Atlanta Outdoor Club

This thread is for details and discussion for the Summit GA’s Highest Peaks series...

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #10 - Eagle Mountain (4240')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1923

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #9 - Double Spring Knob (4280')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1855

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #8 - Coosa Bald (4280')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1856

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #7 - Slaughter Mountain (4338')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1856

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #6 - Tray Mountain (4430')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1831

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #5 - Blood Mountain (4458')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=2006

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #4 - Hightower Bald (4568')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1911

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #3 - Dicks Knob (4620')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1912

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #2 - Rabun Bald (4696')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1989

Summit GA's Highest Peaks: #1 - Brasstown Bald (4784')
http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/details.asp?eventid=1867

There are many lists online of the Top 10 tallest GA mtns and you will find that they vary and disagree. You would think it would be clear cut, but the issue is what exaxtly constitutes a "mountain" and how do you rank them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain

For instance you could take a step or two down from the top of Brasstown Bald (highest mtn in GA) and find
a pile of rocks, but you obviously wouldn’t call that the 2nd highest mtn in GA. So that brings up the issue of topographic prominence which is one of the most widely used criteria for objectively ranking mountains by height.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographic_prominence
“Prominence is interesting to some mountaineers because it is an objective measurement that is strongly correlated with the subjective significance of a summit. Peaks with low prominences are either subsidiary tops of some higher summit or relatively insignificant independent summits. Peaks with high prominences tend to be the highest points around and are likely to have extraordinary views.

For example, the world's second highest mountain is K2 (height 8,611 m, prominence 4,017 m). While Mount Everest's South Summit (height 8,749 m, prominence about 10 m) is taller, it is a subsummit of the main summit. Only summits with a sufficient degree of prominence are regarded as independent mountains.”

So back to GA...

Here is the list we used as a starting point:

http://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=21470&u=ft

It is ultimately arbitrary what prominence cutoff you use for your list. We decided to use 400 feet as the cutoff, with the one notable exception of Dicks Knob (160ft prominence). This is just because it is listed on most every Top 10 list you find and would be conspicuously absent if we excluded it. Plus it seems like it will be a fun and interesting hike, so we are just going to keep it on our list.

So that being the methodology used, that gives us the Top 10:

#10 - Eagle Mountain (4240')
Clean Prominence: 600 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 680 ft
Key Col: Egypt Gap 3640 ft

#9 - Double Spring Knob (4280')
Clean Prominence: 920 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 1000 ft
Key Col: 3360 ft

#8 - Coosa Bald (4280')
Clean Prominence: 960 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 1040 ft
Key Col: Wolfpen Gap 3320 ft

#7 - Slaughter Mountain (4338')
Clean Prominence: 458 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 498 ft
Key Col: Slaughter Gap 3880 ft

#6 - Tray Mountain (4430')
Clean Prominence: 1481 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 1481 ft
Key Col: Unicoi Gap 2949 ft

#5 - Blood Mountain (4458')
Clean Prominence: 1476 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 1516 ft
Key Col: Jacks Gap 2964 ft

#4 - Hightower Bald (4568')
Clean Prominence: 808 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 848 ft
Key Col: Hightower Gap 3760 ft

#3 - Dicks Knob (4620')
Clean Prominence: 160 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 240 ft
Key Col: Bear Gap 4440 ft

#2 - Rabun Bald (4696')
Clean Prominence: 1016 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 1056 ft
Key Col: Beegum Gap 3680 ft

#1 - Brasstown Bald (4784')
Clean Prominence: 2107 ft
Optimistic Prominence: 2107 ft
Key Col: Dicks Creek Gap 2676 ft


Also of interest: http://www.peakbagger.com/help/glossary.aspx#prom