Hobby helps explorers reach a new high

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — It's a way to hike, sightsee and compulsively track where you've hiked and what you've seen. And its popularity is growing.

It's called highpointing, the act of tracking down and ascending the highest points of elevation in any area. County, mountain range and national forest highpoints are just a few of the other destinations a person can conquer.

A nationwide organization for people who are conquering the highest elevation points in each state is The Highpointers Club, founded in 1988. Club Chairman Roger Rowlett says highpointing has a following of more than 10,000 people nationwide.

Every state has a highest point of elevation, whether it's a towering mountain peak or a nondescript knoll in a cornfield. In New Mexico, it is Wheeler Peak near Taos, elevation 13,161 feet.

Eight years ago, Melissa Rigg and her husband moved to Santa Fe from the San Francisco area. "We thought it would be a good way to see the state, to do every county highpoint," 33 counties in all, said Rigg.

Sometimes they would knock off three in a weekend. Some were in rugged, barely accessible locales. Others were homely markers on the side of the road. Regardless, they became obsessed and completed the list in 18 months.

"We sure saw the state and put a lot of miles on the car," she said. "It was fun to try and figure it out, get to a place and be successful."

Since then, 47-year-old Rigg has developed and completed a list of 25 highpoints in New Mexico wilderness areas. She's currently ticking off more than 100 highpoints in mountain ranges in the state.

New Mexico's highest county peaks range from a lofty 4,476-foot rise above sea level in Lea County to Taos County's Wheeler Peak. Hikes to the highpoints vary from less than a mile to more than 20 miles, said Rigg.

There are also lists of the state's prevalence points — the measure of a peak's independent rise above other peaks — wilderness area peaks and more. Some lists are found on Internet sites while others are shared among highpointers.

"Highpointing has been a way to get out and see things, exercise and obsess about/tick off a list," said John Kirk, a 30-year-old financial analyst from Arvada, Colo. "The latter is probably a predisposition — it is something we can't choose or escape. Mountains just happen to be the compulsion of choice."