Kilimanjaro “No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.” –Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro Africa’s tallest mountain – Kilimanjaro – looms like an icy sentinel over the surrounding savannas of northern Tanzania, just south of the border with Kenya. Kilimanjaro towers over the grasslands of Tana – photo by Volodymyr
Sword Mountain In 1964, mountaineer Kyūya Fukada published a book, called 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. He subjectively selected crags above 1,500 meters (with a few exceptions) that excelled in terms of grace, history, and individuality. The list ranges from Mount Fuji at the top of Japan to Mount Tsukuba, which reaches just 877 meters (2,778 feet). Included in
Taum Sauk Mountain – Missouri’s High Point We do not often associate Missouri with altitude, but we learned the Saint Francois Mountains – a subset of the Ozarks – are an ancient chain of true, geological mountains. The highest point in these old crags is Taum Sauk Mountain. Rising 1,772 feet above sea level,
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Saint Francois Mountains Previously, we took a broad look at the physiographic region known as the U.S. Interior Highlands, specifically the Ozarks. Even though we sometimes call the region the Ozark Mountains, it’s actually a dissected plateau. Tectonic activity uplifted the Ozarks as a slab and, over the eons, rivers cut through the rock, forming
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The Ozarks The area in the United States between the Appalachians and the Rockies typically garners a reputation of being flat, low, and bland. Glaciers did a wonderful job of leveling the center of the country, but anyone who’s been to the Arikaree Breaks in Kansas knows it’s not flat like an ice rink. “Low” is a
Mount Rainier – Washington’s High Point Mount Rainier is one of the most famous, striking, and prominent peaks in the United States. This beast of a crag racks up an impressive list of superlatives. At 14,417 feet above sea level, the mountain is the High Point of Washington, as well as the eponymous National Park in which she
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Hoverla – Ukraine’s High Point Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe. For American audiences, the nation is just smaller than the state of Texas. The country in Eastern Europe is not renowned for its mountains, but a region that big is bound to have some interesting topography. The continent’s third-longest mountain chain – the
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The Presidential Range [note: for an interactive, whimsical map depicting the Presidential Range, point your browser here] The Appalachian Mountains stretch approximately 1,500 miles from Alabama into Canada. Along that varied distance, geologists carve them into subranges, amongst which are the White Mountains. This range covers a large portion of New Hampshire and
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Xiaohaituo Mountain and the Beauty of Snow The 2022 Olympic Winter Games are underway in Beijing, China. The cold iteration of the Olympics evokes the natural world a bit more to my imagination than the summer version. Mountains, snow, ice, skiing. If you’re familiar with the skyline of Beijing, you know the horizon is not
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Spruce Knob – West Virginia’s High Point If the state of West Virginia had not presciently decided to move away from the wickedness of slavery during the Civil War, its High Point would be about 250 miles south-southwest at Mount Rogers, near the Virginia tripoint with North Carolina and Tennessee. Instead, the good citizens
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