In Washington, I had to cross crevassed glaciers. In Oregon, I had to decide between life and death. In Arizona, I had to hike with people I didn't know.

Now, here in Connecticut, I'd bring the whole family to the very summit of Mt. Frissell to stand on the high point and complete my first tri-state hike.

Except the highpoint of Connecticut isn't actually on the summit of Mt. Frissell. It's on the south slope to the summit and marked by an unassuming green metal stake in the ground. At least the road getting to the trailhead is a little dicey.

The trail itself is mixture of gentle incline through leafy green woods and steep climbs up slabs of rock. Way back in 2004 I climbed Camel's Hump in Vermont and found the trail builders had no conception of "the switchback." The same is true on this trail.

What it lacked in well-graded trail, though, was made up by the number of times it crossed the Connecticut/Massachusetts border. If we'd needed a passport stamp each time we changed states (or Commonwealths if you're like that) we'd have had to carry a phonebook. (For you whippersnappers a phone book is a big book full of people and their phone numbers. You had to know how turn pages to find them. I know. Weird, huh?)

The trail crosses over the summit of Round Mountain, which has decent views and rocks to climb, before dropping back into the woods. A few more rocks and we were at the summit of Mt. Frissell, but unlike most trips this was not the end. We had to go down to get to our destination.

The green spike was... a green spike in a rock. There were few views and only space for a quick squishy with the family. Underwhelmed, Amy, Lilly, and Henry headed back, but Clara was game for visiting New York. (I think she had great memories from our last trip there when she was three months old.)

To get to New York we had to descend farther down the South Slope for a short way. The marker sits at the three way border of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. It's a simple stone pillar with "NY" carved on one side and "MA" on the other. There's no "CT," but we knew we were in three states at once. (Yeah, yeah, "Commonwealth.") Clara sat atop it for a picture and then we headed back. (In case you were wondering, it totally counts as a hike in New York.) Clara and I hurried to catch up with the others and made it back to Round Mountain as they re-summited and headed down to the car.

It was interesting to "summit" a high point in a state like Connecticut where the high point isn't all that high and doesn't have a ton of prominence. (Or any prominence.) Being way above it all is what I associate with a high point, but clearly not this time. And that's what I really love about hiking in other places. Nothing is exactly the same whether your in a different country, different state, or the other side of the mountains. The differences are what I crave when we're hiking away from home and Mt. Frissell delivered.

Of course, it'd be nice to stand above 14,000 feet again.