County Highpointers Introduction
The 3,143 US county highpoints range from the 20,320 foot summit of Mount McKinley, as the highest point of Denali Borough in Alaska; to the 10 foot high swamp that surmounts Terrebonne Parish Louisiana. Between these extremes lie many peaks, hills, and knolls that are of interest to a growing group of county high point fanatics. Conquering counties is the ideal form of recreation - it exercises body and mind, boosts your navigating skills, and minimizes your exposure to cathode ray tubes. Unfortunately, there are hazards to watch for. The weather can be foul on Mount Fairweather (Alaska), Grand Teton (Teton County, Wyoming) has some off-trail sections, and Fort Bragg (Cumberland County, North Carolina) 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. List lovers will enjoy the County Highpoint Front Runners compilation of every county feat known to man. Here you will find the mountain climbed 4000 times and counting; the leader in the race to conquer Texas; the All American County; plus many more amazing facts and feats. Autobiographies of county highpointers are available with both general and highpointing interests described. You may even submit your own autobiography for posting. As with any esoteric pursuit a bunch of jargon exists that the initiated are familiar with. Thereby a glossary is provided to answer the most frequently asked questions. A set of highpointing rules are in place that determine the validity of any claim to having visited a highpoint (or of visiting multiple highpoints for a single county). Maps of a general informational nature are available that provide detail of interest to county highpointing. As an example, the numbers of multiple possible highpoints for each county are presented as a USA-wide map prepared by Jon Mann. USA-wide maps portraying the county-by-county accomplishments of individual highpointers are fun to view and provide a competitive impetus to explore virgin highpoints. The self-appointed current tasks and fields of specialization for various county highpointers are provided to answer questions, share information with, and address concerns. Please note that this website, and of county highpointing in general, is all for the fun of it and is presently a nonprofit endeavor. The county craze has even infected Great Britain. If you know of similar activities in other nations, please let us know.-- -- -- -- next tour link -- -- -- --