RIDGERUNNER CHRONICLES: “The Call of the Mountains” by Tim Campbell

By Editor | November 25, 2025 |

Tim Campbell is a name that you might recognize. He was born and raised in Calhoun County, Illinois; he and his family owned the Calhoun News and later, they owned the newspapers published in the adjoining counties of Jersey, Pike, Greene and Scott. Later in life, he practiced law in Madison County, Illinois for over 40 years before retiring several years ago. He has been a friend of mine for a long time. He recently wrote a book detailing a most remarkable mission that took him over 20 years to accomplish. That mission had to do with climbing and summiting all mountains in Colorado that were higher than 14,000 feet—yes, all 58 of them. (All mountains in Colorado more than 14,000 feet in elevation are referred to as “14ers”.) And the most remarkable aspect of this mission–he did not start until he was over 50, and he climbed his last 14er, Pike’s Peak, at age 74 with his children and grandchildren alongside for their experience of a lifetime.
Tim credits having grown up in Calhoun County as the impetus for developing his mountain-climbing skills. According to Tim, “The rugged and beautiful terrain [of Calhoun County] and the rivers and creeks fostered outdoor recreation, including hiking and climbing”. His choices of things to climb started, as a wee tyke, with a tree in his back yard but eventually included the caves and bluffs over the Illinois River. His local pursuit of things to climb ended, in his words, “when the Kingdom [a local name for Calhoun County] released its hold and bade farewell to the author”.
Eventually, Tim settled in Colorado with his family and after climbing several 14ers while in his early 50s, he became motivated to climb them all.
Much of his motivation had to do with the illness and ultimate loss of his son, Bryan, and later, his wife, Linda, to cancer. This was Tim’s way of being able to focus on moving forward with his life and in the process of doing this, he gave the rest of us a life lesson on how to deal with devastating emotional losses.
To fully appreciate the risks that Tim encountered, I strongly recommend that you watch several YouTube videos that involve three of the mountains that Tim climbed. First, look at “Crossing the Knife’s Edge to Capitol Peak”, which Tim climbed at age 70. Then look at “Climbing the Hour Glass Couloir on LIttle Bear Mountain”, an extremely dangerous climb due to the ever-present risk of boulders bouncing downhill toward climbers, which Tim climbed at age 72, and finally, “Making the ‘Leap of Faith’ while crossing the Maroon Bells Traverse”, which Tim accomplished at age 70. All very scary stuff, in deed. (On the same year that Tim summited Capitol Peak, five climbers died on that mountain, including a climber that Tim met the day before his death.)
Tim’s book is written in a stream of consciousness style. For those who know Tim, you can appreciate his subtle humor and his life-long tendency to understate his experiences. He remains modest and reserved (despite now being an honest-to-goodness author). The book is entitled “Call of the Mountains: Climbing the Colorado Fourteeners”. It is available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle . Congratulations, Tim.
Note: Two Madison County lawyers accompanied Tim on several of his 14er summits: Jack Hoefert and Denis McGrady. Good going, guys.
–––––––––––––––
■ Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].