TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

This summer 2013, has been 10 years since I had ventured out into the ADK. The interesting part is that I would have probably never enjoyed the mountains so early in my life if it wasn't for my adventurous friends at the church youth group.

In the summer of 2003, 4 curious individuals in the youth did some research about the high peaks and decided to drive out there and see if for themselves. My younger sister, Oksana, was among the group of 3 guys Vitaly, Ruslan, and Roman. Well adventure they did find when they attempted their first hike in the middle of a rain storm. To this day we still can't figure out which trail they were on or what peak they had attempted to climb. To make the long story short, the trail that they were on crossed a rushing mountain river several times. They crossed it several times going up the trail but realized that it was becoming more and more difficult to cross it because of the persistent rain. Later I found out that my sister was almost swept away if one of the guys didn't grab her hand in time. 

Since that time, the church youth group camped at Marcy Dam and on that trip I climbed the first peak in the ADK--MT. Marcy. Why not start with the highest? Since then I have hiked 14 more peaks and  became inspired to hike the remaining 31. 

I live a lovely 4 hrs away from the peaks and can't hike as often as I would like but I try to get up there at least 2 times a year and hike a few at a time. 

My adventure buddies have been: Andrey M, Ruslan P, Andrey T, Vitaly B.

Ever since I got married 6 years ago, my favorite traveling companion has been my wife, Lesya. She is equally as adventurous as myself and has become even more so since we got married. She is a great leader in the hike, and I just follow her to the summit. She has hiked 8 peaks with me over the past few years.