Backbone Mountain (Maryland Highpoint)

Backbone Mountain is along the MD-WV stateline and was just a short drive (~90 min or so) from the summit at Spruce Knob.

After having hit so many "drive-up" highpoints in recent months, it was nice to go on a short hike for a change..... for me, that is.  I don't think Sy enjoyed the hike as much as I did.  It ended up being a little bit a lecture from Dad on positive mental attitude yadda yadda yadda..... I am sure he appreciated every word of it!  It is about 1 mile long each way but it is definitely a gradual climb to the ridge where the highpoint is.  The climbing along with the summer heat proved to be a little challenging for Sy.

I think if it wasn't for the guidebook and red painted "HP -->" signs along the way, I never would have found this one.  Even with all the help, we almost accidentally turned around at the state line "No. 3" marker.  It is a fairly prominent monument given its location. 

Luckily, I noticed a couple of discrepancies with dates and other descriptions of the sign and decided to go a little further because about 0.1 miles later, we found the actual highpoint.  Having achieved the goal, we snapped a couple of pictures and made our way back to the car. 

On to Pennsylvania!