Part two -- Jerimoth Hill high point 11/27

[Ed'n Lauky]

Two days later, Saturday 11/27 we headed off to Rhode Island for some highpointing
on Jermoth Hill. The sign on the top of the hill on Rt. 101 was easy to find.

We parked across the road in an area laid out for highpointers.

The trail sign had fallen down perhaps from the wind.

The sign was still intact.

A trail has been laid out along side of the access road which you are not supposed
to use out by the highway.

After a couple of minutes walk a small sign points you across the access road to
a survey marker. This one would suppose is the high point.

However, a few paces farther down the road another trail heads into the woods
on the other side of the road. There you find a second survey marker. This one
according to my GPS topo map is a couple of feet higher than the first.

Continuing down the road we came to the clearing owned by Brown University
there are a few rundown buildings here which don’t appear to have been recently
used. The elevation here was the same as the first marker.

On the way back to the car I noticed that my GPS gives another location for Jerimoth Hill.
Lauky and I headed into the woods to the spot indicated on the GPS and we found this
rundown, overgrown cairn. Certainly at one point this was considered the highpoint, and
indeed the GPS topomap (my GPS can read the elevation from the map) indicates that it is
one foot higher than the second survey marker. I would be interested to know the
history of this cairn.

The reason we headed down there today was that someone had posted here that
the house appeared to be empty and I wanted to get there before someone bought it
and closed the trail down again. Anyway, the house does have that “foreclosure” look about it although I have no idea what the situation is.

One of the neat things about highpointing is that it gets you places you otherwise would never
go. This was indeed a really nice day—away from the snow.

 

[TrishandAlex]

That sign by the road is new! Wasn't there last spring when we visited. Also, I was told the cairn by the clearing is the highpoint. When we visited, the cairn was obvious, looks like it's been knocked over a bit. There used to be a large mailbox-type register there. If you didn't see it, then I guess someone has taken it down..?

Congrats on yet another highpoint!

 

[Mike P.]

We were there on 11/27 too. Kids & I were there about 2:00. Not sure I'd call the "summit" a large rock but I guess it's all relative.

at the "front" edge of the clearing is a tree with a rock under it & a small marker. That's what we used as the summit. If I figure out how to get the picture from my BB the next couple of days I'll add it.

on the rock were a few smaller rocks that had been strewn about, maybe the cairn remains someone knocked the sign down and the cairn? we looked in all the buildings looking for a register but without any luck. Looked like I could have gone through the floor & kept the kids out thinking prime mice habitat.

May have been a reason the old landowner didn't like trespassers. Buildings & highpoint significance make an attractive nuisance to trouble makers & if house is foreclosed, no detterent really for getting caught. If they could park & hide their cars, I'd expect more broken glass too, sadly

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

I believe this is the rock we are talking about.

Trish, I remember the photo you posted on your website with you stretched out on the rock. Sorry I can't match that picture, but let's face it, no one wants to see a picture of me stretched out on a rock. Mike, I also did not see any signs of a log book.

Bu the way, Mike, we were there about noon, so you missed us by a couple of hours.

According to my calculations the rock is slightly lower than the cairn I found back in the woods, but it goes without saying that one way or the other we're talking about a very slight difference.

I'm particularly curious as to why there are two survey markers for Jerimoth. Both were done in 1968.

As I said I had a slightly higher reading for one than the other. I've seen survey markers on many mountains, but I've never seen two in slightly different locations. I am particularly curious about the now abandoned cairn back in the woods which was right at the spot my GPS indicated with a symbol as the high point of Jerimoth Hill. I may try contacting the Rhode Island High Pointers to see if they have any ideas.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Congrats on yet another highpoint!

As I mentioned, one of the great things about highpointing is that it get you places you might otherwise not have gone.

Another thing is that my wife has been able to come along to the ones we have done recently.

She was so happy about coming along yesterday it made me rethink a bit some of my priorities.

 

[Mike P.]

Yes, that was the rock I was talking about. Some of the rocks for the Cairn in Trish's picture are there but the Cairn needs rebuilding if they want to consider that to be the spot.

Considering I was there 18 years ago when all you "had" to do was stand at the end of the driveway, I was much closer this time.

Trish, the kids loved seeing the video and the rest of the summer trip. I did get a comment that loosely translated was something like, another day, another state, another field with a sign.

My avatar is the kids on a rock on a short hike in CT. Me on a rock in RI gets Greenpeace mobilized to get me back in the water.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

I've been doing some online research and I just found this statement at Quahog.org: The summit
Once on the property, visitors may still find themselves at a loss. The flat top of the hill (most of which is essentially a dirt parking lot) is vaguely contoured and there's no official marker announcing the highest point. The generally agreed-upon summit, though, is a boulder just to the right of where the dirt track meets the clearing. The Highpointers Club has erected a cairn there, and that's the spot we recommend for a photo op. According to United States Geographical Survey maps, the true summit lies somewhere off to the left of the dirt track, hidden in the brush.

That's exactly where I found the cairn. It looks like with the help of my GPS I actually did find the true summit.

 

[TrishandAlex]

Ed, that's definitely the old cairn we assumed marked the high point. We did enough running around up there...hope we stepped on the actual summit. We're going to SAY we did, anyway...

Trish, the kids loved seeing the video and the rest of the summer trip. I did get a comment that loosely translated was something like, another day, another state, another field with a sign.

Mike, yes, a large section of our trip was just that...another day, another state, another field. Wildlife would change, though. Snakes here, bison there, antelope over yonder... Accents would change, too. The girls got a kick out of hearing people speak. The heard different pronunciations every other day -- we must have at least a dozen distinct accents in this country.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

I did some more research on Jerimoth Hill and came up with an interesting anecdote. A fellow from Texas decided to do the whole thing in one day. The day before the attempt he drove from Austin to Houston to his parents house. Then the next day he made his Alpine start at 3:40 in the morning. He was up and drove to the Houston airport. He flew to Philadelphia then on to Providence. He rented a car and drove to Jerimoth Hill and bagged his "peak." He then drove back to Providence and caught a plane to Charlotte and then flew on to Houston. He got back to Huston at 11:15 PM and was back at his parents house just after midnight.

Here is his summary: "Total distance traveled was 3166 miles by air, 87 miles by car, and about 2 miles by foot, mostly in the airports, taking about 20 hours. (Not counting the drive from Austin to Houston and back.)"

He also posted a map and at roughly the spot where I found the old cairn he has marked a geocache.

His blog can be found at: http://gotexassoccer.com/trips/highpoints/ri/rhode_island.htm

He also posted this letter from the new property owners:
To all of you, Highpointers or just visitors to this area! My wife (Debbie) and I wish to welcome anyone who wishes to visit Jerimoth Hill, Foster, Rhode Island. We are not going to stop anyone from visiting as long as our privacy is respected. The site is open Saturday and Sunday, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.
We would ask the following conditions be followed:
(1) Please clean up after yourselves and your animals and take all trash with you!
(2) All animals must be leashed!
(3) No picnicking or alcohol is permitted!
I have cleared the path at the edge of my property and my next door neighbors. The path will be cleaned up more as time permits and made more accessible for all who wish to travel it!
Debbie and I wish all of you a pleasant and memorable walk to Rhode Islands high point! We enjoyed your visit on the 3rd of July and hope there will be many more to come!
If anyone wants to know, John and Joann, our next door neighbors, are the ones who deserve all the credit for changing Debbie and my minds about the visitation by all of you! We were lead to believe many things that we both now see, are just not true!
Sincerely Jeff & Debbie Mosley
212A Hartford Pike Foster, R.I. 02825

 

[smitty77]

The reason we headed down there today was that someone had posted here that
the house appeared to be empty and I wanted to get there before someone bought it and closed the trail down again. Anyway, the house does have that “foreclosure” look about it although I have no idea what the situation is.

Thanks for the beta Ed. I've driven by that very pull-off on Rt. 101 maybe 200 times (heck I think my company even paved that stretch of road) but never got out of the truck and made the 5 minute walk. It seems like now might be the time to do that, just in case. I'll be working about 10 miles from there Thursday and Friday.