It was to be my third Konvention. The State Highpointers Konvention, that is. With a K. Because someone had a broken typewriter a long time ago. Now, if one were to add up all of the other various “C” conventions I’d attended during the entirety of my life, the number … would still be three.
After attending my first highpointing Konvention in Georgia in 2023 and then finding myself in the wildly unexpected role as the 2024 Konvention Host in Rapid City, South Dakota, I’d missed the 2025 annual gathering in California for various valid reasons. So, 2026 felt like a bit of a watershed kind of moment for me.
If I were to attend my third Konvention in just four years, then it seemed to me like I would then be an official “Konvention guy,” whatever that is, and shoulder the expectation of trekking to these things yearly to eat, chat and get intoxicated with the same group of folks with the same strange passion. Miss it, and well, my Konvention experiences would soon begin to slowly fade into the background of something I once tried on for size and then returned to the rack.
My wife and and I hit the road around 8 AM on Thursday, July 23rd, and enjoyed a leisurely drive west and south across New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland before dipping down into the Mountaineer State, arriving at the Canaan Valley Resort in Davis, West Virginia right around 5:30 PM.
After checking in and engaging in several short lobby conversations, Laura and I freshened up in our suite and then headed down to the restaurant/bar for the evening social event. Honestly, I didn’t know how long we were going to be there. We’d already had a longish day and were planning on an early morning hike. So an hour seemed like a fair amount of time to dedicate to this first of several planned gatherings. But within the first few minutes of our arrival, I’d been tapped on the shoulder and reintroduced to another 50 state highpoint completer who had his eyes on a climb of Lata Mountain, highpoint of the US Territory of American Samoa. And well, of course, this mutual friend knew I wanted to climb Lata Mountain as well.
Now, I don’t know of many places where you can get into a three hour discussion about an obscure mountain on a remote island, complete with several other folks randomly popping in to express thoughts or interest. But on the evening of July 23rd, 2026, Davis, West Virginia was exactly that place. By the following morning, a dedicated “Highpointers to America Samoa April 2027” Facebook page had already been established. Strange passion indeed.
We awoke to an early alarm and embarked on a moderate drive of about an hour, arriving at the parking lot near the top of West Virginia at 7:45 AM on the morning of Friday the 24th. A legitimate mountain at 4,863 feet, Spruce Knob falls into the category of state highpoints that can be either driven, hiked or biked. Back in 2003, I had parked about 8-10 miles shy of the summit and ridden my mountain bike to the top along a primitive summit road. I had not been back in the intervening 23 years.
The first thing I noticed on this day was that the summit road was now paved and in fine condition despite its narrowness and backcountry feel. Our plan was to visit the summit of Spruce Knob and then complete a hike from the top to Seneca Falls and back along a network of trails. The hike features about 1,800 feet in descent and regain over the course of a 12 mile round trip. Mountain climbing in reverse, one could say.
The apex of West Virginia was fogged in upon our early morning arrival, not unusual for the forested mountains of the east coast. But we knew the day’s forecast was good, so after tromping around the summit area and observation tower for 15-20 minutes, Laura and I donned our backpacks and began our hike.
Our planned route started on the blue-blazed Huckleberry Trail but would then bear left onto the Horton Trail before linking up with Judy Springs Trail and continuing to Seneca Falls. After a few miles of hiking, we reached a funky, unmarked intersection and made the wrong choice thinking we were less far along our hike than we actually were. So instead of bearing left towards the Horton Trail, we bore right along what turned out to be a portion of the Lumberjack Trail. The net result was some moderate frustration to go along with a couple of extra miles of hiking during which Laura sprained her ankle, an injury that would last well beyond the end of our trip.
Eventually, after realizing where we’d made our error, we returned to the funky intersection and continued our hike in the correct direction. In the meantime, numerous highpointers attempting the same hike had managed to pass us during our brief misadventure, so as we approached Seneca Falls around noontime, we began to encounter some familiar faces on their way back up the mountain.
The later-than-expected arrival worked partially to our advantage and we reached Seneca Falls to find we had the place all to ourselves. We were soon joined by a couple from Chicago who had similarly explored in the wrong direction. The beauty of the Falls provided ample satisfaction for the unplanned extra effort.
The trek back up to the summit of Spruce Knob was vigorous but largely uneventful. Despite her as-of-yet undiagnosed ankle injury, my wife powered upwards through the contours with little complaint. We passed some slow-moving stragglers and were thankful for our continued strong pace.
Through the trees, we occasionally spied wildlife but the animals somehow sensed they roamed on National Forest protected land and showed little concern for us. The hours passed and summit ridge seemed to stretch forever with multiple minor false summits, but we emerged from the woods by late afternoon with my iPhone logging 13.9 total miles for our 12 mile round trip. Bonus hiking.
After back-to-back full days, Laura and I didn’t have much energy left for socializing that night. So after grabbing a quick dinner at the same resort bar/restaurant as the previous evening, we returned to our suite and enjoyed adult beverages in private. Much later on, I headed down to what remained of the Friday evening social incognito (replete with hat and hoodie) although I did wind up in a longish conversation with the President of the Highpointers Foundation.
I slept longer than Laura the following morning and was reminded upon arising that the famous Highpointers Konvention Saturday morning pancake breakfast was well underway downstairs. Fortunately, we still had plenty of time and enjoyed multiple helpings of all that was on the menu.
For our main activity on Saturday, July 25th, we chose to forego the highly-organized watermelon (and pizza) feast at the summit of Spruce Knob as we’d just been to Spruce Knob the previous day and, ya know, there’s only so much a person can eat. When push came to shove, we had come to get in some hikes of state highpoints so that’s exactly what we chose to do, this time heading for Backbone Mountain, the zenith of Maryland.
Believe it or not, the drive to the starting point of our hike to Hoye Crest (the top of Backbone Mountain) was shorter than our drive to Spruce Knob by a good 25 minutes. We parked in one of several pull-offs along West Virginia Route 219 at 10 AM and started our trek that would take us across the WV/Maryland state line and then to the top of the Old Line State.
Similar to West Virginia, I had only once before visited Maryland’s highpoint. During the winter of 2002, I ascended both Mount Davis, Pennsylvania and Backbone Mountain during a very long day … a full 24 hour round trip from home. This day’s hike – 24.5 years later – would have an entirely different feel, not just because of the warmth and foliage but also because of the outstanding company.
The numbers for this hike were much smaller than our Spruce Knob/Seneca Falls adventure the day before. Our route would lead to Hoye Crest in just 1.1 miles, gaining 750 feet in elevation along the way. Not super rigorous but plenty enough to break a sweat.
My wife’s ankle still hurt but thankfully the terrain was kinder. The trail was wide and in great condition for the entirety of the route so Laura was able to keep her foot from rolling, thus not aggravating the sprain any worse. We crossed paths with several folks both during the ascent and descent. Most folks appeared very fit, but one family was struggling badly with the elevation gain.
In any event, we reached the summit after about 35 minutes of hiking and spent about 10-15 minutes on top, where similar to our Seneca Falls visit, we had the place all to ourselves. Notably, the occasion marked Laura’s fifth state highpoint overall, her first coming just two years earlier on Black Elk Peak, South Dakota during the Konvention I had hosted.
We began our descent just in time for another gentleman to reach the top. A few minutes later, Laura corrected me as I stupidly started down the wrong way at a key intersection. No bonus hiking today.
Back at the resort by early afternoon, we enjoyed hanging out on our balcony on a beautiful day, watching deer and groundhogs frolic in the open. I stayed sober as I knew the Highpointers Foundation public meeting was on tap for 4 PM. I have a few projects under my belt at this point and gave an update on my recent efforts in Vermont. I was unanimously voted back onto the Board of Directors as an Associate Director after having resigned as a full Director a year prior. This gives me an official title to act on behalf of the Foundation but does not come with the administrative responsibilities I disliked.
That evening’s banquet proved to be a fun social affair as a lively update was given on the 2027 Florida Konvention and North Dakota was selected as the site of the 2028 Konvention. With a K. I’d say we’re likely to attend next year’s event in Pensacola as long as life and other obligations allow. Too early to predict for 2028.
The following morning, we packed up, said our goodbyes and hit the road. It was a good trip.
