Date: Fri 17-Sep-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Leon-Barkman-summit-50-states

Full Text:

Leon Barkman's Peak Experiences: Climbing Summits In 50 States

(with photo)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Leon Barkman returned home Monday from a week-long trip to the Midwest where

he climbed to the highest points in the states of Missouri, Wisconsin,

Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. The local outdoorsman has now reached

the summit in 40 of America's 50 states. And he intends to eventually scale

them all.

"If I live that long," he joked.

Leon Barkman is a longtime member of the Highpointers Club, a group of some

2,000 hikers and rock climbers who get a kick out of living life on the edge.

Scaling Alaska's Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, (20,320 feet above

sea level) can be the challenge of a lifetime. Then again, reaching the top of

Florida's Britton Hill (345 feet) is a walk in the park.

For Mr Barkman, being a member of the Highpointers Club has given him a chance

to see the country. That's not to say he hasn't seen it before. He biked

across the US back in the 60's and became the 37th person in history to hike

the Appalachian Trail. He did it in 99 days.

Now 67, Mr Barkman has the energy of most men half his age. The tall, slender

man loves the fresh air, the thrill of adventure and discovery, and the risk

of climbing up the side of a glacier. He can be found most mornings at the

Newtown Health & Fitness Club before 6 o'clock, pumping iron, running the

treadmill or playing basketball.

"If you want to live a certain lifestyle, you need to be prepared to cope with

it," he said.

Later this week, Mr Barkman was headed to Connecticut's peak (Mount Frissell)

near Bear Mountain where he'll lead a group of hikers looking to view a hawk

migration. He's a naturalist for the Appalachian Mountain Club, a rower, an

avid tennis player and the loving husband of Patty, an artist who runs a

studio at their home along the shores of Taunton Lake.

The Thrill Of The Summit

Mr Barkman keeps a lot of his journeys to each state summit (Patty has joined

him on many of them). With most under his belt, the only tough ones he still

eyes are Mount McKinley, Hawaii's Mauna Kea, Idaho's Borah Peak and Montana's

Granite Peak.

"I wouldn't mind doing (Mount McKinley), but Patty says I have to gain some

weight," Mr Barkman said. "You lose your appetite at that elevation. Climbers

often lose between 15 and 20 pounds."

Mr Barkman fondly recalls his ascent to the top of Mount Whitney in

California, Washington's Mount Ranier, Utah's Kings Peak and Wyoming's Gannett

Peak. Some of those hikes required crampons, rope and an ice ax, while others,

like Maine's Mount Katahdin, require long and strenuous hikes.

"For Gannett, we had to hike 25 miles off the trail head and had to carry 60

pounds of food on our backs. We hiked our bods off," Mr Barkman reminisced.

"We were on a glacier once we got to 10,500 feet."

When you're climbing mountains, you wake up early, and Mr Barkman remembers

the beautiful sight from high above Wyoming one early morning. The sky was

aglow, a full moon could be seen in the distance and all was eerily quiet. It

was surreal.

Then there were his treks to the highest point in Delaware (Tower Hill, 448

feet), which sits in front of a school in the middle of the road, or to Iowa,

where the highest point (1,670 feet) is located in a farmer's barnyard at the

end of a cow trough. Rhode Island's peak (Jerimoth Hill, 812 feet) is on the

property of a man who has been known to chase Highpointers off his land with a

gun. In Minnesota, Mr Barkman drove along the western shore of Lake Superior,

then climbed to the top of Eagle Mountain where he saw, of course, an adult

bald eagle.

His interest in the natural world is what propelled Mr Barkman toward the

study of biology and zoology. He earned his degree at Northern Arizona

University in Flagstaff after a stint in the Army where he was based in

Fairbanks, Alaska. He grew up in Port Jervis, NY, and after marrying Patty,

moved to Newtown where he taught at Housatonic Community College in

Bridgeport.

The Biggest Challenge Yet

Mr Barkman plans on doing all 50, and you can't do them all without avoiding

Denali, said to be almost as tough as Mount Everest, especially when the

weather is bad.

"It's a three-week deal to McKinley. Up there you have to watch out for

cerebral pulmonary edema from the low pressure. Water seeps into your lungs

and/or brain," he said.

On Denali, it's just one slow step after another and you have to pray for good

weather and hope no avalanches come your way.

"You pay your nickel, you take your chances," said Mr Barkman, who is also

intrigued by the challenge of Granite Peak, a nasty mountain of jagged rock in

Montana's frontier.

As for Mount Everest, Mr Barkman said he'll save that climb for another

lifetime. "That will be a spiritual thing," he joked.