Kansas, South and North Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado High Points

Over three days, I bagged five state high points. Not bad if I do say so myself. I flew into Denver on Tuesday, July 3rd and got in at about 10 PM. I checked my bag in which I knew was a mistake and took forever to come out; although I was at the wrong carousel for a while which did not help. I got my vehicle which was another Nissan Rogue and would allow me to sleep in the car. I took my sleeping bag this time so I would not run into the hotel issue from last Fourth of July weekend and my trouble in Stowe last Fall. I drove for about an hour and a half on I-70 East until I ran into a random rest area, parked, peed and went to bed.

This was my kind of high point. Essentially a drive up. Nice location and I had it all to myself.

I woke up fairly early the next morning, got dressed and got on the road. I found some coffee at a local gas stop and kept heading east towards Kansas’ high point. You drive into Kansas and then head south shortly thereafter. I had to drive on some pretty rural roads and the second half after getting off of i-70. In short order, I rolled into the road into Mount Sunflower. A little part of me thought maybe I should walk in but I opted to drive. It was a nice spot and there was a fairly significant marker for this high point. That it is the highest is hard to tell as you survey the land around you. And the overall altitude is just over 4,000 feet which is hard to believe. I took the requisite pictures and headed north toward South Dakota.

I worked my way north on State Highway 385 towards Rapid City. I went through Nebraska and even though I was close to the state high point, I decided to get that one on the way back to Colorado. The scenery was very interesting and I saw a lot of coal coming out of Easter Wyoming through the Platte River Valley by train. This was a little depressing.

You enter the Black Hills National Forest shortly after entering South Dakota. The terrain started becoming interesting. I arrived at Sylvan lake Campground which had an entry fee and was pretty busy. That caught me off guard a little, but I got in and put on my hiking gear to start what appeared to be a somewhat easy but interesting loop to Harney Peak or now Black Elk Peak. The scenery was nice and within about 45 minutes I had arrived at the peak. There was a very elaborate entrance carved into the rock and a tower to climb and see a 360-degree view of some pretty remarkable sites.

There was quite an impressive lookout tower at the top of Black Elk Peak in South Dakota.

I had a very pleasant hike out. I saw a bunch of deer which was nice and then found my car. I got into my driving clothes and started heading north to White Butte in North Dakota. I was really close to Mount Rushmore and they were having a big Fourth of July celebration. That would be really great to see but I was on a mission to bag these peaks! Driving through Deadwood was a bit of a surprise. What an interesting place. I thought maybe some time in my life I might have to return. I grabbed some food and kept driving.

I arrived in Bowman, North Dakota and decided that this would work for an easy and early effort to hike White Butte. I found a back lot near a gas station where a bunch of semis were parked and found a good spot. I looked around scenic Bowman and this seemed to be the best spot. They were lighting off fireworks seeming all night which made going to sleep a little challenging but I finally managed to get some rest.

I woke up in the morning after a pretty good night and got dressed. I walked over to the gas station and got some coffee and a little food and headed north. The scenery on this drive was really nice on a sunny summer day. Rolling hills of grass with buttes popping out here and there. I entered into some farm roads and slowly worked my way to the entrance of White Butte. You had to drive essentially three sides of a square to get there. This high point is on private property and there some conflicting information about access. I drove into the road as far as I felt comfortable. In retrospect, I probably should have walked in that last portion. I got dressed and headed up the road to the trail.

The landscape here is a bit strange. There is erosion that exposes this white sandy rock. I was heading up, there was a deer against and all-white background which would have made a pretty dramatic picture. I missed it though because I could not get my phone out quick enough. The trail up is pretty short and before I knew it, I was at the top. The views were great and I really soaked it in.

I thought it was odd the elevation here was below Kansas. None-the-less, White Butte was memorable.

I headed back to the car and was back pretty quickly. I spotted someone hiking in as I was getting out of my hiking clothes; which was probably unnecessary for this hike. We chatted and he was doing the same thing I was. He had just been to the Nebraska high point and recommended I stop in at a ranger station for that one. I never did.

I started heading south and towards Panorama Point in Nebraska. I had to cut into Wyoming for a bit and attack the high point from the west. The directions seemed pretty straight forward so I just went straight there despite the advice I had gotten earlier in the morning. I arrived there mid-afternoon and like Kansas, this one was a drive up as well. Very nice and the buffalo one the way in were interesting. I took the pictures, soaked in the scenery, made a donation on the way out and started heading for Twin Lakes in Colorado.

This was pleasant and easy one to check off the list.

I headed due south to I-76 and then 1-70. I grabbed some gas and a Chipotle bowl and then headed to meet my buddy at Twin Lakes campground. I managed to find the campground and his spot. It was good to see Clay Cox and I had not seen for a while. Since I had gotten there at a somewhat reasonable hour, I wanted to climb in the morning. I had stopped at a store for food and water for the hike. Clay seemed up for it. We finally went to bed for a 6 AM wake-up.

The morning arrived and it was sunny and cool. I was ready to go. Clay, on the other hand, said his gout was acting up and he was going to bail. I was looking forward to having a partner for the third highest peak. He gave me a ride up the road as far as he could get in his Lincoln Navigator, but it was not to the trailhead. This was a bit of a rough start and I wondered if I was going to actually pull this off. I had extra days so it did not need to happen this day. I kept walking up this road for about a mile and a half and finally got to the trailhead. This was good. There was no one around so I forged on.

I began my journey up and things were improving. I finally got out of the treeline and could see the top. I was able to do what I do best which is grind through it, and Mount Elbert turned to be a grind. There was a section toward the top that was pretty steep. As I got to the top there were a fair number of people up there. I could see the top and the end, but it proved to be harder than it looked. I finally made it to the top. I was happy. I enjoyed some snacks. Someone had fashioned a sign made out of cardboard which I posed along with the official marker. I then went down. This was a bit taxing but I was happy to be done with this adventure and perfect on the peak bagging!

This was a good one and I had to push to get it done.

Cirque Peak Overnight

I had signed up with a Facebook group called SoCal Hiking. I was interested in doing some hiking with someone other than myself. Not too long after I signed up, they had posted an overnight trip to climb Cirque Peak in the southern Sierras. This looked interesting to me and so I indicated I would go. I was looking forward to something new and meeting new people.

The plan was to meet at Horseshoe Meadow Campsite near Lone Pine at 8 AM. I got up very early at home and drove there Saturday morning. The drive up Horseshoe Meadows Road was pretty dramatic. You could see it from 395 snaking up a steep incline, and the trip up was pretty and did not disappoint. I got to the parking lot of the campsite and saw someone who looked as if he was waiting for people and sure enough, Johnny was part of our group. Another gentleman showed up named Mario and he was going to hike with us as well. We were still waiting for our leader Eylene Pirez. She showed up shortly after with a young man name Sante Kotturi and his dog Sitka. Our group was assembled and we started up the Cottonwood Lakes trail.

This trip was an out and back of about twenty-two miles with about 3,500 feet in elevation change. There was some discussion about making it a loop but it was decided that we would make that choice on Sunday after summitting Cirque Peak. The trail up was pleasant and we all got to know each other a little bit. Johnny and Mario were sort of new to hiking and overnight camping. Eylene and Sante were clearly very experienced. We got about halfway and it started to rain. Shortly thereafter it started snowing but it was more like frozen rain. I was a bit surprised as the day started very sunny. The Eastern Sierras are notorious for afternoon showers and I guess I should have not been really too surprised. I figured it would let up in about ten or fifteen minutes, but it did not.

We got to the first Cottonwood Lake and hiked along the shore. The second Cottonwood Lake was close to the first and we then found an area out of the wind which important in these seemingly wintry conditions. Everyone set up their tent and got in our of the wind and frozen rain. I did not want to put my tent out and have my tent get all wet and then have to deal with that all night. So I decided to wait it out. I could see blue sky in the cloud breaks. It had to end soon, or so I thought. I ended up waiting under a pine tree for close to two hours. There were a couple of moments where I thought maybe I would just hike out and call it a day.

I finally put my tent out and cleared off the snow down to the gravel so the floor of my tent would be dry.

Things cleared up quickly and we spent a fair amount of time hanging out. Sante had a drone and we played with that for a while. After dinner and some drinks, I called it and decided to sleep. It proved to be pretty cold. I had purchased a liner for my sleeping bag after the Mt. Whitney experience, and ended up pulling that out and using it sometime in the evening when it was clear my bag by itself was going to be cold.

Finally, morning arrived and we all got up and had some hot oatmeal. This was very welcomed. We had talked to some people the day before that had attempted the New Army Pass but there was a cornice that they could not get over. We headed towards Cirque Peak and ditched the trail pretty quickly as it was all snow. We just headed towards Cirque Peak to see how far we could get by going straight up it. There was a fair amount of snow interspersed in what was a rock field up a pretty steep incline. After some determination, we made it to the top. Mission accomplished despite not being the recommended route.

Summit conquered!

We headed down after enjoying the peak for about a half-hour. We new where our campsite was and just bushwhacked our way back. This required a river crossing that was way more exciting than it should be. There was a lot of post-holing but at long last, we were back to our tents. We packed up and started down to our cars which was another eight miles. This took a while and I must confess that the last few miles were tough. I was ready to get back and sit on my ass. And at long last, that goal was achieved.

This was a good trip for me as I went to a place I probably would not have done on my own and met some really nice and interesting people.

Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York

I flew to Boston for two reasons. The first was to knock out the state high points of New England that I had not ever done previously despite living there for twenty-plus years, and second to spend time at my favorite place.

I landed at Logan around 8 PM and got my rental car which was a Nissan Rogue; much better than the sedan I had earlier for my other peak bagging trip this summer. I drove to Killingly CT and found a cheap motel. I woke up bright and early, grabbed some Dunkin’ Donuts which is what one does in New England, and drove to Jerimoth Hill, the high point in Rhode Island. Within fifteen minutes I arrived and started to hike into the high point. Boom! I made it to the marker in about two minutes. I took my requisite pictures at the ‘summit’. I looked around to take it in and then left and got back to my car. I had recorded it on my All Trails app and the entire trip was just over eight minutes in total. From an ease perspective, very memorable, but that was about it. Rhode Island checked off.

The craziest part was that I got in my hiking clothes on the side of the road for this one.

I then started to drive northwest toward Mount Greylock which Massachusetts’ high point. This was through familiar territory for me as I was born and raised in Connecticut. By about eleven, I arrived in Adams and made my way to the Bellows South trailhead. This hike was a five mile out and back and 2,244 of elevation. The day was overcast and looked like it might rain. I headed up and the trail was quite nice. Definitely in the woods with very few vistas. This is pretty much the condition in the Northeast. I made it to the top to discover that you can drive to the top. I was greeted in the parking lot by three school buses and a horde of school kids. There is a fair amount of infrastructure at the top culminating in a very impressive granite Veteran’s War Memorial tower. I definitely checked it out but opted not to go up it as there was a fair number of people in there. I went down to a lookout and enjoyed the scenery that is the Berkshire mountains. It was nice, but I then decided to get back down. Within short order, I was back at my car.

The pinnacle of Mount Greylock is quite impressive. I salute the service and the ultimate sacrifice of others.

I grabbed a Subway sandwich in downtown Adams and then headed towards Mount Marcy in New York. I arrived in Lake Placid after a pleasant drive. I spotted the road into the Van Hoevenberg trailhead which I had planned to take and seemed to be the most popular route. However, I wanted to find a place to stay first. I worked my way into Lake Placid and saw the skiing facilities including the impressive ski jump ramps which are remarkably close to the road. There were not any great motel options so I went back closer to the road to the trailhead and found a very funky motel that was going to work. I drove into the trailhead so I would not have to do it for the first time in the dark the following day as I planned for 6 AM start. Everything looked pretty straightforward and so I went back to the motel and watched some crappy TV options and went to bed.

I woke up in the morning and it was pretty gray. The weather forecast was a little iffy but I was going to forge ahead as I could not waste time waiting for good weather. When I arrived at the trailhead at about 6:30 AM, things were pretty busy already. I finalized my gear, signed in and started up the trail. This hike is a 14 mile out and back with about 3,500 feet in elevation gain. The first part of the hike was pretty flat and nice. I arrived at a river with a bridge that was out. There was a slight detour. The trail at this point began to climb as it followed a stream. After a little while, there was a hard right-hand turn that was not particularly obvious, and with the assistance of someone else heading up the wrong way through the woods, I was able to figure out where the trail was. The climb started getting a little more serious and the trail became wetter. The wind also started picking up and there was constant mist growing stronger into rain. I finally got to what a ranger doing some trail work had indicated was close to the top. Two trail runners came down to say it was very windy and wet. Sure enough, they were right. I made it to the top and found a place out of the wind. My fingers were cold and wet enough where I was having a hard time getting my phone to turn on through the fingerprint swipe. I could not find any recognition of the top which I was clearly at because there was nowhere to go farther up Regrettably, I did not investigate what the official marker was for Mount Marcy before the hike, so I did not know what should be looking for. At the time, my conclusion was that maybe this high point did not have an official marker. So the result is the only picture I have at the top is me in the clouds and I could honestly be anywhere.

I could not find an official marker on Mount Marcy. Unfortunately, I looked into where the plaque was after coming down, only to find that I was very close. The plaque was on the windy side of the peak which I was avoiding.

After about fifteen minutes on the top, I had enough. I was the only one at the peak so I could not ask anyone about a marker. I saw two guys coming down as I went up and then as I was coming down off the rocky portion, there were some teenagers working there way up the last portion. The wet rock at the top coming down was a little tricky. Once I was back on the trail portion, I was in a rush to get down because I wanted to get to Mount Mansfield in Vermont and try to get that done today. The Van Hevenberg trail was one of the wettest and muddiest trails I have been on in quite a while. After what seemed like a really long two and a half hours coming down, I made it back to the car a little after 2 PM. I was happy to be done with that hike but pissed that I did not get a more meaningful and conclusive picture at the top.

I motored east toward Vermont. My thought is I would try to knock this last hike out today as I wanted to get to my place in Maine. I found a trail called the Hellbrook that was a little under four miles but very steep. This seemed to be easily the best option for the limited time that I had. After about an hour of driving, I realized that Lake Champlain was going to interfere with my ‘as the crow flies’ hope for getting there early. I drove south and around Lake Champlain as the ferry seemed would be much slower. I drove and I was getting close by six’ish. I had not realized that Mount Mansfield was also Stowe ski resort. This time of year all the leaf peepers were in full force. The area was quite busy. I finally made it to the trailhead and started up, but by now it was 7 PM. I went for about fifteen minutes and the trail was steep as advertised, but lots of roots and slippery rocks. I knew I would be coming down in the dark. This trail in the dark was going to be rough so I headed back which was very disappointing. If only I had gotten there an hour earlier.

My plan was now to find a place to sleep and attack the mountain in the morning. I drove around for about an hour trying about twenty motels and everything was booked solid. I finally gave up and decided I would just drive to Maine tonight. This was very disappointing, but at some point, I will go back and get this one. I might also do Mount Marcy again in hopes of getting a picture that shows the plaque in the rock at the top of the mountain which I had to have been within about fifty feet of, but could not find.

Redemption - Bagging Mt. Whitney

Everybody loves a redemption story and it is especially meaningful when you live it. As previously documented in this journal, my son and I tried to climb Mt. Whitney last year. I will not recount the shortcomings of this effort here, but I will summarize that trip as optimistic and overly ambitious. Needles to say, I wanted another shot at it!

There is nothing like getting the lay of the land to build some confidence which was certainly the result of the first attempt. After that experience, the next attempt would be different. The first change is that we would do it within the permit window. I put my request into the lottery system within minutes of the window opening up. I requested an overnight permit in September. My thinking was doing an overnight broke the hike up into two pieces thus improving our chances of success. Second, September seemed an ideal time in that it was certainly better than November when we first tried, but also it would be clear of snow and still somewhat warm.

Unfortunately my lottery request was rejected. They offered up days where there were still opening and I quickly elected an overnight permit starting Monday, September 25th to the following day on the 26th. That it was a weekday did not bother me what-so-ever. I just wanted a second chance. And my son would miss some school, but in my mind, these two days were going to be significantly more meaningful to his ‘education’ than any days in a classroom.

My son and I checked out the Mobius Arch again in the Alabama Hills. We took the obligatory photo with Mt. Whitney in the background.

Finally the day arrived to leave for Lone Pine. We had all our equipment and were ready to climb Whitney. We drove up Sunday and spent the night in a motel. We woke up at a sane hour unlike the year before, had breakfast, packed up and headed to Whitney Portal. We had met some other people at the motel that were climbing as well. We then met them in the Whitney Portal parking lot. One of them would be with us for the majority of our trip. We got everything together at about nine’ish we started our journey. We showed our permit to the ranger and away we go!

It was nice to start on a sunny day and we were feeling good. We worked our way up over the next couple of hours to High Camp where we had planned to spend the night. This was the highest point on the mountain where you could camp legally. We were a little anxious about getting a spot, but we showed up early in the afternoon and had our pick of spots. We spent some time thinking about finding a spot out of the wind. We ended up with a really good place.

This seemed to be about as ideal as we could do from a wind perspective. We built a wall around the tent as well. Cold was one thing, but add wind to it and I thought we might be in trouble. The wind never came.

We had a lot of free time and did some exploring. We spoke to someone who told us that the previous night had gotten so cold that people got up in the middle of the night and headed down the mountain. This was both alarming to me and a little stupid. Our sleeping bags were three-season rated to the mid-twenties. It seemed that we should be fine, but we were definitely a little nervous. We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring, resting and enjoying the nice weather.

As evening approached, our plan was to stay up and out of the tent for a while so we were good and tired when it was time to go to bed. The sun was setting behind the mountain so it got dark early. By six the sun was gone. There were people standing around talking and we did this for a while. The temperature really dropped quickly and we really did not have heavy jackets like some of the other people. They had definitely thought through this part of the experience. After about a half-hour, we decided to get into the tent, stay warm and do some reading and look at our phones. Although I was worried about my battery and did not want to run out of battery so we could not take pictures at the top; that would have been a fate worse than death. We had decided maybe we should put on a fair amount of clothing in our sleeping bags to stay as warm as possible.

Finally we went to sleep. However it only lasted for a few hours. It was definitely cold. I could feel my feet getting cold. We slept back-to-back as that was helpful. When we were in town the day before, the local hiking store had sleeping bag liners for rent which I thought about for a moment but did not get. I thought about those liners all night wishing I had pulled the trigger. Only my nose was sticking out my bag and I could feel the cold air in my lungs. We tossed and turned the rest of the night waiting for the next day to arrive. It seemed as though it would never come.

Finally we could see a little light through the tent and we began to hear others rustle around. Shortly we mustered the energy to get up and start to get ready. We scrambled around and got ready. We were pretty much dressed so much of the effort was about getting the blood flowing. We ate some food, put things away so the Marmots and Chipmunks would not get into our stuff. I did my morning business which horrified my son but was necessary. We were as ready as we were going to be. A bunch of people had already headed up. And so we started for the peak.

The infamous Chains. This area on our first attempt was all snow and ice. There were only single foot prints to walk in and a very steep snow field down to the right. It was a deciding factor for turning back last year.

We had a clear day and there was very little wind. We could not ask for much more. The conditions were about the exact opposite of what we had the previous year. And so we began our march toward the 99 switchbacks. We worked our way up to Trail Crest pretty quickly. This was a milestone as it was where we turned back last year.

We rested a little at Trail Crest. The view was amazing both from where we came from, but also Mt. Hitchcock and the Hitchcock lakes were very impressive on the other side. We had also met up with the friend we made at the motel and the three of us started our push to the top.

There were some pretty dramatic drop-offs and views particularly in the first portion of the trail. We slogged our way past the needles. This portion was definitely taxing on our bodies. The trail itself was not particularly hard but the altitude began to be felt in a serious way. We pressed on. You work your way across the backside and you can see the top. There is an area where it turns hard to the right and you are at the last portion. When you can really see the Shelter at the top in a real way, you know you are going to make it.

The best part of this was doing it with my son. A close second was redemption after failing the first time.

It was not a sprint, but there was a point where we knew we were going to make it and the pace for the last few hundred yards definitely picked up. Finally, this peak was officially bagged! What a great feeling. At least a year in the making and really longer when the notion of making this attempt first cropped up in my mind.

The weather at the top was about as perfect as I think it could be; sunny, little wind and a very comfortable temperature. We spent about a half-hour soaking it all in. The views were pretty amazing. I remember thinking that I really need to absorb it so I could remember it. My efforts to save battery life up to this point paid off and we documented all aspects of the top. I am glad we did because I rely on those pictures to really recall the experience. After a while, we realized that we were only half-way done and that we needed to get going. And so after some reflection, we headed down.

Going down is always the hardest part for me from a physical perspective. We were moving at a good pace and got back to Trail Crest relatively quickly. This portion of the trail is pretty dramatic. Although the very last part of it you have to go back up, and while it was not really hard, going down was the mindset I had locked into. I again attempted to really soak it in and make it stick in my memory banks. We headed down the 99 switchbacks and back to our tent. We packed up our camp, ate some food and did some stretching to get ready for the last push. We worked our way down noting each spot that we had seen on the way up and the previous year. The first year we screwed up on the way down at Lone Pine Lake and made sure not to make that mistake again.

Victory!

Finally we made it back to the parking lot and our car. Wow, what a feeling. We were parked next to a van with a couple in it who were going to leave in the evening. They wanted to know what it was like. With the success and the trip in the rear-view mirror, the only thing I could say was ‘it was great’.

Southern California's Six-Pack Peak Challenge

This spring I was looking at Instagram and ran across a posting talking about the Six-Pack Peak Challenge. This looked interesting to me. There was a whole website that had a fair amount of information about the challenge. Interesting and challenge accepted! There was also a suggestion that it was good preparation for climbing Mount Whitney. I had secured a permit for the middle of September and I was not going to fail to summit the continental 48’s highest peak again. The site had prescribed a specific order, but I sort of did a variation.

This portion is a bit after the Devil’s Backbone but I think really shows the majesty of this mountain.

5/27/17 - The first of the six was Mount Baldy and it turned out to be a great mountain to start this challenge. From Manker Campground and the Mount Baldy Trailhead, I headed up the access road to the top where the Ski Resort is and the lodge at the top. From there you bang a left and go up the Devil’s Backbone and then on to the top. This portion, particularly right after the ski resort is some real work, but it is quite a nice tail.

I had people in front and back but they were at distances. This being Memorial Day weekend, I thought I would see a lot more people on the trail. There was a pretty healthy accumulation of people at the peak. There were some patches of snow still on the way up which caught a little by surprise. We had a pretty dry winter and it seemed pretty warm for a while and would have guessed it was all gone.

The top was nice and good views. I spent some time up there resting a little and soon headed down the Ice Hut Trail. With all the traffic this mountain gets including a fairly high ‘yahoo’ factor, the trail was all over the place and the conditions were a bit rough with lots of loose gravel. This was particularly challenging for going down. Despite that, I really liked this hike.

The official peak bagging picture.

7/22/17 - I decided I would try to get back on the recommended order of mountains (lowest to highest) and climbed Mt. Wilson. I let some time go between this hike and in late July decided I would start banging them out. With my Mt. Whitney hike in September, I wanted to wait a little so I would be in shape for this goal. There are a number of suggestions to make this climb when it is cool like Winter. Today was not cool.

There is a loop option for this hike and I opted for the counter-clockwise route. You start at Chantry Flats and head down a paved road. This situation did not work for me; I never like going down when you are supposed to be going up. To start the hike with this was less than ideal and the down was somewhat significant. I knew I would be cursing it as I was ending the hike.

At the bottom, I went right and headed up the Gabrielino Trail and then to the lower Gabrielino Trail. The area in here was very curious as there were cottages, campgrounds and dams. This area was heavily wooded and quite pleasant. You then head to the Sturtevant Trail. There is a fair amount of infrastructure in this area and it is clear that it gets a fair amount of traffic. The hike to the top is very pleasant, but it is not until you get to the very top that you start to see views.

There is no real obvious peak on Mount Wilson, but this was the most official thing I could find. It was at the end of a parking lot which does not really provide a rewarding peak bagging experience.

When you get to the top, it is a bit of a city. There are a number of large observatories and countless communication towers. There is a museum that I went through and that was kind of interesting. I checked out the observatories and then made my way to the Cosmic Cafe. You then discover that you apparently can drive to the top which makes sense with respect to getting all the infrastructure up there. I saw a few cars but it appears that most people were riding their bikes up there. I worked my way to the parking lot that had the best views of Los Angeles. From there the Mount Wilson Trail went down and it was a reasonably good trail. I finally got down to the access road where I had to walk up which was a slug. I finally got back to the car. It was pretty hot and I was very sweaty. This was just an okay hike. I am glad I did it, but I am not sure I would do it again.

7/29/17 - The following weekend I climbed Mt. Cucamonga. The best part of this trip is that my youngest, and Mt. Whitney climbing partner, came with me. I had to pressure him into it as preparation for the big hike ahead. We went up Icehouse Canyon Trail. This was just down the road from Mount Baldy. This was a very pleasant out and back with good scenery and views at the top. I would definitely do this one again.

My son Ben and I on the Peak of Cucamonga.

9/10/17 - I went on vacation and when I got back, it was time to get serious. I decided to climb San Jacinto next. I decided I would hike up from Idillwild. I went up Deer Spring Trail to the top and down the Wellman Divide Trail on the way down. San Jacinto has the best scenery at the top. The view of Palm Springs and San Gorgonio are spectacular. So far this was easily my favorite. Views on the way down were quite good as well. There was a stretch as well where you are on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) which is a challenge I think about quite a bit.

I really liked this hike and mountain. The views East, North and South were amazing.

9/18/17 - The following weekend I climbed San Gorgonio in preparation for Mt. Whitney. San Gorgonio is the tallest in Southern California and is supposed to be the last hike of the Six-Pack Peak Challenge. This one is an out-and-back and definitely was a lot of work. I started at Mill Creek and then to Vivian Creek and to the top; this is the only way I know up the mountain. There is a very steep up early on after crossing the Mill Creek wash. This was not bad going up but on the way down, my legs were screaming. The last third of the trail on the way up was a slug and there were a few times I thought I was at the top and was not. The top of the mountain is exposed and an alpine environment. It was quite nice despite spending most this time gasping for air. This was a long hike and definitely worked me. San Gorgonio was good preparation for Whitney.

The top! This one took a while.

11/25/17 - I felt compelled to complete the challenge and so I climbed San Bernardino late in the season. This was a really nice hike and quite enjoyable.

This was a nice hike and in some ways the trail itself was better than the view at the top.

Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona Highpoints

I work for a company based out of Austin Texas. I decided that I would drive home to California and climb four high points on the way home. I usually fly, but this provided an opportunity to knock out some state high points. My plan was to climb Guadalupe Mountain in Texas, then Mount Wheeler in New Mexico, backtrack a little to bag Black Mesa in Oklahoma and then finish up with Mount Humphrey in Arizona. Lots of driving!

This hike was surprisingly nice. When you think Texas, you don’t think Mountains. Guadalupe is definitely a real mountain.

I left work in Austin on June 29th at about four in the afternoon and started driving West. I work in North Austin so getting out the metropolis was pretty easy and in short order, I was driving roads that had little to no traffic. For the next few hours, I enjoyed the vastness that is Texas. As the sun began to set, I began to enter West Texas, the oil and gas rigs started becoming more and more plentiful. For the next couple of hours, the orange glow and haze that our country’s energy demands have created was something of a hellish landscape or some apocalyptic movie scene.

I was not sure where I was going to sleep so I decided to drive to the trailhead for Guadalupe to get a lay of the land. When I arrived, there was not much around. I decided to drive to the closest town which was about thirty miles away and in New Mexico. I found a motel, spent a little time prepping for the morning and then went to bed.

I woke up the next morning pretty early and drove back to the trailhead. Things looked a lot better in daylight than the darkness the night before. There was a young man, Romero, who was getting ready to climb as well. So we teamed up and climbed together. He was a student at the University of Houston who had an internship in the oil and gas industry and was living in a trailer about forty miles southwest.

The trail was quite good, challenging but not terribly difficult. We made good time and before long, made it to the top. The views were great and I was pleasantly surprised by the Texas high point. There was quite the marker at the top; it looked maybe like American Airlines contributed to the installation. We made it down pretty quickly which was good because the temperature was definitely rising pretty quickly. I said my good-byes to Romero and was anxious to start driving north to Wheeler Peak.

The trip north was visually interesting. Early on I passed the Carlsbad Caverns which I would have really liked to visit, but I did not have the time. Southeast New Mexico is very arid and what little human development there was, certainly was not visually nice and the area appears to be broadly impoverished. I did drive through Roswell which noteworthy from a pop-culture perspective, but it had a fair amount to be desired. I saw no life from other worlds, but the life I did see was somewhat alien. The farther I got north, the better things got. Santa Fe was nice and I finally go into Taos about five in the evening. I was able to have a casual evening, good rest and ready for an early morning departure.

I woke up before daylight, grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and started heading to the ski resort parking lot. Halfway up the access road, there was an older gentleman with his thumb out so I picked him up. He was a consultant to the ski resort from Vermont and looking to make the same climb. This was good because he knew where he was going. We started hiking and things were good. The area was very pretty. My new friend was not particularly fast and he told me to go on with him after about a half-mile. The beginning of the trail was fairly easy and in the woods. After a couple of miles, we really started heading up and got out of the treeline. The trail became steep and was a series of switchbacks. There was a little snow here and there, a fair amount of loose rock, but the trail was pretty good and the scenery was great on a crystal blue morning. After a few hours, I made it to the top. There was a fair amount of hikers. The view at the top was really nice. I spent about thirty minutes up there and started heading down. I met my early morning travel buddy on the way down.

The official top and definitely one of my favorite high points so far.

I made it down pretty quickly but it definitely beat up some. The last mile was rough and I had a little trouble finding my car in the parking lot which made things that much more painful. I was happy to get out my hiking clothes, get in the car and start heading to Black Mesa in Oklahoma. I did stop in Taos again and grabbed a burger. I ate it in the restaurant. In time I would wish that I got something to go.

My plan now was to get as close as I could to Black Mesa and then hike it in the morning. I headed down out of the Carson National Forest toward Eagle Nest. The scenery was great and as I got into Eagle Nest, it had gotten quite dark and poured rain. This area was really nice and I suspect it was a little bit of a hidden gem for the areas summer vacationers. I motored on. After a couple of hours, I finally made it into Oklahoma. I had gone through a number of small towns and eyed motels I could stay at. It was starting to get late but I figured I would see how close I could get and then go back to the closest motel.

Around a quarter of seven, I was essentially at Black Mesa, which was really in the middle of nowhere. Finding the trailhead was difficult. My GPS was not cooperating. There were also some comments that GPS took you to the wrong place. I found a Bed and Breakfast that seemed to house hikers. I knocked on their door to see if they had space and any details on the hike. Unfortunately, no one answered despite it looking like there were people there. So I headed out on the main road and found a person riding a bike. They indicated the trailhead was a bit further down. So I figured I would drive to the trailhead, and in short order, I was there. It was seven on the dot and the sun was setting. All Trails indicated it was about nine miles out and back and the trail was moderate. And based on the surroundings which were rolling hills with scattered Mesas that were a few hundred feet high, I thought I could make good time. Could I do it in a little over two hours? Or so I thought.

So I got my gear on quick and headed out at a brisk pace. The trail was easy but four-plus mile as the sun is setting quickly proved to be long. The scenery was quite nice and besides the cows, I pretty much had the place to myself. After a couple of miles, I finally got to the Mesa and started to climb. Pretty much during the first two miles, I was certain I knew what had to be the high point, but was wrong a few times. When I got to the top of the Mesa, it was very flat and I thought I must be pretty close. Wrong! The high point proved to be two miles across and on the other side of the Mesa. I found it very frustrating. Where the hell was that monument. At long last, I could see it. I was doing intermittent jogging to go faster. And at long last I made it.

My hope was to get to the edge of the Mesa before the sun went down. Mission accomplished, but the rest of the trip back to my car was at best twilight, if not dark. I could hear a fox or a coyote following me for a while. This is after I sort of bumped into some stray cows after coming off the Mesa and they let it be known that they saw me with a fair number of moos. At long last, I made it back to my car at about 9:45 PM. I quickly changed into some driving gear and headed back to the closest town to see if I could get a room.

Coming down of Black Mesa, the sunset in the distance was pretty good.

I was feeling pretty good about myself as I worked my way back through some pretty remote prairie and farmland in the Westernmost portion of Oklahoma. Two high points in one day and a fair amount of mileage driven as well. On the way in, there were a number of small towns with motels and this point,I was happy to stay at any one of them. Little did I know I was in for one of my longest nights ever.

All the motels in the three small towns on the way back to I-25 were all booked. I checked about six different motels and to my surprise all were full. It was now about eleven in the evening and I was pretty tired. I finally got to I-25 and figured that the towns off this Interstate would be much better options. A little closer to Arizona wouldn’t hurt either. I then stopped in Springer, Wagon Mound and Las Vegas New Mexico certain I would find something. And to my surprise and disbelief, all these hotels were full all because it was the Fourth of July weekend. I thought to myself who traveling to and vacationing in these towns. Not to be too snobbish, but there was nothing obvious that these locations had to offer that would warrant any vacation time. I finally got to Las Vegas, NM which had about twenty hotels. I pretty much stopped at everyone and all full. How can this be? Who are these people and why are they vacationing here? I was now forced to press on to Santa Fe and figured I would definitely be able to find something there. When I got to Santa Fe at about 2 AM, hotel row was all booked up as well. I spent about a half-hour going to hotel to hotel and hearing the same things, all booked up for the long weekend. So after a while, I gave up and decided to sleep in the car I had rented. Unfortunately, it was a sedan, so the best I could do is crank down the driver’s seat and make the best of it. I slept off and on for a few hours. After about four hours it was seven in the morning and I could not sleep anymore.

I got up, cleaned myself off as best I could and went to a Starbucks. I got a couple of coffees and some breakfast sandwiches. I started driving west towards Flagstaff Arizona. In a few hours, I was getting close. I was constantly doing math on whether I would hike Humphrey this day, or wait until tomorrow. The map shows that it is about ten miles out an back, so I was looking at five hours. However, I did two high points yesterday and effectively got no sleep so doing it today would be pushing it in a major way. I got into Flagstaff a little afternoon. I stopped at the local supermarket, got some hiking supplies and decided I would drive to the trailhead. The mountain is also a ski resort. It was one o’clock and I was feeling pretty good so I figured I would give it try.

The trail starts from the parking lot and cuts across ski trail before heading into the woods. There was a fair amount of traffic and I was following a few hikers which was good for pushing my pace which I thought was important based on the late start. Speaking to people, there was a saddle which was an important landmark on the trail. This day a few people were saying it was so windy that people were not going past the saddle. It was a bit of a slog, but I finally made it to the saddle and it was definitely windy. However, I had gone this far and there was no chance I was going to turn back and do it all over in the morning. I dropped my pack at the saddle to lighten the load a little and headed my way to the top. While the wind was quite strong, this portion was good terrain and it was quite clear. I finally made it to the top and was pretty proud of this last effort.

Maximum effort with a great pay-off. Check-off Arizona.

I worked my way back down which was rough. I was exhausted. I also almost got lost as I missed a switchback and walked out into a boulder field and could not spot the trail on the other side. I was definitely disoriented. I happened to see out of the corner of my eye someone making the turn I missed and was able to backtrack. If it was not for that person, I could have been in trouble.

Getting back to the car and getting my gear off was magical. I headed back into Flagstaff and had only three things on my mind; food, a shower and sleep. I went to Chipotle and got a giant burrito. I went to my hotel, ate it and took a shower. I got into bed and fell asleep in short order. I woke up the next morning at 8 AM, got some breakfast and drove home to Southern California. This trip worked out great. I was four for four on my high points without incident. The scenery was great and I saw a bunch of the country I really had not seen before. I can’t wait for my next trip!

Connecticut Highpoint

Despite living in Connecticut for 20 plus years some 20 years ago, it wasn’t until today that I bagged Mt. Frissell. The opportunity presented itself and I took advantage of it.

This is the official marker. The actual site is not particularly impressive.

Mt. Frissell is a bit of an odd high point because it is not actually the high point of the actual mountain. The actual summit of Mt. Frissell is located in Massachusetts. A portion of the mountain is located in Connecticut and that elevation is the highest point in the state.

I was visiting my parents and my boyhood home in West Hartford, Connecticut. They were planning to move to Maine after residing in Connecticut for about 40 years. I was helping them get the house ready to sell. We worked most of a Friday and Saturday and got more done than my father had planned for. We did some additional work on Sunday morning. I floated the idea that they could drive me to Mt. Frissell and let me bag this peak. And so off we went. It was a very nice day and it had been a while since I had been to this part of the state. Connecticut is classically New England. My parents had not been to this portion for a while as well. We headed northwest toward Salisbury. The drive was very nice.

We drove to the trailhead which required about a mile drive on a dirt road that was in decent condition. The actual trailhead was a bit unremarkable and it was hard to know for sure if we were at the trailhead. Luckily there was another person who was also trying to bag this high point. Hew as visiting from Ohio and had just bagged Massachusetts high point. We hiked together and within about 45 minuted reached the actual summit of Mt. Frissell. The hike up was was moderate with an initial uphill, some moderate distance travel and then a short climb to the top. There is not much of a view.

The actual summit is not impressive. After many years of hiking out west, not being above the treeline leads to some degree of disappointment.

I then hiked about another ten minutes south to make it to the actual Connecticut high point. The trip was downhill which is understandable but a bit strange. High point bagged. Another fifteen minutes and I got to a very old marker that was the point where New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut all meet. This was kind of cool.

My new hiking companion chose not to go to the Tri-State marker and started heading down. I was able to catch him and make it down to the bottom pretty quickly. My parents were waiting for me. Mission accomplished on this five-mile out and back to the 1,059-foot peak and Connecticut high point. A good hike and very nice to bag my home state’s high point.

Trying to Climb Mt. Whitney

In my quest to climb the highest point and peaks of the continental 48, Mt. Whitney is the tallest at 14,505 feet. Why not knock this one off early in the process was my thinking in constructing a somewhat hasty trip?

This is not my picture but is common view of the mountain. This makes it look a bit harder than it really is, but the mountain is impressive, and for first-timers, pretty intimidating. We had a fair amount of snow cover on our trip but not quite to the extent shown here.

I have been considering this hike for a little while but there is a permit requirement to access the mountain from March through October. I read a lot about it and the basic takeaway was it was a very long and laborious effort, but doable in one day. So with that information, I convinced my youngest son to go with me and we drove there on the first Saturday of November.

We arrived at the center where you put in your permit pretty late but got there just before closing time. We then went into Lone Pine and went to a local outfitter store called Elevation. The guys there were very helpful and provided a number of good suggestions. We ended up renting walking poles which were a lifesaver on both the icy sections and coming back down; I ended up buying my own pair after this experience because I became convinced they were extremely helpful. We got crampons, good UV sunglasses and a number of different items. They recommended that we get going about 2 AM if we were going to day hike it; purchased headlamps as well. This seemed awfully early based on the mileage, but we took their recommendation seriously.

We decided we would do a test 'drive' to the trailhead so we didn't need to figure it out at some crazy hour in the night. You climb a fair height in your car and after a while, we got to the trailhead. We saw a guy that had just come down and he said he day hiked but was just getting down around 7:30 PM and in the dark. He said he started around 2 AM. He looked to be an above-average hiker so we were now convinced we needed to start early.

We then had dinner at a ribs place and ate a lot in preparation for our long day ahead. The food was good but my son is not a great eater and he struggled a little with his somewhat 'slimy' ribs he ordered. We went to a store and picked up some more trail snacks for the hike.

We went back to the Whitney Portal and did a test run on getting dressed and ready to get out the door. We then went to bed with the anticipation of waking up at 2 AM and being at the trailhead no later than 3 AM to start the hike.

Unfortunately, my son soon after shutting the lights off developed a bad stomach ache. He ended up throwing up a few times and had a little diarrhea. Unfortunately, we did not get much sleep. And there was some uncertainty as to whether we were actually going to be able to make a go of it with my son's condition.

The alarm went off at 2 AM and we decided we would try to get a little more sleep. We ended up getting up at about 3 AM, got ready, packed up and drove to the trailhead. We had a little hitch getting there as we had a seed of doubt we were on the right road and did some backtracking. We got on the trailhead about 4 AM and we were just going to see how it went and how my son's stomach was going to handle it. We hiked a few miles through the dark and the sun began to rise. My son's condition was getting better. We kept pushing and got to Outpost Camp and Mirror Lake area. We started to run into snow and ice and eventually decided we need to put on our crampons.

I took this on our way up and about two hours into the hike. We really began to see what was around us and began to see some progress.

We got to a place where we could see Consultation Lake and really see Mt. Whitney as well. We were getting close to the 99 switchbacks. The weather was pretty good this morning and we were optimistic. We finally got to the 'chains' and this was pretty treacherous. There was a lot of snow and essentially one foot hole in the snow to navigate through this stretch. And where there were not any chains, there was a steep snowfield for about 1000 feet down. It definitely forced you to be quite careful.

We kept pressing up the switchbacks and wanted to hit the Trail Crest by 2 PM. We met this guy who was not dressed properly and had run out something to drink. We hiked with him for a little while but eventually passed and separated with him. We were starting to get tired and the weather was turning for the worse. Our legs were starting to get quite 'rubbery' and we were getting nervous about the descent particularly around this very narrow snow section near the chains. We got to the Trail Crest a little after 2 PM and talked to a gentleman who said that the peak was only another two miles but would take about two hours. We debated fairly vigorously about whether we should keep going or turn back. We were pretty tired, but at the same time, so close. A decision between what we want and what was smart.

This was actually on the way down and we had gotten through the majority of the snow. While the decision to turn back was a very hard one and anguishing, it was the right decision. We were happy to be at this point on our way out.

We decided to turn back. Ultimately a smart decision, but filled with lots of regret. We worked our way through the narrow and treacherous sections of snow near the chains. We were happy to be through this section safely. We worked our way down. The trail seemed to go forever. I could only think about my condition had we pressed our way to the top. We got back to our car at about dusk and very happy to be back and sitting down.

With some time between this attempt and penning this report, my basic conclusion is that this was overly ambitious. Our plans were firmed up only a couple of days prior to our actual attempt. And while I think we could do it as a day trip, it is long and a bit of a marathon. We in fact needed to start at 2 AM as suggested. Our physical condition, particularly my son, was not ideal due to our pre-hike dinner and lack of sleep. Everything being equal, we were happy with the attempt.

The new plan is getting a permit when there is little to no snow and maybe do an overnight. With these two differences, I am confident we will conquer the highest peak int the lower 48 states, Mt. Whitney!

A Quest to Climb the Highest Point of Every State

I have decided to try to climb the highest point of every state in America. Why? I am not sure I have a really meaningful answer other than I enjoy hiking, it is a good way to see the country and I like a challenge.

This decision was made right around my 50th birthday so maybe one could surmise that it is the result of a mid-life crisis. And I am not sure I know what a mid-life crisis is other than the reality of death is starting to have some real meaning and for me, this a way to stall that inevitability.

This was a trip to Mt. Katahdin at a tripping camp called Pine Island that I worked at for six summers during high school and college. I love this mountain and found that I was a pretty good hiker.

In high school and college, I worked at a summer camp in Maine called Pine Island Camp that sent out a lot of hiking and canoeing trips. I enjoyed both but excelled on the trail. There were a lot of good trips that I went on, but Mt. Katahdin was my favorite. The mountain was visually stunning whether standing at the shoreline of Chimney Pond, climbing Cathedral trail, the view from the summit, traversing the Knife's Edge or descending Dudley Trail and Pamola Peak.

I haven't done much hiking between the end of college and now, but I am lucky to live close to some pretty good hiking. So recently, I have started getting into 'training' for this challenge.

So my plan is to climb each of the highest points, not peaks in each state. In most instances, the peak and point are one in the same, but in a few instances, the highest point is really a peak that splits two states and the actual peak is not in the state that you are counting, and often not the highest peak in that state; my home state of Connecticut is a good example.

I did a lot of hiking at Pine Island Camp. When I was a counselor, we would take young men all through out New Hampshire and Maine; a lot of it on the Appalachian Trail. After camp was over, some of the other counselors and I would go do trips on our own. This was at the Pinkham Notch trail head getting ready to go up Mt. Washington via Tuckerman’s Ravine.

Since this idea came about when I was fifty and I plan to do 48 states, I will need to climb about five peaks a year. I am thinking I need to have an endpoint to the challenge and I worry about my capacity to accomplish some of the harder peaks after sixty.

I do not have a specific order other than I am going to try to knock out as many of the biggest ones I can early in the process. And I will try to at least climb a couple at a time to make the associated travel costs as minimal as possible. I do not plan to do Denali in Alaska because I concede that it is beyond both my skills and capacity. So my general description is the highest points in the continental 48, although I can see adding Hawaii as both doable and a good reason to visit the state.

So away I go. You can follow my progress here or on PeakBagger.com

Mt. Katahdin was my favorite mountain and I climbed it many times. It was easily the most dramatic in my limited experience of hiking in Maine and New Hampshire. I thought I looked really cool with the red, white and blue bandana and the Ray-Bans.

Saddleback Mountain

I have stared at this mountain for fifteen years because it sits directly behind my house in the Cleveland National Forest. Saddleback is also referred to as Santiago Peak measuring 5,689 feet. I have always been impressed by this as it eclipses the height of my favorite mountain, Katahdin. I have often been struck that there is a significant peak right in my backyard just asking to be climbed. Unfortunately, it has taken me nearly fifteen years to actually climb it.

This is a typical view looking East in Orange County, California. One of those specs at the ‘base’ of Saddleback is my house.

When I was young, I did a fair amount of hiking, mostly on the East Coast. Then life got in the way and with a wife, kids and a career. I got busy, but mostly tired, fat and soft. Starting to hike again was mostly a passing thought. Something I should get back into. Maybe next month.

I would be reminded that Saddleback was just waiting to be climbed nearly every day. Driving home from work, the mountain was right there just waiting to be climbed. On occasion, I would look on the internet to try to figure out if there was a hiking trail but never really could find anything definitive. I traveled a fair amount and most air traffic coming into John Wayne Airport flies right over the northern end of the Cleveland National Forest. I would study all the fire roads trying to see the route up and try to figure out where is a ‘trailhead’. My efforts were genuine but never resulted in any meaningful results.

Then one day, my wife came home and in her work travels met someone who was talking about hiking Saddleback. She shared this with me and I asked her to get the person’s contact information. If he knew a trail and a route, I wanted to tag along. One of the biggest obstacles for me was trying to go it alone. Wandering around hoping I was going the right way was not something I wanted to do.

The connection and trip were confirmed with this individual, Tex. He was planning to climb Saddleback over the July Fourth weekend. I was in. This was enough to finally get me to check this ‘To Do’ item off my list. Tex was going to meet me at a location not far from my house at 5 AM. He had four-wheel drive, so I was going to hitch a ride into the trailhead, called Holy Jim.

The best part was I convinced my youngest to come with me at the last minute; the night before. Generally speaking, when I ask my youngest to do something like this with me, he turns me down. For him, rejecting my request is somewhat reflexive. In this case, since it was around my birthday, I think I convinced him to do it by leveraging guilt to push him over the line to a yes.

We met with some others that Tex had included in this trip at Cook’s Corner. My son and I hopped into one of the four-wheel-drive vehicles and we drove to the trailhead. After about twenty minutes, we finally got to the trailhead. The road in was definitely a bit rough in parts. Everyone got ready and we were finally ready to start. We walked through a small collection of cabins where people were actually living and then got on the trail.

After a short period of hiking, it was quickly apparent that most of the group was going at a pretty slow pace. My son and I were definitely in front along with one older lady that kept our pace. Early on, we would stop and wait for others to catch up but after a few times, it was clear that this was not going to work. So we just forged ahead.

The trail was single-track for maybe two-thirds of the way up and then the trail changes to a fire road. It was a fairly long trip up. There was nothing particularly technical or steep, but it was a long trip up. I was very surprised by how vast the Cleveland National forest was. When I would fly over it, you never really sensed how big it was; probably because what you can see at 10,000 feet and going 500 miles an hour.

We finally made it to the top which is mostly a collection of communication towers. There is not an obvious peak, but we did find the marker. The best views tended to be during the hike. There was good visibility West, and hiking back down you got to see a good view looking East. The views were good, but there was not a lot of wow.

The trip down seemed to go forever. I was in descent shape, but not for long hikes. We got down at about 2 PM and I was pretty tired. My legs were quite sore. We had seen our party when we headed back down and there was some question if they were going to make it to the top. At the bottom, we waited for about half an hour. I got desperate to get home and we took the opportunity to hitch a ride out with some kids that had just come down. Getting home, showered and horizontal felt great.

Saddleback or Mount Santiago was a good hike and something I needed to check off my list, but I am not sure I would rush back.

The summit looking West. The Pacific is out there somewhere.