Summit Up: Final Indiana Installment
Posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009
One of the more random, and therefore enjoyable, things that happened while visiting my first highpoint was getting invited into the home of a couple in Richmond. They knew I was coming into town, and said they had an extra room if I was interested as I made my way to the highpoint of Missouri. Of course, my pride was at stake because I had told everyone that I would be roughing it to the extremes.
I didn’t want to be rude, but I knew that the life of an elite climber like me — someone who had just summitted the highest point in Indiana at a not so modest elevation gain of “negligible,” as listed by the Highpointer’s Club — could not be pampered.
As I bit into my second brownie with my feet kicked up and my glass of ice cold milk next to me on the table, I decided that maybe the occasional visit back to civilization while on my climbs wasn’t such a bad idea. Rather than sleeping on rocks or in my Jeep, I got my own full size bed with a heated blanket so it wasn’t “too cold when you get in.” As opposed to the burnt oatmeal I usually prepared for myself each morning, breakfast was amazing enough to ask for seconds, rather than only eat half and then donate the rest to the local worm population, like I usually do.
Then of course, the couple insisted that I take some food with me. I am guessing this is probably because I look about as skilled when it comes to culinary as the next Ramen noodle connoisseur. I left there well-rested, clean, and with a full belly, looking forward to the next highpoint and to my next one-backpacking-pan culinary masterpiece.
On my way to Taum Sauk, the highest point in Missouri, I drove through St. Louis. This brought up an interesting question: Is the St. Louis Arch higher than the geographical highpoint of Missouri? Find out
next week.
Learn more about Mark Zimmer’s Summit Up USA quest and his pledge to support Alzheimer’s research.
