Until a few years ago, I had never gone hiking. In fact, I thought I would hate it. Why would I want to climb to the top of some mountain or hill? It just seemed foolish, or at least it did until I reached the top of a mountain in North Carolina.

Some friends and I (in the BPC shirt) on top of Black Balsam Knob in North Carolina

I do not remember the name of the mountain, but I remember the friends with whom I walked the trail. I do not remember the name of the mountain (ok…I do now because of Facebook), but I remember the feeling of being at the top of a mountain. I knew that I wanted to replicate that feeling again at some point.

With life as it is, one can easily get wrapped up in the mundane and forget those hopes and aspirations. I did.

Over the weekend, I started a conversation with a friend about hiking in Arkansas. While I am blessed for a lot of things in my life, it is far from perfect right now, and I thought a hiking trip over Labor Day would be a great rejuvenator. In looking for a place to hike, I stumbled across the idea of highpointing–climbing to all the highest elevations in a given area.  I became fascinated with this idea.

I’ve always wanted to accomplish visiting all fifty states, and since I do enjoy hiking and have always found extremes in geography to be interesting, this seems like a cool adventure to begin.

What all will I put on this site?  Who knows?  How often will I update it?  I’m not sure. Will I really ever reach all fifty states?  That is a good question, but it does not hurt to have it as a goal. No matter how the script goes, I hope you will swing by and check out the adventure, and who knows, maybe even join in on one yourself.

If you are wondering, the first stop will be far from amazing, but it is a point that must be reached, Britton Hill in Florida.  I’m hoping to tackle it over the weekend.