Heads Up!

Tomorrow morning, the Lars and I are heading south to catch a glimpse of the Great American Solar Eclipse (August 21--this Monday!).

Along the way, we're hoping to take in a few of the Southern Sixers and some other points of geologic interest in east Tennessee. Polish up your reading glasses for more Larvitour!

Happy Holidays!

And a special thanks to all of you who've shared my work with others, whether they be friends, family, climbing buddies, coworkers, students, strangers on the street, aliens with whom you've made first contact, travel editors with big budgets... you get the picture. When I started this blog last April, I never would have guessed it'd run any longer than a summer's worth of highpointing, but if you all are still getting a kick out of it, I can certainly keep going.

In fact, I've been sitting on three or four posts' worth of material for a while now. I'll get those written up for you just as soon as the holidays slow down and let me off. Check back in a couple weeks for more Larvitar shenanigans!

Wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains

Remember that huge anti-Smokies rant I posted back in May? I'm sure it sounded like I wanted Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville to go up in flames--and in the moment I just might have--but now that it's actually happening, I've entirely reconsidered.

When a friend of mine in Chattanooga informed me of the fire there this morning, I was surprised. Wildfires in November? Shouldn't those hills be covered in snow? But it turns out that the Smokies are at the center of a severe drought afflicting the entire Southeast. As my Chattanoogan friend said, "[L]ast night was the first rain of measure here for something like a hundred days." Wildfires have blazed throughout the Blue Ridge for the past month, including this particularly nasty one near the west entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The fire began on Chimney Top Mountain:

Guess what?

I made it to Seattle without falling off any mountains! Three cheers for me, 'cause now I get to... hunker down and churn out more posts for y'all.

It might take a while.

So keep refresh-spamming this blog, and in a few days I'll take you on a vicarious visit to the magical foreign land of the Midwest...

Happy 4th of July!

I hope your holiday weekend's been as fun as mine. Posts will resume tomorrow!

I'm Baaaack...

...from my tour of the northeastern high points. I sloshed through Mt. Marcy's mud, flicked the Chin of Mt. Mansfield, scrambled up the rocks of Mt. Washington once again, and survived Katahdin's Knife-Edge!

Snatched from the jaws of death and defeat, of course.

Oh yeah, I also saw a few other (teensy) high points. I'm all unpacked and settled in now, so get ready for more posts!

Here's What's Up

Yes, I made it home safely from my Southeastern swing after bagging 17 high points in as many days.
Yes, I'm planning to post on each one of them.

No, I still haven't written up anything past Kentucky. I would claim I'm going for quality over timeliness, but we all know that's an excuse for procrastination. Of which I'm guilty as charged.

Hair is short now. Still an idiot.

I did, however, call Baxter State Park today to reserve my campsite there. Looks like I'll be climbing Katahdin on June 16th... assuming I'm caught up on posts by then.