Wall Street Journal’s Jon Kamp takes a look at Highpointing and Britton Hill

3 Responses to Wall Street Journal’s Jon Kamp takes a look at Highpointing and Britton Hill

1. David Odenwalder says:

   3/13/2017 at 3:14 pm

   I just happened to see the Wall Street Journal article and read it while waiting for a new set of tires at the tire shop. Like some other state highpoints, Britton Hill isn’t a tremendous mountaineering feat – but it’s far enough out of the main travel routes, to make the journey to the Florida panhandle a challenge in its own right.
   I’ve often announced – sometimes with a cell phone call to my wife – “I’m the highest person in “Texas” or “Utah” or “Connecticut” as I stood on that state’s high point. But as the WSJ article pointed out – that can’t always be stated with certainty. In Florida’s case, there are Miami buildings – most certainly occupied – that are twice as high as Britton Hill. So while I was at the highest natural point – more or less – of Florida – I wasn’t the highest person in Florida at the time. Leaving an interesting point to ponder – in which states was I indisputably the highest person in the state? (OK, forget the planes flying over the state airspace.) And which not (Florida, Delaware, DC)?
   There is also a little question in my mind about the exact “high point”. The Britton Hill monument is in a developed park a lawn area – not really the “natural” terrain. Just a few paces away – at the edge of the park in the trees – were spots that looked a few inches higher to my calibrated eyeball. I walked around in the surrounding forest. I did not see anything that looked 7 feet higher – but there were definitely bumps and furrows that could have been several inches higher – all within a 50′ or 100′ radius of the monument. One of the downsides to some of the “flatter” state highpoints – you can’t really be sure when you made it. Even on Mt Whitney – there was a huge boulder – again using my calibrated eyeball – that appeared to be higher than a smaller boulder to which the geodesic marker was attached. As in the case of Britton Hill – it’s more about the journey than the inches of difference. Just the same, my obsession is to get to the high point.
2. John Mitchler says:

   7/3/2017 at 10:44 am

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_by_U.S._state

   There are radio towers in some states which are taller than the tallest building. A list is available somewhere.
3. John Mitchler says:

   7/3/2017 at 10:46 am

   http://www.network54.com/Forum/3897/thread/1144248545

   discusses radio towers