Guadalupe County is about a two hour's drive east of Albuquerque along Interstate-40, situated on high-elevation plateau with the occasional mesa sticking up out of the flats toward the west end of the county. The highpoint is Mesa Leon, located near the county's western county line about 10 miles north of the town of Vaughn, 25 miles south of the interstate. The previous day I spent 8 hours hiking 15 miles to snag the Torrance and Valencia county highpoints in the Manzano Range about 50 miles west. After finishing that hike, I drove to the town of Vaughn, arriving about 5 p.m. I decided to scout Mesa Leon but realistically didn't consider hiking it as the sun was starting to set. I stayed at the Bel-Air Hotel on the town's east side.

This was my second attempt at Mesa Leon. In March 2000, I made an attempt after an overnight storm had moved in and started dropping snow. While it wasn't a heavy storm, the snow was big and wet and not collecting very fast so I went for it. I drove up the dirt road 4F (it isn't easy to find!) and up to a ranch that generally takes up all of Mesa Leon's west side. I entered through the west gate and drove up some bumpy ranch roads up into the mesa to a sharp turn in the road at elevation 6,125 feet, about 1 mile east of the highpoint. Along the way in, I passed a herd of cattle just standing around in the snow.

I could not find the road, shrouded in the snow, so I started to hike, but the low clouds, snow on the ground and falling snow around me effectively whited everything out. I couldn't see the mesa top, nor could I find the road. After about 1/2 mile of hiking, I decided to return to my truck. This turned out to be wise because I could hear "mooing" and cowbells- the stupid beasts had followed my truck up the road and were coming up to meet me! I got back to my truck just as the herd (about 30 strong) was about 100 feet away. I was most relieved that I did not have to hike amid them! Driving out was challenging as they stayed on the road and only patience and revving my engine would get them to slowly move aside. I left the area and headed south to Carlsbad and a visit to the Caverns.

This time, I had fabulous late-October weather. No winds, mild temperatures and dry, dry, dry! I woke early on the 21st and headed back up Road 4F (Access is from the west end of town on W. Main street to Cedar Avenue, then around and down to a train crossing). There are two options to access this mesa: the gated west entrance and a gated south entrance. The west entrance gate is usually unlocked and can get your vehicle to within 1 mile of the highpoint, as I did on my first go. But it is not clear whether this is entirely legal, as there is a ranch house near the area, so I was concerned about attracting attention to myself. So I opted for the gated and locked south entrance. Where Road 4F makes a sharp bend west, a two-track continues north 1/2 mile to this gate. It did offer good cover for my vehicle and hence would not attract attention to myself. There is a small, beaten, weathered sign that at first glance has nothing on it. I had to hold it at an angle to see that at one time it said "No hunting nor trespassing". I ruminated on this one for a moment then gave myself permission to enter. From this gate there is a sandy road that goes north (and meets up with the road from the west gate). I could see fresh cattle prints, horseshoe prints, vehicle tracks but no human prints. This is a working ranch, no doubt, but I'm not entirely sure where the headquarters are. "Lobo Ranch" signs are everywhere, but not on lands that I walked. The land-use map shows some public lands in the area, surrounded by private lands.

The road goes north about a mile and gains about 150 feet until it reaches the base of the mesa. The road continues and eventually curls into a natural amphitheater on the mesa's west side but I opted to leave the road and climb directly up the mesa's side. Here, the cliffs weren't too imposing. Mostly big rocks and heavy brush, but in about 15 minutes I was on top of the mesa. I hiked due east down into this amphitheater. Mostly it was open with shin-high grasses, cheat-grass, some low cactus and the usual scrub. Pinyon pine and juniper trees fringed this area. According to the map I should have re-met up with the road but other than what looked like a ditch, I saw no road, so I continued due east and climbed up another rocky slope to achieve the main body of the mesa plateau. Up on top, I was in a pinyon and juniper forest, just sparse enough to allow me to see about a 300-foot radius around me. I walked east and crossed a slight rise, a region that includes one of the two 6,330-foot contours that define the highpoint. Finally, I came upon the road at a point where it dips slightly between the two highpoint areas.

The second 6,330-foot contour was about another 10-minute's walk east. After about 15 minutes of wandering within this highpoint contour, I finally found the knee-high cairn, benchmark, and the remains of an old lean-to. The benchmark is at 6,339 feet and is highly likely to be the highpoint, higher than the first contour area I crossed. The whole hike in, including wandering around on top, took 1 hour and 20 minutes.

On the hike out I followed the road most of the way until it became rockier and faded into nothingness. I suspect that ditch I crossed first might have been the road (!). Either way, it's virtually undrivable for about a 200-foot section. At this point I went cross-country again, down-climbed the mesa and walked out the lower ranch road back to my truck. No one had bothered me the whole time but I was concerned I'd get caught or hassled so I walked fast, but as it turned out I was totally safe. The walk out took just under an hour. Overall the hike was 5 miles round trip and about 600 feet of gross gain. A map and cross-country route-finding skills are necessary. Back to my rental truck, I got in and drove off, back to my hotel in Vaughn to shower up, then back to Albuquerque to wait for my evening flight. I spent $1 to watch "Planet of the Apes", the new version. I dozed through parts of it. A dollar well spent.