Getting started on catching up (while my computer battery lasts)

Where to begin? I think I left off with just arriving in the Adirondacks (NY), excited about the hiking possibilities. They were, indeed, numerous. There has also been great hiking in Vermont and New Hampshire, and now I'm in Maine. If I'd managed to post daily, it would have been somewhat repetitious -- another summit, beautiful fall colors. I picked a good year to experience 'true' fall colors. The locals tell me the fall colors are more vibrant this year than they have been in years. Just as icebergs appear even bluer under gray skies, even on dark cloudy days the leaves show brilliant colors. But I lucked out with weather for most of my hikes in NY, VT, & NH.

By accident I've become a "high pointer".   My first 'highest hikeable point in a state' was in WA  when Diana and I made it to the top of Mt. Adams. I'd never heard of a "high pointer" before; I chose to hike up Adams because I wanted a physical challenge as a testament to the fact that age is a number, not a limiting factor. On summit day I chatted for a while with a man who told me he wanted to hike to the highest mountain in every state; this was his 14th. I still hadn't embraced that goal but as I headed north in MN, the highest peak was on my way. As I was hiking down I met 2 older gentlemen who asked if I was a "high pointer". They were bagging 5 on this particular trip. I decided, if it was convenient to my route, why not become a "high pointer"? So now I can mark off 5, but I don't know that I'll go for all 50 states.

Pillsbury Mountain. It needed
a fire tower to boost you up for
a view. The higher I went, the gustier
and stronger the wind, and the less
substantial the outer barriers...

The Adirondacks were awesome -- SO many hiking options. I hiked 60 miles in 5 days to the tops of 8 peaks including the highest, 2nd, 6th, and 8th highest peaks.

Noonmark Mountain (not on the highest list)

Mt. Dix; 8th highest peak in NY.

Noonmark; sometimes lower peaks are more spectacular when fall colors are out!

OK, this is getting annoying... My computer only had about an hour of juice to get me started on this post. I was working on it at the trail head after getting back from a 49 mile bike ride on Carriage Roads in Acadia National Park. I relocated to a sports bar with wifi in Bar Harbor, ME. Whew! Two screens in front of me for 2 different games. Talk about distraction! But good games... I've been trying to upload photos for over an hour but it keeps crashing. So maybe I'm limited in how many photos I can upload? I guess I'll post this for now and hopefully get back to it to post more photos of the Adirondacks on my next go round. I have to share Mt. Marcy -- the highest point in NY. Even if it wasn't the highest, I'd have had to go up there to honor my friend Marcy Larsen!

Hopefully more later. My computer is mostly charged up now. Might be able to finish the charge on my drive to my camping site -- yet another night at Walmart since most of the campgrounds are closed. There's one that might have room but it doesn't have showers so why pay $30 to plug in when my solar panel holds me for the night?

So I'm not caught up yet but I'm getting closer!!!!