"There's something tangible and satisfying about having a list to check off," said Roger Truesdale, a 62-year-old retired physical-education teacher from Bloomington, Minn. He has climbed all 50 highpoints, 49 of them with his wife, Jane.

"Highpointing gives you well-defined goals, and many people like that."

The Truesdales, who started their highpointing quest in 1988, took road trips during the summer months to climb several state highpoints at once. On one trip through the Midwest, they hit 10 summits over a couple weeks. They did the same in New England, driving to the top in flatter states and hiking Appalachian trails in states like Vermont to climb eight peaks on one vacation.

Frozen toes and altitude sickness are a real danger on a dozen of the states' summits.

Going to the extreme is not a highpointing requirement, however. Indeed, most of the 50 highpoints are moderate hikes with elevations of less than 7,000 feet. And climbing all 50 peaks is not the goal of every highpointer. Some make a goal to see the country, and ascend 20 or 30 highpoints with no serious mountaineering involved. Families with young children may schedule a road-trip vacation around highpoint destinations.

In many states, including Minnesota, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Maryland, the summits involve moderate half-day hikes that require just enough effort to provide a sense of accomplishment.

Harney Peak, the 7,242-foot highpoint near Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, for example, necessitates a 6-mile roundtrip hike in the scenic Black Hills wilderness. Hikers pass through dense pine forests and vertical spires of granite on their way to the top. The trail gains about 1,500 vertical feet of elevation from the parking lot. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats may be sighted along the way.

Like John Mitchler and many other highpointers, Roger Truesdale saved the most difficult climb for last. He scaled Mount McKinley, his 50th summit, last summer. A storm stranded his group for five days, and they hung out in tents and built snow walls to protect the camp from wind.

After the storm passed, Truesdale and his team climbed to the top in an eight-hour push from a high camp at 17,000 feet.

"It was an awesome way to end the journey," he said.