Mountaintop adventures
June 19, 2024
I wound my way up the narrow, winding road to Taos Ski Valley late one Friday evening in June. Eventually, I arrived at my hotel at the base of the ski area. It was a super nice hotel, the sort of place that charged a small mortgage for nights in the winter, but had some sweet deals in the off season. There I’d catch some very comfortable sleep before ascending Wheeler Peak in the morning.
Continue reading “Wheeler Peak, New Mexico”
October 13, 2023
I reached Chimney Top Gap, and the Beech Bottom Falls Trailhead, around 8 am. Morning sunshine already poked through the trees near the trailhead. It was a luxuriously late start for the final hike in my Southern Appalachians high pointing tour.
Continue reading “Sassafras Mountain (South Carolina)”
October 12, 2023
I drove winding roads, into the heart of the Chattahoochee National Forest. It was just after sunrise, on a rainy Thursday in October. Which is to say, I had these country byways all to myself. Fall colors were just coming in in these southernmost hills of the Appalachians.
Continue reading “Brasstown Bald via Wolfpen Ridge”
October 10, 2023
It was drizzly and overcast as I cruised up the gentle switchbacks of Kuwohi Road. Even on these highest peaks of the Smokies, peak Fall foliage would not arrive for another week or two. But tinges of reds and oranges still festooned select stands of precocious hardwoods.
Continue reading “Kuwohi (Great Smoky Mountains NP)”
October 8, 2023
I pulled into the trailhead along the South Toe River well before dawn. I was deep in the remote heart of the Black Mountains of North Carolina, ready to take on the state’s auspicious high point: Mount Mitchell.
Continue reading “Mount Mitchell”
October 7, 2023
The road snaked its way up the mountainside, from the fittingly named town of Appalachia, Virginia. It was blue skies and orange foliage, in the far western extremes of the state. Finally, the road leveled off at a small pass just below 3800′. I had reached the Kentucky border.
Continue reading “Black Mountain (Kentucky High Point)”
October 7, 2023
I pulled into the carpark at Massie Gap shortly after sunrise. The winding drive had already taken me well above 4000′ and I got the sense there were views to be had, even down at the trailhead. But low lying clouds and fog obscured all but the nearest forested slopes. It was a moody fall day in Grayson Highlands.
Continue reading “Mount Rogers (Virginia)”
July 30, 2023
My quest to hike all 50 US state high points involves making a lot of excuses. Basically, you need an excuse to visit odd corners of all 50 states. And perhaps the best attitude to facilitate these excuses are truisms like “there’s no time like the present” and, even simpler, “why not?”
Continue reading “Boundary Peak (Nevada High Point)”
May 13, 2023
My day began over twelve hours ago at the Denver airport. A short flight later I touched down in Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Then an hour or two of driving brought me to Hoosier Hill, Indiana’s wooded high point. It was a lot of states for one Saturday.
Continue reading “Campbell Hill, Ohio’s High Point”
May 13, 2023
I landed mid-morning Saturday at the Cincinnati Airport. Interestingly enough, the airport sits across the Ohio River in Kentucky. It was my first time in the bluegrass state. This visit would be brief, however. I immediately drove north, into Ohio—though not before passing by the Creation Museum.
Continue reading “Hoosier Hill, Indiana’s high point”