United States
A 13-day road trip from Wisconsin to Colorado linked state high points, four Ultras, Yellowstone and Utah desert parks, from Michigan’s 12-centimetre summit dispute to a 4,302 m finish on Pikes Peak.
Range Great Plains
North Dakota’s high point rises from almost horizontal prairie as a compact island of pale, eroded terrain, reached by an easy ranchland trail whose public access has its own highpointing history.
Range Great Plains
A few hundred metres of tractor tracks reached a grassy South Dakota high point whose 150 km of isolation and open Coteau des Prairies landscape mattered far more than its summit shape.
Range Midwest-Great Lakes Area
I came for 215 km of isolation and found beautiful Minnesota lake country, an old lookout tower, uncertain summit ground and enough mosquitoes to turn a 1.5 km walk into a sprint.
Range Midwest-Great Lakes Area
Wildfire smoke made the drive uncertain, but Eagle Mountain became a calm walk through wetlands, Whale Lake and forest to Minnesota’s high point, its survey history and remarkably isolated summit.
Range Midwest-Great Lakes Area
Wildfire smoke and disastrous forest-road shortcuts complicated the approach to Mount Curwood, where a 2024 dGNSS survey challenged Mount Arvon’s official status and identified a new Michigan high point by about 12 centimetres.
Range Midwest-Great Lakes Area
Racine gave a spare half-day a clear direction: Lake Michigan shoreline, a quiet harbour breakwater and Wind Point Lighthouse, where historic foghorns proved more rewarding than a risky scramble over slippery rocks.
Range Midwest-Great Lakes Area
A nearly level Wisconsin summit with 210 km of isolation, two observation towers and one misread park entrance turned a 1.8 km walk into an unusually memorable lesson in topography and parking.