Within an hour, I was back to my car, muddy and soaked. I jogged most of the way down, battling the wind and rain, and now the lightning. I tagged it, signed the register, took two lousy photographs and immediately hightailed it back down.Īs I hiked back down and lost elevation, I emerged out of the fog and once again had some semblance of visibility. Finally, after about 20 minutes of blindly hiking atop the mesa, a shadowy figure emerged from the mist: the obelisk. I was jogging, just hoping to come upon the stone pillar marking the highpoint. I seriously considered turning back but always told myself "a couple more minutes". The rain fell heavier, augmented by gustier winds. I was now on top of the mesa in dense fog, and I could see about 20 feet. We chatted before moving on.Īfter a mile, the tracks ascended up the side of the mesa. They were coming down from the top and heading back to their car. I had reasonable visibility, about a half-mile's worth, and after about 15 minutes came upon a surprise: three other hikers.
I followed the trail (Jeep tracks at first) as it meandered across the flat desert. A small stile-ladder allows access up and over the barbed wire fence. I drove to the trailhead parking lot, and parked. It was through him that I learned of the National Highpointer's Organization, which I joined afterwards. What? Other people actually do this? We chatted for awhile and he gave me all sorts of useful information. He even showed me books on the state highpoints.
Black mesa ok how to#
The proprietor, Alan, was friendly and knew everything about how to get up Black Mesa. I stopped into The Merc, a small general store, and essentially the only business in the town. By early afternoon, I had located myself to the tiny town of Kenton, Oklahoma, south of Black Mesa. The weather did not improve at all, staying cold, rainy and dark. I visited the highpoint of Kansas, Mount Sunflower, then drove through Colorado, aiming for the Oklahoma panhandle and Black Mesa. The weather was dreadful, with heavy storms and ominous black clouds. I began today in Burlington, Colorado, which is on the Kansas state line. I was back again in 2002, then not again until 2019.įirst visit, 1996: I visited Black Mesa on the end of a three-day driving tour through the high plains, tagging state highpoints that abut Colorado. Then I came back twice more, in 19, for the state highpoint. I did not return to the state until 1993. We moved away when I was still a little baby. I was born at Fort Sill while my father was stationed there. This part of Oklahoma features a number of mesas overlooking the Cimarron River. The mesa is in the far-west panhandle of the state, and the highpoint just a few hundred feet from the New Mexico state line. The highest point in Oklahoma is atop Black Mesa, a huge landform that lies mostly within New Mexico and Colorado, but juts just enough into Oklahoma to give it its highest point. Conditions: Awful in 1996, Beautiful with remnant snow in 1999 Bunch of us at the highpoint at the Oklahoma Convention, 2002 (Elam Benchmark, Texas County).ĭate: (1) (2) March 14, 1999
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