Reeves County is located in the West Texas panhandle, bounded on its east by the Pecos River and on its north by New Mexico. It's very flat, featureless desert terrain, and most people whiz on through it via Interstate-20, maybe stopping in Pecos, the county seat and largest city in the county. The only other town of any size in the near-ghost town of Toyah, also along Interstate-20, and the oil junction town of Orla up north.

The highpoint of Reeves County is located in a small set of hills along its southwestern boundary with Jeff Davis County, where a small appendage of the Barrilla Mountains jut into Reeves County. The highpoint has no name, and is just a little hilltop, unremarkable in every way, except for its status as a county highpoint.

I was here in January 2000, inspecting a way up to this highpoint. There's a solid dirt road that gets close, coming off of paved state route TX-18. However, there's a residence here and all sorts of posted notices, so I did not enter on this visit. Maybe another time.

Another time actually came sooner than expected: when I proposed a Texas county tour with Andy Martin for March 2001, he mentioned that Bob Martin was interested in coming and had a lead for this county highpoint. This was fantastic news, and I would get to meet Bob for the first time, too. I had purchased his Arizona's Mountains book ages ago, and now I got to meet the man.

Andy and I convoyed in our separate vehicles along Interstate-10, bush-camping in the desert south of Allamoore in Hudspeth County that evening. The following morning, we met up with Bob in Balmorhea. After introductions, we got rolling toward the Reeves County highpoint. I followed Andy and Bob as we pulled into the ranch manager's house a few miles down thne highway from the highpoint access road. His name was Larry and was very friendly. Bob had secured permission from the landowner beforehand, and Larry's job was to show us the way. We spent ten minutes visiting with him, then we got moving as Larry had to get back to his duties.

We drove up the dirt road leading in to the highpoint. Andy and Bob rode together, I followed in my truck. The road was in pretty good shape as it ran along the flats before entering into some small mesa-like hills. We were able to weave our way up this road through the breaks, coming onto some higher terrain. We drove a short ways farther and parked near a windmill ("Hernandez Windmill") and water tank. The day was clear, warm and very pleasant.

The actual hike was very short, direct and simple. We walked generally south, spooked a feral pig along the way, and ascended up a hill following a bulldozer track to gain the higher ground. The highpoint was an easy amble across grassy ridges, a one-mile journey from our vehicles. And there was a cairn there, so someone else had obviously been here before and was aware of this little point's significance.

The top was lightly wooded in low trees, scrub and grasses. The best views were east, as the hills drop down to the desert flats that lead to the Pecos River. The elevation differential was close to 2,000 feet overall, from our perch at 5,115 feet compared to the flats at about 3,000 feet. Not a bad highpoint!

The hike out went quickly, as was the drive. We stopped again to say goodbye to Larry, then drove down toward Pecos, setting ourselves up for our next objective, the low desert hills marking the Ward County highpoint. My thanks to Bob, Andy, Larry and the landowner.