50 Highpoint Completers - 3rd Quarter 2000

Liz and Steve Fellstrom walk hand in hand to the Mauna Kea Summit

Liz and I, grandparents of four with a fifth due shortly, started our highpointing adventure in 1994.

--Steve Fellstrom

I love the freedom of the hills.

--D. Kahan

Dennis Stewart on Mount Hood.

I would scan the horizon from my Rand-McNally Road Atlas in an attempt to locate that tiny red square labeled "State High Point" on the map

-- Dennis Stewart

...like all highpointers I have many lists and goals to complete. I am continually amazed at this characteristic found in all members of the Club.

-- Dennis Stewart

I am only 4 states away from doing them [48 states] a third time!

-- Dennis Stewart

Steve and Liz Fellstrom Finish 50 Together

Liz and I, grandparents of four with a fifth due shortly, started our highpointing adventure in 1994, when, as members of the Seattle Mountaineers, I convinced her to take the Seattle Mountaineers basic climbing course.

She had previously completed their snowshoe and scrambling courses, which gave her a headstart to the climbing course. One of the basic climbs was that of Mt. Rainier, which we did together. That That summer I wanted to visit states east of Montana,as I had never been east of that area. I thought that since we had some climbing experience we might try to go to the highest point of each state. I located Don Holmes book in Seattle, setting the stage for our adventure, which would consume 6 years of our lives.

That summer we set off in our camper with our goal set on our second highpoint which would be White Butte in North Dakota. With that highpoint under our belts we continued on picking up highpoints across the country, finishing that tour with Guadalupe Peak in Texas, which gave us 16 highpoints. The following summer we did a similar trip picking up 15 highpoints. We did additional highpoints until 1998 when we finally decided to tackle the infamous Mt. McKinley. Liz had told me previously that she would not do Mt. McKinley, but after some friendly persuasion I convinced her to try. Prior to our McKinley trip I found two people to accompany us down to Mexico, where we climbed Orizaba.

In mid-May of 1998 we set off on our McKinley trip. I had gathered together three other people to accompany us. We had a miserable time on the mountain as the weather was continually bad. We were spending four to five days at each camp due to bad weather. We finally reached the 14,000 ft. camp but spent 9 days there due to bad weather.

When we finally made a carry to 16,200 ft. one of our party members got frostbite and due to the length of time we had been on the mountain we decided to abandon our attempt. We even spent 3 days at the airstrip on the Kahiltna Glacier trying to fly off the mountain. By the time we left the mountain I had convinced Liz to go back and try again the following year.

In late May of 1999 I organized another team of five to attempt McKinley. We arrived on the mountain and began what turned out be a shorter trip than the previous year. Initially things didn't start out too good since we had to wait in Talkeetna a day and a half just to fly onto the mountain. Once there everything clicked, as we arrived on the summit June 11 at 8:00pm. At that point we were the only group on the highest point in North America. Having completed the round trip in just 14 days, we were glad to be back home.

We now only had three highpoints to go to complete the 50. In August I led a team of four into the Wind River Range where we climbed Gannet Peak from Titcomb Lakes. In May of 2000 we went back to Rhode Island and completed that highpoint as we had previously just been to the sign on the highway.

After our Denali summit Liz had wanted to wait for the Highpointers convention in Hawaii to complete Mauna Kea, which would be our 50th state highpoint. I had agreed so we had to wait one year to complete.

The convention finally arrived so we flew out of Seattle on July 25 and arrived in Kona, Hawaii in the early afternoon. On Wednesday we walked around Kona and then our big day finally arrived on Thursday July 27. The drive up Mauna Kea was nice with just a few clouds around, but it did appear to be windy at the summit. We first stopped at the visitor center near 9500 ft. We spent a short time there and then proceeded up to the observatory area. Liz and I, along with several other people,, walked toward the summit. Just short of the summit I stopped and waited for Liz and from here we walked hand-in-hand to the summit arriving there about 10:00 am.

We had finally completed an adventure which was both interesting, challenging and had a few trying moments. We left Kona on July 30 and flew back to Seattle. It was really beautiful and as we approached the Seattle area the sun was just setting and as the plane banked to the north I looked out the right window and there was Mt. Rainier, our first highpoint.

What lies ahead for us I don't know. But I am sure some adventure waits down the road.

D. Kahan Kilmbs Them All
First was Denali in April of '88 (training for Everest). Did not know of the high points at that time. Later next year someone asked me about the HP's. I bought a couple of books and began the next year with OK & KS. Was in no hurry to complete the points - - - I drove to every high point or trailhead except Alaska, Hawaii, & Oregon using mostly back roads. My intent was to see the country from a different point. It took two tries on Washington and Montana but all others the first time. I love the freedom of the hills.

Dennis Stewart Finishes at the Hawaii Convention
I climbed my first state highpoint as a child on a family vacation in the early 1960's. It would not be until nearly 30 years later, when I was actively seeking state highpoints, that I would realize I had climbed Clingman's Dome unforgettable spiral summit tower before.

By this time, I was 3 years into my highpointing pursuit, which began in 1986.

The birth of my highpointing goal grew from several western U.S. vacations as I would scan the horizon from my Rand-McNally Road Atlas in an attempt to locate that tiny red square labeled "State High Point" on the map. I never heard of the Highpointers Club, but I developed an obsession to conquer all of these points, even though my level of experience had only been day hikes and non-technical climbs in various national parks.

I naively thought that my idea was original, so I did research for a future book to be titled "48 Places to Get High." I was half finished with this project when I discovered the Highpointers Club and both Paul Zumwalt's and Don Holmes's excellent guide books. Discouraged that my idea was far from unique and predicting the market would be overly flooded with 3 guidebooks on the same topic, I placed my unfinished manuscript in a box in a closet where it still sits to this day.

My enthusiasm to reach my highpointing goal was unaffected, however, and I soon found myself on the slopes of Gannett Peak. My alpine climbing inexperience soon found me hiking the 20 miles back to my car as wisdom prevailed and my ill-preparation lead me to join the Kansas City Climbing Club to learn basic technical climbing skills.

Within 2 years I was standing on the summit ot; Gannett Peak on July 14, 1990 (my 48th state highpoint!) wondering why this mountain caused me so much difficulty the first time.

I placed Alaska and Hawaii on hold waiting for the right opportunity, but I continued to revisit many state highpoints on trips with friends and family. In July of 1991, Pete Aliard, Jim Grace, ShaUn Lacer, David Sandwar and I set the speed record for doing all the 48 contiguous state highpoints (30 days, 10 hrs, 52 mins.). This allowed me to become only the second person to do ail 48 state highpoints twice. Presently, I am only 4 states away from doing them a third time!

The summer of 2000 found me busy with the final two. I was fortunate to be asked to join a very competent 4 man team which successfully conquered Denali on June 23 and my 50th was at the Highpointer Convention with the Sea to Summit Climb of Mauna Kea.

My future plans are too numerous to mention, but like all highpointers I have many lists and goals to complete. I am continually amazed at this characteristic found in all members of the Club. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the basic raw material that has sent early explorers across uncharted waters and launched ships into space.