing places most hikers never will.

In this Summit Session I had the opportunity to speak with Adirondack legend, Erik Schlimmer, author and founder of the TransADK route. Erik's outdoors resume is extraordinary as he's hiked over 15,000 miles, spent over 1,000 nights in the woods, an avid bushwhacker, and explored more of the Adirondack park and the northeast than anyone I've ever met. Pick up Erik's books here: www.transadk.com ww...

Today I enjoyed a spontaneous afternoon hiking the Tupper Lake Triad as the winter season starts coming to an end. Coney Mountain, Goodman Mountain, and Mt Arab make up this terrific little ADK Hiking challenge and is a perfect choice for the whole family or someone who wants a lot of bang for very little buck on the summit. Is it Spring yet?

In the second edition of the Summit Sessions I'll talk all things gear with Kenny Kendall. Kenny is a very experienced hiker and outdoorsman, who also spent over ten years as a Recon soldier in the military and has also worked in the outdoor gear industry. Needless to say, the man knows what he's talking about and loves to talk gear.

In honor of Friday the 13th this is the first edition of The 46 of 46 Campfire Story series. A spooky campfire story from the southern Adirondacks. Be careful going camping by yourself; you never know what's lurking behind your tent after dark.