County HighPointer Completion Map Key

The completion status of county high points are color-coded. A highpointer has the option
of including in his/her map any combination of the categories described below. In nearly all
cases the highpointer should include the first three categories (     ) since these represent
county highpoints that have been successfully visited.

The remaining two categories (   ) represent highpoints that have not been successfully
visited, and, again, are quite optional.

Color-coded categories

  Green - County lies within a state completed by the highpointer.

  Yellow - County lies within the glob that the highpointer is most proud of. In most cases this is the home glob. When s/he has lived in many places an ambiguity arises - hence the need for a broader definition based on sense of accomplishment.

An exception arises when the county lies within the (otherwise) yellow glob and lies within a completed state. The county, as well as the entire state, is colored green.

  Blue - County high point was visited by the highpointer but is "lonesome", i.e. belongs to neither a completed state nor lies within the highpointer's yellow glob.

  Red - County high point was attempted unsuccessfully by the highpointer and has never been successfully visited by that individual since then. The hike or climb must have been initiated for red to apply, e.g. access denial while scouting the approach by vehicle and inclement weather which precludes the climb from ever starting are insufficient grounds for application of red.

One may optionally use light red () to denote instances wherein the physical effort was never initiated for reasons related to the highpoint's nature and/or whereabouts.

  Violet - County has never been attempted by the highpointer but there are concrete plans for visiting the high point in the immediate future. A map will not be accepted if it appears that the highpointer has summarily painted the entire country violet!!

Concrete plans for visiting a county highpoint that has been previously attempted, but only unsuccessfully, may be indicated by violet with red cross-hatching.

Concrete plans for visiting a county highpoint that results in a state completion may be indicated by violet with green cross-hatching.

Concrete plans for visiting a county highpoint that has been previously attempted, but only unsuccessfully, and that results in a state completion may be indicated by violet/red/green cross-hatching.

General Map Metrics

At times the web surfer may wonder as to whether it is worth the time and/or Internet bandwidth to download a given completion map. As an aid to this decision, the option exists of providing the number of completed counties; their total area in square miles; and the general region of concentration for one's efforts. These values are then posted alongside the hyperlink to one's completion map, immediately to the right of the colored squares described above.

Suggested areas of concentration include use of the descriptors northeast, south, midwest or west; diverse, multiple, or unfocused when several globs exist; peppered when dozens of single-county globs exist as with a recent fifty-state highpoint completer; state name when the highpointer has concentrated on a single state, e.g. California or Colorado; cross-country when the highpointer has succeeded in connecting multiple globs across the continent; and everywhere when all forty-eight states are incorporated into a single glob.

Coloring a home county

To assist in distinguishing one's home county the following use of colors are generally recognized as valid. Use of individual color schemes are acceptable provided that the scheme is described on the map as a legend.

Indicating recent accomplishment

Indication of recent efforts is optional but is recommended as it keys the reader into what is new and interesting on a completion map.

To indicate which new county highpoints have been successfully visited since the last version of a completion map, a "+" sign may be painted within each relevant county boundary. This effect is accomplished using the "pencil" icon in the Windows Paint utility to paint colinear pixels, one at a time, until the desired "+" sign is fully drawn.

The following color schemes are generally recognized as valid when painting the "+" signs.

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