Abstract
In this creative non-fiction narrative, the author uses her experiences and observations as a High Peaks Summit Steward in New York State's Adirondack Mountains to contemplate people's varying relationships with mountain landscapes. After discussing the rising popularity and subsequent environmental impacts of "peak-bagging," she describes the emergence of a new ethic of stewardship, encouraging appreciation for and proper management of fragile alpine ecosystems. Meanwhile, she illustrates how her own perceptions and understandings of the Adirondack wilderness evolves through the course of long, frequently uncomfortable, and just as frequently awe-inspiring months working on the mountaintops.