RTSpoons Ron Clark

Covid-19 claimed one of us yesterday; Ron Clark died after fighting this monster virus for the past month. Ron was a fellow hiker and lover of the Adirondack High Peaks, and many of you knew him by his hiker/forum name of “RTSpoons”. Not so long ago, I posted a photo on Facebook of Ron during a tough winter hike a few of us did 10+ years ago - Ron's characteristic big mustache was a big icicle! That was a helluva hike. We walked up the Lake Road at the AMR and headed up to do the Wolfjaws & Armstrong. A recent snowfall meant we were honored with breaking trail all the way up to the summits. The going was slow and very difficult, and we laughed when we finally reached the WJ col, only to see that the trail was already broken out from the Johns Brook side. I was exhausted, and managed to get only Lower WJ that day. Ron was a much stronger hiker, and tagged both Upper and Lower... and maybe Armstrong - I don’t recall.
Ron's death is the first fatality of the Coronavirus of someone I personally knew or with whom I was acquainted. My sincere and heartfelt condolences to Ron's family in this difficult time.