Amanda Takes Off...

On the morning of my birthday, after getting into a tiff over whether or not we needed a map (yes, for the record), Good Man and I "highpointed" Maryland. To reach Maryland's highest point, you start in West Virginia near a tiny city called Silver Lake, at this cairn.

Start Here

The hike apparently runs along national forest property and some coal company's property. Blazes along the way were orange...and red...and blue.

The hike is only a mile long, but you gain 700 feet in that mile, so for the two of us, it was a steep hike. Also, the point is barely inside of the Maryland state line.

About Halfway Up

Crossing the State Line

Almost There

Hoye-Crest

After We Added Our Rocks to the Cairn...

We Signed the Logbook and Got Our Certificates

Good Man Found This On His Pants...

Which Made His Face Go Like This...

The View to the East

We're Here!

All Chained Up

Mushroom

Found on the Side of a Tree

Leading the Way

Downhill

Awww...

After the hike, we went a short distance up the road to Our Lady of the Pines, the "Smallest Church in 48 States." Ahhh, I'll let someone else work out the 48 states part. I'm sure there are actually smaller churches since this Catholic church seats 12.

Right next to the church (and built by the same family) is the "smallest mailing office" with daily outgoing service, window service every Friday the 13th, and parcel service Feb 29th. (No joke—the sign said so.)

Stained Glass

Mailing Office