The Top of Florida
January 28th & 29th, 2007
You are probably thinking, "Does Florida have any mountains?" The answer is an unequivocal no! The highest point in Florida is a place called Britton Hill. It tops out at 345 feet. That my friends is why Spanky and I picked it for our first summit attempt! We figured that we had a pretty damned high probability of success.
Britton Hill is located in NW Florida on the panhandle. It is actually in the Central Time Zone (most of FL is Eastern), about 25 miles north of DeFuniak Springs (look at a map if you are really interested), a few miles south of the Florida/Alabama border.
Me and Spanky bivouacked in a Gulf Of Mexico beachfront Motel 6 the night before our assault on Britton Hill. Our climb started just before dawn. We began from all the way down at sea level so we wanted to be sure not to rush things for fear of getting altitude sickness (pulmonary edema). Thus we took it easy on the 60 or so mile drive from the beach to Britton Hill. It was a beautiful sunny day but bitter cold (28 F)...........which did not bother us cause the heater in the truck worked just fine. I drank coffee, checked out the Florida countryside while Spanky slept in the passenger seat. By the way, Crestview, FL has a lot of guys that still sport mullet hairdos and wear camouflage. What's up with that?
At approximately 9:03 a.m., CT, Spanky set his paws, and I my feet, on the lofty summit of Britton Hill. Oh yeah, since Spanky and I are such seasoned climbers, we did not find supplemental O2 to be necessary. We caught our breath, grateful to be alive, and took in the view. Spanky immediately did what he does best when he is outdoors, he ran around in circles at full tilt. We played fetch the stick, Spanky and I both took care of some personal hygiene type stuff, and then we got down to business.
We had to do the mountain climber, adventurer thing. I retrieved my hand held Garmin GPS and verified the Latitude/Longitude and elevation. We had come so far and wanted to make sure that were in fact at the summit of Britton Hill. Next came out the camera (Nikon Coolpix) in order to document this feat of mountaineering. Now that I mentioned cameras, considering the pre climb media interest in this first ever canine/human assault on Britton Hill, there was in fact, no one there? I guess they were all busy with that Iraq thing or maybe the elections.
The first pic is me and Spanky on the summit next to the monument dedicated to all the fallen climbers that did not make it to the top. Next is the Walton County sign which marks this as Florida's highest point. Followed by a breathtaking summit view into the valley. Last but not least, Spanky on the beach.
Just to let you know. This is the first time I'm trying this blog thing. Hopefully I'll get better at arranging pictures and captions.
You are probably thinking, "Does Florida have any mountains?" The answer is an unequivocal no! The highest point in Florida is a place called Britton Hill. It tops out at 345 feet. That my friends is why Spanky and I picked it for our first summit attempt! We figured that we had a pretty damned high probability of success.
Britton Hill is located in NW Florida on the panhandle. It is actually in the Central Time Zone (most of FL is Eastern), about 25 miles north of DeFuniak Springs (look at a map if you are really interested), a few miles south of the Florida/Alabama border.
Me and Spanky bivouacked in a Gulf Of Mexico beachfront Motel 6 the night before our assault on Britton Hill. Our climb started just before dawn. We began from all the way down at sea level so we wanted to be sure not to rush things for fear of getting altitude sickness (pulmonary edema). Thus we took it easy on the 60 or so mile drive from the beach to Britton Hill. It was a beautiful sunny day but bitter cold (28 F)...........which did not bother us cause the heater in the truck worked just fine. I drank coffee, checked out the Florida countryside while Spanky slept in the passenger seat. By the way, Crestview, FL has a lot of guys that still sport mullet hairdos and wear camouflage. What's up with that?
At approximately 9:03 a.m., CT, Spanky set his paws, and I my feet, on the lofty summit of Britton Hill. Oh yeah, since Spanky and I are such seasoned climbers, we did not find supplemental O2 to be necessary. We caught our breath, grateful to be alive, and took in the view. Spanky immediately did what he does best when he is outdoors, he ran around in circles at full tilt. We played fetch the stick, Spanky and I both took care of some personal hygiene type stuff, and then we got down to business.
We had to do the mountain climber, adventurer thing. I retrieved my hand held Garmin GPS and verified the Latitude/Longitude and elevation. We had come so far and wanted to make sure that were in fact at the summit of Britton Hill. Next came out the camera (Nikon Coolpix) in order to document this feat of mountaineering. Now that I mentioned cameras, considering the pre climb media interest in this first ever canine/human assault on Britton Hill, there was in fact, no one there? I guess they were all busy with that Iraq thing or maybe the elections.
The first pic is me and Spanky on the summit next to the monument dedicated to all the fallen climbers that did not make it to the top. Next is the Walton County sign which marks this as Florida's highest point. Followed by a breathtaking summit view into the valley. Last but not least, Spanky on the beach.
Just to let you know. This is the first time I'm trying this blog thing. Hopefully I'll get better at arranging pictures and captions.
To see all the pics related to this post, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/rkrevald/FloridaSummit
12 comments:
I love your blog!!! I will be looking forward to many more updates in the future :)
Most awesome adventure!! I was on pins and needles waiting to see if you made it.....No oxygen????
What's the destination of your next adventure?
Can't believe you two made it!! And with no oxygen! My hereos! Keep us posted for the next adventure!
Hey Rein and Spanky,
Loved the blog!!! If you come to GA Brian and I can take you (or give directions to) Brasstown Bald, which is supposed to be the highest point in GA. It is not far from here -further up the road from us and at this time of year is probably 0 degrees!!! We froze in the middle of summer up there!! So, You might want to wait until warmer weather to make the trek there. Brian says it is 4,784 ft. above sea level. Keep in touch.
Gerri
P.S. Spanky is gorgeous!!!! He might enjoy playing with our cat, Zoe.
is this really some "mountain" in florida, or is it the parking lot of Lakewood High School?
I love the picture of your dog at the beach!
Thanks for all the comments!
Spanky and Rein
hey i met you nera the top of mandfeild i hope that you guys found the way up good luck on the rest of the trip
Dear Anon,
Thanks - we made it via the long trail from the south side. Most excellent up there!
Rein
Why don't you tell what state the summits are in? I really enjoyed the pictures! It's always nice to see you at the Gulfport (FL) Artwalk!
Dear Anon,
All the states are listed in the Table of Contents off to the right.
Thanks - Spanky and Rein
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