Mount WashingtonNew HampshireSeptember 1986 / August 2013 On the way to our summit hike of the Granite State, we stop at the Mount Washington Observatory Museum in North Conway, New Hampshire. They tell us that this is the largest museum in the world devoted exclusively to the weather. Think about that. Weather is pretty big. … Continue reading Mount Washington Blows Me Away
Author: asiwentwalking
Up Mount Washington
Mount WashingtonNew HampshireAugust 2013 What’s that, up there in the clouds…? N’wait, it disappeared. Oh, there it is again. Hey, it’s a building. It’s the hut. Y’know what? Let’s take a break, get out of this wind for a bit. Figure this out. The Appalachian Mountain Club was founded in 1876. Their mission was and… Continue reading Up Mount Washington
Siren Call
Ponce InletFloridaMarch 2017 Irresistible. Across from Harbour Village Golf and Yacht Club. Not where I would expect to find her.
Take What You Can Get
PittsburghMarch 2018 1On my way home on an urban walk, minding my own business, looking at the architecture of the houses along the route, I am befallen by feathers. Suddenly, swirling around me like little clouds as I walk, a flock of small, grayish-white feathers alight on my shoulders, my head, my jacket. I pretend… Continue reading Take What You Can Get
The Railroad Stop
BayardWest VirginiaJune 2011 & May 2014 Ordinarily, on the way to Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia, we would drive right past the “Smallest Church in the Lower 48″ and the Maryland high point trailhead. This is the route we took three years ago on our first summit trip to West Virginia. Today… Continue reading The Railroad Stop
Four Corners
Arizona / New Mexico / Colorado / UtahJune 2013 There are 61 sites in the United States we call “tri-state points.” These are places where three states come together at a single locus. Sixty-one tri-state points, but only one quadripoint, the exact spot where four states touch each other. Four states in one spot at… Continue reading Four Corners
Mr Woody
Brasstown BaldGeorgiaNovember 2012 Brasstown Bald. In any event, it’s difficult these days to identify the highest point in Georgia as a bald because there is this large excrescence of a building right on top of it. After we hike past the information sign and a pleasant little grassy area (not bald) set up with a… Continue reading Mr Woody
Why the Hell We Do It
the Wildernessalways The fashion show is over. It is not about how killer awesome the latest gadget performs, how you’ve managed to shave the last ounce off your pack, or how pretty the synthetic fabric shirt is, or what kind of bargain you got when you purchased it. It is about the fact that if… Continue reading Why the Hell We Do It
Gun Boy
Thunder SwampPennsylvaniaJuly 1998 There is a complex of hiking trails in eastern Pennsylvania at the Stillwater Natural Area, including Thunder Swamp. Our trail description and map are fifteen years old, but the trail looks easy to follow. We think. Maybe not. We find ourselves on private property when the old dirt road that is our… Continue reading Gun Boy
Sit On It
MassachusettsMay 2014 Driving south in western Massachusetts, having summited Mount Greylock, somewhere along the road is this oddity. Yah, it’s a chair. To see a chair alongside a road is in itself not much of an oddity. Heck, visit Pittsburgh during snow season and you’ll see chairs in the street all over town. Folks use… Continue reading Sit On It