October 10, 2025 • 12 mins
On April 12, 1976, 19-year-old Steven Paul Thomas sat down at a lean-to on the trail to Mt Marcy, brewed himself a cup of tea, and told his hiking partners he was going out for a short walk. He never came back...
What followed was one of the most puzzling disappearances in Adirondack history. Hundreds of searchers, helicopters, dogs, and years of follow-up would turn up no trace of the young hiker. His family, especially his brother, would spend decades combing the High Peaks, chasing answers the forest never gave up.
Was it exposure, disorientation, or an accident hidden by the terrain? Or was something darker at play that afternoon in the Adirondack High Peaks?
Join me as we discuss the tragic mystery of Steven Paul Thomas.
Resources & References:
Looking for help to improve your your fitness for hiking, nutrition, discipline, and daily habits?
Apply to work with James 1-on-1 in his Seek To Do More coaching program at www.seektodomore.com
Join the next GREAT RANGE ATHLETE Team and get in mountain-hiking shape alongside a likeminded group in just 6 weeks from your local gym or house.
Join the team at www.greatrangeathlete.com
Follow on Instagram & Facebook:
@46of46podcast
@jamesappleton46
Get my books:
1.) The Adirondack 46 in 18 Hikes: The Complete Guide to Hiking the High Peaks
2.) Adirondack Campfire Stories: Tales and Folklore from Inside the Blue Line
Visit my other websites:
www.46OUTDOORS.com
www.46OF46.com
What followed was one of the most puzzling disappearances in Adirondack history. Hundreds of searchers, helicopters, dogs, and years of follow-up would turn up no trace of the young hiker. His family, especially his brother, would spend decades combing the High Peaks, chasing answers the forest never gave up.
Was it exposure, disorientation, or an accident hidden by the terrain? Or was something darker at play that afternoon in the Adirondack High Peaks?
Join me as we discuss the tragic mystery of Steven Paul Thomas.
Resources & References:
- Adirondack Life — “In Limbo” (article on Thomas’s disappearance)
- NamUs Case MP9488 — Steven Paul Thomas
- Community archives and historical accounts of the 1976 search effort
Looking for help to improve your your fitness for hiking, nutrition, discipline, and daily habits?
Apply to work with James 1-on-1 in his Seek To Do More coaching program at www.seektodomore.com
Join the next GREAT RANGE ATHLETE Team and get in mountain-hiking shape alongside a likeminded group in just 6 weeks from your local gym or house.
Join the team at www.greatrangeathlete.com
Follow on Instagram & Facebook:
@46of46podcast
@jamesappleton46
Get my books:
1.) The Adirondack 46 in 18 Hikes: The Complete Guide to Hiking the High Peaks
2.) Adirondack Campfire Stories: Tales and Folklore from Inside the Blue Line
Visit my other websites:
www.46OUTDOORS.com
www.46OF46.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
This is the forty six and forty six podcast October Sessions,
where we'll talk all things spooky and Irondacks in more,
from bigfoot encounters on the NPT to ghostly sightings in
the trees. Will dive deep into the heart of these
mountains and the people who dare to climb them. From
Adirondack bigfoots to haunted lakeside bar huts, it's all here
(00:31):
on the forty six and forty six October Sessions. In
April of nineteen seventy six, a nineteen year old sat
down at a lean to, made himself a cup of tea,
(00:53):
and then walked into the woods, never to be seen again.
High above the valleys, the Adirondack high peaks stand like
stone giants. They're wild, unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous, especially in
(01:14):
the spring when snow still clings to the slopes and
storms can roll in without warning.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Every year hikers get caught unprepared, but some never return.
We like to believe it's always the mountain itself that
claims them, But is that really the whole story, or
are there sometimes darker possibilities. This October I'm diving into
(01:44):
some of the most chilling unsolved disappearances in Adirondack history,
and tonight we head to the trails of the high Peaks,
in particular Mount Marcy. This is the story of Stephen
Paul Thomas last scene at a high Peaks lean to
on April twelfth, nineteen seventy six.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
So picture this spring.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Snow still blankets the Adirondack high peaks, the wind is whipping,
temperatures hover near single digits, and at a rustic lean
to on the trail up Mount Marcy, a young man
set down his pack, lights a stove and brews some tea.
He chats briefly with his two friends, and then he says,
(02:37):
I'm going for a walk. He steps away into the woods.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And he never returns.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Steve Paul Thomas was nineteen years old in April nineteen
seventy six. He joined a group of five college students
hiking Mount Marcy, Mark Seymour, James Thackerberry, Ken Sherwood, Robert Brumley,
and Bruce Weaver. Bruce had invited Steve at the last minute,
making the group six. Steve was quieter than most in
(03:06):
the group. Friend said he was off in a bit
of an introvert On.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
That fateful day.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
He wore a yellow rain jacket over a blue down jacket, jeans, boots,
but carried with him almost nothing else. At around three
point thirty pm, after hours of cold, snow and wind,
the group decided to stay put for the night at
a lean two located on the route towards the Marcie's Summit.
According to Adirondack Life magazine, on April twelfth, nineteen seventy six,
(03:36):
nineteen year old Steve Thomas made a cup of tea
at a lean to on the trail to Mount Marcy,
told his hiking party he was taking a walk.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And then vanished.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He hung his backpack behind the lean to and saying
he was going down the.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Trail just a little further, He walked off.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
On his own into deep snow and bitter cold. The
temperature that evening was brutal. Winds gusted up to fifty
five to sixty miles an hour, and the windchill could
have dropped to negative forty degrees. When the group realized
(04:16):
Steve had not returned by around six o'clock, they attempted
a search by flashlight themselves, despite the severe conditions. As
they searched, they wondered where is he? Where'd he go?
But they pushed outward, but their own footsteps buried or
obscured any potential tracks, and the storms overpowered the land.
(04:37):
They turned back to the lean to, fearing for their
own safety.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The dog traveling with them.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Even grew agitated and wouldn't leave the tent, and they
spent the night a week hoping Steve had found shelter
somewhere else or that he would return. But when dawn came,
they split into search teams. A few of them hiked
to get help from the rangers, and others stayed to
search nearby trails and look around the mountain, But even
in daylight in the frozen forest, nothing showed up. The
(05:08):
search that followed was among the most intense the region
had ever seen, but across snow and rock, hikers found nothing,
not so much of even a fragment of gear, no
sign whatsoever. The High Peaks region in April is brutal.
(05:29):
The storms and cold can shift the person's condition in hours.
Trails vanished beneath the snow, the forest is dense, the
wind is whipping. It doesn't take long for footprints to
be completely erased, and Steve left no significant sign behind it.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
The backpack was at the lean to.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
He wore just a moderate cold weather clothing, and he
didn't even have a map or radio. His decision to
walk off alone at that hour puzzled even the investigators.
Why didn't he bring any equipment? Where was he going?
What was his plan? Was he testing the distance? Was
he trying to find a better trip up the mountain?
(06:11):
Or was it something else? Adirondack Life magazine notes that
Steve's brother, Bob Thomas, has since climbed Mount Marcy hundreds
of times, traversing terrain and slopes in search of a
clue for his brother, but he too has found nothing.
They were only a mile from the summit at the
(06:33):
Hopkins lean To. What happened to Step and Paul Thomas?
And like anything, there are lots of theories. Theory one
(06:54):
accidental wound. He got hurt or maybe succumbed to the exposure.
Given the brutal conditions, Steve might have fallen, slipped, broken
a limb, or collapsed, and once down in the drifts,
he could have been difficult to see. And those kinds
of injuries can incapacitate someone quickly, but they would have
found him eventually. Theory too disorientation. With blizzard like conditions,
(07:19):
they can disorient even the most experienced hikers, and Steve
may have wandered off trail and couldn't retrace his steps
and possibly died in the cold in deep snow above
tree line. Anybody can get swallowed whole by the Melton.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Then there's another theory.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Was it foul play or an intentional disappearance. You know,
some skeptics have speculated about involvement from his hiking group,
or that he intended to wander off and simply disappear,
But there's really no credible evidence to support that. No
known suspects, no confessions, no public reports at the time
emphasis that searchers found no indication of foul play.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
But it does make one wonder.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Even if Steve's body ended up somewhere not far from
the Hopkins Lean to, you know, exposure, shifting of the snow,
and years of that freezing and thawing could scatter bones
or bury them under debris around the forest. But in
any case, the prolonged searches over the last few decades
haven't revealed any definitive human remains.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
In fact, they've found nothing.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
One could easily spend a lifetime looking for a body
up on Mount Marcy above tree line and still come
up empty, because it's that big. For decades, Steven's brother
Bob combed the terrain, covering thousands of miles and hundreds
of times up Mount Marcy looking for his brother, and
he never found a single sign. But he did turn
(08:52):
up the body of another missing hiker named Buddy Atkinson
as he searched for his brother Steve. Steve remains no
confirmed evidence ties into any specific location, but because his
disappearance is still considered an open case, any detail, no
matter how small, could be meaningful. If you have knowledge
(09:14):
your recollection about the April twelfth, nineteen seventy six disappearance
of Stephen Paul Thomas, your urge to contact New York
State Police Troop B, or any appropriate regional investigator. It's
sobering to think that a hiker and familiar mountains on
trails we all love, bruined some tea simply vanished without
(09:36):
a trace. Stephen Paul Thomas isn't the first person the
Adirondacks has swallowed up, and he won't be the last.
Next time, on the forty six to forty six podcast
October Sessions will journey into a hunter's route near Brandt
Lake and examine the disappearance of Tom Messeick Senior back
(09:56):
in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
It's a modern mystery in the act Ondack Woods.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Until then, be safe out there, be prepared, and always
respect the mountains you're climbing in. Hey everyone, it's James,
thanks for listening to this year's October sessions. Speaking of October,
the Next Great Range Athlete team kicks off this month
(10:23):
October nineteenth. So if you've ever felt exhausted halfway through
your hike and run down for days to follow, no
matter how much cardio you do to prepare, it probably
means you're training isn't building the strength and endurance that
your body really needs for the mountains. I've been there,
and we're going to help you fix that. Join the
Next Great Range Athlete program, where we will help you
(10:45):
train smarter, get stronger, and build real trail fitness that
lasts that translates to your ability to climb mountains, and
you'll do it amongst the group of like minded people.
Head over to Great Rangeathlete dot com so you never
have to burn out on your hikes again. Instead, you'll
start hiking stronger, longer, and with way more confidence. The
(11:06):
next team kicks off October nineteenth. Join at Great rangeathlete
dot com and I will see you on the team.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Hey everybody, my name is Annie. I'm from Severn, Maryland,
just outside of Baltimore. I joined the Great Range Athlete
team because I wanted to step up from just taking
walks in the woods to kind of undertaking more serious hikes.
I also wanted to feel stronger in tackling all these
challenges by myself and doing all these climbs by myself
(11:37):
as well. I got exactly what I was looking for.
Like James says, you get out what you put in,
and I was all in. So when I opened up
to the team with my struggles, I was met with
support and I just watched myself get stronger in body
and determination. The program last six weeks, but it's something
(12:00):
that is going to stay with me well into the future.
This is the forty six and forty six podcast October Sessions,
where we'll talk all things spooky and Irondacks in more,
from bigfoot encounters on the NPT to ghostly sightings in
the trees. Will dive deep into the heart of these
mountains and the people who dare to climb them. From
Adirondack bigfoots to haunted lakeside bar huts, it's all here
(00:31):
on the forty six and forty six October Sessions. In
April of nineteen seventy six, a nineteen year old sat
down at a lean to, made himself a cup of tea,
(00:53):
and then walked into the woods, never to be seen again.
High above the valleys, the Adirondack high peaks stand like
stone giants. They're wild, unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous, especially in
(01:14):
the spring when snow still clings to the slopes and
storms can roll in without warning.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Every year hikers get caught unprepared, but some never return.
We like to believe it's always the mountain itself that
claims them, But is that really the whole story, or
are there sometimes darker possibilities. This October I'm diving into
(01:44):
some of the most chilling unsolved disappearances in Adirondack history,
and tonight we head to the trails of the high Peaks,
in particular Mount Marcy. This is the story of Stephen
Paul Thomas last scene at a high Peaks lean to
on April twelfth, nineteen seventy six.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
So picture this spring.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Snow still blankets the Adirondack high peaks, the wind is whipping,
temperatures hover near single digits, and at a rustic lean
to on the trail up Mount Marcy, a young man
set down his pack, lights a stove and brews some tea.
He chats briefly with his two friends, and then he says,
(02:37):
I'm going for a walk. He steps away into the woods.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And he never returns.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Steve Paul Thomas was nineteen years old in April nineteen
seventy six. He joined a group of five college students
hiking Mount Marcy, Mark Seymour, James Thackerberry, Ken Sherwood, Robert Brumley,
and Bruce Weaver. Bruce had invited Steve at the last minute,
making the group six. Steve was quieter than most in
(03:06):
the group. Friend said he was off in a bit
of an introvert On.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
That fateful day.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
He wore a yellow rain jacket over a blue down jacket, jeans, boots,
but carried with him almost nothing else. At around three
point thirty pm, after hours of cold, snow and wind,
the group decided to stay put for the night at
a lean two located on the route towards the Marcie's Summit.
According to Adirondack Life magazine, on April twelfth, nineteen seventy six,
(03:36):
nineteen year old Steve Thomas made a cup of tea
at a lean to on the trail to Mount Marcy,
told his hiking party he was taking a walk.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
And then vanished.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He hung his backpack behind the lean to and saying
he was going down the.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Trail just a little further, He walked off.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
On his own into deep snow and bitter cold. The
temperature that evening was brutal. Winds gusted up to fifty
five to sixty miles an hour, and the windchill could
have dropped to negative forty degrees. When the group realized
(04:16):
Steve had not returned by around six o'clock, they attempted
a search by flashlight themselves, despite the severe conditions. As
they searched, they wondered where is he? Where'd he go?
But they pushed outward, but their own footsteps buried or
obscured any potential tracks, and the storms overpowered the land.
(04:37):
They turned back to the lean to, fearing for their
own safety.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The dog traveling with them.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Even grew agitated and wouldn't leave the tent, and they
spent the night a week hoping Steve had found shelter
somewhere else or that he would return. But when dawn came,
they split into search teams. A few of them hiked
to get help from the rangers, and others stayed to
search nearby trails and look around the mountain, But even
in daylight in the frozen forest, nothing showed up. The
(05:08):
search that followed was among the most intense the region
had ever seen, but across snow and rock, hikers found nothing,
not so much of even a fragment of gear, no
sign whatsoever. The High Peaks region in April is brutal.
(05:29):
The storms and cold can shift the person's condition in hours.
Trails vanished beneath the snow, the forest is dense, the
wind is whipping. It doesn't take long for footprints to
be completely erased, and Steve left no significant sign behind it.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
The backpack was at the lean to.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
He wore just a moderate cold weather clothing, and he
didn't even have a map or radio. His decision to
walk off alone at that hour puzzled even the investigators.
Why didn't he bring any equipment? Where was he going?
What was his plan? Was he testing the distance? Was
he trying to find a better trip up the mountain?
(06:11):
Or was it something else? Adirondack Life magazine notes that
Steve's brother, Bob Thomas, has since climbed Mount Marcy hundreds
of times, traversing terrain and slopes in search of a
clue for his brother, but he too has found nothing.
They were only a mile from the summit at the
(06:33):
Hopkins lean To. What happened to Step and Paul Thomas?
And like anything, there are lots of theories. Theory one
(06:54):
accidental wound. He got hurt or maybe succumbed to the exposure.
Given the brutal conditions, Steve might have fallen, slipped, broken
a limb, or collapsed, and once down in the drifts,
he could have been difficult to see. And those kinds
of injuries can incapacitate someone quickly, but they would have
found him eventually. Theory too disorientation. With blizzard like conditions,
(07:19):
they can disorient even the most experienced hikers, and Steve
may have wandered off trail and couldn't retrace his steps
and possibly died in the cold in deep snow above
tree line. Anybody can get swallowed whole by the Melton.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Then there's another theory.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Was it foul play or an intentional disappearance. You know,
some skeptics have speculated about involvement from his hiking group,
or that he intended to wander off and simply disappear,
But there's really no credible evidence to support that. No
known suspects, no confessions, no public reports at the time
emphasis that searchers found no indication of foul play.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
But it does make one wonder.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Even if Steve's body ended up somewhere not far from
the Hopkins Lean to, you know, exposure, shifting of the snow,
and years of that freezing and thawing could scatter bones
or bury them under debris around the forest. But in
any case, the prolonged searches over the last few decades
haven't revealed any definitive human remains.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
In fact, they've found nothing.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
One could easily spend a lifetime looking for a body
up on Mount Marcy above tree line and still come
up empty, because it's that big. For decades, Steven's brother
Bob combed the terrain, covering thousands of miles and hundreds
of times up Mount Marcy looking for his brother, and
he never found a single sign. But he did turn
(08:52):
up the body of another missing hiker named Buddy Atkinson
as he searched for his brother Steve. Steve remains no
confirmed evidence ties into any specific location, but because his
disappearance is still considered an open case, any detail, no
matter how small, could be meaningful. If you have knowledge
(09:14):
your recollection about the April twelfth, nineteen seventy six disappearance
of Stephen Paul Thomas, your urge to contact New York
State Police Troop B, or any appropriate regional investigator. It's
sobering to think that a hiker and familiar mountains on
trails we all love, bruined some tea simply vanished without
(09:36):
a trace. Stephen Paul Thomas isn't the first person the
Adirondacks has swallowed up, and he won't be the last.
Next time, on the forty six to forty six podcast
October Sessions will journey into a hunter's route near Brandt
Lake and examine the disappearance of Tom Messeick Senior back
(09:56):
in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
It's a modern mystery in the act Ondack Woods.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Until then, be safe out there, be prepared, and always
respect the mountains you're climbing in. Hey everyone, it's James,
thanks for listening to this year's October sessions. Speaking of October,
the Next Great Range Athlete team kicks off this month
(10:23):
October nineteenth. So if you've ever felt exhausted halfway through
your hike and run down for days to follow, no
matter how much cardio you do to prepare, it probably
means you're training isn't building the strength and endurance that
your body really needs for the mountains. I've been there,
and we're going to help you fix that. Join the
Next Great Range Athlete program, where we will help you
(10:45):
train smarter, get stronger, and build real trail fitness that
lasts that translates to your ability to climb mountains, and
you'll do it amongst the group of like minded people.
Head over to Great Rangeathlete dot com so you never
have to burn out on your hikes again. Instead, you'll
start hiking stronger, longer, and with way more confidence. The
(11:06):
next team kicks off October nineteenth. Join at Great rangeathlete
dot com and I will see you on the team.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Hey everybody, my name is Annie. I'm from Severn, Maryland,
just outside of Baltimore. I joined the Great Range Athlete
team because I wanted to step up from just taking
walks in the woods to kind of undertaking more serious hikes.
I also wanted to feel stronger in tackling all these
challenges by myself and doing all these climbs by myself
(11:37):
as well. I got exactly what I was looking for.
Like James says, you get out what you put in,
and I was all in. So when I opened up
to the team with my struggles, I was met with
support and I just watched myself get stronger in body
and determination. The program last six weeks, but it's something
(12:00):
that is going to stay with me well into the future.
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