Adventure Doesn’t Have to Be so Outlandish so I’m Doing Some Traveling

A mountain at sunset

I think we are all guilty of wanting to go on a crazy adventure on occasion. Whether it’s driving across the country or hitchhiking through Asia, our minds find something exotic and alluring about dropping everything and going to some far-flung place.

But reality usually sets in. There are those crazy people who take the plunge, but I think most of us drop the dream in favor of what is practical and comfortable. And honestly, that’s probably not a bad thing. If everyone spent time trapsing off and leaving all their responsibilities behind the world would probably be a mess. We were created to work and there is joy and honor in being a responsible adult.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have both.

Track my progress visiting all the highest points here.


I tend to let the great be the enemy of the good. Just ask anyone who has tried to pick a place to eat with me. So, when I ran into a man who was travelling around the country visiting all of the highest points in each state, I decided I wanted to do something like that, only more awesome. After all, doing the highest points would be copying this guy’s idea and I wanted to do something original. I spent a lot of time wracking my brain and creating an elaborate plan for how I could travel around to all the landmark bridges in each state. Many spreadsheets were involved.

But about the time I finished my plan, I came to a realization. When was I going to do all of this? I was about to start a new career and didn’t really have the time for and didn’t want to dedicate the money to going on a crazy adventure. So, I shelved it, discouraged about not finishing something that I hadn’t even started.


At the beginning of last summer, I came across some of my plans for a trip from a few years prior. I knew I couldn’t make them happen without feeling bad about the time and money I would waste (other life goals and all), but I wanted to do something. So, I uncharacteristically decided to let good be good enough for once and I decided to take one week and travel to some high points. Even if it was copying.

Last summer, I spent the third week of July driving down through southwest Virginia and the Carolina’s and visited the three highest points in those states. And while it was not the exotic trip of a lifetime, it was satisfying and free of all the guilt that I know I would have had if I did something more extreme.


It was so much fun I’ve decided to do the same thing this year. Since I’m going to keep it up, I figured I might as well record it somewhere for future-me’s sake. I figured I don’t put anything else on this blog so it might as well go here.

Without further ado, here is the list.

StateHighest PointElevation
AlabamaCheaha Mountain2,413 ft
AlaskaDenali20,310 ft
ArizonaHumphreys Peak12,637 ft
ArkansasMount Magazine2,753 ft
CaliforniaMount Whitney14,505 ft
ColoradoMount Elbert14,440 ft
ConnecticutMassachusetts border on southern slope of Mount Frissell2,379 ft
DelawareNear the Ebright Azimuth447 ft
District of ColumbiaFort Reno409 ft
FloridaBritton Hill345 ft
GeorgiaBrasstown Bald4,784 ft
HawaiiMauna Kea13,803 ft
IdahoBorah Peak12,668 ft
IllinoisCharles Mound1,235 ft
IndianaHoosier Hill1,257 ft
IowaHawkeye Point1,671 ft
KansasMount Sunflower4,041 ft
KentuckyBlack Mountain4,145 ft
LouisianaDriskill Mountain535 ft
MaineMount Katahdin5,270 ft
MarylandHoye-Crest3,360 ft
MassachusettsMount Greylock3,489 ft
MichiganMount Arvon1,979 ft
MinnesotaEagle Mountain2,302 ft
MississippiWoodall Mountain807 ft
MissouriTaum Sauk Mountain1,772 ft
MontanaGranite Peak12,807 ft
NebraskaPanorama Point5,427 ft
NevadaBoundary Peak13,147 ft
New HampshireMount Washington6,288 ft
New JerseyHigh Point1,803 ft
New MexicoWheeler Peak13,167 ft
New YorkMount Marcy5,343 ft
North CarolinaMount Mitchell6,684 ft
North DakotaWhite Butte3,508 ft
OhioCampbell Hill1,549 ft
OklahomaBlack Mesa4,975 ft
OregonMount Hood11,249 ft
PennsylvaniaMount Davis3,213 ft
Rhode IslandJerimoth Hill811 ft
South CarolinaSassafras Mountain3,560 ft
South DakotaBlack Elk Peak7,244 ft
TennesseeClingmans Dome6,643 ft
TexasGuadalupe Peak8,751 ft
UtahKings Peak13,534 ft
VermontMount Mansfield4,395 ft
VirginiaMount Rogers5,729 ft
WashingtonMount Rainier14,417 ft
West VirginiaSpruce Knob4,863 ft
WisconsinTimms Hill1,951 ft
WyomingGannett Peak13,809 ft
Highest points in all 50 US states plus DC. Source: Wikipedia

As of writing this post I have done 5 of the 51 already. A couple people I have talked to about this ask me if I’m going to do Denali or Mt. Rainier or any of the other super high one’s. At this point, I’m just happy to get the one’s I can get when I can get them. I’ll let time tell where things go from here.

I am resolving to write a post about each of the one’s I have already done. I’m also going to create some sort of tracker thing so there is a visual to see what I have done. When remains to be seen. Remember, the theme here is don’t let the great be the enemy of the good.

That’s all for now but stay tuned.