The website launched on June 13 and offers detailed trail route descriptions, recent conditions reports, trip preparation resources, historical blog posts and more.

The website and its associated app — with instructions on how to download available on the website — were built by Jonathan Zaharek, a professional photographer, filmmaker and prolific hiker who authored a FalconGuides “Hiking the 46 Adirondack High Peaks” that was released last May.

“That book kind of paved the way for a lot of growth and development in terms of educating myself, bringing my whole hiking career full circle and having an opportunity to give back to the Adirondacks through the means of education,” he said.

The conditions reports on hikeadk.com are gathered from recent first-hand reports from either Zaharek himself or hikers who have posted detailed descriptions of their ventures, either on the site or a number of other forums that Zaharek monitors and summarizes on the website.

Jonathan Zaharek with the guidebook he wrote titled “Hiking the 46 Adirondack High Peaks.” (Provided photo — Jonathan Zaharek)

“People are sharing trail conditions because they are trying to tell people what to look out for — it’s that simple,” he said. “What I want to do then is take that information and try to channel it to those who want to know those things.”

Zaharek, who is originally from Ohio and vacationed in the Adirondacks growing up, moved to Lake Placid full-time in 2019.

“I realized that I loved it here a lot,” he said. “Eventually, I wanted to live here full-time and pursue my photographic endeavors, my hiking passions and I was grateful to have the opportunity.”

Zaharek said the idea for a website began when he was writing the guidebook, informed by the thousands of miles he’s logged hiking in and around the High Peaks. Among Zaharek’s hiking accolades, he’s completed every mile of every type of trail — nearly 300 miles worth — that exists in the High Peaks Wilderness.

Throughout his years spent outdoors, he realized that while there was a lot of hiking resources online, there was no centralized platform where hikers could get the full breadth of information about a hike.

One website might have trail information, another forum could have the latest condition reports, another might convey the latest weather information.

“Everyone’s going to everyone,” he said. “There’s no centralized location for information, the stuff that people need to know.”

Zaharek wanted to build that centralized knowledge base, and do so in a way that’s both rich in its content, but easy to digest while being aesthetically pleasing. He leaned on his skills with photography and website building to shape the user experience.

“I’m first and foremost, an artist,” he said.

Zaharek said an important focus of the website is to create a sense of community amongst hikers, as they are ultimately each other’s greatest resource.

“I wanted to be able to have a dedicated Adirondack resource for people to connect with each other, to learn with each other, to grow with each other,” he said. “Realizing that I had such an amount of information with this book being written, I wanted to put that on a digital platform completely free for people.”

While the website has a pro membership option with a monthly subscription fee, Zaharek said the vast majority of the information and website features are free. The additional features that come with the pro membership include a merchandise discount, exclusive podcast episodes and a one-on-one hiking advice hotline — but Zaharek said he was deliberate to make sure all of the foundational knowledge base is in front of the pay wall.

“You don’t have to pay a dime to use this site — it’s there,” he said.

Though Zaharek spent months of his own time building the website, he said the decision to put it out as a predominantly free resource stays true to the philosophy behind the land that the mountains sit on.

“I think this information shouldn’t be gatekept or withheld,” he said. “It’s forever wild, it’s public lands and I think the information (about it) should be free and public as well.”

Zaharek said the website is not meant to promote the park, but rather protect it by giving people who would already be coming to the area to recreate the best set of knowledge possible to enjoy the land in a sustainable way that doesn’t degrade it.

“It’s a balance of protecting and not gatekeeping,” he said. “I’m not going to tell people ‘don’t come here.’ I want people to come here. I believe in the forever wild. I believe in the public lands and I believe every person has a right to hike here … but there are things we can do to mitigate impact, and that starts with a knowledge base.”

Especially in the case of those new to the High Peaks, Zaharek said being informed tends to lead to more enjoyable experiences and those, in turn, tend to foster a sense of love for the place.

“The best way to preserve this place is by channeling the love that people have for it,” he said. “If you love something, you want to protect it.”

For now, Zaharek said the goal is to get people familiar with the website and continue gathering feedback on what can be added, changed or improved. It’s a work in progress, and Zaharek still considers it a rough draft of what he ultimately hopes it will become as a resource.

As much as there is in the way of information on the site, Zaharek said people are ultimately responsible for themselves when heading into the woods.

“Hiking in general is an inherent risk,” he said. “We strive to provide the most up-to-date and accurate trail information that we can, but conditions always change. … There’s no substitute for experienced preparation.”

In the long term, Zaharek wants to improve the mapping and weather information features on the website, as well as expand the website beyond the High Peaks to include detailed information about the entire Adirondack Park.

“I am a firm believer in exploring the 95% of the park outside of the High Peaks,” he said. “I don’t believe in that because I don’t want people to hike in the High Peaks. I believe in that because I believe that the rest of the park is worthy of that exploration and those who just stay in the High Peaks alone aren’t truly exploring the Adirondack Park.”