Date: 2025-07-05
Summit Party: Ryan Cragun and Thom Pittz
I never would have thought I’d find myself in Lithuania, but a conference I regularly attend for work was held in Kaunas. A friend wanted to tour around a bit after the conference in the Baltics. Because it’s what I do, I immediately looked up the highest points in elevation in the three countries we would be visiting – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – to see how feasible it would be to visit them over the course of a few days. Turns out, quite feasible.
While the conference was in Kaunas, I was meeting up with my friend in Vilnius after the conference. Vilnius is a short drive from Aukštojas Hill, the highest point in Lithuania. I picked up a rental car that morning, we grabbed a bite to eat, and headed southeast. Thirty minutes or so later, we were winding our way around a small community on some back roads and ended up at the car park. From the car parking area to the highest point is a very short walk – 10 minutes if you are going slow – on mostly level ground. There is a slight incline. You’re basically walking/hiking around someone’s property. There is a house with some fields between the trailhead/parking area and the summit. Here’s a map of the walk:
We walked up to the summit and enjoyed the views for a bit. It was a nice, sunny day. There is a small tower on the summit, as well as a stone marker and a geographical marker.
We were up for a bit of exercise, and the “hike” to the summit didn’t do it. So, instead of heading back to the car, we wandered down a different path a bit just to see what was down there. It led to some forest, fields, and eventually some views to the southeast. We were definitely not trying to hike into Belarus (which is pretty close to the summit)!
Here’s a photo of me on the summit tower:
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a panoramic video on the summit. I remembered to shoot those for the other two country high points.
