Two Kansans climb highest points in all 50 states

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Wichitans Gary LeRock and Adam Dunn took their hobby of climbing and hiking to the next level, climbing to the highest points in all 50 states.

LeRock and Dunn have two main hobbies: Boy Scouts and climbing mountains. In fact, the climbing adventures all started because of Boy Scouts. The two were going on a hike with troops, but it didn't work out.

"Right before we left, there was a fire that broke out," LeRock said. "We didn't want to cancel the trip, so we diverted north and climbed Mount Elbert, which is the highest mountain in Colorado and had so much fun doing it that we said, we got to do more of this, and then it just kind of became an obsession."

They knocked out multiple high points at a time because the most efficient way to do it is by going into a region and doing as many as possible on the same trip.

"We do all eight states in New England in one shot," LeRock said. "Then we came up with nicknames for the journey, that one we called the Patriot loop. We did six of them in the southeast, and we call that the Dixie loop. We just had fun with that, but we would go and hit as many of them as we could get on the same trip."

The lowest point is Britton Hill in Florida, and the highest is Denali in Alaska.

Dunn and LeRock say hiking is peaceful, filled with time to think.

"You have a lot of time to think and contemplate and think about the ones you love and think about the communities you're involved in, your friends, your workplace, just lots of time to think about what in life is good, what in life you want to really do," Dunn said.

They say the journeys they have traveled are indescribable.

"When you go to the high points, you get to see areas of the country that, frankly, not very many people get to see," Dunn said. "You get to see the whole spectrum of the United States when you go to these places."

For LeRock, accomplishing the goal of hitting all 50 states was, in part, to honor someone who didn't get to complete that goal, passing away before he could complete it.

LeRock's family members have climbed many high points as well.

"My youngest son has done 46, and my older son has done 35," LeRock said.

He started dedicating the climbs to people along with swims. It started by swimming 100 miles for his sister and 100 for a friend, and that turned into 530 dedications.

"There's a lot of people out there that can't do this," LeRock said. "They're struggling, they have particularly physical ailments "

LeRock says he feels fortunate his body is able to swim and hike.

"To force yourself to get out of bed at six in the morning and go to a swimming pool, and it's 20 degrees out, it's very hard, but you think about what those people are going through," LeRock said. "People struggling with cancer and people that are struggling with other things, chronic health conditions." 

During the swims and the climbs, LeRock said there's a lot of time to think.

"I can dedicate these to somebody going one-mile increments, and it became a prayer list," LeRock said. "So I would swim the mile, post a picture on Facebook about my time and a picture of them and say ask everybody pray for them."

Dunn also likes to use the climbs as a time of reflection and passing along what he learns.

"Pay attention to the journey," Dunn said. "Don't focus on the end. There's so much when you're hiking that if you're not paying attention to what's around you, you'd miss it. Same thing with just in life in general. Pay attention to what's around you. Don't worry about the destination."

Dunn and LeRock say you are capable of more than you think you are.

"There's a lot of what you learn in hiking about yourself and about others and about being prepared, and when you come up against obstacles that are physically challenging, mentally challenging, realizing that you can go farther and do more than we think you can do. The mind can go way beyond your body's abilities if you just keep at it," Dunn said.