Yes, there is a great dif in what you experience in NM and anywhere back east. It's just a matter of population density. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 50 or 100 times more people within hiking/climbing distance of any of these Adirondack peaks compared to the peaks near where you are. So, simply due to crowd control and the effects such numbers can have on the environment, I would expect to have a lot more ranger activity.
In 20 plus years of hiking in Wyoming's Wind River wilderness areas, I have never seen a ranger. I'm pretty sure I can say the same for all the other Western wilderness areas I have hiked, unless inside a national park. Even on last years week long hike inside Olympic NP, we only saw 1 park ranger that we knew of, though there were several times more people than we were used to outside of NPs. In fact, it is not uncommon for me to hike all day in the winds ( in the fall anyway) and not see another person other than whoever is with me. It is almost beyond all odds that I might pick one of many dozens of peaks to climb or scramble up, and find a ranger at all, much less one directing 10 or more people. But I would expect this is the north east peaks.
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