Steven Zabretsky

                                                       
Bio: 

• PA Bio: I was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pa then moved to Harrisburg, Pa in
  1982 to work for the PA Department of General Services as a Computer Programmer.
  While I was growing up I always enjoyed the outdoors whenever I had the opportunity. I
  always had dreams of exploring the west and many other places. The Grand Canyon was
  the place I wanted to get to the most. When I was old enough to drive, my favorite thing
  to do was explore places and visit the many swimming holes in the area. I didn't hike a lot
  but when I did I always loved it. When I moved to Harrisburg for work I was mostly
  focused on my new career and a social life. I tried some activities such as downhill
  skiing, X country skiing, canoeing, golf, basketball and baseball. Once in while I did get
  out hiking and always enjoyed it. In 1991 I realized that my social life was becoming a
  drag and I needed to do something else. I bought a mountain bike and started exploring
  the mountains in the area. After covering a lot of ground on my bike, I realized there
  were endless places to hike. By 1996 I started taking hiking more serious and began
  exploring areas I couldn't get to on a bike. Then hiking officially became my favorite
  activity. After exploring many trails, I began venturing off trail. To this day I still visit
  places I have been to and there are still new places to be found in the Harrisburg area. In
  2015 I retired after 32.5 years of working for the Commonwealth of PA. I moved around
  a little bit and ended up back where I started. I didn't climb the career ladder too high
  because I had other things to climb. Since then I have been going to many other places
  throughout the US either by myself or with my girlfriend and exploring.
• 
  LV Bio: My first trip to Las Vegas was in June of 1992. I came out on a trip with my
  dad, some other family and about 50 people I didn't know. I thought this might be my
  only chance to live my dream and hike the Grand Canyon because I thought I may never
  get back here. Wow, was I wrong. During the 1st 2 days we checked out the strip and
  went to the Hoover Dam. The 3rd day I went to Zion with a friend and we hiked up to
  Hidden Canyon. That was my first hike out west. Then I only had one day left, so I got
  up early planning to drive to the Grand Canyon, Hike it, and drive back. I ended up at
  Havasupai Canyon because the map showed a road that led to the Grand Canyon that
  didn't exist. I only hiked a few miles down and back. The following year I came out for
  2 weeks by myself and the first thing I did was drive to the Grand Canyon and hiked to
  Phantom Ranch and back. The rest of the time I spent visiting as many national parks as
  I could and racked up over 3000 miles on my rental. In January of 1994 my dad got
  married in Las Vegas and I was the best man. This was a short trip where I didn't have
  much time to go anywhere, so I decided to check out Red Rock Canyon. When I got
  there I chose Ice Box Canyon and found that to be one of the coolest places I have been.
  The next day I hiked up Turtlehead Peak and was amazed by how many peaks and
  canyons there were. After that throughout the 90's I was coming out every Thanksgiving
  and focusing on Red Rock Canyon. I covered all the trails on the map including Bridge
  Mountain by 1999. Between then and 2012 I was coming out at least 4 times a year,
  sometimes for 2 weeks and exploring Red Rock and Mount Charleston. By around 2010
  I got to about everywhere I could by myself. Most hikes were revisiting places I had
  been. In 2012 I joined the 52 Peak Club. I had already done 30 1/2 peaks by myself. My
• first peak with the club was Gunsight on 3/31/12 and my last peak was First Creek Peak 12/9/18.

  
Why I joined the 52 Peak Club: It was a great opportunity to meet other people that enjoy what I do and
get to places that I was not comfortable doing myself.

Age: 59
 
Date Completed:  12/9/2018
 
Toughest Peak: Tie between Bridge mountain via Fern Creek or the Mummy's Head Loop.
 
Favorite Hike:  Rainbow with the group, Gunsight via Pine Creek by myself.
 
How Did I Feel When Done:  Tired and happy. 
 
Advice for New Hikers:  ​ If you are not experienced start out on small peaks listed as slow or go on fitness hikes.
Scrambling is like anything else, you need to practice to get better.
Listen to and respect the leaders, they are dedicating their time and money to help you.
Don't be offended if you are not accepted for a hike, be grateful. Struggling to keep up
with a group is not enjoyable. After you do enough hikes the leaders will know if you can keep up with the group.
Many leaders posts slow to moderate hikes.
​