Sunday, May 1, 2016

State High Points

One of my goals is to reach all of the state high points. As I'm getting older, that goal is getting less likely, particularly for the most difficult high point, Mt. Denali in Alaska. I've hiked to the top of some of the higher and least accessible high points, including Mt. Rainier in Washington, Boundary Peak in Nevada, Mt. Whitney in California, Mt. Elbert in Colorado and King's Peak in Utah. I've also been to the two lowest and couldn't be easier high points, namely, Britton Hill in Florida and Ebright Azimuth in Delaware.

Judy has been to many of the high points with me except Arizona (she got close - she stayed with Andrew and Sam while Rachael and I did it in a rain storm), Nevada, Utah, Washington (she dropped me off at the trailhead and stayed with the kids), Michigan and Wisconsin. My brother Matt was with me on Mount Rainier, Mount Whitney and King's Peak, and my brother Chris was with me on Boundary Peak.

Even though some of the high points are easy, they all involve advance planning and great effort to get to. They tend to be in out-of-the-way parts of states and sometimes are not easy to find. So, for example, even though Britton Hill in Florida is just a few steps walk from the car, it is in the Florida panhandle far away from any other tourist attraction; you can drive up to Mount Sunflower in Kansas, but we had to drive 23 miles down dirt roads to get there. And we have been to the high points in atrocious weather, making even the easiest ones memorable. Britton Hill was during a 14 inch downpour; Humphrey's Peak was in pouring rain and a thunder storm; Spruce Knob was in a snow storm with snow covering the roads in our two-wheel drive rental car; Harney Peak was right after a snow storm; High Point was in rain and temperatures in the 30s; Eagle Mountain was in a rain storm; Mt. Arvon was in a downpour with threatened hurricane force winds and hail the size of silver dollars; and Black Mesa was an 8 miles roundtrip hike with temperatures in the 30s and a wind chill in the 20s.

Following is a list of the high points I've been to, with links to the related posts, then following that is a map with the state high points I've been to, prepared from mapchart






2 comments:

  1. Wow, look at all those white spaces! Where are we going next?

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  2. I'm sure Montana is one of the must-do high points on your list. It seems to me Granite Peak is our high point. How tough could a granite peak be to climb?

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