"Highpointers" are people with a quirky goal: summiting the highest point in each of the 50 states, from Mt. McKinley in Alaska, to Florida's Britton Hill. Conor Knighton talks with some intrepid travelers whose mission is to view the United States from the unique perspective of each state's tallest peak.

A recent CBS News segment profiled the High Pointers Club, a group dedicated to reaching the highest geographical point in each U.S. state. Members, ranging from casual travelers to seasoned climbers, gather to celebrate their achievements and encourage one another, with some aiming to summit all 50 state high points as a lifetime goal.

The club includes individuals of all ages and backgrounds, including Lucy Westlake, who at 17 became the youngest woman to reach every state high point. While some peaks require strenuous hikes, others are accessible by car or located on private land with limited access. The pursuit offers participants a unique way to explore the country's diverse landscapes and build a supportive community.

Viewing the U.S. from each state's highest point

Our Conor Knighton has begun 2026 on a high. California's Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. Reaching its windswept summit requires a strenuous hike of more than 20 miles round trip, ascending to an elevation of 14,505 feet. But for the 180 people who recently gathered in the nearby town of Bishop, Mount Whitney is on exactly the same level as Mississippi's Woodall Mountain, Nebraska's Panorama Point, or Indiana's Hoosier Hill. Each stands tall as a state high point. There is Denali, there's Rainier, there's Hood that are really difficult peaks, but you can do a lot of peaks that are easy to do, that are a fun trip with the family. Shannon Brummond is the president of the High Pointers Club, a group devoted to celebrating and summiting the highest peak in every state. It's partially about just coming together as a group that enjoys this kind of weird hobby that people haven't heard of. On the surface, to those who do not prioritize elevation above all else, high pointing might sound a little bit pointless. I mean, after all, why would a person with enough skill to climb Wyoming's challenging Gannett Peak at nearly 14,000 feet also care about visiting Britton Hill, a parking lot in the panhandle of Florida with an elevation of 345 feet? We have this huge, unique, beautiful, and diverse country, and a lot of people don't see a lot of it. And I just think high pointing is an amazing way to travel around the country and have a purpose and a guideline on how to do that. In 2021, at 17 years old, Lucy Westlake became the youngest woman to ever visit every state high point. She now writes a column for the club's Apex to Zenith newsletter. For most members, getting to all 50 is a lifetime goal. So 50 completers, please stand up. Get the love of this crowd. Back in 1970, CBS's Charles Kuralt met up with a man in Colorado on a mission to visit them all in a single year. What Mitch Michaud was doing there was fulfilling an ambition to climb to the highest peak in all 50 states in one year. What I was doing there is exactly what I kept asking myself. Well, some of the high points are extremely physically challenging. Others, like Mount Washington in New Hampshire or High Point State Park in New Jersey, have drivable summits. And some can be logistically complex. A lot of hikers say this is the hardest high point because you just gotta time it. The highest point in Illinois, Charles Mound, is on a private farm. But to accommodate the altitude obsessed, the landowners allow access on just four weekends a year. Oh, look at this. They've been to 38 high points. Carol and Greg Weiland came from Ohio to continue their tradition of taking photos of their shoes on every survey marker. Ray O'Connor came from New York. Floridian Rick Wise has been hitting high points with his dog, Kika. Two weeks before traveling to Illinois from Montana, DeWinter summited Utah's 13,528 foot Kings Peak. As a group, they encourage you to keep going and keep moving. And I think that's important. As you age, you gotta keep moving. You have to. Otherwise, you'll sit and die. And I'm not up for that yet. Up on Charles Mound, surrounded by soybean fields, it's certainly scenic, but. It's not like this is some superlative viewpoint, you know, that everyone says you have to see. It is really just a sort of geographical quirk that has brought you here. Yeah, but you know, the scenery, the farm fields, the dirt roads, there's this little bit of magic in almost every route that brings you to one of these places. It's what brought siblings Liedy and Jacques Van Chie from the Netherlands to the US for dozens of high-pointing expeditions. When you tell your friends back home that you flew to the US to go to some mountain in Kentucky that no one there has ever heard of, what reaction do you get? Well, they don't understand, but we do, and that's most important. And the nice thing about high-pointing is that all those high points are places you would normally not go, so. Places like Bishop, California. As Shannon Brumman explains, coming to these conventions, discussing all of these highs and lows, offers a chance to enjoy some middle ground. I think being part of the club has helped me realize, like, if you sit down in a room with people and you're talking about something that you love, all the rest of the stuff matters less.

After 25 years of talks, the EU signed the EU-Mercosur trade deal on Saturday, creating a 700 million-person free-trade area. Ratification is still pending, however, with the European Parliament set for a heated debate.

Asunción

EU seals contentious trade deal with Mercosur countries

European governments blasted U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that eight countries will face 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland beginning next month.

Nuuk

Greenland Stand-Off

European governments condemn Trump's tariff threats over Greenland

Palestinians in Gaza expressed both concern and hope after the White House announced some members of a so-called "Board of Peace" that will supervise the temporary governance of the war-torn enclave, which has been under a fragile ceasefire since October.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Gazans wary as U.S. names 'Board of Peace' under Trump's plan

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on eight European countries until they allow the U.S. to buy the autonomous Danish territory.

Trump escalates pressure on Europe over Greenland control

Protesters who support the surge of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis have clashed with counter-protesters, while state officials announced that the Minnesota National Guard had been mobilized. Adding to the mayhem was the freezing January weather.

Minneapolis

Pro and anti-ICE protesters clash in Minneapolis

Iran's supreme leader blamed the U.S. for the protests against his regime that resulted in a violent crackdown. Willie James Inman has President Trump's response.

Tehran

Iran blames U.S. for protests, Trump punches back

President Trump announced that he would institute 10% tariffs on eight European countries who oppose his plan to put Greenland under U.S. control. The announcement came after a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers flew to Denmark to express support for keeping Greenland under Danish control.

Trump announces new tariffs on European countries who backed Greenland

Large crowds of demonstrators marched through Copenhagen and other Danish cities on Saturday in support of Greenland's sovereignty amid tensions with the US.

Copenhagen

Thousands take part in 'Hands off Greenland' protests in Denmark

The United States will impose increasing tariffs on several European countries until the U.S. is able to purchase Greenland, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.

Global Tariffs

Trump threatens tariffs against European nations over Greenland support

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won his seventh term with 71.65% of votes, according to official results Saturday, defeating the youthful challenger who campaigned for change after four decades of the same government.

Kampala

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni wins seventh term

There will be no territorial concessions in Ukraine, the Ukrainian president said, answering Euronews' question on whether Kyiv is now being pressured into territorial concessions.

Brussels

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine will not cede any of its territory, Zelenskyy says

The United States on Thursday said Iran halted 800 executions of protesters under pressure from President Donald Trump, after Gulf allies appeared to pull him back from military action over Tehran's deadly crackdown on demonstrations.

U.S. claims Iran halts executions of protesters amid crackdown

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House. She presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, which was seen as a peace offering to win his support.

Washington

Venezuela Strikes

Venezuelan opposition leader presents Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize

A U.S. Senate delegation is meeting with Danish officials on Friday to defuse the standoff between President Donald Trump and Denmark over Greenland. Denmark sent soldiers to Greenland and they will be joined by military units from various NATO allies.

NATO troops head to Greenland amid Trump's threats

NASA says it could be just weeks away from launching astronauts on a flight around the moon for the first time in more than half a century. Final preparations are underway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the Artemis II moon rocket is expected to roll out to the launch pad on Saturday.

Cape Canaveral

Final preparations for Artemis II launch underway

A South Korean court on Friday (January 16) sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison on charges that included obstructing attempts by authorities to arrest him following his failed bid to impose martial law in December 2024.

Seoul

Five years' jail for South Korea's Yoon in first martial law penalty

US President Donald Trump is threatening to use military force against Americans after clashes between protestors and law enforcement in Minneapolis. The city has been on edge since the fatal shooting of a protester, Renee Good, by an ICE officer.

Trump threatens to use military against Minneapolis protests

The U.S. and Taiwan clinched a trade deal that cuts tariffs on many of the semiconductor powerhouse's exports, directs new investments in the U.S. technology industry and risks infuriating China.

U.S., Taiwan strike deal on tech tariffs risking China's ire

The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss the deadly anti-establishment protests in Iran at the request of the United States. President Donald Trump has refused to rule out military action on Iran over the killing of protesters. Tehran has vowed to retaliate if that happens.

Iran, U.S. clash at UN over protests as calls grow for restraint

Tensions are soaring in Minneapolis as protesters face off against federal agents. As Matt Gutman reports, it comes after a Venezuelan migrant was shot by an ICE agent after allegedly trying to flee federal officers.

Tensions flare in Minneapolis after second shooting by ICE agent

Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a U.S.-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. backs Palestinian civil engineer to administer Gaza

The U.S. has announced the launch of the second phase of President
Donald Trump's peace plan in the Gaza Strip, which will involve moving from a ceasefire to demilitarization.

Gaza deal's second phase to begin

CBS News met with fighters from an armed and outlawed Iranian opposition group in the mountains of northern Iraq who said the protests in Iran have given them hope. They believe the regime can be toppled "if the people who are demonstrating on the street get international help."

Iranian opposition group says protests give hope to topple regime

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday a "state of emergency" will be declared in the energy sector, after relentless Russian strikes on heat and electricity supplies during freezing winter temperatures.

Kyiv

Ukraine: Zelensky declares energy emergency after Russian strikes

Military personnel from several NATO countries including Germany, France, Sweden and Norway headed to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark and its allies prepared ⁠for exercises to try to assure US President Donald Trump over its security as he pushes to acquire the island.

Several European countries and NATO allies send troops to Greenland

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI said late on Wednesday it imposed restrictions on all users of its Grok AI chatbot that limit image editing after the service produced sexualized images that sparked concerns among global regulators.

California

Musk's xAI curbs Grok image editing after concerns

Protests in the U.S. city of Minneapolis as another person's been shot by an immigration officer.

Protest erupts in Minneapolis after ICE agent shoots man during raid

The United States has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating around $500 million, a US official said Wednesday, the first major energy transaction since Washington’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela earlier this month.

United States completes first sale of Venezuelan oil

Denmark says fundamental disagreements remain with the US over the future of Greenland. President Donald Trump has said he wants to take over the territory 'one way or another', arguing anything short of full American control is unacceptable.

Greenland, Denmark say Trump set on ‘conquering’ territory after meet

Republicans in the Senate killed a resolution on Wednesday that would have put limits on President Trump's ability to take action in Venezuela. Vice President JD Vance had to step in to break the 50-50 tie.

Breakdown