Chasing Summits: In Pursuit of High Places and an Unconventional Life

Garry Harrington hardly recognizes himself in photos any more. Staring down his fortieth birthday, he no longer looks like the collegiate athlete who once loved hiking and running. His dream job as a sports writer no longer holds the same thrill. As his marriage crumbles, he comes to the uncomfortable realization that something has to change before he loses himself entirely...

On the trails of New Hampshire’s Mount Monadnock, he begins to feel it. Every heart-pounding slog up gets easier; every break on the summit feels freer, until he racks up 1,000 ascents. As he tackles harder trails in more distant locales, he sheds the life he thought he wanted in pursuit of something more. His journey takes him from the familiar peaks of his native New England to the foreign and famous – from the Rockies, to the high peaks of Mexico to Tajumulco Volcano the highest point in Central America, continuing ever-onwards and upwards to the summit he’d dreamt of climbing since childhood – the Matterhorn. Harrington is in rarified company, completing not only the High Points in the continental U.S. but also one of a handful to have summited all 66 of the accepted 14,000-footer in the Lower 48.

Harrington’s journey of self-discovery parallels the peaks and valleys of life and loss as he seeks perspective and purpose on the high points of the Americas and Europe. His path defies all convention and expectations – including his own – rarely leaving unanswered the echoing question: “What if?”