Mountaintop adventures
May 4, 2025
I drove through the small town of New Paltz and began climbing the switchbacks up onto the Shawangunk Ridge. It was a rainy day in early May, and clouds obscured the tops of the ridgeline. Soon, I was within the cloud layer, driving in thick fog.
Continue reading “Enjoying an ORTBO at Lake Minnewaska”
May 3, 2025
I drove through the picture-perfect town of Cold Spring, tucked alongside the Hudson River amidst the hills of the Hudson Highlands. This was an auspicious little corner of the Empire State. It was here (and only here) that glaciers managed to carve a broad, navigable river through the ancient Appalachian Mountains. An entire book could be written on how notable this intersection of river and hills would prove for explorers, revolutionaries and industrialists alike. At the very least, it’s home to some spectacular hiking.
Continue reading “Bull Hill (aka Mount Taurus)”
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 10, 2023
I left Gatlinburg well before dawn, in hopes of getting up and into Great Smoky Mountains National Park sans traffic jams. This basically worked. I wound my way through the pitch darkness of the forest, en route to the high ridge crest at Newfound Gap. The lack of views did not bum me out: I’d be coming back the same way later that day.
Continue reading “Charlies Bunion (Great Smoky Mountains NP)”
October 9, 2023
My day began early, beneath Mount Mitchell, which I had hiked the day prior. The plan was to drive the famed Blue Ridge Parkway around sunrise, from the Black Mountains to Asheville. Starting at this somewhat remote mid-point at such an early hour, I hoped to avoid getting stuck behind any camper vans or traffic snarls.
Continue reading “Craggy Pinacle”
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)”