Zane and I have continued with additional Adirondack challenges since completing our ADK 46 high peaks in September of 2020. Three of the additional challenges are often called the Trifecta.The peaks are found in the Tupper Lake region,Saranac Lake region, and in the Lake Placid region. If you desire to summit some beautiful and less demanding hikes then consider the Trifecta challenge.
We completed the easiest of the three first.The Tupper Lake Triad. We then tackled our remaining Saranac 6 mountains. We had hiked Ambersand in June of 2020 as a test of my hiking abilities post broken pelvis recovery. It was a tough day for me and I seriously had to reconsider how we were going to complete our remaining high peaks that summer. But that’s another story. By autumn of 2021 we were shy 2 peaks of the 9 peaks that make up the Lake Placid 9. Commonly listed as the LP9. The final 2 peaks were hiked on snowshoes in Winter 2022. We found it exhilarating and something totally different. It’s important to note that we had hiked the Saranac 6 mountain known as Scarface in January of 2021 on a sub-zero day.The trails were so hard that we didn’t need snowshoes! Yes we were supposed to have them! I suppose a detailed post about the Trifecta will be in order at some point as we made some incredible memories completing it. It’s time to pull this story together and explain the overlapping nature that occurs when one embarks on the Adirondack fire tower challenge. The fourth of our adventure challenges.
Ok that’s where I left off as a draft the other day. I intended to finish later but things happened. I have always promised raw and honest testimony here. As much as I would like to write of the fire tower challenge I need to unload my thoughts and feelings of the past few days.Life happens fast sometimes and things occur that stop us in our tracks. The heart still beats but the pulse of that life stops for a moment. I am choosing to leave the fire tower draft at the beginning of this post to emphasize how a story may never truly be written as we intended. If my life is a story then what will fill the chapters that bind the book together?You will find no happy ending to the story I am about to tell but I must tell it as best I can to somehow ease my heavy heart. I am confused but not at a loss for words. I seek to find something positive somehow. It begins most simply. I have a lost a new friend who I never truly got to know as well as I planned.
I can’t exactly say when I met the young journeyman wireman Zack at the Lake Placid Olympic Center Revitalization Project. Sometime after the skating oval project wound down and I began to work in the lower level of the Link Project on the hill. I was just working part time by then and Zack was busy pulling the basement area together with the assistance of several other people the day I first began to get to know him. I liked his friendly, open,and honest nature immediately. He explained to me that he wasn’t sure he was getting everything correct. He felt a little unsure about certain aspects of the blue prints. I quickly reassured him that it seemed like he had a good handle on it and sometimes we had to trust our best interpretation of the plans for the best outcome. There is no paved pathway for electrical installation in the crowded confines where we install our conduits, wiring, and all the other devices that make up a modern building. We coordinate with the other trades on the fly in the noisy, dirty environment that is our workplace. It didn’t take me long to realize that Zack was smart and more capable than he wanted to admit. I told him as much at some point that week. Our friendship grew from simple origins as it often does on the construction site. Conversations at break and on the walk to the parking lot at night. I totally blew it one night when I said something in front of him at the end of the shift. I felt terrible about it when a coworker later explained the circumstances. I was absent from the job for a time and wondered how I would ever face Zack again. How would I broach the subject and apologize for my rude comments? Would he even let me?But it is here that his true character would manifest itself. We arrived at the parking area at the same time the next time I worked. Zack immediately said hi and smiled at me! He asked me how things were going. And he taught me something in that moment I later realized. Forgiveness.I decided that I would cut right to the chase as we walked up to the building together. I apologized and he opened up to me with an honesty that amazed me. Many would have never forgiven my comments but he did and I explained that I was so very wrong. It was a humbling experience for me and I realized this young man was someone uniquely special in his openness. Our friendship grew stronger after that and I began to know him much better. I learned he had created his own business and was hoping to launch into something that others might find intimidating. Zack was married and a family man. They had three young children. He had a bright and promising future I felt. I told him as much. He was liked by everyone and always seemed to be smiling! We would catch up when I was on the job and he was always interested in what recent adventures we had embarked upon. Time kept moving forward and winter became spring. Then spring was summer.
Recently I began to see more of Zack as I began to work more frequently. I didn’t have the privilege of being his partner and even seeing him that much. We did walk together quite often to the parking area. He would ask me lots of questions about all sorts of things. I guess he must have valued my opinion. I learned that he liked to write and encouraged him to pursue it further as a way of dealing with stress. We talked about a lot of personal history. Not things that need to be shared here nor are important to share here. We all know that life punches us hard at times. Getting back up for the next round is what matters!I mention his candid confessions to further define his personal character. I told him plenty of my struggles from over the years and the path I hoped to walk as life continued. Despite our differences in age we shared so very much in common. He would always get me to talking! Bad idea as I sometimes inadvertently dominated the conversation. A flaw of mine. I am trying to be better about that. But I know he liked my passion for all things nature. He certainly liked my energy when I got rolling! He never complained and I liked that about him. And then last Thursday. Zack’s final acts of kindness and friendship to me.
I arrived to the job Thursday morning totally frustrated because my phone had no service. I was highly agitated as I needed to contact some people before the shift began and later also. Zack walked in suddenly and stepped up to me with a cheerful greeting. He suddenly told me that I was an inspiration to him! Why I asked? “Because of who you are and what you bring to the job”. “You’ve helped me”.I thanked him for such a generous compliment! He took a second look at me and asked if I was ok. Phone issues I explained. “Use mine today” he said. “Keep it with you all day if you need to.” I sent a quick text with his phone and shortly after my phone started working. We spent a few minutes talking in private and shared some recent personal situations. Something we did on occasion and never in front of everyone. Zack told me of some challenges he was having. I listened quietly and let him vent for awhile. He was excited though that things were working out. He said that he felt that everything was going to be ok. He almost hugged me as we left to begin our work. It turned into a man bump of sorts. I saw him at break and we talked more in private. He seemed very high strung but in a happy,positive way. I wasn’t worried about him at all in that moment as the summer sunshine fell on us. Zack told me he was headed to the beach at Mirror Lake at lunch time for a swim! What a good idea I thought as the sweat soaked my shirt through.All afternoon the rest of the crew was laughing about a video they shot of Zack jumping off a dock into the lake! What a guy I thought! After work several of us walked with Zack to the parking lot. “ Bring your shorts and join in next week” he said with a smile on his face! I laughed and we all said goodbye.
I spend Thursday night at the campsite in typical fashion. I sat by the campfire awhile and mused a few hours away. Phone service is horrible at my site and you never get most calls or messages. I tried to send out a few texts unsuccessfully. I went to bed with no phone service like most nights. I got up Friday morning and checked the time on my phone. A couple of texts had made it through during the night. That happens on occasion . One was from Zack wishing me well and saying that I was in his prayers. He called me brother. Something we call our coworkers when we respect them.I sent him a return text around 11am from Tupper Lake when I had service. I didn’t hear anything back though. Late Friday afternoon I got a group text from my foreman Mike saying he had terrible news! He had heard of a fatal traffic accident and that it may have been Zack. I shocked to my core when I realized it was true. Overwhelmed with emotion when I realized my text was sent hours after the accident. I still don’t know all the details yet. Tomorrow I will be on the job with the rest of the crew searching for answers. I did find out Zack had texted another crew member. Also a friend of both of us. His shock and grief matched mine. We texted back and forth for a time. Tomorrow will be a tough day for the crew.But that’s not where our thoughts should be right now.
It is with Zack’s wife and children that our thoughts and prayers belong. His family and all who loved him. I can’t even begin to know their suffering.It’s a story that has personal meaning as well. Too young was this friend of ours taken. Death is always hard. Accidental death even more so. I find myself stricken with a sudden imbalance of spirit energy. There is nothing positive in the loss of our union brother, coworker, and friend unless it is in the blessings of having known him. To see him smile and hear him laugh. To know how much much he had overcome in life. This young man was special and I will never forget him. He taught me some things that I needed to learn. For that I am thankful and most blessed. I pray my simple words honor him respectfully. I will search for his spirit energy on the mountain tops and say a prayer for his family each time I summit. We just never know.✍️