Gwendolyn Lewis
Author's posts
Jul 14 2019
Popocatépetl – Central Mexico’s Smoking Mountain
About two hours outside of Mexico City, in the state of Puebla, towers Popocatépetl, the second-highest peak in Mexico at an elevation of 17,880 feet (5,450 m). Popocatépetl, a volcano locally known as “el Popo,” spends part of the year with a snow-covered peak. With more than 25 million people living within a 62-mile (100 …
Jul 13 2019
Tickling the Mexican Sky on Top of La Malinche
While all mountains have an interesting story to tell, rooted in geological drama and local legend, La Malinche, with her rippling contours, spins a more intriguing yarn than most. Soaring above the border between Puebla and Tlaxcala states in Mexico with a prominence of 6,300 feet (1,920 m), La Malinche’s peak reaches into the sky …
Jun 16 2018
Douglas Mountain: A Short Maine Hike to Revisit Again and Again
It is sometimes the lower, quieter mountains that can offer the deepest insights into the world. Douglas Mountain, located in Sebago, Maine, is one of those mountains. Referred to by some as Douglas Hill, it offers the natural beauty that sets the state apart, while also having trails that are short enough to do in …
Jun 16 2018
Cadillac Mountain
Jutting up from the Northern Atlantic seaboard, where the land breaks off into islands that stretch east to greet each day, is Cadillac Mountain. The largest of the 20 peaks on Mount Desert Island, Cadillac Mountain’s summit tops out at 1,530 feet (466 m) in elevation. After Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Cadillac’s summit …
Jun 03 2018
Cerro de Punta and the Endangered Tree Ferns
Peeking out over the Cordillera Central range of Puerto Rico is Cerro de Punta. Cerro de Punta, endearingly referred to by locals as Puntitas, is located in the middle of the island territory, straddling Ponce and Jayuya. Rising to an altitude of 4,398 feet (1,388 m), it is the tallest mountain on the Isla del …
Jun 03 2018
Steep ≠ High Elevation in the Uwharrie Mountains
When one thinks of North Carolina and the mountains, one’s mind is usually drawn to the western part of the state, with the soaring peaks of Grandfather Mountain, Chimney Rock, or Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the East. But 500 million years ago, another range of mountains formed along the coast, what is now …
Apr 30 2018
Pico de Orizaba, a.k.a. Citlaltépetl: The Heights of Sorrow and Joy
At the top of the list of the world’s most prominent dormant volcanoes, after Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro is Mexico’s Pico de Orizaba, known by its Nahuatl name as Citlaltépetl, meaning “Mountain of the Star.” With a prominence of 16,148 feet (4,922 m) and an elevation estimated at 18,491 feet (5,636 m), Pico de Orizaba is the …
Apr 28 2018
Mount Katahdin: The High Point of Vacationland
Every summer, hordes of people flock to Maine. So many people come, in fact, that the Pine Tree State has another eponym: Vacationland. The state has many mountains to enjoy, including the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, which also happens to be the highest point in the state. Mount Katahdin, located within Baxter State …
Apr 22 2018
Crowders Mountain: The Antidote to Urban Living
Increasingly, it seems, people are losing control of their own attention and by extension, of their own minds. Mechanized notifications are able to seamlessly capture any given individual’s attention multiple times throughout the day, resulting in so many breaks in that steady state of focused attention that people are forgetting how to judge whether something …
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Earth’s 10 Highest Mountains
