At a staggering 409 feet above swamp level it's no wonder many mountaineers never attempt to get to the highest natural elevation in D.C. Of course, Henry and I aren't regular mountaineers. He's only 10, but this was his fourth high point including notables like Rhode Island's Jerimoth Hill at 829 feet and Connecticut's share of Mt. Frissel at 2,379 feet.

Our adventure began by descending deep into the earth. I know. Dropping elevation at the beginning of a trip means you need to gain it on the way out, but this Metro stop had working escalators so it wasn't likely to be too bad. It was crowded in the tunnels, but when we got off at the Tenleytown-AU stop the crowds had thinned.

Navigating through the untrailed wilderness was difficult and we wound up off route. Certainly, the area near the salt dome seemed higher than everything around and SummitPost.org gave directions that led us there, but it wasn't really where we needed to be. Another source gave different beta that led us to an actual benchmark.

In truth, it wasn't a true wilderness experience. From the subway to the rock concert in the park to the well maintained grass it was all a little developed for my taste. It's not surprising, though. Point Reno is the second lowest of the country's high points and it's in the middle of the city.

In spite of lacking any real adventure it was a fun, quick trip with Henry. We're still not serious about high pointing, but when it's as easy and enjoyable as this we'll take a few hours out of our evening. (Still) Only 44 to go.