June 11, 2022 – Travels with Fred

Saturday 11 June 2022

Every morning, first thing, I turn the computer on and log into my msn.com site. Like Facebook, it often has lists like “Oldest Hotel in Your State” or “How Many of These Countries Have You Been.” I mentally answer the Facebook ones but don’t actually take the survey or answer – I’m on enough mailing lists. At least, the ones on msn.com will tell you if they are ad based.

Today I ran across an interesting one on msn.com that listed all 50 states highest and lowest points. I had been to the highest point in four states: Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. I had been within sight of three others: Washington, Oregon, and California.

My first high point had to be Clingmans Dome in North Carolina. It’s a cheat climb because you park you car in the parking lot at the base of the visitor center, but it is still a 331 foot elevation gain from the parking lot. Clingmans Dome peaks at 6,643 feet. I have no recollection of my first time to the top but I’ve climbed it many, many times over the years.

It’s fun to climb the observation tower but in this photo, it was closed for repairs.

My second high point came as a graduate student in Dr. Pullen’s Flora of Mississippi class. It was in Tishomingo County (before I started my survey of the state park there) and we climbed to an elevation of 806 feet! At the time, there was no road to the top and you had to hoof it up for an elevation gain of 150 feet. Today, you can drive to within 9 feet of the top. We collected plants on our way up. What was interesting was Dr. Pullen made it up without any heavy breathing and he had to be in his 60’s then. Several of the graduate students were panting pretty good.

Image from Wikipedia. J.C. Johnson, my high school Mississippi history teacher required us to know the county and the elevation for the course.

My third high point was also my toughest – Guadalupe Peak in Texas at 8,749 feet. This is a 2,982 foot elevation gain in 8.4 miles. The park service recommends you allow an eight hour time span to hike up and back. It took me 10 and nearly killed me. Any time you have a 3000 foot elevation gain, it’s brutal.

The steel pyramid was erected by American Airlines in 1958 to honor those who traveled the Butterfield Overland Mail trail (pony express). It was very cold and very windy at the top.

My last acme was Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. It logs in at 6,684 feet. It’s 41 feet lower than Clingmans Dome. If you walk the trail (I did not) it’s a 3,694 foot elevation gain. If you park in. the parking lot, you probably gain about 27 feet in elevation.

Mount Mitchell’s observation deck is a little more low key.

As far as other peaks I’ve visited but not topped out, Mount Rainier in Washington is the tallest at 14, 441 feet, Mount Whitney in California is 14, 505 feet and Mount Hood in Oregon is 11, 249 feet.

I am proudest of Guadalupe Peak but I never want to climb it again.

There are a group of hikers that are members of the fourteener’s club – those that climb 14,000 feet peaks as a hobby. The highest I’ve ever been was Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and it was an elevation of 10, 138 feet which was a 689 foot elevation gain from the parking lot at Bear Lake.

I’ve also snowshoed Bear Lake to Nymph lake in the same spot with Michel and Nancy with an elevation gain from Bear Lake to Nymph lake of 230 feet. Nymph Lake is at 9,679 feet.

Emerald Lake. The winds were so high, the hikers that were there with me had to hide behind trees in order to stand upright. You could only stay a few minutes because of the brutal cold.

I can’t say what motivates fourteener’s nor what motivates me to hike up mountains. It’s not really a lot of fun doing it until you get to the top and see the sights. Then it all seems worth it. Many times I’ve asked myself what in the hell I’m doing. Then I do it again.

Stay tuned!