Glickman Article on $35,000 Spent Highpointing in 150 Days Starting in Texas

The Guadalupe Mountains inspired an ambitious quest to summit the highest peaks in all 50 states
By Joe Glickman Special to the Express-News
Web Posted : 01/18/2004 12:00 AM

In the annals of mountaineering, standing on top of all 50 state high points ranks right up there with, say, crossing America on a unicycle. It's ambitious, physically and logistically difficult, and more than a bit off the wall. There's even a club for it. When a friend and I began our esoteric pursuit six years ago, 58 people had climbed all 50 state pinnacles. By the time we completed our final high point last July — the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley — the number had nearly doubled. The Highpointers Club (see "Hanging with the Highpointers," page 3M) likes to point out that more people have climbed Mount Everest than made it to the top of all 50 state summits.
While many of the high points are accessible to anyone with a car and the ability to put one foot in front of the other, standing on top of all 50 is surprisingly hard: You need time, money, mountaineering skills and amble motivation. Not to mention a good car stereo.
To accomplish our goal, Nels Akerlund, a 31-year-old photographer who came up with this enormously impractical project, and I drove approximately 12,000 miles and flew about as far again to Alaska and Hawaii. Tallying gas, motels, airfare and food, we spent roughly $30,000 — and 150 days — over the course of five years. Nels took pictures, I took notes, and together we produced a book documenting our journey called "To the Top" (NorthWord Press, $24.95).
But it all started in Texas. Why? Nels lives in Rockford, Ill.; I live in Brooklyn, N.Y. After talking it over we came up with a plan: I was competing in the U.S. Marathon Kayaking Team Trials on the Colorado River in Austin, and we would meet there to begin what would become our lengthy and costly quest. After the race, barely pausing to rest, we struck out for the Trans-Pecos, through the endless rolling hills of Central Texas, adorned with vivid fields of wildflowers
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=720&xlc=1114196&xld=720