The trip odometer is at 2800 Miles, and we are back in Texas headed south on 59 making our way back to Houston. It was a successful trip and we completed 6 more highpoints. Susan is driving and I’m at the desk punching out the last of the trip reports.
Taum Sauk Trip Report
The Taum Sauk Missouri trip report is posted in its entirety here. You can access all of my trip reports on the Highpoint Progress Page.
It’s sunset & I’m sitting on a rock at Taum Sauk Mountain, the highest point in Missouri smoking a Cuban cigar & eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup .
Life is deliciously good.
So we made it into East St. Louis Illinois last night and found a great spot behind the Casino Queen. St. Louis Missouri is just across the river and we can see the arch from the coach. We only have one more highpoint left this trip which is Missouri, and have some extra time, so well stay here another day or two and experience St. Louis as it is our first time here.
Missing Pie
As excited as I am about exploring St. Louis, I can’t stop thinking about pie. You see, the Amish cherry pie made quite an impression on me, but now it’s gone and I’m having a hard time coping.
We have clocked 2,036 miles in BigByrd and crossed from Ohio into Indiana earlier today. After completing the Indiana highpoint around mid-day, we decided to push straight through to East St. Louis Illinois. Having already spent a fair amount of time in Indiana I was keen to do something new. I have never been to St Louis, and since we are ahead of schedule we will spend some time there before we do the Missouri highpoint and head back to Texas.
The Hoosier Hill Trip Report is posted below in its entirety. You will find links to all of my highpoint trip reports & photo galleries on the US State Highpoint Progress page.
Hoosier Hill Trip Report
On Sunday September 27th of 2015, I found myself sitting on a rock and not just any old rock mind you. This particular rock rested at the lofty elevation on 1,257′ making it the highest rock in Indiana. This was highpoint #5 of 6 completed during our 2015 East Central Trip and it was #38 out of the 50 states for me.
It was a harrowing climb to the barely discernible summit of Hoosier High Point, but I’m sitting on the rock that marks the 1,257′ top of Indiana.
There is no discernible geographical prominence here (it’s flat), but, it’s a charming setting nestled in the woods at the edge of a cornfield in rural Indiana.
After spending a single night in Ohio, we will be leaving today for Indiana where I’ll complete Hoosier Hill the highpoint of that state. It’s only 80 miles further west, so we’ll drop the coach along the interstate and take the Jeep north to the highpoint before continuing on to who knows were. I like this unscripted style of travel, but it’s stresses Susan out a bit.
Campbell Hill Ohio Trip Report
The Campbell Hill Trip Report is posted below in it’s entirety here.
Samson and I are now standing on the highest point in Ohio; Campbell Hill at 1,549 feet. I’m a little concerned about altitude sickness so I’ll be descending soon.
While the Highpoint itself is not particularly inspiring the drive through picturesque farm land getting here was worth the trip.
This marks 4 state highpoints for this trip and is #37 of my goal of 50.
I decided to take a more circuitous route through the farmland.
It seems that soybean & corn are the prevalent crops, but there are others.
Many of the farms are currently harvesting and witnessing the monstrous combines tear wide swaths through the fields is an awesome sight.
The throaty exhaust burble of the big turbo diesel and the abrupt forward lurch told me that Susan had once again engaged the exhaust brake in an effort to hold back the 32,000 lb motor coach cum bobsled as we made our way through the Allegheny Mountains. It takes a concerted effort to manage this thing through up and down hills and Susan did a fantastic job allowing me to get some work done while we traveled.
Welcome to Ohio
We crossed into Ohio late yesterday, and it was a beautiful drive through the mountains and surrounding farm country. Today I’ll be completing the Ohio highpoint, Campbell Hill, while Susan does her hair, and I’ll probably be finished before she will.
Backbone Mountain Trip Report
You will find the complete Backbone Mountain report here. To view a sortable table of all of the highpoints with completion dates, trip reports, photo galleries, blog entries an GPS tracks, visit the US State Highpoint Progress Page.
Now standing on the 3,213′ Pennsylvania Highpoint, Mt Davis summit tower. There is unlimited visibility, mild winds, wispy clouds & bright colors as far as the eye can see.
Drove though Amish country getting here.
Standing atop 3,360′ Backbone Mountain, the highpoint of Maryland. Took Jeep almost to the top and it was a wild ride over logs, boulders and gullies.
I was grinning all the way to the summit!
We have spent the last 2 days in West Virginia in secluded and heavily wooded campground with the fall colors starting to come in. Deer are walking right up to the coach and the weather is cool and comfortable.
I’m heading up to Maryland to Backbone Mountain in the Jeep, while Susan and Samson relax in the coach in West Virginia.
To get the best photos, I’m planning a Sunset summit which is around 7:15. It’s a short easy hike, so I’ll be back in 5-6 hours.
Standing on the 5,863′ Summit of Spruce Knob, highest point in West Virginia. Dense fog, so low visibility.
Cool w no wind, quiet & serene here. 1st HP of trip
We just passed the 1,100 mile mark on this trip and things are going well. Susan hasn’t broken anything yet and has only caused me to make a single wrong turn.
Buddy Can You Spare a …
We took a break from driving yesterday and spent the day in the historic town of Chattanooga. Chattanooga interestingly enough is the town that my good friend Rick Overholt who started me down the highpointing path, tried out life as a street bum when he ran away from home as a child.
“I like to get me summa dat essential oil n’ rubit on my elbows real good.” – A Louisianan discussing essential oils with Susan.
Susan and I are off on another adventure in “BigByrd” our 41′ motor coach. Typically we plan every leg and make reservations ahead of time, but this time we decided to go totally unscripted. This will give us the freedom to be a bit more exploratory along the way. We need to be back in town by October 5th, so time permitting we intend to visit the highest points in 6 states; West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri. We will be driving through those states in that order, so if you know of anything cool along the way, reply to this message and let us know.
Welcome to Louisiana
We set out yesterday afternoon and spent the evening in The Frenchman’s Wilderness Campground in St. Martin Parrish Louisiana. While exploring the area we happened upon a tiny backwoods pub called the Levee Rat. The patrons applauded uproariously as we entered which we quite enjoyed. And as we were being seated, a local by the name of Leon approached and commented on how nice we smelled. While I was basking in the glow of all of the positive reinforcement, Susan explained to Leon that it was Citronella, an Essential Oil we were using to keep the mosquitoes away. Leon who was apparently intimately familiar with essential oils said; “I like to get me summa dat essential oil n’ rubit on my elbows real good.” Susan cut the conversation short and proceeded to be seated. I never got a good look at Leon’s elbows, but I’m sure they’re very impressive.
It did not dampen our spirits when we later learned they were not applauding for us, but for a particularly clever joke, at least by Louisiana’s standards of humor. I never heard the joke, thus cannot comment on its jocularity. I was however glad that I resisted the urge to take a bow. We also are pretty sure that Leon was insane.
We are currently guiding our earthship towards Houston and will dock this evening concluding our 4 state highpoint north central trip. It was the longest trip we have taken in the coach, and except for a few minor mechanical challenges all went smoothly.
It was a fun trip, and we experienced some parts of America that few people see, and created many new memories.
Just completed Mt Sunflower Kansas. Surrounded by cultivated farm land as far as the eye can see.
Checked out a book I was while there. Really, there’s a library.
We are leaving Denver Colorado after a couple of pleasant days here. I enjoy the process of pushing some buttons to transform our home into a car, and pointing it towards the horizon of new possibilities.
Kansas Here we Come
We are headed due East to Mount Sunflower Kansas to bag that highpoint and then will make the journey south and back to Houston.
Panorama Point Trip Report
This one is short, so the whole trip report is duplicated in the blog in its entirety as well having the typical Trip Report page.
On Monday August 24th, 2015 I stood at the highest point in Nebraska which is Panorama Point. This was the third of the 4 state highpoints completed during our 2015 North Central Trip and it was #32 out of the 50 states for me.
Highpoint Statistics:
Completion Date: Monday August 24th, 2015
State: Nebraska
Elevation:5,426
US Rank: 20
Hiking Distance: NA
Hiking Round Trip Time: NA
Highpoint Links:
Photo Gallery
Posts
Trip Report
Panorama Point is located in the heart of the aptly named Great Plains and surrounded by pastures and farmland which while mostly flat, has its own sort of charm. We also saw many wind farms turning lazily in the distance as it was a calm day.
This one is very remote and we drove miles of very dusty dirt farm roads to get there, and once at the turnoff I detached and took the jeep down the rugged 1.3 mile access road which would not have been healthy for the 30,000 lb motor coach.
Oh and ignore Google, it will take you through a farmers private land who will shoot at you.
At the Summit!
The highpoint itself is located out in a wide open plain and is a barely perceptible rise in the landscape, yet it is taller than 30 other states. There was a large herd of buffalo in the distance, but they seemed oblivious to my presence.
Time for a Beer and a Banana
So after the treacherous climb to the highest point of Nebraska, which happened to by the roof of my Jeep at the time, this seemed like as good a place as any for a beer and a banana.
All in a days work…
On Saturday August 22nd, 2015 I stood atop Harney Peak with my good friend and climbing partner Rick Overholt who flew up to Climb Harney Peak for the second time. Harney Peak was the second of the 4 state highpoints completed during our 2015 North Central Trip and it was #31 out of the 50 states for me.
It’s a dramatic mountain, and I understand why Rick went back again. The climb was easy but interesting for both of us and we found ourselves involved in rescuing lost hikers in the end.
You will find the entire Trip Report here.
Highpoint Statistics:
Summit Date:Monday August 24th, 2015
State: South Dakota
Elevation: 7,242
US Rank: 15
Distance: 7 Miles
Round Trip Time: 6.5 Hours
Highpoint Links:
Photo Gallery
Posts
Trip Report
You will find, status, photo galleries and trip reports for all of my adventures on the Highpoints Page.
Below are some of my favorite photos from the climb, and you can find the entire Photo Gallery here.
I now proudly stand on the barely perceptible rise that is the highest point in Nebraska.
It’s located in a vast plain that is also home to a herd of buffalo who haven’t noticed me.
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