“, the Adirondack Park is larger than Yellowstone, Glacier, the Grand Canyon, the Smokies, and the Everglades Nationwide Parks mixed. In a way, it’s an enormous almost-secret by way of the outside.”
Writer of the brand new guide The Adirondack 46 in 18 Hikes: The Full Information to Mountaineering the Excessive Peaks, James Appleton is intimately acquainted with mountain climbing the mountains throughout the Adirondack Park. The area is situated in northeast New York and is crammed with greater than 100 peaks. Appleton’s new guide is simply the most recent medium he’s used to share his tales exploring the Adirondacks whereas opening a broader dialogue to different fanatics, at all times holding the park itself as the first focus.
The Adirondack Park
Born and raised within the area, Appleton stated the Adirondacks are simply “a part of the tradition” for many who dwell there. After venturing past his residence, enjoying in a band and spending ample time on the street, he returned to the Adirondacks together with his spouse in 2011 to calm down and begin a household. As he pressed ahead on this new chapter, Appleton gained a brand new appreciation and love for the realm.
“The view exterior my highschool, you’d be like, ‘Oh, my God, that must be in {a magazine}.’ It’s that ridiculous,” Appleton stated. “It’s that very same outdated story, proper? ‘You don’t know what you’ve received ’til it’s gone’ form of factor.”
The Adirondacks cowl greater than 20% of the state’s land space. There are greater than 200 named lakes and different our bodies of water, together with greater than 1,200 miles of river. The park gives year-round outside recreation, from paddling, fishing, and tenting to snowboarding, snowboarding, and snowmobiling. One of many largest highlights of the Adirondacks is the mountain climbing, with the area boasting greater than 2,000 miles of mountain climbing trails.
Particularly, mountain climbing the 46 Adirondack Excessive Peaks is without doubt one of the park’s most well-known challenges and highlights.
The Adirondack Excessive Peaks
The Adirondack Excessive Peaks are a gaggle of 46 mountains with a peak of three,800 ft or greater. Each locals and guests alike make it their mission to climb all 46, and anybody who succeeds is taken into account a “46er.”
Appleton determined he needed to be a 46er himself again in 2018 after he modified his life-style and revisited mountain climbing with a brand new lens.
“There was an enormous, dramatic come to Jesus second — within the sense that I received in form, I misplaced a bunch of weight, and abruptly, I might go hike a mountain,” he stated. “That was mainly the catalyst of claiming, ‘Man, I ought to lastly attempt changing into an Adirondack 46er,’ and finally snowballed into this guide.”
Throughout a month-and-a-half break between his work within the movie trade, Appleton solid forward together with his mission and finally climbed all 46 Excessive Peaks in a single summer season. That have majorly shifted his relationship to the outside and the Adirondacks themselves.
‘The 46 of 46 Podcast’
As he relished in his accomplishment, Appleton noticed a chance to open the dialog for the various others seeking to hike the Excessive Peaks. This reflection culminated as The 46 of 46 Podcast, which remains to be releasing episodes centered on the Adirondack Park.
“I stated, ‘Think about if they might take heed to a podcast as they drive up, take heed to the episode overlaying the mountains that they’re going to hike on,’” Appleton recalled. “I made a decision to embark on this journey of making a documentary sequence/audio podcast about climbing the 46 Excessive Peaks.”
Mountain by mountain, he meticulously recorded and edited over a dozen episodes retelling his story. After 5 months of labor, he launched the podcast in March 2019 — each episode without delay. Envisioning it as a standalone, long-form media challenge, he had no intention of making extra episodes past that authentic sequence.
Positive sufficient, he “simply stored podcasting.” The episodes finally expanded in scope, specializing in seasonal treks to particular sequences of Adirondack hikes. The 46 of 46 Podcast additionally consists of particular Adirondack Pioneers episodes, which concentrate on the Adirondack Park’s historical past and key historic gamers, together with Summit Classes, or interview-style episodes the place he invitations others to share their very own Adirondack adventures.
“I see myself as simply the particular person, the vessel, bringing the story to you,” Appleton stated. “It’s concerning the park, the paths, the mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the folks climbing it, the individuals who helped construct this park to be what it’s.”
‘The Adirondack 46 in 18 Hikes’
Within the early days of The 46 of 46 Podcast, Appleton’s viewers grew and commenced asking extra detailed questions on his climbs. This prompted him to start out writing about his experiences, resulting in the 2021 launch of his eBook about climbing the 46 Excessive Peaks.
Appleton turned more and more acknowledged as an knowledgeable supply tied to the Adirondacks. He labored with a writer to launch his guide, Adirondack Campfire Tales: Tales and Folklore from Contained in the Blue Line, in 2024 — a group of scary, supernatural tales each fiction and non-fiction set within the Adirondacks. Tales are based mostly on city and park lore, and a few components had been tailored from The 46 of 46 Podcast and its Summit Classes interviews.
The identical writer requested Appleton to jot down one other guide in 2022, taking a contemporary method to the tales he shared in his eBook and podcast. Appleton blended stylistic components of his podcast into the brand new launch, embracing private storytelling whereas sharing sensible information concerning the area.
Appleton formally launched The Adirondack 46 in 18 Hikes: The Full Information to Mountaineering the Excessive Peaks on March 4, 2025.
“It simply reads like a guide, and that’s what I needed,” Appleton stated, referencing that customary guidebooks are extra like encyclopedias than embracing a story. “That’s what separates it from regular information books.”
He needed to entertain and share his story, however he additionally needed readers to know their means across the Excessive Peak hikes after studying. The guide represents a fruits of six years constructing this platform. An “outdoor journey story,” Appleton stated that readers will benefit from the guide whether or not or not they’ve any intention of mountain climbing the 46 Excessive Peaks themselves.
“It’s what I’m most pleased with about this guide, as a result of there are many books on the Adirondack 46 Excessive Peaks. There weren’t any the place an individual’s story was laid out begin to end. It’s bizarre that that didn’t exist, however now it does.”
Appleton mountain climbing the Northville-Placid Path within the ADK, crossing Chilly River
Household Life within the Adirondacks
Appleton and his spouse are at present residing within the Adirondack area with their three daughters. Appleton stated it’s an incredible place to lift a household as a result of something outdoor is available. When the household is out and about, his children have quite a lot of choices — from mountain climbing to swimming or simply taking a stroll across the woods.
Whereas Appleton has shared his love for nature together with his daughters through the years, they’ve since launched him to a few of their budding pursuits, just like the world of ballet. All to say, Appleton makes some extent to foster their distinctive passions, too. Even when his daughters don’t find yourself with the identical admiration for mountain climbing and the outside that he has, he is aware of they’ll at all times have the Adirondacks as a standard a part of their lives, the place going exterior is simply one thing you do.
“Our children are watching us, and I feel that’s finally what we have to keep in mind,” Appleton stated. “They’re going to do what we do. They watch us looking at screens all day, they’re going to stare at screens all day too. If we would like them to go outdoor and we go outdoor, they’re going to simply go outdoor, too.”
James Appleton’s Suggestions for Households within the Adirondacks
- Mt. Jo — “An ideal quick hike in Lake Placid that gives a style of the Adirondack Excessive Peaks mountain climbing in a brief 0.9 mile climb, with Excessive Peaks-caliber views.”
- Mt. Van Hoevenberg — “Mountaineering from the Olympic Bobsled and Luge monitor, this family-friendly hike gives a novel Lake Placid Olympic expertise on a delicate path for the household with summit views you’ll need to stare at for hours.”
- Cobble Hill — “A family-friendly mountain path, nice for the youngsters, proper off Principal Road Lake Placid. An ideal place to share a snack with views.”
- Cobble Lookout (Wilmington) — “A flat path that walks out to an open rock lookout pretty much as good as any summit view within the ADK for minimal effort.”
‘What Makes Adirondack Park So Particular?’
After listening to this query, Appleton rapidly replied with a novel profile of the area:
“It’s not like wherever else within the nation, within the sense that it’s technically a state park of private and non-private land,” he stated. “It’s mainly like having cities in nationwide parks.”
He additionally referred to as the park the Northeast’s greatest stored outside secret, saying, “In case you’re not from the Northeast, you’ve in all probability by no means heard of it, but it surely’s a day’s drive from 60 million Individuals and Canadians.”
Appleton shared a standard sentiment he hears from guests from throughout. To them, the Adirondack Park “seems like residence.” Rising up and at present residing within the area, it’s a tough thought to narrate to, however he acknowledged the magic of the area that might immediate this shared feeling.
“They’ll’t articulate it. However there’s this mysterious high quality to the mountains, and it’s laborious to explain. Folks take possession of this park. In order that’s what makes it so distinctive. Even in case you don’t dwell right here, you’re feeling prefer it’s your park, but it surely’s not your park and never another person’s — it’s ours.”
The Nice Vary Athlete “Colden Staff” mountain climbing Mount Colvin, considered one of Appleton’s group health coaching and training applications
Along with his work in movie, podcasting, and writing, Appleton has his personal enterprise as a health coach, Search To Do Extra, the place he teaches shoppers methods to get in higher form to embark on their very own outside adventures. Immediately, Appleton coaches folks all around the nation to assist them notice their full potential — mirroring these new paths he as soon as paved in his personal life.
The Adirondack 46 in 18 Hikes: The Full Information to Mountaineering the Excessive Peaks is out now and could be bought on Amazon.
Episodes of The 46 of 46 Podcast are accessible on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. For much more, try the podcast on YouTube, Instagram, and its official web site.
Discover James Appleton on Instagram, Fb, and at Search To Do Extra Teaching.
Images courtesy of James Appleton
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Yow will discover them at keeganmwilliams.com or on Instagram @promwitch.
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