...I summitted the mighty Mount Sunflower, KS on 12/30. Again, i really really don't mean to knock the guidebooks. I WILL get them at some point. But this was another highpoint that was simple to find with just a good state map. From I-70, take exit 1, head south instinctively, and eventually you'll see signs for Mt. Sunflower. I walked the last couple miles to the "top", in a continuing attempt to at least have some token experience at each highpoint. Not much to say about it. All the jokes have already been repeated about this great peak. Nice trail monument and register. HP #8!
7/5/03
At sunset during a brilliant, building lightning storm, my sons and I reached the lofty Mt. Sunflower. Damn, Kansas is good for storms!
Due to the late hour and the constant lightning (during which the three of US were the highpoints), we drove up, and were rewarded for this choice by coming across a 3' rattlesnake stretched across the road. Glad to have seen him from the car, and before my 2-year-old did ("Ooooh, I ho'd snake!"). We watched him for 5 solid minutes, which he didn't seem to like much. Eventually, he reared up, rattled and hissed a few more times, and slid quickly into the tall grass.
We joined Highpointers last month, and are excited to have begun. We're already avid wanderers and tent campers, but plan to build our hiking and climbing skills as we add HP's. By the time we get to the higher and more technical climbs, we will be ready for them. Thanks to UP cohort Frank Haverkamp for turning me on!
I reached the summit of Mt. Sunflower, the Highpoint of Kansas at 4,039 feet, on Saturday evening September 13th, 2003. It was my 9th state highpoint.
I left Vail, Colorado at 9:15AM. I had spent a week there acclimating to the altitude and hiking the surrounding mountains in preparation for the challenges of Mt. Sunflower. It was another cold, drizzly day with snow flurries at higher altitudes. Most of the week I was in Colorado it rained and snowed. People that lived in Colorado all their lives said it was the earliest in the season they had ever skied.
I stopped and spent several hours at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument west of Colorado Springs. It was interesting to see the stumps of giant sequoia trees that were once plentiful throughout much of North America. The stumps are petrified like wood found in the Petrified Forest National Park. There are many other interesting fossils and things to see here. Since buying my first National Park Pass several years ago I have found that some of the smaller National Parks and Monuments, some that I never heard of before, have some the most beautiful and interesting things to see, and they are definitely less crowded than the bigger more well known parks. I try to combine my interest in National Parks, Monuments, Historic Sites, etc. with my interest in Highpointing by visiting as many of the National Park facilities as possible while visiting the state highpoints and using my timeshare weeks.
I exited I-70 and followed the excellent directions provided by Charlie and Diane Winger in their book Highpoint Adventures and arrived at Mt. Sunflower at approximately 6:15PM just in time to view a beautiful sunset. It turned out to be a clear but cool evening. I signed the register and enjoyed the view. I was the only one to sign in all day and had the “peak” to myself. Blake Murphy, who I met on Guadalupe Peak, signed the register two days prior.
I drove to Goodland, Kansas registered at a motel that had obviously been a Motel 6 in a previous life and had a healthy dinner of a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard at the Diary Queen, which was conveniently located next door. The following day I stopped at Nicodemus National Historic Site on the drive home to Algonquin, Illinois. Nicodemus is a small, all black, Kansas town settled by former slaves after the Civil War. There were once hundreds of people living here. Now there are only 24 full time residents but many of the former residents and family members come for a big reunion each July.
This is #4 for myself and #2 for my wife Melissa. Not much to say about the highpoint except I find it very interesting that this highpoint is much higher than most of the highpoints east of the Mississippi river. As we followed the Winger directions to the drive up highpoint I found the road very soothing at 75 mph. We were in a hurry to get home that night and we still had to make it to Dallas. After taking the requisite photos we left and made it back to I 70 for the return trip to Dallas.
After summiting Black Mesa on Sunday morning, 11 March 2007, I headed for Mount Sunflower via Boise City, Okla., Elkhart, Kan., and highway KS-27 north. At Sharon Springs I took US-40 west to Weskan and then a county road northbound. By dead reckoning I eventually found Mount Sunflower around 5:00p MDT, the route to which appears to be better signed for southbound traffic from I-70 than for northbound traffic from US-40.
As for the "summit," there is not much to report other than I shared the delight of most visitors at the lighthearted quirkiness of the monument and its wrought-iron decorations. This was my 24th state highpoint. There is a register to sign which includes information about the site and the Highpointers Club.
My only caveat is to be wary of driving the dirt-surfaced county roads in the area (and particularly the more direct route north to I-70 along the Colorado border) after a heavy rain, as they quickly become a sea of thick mud. I was lucky to get through in my front-wheel drive Toyota Solara with positraction transaxle. The Comfort Inn in Goodland is a nice place to stay.
Heading home from a trip to Colorado. Just crossed over into Kansas on I-70, and this was well worth the stop.
I wouldnt say its well-signed, but I found it with a state-by-state atlas and a Gazetteer, and some guessing.
The fall colors were great, sunflowers, sorghum, corn fields just fading away.
Mt Sunflower is not a stunning view, but I lingered awhile, as a steady wind blew, a warmish day. Theres a very serene feeling here.
The 'registry' was closed, apparently due to vandalism. Thanks to the owners of this private property for letting people continue to come here.
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