Wednesday, June 29, 2016

What Is Your High Point? Have You Been There?



When I tell you that I like to climb the mountains in this area, they are not really mountains, although that is what they are called.
(Technically, they are monadnocks which happens to be a Native American word and that makes it just right, doesn't it?)
Our mountains in North Georgia are just over a two hour drive away from us and it is always exciting to come over this first hill and see the mountains on the horizon.




Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia.  Although, there are some very high ridges nearby which are nearly as high but technically speaking, Brasstown Bald has the highest elevation (4786 feet) so it thereby earns this distinction.  There is a bench at Brasstown Bald that has this sign: 

"HighpointersFoundation.org". 

 Interested, I looked it up. It is a club that promotes the highest points in the USA and they have a link to a list which shows the highest elevation of the 50 states.   I knew that for the USA, the highest would have to be in Alaska (Denali at 20,320 feet) and that the lowest (the lowest high point, if you will) would have to be in Florida! (Britton Hill, Florida at 345 feet!)

Now...here is my question for YOU...where is your HIGH POINT in your state or in your country?  Do you know?  And have you been there?  And for my friends in the USA, here is a link, you may click on this - America's Roof and see the list of the highest spots in each state!  





I know that Ben Nevis is the highest in Great Britain but is it higher than Brasstown Bald? Hmmm....let's see....

Highest point in Scotland (also highest in the UK) is Ben Nevis, at 4409 feet.
Highest point in Wales is Snowdon (3560 feet).
Highest point in England is Scafell Pike at 3208 feet.


Beinn NibheisBenNevis2005.jpg
Ben Nevis from Banavie. The summit is beyond and to the left of the apparent highest point.
Highest pointElevation1,346 m (4,416 ft) [1]Prominence1,346 m (4,416 ft) 
Ranked 1st in British IslesParent peaknone – Highest peak on island ofGreat BritainListingMunroMarilynCouncil top(Highland), County top (Inverness-shire), Country high pointCoordinates56°47′49″N 5°00′13″W
NamingTranslationVenomous mountain or mountain with its head in the clouds (Scottish Gaelic)





"Mountain with its head in the clouds", can there be a more perfect name for a mountain?


Brasstown Bald...you might wonder at the name of this mountain in Georgia.  It really comes from a misunderstanding you see...according to the Encyclopedia Britannica...  "The name Brasstown probably derives from a misinterpretation of the Cherokee Indian name Itse’yi, meaning “green place,” which was confused with the name Untsai’yi, meaning “brass.”




By the way...
Stone Mountain -elevation 1,686 feet
Arabia Moutain - elevation 955 feet
Panola Mountain -elevation 946 feet.

Hey, these are just numbers!  You could never guess how many happy hours I have spent on the three mountains I have listed above! (Not just climbing to the top but also in the deep woods around each mountain.)

Don't forget to tell me your high point and if you have been there!

43 comments:

  1. Canada's highest point is Mount Logan in the Yukon (elevation 5,959 metres or 19,551 feet). I have never been there. It's also the second highest point in North America.

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    1. Would love to see the magnificent mountains in Canada! Oh well, maybe one day!

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  2. Mt. Washington. And we drove up it with Tom's father and little Margaret. I was terrified. It was misty and there are no guardrails.

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    1. No guardrails, my dear, I would be terrified right along with you!

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  3. As always, you made me learn something new, Kay - thank you! Also, I had a pretty good idea about which would be the highest points in my area (the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg) and of all of Germany. I looked it up on wikipedia, and I was right :-)
    The highest point in BW is the Feldberg ("field mountain"), situated in the Black Forest area. It is 1,493 m high, that's about 4,900 feet.
    For all of Germany, the highest point is the Zugspitze, on the border between Bavaria and Austria, at 2962 m (or 9,717 feet).
    I've not been on top of either of them, but I have been pretty near some rather impressive mountains earlier this year on a flight with my pilot friend - maybe you remember the post :-)

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    1. Yes, I very much remember your great photos from your flight with your pilot friend!
      And when you mention the border between Bavaria and Austria, that reminds me very much of the mountain view from "The Sound of Music"! Did you know that the famous scene with Julie Andrews on the mountain top was in Germany? I only learned it when Diane Sawyer, a TV journalist here did a great special on the movie and she was allowed to re trace the steps of Julie Andrews and that is when I learned this!
      This would not matter one jot to most people I know, but I hug this little fact to myself as if it was a great discovery! :-)

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  4. Phew, I knew the answer to the GB ones! Though I haven't been to any of them. The highest point I've probably been to was the top of Mount Vesuvius which is just over 4000ft. X

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    1. I have also been to some mighty mountains, the impressive Rockies out west! (My sister lives in Colorado.)

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  5. I've been to the top of Brasstown Bald, too.

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    1. We should try to plan it and meet there at the same time!

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  6. They say that Campbell Hill is our highest point here in Ohio. I didn't know that and have been close by there in the past but didn't know of it's importance. Had I known I would have gone. Thanks for the link and for sharing your love of mountains

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    1. I had never heard of this Highpointers Club and found it interesting. I do love the mountains, I grew up with that view of the blue mountains on the horizon.

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  7. I haven't been to any of the major mountains near me. I actually do live near a mountain range too in the Peak District. I should go one day.

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    1. Please go to the Peak District. I probably won't get to visit there so will you do for me? Thank you.

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  8. Our highest point in North Carolina is Mount Mitchell, near Asheville. While I've been to that area many times (even as recently as last weekend), I haven't hiked to the top. I will plan to do that soon! Always wanted to! I had to look up the elevation but it's 6,684 feet. I've read it's the highest point east of the Mississippi River!

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    1. Oh, you should go! I love Asheville but I haven't gone for years. Our son was there recently and toured some breweries.
      Wherever he goes, he tours breweries! LOL!

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  9. While i knew our highest point in Louisiana was up in the way north of the state, i didn't know it was called Driskill Mountain. Seems a silly name for a hill just over 500 feet high, and while i've driven in that area, i've never actually been on our high point.

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  10. I think Florida's peak is about 35 feet

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  11. oh, for fun, I googled it: 345 feet

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarloaf_Mountain_(Florida)#/media/File:SugarloafMountain_Road.jpg

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    1. Tsk, tsk...Sugarloaf Mountain is the highest on the penisula of Florida, but Britton Hill is the highest but is it in the Florida panhandle. Let's hope this question does not come up during a trivia contest and it involves winning money!

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  12. Kay, living in and being a native Georgia Girl,I did know that Brasstown Bald was our highest point, although I have never climbed to the top. I have been there,but it was years ago, this is a great post.
    Happy 4th

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    1. I am also a native Georgian and can you believe it, I only saw Brasstown Bald for the first time last year! We also went this year, we think it's lovely.
      Happy 4th of July to you too! xx

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  13. I've been up Snowdon and Scafell Pike but on the only occasion I was set to attempt Ben Nevis low cloud stopped me. I have, however, climbed the Clisham which at 799 metres (2,621 ft) it is the highest mountain (a Corbett) in the Outer Hebrides.

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    1. I would be quite happy with that high mountain in the Outer Hebrides, I bet it was beautiful.

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  14. I have never been to Hawkeye Point in Iowa but it is not far. I will be visiting. When we were moving back to Nebraska from Washington we drove through the Rocky Mountains. We would stop and stretch our legs. So the Rockies are the highest I've been.

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    1. Ah, the Rockies, my sister lives in Colorado and I have also seen them too. They are, as you know, much, much higher than the mountains of North Georgia! :-)

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  15. The following are the highest two mountains in Queensland...I've driven past them many times when I lived in North Queensland...but never attempted climbing them. I'm not a mountain climber. I have reached a few high points during my life, though. :)

    Mount Bartle Frere is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of 1,622 metres (5,322 ft). The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, a British colonial administrator and then president of the Royal Geographical Society by George Elphinstone Dalrymple in 1873. Bartle Frere was British Governor of Cape Colony at the outset of the Zulu Wars. The Aboriginal name for the mountain is Chooreechillum.

    It is located 51 km[1] south of Cairns in the Wooroonooran National Park southwest of the town of Babinda on the eastern edge of the Atherton Tablelands. Mount Bartle Frere is part of the Bellenden Ker Range and the watershed of Russell River.

    The foothill to summit is entirely covered by rainforest, ranging from typical tropical rainforest in the lowlands to low cloud forest at the cooler summit, where temperatures are up to 10°C (18°F) lower than on the coast. Despite the treacherous climb, reaching the top offers an expansive view of the surrounding area.


    Mount Bellenden Ker is the second highest mountain in Queensland, Australia, with a height of 1,593 metres (5,226 ft). It is named after the botanist John Bellenden Ker Gawler. Located 60 km south of Cairns near Babinda, it is adjacent to Mount Bartle Frere, the state's highest peak, part of the Bellenden Ker Range which is also known as the Wooroonooran Range. The two mountains dominate the Josephine Falls section of the Wooroonooran National Park.[1] Both peaks are made of resistant granite and are remnants of an escarpment that has been eroded by the Russell and Mulgrave Rivers.

    Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in Australia. It's located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, part of the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves, in New South Wales, Australia and is located west of Crackenback and close to Jindabyne

    With a height of 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia.

    I've never been to the Kosciuszko.

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    1. My sister lived in Australia years ago. She lived in Cairns (and I do remember she said to pronounce it like "tin CANS"!).
      She also worked in a ski resort in the Snowy Mountains, I think.
      She loved Australia! And her photos have always made me want to see it. As does your comment here does too!

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    2. Yep..."Cans" is close to being correct. :)

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  16. I have been to Brasstown Bald! A friend of mine set part of a story she wrote there (someone used it as a place to set up a telescope--which is a great idea, I think) so I went to check it out. I love the picture in your banner--where is it?

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    1. Happy that you have been to Brasstown Bald too!
      And my header photo is of the small lake at the base of Panola Mountain, here in Georgia! (Not too far from my house!)

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  17. Great post, Kay. Our highest point is Timm's Hill and it is about 2000 ft. WI is not a mountainous state at all. I have been close to there but not actually there.

    I grew up in PA and the highest mt there is about 3200 ft high. I grew up in the mountains and we could see 7 counties from our house. It was a wonderful place to grow up-although it meant an hour long ride to and from school every day.
    Hope you have a wonderful 4th of July- xo Diana

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    1. Wow, Diana, it sounds like you grew up on top of the world! No wonder you are like a princess! LOL.
      Happy 4th of July to you and yours, Diana!

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  19. Nice post! Mine is Mount Mitchell (Park) N.C., USA at 6684. It's 'other-worldly' up there! The trees are like shrunken, gnarly aliens up there! Love it!!!! 4 sure!!! I feature pics of this mountain top with a foggy curl rolling off of it on my blog on and off! Thanks for this post!!!!! Blessings to you on all 'high' travels ;-)

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    1. I love the mountains of North Carolina too!
      And blessings to you also on your travels!

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  20. Fun to think about! The highest point in Summit County, Ohio, where I live, is 1,329 feet. However, there is no way one experiences it as a mountain, or even as much of a hill, except for the sign on the side of the road. The whole county is rather high which probably explains the name. When I lived in Hungary the highest point was Kekes which was 3,327feet. We did visit there because one of my huband's aunt came from there. The Monadnocks around the Balaton were much more impressive though not so high. Really only 1,437feet, not much higher than that spot in Summit County which does not feel high at all. Context is all. We visited there often because of cousins with cottages on Csobanc. Read about it here:
    http://www.summitpost.org/badacsony/154134

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    1. Context is all, exactly right! As I mentioned in my post, the ridges around Brasstown Bald are quite high and they almost are as high the highest point, so really...not a lot in it!
      How interesting that you lived in Hungary, you should write a book! (And I know you can!)

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  21. Other than those you mentioned in the UK I don't know about other high points here! An interesting thought though.

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    1. I would not have thought of it if I had not seen the bench at Brasstown Bald!

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  22. Nice photos. I've never been obsessed with spot heights but many folk are worldwide. The further north you go the harsher the climate obviously so your high-point looks like the Great Wall of China(same latitude) with lush forests beneath the summits whereas mine (Ben Nevis) although smaller in height loses its tree cover 800 feet or so above sea level leaving bare empty upper slopes. Height can also be a deceptive illusion. Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh is a vertical cliff rising above the city so always feels far higher than 800 feet high, especially near the edge, looking down on tiny skyscrapers below.
    Same with the summer temperatures between Scotland and London which can often vary by 10c to 12c degrees the further south you go in the UK.

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    1. You know I agree with you, as I say, these are just numbers.
      I am just not a numbers kind of person. Your photos of the mountains in Scotland really make me want to go there!
      And see the elevation of Stone Mountain? That might not seem like much, but boy oh boy, that can be quite the climb!

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