Of all the people born and raised in Petersburg, those who have grown up with the sight of Devil's Thumb like the exclamation point on a sunny day, none had ever reached its summit before this summer.

The peak of Devil's Thumb hangs at 9,077 feet, arguably the most striking of the border peaks along the Coast Range.

All Petersburg locals have seen it, and many have wondered at least once what it would be like to be on the top, one foot dangling into Alaska, the other into Canada. Now Kyle Knight knows for sure.

"I don't want to be all braggy about it," said Knight. But he felt some respo...