Daryl

Taum Sauk, MO, US Highpoint #25, 22 April 2004

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Taum Sauk Mountain, Missouri, lies at 1,772 feet MSL and is ranked #41 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 22nd highpoint of 2004, and my 25th US Highpoint overall. Taum Sauk is a easy stroll along a paved trail in the woods and is located in Taum Sauk Mountain State Park in … Read more

Tahoma, WA, US Highpoint #1, 17 June 2001

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Tahoma (Mount Rainier), Washington, lies at 14,411 feet MSL and is ranked #4 in elevation among US Highpoints after Alaska, California, and Colorado. This was my second attempt on Tahoma and I led my friend and amateur mountaineer “Derp” to the top. We spent a day practicing self-rescue and reasoned, quite foolishly, that there were … Read more

Borah Peak, ID, US Highpoint #2, 22 July 2001

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Borah Peak, Idaho, lies at 12,662 feet MSL and is ranked #11 in elevation among US Highpoints. This was my second attempt on the mountain after being thwarted without crampons or snow protection earlier this year in May. This is the only US Highpoint I’ve climbed with my brothers, and Mikey and I had a … Read more

Black Mesa, OK, US Highpoint #29, 27 May 2006.

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Black Mesa, Oklahoma, lies at 4,975 feet MSL and is ranked #23 in elevation among US Highpoints. Black Mesa is one of the highpoints along with CT, MD, AND NV whose feature continues higher in the adjacent state. In this, Black Mesa rises higher into neighboring Colorado. One of my favorite places on this drive from … Read more

Capulin Volcano National Monument

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On the way to Black Mesa, Oklahoma, I stopped to check out this fantastically preserved cinder cone volcano in the desert. This is in a lava field with dozens (hundreds?) of other volcanic features. A road circles the cone and ends up at the base of the crater. A hiking trail circles the rim and … Read more

Timms Hill, WI, US Highpoint #30, 7 June 2006

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Timms Hill, Wisconsin, lies at 1,951 feet MSL and is ranked #39 in elevation among US Highpoints. This was my first business trip that resulted in a US Highpoint. I was working in Denver at a job that sent me to GE headquarters in Waukesha for a week of training. The hotel I was staying … Read more

Britton Hill, FL, US Highpoint #34, 17 March 2009

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Britton Hill, Florida, lies at 345 feet MSL and is ranked #50 in elevation among US Highpoints. This was the fourth US Highpoint I reached as part of a work trip after WI, TX, and HI. My job at Columbia Memorial in Astoria, Oregon sent me to Mobile, Alabama to train at CPSI for the … Read more

Fourth Occasional Annual Ski and Soak, Stamp and Stoke Spring Break Spectacular, 2026

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For our fourth edition of our Spring Break Spectacular, we would once again revisit Oregon, this time with FRANTS Chandler and Sheila at Mount Hood Meadows, aka SHREDDOWS, and soak in a mountain hot tub for two nights. Following this we would drive out to McMenamin’s Lighthouse Brewpub in Lincoln City, enjoy the tide pools, … Read more

Books I’ve read

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Rick Ridgeway’s Life Lived Wild is a fantastic book about the high-altitude mountaineer who was one of the first Americans to summit K2 (seen on the cover). Far from one-dimensional, Rick shares 25 stories of his life as it transformed into family man and conservationist. Bring the tissues for the last chapter. This was an … Read more

Mount Sunflower, KS, US Highpoint #28, 20 October 2004

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Mount Sunflower, Kansas, lies at 4,039 feet MSL and is ranked #28 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 25th and last highpoint of 2004. In hindsight it was pretty amazing to do half of the states in a single year, and its bonkers to me that this was over 20 years ago … Read more

Panorama Point, NE, US Highpoint #26, 1 May 2004

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Panorama Point, Nebraska, lies at 5,424 feet MSL and is ranked #20 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 23rd highpoint of 2004. Most folks don’t realize that the Great Plains slope up to the mountains, which is how bone-flat Nebraska can be over a mile high near its border with Colorado. One … Read more

Cheaha Mountain, AL, US Highpoint #23, 13 March 2004

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Cheaha Mountain, Alabama lies at 2,407 feet MSL and is ranked #35 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 20th highpoint of 2004. Cheaha is unique as it has a campground and restaurant near the summit. The stone summit house is gorgeous. I remember this highpoint because I met a fellow camper that … Read more

Brasstown Bald, GA, US Highpoint #22, 13 March 2004

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Brasstown Bald, Georgia lies at 4,784 feet MSL and is ranked #25 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 19th highpoint of 2004. Brasstown Bald is the southern end of the Appalachin Trail and contains a visitor’s center at the top replete with lookout tower. I would find out later that there’s a … Read more

Kuwohi, TN, US Highpoint #21, 12 March 2004

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Kuwohi, previously named Clingman’s Dome, Tennessee lies at 6,643 feet MSL and is ranked #17 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 18th highpoint of 2004. At the time of my visit, the road to the summit was closed at Newfound Gap in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so I first decided to … Read more

Sassafras Mountain, SC, US Highpoint #20, 11 March 2004

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Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina lies at 3,533 feet MSL and is ranked #29 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 17th highpoint of 2004. Sassafras was my third highpoint of the day and another drive-up. Located on the border with North Carolina, the summit is the highest point on the ridge and now … Read more

Mount Mitchell, NC, US Highpoint #19, 11 March 2004

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Mount Mitchell, North Carolina lies at 6,684 feet MSL and is ranked #16 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 16th highpoint of 2004. Mitchell has the distinction of being the highest peak *in the conterminous US* east of the Rockies. At the time of my visit there was a summit lookout tower … Read more

Black Mountain, KY, US Highpoint #18, 11 March 2004

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Black Mountain, Kentucky lies at 4,145 feet MSL and is ranked #27 in elevation among US Highpoints. This would be my 15th highpoint of 2004. At the time of my visit, folks were supposed to have filed a liability waiver with the mining company that owns the land. However, my plan was to simply “poach” … Read more