Highpointing

[getemngo]

Have any of you been to the highest point in your state/province/country or any others? Are you trying to collect them all?

I'm not an official member of the Highpointers Club, but I've been to three state highpoints: Michigan (exciting drive, no view), Ohio (boring drive, boring view), and New Hampshire (intense drive, no view because of clouds). Also made an attempt at Kentucky with Brian Reynolds, but it wasn't a planned stop, and we wound up taking the wrong fork and I climbed the wrong mountain!

For the truly advanced, there's county highpointing. Lots of nitpicky rules, including that if there's no official highest point, you need to visit every area that has the highest contour level in that county. It's possible to say you've visited a state highpoint by Highpointers Club standards but not by COHP standards. I've been trying it out a bit this fall, but many of the points don't seem worth the effort, and I'm not a big fan of trespassing. I suspect I'll give up when I get bored. 

[agentsteel53]

I've been to the high points of Massachusetts (Mt Graylock), New Hampshire (Mt Washington), Maine (Mt Katahdin), and Vermont (Mt Mansfield).  of those, three were hiked - Mt Washington was driven.

if the high point of Oklahoma is a state triple point in the panhandle, then I have been there too.

have definitely not been to the high point of California (Mt Whitney).

as far as county high points, I think the highest one I've been to is Maui.

[1995hoo]

Just West Virginia (Spruce Knob) and New Hampshire (Mount Washington), both of which are driveable.

The one I know there's absolutely no chance I'll ever visit the top of is Denali.

[wxfree]

I've been to Guadalupe Peak, Texas.  In Texas, there isn't a whole lot of public land, but if the high point is in a park or otherwise accessible, I'll make it a point to visit.  I also have an interest in low points, when not sea level.  I've been to Emory Peak in the Big Bend National Park, and want to visit the high point of the Davis Mountains during an open weekend.  That would cover the three highest county high points.

[getemngo]

I also have an interest in low points, when not sea level.

How many of these, besides Death Valley, aren't where a river flows out of the county/state?

[triplemultiplex]

I grew up in the same county as my state's highest point and have been there more times than I remember.  I even had a summer job that took me there a few times.  I built a retaining wall, erected some signs and helped reshingle a pavilion roof.

Good ol' Timms Hill.  Just a slightly higher than average pile of glacial debris perched above a pair of kettle lakes and a humble county park around it.  Due to the mature hardwood forest, fall is the greatest time to check it out during peak colors.  A lookout tower provides nice views above the forest canopy.  There's a really nice four season trail system, too.

Still the only high point I've been to though.

It is objectively funny that we place some sort of importance on the highest elevation within an arbitrary boundary.  Especially when they are otherwise unremarkable like the one in my "backyard".  At least some arbitrarily bounded areas have a big ass mountain as their high point like Washington or Colorado.  Mt. Rainier; now that's a highest point!  A huge, solitary peak looming over the state's largest population center.  It will even bury part of that population center under mudflows some day.  How badass is that?  Mt. Rainier wins the award for best High Point in America hands down.

[Molandfreak]

I've hiked Eagle Mountain (MN), Timms Hill (WI), and Harney Peak (SD). Highpointing is a hobby I'd like to do more often; as I start road tripping alone, I would like to climb all the highest points of the U.S. that I can!

[wxfree]

I also have an interest in low points, when not sea level.

How many of these, besides Death Valley, aren't where a river flows out of the county/state?

I don't think there are a whole lot of those.  In Texas, there's a salt basin in Hudspeth County that I believe would be the low point if that county didn't extend to the Rio Grande.  There may be some counties in which the low point is in an ephemeral stream in a very indistinct valley.  I think Winkler County is one of those, with a low point just above 2,660 feet in a valley only water or a surveyor could find.  Still, that's the same principle.  I've found one (maybe two) very small spots on the topographic maps near the mouth of the Rio Grande where there are small depressions with negative elevations show in the digital elevation model, -2 feet, as I recall, but I've never seen the official lowest elevation listed as anything other than sea level.

A high point is often a peak or broad high area, and less frequently is on a slope at a county or state line.  Low points are generally on a slope at the boundary line, and less often in a depression.  I find both to be geographically interesting.  Low points are less often thought of.  And, of course, the views aren't likely to be as nice.

[NE2]

A low (or high) point on a boundary line is logically no different from a point 100 feet upstream/ridge or downstream/ridge. The only thing that distinguishes it is a line that some silly sod decided would be a political boundary.

[wxfree]

A low (or high) point on a boundary line is logically no different from a point 100 feet upstream/ridge or downstream/ridge. The only thing that distinguishes it is a line that some silly sod decided would be a political boundary.

That's true, but it's also true for a peak or depression that could be in a different state or county if the boundaries had been drawn differently (which is all of them).  Would Guadalupe Peak be less interesting if the state line were further south and the peak in New Mexico?  Would the Black Mesa Oklahoma high point be less interesting if the boundary line were to the east and the high point were in New Mexico?  I'd argue both would be less interesting, because the distinctions in political geography are important.  Otherwise, only planetary, continental, and island high or low points would be interesting.

Edit: Also, mountain range high points would still be interesting by nature, without political boundaries.

[NE2]

High (and low) points that are not on boundaries can be classified by prominence. So Britton Hill, FL (prominence 65 ft, elevation 345 ft) is pretty chickenshit, but Sugarloaf Mountain (prominence 245 ft, elevation 312 ft, highest point in the peninsula) is interesting.

PS: I find the idea of Four Corners Monument to be lame as hell.

[wxfree]

High (and low) points that are not on boundaries can be classified by prominence. So Britton Hill, FL (prominence 65 ft, elevation 345 ft) is pretty chickenshit, but Sugarloaf Mountain (prominence 245 ft, elevation 312 ft, highest point in the peninsula) is interesting.

PS: I find the idea of Four Corners Monument to be lame as hell.

It can be disappointing when a high point isn't very tall.  I like boundary monuments and horizontal and vertical control marks.  I don't make long voyages to see them, but I'll look for one if I'm near it.  I'm also interested in the more natural rankings that don't depend on artificial boundaries, like the fact that a peak is the highest point in the mountain range, or even the highest point in sight.

I think part of the interest in using political boundaries is that it gives a more even distribution of points and gives one to each "place."  Not all of them are that special, but each is special in a way.  Of course, most people probably don't care, but that's why we have groups for people with different interests.  Around here, a more interesting fact is that a point is the highest from its location to the Gulf of Mexico.  Of course, there are very many such points, but that does tend to draw more interest to geography.  Some places, like Hood County's Comanche Peak and Dallas County's Cedar Hill, get popular attention as the county high point.  I'm sure there are many ways to classify high points, but political boundaries seem to be commonly used.

[Scott5114]

if the high point of Oklahoma is a state triple point in the panhandle, then I have been there too.

The high point is on Black Mesa. There is a monument.

[roadman65]

I think it is very interesting that NJ's highest elevation is 1803 on top of the Kitatanny Mountains, yet Dodge City, KS is on open prairie and higher in elevation than the mountains of New Jersey.

[jeffandnicole]

I also have an interest in low points...

Oh boy, I have a slew of low points I've hit!

, when not sea level.

Do'h!

As far as true low points go...

My first trip to Vegas involved a trip to Death Valley...which became one of my favorite single day road trips ever.  About 540 miles in one day (14 hours to be specific) in a rented Jeep Wrangler.  Stopped at Badwater Basin (the signed low point in Death Valley) and several other areas of Death Valley that day.

The biggest lowlight of the trip was the effect from the temperature differences - I did this trip in a May, so the early morning/evening temps were cool, especially in the jeep.  A few days later, while continuing our trip on the North then South rims of the Grand Canyon, I came down with Bronchitis.  Had to go to the medical clinic at the Grand Canyon, where I was seen by a doctor so short he needed a step stool to look at his patients. 

Even with that minor setback, I still absolutely loved the road tripping portion of this trip, which started in Vegas (including Death Valley), then drove to the Grand Canyon North Rim, Grand Canyon South Rim, San Diego, Los Angeles (including appearing but not called down on The Price is Right with Bob Barker), then back to Vegas, all in about 11 days.  The ultimate result is that we enjoyed this trip so much, we've now vacationed in Vegas 6 out of the past 8 years, and I just booked another trip out there in January!

[kkt]

I have been to the top of Mt. Whitney twice.  Once as a baby on my father's back, the second time under my own power.

[elsmere241]

A low (or high) point on a boundary line is logically no different from a point 100 feet upstream/ridge or downstream/ridge. The only thing that distinguishes it is a line that some silly sod decided would be a political boundary.

And because of this, the high points of Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina form a cluster.  (So do those of Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.)

[Duke87]

I hiked to the summit of Mount Mansfield in Vermont on a family vacation in 2007. Other than that I don't think there are any highpoints I've intentionally visited. Since it tends to involve hiking in addition to driving and possibly also trespassing on private property, it's not a thing for me.