Jakk Longacre “Last 50 Steps” Tour of Highpoints


Highpointer Club Founder Jakk Longacre recorded the “Last 50 Steps” probably in the late 1990s in which he told his experiences of climbing each of the 50 states. Members could get the VHS tape. Many thanks to Paul Light, who takes care of Jakk Glade on Taum Sauk, for transferring this to a DVD. The recording has lots of glitches but that is all part of the charm of our founder.
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History: June 1991 Backpacker Magazine Article on Highpointers Club

Thanks to Google Books here’s a copy of the June 1991 issue of Backpacker Magazine on the Club (317 members and dues of $5 and 16 50-state completers, featuring an interview with Bob Anderson.) Club President Jack Longacre can be contacted in Mountain Home, Arkansas.
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History of the Club on Suite 101

Steve Urbanski has written a history of the Club on Suite 101.

Highpointers Club Motto “Keep Klimbin'”

The Club motto is “Keep Klimbin'”

It was how Club Founder Jakk Longacre (he liked those k’s) signed all his correspondence.

History of the Logo


By Ken Jones

In the early days of the Highpointers, I contacted Jack Longacre about whether there was a club logo and awards.

He said no.  I spent some time that summer designing a logo, which combines a blue sky (have we ever seen any other?) and a gently curving road/trail heading across a green field/plain toward a mountain (loosely based on Mt Rainier, because it was the right size and shape) on which is superimposed an outline of the contiguous United States.

The design is supposed to tie together images of the US, travel, and mountains.  I presented this proposed design to the Arizona conventioneers in 1988, and they approved it as the club logo.

There have been modified versions used at times over the past 12 years, including a modification of the mountain to look less recognizable and the addition of “AH” to represent Alaska and Hawaii.  I think the more realistic mountain looks better, and Alaska and Hawaii are left off the logo because (a) graphically they would unbalance the design, as do the initials, and (b) they’re really on there, only they’re located just off the edge of the design.

At the Missouri convention in 1999, the board determined that only the original logo would be used by the Highpointers.