state high points Archives - dismal wilderness

January 20, 2025January 20, 2025

Mount Magazine (Arkansas High Point)

August 11, 2024

Arrival

Around mid-afternoon on a Saturday in August, I found myself heading south through the Ozarks of Southwestern Missouri. I crossed into Arkansas, soonafter crossing its eponymous river on a long, narrow trestle bridge. This felt auspicious, as I’d spent countless hours hiking and exploring the Upper Arkansas River Valley in Colorado. 700 miles to the east of those headwaters, the River was absolutely massive by comparison. In Arkansas, its waters moved slowly, forming giant muddy braids through the broad valley.

January 18, 2025January 18, 2025

Taum Sauk Mountain

August 9, 2024

An Ancient Range

I flew into St Louis the night before, driving about 90 minutes south to work from a library in a small town in Southeastern Missouri. At 5pm I logged off and headed West, into the nearby St Francois Mountains of the Eastern Ozarks.

November 18, 2024November 18, 2024

Wheeler Peak, New Mexico

June 19, 2024

Arrival

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.

November 8, 2024November 8, 2024

Sassafras Mountain (South Carolina)

October 13, 2023

Arrival

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.

November 5, 2024November 5, 2024

Brasstown Bald via Wolfpen Ridge

October 12, 2023

Arrival

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.

November 2, 2024November 2, 2024

Kuwohi (Great Smoky Mountains NP)

October 10, 2023

Bumper to Bumper

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.

October 29, 2024October 29, 2024

Mount Mitchell

October 8, 2023

Arrival

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.

October 29, 2024October 29, 2024

Black Mountain (Kentucky High Point)

October 7, 2023

Country Roads

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.

October 28, 2024November 2, 2024

Mount Rogers (Virginia)

October 7, 2023

Arrival

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.

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023

Boundary Peak (Nevada High Point)

July 30, 2023

Back to the Owens Valley

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?”