Blue Ridge ParkwayVirginiaJune 2015 What is that, right of center in the top quarter of the photo, sticking up above the trees? That small, silvery hut. It looks little. Wait, I know the answer. It’s the Green Knob Lookout Tower. Let’s set that as our goal for today’s hike. We turn off the Blue Ridge… Continue reading Green Knob
Author: asiwentwalking
Dad! Dad!
Laurel Highlands Hiking TrailPennsylvaniaJune 2004 A backpacking trip, this one on the Laurel Highlands Trail. Not more than two hours into our hike, the six of us are caught in a thunderstorm. Lightning in the woods: dangerous, yes. We are clearly not the tallest things in the area, perhaps we will be safe under the… Continue reading Dad! Dad!
Dragonflies
VirginiaJuly 2011 We’re on our way to Mount Rogers, the high point of Virginia. A minor traffic slowdown develops on the highway in front of us, who knows why. We crawl along. The vehicle we follow is a Mercedes Benz, painted one of those alcoholic colors that’s hard to define, like “champagne” or “whiskey beige.” … Continue reading Dragonflies
Hiker Style
Humphreys PeakArizonaJune 2013 If you like to categorize, if making order out of randomness is your type of thrill, put hikers into three categories. N’wait, I’ll do it for you. 1I was leading a hike of fourteen people when some hikers approached from ahead. They stopped walking, I stopped walking, my group, behind me, stopped… Continue reading Hiker Style
How to Name Your Child
Spruce KnobWest VirginiaMay 2014 If you are expecting a child, I’m here to help you name it. These days, parents seem to have no qualms about naming their children… pretty much anything. Why not? I’ll supply you with nine names from the area we cover on this particular Highpointing trip, Spruce Knob and environs. See… Continue reading How to Name Your Child
Friend of Nature
Moraine State ParkPennsylvaniaJuly 2019
Marys Rock
Blue Ridge ParkwayVirginiaSeptember 2010 I think it’s delightful, oddly gratifying even, that something like a road that is 469 miles long can be considered to be a park. In fact the Blue Ridge Parkway is the most visited National Park unit and has been nicknamed “America’s favorite drive.” It’s not just transportation, one place to… Continue reading Marys Rock
Plover Preservation
Panorama PointNebraskaJuly 2013 Standing on the highest land form in the state of Nebraska, looking southwest. In the far distance, we can see the Rocky Mountains. East and southeast holds the multitude of windmills of the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, or MEAN, wind farm. Looking west, bison. I understand also that this is the… Continue reading Plover Preservation
Telescope Peak
Death Valley National ParkCaliforniaMarch 2019 Telescope Peak is more than 11 000 feet high. My friend Mike once climbed up and over this peak on his way to Mount Whitney. Calling the park where Telescope Peak is located, the telephone conversation begins this way… “Death Valley National Park. This is Aubrey. How may I help… Continue reading Telescope Peak
How We Talk Here
AlabamaNovember 2013 Before Lisa and I head out on our trip to Alabama, one of my students, whose vocal style hints of her formative years in the South, suggests that I be “real patient” when I attempt conversation with the folks down there. “Yeah, why’s that?” “They talk real slow,” she says, real slow. Reminds… Continue reading How We Talk Here