In 2003, the evening of November 21 was an unusually warm one for the Adirondack High Peaks. It was then that topofgothics (David – AKA – top-of-gothics) walked through the Adirondack Loj’s parking lot just as a young woman was getting out of her car. He may have made an unflattering remark about the car (her first brand new car), and he also later offered to share his bottle of wine with TMax (Terri). Likely as not she had the thought “who is this rough-hewn stranger that was trying to get me drunk.’”

Given all that, she agreed that they could hike Algonquin together the next day. While that Saturday the mountain was cloaked in a shroud and giving up few views, the companionship was more than amicable. Sunday morning they parted ways.

TMax would soon offer to take topofgothics hiking in the winter, something he thought was just a bit nuts. The trip they’d met on was the most out-of-season that he’d ever visited the Adirondacks. With that being said, on February 28 2004 they climbed Phelps together on an absolutely perfect blue-bird day with temps just below freezing and strangely enough, no wind! For Christmas that year, TMax gifted a package containing a small green stuffed amphibian (who conveyed a promissory note in his backpack) to topofgothics. Months later the frog was observed studiously going over the High Peaks map and analyzing the squiggly lines on the map. “You’re name should be Topo (top-o)”. ‘No’ he said, ‘my name should be Topo (tow-po)’. Topo it was, and has been since.

Over the next few years they travelled to places to hike, engaged in dialectics and had Grand Adventures. While TMax occasionally went out to climb bigger mountains in the west (sometimes Topo coaxed his way along), their adventures together were confined to the east coast, usually the Adirondack High Peaks.

The Lake Placid Independence Day fireworks in 2008 must have been one heck of a show, since afterward some kind of magic happened. That night they went from being hiking partners and friends to what would evolve into TMax-n-Topo.

Since they were from two different parts of New York State, a plan was needed as they sought a path to live in the High Peak region. TMax would need to stay based just outside the Adirondack Forest Preserve for occupational reasons (necessitating her 6 hour commute on weekends for the first nine years) but the thought of running a small hostel was born, though neither knew that Topo had grander plans than their original ‘dinky’ idea. To add to the ‘street cred’, topofgothics and Topo headed out to hike the Appalachian Trail in March of 2009. This was a Grand Adventure in itself, though more thought should have been given to separating from someone you recently entered into a committed relationship with. That is another story.