Category: High Points

Humphreys PeakArizonaJuly  2013 Throughout the day, the only wildlife we see are chickaree squirrels, a couple of woodpeckers and other birds, and herds of hikers.  Grandma, back in the Ranger District office on the telephone, warned us to be careful of the ticks and snakes.  No need.  There are none.  What we do see other… Continue reading Gnats

Britton HillFloridaNovember  2013 Visit Lakewood Park in Florida.  We do when we summit the Sunshine State, by climbing to its high point at 345 feet.  We contemplate and celebrate this thrill, and we wander around in the open, grassy area of the park.  At the far end of the picnic area, we see this sign.… Continue reading Throw This Column Away

Baxter State ParkMaineAugust  2012 We cross the Park boundary and continue to wind through the woods, passing the Visitors Center and pulling up at the southern entrance, the Togue Pond Gatehouse.  And now we sit.  Our first significant Maine traffic jam.  There are five cars in front of us.  What an enormous crowd, actually taking… Continue reading Togue Pond Gatehouse

Sassafras MountainSouth CarolinaMay  2013 A Highpointers bench has been placed here at the top of Sassafras Mountain, the high point of South Carolina, perfect for Lisa to lie down and take a nap, which she does. It’s a thing.  Whenever you get to the top, or to water, or to a broad flat rock on… Continue reading Black Throated Green

Caesars Head State ParkSouth CarolinaJune  2001 Stepping off the Appalachian Trail at the Fork Ridge Trailhead after summiting Clingmans Dome, we decide to take a drive to the place where 99% of the people who visit Clingmans Dome begin their summit hike.  This “trailhead” is three and a half miles to the end of the… Continue reading The Rescue

OklahomaMarch  2013 This area of the country has long been a hot spot for geologists and paleontologists who like to get down.  Y’know, they dig for remains of dinosaurs that date back to the Jurassic and Triassic periods, as long ago as 245 million years, give or take twenty minutes.  More than 18 tons of… Continue reading Paleontologists Get Down

White ButteNorth DakotaMay  2015 We sit in the car trying to decide whether to drive up the 1000-foot driveway to the house, or to walk.  Our indecision is based on the cold wind picking up and the cold rain falling down.  Nasty, unpleasant.  We wait.  We stop waiting.  We walk up the driveway. Richardson ground… Continue reading White Butte Trailhead

ArizonaJune  2013 Tomorrow we head on up to Flagstaff in preparation for hiking to Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona.  Tonight we stay with Peggy, one of Lisa’s friends from freshman days, who lives just outside Phoenix.  The two of them catch up on old times.  Since I was a teenager, I’ve known that… Continue reading Dating

Clingmans DomeTennesseeMay  2013 After a good half day of hiking, Lisa and I have our sandwiches at Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Tennessee.  Reminds me of another time I was here.  I tell Lisa this story. In 1998, I was in the midst of a 10-day backpacking trip here in the Great Smoky Mountains. … Continue reading Roughin’ It

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