The Fairy Tale Highpoint

[Summit party: Targo, Katrin, Toomas, Oliver]
We visited Backbone Mountain on March 9th, 2004. It had been snowing for at least 24 hours but it stopped right when we got there, so we the woods were very beautiful. There is a fork in the trail shortly before the summit but the right fork was closed by snow-covered bent-down trees, so we took the left branch. This took as past the historic state boundary marker (see last picture) but we had to cross some treacherous rocks. They would not be a big deal in the summer but we had to double-check every step in the snowy conditions. The summit itself is well maintained and there's a mailbox with a guestbook in it. We noticed that at this time of year, and in spite of the snow, there is on average one group every day that climbs up there.

Here are the Instructions from I-68:
1. Take Maryland exit 14 onto US-219 South
2. Go about 40 miles
3. Shortly after Silver Lake there's a small unpaved road, turn left onto that road and go to the parking lot. The road is easy to miss (see first picture). The trail itself that goes up to the peak is well-marked.

And also the map of the area and trail (note that my drawing is approximate)

It would be easy to miss the right road without this sign.

The winter views on the way up were simply amazing.


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