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State Highpoints

Mike P.

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I have not checked this out lately BUT

www.americasroof.com was/is the gathering spot on the www for state highpoint information. You can find info on all 50.

To promote a friends page & some what relavant to recent threads, Rob O'Keefe, AKA machimoodus & aka, the backcountry explorer has done over 1/2 of peaks (I believe) most of the ones on the east coast, Whitney, Humphreys, Boundary & Kings Peak.

I've stopped doing them although if I get near enough to one I try. So far I've got, ME, NH, VT, NY, MA, RI (the end of the driveway under prior ownership), CT, PA, NC, TN & NJ. NJ (besides RI) is the only drive by so far. Likely the next one is DE, another drive by.
 

Greg

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NY, CT, MA, NH here.
 

pizza

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I beleive americasroof.com is the personal blog of the president of the highpointers club (Roger Rowlett). You want highpointers.org.. and their message board is network54.com/Forum/3897/

I write a column in the quarterly highpointers club newsletter. It's called milestones, and it's maybe the most difficult thing I've ever done - trying to come up with creative ways every three months to express the fact that joe schmoe from the poconos now has 30-something highpoints. (actually, it's not that bad, but sometimes it seems that way.)

I have 22: (in order of completion) NJ, DE, RI, MI, AR, LA, FL, TN, NC, MA, PA, MD, WV, CT, KY, SC, GA, OH, IN, IL, WI, and MI. You can view writeups and photos of all of them on my web site: http://turzman.com/projects/highpoints.

-steve
 

Greg

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Greg said:
NY, CT, MA, NH here.
I should mention I drove up Greylock. Washington I've driven up once and hiked 3 or 4 times. I can't remember.
 

YardSaleDad

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pizza said:
I write a column in the quarterly highpointers club newsletter. It's called milestones, and it's maybe the most difficult thing I've ever done - trying to come up with creative ways every three months to express the fact that joe schmoe from the poconos now has 30-something highpoints.

I wonder how many I could Hang Glide to? Would that count?
 

pizza

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YardSaleDad said:
I wonder how many I could Hang Glide to? Would that count?

It has never come up in real life, but there was a hypothetical debate about whether a helicopter ascent of a state highpoint would count. According to official state highpointer club rules, the means of ascent doesn't matter, as long as you come in physical contact with the actual highpoint. The county highpointers club has a different official position - helicopters would NOT count. (which to me seemed hypocritical - if you allowed people to drive up, then how is that different than flying up?)

My personal opinion, and I've made this known on the highpointer message boards, is that highpointing is an individual effort and that individual takes it any way that satisfies him/her. Hiking, driving, helicopters, and yes- hanggliding to all 50 state highpoints is a logistical nightmare any way you look at it - so if that's how you want to do it, then who the hell am I to say that your effort doesn't count?.
 

skibum1321

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pizza said:
It has never come up in real life, but there was a hypothetical debate about whether a helicopter ascent of a state highpoint would count. According to official state highpointer club rules, the means of ascent doesn't matter, as long as you come in physical contact with the actual highpoint. The county highpointers club has a different official position - helicopters would NOT count. (which to me seemed hypocritical - if you allowed people to drive up, then how is that different than flying up?)

My personal opinion, and I've made this known on the highpointer message boards, is that highpointing is an individual effort and that individual takes it any way that satisfies him/her. Hiking, driving, helicopters, and yes- hanggliding to all 50 state highpoints is a logistical nightmare any way you look at it - so if that's how you want to do it, then who the hell am I to say that your effort doesn't count?.
I don't think they should be allowed to drive or take a helicopter. It should be under your own power.
 

pizza

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skibum1321 said:
I don't think they should be allowed to drive or take a helicopter. It should be under your own power.

What about Britton Hill, FL?
Elbright Azimuth, DE?
Hoosier Hill, IN?
Mt. Sunflower, KS?

To be fair, a very small minority of highpointers give themselves requirements to hike at least 10 miles (or some other arbitrary number) to these relatively flat spots.

That said, most of these people don't presume to say what other highpointers should be "allowed" to do. In fact, most won't even put on an heir of superiority when meeting others. I have yet to hear some asshole say, "I'm better than you because I hiked up Manfield and you drove the Toll Road."

Maybe it's just the culture of the club.
 

Greg

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Different strokes for different folks. I've never been a big follower of lists (4K'ers included), but I suppose I understand the appeal. It seems like a great motivating factor, especially for hiking 4K's, etc. With that said, if someone finds satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment in simply visiting a state highpoint, whether they hike or drive, that's their prerogative and it seems silly to suggest that's not the "right" way.
 

skibum1321

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It just seems that the whole point of highpointing is to get some sort of satisfaction. Is there really any satisfaction in driving your car up a mountain?
For example, whenever I see a bumper sticker claiming that a car climbed Mt. Washington, I can't help but think who cares? There is absolutely no sense of accomplishment in that.
This is all coming from someone who hates roads up mountains and thinks they ruin the mountain. Take it for what you want.
 

Greg

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skibum1321 said:
It just seems that the whole point of highpointing is to get some sort of satisfaction. Is there really any satisfaction in driving your car up a mountain?
For example, whenever I see a bumper sticker claiming that a car climbed Mt. Washington, I can't help but think who cares? There is absolutely no sense of accomplishment in that.
This is all coming from someone who hates roads up mountains and thinks they ruin the mountain. Take it for what you want.
No sense of accomplishment for you. But for somebody else simply saying that they have been to every state, not to mention to the highest point, may be an accomplishment to them. Remember, not all state highpoints are mountains, and not all are remote enough to need to hike to. Therefore, I don't think that state highpointing is inherently a hiker's endeavor, necessarily.
 

pizza

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skibum1321 said:
It just seems that the whole point of highpointing is to get some sort of satisfaction. Is there really any satisfaction in driving your car up a mountain?

Sure..

Look, after climbing Gannet Peak, Granite Peak, Borah Peak, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and Denali, is it really going to bother you that you drove up Mt. Magazine in Arkansas? Not me. If I need to prove something to myself, Gannet Peak will prove it better than any mountain in the east.

Now if I have time to plan something, I'll go ahead and hike a state highpoint. I intend to hike Mt. Washington in August, for example - not because I'm opposed to driving, but because I just want to hike Washington. But I am planning a weekend just for that.. If I were to plan a weekend for every highpoint, it would take decades to complete the 50. So I drive up a bunch. And I have no problem with that.
 

skibum1321

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I just don't like the idea of toll roads in general. I think mountains should be remote places and there is no need to develop them like we do everything else. We are taught about Leave No Trace ethics and yet, we build roads and railways up mountains and build summit lodges. That is making a bigger impact on the environment than pretty much anything an individual hiker could do.

Back to the original topic, I have no desire to highpoint so I guess I'm just or a different mindset. If I did highpoint, I think that I would want to reach it by foot, even if it was a puny hill. As Greg has reiterated though - different strokes for different folks.
 

thetrailboss

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pizza said:
Sure..

Look, after climbing Gannet Peak, Granite Peak, Borah Peak, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and Denali, is it really going to bother you that you drove up Mt. Magazine in Arkansas? Not me. If I need to prove something to myself, Gannet Peak will prove it better than any mountain in the east.

So you have climbed up Rainier and some of these mountains? Or you will be doing so at one point? I just was on your site and didn't see any pics or reports. :blink:
 
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thetrailboss

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skibum1321 said:
I just don't like the idea of toll roads in general. I think mountains should be remote places and there is no need to develop them like we do everything else. We are taught about Leave No Trace ethics and yet, we build roads and railways up mountains and build summit lodges. That is making a bigger impact on the environment than pretty much anything an individual hiker could do.

Most of the roads and buildings are actually quite old and were things that were built in the 1920's, 1930's, and 1940's.
 

Greg

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Interesting. I always thought Pike's Peak was Colorado's high point... :oops:
 

Mark S

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I would expect that folks on a hiking website would tend to snub mechanical/motorized means of attaining highpoints and that appears to be the case here. I was a peakbagger long before I got into highpointing so I've always leaned in the that direction but have tried to be creative with highpointing. I've hiked most of my HPs, but have biked several summit roads as well (TN, NC, SC, WV, MA). On the real easy ones (NB, KS, OH, IN etc.), I'll usually just park a few miles away and walk or park a little further away and bike. Driving up holds no appeal for me.

But that's only one aspect of highpointing. A lot of folks get into it to see the country and that's also a large part of it for me. I couldn't much care how others choose to attain HPs as it has absolutely no effect on me. The guy that founded the Club (Jack Longacre) didn't place restrictions on how to do it, so that's the way it is. Cheers.
 

pizza

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thetrailboss said:
So you have climbed up Rainier and some of these mountains? Or you will be doing so at one point? I just was on your site and didn't see any pics or reports. :blink:

I *will* be doing all that stuff.
I might dayhike Elbert in September.. depends on what kind of shape I can get myself into by then. I have a marathon in December, so the training for that will help.
 

Mike P.

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When I was thinking of highpointing it was more of a hobby to pursue that would get me to travel more, not hike. The hiking part was a form of exercise. Along the way life changed & the thought of being away from family to see Arkansas & Mt. Sunflower in KS (or IL, OH, IN, MI & IA which would be worse IMO) became unpleasant.

I'd probably call Highpointing & travel goal for people who like being fit (As Pizza mentioned no easy way up ID, AK, WA, CA, NV, AZ, WY & CO high points) & who think traveling to each MLB or NFL park is a fat man's travel goal. (or a real fan of the games goal)
 
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