Mountaintop adventures
August 12, 2022
I arrived in Adams, Massachusetts, on the tail end of my New England high point road trip. There amidst rolling farmland and the post-industrial towns of the Berkshires, lies Mount Greylock. The 3,489-foot peak rises head and shoulders above any other summit in Massachusetts.
Continue reading “Mount Greylock via the Bellows Pipe Trail”
August 10, 2022
Vermont’s tallest peak. Mount Mansfield, holds a special place in my heart. We grew up skiing on its lower slopes, at Stowe, and visited the area numerous times in both winter and summer. There are layers of history to this mountain, from rum runners to the aprés glitterati of the mid-20th century.
Continue reading “Mount Mansfield via Hell Brook”
August 8, 2022
Tackling New Hampshire’s Presidential Range would form the centerpiece of my recent New England high point road trip. The massive peaks rise head and shoulders above any other peaks in the Northeastern US. A majority of the journey takes place at or above the treeline. And a series of huts, shuttles, and base camps run by the storied Appalachian Mountain Club can make the ambitious journey a touch bougier and more European.
Continue reading “The Presidential Range Traverse”
August 6, 2022
I set off from my campsite around 4:30 am. The beam of my headlamp produced a glowing cone of refracted light as it passed through the thick, foggy air. I signed the trail register at the ranger station. And then I began my trek towards Katahdin.
Continue reading “Katahdin and the Knife Edge via the Cathedral Trail”
August 3, 2022
In August 2022 I undertook a “high point” road trip around New England. The goal was simple: hike to the highest point in six states. While only three states require actual hiking, most of these high points sat atop (or near the top) of actual mountains. But then there’s Rhode Island.
Continue reading “Jerimoth Hill, Rhode Island”
August 3, 2022
I visited Mount Frissell this summer on a trip home to New York’s Hudson Valley. Being just an hour from my hometown, Frissell actually ranks as the very first state high point I ever hiked to. But I came back in 2022 to get pictures.
Continue reading “Mount Frissell and the Connecticut High Point”
August 1, 2022
I arrived near High Point, New Jersey, on a rainy Monday in August. This hike would mark the first of seven northeast high points on my summer road trip. I parked alongside a quiet county road just a quarter mile south of the New York border.
Continue reading “High Point, New Jersey”
February 8, 2021
My day began around 4:30 am in La Junta, Colorado. The next two hours involved driving down increasingly spare roadways through the far southeastern plains of the Centennial State. Just 20 miles shy of the border with Oklahoma, I pulled off onto a dirt county road. It started straight but grew winding. It crossed drainage ditches and creeks. I had no cell service. I pleaded with the Universe not to give me a flat tire.
Continue reading “Black Mesa, Oklahoma”
November 27, 2021
I arrived well before dawn at the Mauna Kea visitor’s center, roughly 9200′ above sea level. The complex sits six miles off the “saddle road” between the island’s two main population centers: Hilo and Kona. I parked in the empty lot, donned my backpack, and headed off for the Humu’ula Trail.
Continue reading “Mauna Kea via the Humu’ula Trail”
May 15, 2021
Mount Elbert sits in the Northern Sawatch Range, just southwest of Leadville, Colorado. At 14,433′ its summit forms the highest point in Colorado and all of the Rocky Mountains. In fact, only one summit in the lower 48 stands taller (Mount Whitney).
Continue reading “Mount Elbert via the East Ridge Trail”