Highpoint #0: Washington, D.C.

There is no set order in which to pursue each of the state highpoints, nor is there a recommended order for that matter.  For all but the skilled alpinists among us, it is probably a safer bet to NOT start with Mt. McKinley (Denali) in Alaska, but otherwise one is pretty free to choose how to go about this adventure.  I am inclined to begin with easier highpoints that do not involve a significant amount of travel at first, and then I will add in cost and complexity as the journey unfolds.  As for my very first highpointing adventure, where should I go?  Well, that’s easy – start with where I live!

Unfortunately, I live in Washington, D.C.  It is not a state, so, for the purposes of counting, this will be highpoint #0, and it will basically just serve as a warm-up for trips to come.  Washington, D.C. is fairly small and doesn’t have anything in the way of mountains, so this was seemingly a VERY easy highpoint to get started with.  Somehow though, I actually had some difficulties in summiting this one. 

First of all, I learned that it is important to do some research before you actually block out the day and jump in the car.  If the highpoint that you are in search of is not a “prominent peak”, you might have some difficulty finding it since it will not stand out in any remarkable way from the surrounding terrain.  Also, there are bureaucratic issues afoot in the case of Washington, D.C. since they actually MOVED the highpoint.  Well, sort of.  Everyone agrees that the highpoint is located in Fort Reno, which is a lovely park that is easily accessible by subway and car alike.  Several years ago, the highpoint was considered to be on the gated off plateau of ground that sits above all of the surrounding park, the plateau of ground where the D.C. Department of Transportation sits.  To claim the highpoint, you would simply walk up to the main gate, as you could not legally proceed any further as venturing beyond the gate would put you on private property.  However, it was later determined that this plateau of ground was actually man-made.  As such, it does not qualify as a “true” highpoint for the district.  Officially surveying the surrounding natural land, the Highpointer’s Club in conjunction with the National Park Service, determined that the real highpoint was “Point Reno” which is located near the Department of Transportation facility.  The city even marked it with an official round marker in the ground and had a special ceremony in 2007 to commemorate the occasion.  Point Reno rings in at a commanding, 409 feet!    

The Highpoint for Washington, D.C.

Okay, so if you actually want to summit this peak, don’t bother with that artificial plateau of ground; just proceed directly to the geographical marker instead.  That sounds simple enough, except I really had no idea where to find it.  On my first trip to Fort Reno, I went up and down every hill and hillock in sight and never saw it.  It started to rain, and my girlfriend was none to happy with this dubious use of time.  I decided to come back on another occasion.  I did just that, and I had just as much difficulty finding this geographical marker the second time around.  Where in the world was it?  I finally decided to have a seat on the lawn and pull up some trip accounts on the internet.  I found some photos taken near the actual site.  I tried to infer what I could from them, but I never did get a sense for where they were taken.  Then I saw a photo that showed the stage they use for the DC Summer Concert Series.  That’s funny, I am sitting right beside an oak tree looking at that very same stage.  That can’t be right.  If the photo was right, that would mean I am basically sitting on the highpoint.  Sure enough, I was less than 5 feet away from it.  The geographical marker is a SMALL disk less than the size of a human hand.  If the grass is a little high, you may very well miss it even if you are a few feet away.  Another lesson learned:  use a GPS if you can.  It will cut out a lot of unnecessary searching. 

Hopefully, a Helpful Map

So what is the easiest way to get to it?  Park on the north side of Chesapeake Street, just west of its intersection with Nebraska Avenue.  Walk across the sidewalk into Fort Reno Park.  You should see a small stage in front of you or to the right of you where they have the summer concerts.  Walk over to it.  Look northeast.  You should see a prominent tree on a small hillock.  To the left there will be a path which proceeds past the plateau where the D.C. DOT sets.  Walk to the tree.  From the tree, walk north about another 10 feet or so.  You should see the black disc in the ground nearby.  I have included photos for reference.  Enjoy!

View of Concert Stage from Highpoint

Motivation

I recently climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.  It was not something I gave much thought to beforehand.  I had lived for a couple of years in Africa serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, and it just made sense to me that on one of my return journeys, I should give the mountain a go.  My “climb” was entirely non-technical, meaning that I spent the entire time hiking my way to the top without the aid of ropes, ice axes, and the like.  Regardless, I still felt an amazing sense of accomplishment with that dedicated act.  I actually choked up a bit when I saw the sign for the summit which sort of shocked me since I am not really one to give into emotion.  Mt. Kilimanjaro of course is the tallest mountain in Africa.  By climbing it, I had reached the peak of one of the “Seven Summits”, a list of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents.  A natural progression might be to continue onward with that list, seeking higher and greater challenges.  A quick look at the list though will reveal that pesky mountain by the name of Everest on it.  Um, perhaps there is something else I can do.  Maybe there is something less suicidal but still keeping in the sense of adventure that I could pursue…

Highpointing.  I can’t say that I ever heard of this word before.  I was bored at work one day, and I came across a Wikipedia article that mentioned this term.  Apparently, some people are attracted to visiting the “highest points” of various places.  The “Seven Summits” list is a version of this that focuses on the highest point of each continent.  Some folks are considerably more pedantic and try to visit the highest point of each county of their state.   A more popular version though, is an attempt to visit each state highpoint in the United States.  It’s an interesting challenge really, as the difficulty in doing so runs the gamut!  At the extreme end (literally and figuratively), you have Mt. McKinley aka Denali.  It’s the highest point in North America and is actually one of the “Seven Summits”.  Climbing it requires solid mountaineering experience, a minimum of 3 weeks of time, the ability to carry a 60 pound pack and a 40 pound sled for the duration of the climb, and generally solid ice climbing skills.  It is not for the faint of heart or the would-be dilettante.  Fortunately, most of the state highpoints are not nearly so difficult.  On the other end of the spectrum of difficulty, there are handicap-accessible highpoints that one can simply pull up to in a car.  Some state highpoints are simply just hills.  “Climbing” all 50 state highpoints will require quite a bit of dedication and a steady development of real climbing skills over the course of a couple years, at least for me it will. 

The purpose of this blog will be to highlight each and every state highpointing adventure that I embark upon.  I hope to motivate others to find similar adventures in their own backyards, and provide some useful travelogues for the would-be highpointer.  The point will be that you don’t need to travel to the extreme ends of the Earth to find a worthy adventure.  Also, I can make no promises that I will finish all 50 states.  Not being certain of whether or not I can actually do it is a hallmark that the journey will be a worthwhile one.  Here is hoping for the best!