Our Koochiching County, Minnesota Highpointing Page

2 unnamed hills: 1520+ feet

Introduction

Koochiching County's two high point areas are located in Sections 29 and 33 of an unnamed township. I visited there on May 28, 2005 after completing Beltrami County.

Approaches to the Koochiching County High Point Areas

I came from the south on U.S. 71.
I turned right onto Minnesota State Highway 46 and drove south on S.H. 46 for 0.9 mile and turned into the church parking lot.

Trails to the Koochiching County High Point Areas

There are a lot of trails in this area, especially near the western high point area.

The Trail

For the first area, I walked past the church on the road shown on the topographical map. It was blocked by a trailer next to the church. I walked around it, and continued past it toward the western candidate. I heard gunshots in the woods, but the whole time I was on the trail, I did not see anyone else.

Although the western high point is located right on a trail, I didn't realize it and started walking through the woods. It turned out that I had misprogrammed my GPS. When I discovered that, it was a short walk to the top--7 minutes from the trail.

From here it is a 1+ mile bushwhack to the eastern area. From previous trip reports, I expected to go around a couple of swamps and reach the other hill in short order, but I found that the swamps had enlarged and was not able to avoid them entirely.

I arrived at the 1510+ foot hill 51 minutes after leaving the western high point.

From there, it is a 1/4 mile walk up hill through fallen and felled trees and then a woods road, which curved to the left as it approached the second hill. There was high ground on both sides of the eastern candidate.

The Climb Down

I came back down mostly the same way,

but this time, wanted to avoid the swamps, so I walked around the right side of hill 1510+, and up hill 1484, toward the western area. I still ended up going through swamps. I also got lost, and my boots got filled with swamp water. With these boots I do not wear socks, and my feet developed some irritating sores, I stopped a couple of times to sqeeze out the liners and pads.

It took me almost 2 hours to get back to my car--3 hours and 8 minutes total round trip.

The Route Out

Our Progress

Other Ascents and Trip Reports

Bibliography

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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: