Fay Pullen wielding her fancy...

Fay Pullen wielding her fancy schmancy clinometer to measure the West Summit inclination from the Middle Summit. She and I both measured a 2-degree downward angle to the West Summit, which, at first blush, implies the Middle Summit is higher. However, Earth curvature effects need to be considered. For a one-mile separation, the drop away due to Earth curvature is 8 inches. At a one-mile separation between peaks, 2 degrees equates to 185 feet of vertical distance (trigonometry), so obviously the curvature effect has no significance. At these distances, atmospheric distortion is probably negligible too. So I guess one could conclude that the Middle Summit is the highpoint of the Goat massif. April 18, 2005.