A toponymist is somebody who studies how places and natural features got their names — otherwise known as “toponyms.” Schlimmer said his interest sprang from his love of hiking.

“(In 2010) I had hiked across the entire Adirondack Park … and then I wrote a guidebook about it and what I was doing in the guide was inserting historical tidbits,” he said. “I have people look at my work when I’m writing, and they said, “Look, Erik, this is just way too confusing. You’re telling people where to go, but then you’ve got all this historical stuff and it’s really distracting.”

Schlimmer took all of the historical material out of the guidebook and made it into a second book, “History Inside the Blue Line.”

Place Name Dude originally started as another book project. Schlimmer said he quickly realized it was too monumental for a book, though.

“I had an idea: Maybe I’ll just try to historically decode as many toponyms in the Adirondacks as I can. But then, I estimated that there were almost 6,000, and then I estimated it would probably take me 15 years,” he said. “So, that didn’t sound like fun. I mean, I’m already 50 years old. I don’t want to write a book all the way into retirement.”

He decided to instead pick his favorite toponyms and work on decoding them at his own pace, then upload his research to a free website so the public could have access.

Schlimmer, a therapist who now lives in Colorado, was born in the Hudson Valley and relocated with his parents to Chestertown, in Warren County, when he was 12. He was based in the Adirondacks for 30 years, working as a trail builder, backcountry ranger and trip leader in his 20s and 30s. Then came his “reverse retirement,” as he calls it — that is, his pivot to therapy.

“I did a lot of long expeditions … and then I turned 40 and I woke up in a leaky tent at work and I said, ‘Enough is enough; I think I need a real job,'” he said. “At the tender age of 43, I went back and got my master’s, and now I’m a licensed clinical social worker.”

He relocated to Colorado four years ago following a backpacking trip out there.

He said toponyms are a way to stay connected to the Adirondacks.

“It’s entertaining and there’s something to be said for knowing your local history. For me, it gives me a stronger connection to the land. It gives me a stronger connection to the people who came before me,” he said.

He calls toponyms “obvious history” — things people encounter every day but never question. Schlimmer said toponyms are all a matter of curiosity, and his job is to spark that curiosity.

“These are things — the street we live on, the town we live in, the mountain we live next to, the mountain we ski on — no one really gives this any thought,” he said. “Once you start looking into the names and the stories behind them, it’s almost impossible to ignore why they may be named so.”

Schlimmer’s favorite toponym in the Adirondack Park is “Manbury Mountain” in Hamilton County, which he originally assumed was named after somebody’s surname.

“The golden rule in this work is never assume. Never. Because something seems obvious, but you’ll be very surprised at the story,” he said.

After some time spent researching other toponyms in Hamilton County, he finally stumbled across the story of Manbury Mountain in a book about the history of the county. He “fell in love” with the story, he said.

“It was October 1841 and a father and son, Aaron and David Sturges … they’re going around the mountain,” Schlimmer said. “So, it’s Aaron and his 10-year-old son, and they just round a corner in the woods and there’s a corpse. A dead guy. Which, 1841 in rural Hamilton County, that’s very early. They don’t know who this guy is.”

The father and son tried their best to identify the man.

“So the son stays there with the horse and the corpse overnight,” Schlimmer said. “Aaron comes back with the justice of the peace, and they’re trying to figure out who this guy is, where he came from. They have no idea who he is.”

After failing to identify the man, they buried him where they found him — hence the name of the mountain.

“So, it’s ‘man bury.’ The original name was ‘Man Buried Mountain,’ but we call that a corruption. The original word comes out a little bit different.”

Above all, Schlimmer said that toponyms are a good time.

“It’s just plain fun,” he said.

To learn about toponyms in the Adirondacks, visit placenamedude.com.