Highest Mountain in the World

Well, this afternoon, in a matter of three hours, Anna and I conquered the tallest mountain in the world at a staggering height of just over 37,000 feet. Do you know what its name is?? No, it’s not Mt Everest, nor Mt Kilimanjaro. It’s called Mt Lam Lam.
🙂 OK, so only 1,331 feet are above sea level. The rest is underwater and goes down to the Marianas Trench (the deepest known place in the world). However, it’s the highest point in Guam.
It’s a deceptively challenging hike. Many people who try to summit Mt Lam Lam, get diverted the much easier (but only about 50′ lower) Mt Jumullong.
However, we made our way through the jungle and vast morass of spider webs…
When we go up to the top, there were some beautiful vistas of the island that greeted us. Here’s the view of Cocos Island to the south.

Here’s a small tropical shower out over the Pacific.

Here I am (almost) on top of the world!

If only I could go up just a little more…

Of course as is our tradition, while we were up on top, we had to have a little picnic.

Another interesting perspective is to look north from Mt Lam Lam. If you look closely in this picture, you can see both sides of the island. It’s a unique location to get a feeling of just how small (or large) Guam really is. Although there is plenty of space and it certainly doesn’t feel small, it’s easy from this vantage point to get a feel for the layout of the island. For your reference, Guam is 212 square miles (or about three times larger than Washington D.C., or about a third the size of the Hawaiian island Oahu), and at the smallest only 3-4 miles wide (as this picture shows).

On the way down, we found this very nice perspective of Cetti Bay.

So, that concluded our hike up the towering Mt Lam Lam. A fun little hike, but be warned. It’s tougher than it looks! 🙂
Until the next adventure…
–Jim