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Glen Van Vliet on Denali after finished #50. "I have no favorite highpoints, just stories." -- Glen Van Vliet "This is only closure of the chapter. The book remains open." -- Glen Van Vliet Chris & I decided it would be a respectful gesture to summit [Jerimoth] on 9-26-97, the day our dad passed away.  We sat on the rocks talking and remembering. --Henri Butler The joy of the accomplishment [of McKinley] mixed with the harsh tragedy of seeing the dead bodies of acquaintances flown off the mountain was an emotional rollercoaster. -- Henri Butler Henri Butler on Mauna Kea

The Blaze Brothers Glen Van Vliet Follows His Brother to Complete 50 Closure is a beautiful thing. On my third attempt on Denali within six years, I reached my 50th on June 20th with Rich White (who recently completed on Rainier). Big Mac remains awesome and awful at the same time and a peak I highly respect. Talkeetna was a dry town when we left. Mount Washington was the first back in '79 while on a scout 50-miler. NH was my old stomping grounds and every weekend I'd scramble up 4,000-footers, often dragging my kid brother Mark (HP completer #75). He was not impressed with my relentless forced-fun marches. When we thru-hiked the AT in '87, we were dubbed the Blaze Brothers, I suppose because we hiked too fast. In some circles, the name has stuck ever since. I hit highpoints along the AT, sans any guidebook. I found out about the "club" in '88 and its infamous mentor, Jakk Longacre, whom I met at two "inspiring" conventions in SD and CO. This was just the type of insane pursuit I was looking for: time-consuming, expensive and pointless. A hardcore mountaineer may never aspire to complete the highpoints and that's OK. Many of the "peaks" are mere molehills and that suits me fine. All have variety and all have "stories"· I attempted Borah in a June ice storm...solo.. twice...dumb!  Other repeats were Boundary - I climbed the wrong side of the mountain before I knew of a guidebook and Rainier - two whiteouts convinced me the Nisqually crevasses were calling my name. Then summit fervor: After a no-sleep night on Froze-to-Death with the tent pinned to our faces, I dragged Mark up Granite while he suffered vertigo, then we descended in a typical thunderstorm, convinced our ice axe lightning rods would be our demise - real dumb! Then the tour de forces: we bagged Gannett on a three-day roundtrip on foot despite a blown-out knee, then soloed Elbert and King's in back-to-back day hikes. As the Marines say, "That which does not kill you only makes you stronger." Perhaps a little wiser too as I accept these "calculated risks." I have no favorite highpoints, just stories. As others have said, people make the trips. Kudos to Mark for enduring our excursions. Dave "Bubba" Bruneau and "Franko" Kehl suffered equally on our epic road trips and our quest for the perfect pizza and beer tavern (we're still searching). They deserve much of the credit for my success. Lastly, my wife Liz knows first hand what it's like to deal with my crazy pursuits. She knows, perhaps better than I, this is only closure of the chapter. The book remains open.

It began with a wrong turn in New Hampshire that led us to the "Mt. Washington Auto Road." Two weeks later we hiked to the summit on 9-17-89. Several months later my brother Chris (40 HP's) found Paul Zumwalt's book in the local library. We had a good laugh thinking that anyone in their right mind would tryto do this.

But, sure enough, through the years we managed to get a few here and a few there until by 1995 I had 27. In the summer of '96 1 madethe decision to go ahead and try forthe 50. With a car full of gear and 6 Weeks to play with I managed to log 19 states.  Chris flew'0ut to Phoenix and joined me on 8 of those HP's.

All that' remained were RI; AK, & HI. We went to AK in '97 (where I now live) but had to go back to RI for the passing of my father.  I had hoped to save RI (my home state) for last, but Chris & I decided it would be a respectful gesture to summit On 9-26-97, the day Our Dad passed away. We sat on the rocks talking and remembering.

"The Richard H. Butler Memorial Expedition" in '98 was a success. We summited McKinley on 5-29 spending 30 days (!) on the mountain. The two expeditions to McKinley were the most magnificent and the most horrible experiences of my life. The joy of the accomplishment mixed with the harsh tragedy of seeing the dead bodies of acquaintances flown off the mountain was an emotional rollercoaster.

Granite was the most stubborn, taking three attempts, while DenaIi and Borah required two each. Summit day on Granite with rain and 10 foot visi­bility was the single most difficult day I had during my highpointing, but McKinley was by far more trying both mentally and physically.

I don't have a least favorite although a half dozen could qualify, but NH (7 summits by 5 different routes) will always be my favorite.

Overall it's been a fun and rewarding adventure. I saw more and · learned more than I thought possible.  Not only about America and highpoint-ing but also about myself. I highly recommend HP'ing to everyone who looked at a mountain top and thought, "I wonder what it's like up there?"

P.S. Thanks to everyone (too numerous to list) who has helped me during my quest; Paul Zumwalt, the Club, and the people who brought it all together.