PC: It becomes a motivation to do the ugly peaks that you wouldn't otherwise do. Also, it’s neat from the standpoint that routes change. Let’s say there is a hurricane or something, and the mapped route is no longer viable. The nicest feeling is when somebody calls you and says, “Hey, I'm planning to do Cliff and Redfield, what can you tell me?” It's like sending somebody through the Feldspar swamp. I haven't been through there in probably five years, but I’ve heard some horror stories from people who have. Gary Koch is on his ninety-ninth round. He knows every little sneaky walk-around and bypass there is. He won’t be stepping on that log that sinks four feet down in the swamp and gets him soaking wet. He knows better. SR: How often do you hike these days? PC: I try to hike Rattlesnake every other day. I did Giant last week in two hours and 55 minutes with no ill effect; I was pleased with that. I hope to head to the lower range next week. SR: Do you use a tracking device? PC: No, I’m a social hiker. I don’t hike alone. SR: While at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, you were counseling in the summer at Camp Poko, climbing high peaks on winter break, and were a Division One wrestler. How did your wrestling career begin? PC: My Junior High gym teacher was the varsity wrestling coach and noticed my interest in the sport in class. In eighth grade he asked me if I wanted to wrestle in the high school intramural tournament. Well, of course I said yes! At the tournament I wrestled a senior and he was beating me, no problem, but right toward the end of the match I rolled him and put him on his back. After the match everyone was pumping me up, telling me I almost had pinned him. That was all I needed to hear, and I wanted to be on the wrestling team. As a freshman the high school team was very strong and were mostly seniors. There was one opening at the 165-pound weight class and three people were competing for the spot: a junior, a sophomore, and me, a freshman. The coach tried the junior and he got pinned twice, and then he tried the sophomore, and he got pinned twice, and then he walks up to me and says, “Hey, can you make 165 pounds for Tuesday’s match?” I was 172 and I lost seven pounds by the following Tuesday. I got pinned in the first match but 12 | ADIRONDACK PEEKS in the second match I stayed off my back and saved the team two points. I never got pinned again and wound up winning a few matches. SR: What were your plans after college? PC: My plan was to enlist in the Air Force; however, things changed on the way to the recruitment office. It’s August 15, and my buddy has an interview at Saranac Central for a teaching job, so we stop there first. During the interview, they told him they need two physical education teachers, and they are also looking for a wrestling coach. He informs them he’s a basketball man, but he’s got a buddy who's looking for a job who wrestled Division One in college, and he’s out in the waiting room. I'm in a dirty t-shirt, an old pair of shorts, and I’m dragged in for an interview. Within the week I’m hired to teach elementary physical education and coach wrestling. This immediately prompts me to apply to Plattsburgh State for my master’s in education and where I earned my CAS in administration. SR: You began a thirty-three-year career at Saranac Central School— initially as a sixth-grade elementary teacher for twenty years—and eventually moved into the administration side of education as the Pupil Personnel Director and Director of Special Education. How long did you coach the school wrestling team? PC: I coached wrestling for fifteen years and officiated for twenty-four years. It was at Saranac Central that I met Mary, my wife, and the rest is history! SR: Mary, your wife of 52 years, was the school dental hygienist and a hiker; she is 46er #2343. Your sons, John (Jay), #2344, and Mark, #2345W, are also 46ers. Did Mary hike all the high peaks with them, or did you climb together? PC: We climbed as a family. Mary claims she went along to protect the boys from their father—but she likes the mountains too! They became 1979 Sectional Wrestling Champs Haystack Revisited: Jay, Mary, and Phil
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