Yes that is Don Holmes. Don is a very friendly guy and always is the MC of the Saturday night banquet. I had him autograph my copy of his guide book at a previous convention. The author of the other HP guidebook Charlie Winger is in the back middle under the sign. SP member Dennis Poulin is standing under the "Klimbin" on the sign. Holsti97 is in the 48-49 completers photo in the front middle in a brown shirt. Guidebook author and SP member winglady is under the logo on the sign. SP member dalescout is standing under the word "Keep" on the sign.

About 25-40 Highpointers had plans to climb Mount Hood while attending the convention. Due to crappy weather and avalanche danger only a few made the summit. We had permits to climb Mount Saint Helens, but did not attempt it due to heavy rain that day.

My wife and I and son Ryan had a great week in Oregon. We hiked Silver
Falls, the Columbia River Gorge, went on the Portland Brew Tour, shopped at
Powell's Bookstore, visited Mount Saint Helens, climbed the county
highpoints of Clatsop & Washington counties with Bob Bolton, and hiked the Smith Rocks
area.

I thought that the Arthur Marshall presentation by Kenyon Rainier
Stebbins was fantastic. Imagine trying to do state highpoints by train,
hitchhiking, and with very little beta (no Summitpost or guidebooks).
http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard ... igh_p.html

sm0421 wrote:http://www.mtritter.org/highpoints/Konvention_2012/

photos from facebook update. Is that Don Holmes, author of the 50 state highpoint guide in the 50-completer photo? (lower-right)

It was great to meet you in person Holsti97. We showed up to Mt. Mansfield in '95 when they were holding the convention but didn't attend the banquet. This was our first official attendance to one. Glad to meet so many folks in person

New Highpoint Names

It occurred to us while climbing Charles Mound that some highpoints have woefully inadequate names. Yes, the tops of Illinois and Delaware are tiny, maybe they aren't really mountains, but as state highpoints they deserve better names.

Many states with wimpy highpoints could really bring some tourism to their states by emphasizing their highpoints. Grander names would sure help.

So as we are climbing Charles Mound, pretending it is a Himalayan peak, when we decided to give it a grander name.

And we thought: why not call it Snowy Peak? It is near Illinois' biggest ski slope, in the northernmost part of the state, and as a highpoint is probably one of the snowier parts of the state.

So the top of Illinois we decided could be Snowy Peak.

The next week, on the way to Campbell Hill, we saw signs for a business called Glacier Ridge. And we thought: Campbell Hill can be Glacier Ridge!

Later that day, when we summited one of the most modest of all state highpoints, we came up with the most improbably name yet. Hoosier Hill can be called.... Avalanche Spire.

So far we have:
Charles Mound = Snowy Peak
Campbell Hill = Glacier Ridge
Hoosier Hill = Avalanche Spire

Don't know if anyone else wants to join in the fun, but other nothing peaks are just crying out for tougher names. Like those pocket dogs they call "Killer"!

GEM Trail wrote:New Highpoint Names

It occurred to us while climbing Charles Mound that some highpoints have woefully inadequate names. Yes, the tops of Illinois and Delaware are tiny, maybe they aren't really mountains, but as state highpoints they deserve better names.

Many states with wimpy highpoints could really bring some tourism to their states by emphasizing their highpoints. Grander names would sure help.

So as we are climbing Charles Mound, pretending it is a Himalayan peak, when we decided to give it a grander name.

And we thought: why not call it Snowy Peak? It is near Illinois' biggest ski slope, in the northernmost part of the state, and as a highpoint is probably one of the snowier parts of the state.

So the top of Illinois we decided could be Snowy Peak.

The next week, on the way to Campbell Hill, we saw signs for a business called Glacier Ridge. And we thought: Campbell Hill can be Glacier Ridge!

Later that day, when we summited one of the most modest of all state highpoints, we came up with the most improbably name yet. Hoosier Hill can be called.... Avalanche Spire.

So far we have:
Charles Mound = Snowy Peak
Campbell Hill = Glacier Ridge
Hoosier Hill = Avalanche Spire

Don't know if anyone else wants to join in the fun, but other nothing peaks are just crying out for tougher names. Like those pocket dogs they call "Killer"!

Since Jerimoth used to be rated as "difficult" as Denali, perhaps it could be Denali - SE Summit?

Florida Frank wrote:Off to Rainier (2nd try - long story) next week. Wish me luck!

I was on Rainier with two other state highpointers from here in the Vegas area June 12th to the 14th. Were you (Florida Frank) on the mountain then?

We met an attendee (solo hiker) from the state highpointers convention who had just summited Hood and passed us while hiking up to Camp Muir on the 12th. He asked us if we were willing to take on another rope partner for the next day (the 13th) but we were hoping for a better weather window on the 14th. The solo hiker was an attorney who had graduated from UNLV and is currently building a home in Montana - forgot to ask him if he was a summitpost member. He headed back down to Paradise on the morning of the 13th after one of the rangers at Camp Muir had a conversation with him on the 12th. We were relieved to hear of that choice on several levels. The three of us in our group ended up summiting in very windy and very poor visibility (cloudy) summit conditions at 8:00 am on the 14th.

This was state highpoint number 34 for me and number 48 for the two guys I climbed Rainier with (they have Wyoming and Denali remaining). I've got plans for my home state highpoint on the 30th of this month and if things work out schedule-wise, I'll try to join my Rainier partners on Gannett in August.

Holsti97, glad to hear you had a great week in Oregon!

Tracy...that is great news on your Rainier summit. I can just see you easily striding up that mountain. I know Jack Bennett who lives in Arizona and was one of a few to do all of Canada's Provincial Highpoints and all 50 state highpoints was planning on climbing Rainier and was looking for a partner following the Highpointers Convention.

As far as new names for State highpoints...Timms Hill 1951' the highpoint of Wisconsin was originally called "Ogema Hill". A logger named Timm changed the name. It was suggested to me that Wisconsin school children should campaign the state legislature to change the name back to the original.

Congrats Tracy on your summit. Way to knock off the summit in those less than desirable conditions as well.

I agree that Jerimoth Hill needs something. Little Denali?

And Timm's Hill could at least be Mt. Timm. Or Mt. Ogema. The nearest settlement I think is called Spirit. You could call it Spirit Mountain!

Related note: there is a cafe I didn't know at the base of Mt. Timm called the Hill of Beans Cafe. It has a great view of Spirit Mountain and looks like an awesome spot.

Tracy, I'm glad you had better luck on Rainier than we did. I'm surprised and impressed in that even the climbing rangers were calling it "Juneuary". I think we might have run into you three in the CIC on Tuesday morning before starting? I was the guy with the highpointers ball cap on.

We got soaked in that miserable whiteout hiking up the snowfield on the 12th. Spent the night of the 12th camped on the snow field just a bit below Muir. Met your solo hiker on the morning of the 13th as it had cleared and as he headed back down. Though if the same guy I'm surprised as he was wearing a cotton hoodie, which seems like death wear in the weather that we had. But he did say he had solo summitted Hood the week before.

We heard from several parties that no one was getting above the top of the cleaver due to avalanche danger so didn't see the point in continuing up. Plus we were having some gear issues and everything that wasn't frozen was still pretty soggy. So being old and sensible we headed back down and were in the Paradise dining room for lunch.

Florida Frank, Now that you remind me, I bet that we did cross paths in the CIC. You must have been the guy that told us you had been to the convention, duh - that seems longer ago than it was. We got soaked on the way up the mountain also but had planned on spending an extra day resting up on the 13th and playing it by ear to see what conditions were like on the 14th. Since the 13th was windy (but sunny) we dried out our gear and were ready to try early on the 14th and it happened to work out for us. We were told by the climbing rangers at Camp Muir that the risk of avalanche danger had reduced significantly over those two days (at least that is what we thought we heard). That solo hiker you ran into on the 13th is the same guy I'm sure.

In any case, it was nice chatting with you on the mountain as well as via this forum. You may also have crossed paths with two Germans on skis that we talked to midday at the Muir Hut as well as a couple from Pasco, WA that own a bed & breakfast that were visiting Muir on an up and back day hike.

Tracy, I apologize for not stopping and chatting for longer. We were pretty anxious to get on the mountain but it was pretty much all for naught. I didn't get to the konvention but hope to in the future. Next year it is in Millinocket, ME, which is my old stomping ground (lived there from 84-90).

Catamount, welcome back! We've missed you. Congrats. on your retirement and I hope your western adventure goes great!

Cypress and I finally did another highpoint trip. This went through the Midwest- Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. We biked Mt. Arvon all the way to the marker, our second biked highpoint. All in all an awesome jaunt, bringing us up to 17 HPs together. Trip reports to follow!

Welcome back Catamount! Yes you have definitely been missed. Liked your video and can't wait to see as you climb 80% of your remaining objectives. And I relate to not wanting to post if you are not climbing- I feel embarrassed that many people have done so much more toward this goal than I have. At the same time, this thread is here to inform us about climbs, share stories, and most importantly to keep us inspired! And that should be available to all of us, no matter how many peaks we have climbed.

Catamount - good luck with the western HPs! Those are among the most enjoyable and challenging states. Have a great time and be safe.

Alpinist, delayed congratulations on reaching your 50th highpoint. Anyone who wants some inspiration should check out Alpinists' youtube photo montage of his Denali climb.

Funny such a mountaineer lives near Chicago. I've been here a few months and this is about as flat a place as I've ever seen!

Thanks GEM Trail. How long are you going to be in Chicago? We should get together while you're here.