Retired teacher completes 50th anniversary ascent of Graduation Peak near Seldovia
Published 5:30 am Thursday, July 23, 2026
A retired educator of 49 years embarked on an anniversary climb on Graduation Peak behind Seldovia this month.
On July 6, 80-year-old Hal Neace completed a 50-year reunion ascent of the peak alongside his children and grandchildren. He began the tradition with his senior students at Susan B. English School, which led to the permanent Graduation Peak name.
“It was not named such until I began leading these climbs, all on graduation day,” Neace said.
This year’s climb marked the 50th anniversary of Neace coming to Alaska to live and teach.
He was joined by his eldest daughter Sally, her husband and their three teenage children from Boise, Luke, Nate and Lydia, his youngest daughter Heather and her husband Jason, and Valisa Higman, a local Seldovia artist and their guide for the day who was Heather’s elementary school classmate.
“It was an honor to join Hal and his family for a special 50-year Alaska anniversary climb,” Higman said. “Hal shared stories of harrowing snowy climbs up the peak, and at 80 years old, Hal is still a rugged hiker.”
Neace and his crew traveled to Seldovia on the Tustumena Ferry on July 5 and had an evening dinner on the deck of the Linwood with local friends and fellow students from his 10 years in Seldovia from 1976 to 1986.
“I taught science for Grades 7-12 at Susan B. English School and then started a Project Adventure class for juniors and seniors in 1980,” Neace recalled.
“For the next few years, the seniors, who took Project Adventure, and I would leave early enough to climb Graduation Peak on graduation day and don caps and gowns on the summit in time to return to the school for the official graduation ceremonies.”
The next day, the group of eight made the summit with Higman leading the way, along with her dog Teller. The ascent took just over five hours, followed by a four-hour descent.
Luke brought his cap and gown with him for a photo on the summit, as he graduated last month and will be attending Pepperdine in the fall.
“We kept the tradition going one more time,” Neace said.
Neace and his family then took the ferry back to Homer after the climb.
“We all had a successful summit day with my family up Graduation Peak,” Neace said. “Got lots of good photos as it was blue sky all the way up — weather was ideal.”
