6-27-04

Made our way by Black Mesa enroute from Austin, TX to a week in Colorado. Though normally prone to meticulous preparation, this trip was readied in about an hour and a half. As we headed for the tip of the Oklahoma panhandle, I was kicking myself for not printing out any information from this site or bringing my high point guide. Happily, the trailhead was easy to find relying only on roadside signs. Another result of our spur-of-the-moment departure was that I had it in my head that the round trip to the high point was about 4 miles. Discovering, on our arrival at the trialhead, that it was more than double that, we shrugged our shoulders, tossed in lots of extra water (which we fortunately had in the car) and headed off.

The hike was delightful – very flat and smooth except for the climb up onto the mesa itself. One of the things that I love about this pursuit is that it gives you the opportunity to see topography that you may not have visited otherwise. This was a classic example. The combination of the colorful mesas, the skies and the clouds were soul-stirring on this day. We topped out and visited with four Oklahomans come to experience their high point, at least one of whom was making a repeat visit. We all shared chips and salsa and fresh Texas grapefruits and enjoyed the vistas from the top. We traded picture taking duties and everyone posed with Sir Periwinkle, our next-door-neighbors’ garden gnome, kidnapped for the trip. As dark clouds began to build we made a hasty exit back toward the trailhead.

GREAT high point! #27 for Ken, #21 for Melissa, and #11 for Lauren and Sierra, both age 12. (we don’t count those that they did in utero). Later in the week we climbed Mt. Democrat, 14,148′, in Colorado.