The Final Step of a 17 Year Journey

The final step of a 17 year journey.

Summoning the strength and courage to stand up.

I decided to sit on the summit rock due to rain and high winds

Back at base camp 1.  The axe is pointing to the summit

No official post yet but I completed driving, hiking, and climbing to the highest point of all 48 contiguous United States.  Tammy and I hiked to our first one in 1994, Clingman's Dome in Tennessee.  We became official Highpointers in 2002 when we completed Signal Hill in Arkansas and we became aware of the Highpointers.org community.  It has been a 17 year inner journey.  The mental and emotional components have proven to be way more taxing than the physical aspect of climbing mountains in the US.  Here are photos of my last summit.  Gannett Peak Wyoming at 13,804 ft.  Summited at 9:30 AM August 1, 2011.
The weather at the summit was quite poor so the pictures are not as pretty as one would expect.

There Will Be a $100.00 Fine for Unwarranted Use of This Stall

Yes, I use the handicapped stall in a public restroom.  A handicapped stall is not regulated like a handicapped parking spot at the mall.  People don't walk around malls and airports with blue handicapped placards hanging around their necks, so how can a cop prove I don't need a high seat and perhaps a grab bar to get myself up?  Besides, many males over the age of fifty could be considered disabled if urinary urgency or irritable bowel syndrome got any respect from the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Another appealing aspect of the handi-stall is its large size and prime corner real estate. So the worst case scenario is that there is only one other guy farting next to you.  It's like the corner office on the 56th floor of a skyscraper, but without the view.  Unless you consider peaking through the crack in the door a view.

But having justified my use of this exclusive stall, I was still embarrassed by what happened to me at the tiny Jackson Hole airport the other day.  Not being in a rush to catch my flight, I lingered while on the handi-throne and caught up on my e-mail via my smart phone.  When I finally did get up to leave there was a guy in a wheelchair waiting to get into the stall.  And boy was he giving me the evil eye.  So as I passed him I muttered something about how irritated my thigh was from my prosthetic leg and thank goodness for the extra room in the handicapped stall for some privacy while I adjusted it.  He replied "Right on, dude".

I am pretty certain Hell for me will be spending all of eternity on a porta-pot that has not had routine maintenance since Adam ate the apple.