For several years, I lived very close to Arkansas's highest point. I hiked to the top of at least once, nearly every week. At the top was a well cared for and rather large sign announcing the elevation and a mailbox containing a logbook. The logbook would fill every couple of months, and I was often granted the pleasure if being the one to exchange it for a new one. I enjoyed reading some of the entries while it was temporarily in my keeping, and that is where I learned about highpointers for the very first time.
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| You'll have to visit to see what's at the top! |
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| Denali |
At first, I simply thought "huh. Well that's cool," and moved on. Then as I saw more logbook entries, read their stories, visited the websites like highpointers.org and summitpost.org, and conversed with highpointers, the idea began sinking into my brain. I don't remember when I decided it. I don't know if there was a specific moment that it became a goal. But I decided to start visiting highpoints.
My goal is to visit at least 40 of the 50. Denali, Whitney, and a few others are technical climbs, requiring specific skills, physical conditioning, and practice. I would like to climb a mountain like that some day, but I feel like it's naive for me to believe I could climb a monster like Denali. It would take time, finances, and dedication that, at this point, I'm not sure I'd ever be willing to invest in such a pursuit. But stand on top of the shorter 40? I have no doubt I can accomplish that.
I've obviously been to Arkansas's highpoint, and I accidentally visited Missouri's a few years ago. However, my first intentional trip to visit to a highpoint was just a couple weeks ago. A friend and I visited Driskill Mountain, or Driskill Hill depending on who you ask, in Louisiana. I walked to the 535' summit on a trail that was about half a mile long. At the top was a panel with some history, a logbook, and a couple of benches.
The area was heavily wooded, but there was still a little bit of a view. The highpoint and trails are on private land, but the landowners graciously keep up the trails and allow people to hike on them. If you decide to visit, there are lots of criss crossing paths, so be sure to pay attention to the trail blazes.
On the trip, we camped at Lake Claiborne State Park in Louisiana. The park was nearly empty, and I enjoyed staying there. Our site was right on the water and had plenty of trees for hammock. My friend slept in a tent, but there was no designated tent pad. Instead he pitched it on the asphalt for RVs. I loaned him a self inflating sleeping pad. I also took advantage of this opportunity to cooking frozen biscuits in my homemade steam baker. I've made them from mix but frozen was new. They had a slightly different texture on the outside but turned out well.
My goal is to visit at least 40 of the 50. Denali, Whitney, and a few others are technical climbs, requiring specific skills, physical conditioning, and practice. I would like to climb a mountain like that some day, but I feel like it's naive for me to believe I could climb a monster like Denali. It would take time, finances, and dedication that, at this point, I'm not sure I'd ever be willing to invest in such a pursuit. But stand on top of the shorter 40? I have no doubt I can accomplish that.
I've obviously been to Arkansas's highpoint, and I accidentally visited Missouri's a few years ago. However, my first intentional trip to visit to a highpoint was just a couple weeks ago. A friend and I visited Driskill Mountain, or Driskill Hill depending on who you ask, in Louisiana. I walked to the 535' summit on a trail that was about half a mile long. At the top was a panel with some history, a logbook, and a couple of benches.
The area was heavily wooded, but there was still a little bit of a view. The highpoint and trails are on private land, but the landowners graciously keep up the trails and allow people to hike on them. If you decide to visit, there are lots of criss crossing paths, so be sure to pay attention to the trail blazes. On the trip, we camped at Lake Claiborne State Park in Louisiana. The park was nearly empty, and I enjoyed staying there. Our site was right on the water and had plenty of trees for hammock. My friend slept in a tent, but there was no designated tent pad. Instead he pitched it on the asphalt for RVs. I loaned him a self inflating sleeping pad. I also took advantage of this opportunity to cooking frozen biscuits in my homemade steam baker. I've made them from mix but frozen was new. They had a slightly different texture on the outside but turned out well.
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