‘High Peaks Hula Hiker’ puts fresh spin on climbing Adirondack mountains
ESSEX COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Last September, Nafsika Stavis of Schodack did what many Adirondack hikers have done before, scaling Whiteface Mountain and finishing her run of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks.
Unlike the others, though, she stopped at the top in rain and wind to take a spin on her hula hoop.
Donning the title of “High Peaks Hula Hiker” on YouTube, Stavis has vlogged her journey across the high peaks, with elevations as high as over 5,000 feet. It started when she and her five siblings got a wake-up call to healthy living habits, when her two brothers both received emergency open heart surgeries a week apart from each other in 2017.
Stavis, who works in medical care, took up hiking, and picked up hula hoop as a suggestion from a friend with a child. Hiking started on the Adirondack Park’s fire tower trails, but quickly Stavis decided to up the ante.
The journey is chronicled on her YouTube channel, with friends joining her. The road hasn’t all been easy, and even included a park ranger coming the rescue of her and her daughter from a mountain where they were slowed down by rain and caught out after dark.
Now her journey across the 46 is done, but Stavis isn’t. This winter, she’s been snowshoeing various trails in the park.