That’s me, Hilltackler, doing what I love to do…stand on top of a mountain.  I am born and raised on Long Island, New York. Despite growing up surrounded by water I’ve always liked playing in the woods. My earliest memory of this was a school trip in fifth grade. I remember walking in the woods, looking for salamanders and identifying the scat of different animals. Even to this day, the smell of a pine forest brings me back to that time.

Here in the Northeast we have many diverse areas to hike. In an hours drive you can be in Harriman State Park with hundreds of miles of trails and lovely views of the Hudson Valley. Go another 100 miles or so and you can be in the Catskill Mountains where there are 35 peaks over 3500ft. Drive north another 200 miles and you can be in the Adirondacks which has 40 peaks over 4000ft. Those are just the highlights…there are hundreds of trails and peaks in between. You could go to anyone of these areas and backpack for a week or more and that’s just the New York mountain scene. In addition, I am fortunate to be centrally located to many states that the Appalachian Trail runs through so I spend a fair amount of time on that too.

My background: I’ve been an active day hiker for many years and in the past five years I’ve moved almost exclusively to backpacking.  I am a four season backpacker and trip leader for the Appalachian Mountain Club’s NY/NJ Backpacking chapter.

Most of my time in the wilderness has been in and around New York, mostly the Hudson Valley, Catskills and Adirondacks. In the past few years I have been section hiking the Appalachian Trail and continue to chip away at the miles. I have also discovered that I have the desire to start doing some longer distance treks, like the Long Trail and the Northville Placid Trail. While I like being on the trail, I do have a day gig that keeps me from getting away for more than three or four weeks at a time. So thru-hiking is not in the cards until I hit retirement or lotto, whichever comes first!