Corrections and Updates: April 8, 2009

At the Mercy of the Mountains has now been out for one year, offering an excellent opportunity to hear feedback from readers. During that time, several corrections and updates have come to my attention. Despite my exhaustive research, a few errors did slip past both me and the fact checkers/editors at my publisher (this is inevitable in any book-length work, I think). Some were simple typos (my error). Some were errors in my source material (i.e. eyewitness accounts, old newspapers accounts) that I then carried forward in my version of events. Other corrections arose from the fact that one misadventure may have had multiple and conflicting accounts, which required me to try and sort out what was and was not factually accurate. The following corrections and updates are complete to the best of my knowledge, though I'll update the list if necessary.

Page 17 - Notes that by the time Mount Marcy was climbed in 1837, New Hampshire's Mount Washington already had a summit house and auto road to the top. In fact, the first summit house was built in 1852. The road was began in 1854, and completed in 1861.

Page 18 - Notes that Lewis and Clark passed the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Rather, they passed the headwaters of the Missouri River.

Page 73 - Hoffmeister is located about 5 miles northeast of the crash site, Wilder Mountain, and not 5 miles south of the site.

Page 81 - References the Appalachian Trail Improvement Society. Should read Adirondack Trail Improvement Society.

Page 82 - Describes the road through Chapel Pond Pass (Route 73) as part of the Montreal New York Highway. The MNYH was a north-south route that roughly overlapped modern day US Route 9. In this sense, Route 73 through Chapel Pond Pass was not part of the MNYH proper. However, the MNYH did include several spur roads, of which Route 73 was one. Prior to the completion of Route 73 through the pass, northbound travelers to Lake Placid had to exit at Keeseville and then "backtrack" to Lake Placid. The Route 73 spur of the MNYH allowed a more direct route to Lake Placid.

Page 82 - Also describes Route 73 as "little more than a rough dirt track." By 1938, when Maria Gersen's misadventure took place, the road through Chapel Pond Pass had been paved for at least two years. The road was paved in two phases, and accounts in local Adirondack newspapers from the 1930s confirm that the paving job seems to have been completed by 1936, prior to Gersen's incident.

Pages 94-95 - These pages detail Beattie and Griffin's encounter with a cook at the ADK's Adirondack Loj. The encounter actually took place with a meteorologist at the weather station atop Whiteface shortly thereafter.

Page 99 - The third paragraph references how Beattie and Griffin waited for Griffin. It should read, "Beattie and Eldridge...waited for Griffin."

Pages 165, 287 - Both pages cite the disappearance of Douglass Legg as 1961. Douglass Legg disappeared in 1971 (the date is correctly noted in the bibliography citations).

Page 187 - References 600 miles of trails in the Five Ponds Wilderness Area. My 600 miles number comes directly from a 1995 article published in Adirondac, the magazine of the Adirondack Mountain Club, discussing the aftermath of the blowdown incident in the Five Ponds. However, that number is almost certainly a typo. The state's Unit Management Plan for Five Ponds, which dates to 1994, one year before the blowdown, notes 50+ miles of trail. The Adirondack Mountain Club currently lists 58 miles of trail for Five Ponds.

Page 220 - References Chris Heisen. Should read Chris Hyson.

Page 312 - References Mary Lou Record. Should read Mary Lou Recor

In addition to the corrections and updates noted above, some readers have suggested corrections with which I disagree. They are:

Multiple pages - In many places, I reference New York as being part of New England. Some readers have taken issue with this, pointing out that NY is not part of New England. Although in the modern day, NY is generally accepted as being outside the region known as New England, historically there is room for debate for several reasons. Firstly, early maps from the 17th century clearly show New England and New York. At that time, New York extended eastward to the Connecticut River, well into what today is considered New England. It wasn't until later that western portions of present day CT and MA shifted hands from NY to "New England." Secondly, New York later officially became a part of New England. When New York changed hands from the Dutch to English, NY was absorbed into the Dominion of New England (in 1688). For a number of years afterward, then, NY and New England were one. Later, NY and New England did cleave from one another. Some sources suggest the division arose from a power struggle between New York City and Boston, the region's two dominant cities. Others suggest it was more simply a matter of NY and New England's eventual states exercising their autonomy as they wrestled for independence from England. Thirdly, and lastly, northern New York - and especially the Adirondacks - has more in common with northern New England (culturally and ecologically) than it does with downstate New York. The Adirondacks, Vermont and New Hampshire - despite differences between them - certainly have more in common with one another than northern New England does with southern New England in many ways. It's important to keep in mind that modern day New England is not a political entity, the way it once was in the early days of the nation. New England is a region, one with a shared history, culture, and landscape, and as long as I've made clear why I believe NY can be categorized as part of New England, then I am justified in doing so (as a native of New York, mind you). Some readers - undoubtedly from both NY and New England - will still object to the categorization. Hopefully, though, those readers can understand my rationale.

Page 255 - References that between Squaw and Little Indian lakes, the road becomes a snowmobile track. Some readers have suggested that, conditions permitting, the road can be driven all the way to Little Indian Lake. Some readers also note that a snowmobile track beyond Little Indian Lake is illogical, since the terrain south of the lake is in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness, where snowmobile travel is prohibited. The citation of the road turning into a snowmobile track comes directly from my interview with a NYSDEC Forest Ranger who participated in the search for Birchmeyer. A few further points of clarification are warranted: First, I should draw a distinction between summer and winter, which have different access issues for the road in question. During summer, one can drive all the way to Little Indian Lake. In winter, on the other hand, winter maintenance ends at Cedar River Flow, where the town of Indian Lake manages a parking lot for snowmobiles. This is a popular snowmobile access point for the Moose River Plains, and snowmobile travel is legal along the road where Birchmeyer's vehicle was found. Birchmeyer visited during hunting season, when the road would still be open to vehicles, though snowfall would impact how far one could reasonably drive. What's more, official Adirondack Park Agency documents cite continued problems with snowmobile traffic intruding into West Canada Lakes from Moose River Plains. The Forest Ranger could have been referring to winter snowmobile access on the road, or to illegal snowmobile tracks leading south from Little Indian Lake into the West Canada Lakes Wilderness. Regardless, the location of Birchmeyer's vehicle and the circumstances of his death - including crossing "the track" - are factually accurate.