The High Peaks is the name for the 46 highest summits in the Adirondacks of New York. Most are over 4,000 feet. Wikipedia has a nice description.
Climbing all 46 peaks over some time period has been a thing to do for decades. The ADK46-R Club has recorded thousands of people who have completed them all.
"Cave Dog" Ted Keizer set the speed record for climbing all 46 peaks June 24-27, 2002, 3d18h14m.
The record stood for 6 years, until it was broken by exactly 1 hour during June 24-27, 2008, by Jan Wellford, 3d17h14m. Jan's detailed splits for the trip are here. In an interview, Jan makes some interesting comments about the issue of style in the ADK46. In particular, Jan started his timing at the first trail head, rather than as the base of the first mountain as Cave Dog had done (adding roughly an hour to the time), and he originally intended to avoid private land and access roads, though ended up using some private access.
Because I was behind schedule so early on day 2 I was forced to hike some extra miles in order to make the route work. For example, it is easy to bushwhack from Dial to the Dix trail, but I wasn’t on Dial until after 9 pm, so the bushwhack would have been in the dark and the Dix Range would have been very difficult because of the late hour. I hiked about 153 miles—I initially thought I could do the entire route without private land in as little as 145 if I did it properly. -- Jan Wellford
As is always the case in mountaineering, "rules" and "style" are key questions for each climber.
Jan Wellford & Cory Delavalle have the FKT for an unsupported thru-hike of the 46 peaks, 7d14h15m starting September 7, 2009. Their route came to 196 miles with about 65,000 feet of elevation gain. The pair carried all their supplies and food, taking only water from natural sources. Delavalle's (very detailed!) report indicates that the 46 peaks had been done as a thru-hike with some resupply drops in 10+d in 2002 by Ed Bunk and Jim Kobak.
Nancy LaBaff and Claudia Warren did all 46 High Peaks (supported) in 6d22h4m in the summer of 2020 (not exactly sure of the dates), as reported here, and elsewhere. LaBaff had previously done them all in about 8 days (2008?).
Distance and Elevation Gain listed here are from Alyssa Godesky's 8/20/20 FKT - this is an Open Course, so mileage will vary!
Comments
Hi everyone!
I'm planning to make a run for a Supported attempt at the 46ers, started Monday August 17th at 4am.
I'll be carrying a Garmin inReach Mini -- link to tracking is: https://share.garmin.com/agodesky
Looking forward to being in the woods for a few days.
I'll let you know how it goes!
Alyssa
I'll also be making an attempt at the supported 46 High Peaks starting on Monday August 17th at midnight (ish) :)
You can track me via my Garmin inReach Mini here: share.garmin.com/skeyes
Can't wait to race @agodesky !
https://share.garmin.com/skeyes
yay! Good luck to Sarah (@sarahkeyes) and Alyssa(@agodesky)! Creating the women's record with a little race...I imagine however it turns out, this record could last a while :) You go ladies!
Hi everyone! Katie Rhodes and I plan to make an attempt on the unsupported thru hike record. We're looking at a potential start date of Thursday, 9/10 at 10 am. We do not plan to have a live tracker, but will have a GPS watch and take a photo on every summit. We'll also text out updates every day from one of the summits. We're excited to get in the mountains!
Bethany Garretson
I did this. 7/24-8/7. It's on Strava.
As a thru-hike I should say.
Hi Taylor! Would it be possible for you to share the links to your strava activities or to submit this through the "add an FKT" feature so that we can have all the data? Thank you!
Charlotte
FKT Regional Editor
Hello, everyone! Katie Ghidiu and I are setting out on an attempt to break the current unsupported thru hike record this week. Weather depending, we hope to start on 6/15. Here is a link to our live tracker: https://share.garmin.com/KatieGhidiu
We are both excited to get out into the mountains!
Nate Huckle
Hi everyone! I will be attempting the unsupported 46er FKT starting tomorrow, June 22, at around 5:30am. I am planning to start at the Upper Works Trailhead and finish at Marble Mountain. My goal time is less than 5 days. I'm not going to do live tracking but will upload GPS tracks and photos when completed.
Hi everyone!
I’ll be attempting the unsupported 46er FKT starting on Tuesday, August 3rd. I plan to start around 5:30am from Coreys Road. If all goes well, I’ll be finishing at the SUNY Atmospheric Research Center. My goal time is sub 4 days. I don’t plan on live tracking, but will post the GPS recording and photos, along with a trip report if I’m successful.
Hey FKT world! I'm planning to take a crack at the 46 supported record, beginning 9 am Monday, 8/2 morning. Katie Rhodes is my coordinator and lead pacer and we will have a live track to follow. https://share.garmin.com/lightningandlogic?fbclid=IwAR3rwfp5se2NPo_CQWE…
Super excited!!!
Hi everyone, where can I find the route? Or I need to plan one myself?