“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”
– Jack Kerouac

“He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.”
– Ansel Adams

There are mountains that are forged from the earth topped by high, naked peaks that jut into the sky.

And these peaks dare you to ascend them.

Since the Mattherhorn isn’t a day’s drive from New York City, we took our rental car from near LaGuardia Airport (armed with a new Bday camera courtesy of the girlfriend) and made our way north to the Green Mountains in Vermont to climb Camel’s Hump.

The road trip. Quintessential Americana. The thrill of traversing such a wide and varied terrain with so many cultures and never having to pull out a passport.

Our adventures took us through autumnal New England.

We found ourselves lost in the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art admiring work from the likes of Elizabeth King and Liz Glynn (as well as a lovely piece that was either an art installation – or the gallery’s freight entrance; the fire extinguisher makes me wonder if it is likely the latter).

We crawled to the top of the summit famously etched on the back of the state’s ceremonial quarter (Vermont’s famous Camel’s Hump).

We crawled through Smuggler’s Notch (thanks, Thomas Jefferson).

We skipped down to Hampton Beach.

We even found time for the House of Seven Gables (made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his gothic classic; we had to scurry quickly as we were parked in Salem, MA illegally, but I tried my damndest to see ALL seven gables).

We even snagged a pumpkin from a farmer’s market and brought it back to the city.

We communed with the art of man and the art of God.

And then we had cocktails (utilizing local spirit).