Apex to Zenith

Below is the essay I submitted to the "Apex to Zenith", the official newsletter of the Highpointers.org club.  They are the official record keepers of this pursuit.  I recently learned that there is no official record for a dentist having completed all 50 state highpoints (professions are tracked for the "50 state" completers) so I am holding out hope that I may be the first dentist to achieve 48 contiguous state highpoints.  I may never know but I will keep hope alive.  I am officially the 407th known person to complete the 48 states.  200 of those (none of whom are dentists) have also completed all 50 states so that rules out half my competition.  If you, or anyone you know, is aware of a highpointing dentist let me know.
Here is the essay:

48 Completion Statement of Richard N. Feuer

As the 407th known Highpointer to touch the highest geographic point of all 48 of the contiguous United States, I would like to thank the officers and volunteers of the Highpointers.org who make it officially possible for me to brag about the feat.

There have been a number of records claimed by various Highpointers on their way to achieving this goal. For example; the first person, the oldest person.  The youngest person and the first female person.  Someone prides himself on having accomplished the feat in a record amount of time (something like 55 days) and another is proud to say he did them all in winter.  I seem to remember that one nimble person has done a handstand at the top of each State and another is currently engaged in bringing a slinky to each summit.  One proud climber has claimed the record that he made it to the highest point of all the mountains and azimuths of the 48 states on his first attempt at each one.  I say azimuth in recognition of Delaware’s so called Ebright’s Azimuth.  This tiny state not only had the good sense to be the first to ratify the U.S. constitution (at a time when there would only be 13 highpoints)  but to also have the smarts to understand what a state highpoint really is; a coordinate within randomly placed geographic borders.

This brings me to the curious case of Connecticut’s highpoint.  It really isn’t anything at all except a waypoint on a hiking trail.  It lies along the path to a summit which is actually in Massachusetts.  Without a GPS, you wouldn’t even know that you have arrived at the highest point in CT, incongruously named Mount Frizell, because it isn’t higher than anything around it.  The same can be said of Nevada’s Boundary Peak.  While you and your climbing buddies are high fiving each other for making it to the highest rock pile in Nevada (in a state known for, well, being a rock pile), you are staring at a higher mountaintop only ½ mile away in California.  And it is not Mount Whitney.

There is a loosely guarded secret among Highpointer’s that, I must admit, allowed me a minor sigh of relief when I first became aware of it.  It may actually be the second highest peak in many of the western states that is harder to climb and requires more technical know-how to summit:  Washington, Wyoming, Oregon, California, Colorado and Montana.  All have a high point that one can gain via the so called “dog route” (Though Montana is more of a mountain goat route).   A pejorative term experienced mountaineers use to denigrate any route not technical enough to challenge their skills.  But as all of us know, our avocation is not strictly about the physical suffering of being cold, wet, tired, and out of breath.  It is about the mental process of perseverance and persistence.  Along the way I have compiled a list of a few of my own personal benchmarks:

1. Mountains attempted twice to summit: 3; due to weather, injury, and the guide from Hell (true story).
2. Mountains attempted thrice to summit: 1 (weather and injury)
3. Number of summits attempted by my wife:  46 (44 achieved)
4. Number of times I abandoned my wife at base camp:  2
5. Number of highpoints on which we almost got divorced: 2
6. Number of highpoints at night: 1
7. Number of speeding tickets while pursuing highpoints:  2
8. Number of injuries: 2 (ice axe mishap and twisted ankle)
9. Most number of highpoints in a 24 hour period: 3
10. Number of summits achieved before I became a highpointer: 2
11. Number of years to summit all 48:  16
12. Number of highpoints on which I stood near Don Holmes: 1 (at the NJ convention)
13. Reason for probably never attempting Mt McKinley:  see #5 above
14. Number of times I said, “This isn’t worth it”: countless
15. Total cost to summit 48 state highpoints:  priceless

Every highpointer, I am sure, has compiled a list of his or her own personal statistics.  The sport is really more of an inner journey than external travelogue.  There is no reason to go to some of the highpoints except to place a checkmark in a book.  White Butte N.D. comes to mind.  Many highpoints are very remotely located but at least you can make a fun road trip out of hitting maybe 5 or 6 in a week while taking in the local sights. Or perhaps you may enjoy some homemade hush puppies served by friendly blonde waitresses near Cheaha Mountain in Alabama.  Not so for White Butte.  It is a senseless trip all onto itself.  Although due to the long drive and then the gale force winds and tornado warning we encountered once there, North Dakota will be remembered as one of our more challenging trips.

White Butte, ND

White Butte, ND

But there are few things of which I am more proud.  While there is a considerable degree of physical ability needed to achieve this goal, completing the 48 states is a battle fought mostly in the mind.  Granted, a reasonable level of fitness is needed, but the challenge is ultimately more psychological than physiological and therefore more emotionally satisfying. So when they come to cart me away to the nursing home I will be forced to bring only a few precious possessions with me.  One of them will be my highpoint photo journal.