Note that Green Mountain Club/Long Trail Guide thinks that Baker Peak is a different place than where the USGS/Board of Geographic Names thinks it is, and neither is the highest point of the mountain.
The Board of Geographic Names
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=120:3:14536172253576731030::NO::P3_FID:1460543
gives the coordinates of Baker Peak as 431927N 0725741W and that is where it is shown on the USGS map at elevation 864+ meters.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=43.3242402&LON=-72.9614917&datum=NAD83&u=5
Note that the Long Trail does not actually pass over this peak - the map is wrong.
What the Long Trail Guide calls Baker Peak (the gorgeous view ledges with one of the best 100-yard sections of the Long Trail) is actually a westerly spur of elevation 846+ meters.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4798870&e=665093&size=s&u=5&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
If you don't have a GPS to confirm this, note that from the highest point of the ledges you can see higher ground not far to the E (the 864m bump) while if you were actually on the 864m bump there would be no higher ground there. Also the descent from the highest ledge is much less than the 18 m (60 feet) you would have from 864.
But near the Long Trail about .3 miles N is a knoll higher than either one, about 870+ meters.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4799342&e=665393&size=s&u=5&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
Once again the USGS map is in error and the trail circles this bump rather than passing over it, but both this and the 864 bump are easy bushwhacks for peakbaggers.
Which is the true summit? I suppose the Board of Geographic Names is the official authority on names so the 864 bump is the true Baker Peak unless they amend their database. The ledges where the trail goes are the only one of the 3 worth visiting for the casual hiker but they are not really a summit - perhaps they should be called Baker Ledges. As for the actual highest point - nothing!
royswkr - Apr 11, 2006 11:17 pm - Hasn't voted
Which is the real Baker Peak?Note that Green Mountain Club/Long Trail Guide thinks that Baker Peak is a different place than where the USGS/Board of Geographic Names thinks it is, and neither is the highest point of the mountain.
The Board of Geographic Names
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=120:3:14536172253576731030::NO::P3_FID:1460543
gives the coordinates of Baker Peak as 431927N 0725741W and that is where it is shown on the USGS map at elevation 864+ meters.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=43.3242402&LON=-72.9614917&datum=NAD83&u=5
Note that the Long Trail does not actually pass over this peak - the map is wrong.
What the Long Trail Guide calls Baker Peak (the gorgeous view ledges with one of the best 100-yard sections of the Long Trail) is actually a westerly spur of elevation 846+ meters.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4798870&e=665093&size=s&u=5&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
If you don't have a GPS to confirm this, note that from the highest point of the ledges you can see higher ground not far to the E (the 864m bump) while if you were actually on the 864m bump there would be no higher ground there. Also the descent from the highest ledge is much less than the 18 m (60 feet) you would have from 864.
But near the Long Trail about .3 miles N is a knoll higher than either one, about 870+ meters.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4799342&e=665393&size=s&u=5&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
Once again the USGS map is in error and the trail circles this bump rather than passing over it, but both this and the 864 bump are easy bushwhacks for peakbaggers.
Which is the true summit? I suppose the Board of Geographic Names is the official authority on names so the 864 bump is the true Baker Peak unless they amend their database. The ledges where the trail goes are the only one of the 3 worth visiting for the casual hiker but they are not really a summit - perhaps they should be called Baker Ledges. As for the actual highest point - nothing!