Highpointing is an activity we never knew existed
until we met Chris Mohling on our first attempt of Mount
Rainier. He was one of the clients in our group on a
commercially guided trip. He made it to the top, but it took
the two of us four more attempts before we made it. During one
of our conversations on the climb, Chris mentioned he was a
"highpointer." Not familiar with the term, we asked what that
was. Chris informed us the most common kind of highpointing, at
least here in the states, is state highpointing. That means
climbing to the top of all of the highest points in each of the
50 states. There are several variations of this, like the going
to the lowest point in each state, climbing the highest point
in each COUNTY (truly insane), the highest point in each
country, the highest point on each continent, etc.
We thought about it and realized we had already been to two
high points, Texas (Guadalupe Peak) and Tennessee (Clingman's
Dome). This sounded like a good idea, so we got started. Some
of them are "drive-ups," where you literally drive up, park the
car and walk a few feet to the marker. Some are short hikes of
a couple hundred yards, some are long hikes of twenty-five
miles, and few are real mountaineering with Alaska in a class
by itself. So, over the next five years, we scheduled trips
that sometimes took in as many as five in a few days. Some of
them were wonderful backpacking trips like the 73 mile hike on
the High Sierra
Trail to Mount Whitney. Whitney can be climbed from the
other side with a much shorter route, but I wouldn't have
missed the High Sierra hike for anything. We have done 45
highpoints so far. Highpointing is what led us to Twin Lakes.
Mount Elbert is the highest in Colorado and literally within
walking distance of Twin Lakes. We also liked Leadville a lot,
too. I have a hard time putting my finger on why, but probably
because it's so unpretentious. If you like steak, eat at
Quincy's in Leadville. That's the only item on the menu (there
is no written menu) and there are no other choices either. You
get the veggie of the day, salad with choice of dressing and
bread. All for $7.95, that's right, $7.95. The food is
excellent. I don't know how they do it unless they rustle
cattle. There are a couple of choices for dessert.
Highpointing has been a lot of fun. It's taken us to lots of
places we would never have gone. It's not just the highpoint of
the state, but there are usually things along the way that make
the trip even more interesting.
The Black Cat Bed and Breakfast is
located at 250 Reva Ridge Road in Twin Lakes, Colorado, 81251. For reservations or further information, call us at
719-486-1235, fax719-486-1257 or email us at the
Black Cat!. We look forward to meeting
you!
