Loma Alta is the name given to a lonely mesa complex, the highest of which is the highpoint of De Baca County. The mesas are located in the west portion of the county, south of highway US-60, about a half-hour drive west of Fort Sumner, the county seat. De Baca County sits at the transition between the flat plains of the east and the low hills that eventually become the large peaks in central New Mexico. The county itself has few people - no more than 3,000, making it one of New Mexico's least populated counties. The entire economy seems to be ranching. Tourism is light as De Baca County is well off the main interstates, but fans of the Old West know to visit Fort Sumner and the nearby memorial and museum to the shooting of famed outlaw Billy the Kid by lawman Pat Garrett in the 1870s.

It was late in the day and I had already done four county highpoints, although three of them were easy flat plains counties in which I had to do just a minimal amount of walking. But I was doing a lot of driving - easily over 400 miles by the time I arrived into De Baca County. Prior to arriving here I had just visited the highpoint of Roosevelt County. From there, I drove south from the highpoint and met up with US-60. I passed through Fort Sumner, got gas, then went through a very large grassland fire west of town. From Fort Sumner, I drove 31 miles west on US-60 to near milepost 293 and turned south onto an excellent dirt road ("Perez Ranch", if I recall correctly). I drove south along this excellent dirt road for 1.5 miles to a large triangle intersection and turned right (west) onto a secondary dirt road that was in fairly decent condition. A mile later I passed a large set of railroad tracks, taking care to not get smashed by the trains, which seemed to come by about once every 10 minutes. The road after the tracks deteriorated somewhat, becoming soft in places. I parked about a half mile past the tracks and started my walk from there.

The hike was short, a simple gain up steepening slopes through sparse grasses and low cactus. In short time I was on top the mesa. From here, I walked the entire length of this little mesa, maybe a half-mile from end to end, covering any ground that looked like a contender, and seeking out the brass benchmark on the westernmost area. I found it, and satisfied, walked back the way I came. I noted that if I'd stayed on the road I was one, it would have eventually turned and started up the mesa, which suggests that this highpoint can be done mostly by driving, although I think high clearance is a minimum requirement.

I did this hike around 4 p.m., a total of about 45 minutes and about 1.5 miles of overall hiking. The sky was clouding up and a front was moving in. After leaving Loma Alta, I stayed the night in Vaughn, 25 miles to the west. A try of Mesa Leon, Guadalupe County's highpoint, met with failure the next morning when snow and zero-visibility on top of the mesa precluded me from seeing where I was going. Also, a herd of cattle blocked my road out, making for about a 20 minute ordeal where I slowly inched my truck past these large stupid beasts. Update October 2001: Click here for my successful trip up this highpoint.