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 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 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”
April 15, 2023
My day began at 4 am in Pittsburgh, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. A few hours of southbound driving brought me to Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia, and the Allegheny Mountains.
Continue reading “Mount Davis, Pennsylvania’s High Point”
April 15, 2023
I sped along the country roads of West Virginia, having just visited the state’s highest summit. I came to a seemingly unremarkable bend in the road, along US 219. A small green sign announced its relevance: “Maryland’s High Point”. I had reached the trailhead.
Continue reading “Hoye Crest, Maryland’s highest point”
April 15, 2023
My day began in Pittsburgh, about three hours north of Spruce Knob. I left my hotel around 4 am, crossing the Monongahela River on I-376. Even in those small hours, plenty of trucks rumbled about on the highways of southwestern Pennsylvania. But the roads grew progressively quieter and smaller as I worked my way South and East into the rural mountains of West Virginia.
Continue reading “Spruce Knob, West Virginia, via the Huckleberry Trail”