The Goodhue County High Point is on agricultural land. When I visited on October 30, 2004, the owner was combining the corn near the area of the elongated summit.
I had just finished Scott county's high point, approaching from the west on Minnesota S.H. 60. I was watching the crops along the way, hoping to get a hint at what to expect in the field where I was destined. I was disappointed at the high percentage of corn still in the field at this date. Usually most of the corn is in the bins or trucked to market by the end of the World Series. There was even a substantial amount of overripe soybeans still out. There were also, of course, a lot of already harvested fields and even some plowed fields, so I realized that it could go either way.
I turned right onto S.H. 57. The high point area is on the north side of S.H. 57 about 3.9 miles south of the intersection. I had programmed my GPS with the coordinates of the center of the hill, and kept driving until I went past it, then backed up into the approach where a truck partially full of corn was parked.
After I parked, I saw a combine approaching slowly from the west along the south slope of the long summit hill, reaping the rewards of the summer. I watched and waited until he positioned the combine to unload its contents into the truck, and walked over to ask permission.
I knew it would be a difficult task to claim the summit since I could not see it directly with most of the hill still covered. I also considered the possibility that he would be reluctant to grant permission to walk around the field since he was working and didn't need the added concern of some fool walking into the combine. I told him my intention. He was aware of the hill's priviledged position and granted me access. I told him that I'd stay out of his way.
I walked between the rows to the GPS location I had set and crouched down between the rows, looking west and then east, adjusting my position to the highest ground. Then I went to the next row to the south and did the same thing, then to the north, until I was satisfied that I had covered the highest ground, looking out for the combine the whole time. Had I arrived a couple of hours later, the whole area may have been harvested, making the search a lot easier.
There is no Geological marker nor registration book.
From here, I went south in S.H. 57 for 2.2 miles, and turned right onto Goodhue C.R. 11 (paved). I took that, and some gravel roads into Rice County, my next stop.
| Family Member | Count |
|---|---|
| Mark | 36 |
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http://www.topozone.com
Minnesota Atlas & Gazeteer by Delorme, 3rd Edition, 2001.
| File Name: | |
| Written by: | Mark Ness |
| Last Revised by: | Mark Ness |
| on: |