Completing the 111s Highest Mountains of Northeast United States

This has been a spectacular and challenging trek across the highest peaks of the northeastern states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  We were able to summit all the 111s including the additional 4 peaks after re-measurement of the summits, bringing the total to 115 peaks over 4,000 feet.  We hiked throughout the Adirondacks, the Catskills, the Green Mountains, the White Mountains, and Baxter State Park.  We summitted our last mountain on Sunday, September 6, 2009, in the Catskills.  This was a journey over several years, culminating in a crunch year involving a week's backpacking a portion of the Appalachian trail, in Maine in order to gain several mountains in a row.  We could not have done this without the help of Cathy Chumley who presented this challenge to us, assisted in making it happen and was our greatest cheerleader through it all.  We camped in all kinds of weather, rain or shine, cold and warm weather.


A special highlight of this journey was the week-long trek along the Appalachian Trail, a section in Maine that allowed us to traverse several mountains in one backpacking trip.  Just days before leaving on this journey, I had a bout with verdigo, a form of virus that hits my sense of balance.  Each morning I had to wait sitting up for about 20 minutes prior to getting out of bed, so that my head would stop spinning and the dizziness pass.  I went to see the doctor who assured me that I would be all right, as during the day I was able to function.  It was mainly rising each morning that caused the dizziness.  Before leaving for the trek, I bought sea sick patches that worked perfectly for nausea and dizziness.  I was able to get through the entire week with these patches. 

Another highlight of this trek was hiking the Presidential Range and hiking Mount Katahdin in Maine.  Beautiful rugged landscape of sharp rocks, slides, huts to stay in and great food in these huts.