Mount Marcy is the highest of the Adirondack High Peaks, the tallest point in New York state. Never before has the big story of this mountain been told. Never before has the grandeur and controversy of this mountain been fully explored. Now author, hiker, and historian Sandra Weber has written the first book about Mount Marcy.

Published by Purple Mountain Press of Fleischmanns, NY, Mount Marcy: The High Peak of New York is a well-researched and richly illustrated work. According to Adirondack historian Warder Cadbury, "Here is Mount Marcy, from bottom to top, all wrapped up in a neat attractive book. There is geology and botany, the history of its first ascent, the rival egos of the early explorers, and the mix-up about its name. From early women climbers, winter excursions, calamities and clubs to management plans and summit stewards, the narrative is both historical and as fresh as today."

One chapter recounts the mountain's most famous event, which occurred exactly one hundred years ago, September 1901: Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt climbed to the summit of Mount Marcy and declared the surrounding landscape "beautiful country." When he descended a half-mile to Lake Tear of the Clouds, he received word of President McKinley's deteriorating condition. Thus Roosevelt began his race down the mountain to the North Creek train station and eventually to the presidency.

The book tells of other adventurers: artist-author Benson Lossing, philosopher William James, surveyor Verplanck Colvin, conservationist Bob Marshall, and ranger Pete Fish. There are scientists John Torrey, Gifford Pinchot, and Edwin Ketchledge. There is guide Orson Phelps, hiker Grace Hudowalski, and many more. Their accounts describe the beauty of the mountaintop but also illustrate how Mount Marcy has been impacted by iron operations, lumbering, tourism, fire, and hiker overuse.

Despite these past human disturbances, Mount Marcy has returned to a natural state. It is now part of the largest legally designated wilderness area in New York state. And thousands upon thousands of hikers come to "do Marcy" every year.

"Whether you have climbed Marcy's slopes or admired it from afar," Weber says, "I believe the stories in the book will wonderfully enrich your view of the mountain."

Sandra Weber's other two books, The Lure of Esther Mountain: Matriarch of the Adirondack High Peaks and The Finest Square Mile: Mount Jo and Heart Lake, depict the legends and history of two other Adirondack mountains.

The new book, Mount Marcy: The High Peak of New York, is available for $20 at local bookstores.