Spark Hikes

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I fell in love with hiking when my mother took me to Letchworth State Park when I was a child. I loved the scenery, the smell of the forest and the way the sun would shine off of the trees and rocks in the gorge hiking also allows me to get in better shape And enjoy the outdoors in my way and pace. I enjoy the sounds of the wildlife and seeing new things and honestly hiking is my therapy. - Jamie W.

I've been hiking since I met my husband in 1988. We would hike and chat and explore. Then I had 5 children who we took hiking at various locations. One of my fondest memories was looking out over the expanse from high in the Adirondack Mountains. It was breathtaking. But if truth be told, I was asked to do a study during covid about exercise etc. The gift for completing the study was entry into my first WNY Hiking Challenge. So I began it. I liked doing the hikes with my husband or sons or daughters or even on the phone with one of them. It was great bonding time. But I truly fell in love with hiking when I was running and walking the trail at Franklin Gulf. About 2 miles in, I was totally alone in the absolute quiet of the forest. It was nature and me. The feeling was like nothing I've ever experienced. My soul actually could breathe. - Peggy Pozzuto

I've always enjoyed the outdoors and camping since I was young. Life sometimes steers us in other directions and it's easy to forget the joys from the past. A decade+ later....... While attending a work conference in the Adirondacks, a few co-workers decided it might be fun to 'hike' a High Peak. I did not know I was in for such an amazing surprise! This was anything but a leisure walk in the park, which now I realized was what I was really doing in the past. This amazing experience and group of people and view from the summit was surreal. Words and pictures cannot explain the feelings and emotions from being on top of the peak overlooking the Adirondack Mountains. There is a quiet, calm, peaceful feeling where everything else in the world does not matter at this point of time - it's paused and I'm disconnected and unplugged from the routine day to day life. It is, and was, a true feeling of "there is more to this world". To capture that experience is impossible any other way. It was at that point that I knew it was only the beginning for me. - Jon

I've always enjoyed the outdoors and would often wander around in the woods behind my house as a kid. In my late 20s I started hiking, but only knew about 2 places and would hike maybe once a month and my "limit" was 6 miles.

My hiking spark came when I met a hiker in Glacier National Park in 2018 and he talked me into hiking the Highline Trail at 12 miles. I definitely didn't think I could do it, but I DID!!! I immediately thought, "What ELSE can I do?"

That's the year I decided to stop waiting for others and went to explore the Adirondack high peak area on my own. I figured I'd try out two "smaller" ones and see how it went. Well, I accidentally missed a sign to turn for Wright mountain and ended up summiting Algonquin, the second highest peak!! I remember complaining out loud that the hike was much harder than the book said Wright would be and a fellow hiker saying, "Oh, girl. You're on the trail to Algonquin! You're more than half way there, so you might as well keep going!" When Covid hit and I discovered the summer WNY Hiking Challenge while scrolling on FB, I went from hiking once a month to every other day or so! I even did two rounds of the Summer and Winter challenges! That's right! 64 and 32 trails! When the ultras became a thing, I figured I'd try to do one and ended up doing them all! To say I'm hooked on hiking is an understatement.

I'm so grateful to Mike with OC for helping me discover that hiking is such a passion for me! I was holding out on myself! I'm constantly amazed by how far I keep pushing my limits and discovering what I am capable of. Hiking has brought me confidence, strength, incredible friendships, and so much healing emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I can feel it when too much time has passed between hikes.

What a gift the Outside Chronicles' Hiking Challenges have been for me. They have significantly improved my life. - Debbie Smith

I have been heading outdoors since I was little. Growing up at the base of the Adirondack Mountains afforded me chances to spend on the water and on the mountains, but I think I must have taken it all for granted because I never thought of myself as a hiker until I joined three colleagues and twelve students to tackle three high peaks to raise money for the Brian Moorman P.U.N.T. Foundation. I was the Co-Advisor at the time for Educational Outreach, a school club that began as a way to build schools for girls in Afghanistan and morphed eventually moved into a number of different community service projects. The year I served as advisor, we decided that we would take our junior and senior members on something called the Climb for a Cause, a three-day climb of Giant, Cascade, and Rocky Peak Ridge Mountains - three of the Adirondack 46ers. We trained, we raised money, and we gathered what we needed to drive from Orchard Park to Lake Placid to begin our adventure. On our seventeen hour trek across Giant and Rocky Peak, my 5'1" frame got the best of me. Try as I might, I did not have the leg span to scale one of the rock faces. I watched the kids climb. I watched my colleagues climb. And I wondered if I needed to just head back the way I came and attempt to find them later. And then I heard a kid shout, "I'll be right back." Bryan, who I had as a student his freshman, junior, and senior year, who was headed for military service in a few short months, said, "Tedo, I've got you." And as if I was a light backpack, he hoisted me up and, once I got my bearings, said, "let's go!" I caught up to the others and eventually, when we summitted (and I couldn't for the life of me tell you which peak we were on), I looked out at all of these kids who had not only worked so hard to accomplish this goal, but who refused to leave me behind. We gathered, we smiled, we took pictures. And that night, we all cooked dinner together and shared stories (my rescue being one of the highlights), and I realized that hiking wasn't just about ticking off boxes or collecting summits. It was about togetherness, community, and a shared sense of adventure. And even thought it might have taken place hours away from my classroom, it might be the highlight of my career. - Julie B.

I've always enjoyed hiking! About 21 yrs ago, I hiked in the Adirondacks for my first time. The views were incredible! I remember thinking, wow! this is so rewarding! I've hiked throughout the years around western NY but didn't have that Ah-ha moment again until last summer when my son and I went on a road trip out west. We hiked a few different national parks. Glacier, Olympic & North Cascades. Being on the west coast was a totally new experience! My son and I plan to go to Acadia National Park in Maine this summer. What really sparked me to do this challenge was getting a puppy in January. Hes a Samoyed, bred to be a sled dog. I knew he needed LOTS of exercise! We plan to bring him on our trip this summer. We began hiking Sprauge Brook Park because it's the closest to where we live. I was excited to find out about this challenge because now we get to discover new trails together! Bowie, my puppy, is only 6 months old. This challenge will end right before his 1st birthday! I'm looking forward to our adventures together and to see how many miles we get in during this challenge! - Stef

Well I have not written a story for at least 50 years. so anyways here it goes. I started hiking like 20 years ago. I decided to do this hike at Chestnut Ridge with my group Buffalo Day Hiker's. I had just started getting my gear slowly but surely. Someone's loaned me their micro spikes which were in my backpack. I had never used them before so really didn't have any clue, plus the leader said it didn't seem we needed them. So needless to say. We were walking the Old Boy Scout Trail, which I didn't know anything about that trail either. I was so excited and thrilled I was hiking in this beautiful land of trees. there was up and downs which I was much younger than, lol. There was no achy knees no pulled meniscus. All was good!!!!

We are now going to a spot where it goes down on a thinner trail and then a bridge and then going up a thinner kinds trail. Here this is where the horses use to go? Anyways I didn't realize anything different about this spot other than it didn't seem so wide and I wasn't sure about going over that. Just stepped off the bridge and slipped thought this to be the end of me. I thought I was going to die. someone tried lifting me up and I said no. I'm not moving, which of course I had to. My feet were dangling over the side. A fellow hiker asked about these micro spikes I'd I had them, I said yes but there was no way I was moving. Finely my leader came back to me and told me to crawl to the side which at the time looked like a wide wall. there was very narrow part that was not icy. I made it walking that wall and got to the side and asked my Leader was there anymore or these and her response was I hope to God no. I just started crying. The rest of the hike was beautiful again the feeling of being in the forest but I never forgot about that day. there was a picture of me someone had taken, that memory will never go away. I found out after that 4 other people slipped. I hadn't done that trail since that time. Last year I broke down and walked it. Scared but determined. There on that say I ran into my new Leader and took a picture with him on that bridge. I felt so proud. I will never find that to be my favorite hike. I don't like skinnier trails by cliffs. I stay away from edges. So it definitely did start my fear of that. so proud of me being able to go back and so my nemesis I overcame. I love hiking today. I have grown so much since that first hike. Thankfully for Outside Chronicle's I will always be grateful!!!❤️❤️❤️-Doreen