Hump Day Highpoint - Rhode Island

Rhode Island is a state that doesn't get a lot of respect from Texans. It could have something to do with the fact that it would take over 221 Rhode Islands to fill Texas. If everything is bigger in Texas, everything must be smaller in Rhode Island. Rhode Islanders have come up with a solution to this problem by cramming themselves as closely together as possible. Rhode Island has the second highest population density of any US state, behind another place noted for its high desirability, New Jersey.

Before we get too far into this highpoint talk we must examine what the deal is with the name Rhode Island. I happen to know from my 50 states puzzle growing up that Rhode Island is attached to all the other states (and one of the few states to pose a choking hazard). The official name is actually the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. This represents the merging of two formerly distinct territories, one of which was actually an island. In an effort to be politically correct, some people are trying to drop the second part because it reminds everyone of slavery. This is a mistake; political correctness should not shove geographical correctness aside even in our current hypersensitive, politically charged environment.

The highpoint, Jerimoth Hill, was until recently considered by some to be less accessible than Mt. McKinley in Alaska. This statement was due to the fact that, though the highpoint stood on land open to the public, access involved crossing the property of some grumpy old man who didn't like people on his lawn:

Though there were claims that this grumpy old man was "insulting, threatening, or even using violence against visitors who tried to use his driveway," it seems ambitious to suggest that access was harder than getting to Mt. McKinley which is guarded by grizzly bears and enormous glaciers:

Jerimoth Hill could still be reached by bushwhacking through bogs for two whole hours. Ascents of Mt. McKinley typically take in the neighborhood of three weeks. It seems apparent that the people who compared the two highpoints had never actually climbed at least one of them.

These days the point appears moot as the new landowner has proven friendlier to highpointers. It is a pity that the stories of highpointers having to devise James Bond-like assaults on Jerimoth Hill are no more for now Rhode Island is once again just a tiny state filled with people who talk funny.