Teresa Gergen - 50 State HP Completer

[kirkmallory]

Congratulations to Teresa Gergen, who finished the 50 state highpoints today on Mt. Marcy in New York. She originally planned to finish this list two years ago, but she had to cancel that trip when a falling boulder left her with a shattered leg. We once again planned a trip last year, but Hurricane Irene hit the area right before we were supposed to leave. Patience paid off, and this year she had a very successful trip to the Northeast where she got her 8 remaining highpoints.

Congratulations Teresa - I'm glad I was able to join you on 14 of them, especially your final one!

[Al Sandorff]

Congrats Teresa!

[DHatfield]

Congrats Teresa!!

[Steve Knapp]

Teresa,

This is awesome, way to stick with it and get it done! So many great peaks and interesting places. I fondly remember climbing Mt. Marcy with my dad when I was a kid.

[lukePlumley]

Well done Teresa! Marcy is a fine summit to pick for a finisher!
Nice work up there in the Northeast.
lp

[John Kirk]

Congrats Teresa!

[Brian Kalet]

Nice work. Looks like there are twelve completers on LoJ.

[Tom Pierce]

Way to go Teresa, so glad to read of your success!
-Tom

[TeresaGergen]

Thanks, everyone! And thanks to Kirk for first introducing me to the list, climbing some of the hardest ones with me, babysitting me (forever) when I started trying to hike again, and repeatedly re-planning his vacations in order to be there with me for the final peak.

Kirk also finished the list of all the peaks in the Northeast over 5000 ft on this trip - including those down to 200 ft of prominence.

[RyanSchilling]

Congrats, Teresa!!

[DennisPoulin]

Hey girl, great job. I felt humbled earlier this year on Marcy when the summit range said she has climbed Marcy over 350 times. I was glad I only had to climb it once. Great job by a great Colorado climber. I'm going to have to go to CO to see why so many great climbers live there.

[TeresaGergen]

Dennis, thanks for the kind words. Talk about feeling humbled -- I naively pooh-poohed the northeastern peaks before, never having been there, and thinking, well, how hard can it be when they all have trails to the top? Frissel's shoulder was a brief intro to what is meant by a "trail" in the NE, and when I did Katahdin the next day by the Chimney Pond/Saddle trails and combined it with Hamlin, descending the Hamlin Ridge trail, I spent the day looking like a tourist (I move poorly with my leg) and repeatedly assuring people I was ok, and the evening wrapping my ankle in ice and wondering if I'd really finish this list after all. Adding Hamlin made it a long day for me. I thought the "trails" were very much like our rockiest alpine Class 2 terrain, with Class 3 spots thrown in throughout (especially on Hamlin's ridge). The emphasis on the "do the rock walk" mentality out there, preserving your alpine tundra by making the trails go over the rockiest possible terrain, was definitely a surprise, and was a good test for me. Here we walk all over our tundra - but we have a tiny fraction of the people doing that over a relatively huge amount of ground, compared to out there. And we have very large herds of heavy elk trampling it anyway. The crowds of people on the trails were also a surprise. I can't remember the last time I ran into someone on a 10er or 11er here, unless it's on the CDT or in a national park.

Marcy's final slabs were pretty fun. Shuffling on slabs is a lot easier than placing a compromised ankle on a rounded rock, and is easier on a compromised knee and atrophied quad than taking big steps up and down over rocks. But 350 times does sound like torture :-)

Anyway, I have a new respect for our eastern climbers here, and a new understanding of your peak lists. Anyone who bushwhacks for a summit out there is one tough climber.

[stevemartin]

Teresa, I'm SO happy for you!! Congrats on finishing the states. Another great accomplishment in your SERIES of greats. Steve

[Peter J Barr]

Congratulations Teresa!~

[Steve Knapp]

Anyone who bushwhacks for a summit out there is one tough climber.

Now you can just head straight up some peaks via slide paths opened up by Hurricane Irene last fall. I read this yesterday in the Omaha newspaper of all places (travelling through Nebraska). I found it pretty interesting:

http://durangoherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120720/SPORTS05/707209993/-1/sports&source=RSS&template=printpicart