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Lubbock - West Texas, March 2001 |
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Once again I was back in Texas, taking advantage of my Spring Break from teaching to visit a number of Texas county highpoints. The emphasis on this trip would be a number of fairly challenging 'sandy' counties along the Pecos River, where road nets are primitive and very few people live. The remaining counties were a bunch centered around Lubbock, most of them fairly simple.
I made the long drive into Texas, staying in Van Horn, before meeting up with Andy Martin and Bob Martin in Balmorhea for our planned ascent up the Reeves County highpoint. The three of us would pal around for a full day and a portion of another, before Andy had to return west. Bob and I did a few more together before he too had to return back to Arizona. I spent another couple days by myself systematically picking off a bunch more. In all, the trip netted me eighteen new Texas county highpoints. Weather was cooperative, and I had no real difficulties to speak of.
Unlike my November 2000 North Panhandle tour five months earlier, where the land up there was flatter than my singing voice, the land down south varied enough to keep things interesting. Much of the border area between Texas and New Mexico sits atop a gigantic raised plain called the Llano Estacado, or 'Staked Plains'. It's a raised plateau that is very flat on top, and extends for thousands of square miles. Some of the Llano Estacado's impressive cliffs that surround it can be seen along Interstate-40 between Tucumcari (NM) and Adrian (TX), looking south. In other areas, the 'cliffs' are weathered a bit to be more sublime. More east of the Llano Estacado is the watershed and drainage creeks feeding into the Brazos River, which provided for some interesting highpoints in and around Scurry and Kent counties.
Our story starts with Andy, Bob and I visiting the highpoints of Reeves County, Ward County and Ector County, all on the 10th and all 'first visits' by the club rules. We camped in an oilfield near the Ector highpoint, then the next day the four of us hit Winkler County, at which time Andy bid us goodbye. Bob and I then did Loving County, which was probably the most challenging county of the trip, then an easy one in Gaines County, which is where this page picks up the exciting action...
With Loving Coutny done and Bob and I safely back out onto paved roads, we made our way to FM-83 in southern Yoakum county, entering from the west in New Mexico, with the easy Gaines County highpoint in our sights as a quickie to end a long day. At the state line, we set our odometers. The topo map indicates a road south of FM-83 at 2 miles which crosses near the highpoint contour. However, the roads and the map had some serious discrepancies. The aforementioned road doesn't exist any longer; another road about 1/4 mile east does, but does not pass through the highpoint contour. We took this road, passed into Gaines county, took another dirt road west a short distance and then paced into a weedy field to our best approximation of the highpoint area. Bob did some sighting with his level to be sure. There were no restrictive signs or fences, although there are farms and farmhouses in the area, as well as the usual smattering of wells. The land is totally flat here; to my eyes nothing looked high. But we put our faith in the maps and Bob felt pretty confident when he sighted to some nearby buildings that we were higher by a foot or two. Bob had been here before so this was his second visit.
By the time we were done it was getting close to dark, so we headed north into the town of Plains, with the intention of visiting the Yoakum County highpoint the next morning. We found a peculiar little hotel in town that served our purposes well enough, and we were on the road early the next morning. Alas, Yoakum County proved to be too much for us, as you can read about by taking a short detour via this link. At this point Bob started his drive back to Arizona, so I was off on my own from here on out.
The Bledsoe Bluffs, as I call them, are a set of low, scrub-covered sand dunes located on the county's western border with New Mexico. Bledsoe Benchmark is located within these hills, but any one of about 10 little dune 'summits' could be the highpoint. The tiny community of Bledsoe on FM-2182 serves as a good reference point. Proceed westbound for two miles and follow the road as it turns north, literally on the Texas-New Mexico state line. Where the road turned west again, I carefully drove down into a small sandy depression/pullout, and parked behind a small sand berm.
From the pullout, I walked north along the sandy road to a gate that has no restrictive signs against access, which was promising. However, this is a ranch and on the day I showed up there were cattle out and about. I chose to hop the fence just to the west of the gate; a north-south fence delineating Texas from New Mexico. I walked north along the fence, tripping once on a bunched-up pile of barbed wire, before coming up to the highpoint bluffs. The sandy road might be a better path but mud and standing water prompted me to avoid it. The cattle were not a problem.
The highpoint area is a set of sandy bluffs about 500 feet inside Texas from the state line. I scampered over to the highest one of the ones I could see and using my sight-level, immediately deleted about a half-dozen other bumps from contention while also determining the likeliest highest hill(s). The highest of these little hills are about another 500 feet east, toward another north-south fence line. I stepped on about 2 or 3 areas of contention, back-sighted to some other areas and was satisfied I hit the highest point. I returned to my truck, total time about 40 minutes and just a shade over a mile of hiking. These bluffs appear to be natural, but it also seems that the ranchers have taken advantage of these bluffs and have dug out some water catchment basins within them. The scrub cover helps keep them in place, but where there isn't scrub, it's very soft, fine sand.
Bailey County is due north of Cochran County and its highpoints sits close to the New Mexico state line as well. I drove local roads and some FM routes to get into the community of Stegall on FM-298. West four miles brought me to County Road 11, then north on CR-11 two miles to CR-1194, where I went left (west) again. A half-mile later, there I was. The road intersects a closed contour of 4,120 feet, which meanders over about 120 acres. There was a plowed field to my north and a weedy field to my south. Determining one point above all others was not possible; the road was in the fat part of the contour and nothing looked significantly higher. I made some very short walks in the immediate area.
A recent rain had rendered the access to CR-11 from FM-298 muddy, although the rest of the road was in fair shape. Drainage isn't the best here. Anyway, I headed east from here, to...
Lamb County's highpoint is two regions, both exceeding 3,870 feet, west of the town of Sudan. I followed more FM roads and farm roads to get myself on top a small crest, spot elevation 3,870 feet, so says the map. This was the northwest of the two regions, very near the west county line. If the map is correct, the highpoint of the road is 3,870 feet, while a berm that rises about 5 feet would presumably mean a rough guess of about 3,875 feet elevation. I eyeballed the gentler rise to the southeast - the other 3,870-foot region - but it didn't seem as high and I skipped it. In retrospect I probably should have visited it, but nevertheless, I feel I 'probably' hit the correct highpoint where I was. I'm not going to lose sleep over this one.
Like Lamb County to the north, the Hockley County highpoints are two regions in flattish farm country. At the junctions of FM 303 and 597 about two miles south of Pep, a section road goes west. I parked at the rise and spied some more rise in a fallow field to my north. This is the larger of the two regions, and interestingly, the 'top' was actually visible and noticeable. I sighted over to the smaller northern area and it was clearly not a contender, so I got moving.
After two fairly easy highpoints, I drove south into Terry County for a go at its highpoint, a spot elevation of 3,602 feet set back in from the highway in some of the ugliest, bleakest landscape on earth.
I came down from the north from Whiteface, driving about 15 miles south on FM-1780 to the Cochran-Yoakum county line. The map shows two tracks leading to the east about 500 feet south of the county line off of FM-1780. One parallels the county line, another trends to the east-southeast toward a windmill, from which a pipeline (and accompanying road) leads right to the Terry County corner and its highpoint. I drove to these dirt roads but found them fenced. A very old sign with all its letters burned off or just worn with age was on the fence, but I couldn't make out what it said. Not wanting to park my truck at the edge of the road, I backtracked north just under 2 miles to a slight bend in the highway, at which Cochran County Road 260 spurs to the east. I turned in here, then turned into a smaller road and parked, somewhat well hidden from the main highway. The plan was to ride my bicycle south back to the dirt tracks, shimmy under the fence, stow the bike out of sight, then hike to the highpoint. I got on my bike and did exactly that, covering the 2 miles in about 10 minutes at a leisurely pace. The locals out here don't see too many bicyclists, that's for sure.
Once at the dirt tracks, I quickly squeezed under, lifted my bike over, and tossed it in a set of bushes. The dirt track supposedly paralleling the county line does not exist, as I couldn't find any sign of it. So I started hiking along the track toward the obvious windmill out in the distance. A recent rain left parts of this track extremely muddy and I found myself hiking more in the brush than on the track. After a half mile I just decided to leave the track and hike by dead reckoning to the northeast: I figured I'd either reach the county line (fenced) or the pipeline road, and from there finding the intersection of the two would be trivial. Aside from the slow going in the scrubby, colorless brush, I arrived upon the fence first, then walked along it until I found the pipeline road. To be sure, I hiked in the immediate area, going a bit farther east and south than I needed to, until I was satisfied. Total one way hiking was just over a mile.
Hiking back to my bike and the main road, I followed some cattle trails but these just meander so again I just walked in a beeline and soon arrived back to my bike. Back on the main road, I had a stiff 20 mph headwind, so I ended up walking most of the two miles back to my truck. Total time on this one was about an hour and a half (including scouting for other routes) and 6.5 miles of actual non-motorized travel.
Lynn county's highpoint proved to be a pleasant experience after a series of flatties that I had done so far today; this would be my 6th of 8 highpoints for the day, having come over from the west after visiting the Terry County highpoint. From the intersection of US-380 and FM-179 in the community of West Point, I went north on FM-179 about three miles to a section-line road off to the right (east). This road is obvious as it has a utility pole right in the middle of it at the main road, instead of off to the side. I turned and followed this dirt road a little over a mile to a point where it ended at a small metal pipe sticking out of the road (the topo map shows the road jigging south and another one continuing east along a fence line but these were sketchy tracks at best. Another road leading north from this post is not on the topo map). There are no fences or restrictive signs, and the sandy hills offered a good place to park my truck.
From this post in the ground, I walked north about a quarter-mile to the crest of a rise in this road (the one not noted on the topo). From here, looking to the east, were a series of low hills about 1,000 feet away. I hiked out to these hills and just hiked up until I topped out on one that was higher than the rest. My sight-level came in real handy and I felt certain I was at the highest point. The topo shows a bewildering mess of contours so it really isn't much help except getting you to the general area. The wind was really kicking up with blowing sand and dust and I had to cover my mouth while hiking to avoid ingesting dirt. I passed through some big dust clouds on my way up to Lubbock, just to the north.
The Lubbock county highpoint is trivially easy as a paved highway crosses right through the highpoint contour, tucked tightly in the extreme northwest corner of the county. From US-84 about a mile northwest of Shallowater, I took FM-179 north eight miles to the town of County Line, then west along FM-597 about three miles to where it made a turn to the south. I parked and walked around, trying to find an area above the rest. I had plans to proceed further north for more counties, but a persistent northwesterly breeze (about 15-25 mph) was kicking up dust and generally making it rough to drive. It was only about 3:30 in the afternoon, but I decided to cut out about 5 counties and just start heading south. I passed through the city of Lubbock, snagged the Garza county highpoint, then took a hotel in Post.
I was winding down a long and successful day of highpoints, but a very persistent wind was making getting around a bother, so I decided to skip a whole bunch more I had planned, and once I bagged Garza County's easy highpoint, I called it a day.
Garza county's highpoint is trivially simple and conveniently located near a major highway. Access is off of US-84 southeast of Lubbock and just past the town of Slaton. However, the turn-off to the little road that leads to the highpoint is not well-marked, and I passed it and entered into Lynn county. I found a place to turn around, and re-entered Lubbock county. Using the sign as a land-mark, I proceeded up US-84 about a mile to the first paved road on the right (east), onto County Road 79. I followed this road, carefully noting intersections and landmarks on the map, which matches well with what I saw. There were no signs mentioning where the Garza County line was, but navigating by the map, I got myself onto the right road. Then it was just an easy drive to the slightly obvious highspot, which bisects the highpoint region. Easy enough. I walked a bit, just to be sure.
This was enough for me today. I stayed the night in the town of Post, just a few miles down US-84.
Today started in Post, about an hour southeast of Lubbock along US-84. I had a short list of highpoints on today's agenda, mostly apart from the total flatness of the Llano Estacado and now more towards the hill-and-mesa country of the Brazos River Drainage.
From Post, I headed southeast on "eastbound" US-84 about 15 miles to its junction with FM-1269, where I made a right and proceeded due south. Very visible about 3 miles away was a set of bluffs, on top of which contained the Scurry highpoint. FM-1269 gains rather steeply up this bluff then tops out amid a farm to my left (east) and a gravel/clay mine to my right (west). Conveniently enough, the highway crosses over the 2,840-foot closed contour, so all I needed to do was park, get out and walk the immediate area. I looked for a legal way in toward the gravel/clay mine since this contour extended that way, but could find none, so I called it good where I stood. I doubt I would have gained much more than a foot or two. Some slash piles in the mine area were clearly higher than the surrounding land but not counted as they are man-made.
Kent County sits in a region of bluffs and mesas east of Lubbock, among the feeder creeks that eventually form the Brazos River. As a result, there is actual topography to be had in Kent county instead of the usual mind-numbing flatness. The highpoint is a pair of mesas called the McKenzie Mountains in the southwest part of the county, near the Scurry county line. I came in from the north from the town of Post, although easier access is available from Snyder to the south. From the junction of US-84 and FM-1142 about 8 miles northwest of Snyder, I took FM-1142 due north to a point where the road curved west, about 10 miles from the junction. At this bend is a dirt road continuing north, labeled Kent County Road 316. The McKenzie Mountains are visible from miles around and they get larger as one drives up FM-1142. Take CR-316 north briefly and park where convenient.
This being Texas, I was fully expecting these mesas to be well-fenced with numerous "No Trespassing" signs everywhere, but I was genuinely and happily surprised to see no restrictions whatsoever. Landowners must have forgotten to put them up. On top of that, these mesas looked like a genuine challenge and featured some flora that was easy on the eyes, like little Juniper-like trees and green grasses. I put on my boots, grabbed some water and my sight-level and started in. Of the two distinct mesas, the eastern one is larger and contains a spot elevation of 2,830 feet, while the western one has a spot elevation of 2,823 feet. I chose to climb the eastern mesa first and sight over to the west to see if I'd need to bother climbing that one.
There is no trail to the top, except for game and cattle trails. The mesas are topped by a caprock that forms some challenging cliffs. It appeared the best option was to climb toward the saddle between the two mesas, where there appeared to be more weaknesses in the caprock. The hike was short but strenuous, and very slippery due to the rubbly limestone rocks. I followed some drainages and achieved a ridge and soon, found a spot in the caprock that I breached. From truck to top was about 20 minutes. I continued along the top of the mesa to the highest area, which was spotted with numerous trees. I sighted to the western mesa and it was clear that I was higher where I was. However, on this same mesa is another rise to the east that was inconclusive upon sight-leveling, so I walked over to it anyway to ensure my successful ascent of Kent County. Hiking down, I made a minor error in judgement: I failed to note where I entered through the caprock and found myself hemmed in by these cliffs. I eventually found a way down, but I should have noted my route on the way up in the first place. I was back to my truck, and the total hike was about a shade over an hour. Very pretty.
The Dawson county highpoint is located on the west edge of the county in a region marked by low but distinct hills, in a region devoted to cattle and oil. I was starting my drive back west after four days of highpoints, with a few more to go as I proceeded back toward the Midland-Odessa area. I worked my way into Gaines County, just west of the Dawson highpoint, then spent some time figuring out how to get to the target. A dirt road coming off of FM-1066 seemed promising but it was gated at the highway. Instead, inside Gaines County I took another road (Gaines CR-151) south for 1.5 miles, then went left again (east) onto a sketchy soft-sand road marked by 'Goodrich Petroleum' signs. I stayed on this road for 1.7 miles, coming to an unlocked, unposted (apparently) gate. I parked here and decided to walk to the highpoint, still about a half-mile east. This I did, but when I got near the highpoint, there were much cattle milling around, including a bull, and I didn't feel comfortable walking amidst them. I returned to the truck.
I figured I'd take my chances driving in, and I did, getting to within maybe 50 feet of the highpoint, which is just a smattering of little sandy dune hilltops covered in typical Permian Basin scrub. Utterly unremarkable. The cattle was still there, but my walk to the highpoint was short, and they caused me no trouble. Easy enough; I drove out and got back onto the main highway. Another quicky highpoint was awaiting me down in Martin County.
My hiking stats include the walk I took where I had to return to my truck. I spent about an hour futzing around at this highpoint.
Martin county, just north of Midland, was my 18th and final highpoint for this trip, and it wasn't even on my original plans. Bob Martin suggested I try for this county as it was easy, legal and with good road access. He supplied me a copy of the topographical map.
Access is from TX-349 between Lamesa and Midland. I came down from Lamesa, heading south (the highway is at a slight SSW trend from true south). I found Martin County Road D-2651 just south of the community of Patricia, and parked a bit south of a low but distinct dune, the Martin highpoint. I hiked across low, ankle-high scrub to gain this swell of land, then walked its spine to satisfy my curiosity. The map says there's a benchmark 'Sandy' nearby, but not at the highpoint area. The highpoint itself was just a bunch of low grass, scrub, and well-hidden snakes. I had no trouble, however, and once satisfied, I walked back to my truck.
I actually gave Midland County's highpoint a go, but messed up on it for a variety of reasons. Then it was just a long drive back to Arizona, with an overnight in Las Cruces, New Mexico. another fun, pointless highpoint harvest courtesy of Texas!
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(c) 2001, 2006 Scott Surgent. For entertainment purposes only. This report is not meant to replace maps, compass, gps and other common sense hiking/navigation items. Neither I nor the webhost can be held responsible for unfortunate situations that may arise based on these trip reports. Conditions (physical and legal) change over time! Some of these hikes are major mountaineering or backpacking endeavors that require skill, proper gear, proper fitness and general experience. |