Capturing the Moment

      From our spot in Jeffersonville, Vermont I can see the highest peak, Mount Mansfield. It is not just the tallest summit in Vermont at 4,393ft, but it the same mountain where the famous Stowe ski area can be found. I have always looked at the mountain, which resembles the profile of a giant face looking up towards the heavens, and wondered how I could get up to the summit. During this visit to Vermont I was determined to make it happen, so after a bit of research I did just that. Crossing beautiful streams on the way up    My calves are still burning as I am writing this, several days later, but the pain is all worth it knowing that everytime I look up towards the mountain I will remember standing on top of it and soaking in that 360 degree view. Here is how I made it.... Breathing hard on the way up    A short 25 minute drive away from Jeffersonville is a place called Underhill State Park. It is located at the base of Mt Mansf...

  Holy snow storm! On our last afternoon we decided to tackle the summit of the 10,023ft Haleakala volcano. Little did we know we were in for a wintry storm complete with lightning, thunder, and sleet.    We could see that clouds engulfed the volcano from our sunny beach down in Wailea. But I know from experience that often the volcano summit will be high and dry out of the tops of the clouds. That was not going to be the case this time. Although once we passed the summit visitor center and started to climb the last 400ft to the top we noticed the rain had turned into hail. Looking around the tiny hail started collected on the lava rocks and in the road like snow. It was very hard to imagine that only two hours prior Heidi and I had been soaking up the warm tropical sun on Wailea beach.   After running around a bit in my shorts and trying not to slip on the ice in my sandals I had all the photo proof of the very localized winter hail storm. So we jumped ...

   Helped by the speed of our muscle car rental upgrade we made it up to the summit of Haleakala volcano just in time for the sun rise. We got to the edge of the vast crater in time to enjoy a few minutes of the pre-sunrise twilight. As the first glimmer of sun rose above the clouds one of the park rangers started a Hawaiian chant which has been used to hail the sun for generations at this very sacred place.   It was one of the least windy mornings I've experienced at the summit. This was a pleasant surprise since we were very under dressed, having not brought any warm clothes from Oahu with us.   The sun cast a beautiful red tinge on the volcanic rocks in the crater. It is like no other place in Hawaii. A definite must experience for any adventurous souls making their way out to this beautiful island. Hiking paths crisscross the Manhattan sized crater below, and a few overnight cabins dot the paths as well. We followed our tradition of a nature walk at Hossm...

  There are only a few places on Earth where you can go from a hundred feet below sea level to fourteen thousand feet above in a matter of hours. The Big Island is a perfect place for this unique adventure. Now for those of you who know a bit about scuba diving you know it is not healthy to go on a dive and then travel to extreme heights. So this adventure is best done in reverse. Start your day watching the sunrise on mighty Mauna Kea then travel down to the beach for a scuba dive off the warm tropical Kona coastline.   Our dive site was one of my all time favorites. It is a place locally known as two-step, or O'Hanaunau. We were very lucky this day because a small pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins were cruising back and forth out in the bay. So we snorkeled out closer to them and let them swim to and fro sometimes coming quite close. We didn't chase them or make them change their behavior. I was able to snap a couple of pictures as they swam past me. Even as we descended w...