You will hear us!!

GVC has purchased an induction loop to provide those of us who need hearing assistance. It will be in operation at Chapter meetings. You can use it in at least 2 ways: if you use hearing aids that are equipped with a t-coil, just turn on that feature for the presentation. We also have 5 personal receivers for individual use. Either way, you will have an enhanced experience.
Contact Bill Lindenfelser or Katy Kuczek for more info.

Program:

Twice Across the Continental Divide on Amtrak

by Jere Fletcher

Does a transcontinental train trip across the U.S. or Canada sound like an adventure on your dream list? How long will you be on the “road”? Where do you stop, and why? What do you wear? How do the dining cars work and what do they serve? Is it airline food? Will your experience and skills from the outdoors and backpacking be useful? Will the natives be friendly?

ADK-GVC member Jere Fletcher recreates his two-week journey in the late summer of 2020 on the Amtrak system twice across the Continental Divide. With stops along the way including three nights in Denver, traversing a glacier, summiting a peak, passage through a Colorado canyon torched by wildfire, across northern Nevada and the Sierras in California, walks through Portland, and confrontation with a punk. Suppose you arrive at Glacier National Park but with no vehicle? What are the options—can you ride the bears?

Fletcher’s first and only long-distance train travel had been in Europe during the Vietnam Era. He learned to sleep in a train seat overnight to a destination. When not on a train back then, he slept outside without shelter on several occasions. He traveled by train from Madrid, Spain, to near the top of Norway above the Arctic Circle, then back down the length of Sweden to Copenhagen.

After a gap of several decades, Fletcher resumed long-distance train travel in February 2020 with an Amtrak trip from Yuma in southwest Arizona back to Rochester. It began with two overnights on the Sunset Limited followed by the Texas Eagle. When Amtrak sent news of a roomette sale in June 2020, Fletcher was restless for a post-lock down adventure.

Fletcher has had a life-long interest in trains. His great-grandfather was a Tennessee railway entrepreneur in the late 1800s. He has summited more than half of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks, as well as peaks in the White Mountains, including Mt. Washington, along with Arizona’s Humphrey Peak and many in Spain and the Pyrenees. In 2016, he traveled the Camino de Santiago by bicycle and on foot. When he is not engaged in travel and adventures, Fletcher is an attorney here in Rochester, and has been active in the western New York Argentine tango community.

Program:

Hiking the ‘O’ Route in Patagonia

by Luke Nelson

In February 2025, Luke Nelson took a 16 day Pack, Paddle Ski (PPS) trip to Patagonia with a few friends.  How did this trip come about?  Why is Patagonia so special?  Have you ever wondered where it is?  What is the infamous Patagonia wind?  What is the terrain like and what wildlife would you see?  What can be done in upstate New York to plan for a rugged trip like this?  What did they carry in their backpacks for the famous Torres del Paine ‘O’ Route?  Also:

• Did they see live avalanches?  Yes
• Did they walk among thousands of Magellanic Penguins?  Yes
• Did they see Glaciers actively calving off?  Yes
• Did they see lots of cool wildlife including Pumas?  Yes
• Did they have to walk on 1 person only long suspended bridges that swayed back and forth?  Yes
• Did they hike up a mountain pass and climb down to a massive glacier?  Yes

ADK-GVC member Luke Nelson will walk you through this trip to the bottom of South America in the infamous Patagonia area which covers parts of Chile and Argentina.  He walked among Penguins, spent 8 days hiking in Torres del Paine National Park (on the famous ‘O’ Route), hiked down to and along Grey Glacier, walked across several (single person only) suspension bridges, witnessed avalanches, saw Pumas and watched live Glacier calving.  He also hiked among many glaciers and mountains witnessing fantastic viewpoints such as Cerro Torre, the needles of Egger and Fitz Roy (the King of Patagonia).  

Luke is an avid hiker, backpacker, adventurer and suffers from wanderlust.  He is an Adirondack 46er, Catskill 35er (now 33) and is actively working on the Northeast 115 (having completed 88 thus far).  He has hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, climbed the Katahdin ‘Knife Edge’, climbed Half Dome (in Yosemite), climbed down into the Haleakala volcano in Maui and hiked in the Canadian Rockies.  He regularly hikes over 500 miles/year.

He has also visited and hiked in Glacier NP, Grand Canyon NP, Olympic NP, Shenandoah NP, Haleakala NP, Everglades NP, Great Smoky Mountains NP and went on a 10-day backpacking trip to the Wind River Range in Wyoming.