Knowing from previous reports and the maps that this highpoint was located way off any main roads, I figured I'd give the legal route a shot and try to track down the landowner for permission. So, with two hours available one winter's morning and not a whole lot else going on, I started calling the various county offices in Terrell County to see what I could find. I started with the county clerk, who referred me to the tax appraisal office. There, I got lucky as the man I spoke to personally knew the landowner. I guess this isn't too much a surprise as there are only about a thousand people in Terrell County. He gave me the name and address by which to contact Mr. "M", whose offices were actually way up in Amarillo. I wrote a letter explaining what we wanted to do and when we'd be there, and sent it off. Surprisingly, I got the okay to visit the highpoint! Mr. M gave me some names of people to contact when the time came near. I never actually spoke to Mr. M but did manage to speak to his secretary a few times. By all accounts he seems like a reasonable fellow. I made the final arrangements with Pat, the ranch manager, and Jody, the ranch hand who would actually be there that day to let us on.

I made my journey from Arizona into West Texas and spent the previous day visiting a few highpoints in the region (see this link), before staying at a hotel in Fort Stockton. Very early the next morning (today) I drove the 70 miles to Sanderson, the Terrell County Seat, then another 9 miles west along US-90 to the Ninemile Ranch gates where I was told Jody would meet us. Bob Martin joined me a few minutes after I showed up, and Jody came rumbling up not long thereafter. We all drove in as a convoy, following Jody past two more gates before he basically pointed the way where we wanted to head. I parked my truck at some ranch homes that looked abandoned, and rode with Bob. We drove about 3 more miles before parking at the end of a very bumpy, rocky road near a game tank, the highpoint just a half-mile to our north. The hike went quick and we made the top in just about 20 minutes. A very old fence in disrepair ran over the top. We stayed a few minutes, snapped a couple shots then returned to Bob's truck for the drive out. Jody had left the gates unlocked with instructions for us to lock them as we egressed. We did, and made the longish drive back out to the main highway. Overall the whole trip took just a couple hours and went without a hitch. Jody was still on the property doing his duties, while Bob and I got a move-on toward our next objective, Glass Mountain in Pecos County. My thanks to everyone who helped us out so graciously in this endeavor!