Regional discussion and conditions reports for the Eastern US. Please post partners requests and trip plans in the Eastern US Climbing Partners section.
Is Lincoln Peak in Vermont's Green Mountains considered a separate mountain or not due to it's low prominence? Is there a rule as to how much prominence a peak has to have in New England/Vermont to be considered a mountain? Just hiked this ridge from Abraham to Ellen last week and I noted all the signs along the way denoting Little Abe, Lincoln Peak, Nancy Hanks Peak while Cutts Peak didn't have one. (Interestingly enough, I didn't see any sign for Abraham and Ellen, the two big ones on this ridge.) I note none of those in-between named peaks are on SP so was wondering if these are not considered separate peaks but rather to be sub-summits of the two high ones?
I believe in New York (at least for the ADK high peaks list) it is 300 ft of prominence and 3/4 mile distance. I don't recall if that holds consistent for the rest of the northeast.
The NH48 has no distance criterion at all, just a 200' prominence rule. The same rules apply to the NE67 and NEHH (same rules committee at the AMC).
The AMC has no authority to determine what's a "mountain", though their maps get used by a lot of hikers, so over time their decisions can change local usage. For example, there's an officially-nameless 4000-footer in NH that everybody calls "Owl's Head", because that's what the AMC calls it. (I know Brian hiked it in 2014.)
Thanks much for the clarification. Figured it had to not make the list for a peak or it would already be on SP. Perhaps the signs on those "summits" are more for skiers than hikers/peakbaggers.
Ah yes, Owl's Head. That hike out was the second time I hiked out Lincoln Woods hours after dark by headlamp with moose thrashing in the swamps around us. Always gets the heart thumping!