2015 By The Numbers

As I flip the calendar to 2016, I took the time to look back at how I did hiking in the Adirondacks in 2015.

It wasn’t as straight forward as for many of my fellow ADK hikers. First, I live 6+ hours from most of the trailheads, so I logged more hours driving than I care to remember. Second, I spent the first half of the year working in Atlanta, so I had only one weekend of hiking until August – our trip up in May to become 46ers #8474 and #8475.

Finally, or perhaps amazingly, I had a back injury so severe that I couldn’t even tie my shoes from June through September. It’s amazing because I couldn’t sit, stand, walk, or lay down comfortably, yet I could hike. My sister-in-law described it as a ‘transformation’ as soon as I hit the trail.

So here are my numbers, with some links and of course some pictures. I have to thank my amazing niece and sister-in-law, my wonderful wife and my mentor and friend Tom for joining me hiking in 2015. I’m looking forward to adding more names to that list for 2016!

2015 Numbers

66,195 Vertical feet hiked climbing High Peaks
6,500 Highest vertical gain in one hike (feet)
3,894 Average vertical feet per High Peak hike
236 Number of miles hiked in the Adirondacks
213 Number of miles hiked climbing High Peaks
30 Number of High Peaks summited
23 Distinct High Peaks summited
18.6 Longest hike (miles)
17 Number of hikes which had at least one High Peak
12.5 Average mileage per High Peak hike
7.3 Average days per High Peak between May 23 (first summit) and December 28 (last summit)
3 Summits of Sawteeth, the most of any High Peak (July, August, and September)

Lifetime Numbers

1,602 Days since my last summit of Cascade Mountain, my longest gap of any High Peak
91 Total lifetime High Peak summits
46 Upon finishing Colvin & Blake, number of High Peaks completed in summer
35 Summits completed in my second round of 46
34.2 Percentage complete of 46 summits in each season (4 Spring/46 Summer/8 Autumn/5 Winter)
26 Number of solo High Peaks summits
14 Days between summits of Sawteeth in August & September, my shortest gap

Some of my favorite scenes happened without my camera – from the turn onto Adirondack Loj road with the MacIntyres looming, to the dramatic interplay of clouds and mountains, to the winter wonderland after December snowfalls. Other times, I had my camera out and tried my best to reproduce the amazing landscape in these mesmerizing Adirondack mountains. Enjoy!