Harrisonburg City Highpoint Trip Report

Date: December 20, 2005
Author: Denis Dean

I ran into some trouble in Harrisonburg City. The first area (spot elevation) is indeed in front of a large house. Due to ice, I parked at the bottom and walked up the driveway. I figured since I had already announced my presence by crunching through the ice, I'd contact the owner to get permission to walk 15 feet to the highpoint. I rang the doorbell and a lady came over the intercom to inquire who I was. When I told her of my mission, she sighed and the intercom was silent. Feeling very unwelcome, I quickly stepped on the highpoint and slid down the driveway. (Time was 11:00 am on a Tuesday).

After reading the reports for the second area I felt pretty confident in open access but I went to the large house to contact the owner anyway. As a general rule I do not walk on land without at least attempting to contact the owner. After receiving no answer, I parked a little ways down the driveway and proceeded up the power line trail. As I reached the top, a Lexus SUV was coming at me over the ice. An elderly gentleman was behind the wheel and very angry. He said he owned the house and the property and didn't want me there. He further said he didn't understand about highpoints and did not want people just walking around his property because he has had problems with Mexicans (?). I explained about the club and the previous reports but he seemed unmoved. I asked if he would allow access if people got permission first and he said it depended on the number of people who would come on his land because of the highpoint. He asked if I was armed and when I said no, he gave me a ride back to my car.

Bottom Line: This man is elderly and nervous and does not want stealth highpointers on his land. I feel lucky that he allowed me to leave his land quietly (and even luckier to have completed Harrisonburg City).