HIGHPOINTERS WEB RING -

Trekster Tripp Treadway announces recent approval and inclusion of The Trek Stop blog into the Highpointer's Web Ring. The Stop's creation was inspired and encouraged by Roger Rowlett in the HttP:// computer column, Highpointers Club Newletter, Apex to Zenith. Roger's article, "What is a Blog?" appeared in the First Quarter (Spring), 2005, Issue #68, P26. Blogger, Google's free blogging service, is suggested as a means to get your feet wet with your own web log, which shortens to "blog".

So, don't hesitate, just Do It! Climb on. Share your Out There experiences and observations. Start your blog now. Get it on the web. Take us somewhere. Say something. Be somebody!

To access the Highpointers Web Ring, use the nav bar at the bottom of The Trek Stop main page. To start your own blog, click on the appropriate link in the top margin of The Trek Stop.

PA/WV/MD 3Pt Visit, 19Oct05

A short drive from Mt. Davis, Markleysburg is aprx. 25 miles SW of the PA hp. In Markleysburg, locate the junction of Rt 281 where it makes a sharp right angle turn. At this corner, Brown Hill Rd. intersects. Disregard the "No Outlet" sign and follow this route for 1.4 miles, which breaks down to a ragged paved road for .4 miles, a better finely graveled section for .3 miles, then a rough, stoney but doable stretch for.7 miles. At the first yellow gas pipeline markers, park on the left; the tri-point is located to the right via the pipeline service road.

Head west toward the power line which can be seen in the distance. Here, the pipeline approach is a tad north of the Mason-Dixon Line on the PA side and provides an easy .2 mile walk to the marker. While crossing under the power lines, look up. When just below the final strand, make a hard left and go aprx. 35ft. off-road to the PA/WV/MD 3Pt. Magellan 315 reading: 39/43/16N, 79/28/36W.

Per Jack Parsell's description, "...there is another monument put there by the Boy Scouts in 1967 commemorating the bicentennial of the establishment of the Mason-Dixon Line." Note that just beyond the parking pull-off, where a second pipeline crosses the road, an historical M-D Line marker is located there, dated 188? along with other time-worn hieroglyphic-like engravings.

STATE HIGHEST POINTS: Apparent vs. Definitive.
(Or...it's the rock, stupid, the rock!).

On our recent trip to Mt. Katahdin, I found what I believe to be the Maine's high, or better - highest natural physical point. On making summit, we were so hell-bent getting our mugs in a photo with the landmark wooden sign, we almost didn't mount the higher rock next to it. The Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail, Mt. Katahdin, is marked by that Maine Appalachian Trail Club sign which is not located precisely at the highest natural physical point on Baxter Peak. It's close. I did miss noticing that rock along side when I was there in '97, but I hadn't begun high pointing yet so wasn't in tune with hp considerations. Katahdin's brass survey disk is embedded in a lower rock, off-photo right.

There are a few HPs which are "apparently" the true high point but, if you're a purist type, take note. Clingman's Dome: The highest natural physical point is not the top of the tower. The same is true for the Mt. Mitchell observation tower. Brasstown Bald: How many HPers manage to locate the bench mark next to the bottom step of the tower stairway? But, it cannot be assumed that the BM is synonymous with the highest point, in any case. It isn't true for Baxter Peak; use the eyeball method here and you'll find it.

Do an eyeball on that rock slab on Mt. Rogers. Methinks the BM is located lower than the highest bulge on that rock. KY is controversial so seek out both BMs on Black Mtn. And then there's South Dakota.... And where's the highest point location for Mt. Elbert?

Mentioned are a few of the few which are illusive or assumed. For fine-tuning purposes, throw in your observations for any of the 50 state "highest" points in the quest for the "definitive" location of each. A suggested term (TTT's idea) is "Highest Natural Physical Point/ Prominence/Elevation" or HNPP/P/E. As bagging high points go, we'll probably only go around once. T'would be good to nail 'em down on the first ascent. Are you a purist or tourist?