Date: (1) May 23, 1998; (2) July 1, 2020 • Elevation: 1,257 feet • Prominence: 307 feet • Distance: Few dozen feet • Time: 10 minutes • Gain: negligible • Conditions: Foggy and cold in 1998, Sunny and warm in 2020

Main • PB

I have visited this highpoint twice now, the first time in 1998, the second time in 2020. The first time was part of a four-day driving journey in which I tagged the highpoints of the states surrounding the Great Lakes. The second time was a side trip as we were convoying west along Interstate-70 from Maryland back to Arizona.

First visit, May 1998: I started this morning in the small town of Wenona, Illinois. The weather was terrible, with heavy rain and lightning. It was cold, foggy and unpleasant. I drove south on Interstate-35 to Bloomington, then Interstate-74 into Indiana and through Indianapolis and across the entire state to its east boundary with Ohio. By now, the weather had improved to heavily overcast skies and sprinkles.

I exited the interstate (now Interstate-70) in Richmond, following state route IN-227 north through the towns of Middleboro, Whitewater and Bethel. I followed CR-1100 west a mile, then south a half mile to the highpoint, hidden in a copse of natural forest surrounded by farms.

I got out, walked into the trees into a clearing and there I was, the state highpoint. There was not much here, just a pile of rocks and trinkets. It wasn't much to look at and I did not stay long. I exited out the way I came and proceeded into Ohio, where I would visit its state highpoint, Campbell Hill, the next day. Today had been a long day with a lot of driving and heavy rain, and just one lame state highpoint to show for it.

Second visit, July 2020: βð and I were convoying back to Arizona along Interstate-70. We had stayed last night and this morning in Zanesville, Ohio, where I tagged High Hill, a ranked hill and a county highpoint southeast of the city.

We drove west through Columbus, which went well, and then across the rest of Ohio, entering Indiana near the town of Richmond. Beth was ahead of me, and we had plans to meet up a few miles up the interstate. In Richmond, I exited the highway and repeated the same steps I did in 1998. I had no memory of the towns along the way and the barest memories of the highpoint.

Not much has changed, except the highpoint itself is a little more fancy, with a bench, a mailbox/register, and a nice rock with the elevation chiseled into it. I got a few photos, much better than the ones from my first visit. I spent just a few minutes here and left the car running the whole time. I returned to the interstate, the side trip taking about a half hour. We stayed tonight in Terre Haute, the drive across Indiana being a chore due to the construction that never ended.

The next day, we drove through southern Illinois and stayed the night in Columbia, Missouri. I tagged another easy highpoint, in Jasper County, Illinois.