County High Points
Introduction
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The 3,000+ US county high points range from the 20,300' summit of Mount McKinley, the highest point
in Denali County** Alaska, to the 20' high swamp that
surmounts Pasquotank County North Carolina. Between these extremes lie many peaks,
hills, and knolls that are of interest to a growing group of county high point devotees.
Conquering counties is perhaps the ideal form of '90s recreation. It exercises
both body (climbing hills) and mind (finding them), while minimizing caloric
intake and exposure to nasty diseases. Unfortunately, there are
hazards to be aware of, as some of the counties put up quite a struggle.
The weather can be unsettled on Mount Fairweather (AK), Grand Teton
(Teton co. WY) has some off trail sections, and Fort Bragg (Cumberland co. NC)
has a strict dress code.
The information that follows will complete your county curriculum.
If you know of any facts/stats/accomplishments/addresses/etc that are of interest,
feel free to pester Andy Martin.
** Alaska is one of the few states that do not have counties,
"Denali Borough" is correct.
Pioneers
- Dub Bludworth - identified and climbed the counties of Utah.
- Dinesh Desai - prepared a list for CA counties, and arranges group hikes to them.
- Paul Moore - listed the New England counties in Appalachia magazine in 1988.
- David Olson - prepared a list for the CO counties.
- Bob Walko - identified and climbed the AZ county HP in the late 1970's.
Completers
- Arizona - Bob Walko , Doug Kasian , Robert Packard , Andy Martin , Bob Martin
- California - Gary Suttle , Bill Broeckel , Fred Johnson
- Colorado - John Mitchler
(supplier of the classy CO county T-shirt)
- Maine - Fred Lobdell
- New Hampshire - Roy Schweiker
- New Mexico - Andy Martin
- Rhode Island - Fred Lobdell
- Utah - Winford Bludworth
- Vermont - Roy Schweiker
- Washington - John Roper
Hikers
- Most counties - 167 by Fred Lobdell
- Most western counties - 98 by Barb Lilley
Sources of Information
- USA - lists for 40 states are given in County High Points by Andy Martin.
- Arizona - Routes to nine peaks are described in Arizona's Mountains by Bob and Dotty Martin.
- California - Gary Suttle is the author of California County Summits, which is published by Wilderness Press.
This excellent guidebook includes descriptions and maps of all the HP routes.
- Colorado - For information see Guide to the Colorado Mountains,
by Robert M. Ormes. It gives access and route information for many of the higher counties.
More detailed information on routes can be found in
A Climbing Guide To Colorado's Fourteeners by Borneman and Lampert,
Colorado's Fourteeners, from Hikes to Climbs by Gerry Roach,
and Climbing Colorado's High Thirteeners by Garrett and Martin.
- Idaho - Routes up most named peaks are given in Exploring Idaho's Mountains by Tom Lopez.
- Montana - Many HP routes are described in Climbers Guide to Montana by Pat Caffrey of Seeley Lake MT.
- New Mexico - Several HP routes are detailed in Guide to the New Mexico Mountains by Herbert E. Ungnade.
- Wyoming - Some HP routes are in Guide to the Wyoming Mountains and Wilderness Areas by Orrin & Lorainne Bonney.
High point locators, with some of the states they worked on
- Dinesh Desai - CA
- Mike Kornbau - VA
- Fred Lobdell - WI, NC, FL
- Andy Martin - many
- Carl Mills - SC, FL, AR, AL, OK, TN, GA, KY, MO, OH
- David Olson - CO, AR, OK, SD, MO, MN
- Bob Walko - AZ