Summit Post members SawtoothSean, hgrapid and myself (Puma) have been working dilligently on this page since SP changed over to its new format. At this point, it's basically done. The best part of the page is that it contains links to each of the individual highpoint pages on SP2 which have been created by many different Summit Post members. Take a look if you like:

http://www.summitpost.org/list/171191/u-s-high-points.html

Just spent the last hour and a half reading your intro's instead of working. This will be a regular reference for many of us from now on. Thank You

What I really love about a great and highly populated internet database like Summit Post is the ability to constantly update and/or add information ... not just on the group page but on all the individual pages as well. I don't think anyone would suggest using the internet instead of a good guidebook but the pages make great addendums and can also point you in the right direction for further research on your chosen route.

Summit Post is open source collaboration at its best. I can't imagine that any site will ever come close to touching it. Anyway I particularly liked the Google Mashup
http://www.summitpost.org/object_list.php?object_type=1&context_search_1=search_context&map_1=1&sort_select_1=elevation&parent_id=171191

I've finally learned how to do them so you will probably soon be being a flood of them here too.

I was getting ready to switch highpointers.org primary links to this list which is much better updated because of its collaborative nature than any other site out there. However, I notice an anomaly in that Bear Mountain is also recognized as a highpoint (and why the list shows 51 entries -- I was expeting #51 to be DC).

We've been down this debate before. Bear mountain should come off the list. The slippery slope of highpoints on features with higher elevations in other states would also include Black Mesa where the highpoint of the mesa itself is actually in New Mexico and Backbone Mountain where the highpoint of the feature is actually in West Virginia and of course Boundary Peak where the summit of the massive is actually in California

The Highpointers Club couldn't care less if you climb Bear Mountain -- even it's probably a nicer hike than Frissell. I've even sent 50 completers back to Frissell because they didn't go the 100 yards or so beyond the summit in Massachusetts to the actual Nutmeg highpoint on the slope (which one completer dubbed "Roger's Peg").

This game is no fun unless you can nitpick especially when the site is so spectacular!

[Edited to include Boundary Peak, Nevada]

We only only "control" the group page. When someone submits a page to Summit Post, they have the option of assigning it to a group. The folks who did the Bear Mountain and Lam Lam pages some time ago on Summit Post 1 felt their pages deserved "highpoint" status so they assigned it to this group. The "mistake" was repeated during the conversion to Summit Post 2 when the group page was created by the site maintainer.

Getting these peaks removed from the "toolbar" part of the list in the left margin would basically require one of us either asking the maintainers of the pages or the elves to delete them from this group. Not sure I want to do this. Could lead to bad blood. The only part of our text that refers to these non-highpoints is at the bottom where we basically explain they're not actually highpoints. I realize it screws up the mashup and we will certainly try to keep other non-highpoints off the mashup.

Thanks Mark for doing such a great job. This is going to be the definitive source for this info (or at least the summit descriptions, trip reports, et al).

In addition to the comments I have also made my comments on the addition/corrections sections on the summitpost list.

I don't want to stir up bad blood as I know the summitpost is basically a volunteer effort.

In 20/20, I wish I had had the tech knowledge to have set up americasroof as a collaborative wiki where folks could correct it and kept it up to date. The lax stance on my part has spawned a whole host of folks who have wanted to do a better americasroof.

Summitpost is definitely best of breed.

Speaking of wiki, check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highpoints

Somebody has actually been improving it of late. Not all that long ago it was horribly inaccurate.

Both of those sites make me feel inadequate!

This is like a tennis match! I just saw your comments/additions and corrections on Summit Post. Anyway, I'm really glad you enjoy the page and would also add that you have done a kick-ass job over here for years.

Cheers.

Amazing how fast summitpost fixed the two questions!!! It's a major league wow!

Well, as it turns out, we do have the power to attach and detach so the toolbar should be easy to regulate.

Thanks again for the nice words.

I see that Mount Lam Lam on Guam is also listed. U.S. territories should probably be kept as a separate list from the state highpoints. A correct state highpoint list should only contain 50 listings.

Here's the official list of territories:

American Samoa
District of Columbia
Guam
Marhsall Territories
Northern Marianas
Palau
Puerto Rico
U.S. Minor Islands
Virgin Islands

The territory list comes from the USGS:
http://geonames.usgs.gov/stategaz/index.html

Again I'm only being nitpicky because the summitpost material is so good and this no doubt will become the official source for all this info.

I don't recall anybody ever making a claim for climbing the highpoints of all the territories. Oh boy! Time for a new list! Does such a list even exist? No doubt some of those island highpoints will make Florida look like Everest.

Google Mashup of Highpoints of U.S. Territories
With all of our obsessions with climbing high points, one list that would seem yet to be completed is the "Highpoints of U.S. Territories."

There has never been a good list of the highpoints but I was inspired to create after seeing Summitpost's new state highpoints list which no doubt will become the defintive source for state highpoint info because of its considerable interative nature. In the early stages the list had included Mount Lamlam on Guam.

Thus, I sought out a list of highpoints for other territories starting with the database maintained Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) maintained by the USGS.


The system has its quirks and inaccuracies. One of the ironies is that Washington, DC, ranks right up there with the U.S. Minor Islands as far as its geography is concerned. DC is considered a territory and its highpoint at Fort Reno is not even listed in the database (a point which Highpointer Club Member Robert Hyman is trying to correct).

By extrapolating the USGS data with some web research here's a list of the summits.


American Samoa
Mount Lata 3,160 feet
South Latitude: 14.2369
West Longitude: 169.457
Notes: American Samoa is the only U.S. territory south of the equator

Federated States of Micronesia
Mount Buache 1,946 feet
North Latitude: 5.35333
East Longitude: 162.9964

Guam
Mount Lamlam 1,332 feet
North Latitude: 13.33861
East Longitude: 144.6628

Northern Mariana Islands
Agrihan Volcano 3,166 Feet
North Latitude: 18.7675
East Longitude: 145.6672

Palau
Mount Etekkueiku 400 feet
North Latitude: 7.43306
East Longitude: 134.5008

Puerto Rico
Cerro de Punta 4,390 feet
North Latitude: 18.17444
West Latitude: 66.5922

U.S. Minor Islands
Palmyra Atoll 30 feet
North Latitude: 7.43306
West Longitude: 134.5008
Notes: The Minor Islands are atolls that are almost all uninhabited and includes major World War II sites such as Midway Island and Wake Island (although there's a debate on whether the U.S. or the Marshall Island own the later)

U.S. Virgin Islands
Crown Mountain 1,556 Feet
North Latitude: 18.35917
West Longitude: 64.975
Notes: Located on St. Thomas

District of Columbia
Fort Reno 429 Feet
North Latitude: 38.95277
West Latitude: 77.0785
Notes: The highpoint is not listed by the USGS but Highpointer Robert Hyman is working to get a formal survey and designation. The highest named summit in the District of Columbia is Mount Saint Alban (382 feet).


Marshall Islands*
Likiep Island 33 feet
North Latitude: 9.81694
East Longitude: 169.3053
Notes: The Marshall Islands gained their independence in 1986 after the U.S. nuked them 67 times in the 1940's and 50's at such places as Bikini Island and Enewetak. The U.S. still pays for everything there for the 57,000 residents while matters work their way through the courts. It is still listed in the USGS database.


http://americasroof.com/archives/2006/02/28/highpoints-of-us-territories/

Dave Olson passes along these corrections. He is correct on all accounts. I will make the changes probably next week.

Anyway the upshot is that the U.S. only has 7 territories. The Marshall Island, Federated Micronesia and Palau are independent but in "Free Association" with the U.S.
----------

I see two or three things to comment on in your list of
US Territory HPs.

1) In the US Minor Islands, I bet that Navassa Island
(Caribbean, southwest of Haiti) is higher than the 30 ft.
of Palmyra Atoll.

2) In the US Minor Islands. I am not surprised that
the Marshall Islands is making a claim to Wake Island.
I doubt that it has much merit.

3) Federated-Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau
are all members of the UN. I doubt they are US Territories.