Friday, April 21, 2023

Highest Points Visited

The photo above was taken at the summit of Black Elk Peak in South Dakota.

FROM August 14, 2009: Here is a list of the Highest Points I have visited. It will be nice and easy to keep track of them here! I'll add a few pictures as well. Here they are in order by date:


04/09/2009 - Maryland - Hoyes Crest - 3,360 ft above sea level

07/22/2009 - North Carolina - Mount Mitchell (also the highest point east of the Mississippi River.) - 6,684 ft above sea level

08/13/2009 - District of Columbia - Point Reno - 409 ft above sea level.

12/05/2009 - Delaware - Ebright Azimuth - 448 ft above sea level















UPDATED April 21, 2023:

After many years. I'm beginning to think about trying to visit more high points in each state. I'd also like to revisit some of the previous ones with my wife, if not the entire family. Since the previous post, above, my family and I visited the highest points in Iowa as well as South Dakota. It was in 2016 when we spent a week in the Wisconsin Dells area. We used that area as a half way spot on a trip out to see Mt. Rushmore. While on the way, we drove past and visited Hawkeye Point, elevation 1,670 ft abov
e sea level, in Iowa. We then spent an evening in South Dakota and did some hiking, which involved a terrific hike up to Black Elk Peak, 7,242 ft above sea level.


In 2021, my wife turned 50. She had found a place in Vermont to go hot air ballooning so we drove that way to experience it. Unfortunately the weather forced the event to be called off but we were in the area so we had to find something to do. We decided to hike up to the top of Mount Mansfield, 4,393 ft above sea level.

Fast forward to Easter 2023, my wife and I spent a week in the Gulf Shores area of Alabama. On the ride home we decided to visit the "highest point" in Florida, Britton Hill a whopping 345 ft above sea level. Also known as America's lowest high point. Since we were visiting areas on the ride home we drove by Cheaha Mountain in Alabama to claim its highest point as well, at 2,413 ft.



Memorial Day Weekend 2023:May 28, 2023 my wife and I decided that we would "get high" by visiting three of the closest highpoints to our home in southern Maryland. Doing so brought our list together to 10 and my personal list to 13. We began at Hoye Crest in western Maryland. Actually to get to Maryland's highest point, you have to park in West Virginia. The hike was a 2 mile round trip, with a change in elevation of 750 ft. In the interest of full disclosure, we were both winded at times as we made our way up the hill. But we did make and enjoyed the nice breeze at the top which cooled us off quickly as we did sweat on the way there. After photos at the tip we headed down the hill and decided that we would make our way to the next one.

At the car, my wife and I discussed our options. We knew that Spruce Knob, West Virginia's highest point was only 25 miles away, as the crow flies, about an hour away via the actual roads. We also knew that Mount Davis, in PA was about an hour's drive away as well. We decided to turn south and head to West Virginia. Along the way we spotted signs for Blackwater Falls State Park. Since we enjoy seeing waterfalls as well, we made the detour and found a TERRIFIC state park. Free to enter, we drove in, parked the car near the main camp store and made the short walk along a fantastic boardwalk to the beautiful viewing area for the falls. After that we went into the camp store. As we walked in, I immediately spotted a rake of discgolf discs. Being a big fan of the game, I asked one of the cashiers about if they had a course in the park. He was very kind and pointed right to it on the map. This park was a great 90 minute detour on our way to Spruce Knob.

Upon arriving at the parking area for Spruce Knob, we got out and easily made to 900 ft walk to the observation tower at it's peak. Spruce Knob sits 4,863 ft above sea level and it was our 9th together, and my 13th individually. The views were beautiful and we even walked a bit of the trail beyond the summit. Upon getting in the car, we had a decision to make. Did we want to try to get to Mount Davis in PA or just head home? Man am I glad we decided what we did!

We made our way north, driving back along the same roads we came down. A stop at a small restuarant provided a late lunch/early dinner and gave us the energy to finish our day. Getting to the "top" of Mount Davis is not difficult at all. Parking in the lot, we walked along the trail until we can to the rock formation that holds the geodetic benchmark disc signifying the summit, 3,213 ft above sea level. A little beyond the mark is an old fire tower with the cupola removed. At the top is a fresco showing the lay of the area around with another diagram which showed why other points in the distance may have appeared higher.

Now whenever I am on these trips, an old song always comes to mind. From 1972 and The Carpenters "On Top of the World" plays in my head ever time. This time I decided to share it with others with this little video.


The map below shows the highest points in each state that I have visited WITH my family and I am really looking forward to visiting more. In list form the state visited are: Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont and West Virginia.