Lee and I on the summit of Western Barren Nova Scotia… after reaching a false summit in June, then being turned back by fire restrictions in August, this summit was achieved in early October! Thanks to my climbing guide Lee!

Lee scouting it out…

More posts to come…. including a successful accent of Mt Elbert in Colorado. The second highest peak in the lower 48s (only Mt. Whitney is higher…) and Mt. Carleton, New Brunswick on my new blog klimbingonward.com

Mt. Elbert September 2025….

Mt. Carleton, New Brunswick in a turnaround time of 3.5 hours…

My birthday present to myself… first light at Meat Cove, Nova Scotia… and…

Meeting ‘The Fog’ on my birthday…

See you soon on the my new blog…

It’s hard for me to imagine I have just completed #30 in Virginia and I’m about to complete the east coast.  North Carolina’s Mount Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi, standing at 6,684 feet.  To get to the mountain road you must drive along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway.  Wow!  This drive is one you want to add to your bucket list.  I reached the parking lot and scouted the area out.  I found that there was an ‘Old Mount Mitchell Trail’ so I drove back to the trailhead and got ready for a very strenuous, steep and rocky 4.5 mile round trip to the summit.  Hard, yet very rewarding.  I celebrated on the summit!! Yeh!! On my way back I was able to take it all in.  A successful 6 summit road trip.  East coast is done.  Now it’s time to head West…

 

I met up with my dear friend Hez for this high point.  She drove out from Virginia Beach to meet me the night before the klimb.  Mount Rogers sits within the Grayson Highlands and the drive from Kentucky over to the highlands was absolutely spectacular.  The weather was beautiful and I could only imagine how this area must look when all the Rhododendrons are in bloom!  Hez and I had a fun, but frustrating trip up the road leading to the mountain.  We were scouting it out for an early morning start the next day.  We both agreed, Virginia has work to do on their signage!  The next morning we arrived at the trailhead with just a small handful of other klimbers.  The trail we used incorporates a portion of the Appalachian Trail and we were lucky enough to meet up with some thru hikers along the way!  The hike reminded me of the mountains out west because you could see the surrounding Appalachians as far as the eye could see.  A wonderful surprise.  The summit was heavily forested so we didn’t get any views there.  But, we had plenty of other spectacular views at every other turn!   The wild ponies added to the fun!  This was definitely one of the most beautiful klimbs I have done to this point.  #30!!

 

 

I continued driving through West Virginia heading down to the Kentucky high point.  I drove for 6 hours along a four-lane highway, with heavy fog and little traffic (I may have seen a dozen cars over the entire drive).  I passed numerous coal mining operations along the way.  And between the fog and black smoke, it was a little eerie…  I found a small motel within an hour of the high point and crashed for the night.  The next morning I was happy to see the weather had finally cleared and I continued my drive to Black Mountain.  This high point is an active coal mine and requires a permit to klimb.  With a copy of the permit in hand I parked just outside the gate and decided to run the 3 mile round trip to the summit.  This high point has a lookout tower, but it is not accessible due to the periodic blasting from the mining activity.  The monument is located under this lookout tower.  On the way back down I finally had some spectacular views!

 

Spruce Knob is named for the red spruce found on Spruce Mountain.  It is one of the most remote high points within the 48 states as the forest road is very long, narrow and it is not cleared of snow during the winter months due to its location.  It is a drive-up.  And a drive-up it was!  Passing small neighborhoods containing a few trailers with the locals watching you drive by… keeping an eye out…  so I kept on driving and winding my way around the mountain… no stopping here!  The heavy rain had finally stopped, but the fog was intense.  It was so bad I could barely see 50 feet off the front of my car.  Spruce Knob has a beautiful observation tower, with well maintained trails in all directions.  I attempted to get some views from a number of trails, but the fog was too thick.  The monument is a disc just north of the tower.

After my tire was repaired, I immediately headed to the high point of Maryland, Backbone Mountain.  I managed to drive to the point in pouring rain and get there with just enough time to klimb the two mile round trip to the summit before sunset.  The Eastern Continental Divide runs along portions of this high point.  A ridge that is similar to the Continental Divide of the Rockies, except this divide contains rivers that drain into the Atlantic Ocean to the east and rivers that drain into the Gulf of Mexico to the west.  Kind of a cool fact!  The road leading to this high point has a popular and interesting tourist attraction.  The “Smallest Church in the 48 States”.  It was fun to look around the area.  Notice the lettering on the post office!  The weather was turning for the worse, so I quickly signed the log book and headed back down.  Time to find a place to rest for the night!

 

I’m finally getting to post my last high pointing trip I took last month!  I started my drive from St. Albans and on the second day I reached the High Point of PA, Mount Davis.  This klimb is a drive-up.  But, the drive into the high point is fairly long and remote.  After parking I headed up the observation tower (not a good idea for those afraid of heights!).  It was windy, the tower was whistling and creaking… and once I got up to the top, the heavy cloud cover prevented me from seeing any great views.  I headed back down the tower and searched the area for the large boulder with the high point monument mounted to the tip of it.  There is also an exhibit located not too far away from the monument which was fun to look over.  Upon leaving the mountain I found I had a flat tire.  So much for getting to three high points in one day!  With the help of two other kimbers I had a quick tire change and continued on my way to the local tire shop.  The road back to town was winding and populated with Amish homes, friendly smiling people and horse drawn carriages.  It was like I had gone back in time…

 

 

I had a beautiful ride from Delaware to the New Jersey high point  by driving through the Pocono Mountains, along Delaware river.  High Point sits in the northeastern corner of NJ and lies within High Point State Park.  It’s monument is very noticeable as you drive up to the point as it very closely resembles the Washington Monument.  This monument had been closed for well over 15 years, but was recently opened to the public, so I happily parked my car, walked up the short path to the base and then proceeded to climb the 291 steps to the top.  Unfortunately the views from the top were poor due to foggy, dirty windows and the weather that was changing from a beautiful sunny day to one of threatening clouds.  Funny thing is I found the climb down was harder than I thought it was going to be.  At the bottom I ran into a state park worker and asked about the history of the high point.  She mentioned that in order to declare High Point you need to visit three monuments.  One is on top of the wall beside the flag pole.  One is behind the building on a large slab of rock.  And the third was in front of the building, about 400 feet away.  It was fun looking around because everyone around me was looking and wondering what exactly I was doing.  Then I celebrated reaching the half way point of my quest!!! #25!!! Yahoo!!!

 

 

On a recent trip to NYC, while I was attending a Tony Robbins seminar, I decided after walking on fire (yes, I walked on hot coals!) and attending transformation day, that I could not longer resist the temptation of klimbing two high points that were within an easy days drive.  So off I went to explore the second lowest high point (FL being the lowest) in Delaware.  Ebright Azimuth sits on the state line between Pennsylvania and Delaware.   The actual high point within Delaware has been under scrutiny for some time now.  Some say the point is on the side of the road where a sidewalk now sits.  And thankfully due to the work of a local neighbor and an enthusiastic high point supporter Doreen, who asked local politicians to have the portion of the sidewalk that was laid on top of the high point monument be removed and the marker is now clearly visible.  Doreen also lobbied the local city officials to mount a sign close to the monument marker, making it easier to find (even still, I drove right by it twice!).  Others say the natural high point actually sits down the road a bit, just outside a trailer park.  And still others say the high point actually sits under a mobile home in the trailer park.  I learned a bit of this from reading the high point website, but I was also one of the lucky one’s who actually got to meet Doreen and she mentioned that most people visit three sites in order to declare Ebright Azimuth.  The monument beside the sidewalk, the sign and the monument just outside the trailer park.  I had a wonderful conversation with Doreen and she had me sign the log book, which I was extremely grateful for.  I also learned from her that you can stand in the middle of this road and straddle the yellow center line and one foot will be in Delaware, the other in Pennsylvania.  I just couldn’t resist…

Mt. Katahdin sits in Baxter Hill Park in northern Maine within a vast wilderness area surrounding the park.  It was a long drive from Vermont, but it was absolutely beautiful at every turn.  After checking into my room I decided to read the first chapter of Bill Bryson’s, ‘A Walk in the Wood’, which was a big mistake as the first chapter describes a variety of ways a bear can kill you in the woods.  Abandoning the reading I turned on the TV to one of two channels I could get only to find a movie called ‘Bear’.  Not only did I have a now have a visual memory of how many ways I bear could kill you in the wilderness, but I was now second guessing the idea of climbing alone the next morning.  I woke up early to check in at the entry gate before it closed at 7am and arrived at the trail head.  I followed Chimney Pond trail up to the Saddle route.  It was not an easy climb, especially because I felt I was on high alert for bears. And every time I heard a noise in the woods, I stopped to wonder if it was safe to continue moving forward or should I turn around!  But, I arrived at the summit safely.  I briefly enjoyed the views and decided to try taking ‘Jack Knife’ down.  A big mistake.  It’s an exposed ridge, with very steep drops on either side and the wind had picked up.  After about 15 minutes making my way along the jagged boulders I saw two ladies heading my way who encouraged me to turn around because of the wind, which I did and headed back to the Saddle route.  This route (as do all the others) require some bouldering, which I found very challenging.  It made me a little bit more nervous than I usually am, as the drop is very steep.  Now I know why Henry David Thoreau didn’t make the summit!!But, as I was descending I noticed a group of young men encouraging another young man down the mountain.  This man was terrified and crawling, facing toward the mountain, on his hands and knees.  After witnessing his struggle I was encouraged to keep moving forward, slowly and methodically.  I was very thankful once the steep bouldering was behind me.   And once I was back at my car I felt beaten up from head to toe.  Mt. Katahdin was my most difficult climb yet!  And I was off to Lubek Maine to run a 52kg road race in two days.  Oh boy…