I received a great e-mail the other day:
"Hello Andrew,
"I've been reading your Camping the North Shore book and have a question. On p. 65 (Climb Carlton Peak) you say that Carlton is the state's tallest mountain, at 1,526 feet. How can that be, when Eagle is 2,301 feet? Does it have something to do with where the base is?
"Thanks, and thanks for a nice job on the info in the book."
To my untrained eye, Carlton Peak sticks out from the surrounding landscape more than any other "mountain" in Minnesota I could think of, at lease when I wrote the camping book. This is especially true on the lake side, where it's a steep run down to North Shore.
Eagle Mountain is the highest point in Minnnesota, but it rises out of much higher ground.
After we printed the camping book, I climbed Mt. Josephine in Grand Portage. Mt. Jo beats Carlton Peak in terms of sticking out from the surrounding terrain. Even though the elevation at the summit is lower yet at 1300 feet, it nearly hovers over the shoreline.
For an in-depth look at MN peaks and their measurement, visit Brian Rachford's website.
Over the next two weeks, I am going to climb Carlton Peak and Eagle Mountain, doing research for Hiking the North Shore and keeping our two sons busy. Their level of complaining as they hike may be the ultimate measure of how high those peaks are. I'll let you know.
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3 comments:
Carlton Peak in the fall is just simply the best. I like to stay in Tofte and take the climb.
Friends are always impressed with the color and climb.
Right on. Fall hiking is the best way to see almost all of the North Shore, but summits like Carlton Peak give you the up close colors and the far away colors too.
I had a fantastic hike up Carlton Peak in the fall. It was so nice it didn't seem real. It was sunny,calm winds and clear. A perfect 65 degrees. It was a hiking day that will never be forgotten. I still have the pictures on my living room walls.
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