About Mike Lynch

Mike Lynch is a multimedia reporter for the Adirondack Explorer. He can be reached at mike@adirondackexplorer.org. Sign up for Mike’s newsletter

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  1. louis curth says

    Thanks to Mike Lynch for a wonderful story about the life and many contributions of Tony Goodwin that are embedded in the history of the High Peaks.

    During my time in the DEC headquarters at Ray Brook, Tony dropped by often to try to gain insight into how to prevent mistakes that resulted in the backcountry emergencies that rangers responded to. Tony’s help was a valuable contribution to making outdoor recreation safer for everyone.

    Jim Goodwin, (aunt) Peggy O’Brien, Tony Goodwin, et al, come about as close to being Adirondack “royalty” as we can get around here.

  2. Zephyr says

    A legend in his own time! Tony has done more for Adirondack hiking and skiing than any single other person, and always with a smile. Thank you!

  3. Jeanne says

    Mike, Thanks for this great article! My husband & I have seen Tony many times in the high peaks since 1978. It’s great to have great conversations about all our backpacking adventures! Pete Fish, Pat Munn & Tony ever present educating folks in the backcountry. We need all the help we can get now in the high peaks. It’s true…trailless peaks were seldom traveled, muddy messes are now the norm along with crowds and their trash! I remember hiking to Algonquin walking toward retired ranger Pete Fish. Pete asked what receptical did we carry for our trash? We were prepared to answer all questions and were thrilled to show him, too. Great educators we need more of them!

  4. Richard Hayes Phillips says

    I have worked with Tony Goodwin on the ATIS trail crew for twenty-six years. I showed up for my job interview all covered with mud, and he hired me. Steve Halasz, Steve Langdon and Craig Rutledge were my fellow crew members when I began in 1996. I decided right away never to accept a year-round job ever again so I could do this every year. Since then I have seen many other outstanding individuals come and go. I am on the crew only long enough to clear the blowdown and carve the signs, but I have observed a phenomenal amount of trail improvements — reroutes, bridges, ladders, rock staircases, drainage ditches — all under Tony’s direction. No one has left more of an imprint, all for the better, in the Adirondack High Peaks. I thought Tony would never retire. He has not stopped altogether. This year he was a volunteer. I remember tangling with a multi-limbed hemlock that fell directly into the East River Trail, just like old times.

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