Category Archives: Other American Mountains

CALDERA DE TABURIENTE – MAGIC IN THE CANARIES

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Northern and eastern rims of the Caldera de Taburiente.
Northern and eastern rims of the Caldera de Taburiente.

A recent trip took me to the Caldera de Taburiente on the island of La Palma on the western edge of the Canary Islands.  The Canaries – not named for the birds but for dogs the pre-Spanish people kept and ate – are hugely popular destinations for sunseekers from northern Europe.  The interesting geology of the islands is not what brings in the plane loads of tourists, though what they seek for a large part, results from geological processes.  Beaches, sun and alcohol, not necessarily in that order.  Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote all promise kilometers of beaches for the sun-deprived northerners to escape the long winters with.

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DROPPING THROUGH HISTORY IN THE FORESTED SLOPES OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN

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Monument to the 111th Pennsylvania Regiment's fight on the upper slopes of Lookout Mountain. The monument - as with the 29th Pennsylvania - is in place on the cliffs below Och's Observatory.
Monument to the 111th Pennsylvania Regiment’s fight on the upper slopes of Lookout Mountain. The monument – as with the 29th Pennsylvania – is in place on the cliffs below Och’s Observatory.

Lookout Mountain is an amazing place to discover nature, history and enjoy vistas reaching out to a claimed seven states.  The Mountain is best explored on foot along its myriad of trails traversing the dense forest slopes of this quintessential Appalachian prominence.  Surrounded to the north, east and on top by urbanity, it is easy to forget you are never far from civilization if not for the subtle roar of traffic on Interstate 24 far below.

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HIGHEST OF THE HIGH SIERRA

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Mt Whitney rises above the jumbled rocks of the Alabama Hills like the scene from Gladiator.

Mt Whitney is the goal of many who search out adventure and challenge in the High Sierra. It is the highest peak – 14,498 feet – in not only these mountains, but all the summits in the states south of Alaska beating out Colorado’s Mt Elbert by 65 feet and its neighbor to the south, Mt Harvard by 78 feet. Being the highest is a magnet.  A magnet means too many people and the result is the Mt Whitney lottery system.

But the crest of the High Sierra is so much beyond Whitney. There is a lifetime of peaks waiting for you here. The views are incredible and so can be the efforts to attain them.

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AWAY FROM THE VALLEY – A SIMPLE YOSEMITE

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Jeffrey pine growing through the granite at Olmstead Point – Cloud’s Rest is on the right horizon and Half Dome is to the left.

For most visitors to Yosemite National Park, a visit equals a trip to Yosemite Valley. I do not have any statistics but would easily say most visits are limited to a quick stay in the dale that Ansel Adams describes as “Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.”

Nevada Barr, a mystery fiction writer best known for her Ana Pigeon series involving a myriad of national parks and law enforcement, related this tale about the park, “The story is, a man came up to Yosemite and the ranger was sitting at the front gate and the man said, “I’ve only got one hour to see Yosemite. If you only had one hour to see Yosemite, what would you do?” And the ranger said, “Well, I’d go right over there, and I’d sit on that rock, and I’d cry.”

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PRESIDENTIAL MAGIC OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS

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The White Mountains of New Hampshire are seen by many as the pinnacle of mountain ranges in the Northeast and the eastern Seaboard, in general, no malice intended towards the Blue Ridge, Smoky or Adirondack ranges. Topped by Mount Washington – 6,289 feet – the range is historic. The mountain is almost the same height as its namesake in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State – 6,260 feet. That peak being a bit more difficult to climb. Rising above all other peaks in the White Mountains are the Presidents.

Rocky path with cairns along the way to Mt Adams from Mt Jefferson.
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WHITE MOUNTAIN PEAK – A CLIMB TO CALIFORNIA’S THIRD HIGHEST SUMMIT

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A FOURTEENER FOR THE EVERYMAN

White Mountain Peak stands straight ahead on the jeep road to the top.

Look at a topographical map of the Great Basin region and you will see mountain ranges looking like waves running in a south-to-north.  On the fringe of that region mainly taken up by the state of Nevada are the two greatest ranges of the region – the Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains.  Both ranges have their origin in the Nevada Orogeny, the period when the many Nevadan ranges formed, as well.  The Sierra is simply one of America’s most magnificent ranges.  Separated by the Owens River Valley, the White Mountains, lying in the rain shadow, rise almost as high as their celebrated brothers to the west.  White Mountain Peak stands atop the range, California’s third highest peak at 14,252 feet-4344 meters – also one of only two peaks in California rising to over 14,000 feet outside of the Sierra.

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