Kansas, South and North Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado High Points

Over three days, I bagged five state high points. Not bad if I do say so myself. I flew into Denver on Tuesday, July 3rd and got in at about 10 PM. I checked my bag in which I knew was a mistake and took forever to come out; although I was at the wrong carousel for a while which did not help. I got my vehicle which was another Nissan Rogue and would allow me to sleep in the car. I took my sleeping bag this time so I would not run into the hotel issue from last Fourth of July weekend and my trouble in Stowe last Fall. I drove for about an hour and a half on I-70 East until I ran into a random rest area, parked, peed and went to bed.

This was my kind of high point. Essentially a drive up. Nice location and I had it all to myself.

I woke up fairly early the next morning, got dressed and got on the road. I found some coffee at a local gas stop and kept heading east towards Kansas’ high point. You drive into Kansas and then head south shortly thereafter. I had to drive on some pretty rural roads and the second half after getting off of i-70. In short order, I rolled into the road into Mount Sunflower. A little part of me thought maybe I should walk in but I opted to drive. It was a nice spot and there was a fairly significant marker for this high point. That it is the highest is hard to tell as you survey the land around you. And the overall altitude is just over 4,000 feet which is hard to believe. I took the requisite pictures and headed north toward South Dakota.

I worked my way north on State Highway 385 towards Rapid City. I went through Nebraska and even though I was close to the state high point, I decided to get that one on the way back to Colorado. The scenery was very interesting and I saw a lot of coal coming out of Easter Wyoming through the Platte River Valley by train. This was a little depressing.

You enter the Black Hills National Forest shortly after entering South Dakota. The terrain started becoming interesting. I arrived at Sylvan lake Campground which had an entry fee and was pretty busy. That caught me off guard a little, but I got in and put on my hiking gear to start what appeared to be a somewhat easy but interesting loop to Harney Peak or now Black Elk Peak. The scenery was nice and within about 45 minutes I had arrived at the peak. There was a very elaborate entrance carved into the rock and a tower to climb and see a 360-degree view of some pretty remarkable sites.

There was quite an impressive lookout tower at the top of Black Elk Peak in South Dakota.

I had a very pleasant hike out. I saw a bunch of deer which was nice and then found my car. I got into my driving clothes and started heading north to White Butte in North Dakota. I was really close to Mount Rushmore and they were having a big Fourth of July celebration. That would be really great to see but I was on a mission to bag these peaks! Driving through Deadwood was a bit of a surprise. What an interesting place. I thought maybe some time in my life I might have to return. I grabbed some food and kept driving.

I arrived in Bowman, North Dakota and decided that this would work for an easy and early effort to hike White Butte. I found a back lot near a gas station where a bunch of semis were parked and found a good spot. I looked around scenic Bowman and this seemed to be the best spot. They were lighting off fireworks seeming all night which made going to sleep a little challenging but I finally managed to get some rest.

I woke up in the morning after a pretty good night and got dressed. I walked over to the gas station and got some coffee and a little food and headed north. The scenery on this drive was really nice on a sunny summer day. Rolling hills of grass with buttes popping out here and there. I entered into some farm roads and slowly worked my way to the entrance of White Butte. You had to drive essentially three sides of a square to get there. This high point is on private property and there some conflicting information about access. I drove into the road as far as I felt comfortable. In retrospect, I probably should have walked in that last portion. I got dressed and headed up the road to the trail.

The landscape here is a bit strange. There is erosion that exposes this white sandy rock. I was heading up, there was a deer against and all-white background which would have made a pretty dramatic picture. I missed it though because I could not get my phone out quick enough. The trail up is pretty short and before I knew it, I was at the top. The views were great and I really soaked it in.

I thought it was odd the elevation here was below Kansas. None-the-less, White Butte was memorable.

I headed back to the car and was back pretty quickly. I spotted someone hiking in as I was getting out of my hiking clothes; which was probably unnecessary for this hike. We chatted and he was doing the same thing I was. He had just been to the Nebraska high point and recommended I stop in at a ranger station for that one. I never did.

I started heading south and towards Panorama Point in Nebraska. I had to cut into Wyoming for a bit and attack the high point from the west. The directions seemed pretty straight forward so I just went straight there despite the advice I had gotten earlier in the morning. I arrived there mid-afternoon and like Kansas, this one was a drive up as well. Very nice and the buffalo one the way in were interesting. I took the pictures, soaked in the scenery, made a donation on the way out and started heading for Twin Lakes in Colorado.

This was pleasant and easy one to check off the list.

I headed due south to I-76 and then 1-70. I grabbed some gas and a Chipotle bowl and then headed to meet my buddy at Twin Lakes campground. I managed to find the campground and his spot. It was good to see Clay Cox and I had not seen for a while. Since I had gotten there at a somewhat reasonable hour, I wanted to climb in the morning. I had stopped at a store for food and water for the hike. Clay seemed up for it. We finally went to bed for a 6 AM wake-up.

The morning arrived and it was sunny and cool. I was ready to go. Clay, on the other hand, said his gout was acting up and he was going to bail. I was looking forward to having a partner for the third highest peak. He gave me a ride up the road as far as he could get in his Lincoln Navigator, but it was not to the trailhead. This was a bit of a rough start and I wondered if I was going to actually pull this off. I had extra days so it did not need to happen this day. I kept walking up this road for about a mile and a half and finally got to the trailhead. This was good. There was no one around so I forged on.

I began my journey up and things were improving. I finally got out of the treeline and could see the top. I was able to do what I do best which is grind through it, and Mount Elbert turned to be a grind. There was a section toward the top that was pretty steep. As I got to the top there were a fair number of people up there. I could see the top and the end, but it proved to be harder than it looked. I finally made it to the top. I was happy. I enjoyed some snacks. Someone had fashioned a sign made out of cardboard which I posed along with the official marker. I then went down. This was a bit taxing but I was happy to be done with this adventure and perfect on the peak bagging!

This was a good one and I had to push to get it done.

Cirque Peak Overnight

I had signed up with a Facebook group called SoCal Hiking. I was interested in doing some hiking with someone other than myself. Not too long after I signed up, they had posted an overnight trip to climb Cirque Peak in the southern Sierras. This looked interesting to me and so I indicated I would go. I was looking forward to something new and meeting new people.

The plan was to meet at Horseshoe Meadow Campsite near Lone Pine at 8 AM. I got up very early at home and drove there Saturday morning. The drive up Horseshoe Meadows Road was pretty dramatic. You could see it from 395 snaking up a steep incline, and the trip up was pretty and did not disappoint. I got to the parking lot of the campsite and saw someone who looked as if he was waiting for people and sure enough, Johnny was part of our group. Another gentleman showed up named Mario and he was going to hike with us as well. We were still waiting for our leader Eylene Pirez. She showed up shortly after with a young man name Sante Kotturi and his dog Sitka. Our group was assembled and we started up the Cottonwood Lakes trail.

This trip was an out and back of about twenty-two miles with about 3,500 feet in elevation change. There was some discussion about making it a loop but it was decided that we would make that choice on Sunday after summitting Cirque Peak. The trail up was pleasant and we all got to know each other a little bit. Johnny and Mario were sort of new to hiking and overnight camping. Eylene and Sante were clearly very experienced. We got about halfway and it started to rain. Shortly thereafter it started snowing but it was more like frozen rain. I was a bit surprised as the day started very sunny. The Eastern Sierras are notorious for afternoon showers and I guess I should have not been really too surprised. I figured it would let up in about ten or fifteen minutes, but it did not.

We got to the first Cottonwood Lake and hiked along the shore. The second Cottonwood Lake was close to the first and we then found an area out of the wind which important in these seemingly wintry conditions. Everyone set up their tent and got in our of the wind and frozen rain. I did not want to put my tent out and have my tent get all wet and then have to deal with that all night. So I decided to wait it out. I could see blue sky in the cloud breaks. It had to end soon, or so I thought. I ended up waiting under a pine tree for close to two hours. There were a couple of moments where I thought maybe I would just hike out and call it a day.

I finally put my tent out and cleared off the snow down to the gravel so the floor of my tent would be dry.

Things cleared up quickly and we spent a fair amount of time hanging out. Sante had a drone and we played with that for a while. After dinner and some drinks, I called it and decided to sleep. It proved to be pretty cold. I had purchased a liner for my sleeping bag after the Mt. Whitney experience, and ended up pulling that out and using it sometime in the evening when it was clear my bag by itself was going to be cold.

Finally, morning arrived and we all got up and had some hot oatmeal. This was very welcomed. We had talked to some people the day before that had attempted the New Army Pass but there was a cornice that they could not get over. We headed towards Cirque Peak and ditched the trail pretty quickly as it was all snow. We just headed towards Cirque Peak to see how far we could get by going straight up it. There was a fair amount of snow interspersed in what was a rock field up a pretty steep incline. After some determination, we made it to the top. Mission accomplished despite not being the recommended route.

Summit conquered!

We headed down after enjoying the peak for about a half-hour. We new where our campsite was and just bushwhacked our way back. This required a river crossing that was way more exciting than it should be. There was a lot of post-holing but at long last, we were back to our tents. We packed up and started down to our cars which was another eight miles. This took a while and I must confess that the last few miles were tough. I was ready to get back and sit on my ass. And at long last, that goal was achieved.

This was a good trip for me as I went to a place I probably would not have done on my own and met some really nice and interesting people.

Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona Highpoints

I work for a company based out of Austin Texas. I decided that I would drive home to California and climb four high points on the way home. I usually fly, but this provided an opportunity to knock out some state high points. My plan was to climb Guadalupe Mountain in Texas, then Mount Wheeler in New Mexico, backtrack a little to bag Black Mesa in Oklahoma and then finish up with Mount Humphrey in Arizona. Lots of driving!

This hike was surprisingly nice. When you think Texas, you don’t think Mountains. Guadalupe is definitely a real mountain.

I left work in Austin on June 29th at about four in the afternoon and started driving West. I work in North Austin so getting out the metropolis was pretty easy and in short order, I was driving roads that had little to no traffic. For the next few hours, I enjoyed the vastness that is Texas. As the sun began to set, I began to enter West Texas, the oil and gas rigs started becoming more and more plentiful. For the next couple of hours, the orange glow and haze that our country’s energy demands have created was something of a hellish landscape or some apocalyptic movie scene.

I was not sure where I was going to sleep so I decided to drive to the trailhead for Guadalupe to get a lay of the land. When I arrived, there was not much around. I decided to drive to the closest town which was about thirty miles away and in New Mexico. I found a motel, spent a little time prepping for the morning and then went to bed.

I woke up the next morning pretty early and drove back to the trailhead. Things looked a lot better in daylight than the darkness the night before. There was a young man, Romero, who was getting ready to climb as well. So we teamed up and climbed together. He was a student at the University of Houston who had an internship in the oil and gas industry and was living in a trailer about forty miles southwest.

The trail was quite good, challenging but not terribly difficult. We made good time and before long, made it to the top. The views were great and I was pleasantly surprised by the Texas high point. There was quite the marker at the top; it looked maybe like American Airlines contributed to the installation. We made it down pretty quickly which was good because the temperature was definitely rising pretty quickly. I said my good-byes to Romero and was anxious to start driving north to Wheeler Peak.

The trip north was visually interesting. Early on I passed the Carlsbad Caverns which I would have really liked to visit, but I did not have the time. Southeast New Mexico is very arid and what little human development there was, certainly was not visually nice and the area appears to be broadly impoverished. I did drive through Roswell which noteworthy from a pop-culture perspective, but it had a fair amount to be desired. I saw no life from other worlds, but the life I did see was somewhat alien. The farther I got north, the better things got. Santa Fe was nice and I finally go into Taos about five in the evening. I was able to have a casual evening, good rest and ready for an early morning departure.

I woke up before daylight, grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and started heading to the ski resort parking lot. Halfway up the access road, there was an older gentleman with his thumb out so I picked him up. He was a consultant to the ski resort from Vermont and looking to make the same climb. This was good because he knew where he was going. We started hiking and things were good. The area was very pretty. My new friend was not particularly fast and he told me to go on with him after about a half-mile. The beginning of the trail was fairly easy and in the woods. After a couple of miles, we really started heading up and got out of the treeline. The trail became steep and was a series of switchbacks. There was a little snow here and there, a fair amount of loose rock, but the trail was pretty good and the scenery was great on a crystal blue morning. After a few hours, I made it to the top. There was a fair amount of hikers. The view at the top was really nice. I spent about thirty minutes up there and started heading down. I met my early morning travel buddy on the way down.

The official top and definitely one of my favorite high points so far.

I made it down pretty quickly but it definitely beat up some. The last mile was rough and I had a little trouble finding my car in the parking lot which made things that much more painful. I was happy to get out my hiking clothes, get in the car and start heading to Black Mesa in Oklahoma. I did stop in Taos again and grabbed a burger. I ate it in the restaurant. In time I would wish that I got something to go.

My plan now was to get as close as I could to Black Mesa and then hike it in the morning. I headed down out of the Carson National Forest toward Eagle Nest. The scenery was great and as I got into Eagle Nest, it had gotten quite dark and poured rain. This area was really nice and I suspect it was a little bit of a hidden gem for the areas summer vacationers. I motored on. After a couple of hours, I finally made it into Oklahoma. I had gone through a number of small towns and eyed motels I could stay at. It was starting to get late but I figured I would see how close I could get and then go back to the closest motel.

Around a quarter of seven, I was essentially at Black Mesa, which was really in the middle of nowhere. Finding the trailhead was difficult. My GPS was not cooperating. There were also some comments that GPS took you to the wrong place. I found a Bed and Breakfast that seemed to house hikers. I knocked on their door to see if they had space and any details on the hike. Unfortunately, no one answered despite it looking like there were people there. So I headed out on the main road and found a person riding a bike. They indicated the trailhead was a bit further down. So I figured I would drive to the trailhead, and in short order, I was there. It was seven on the dot and the sun was setting. All Trails indicated it was about nine miles out and back and the trail was moderate. And based on the surroundings which were rolling hills with scattered Mesas that were a few hundred feet high, I thought I could make good time. Could I do it in a little over two hours? Or so I thought.

So I got my gear on quick and headed out at a brisk pace. The trail was easy but four-plus mile as the sun is setting quickly proved to be long. The scenery was quite nice and besides the cows, I pretty much had the place to myself. After a couple of miles, I finally got to the Mesa and started to climb. Pretty much during the first two miles, I was certain I knew what had to be the high point, but was wrong a few times. When I got to the top of the Mesa, it was very flat and I thought I must be pretty close. Wrong! The high point proved to be two miles across and on the other side of the Mesa. I found it very frustrating. Where the hell was that monument. At long last, I could see it. I was doing intermittent jogging to go faster. And at long last I made it.

My hope was to get to the edge of the Mesa before the sun went down. Mission accomplished, but the rest of the trip back to my car was at best twilight, if not dark. I could hear a fox or a coyote following me for a while. This is after I sort of bumped into some stray cows after coming off the Mesa and they let it be known that they saw me with a fair number of moos. At long last, I made it back to my car at about 9:45 PM. I quickly changed into some driving gear and headed back to the closest town to see if I could get a room.

Coming down of Black Mesa, the sunset in the distance was pretty good.

I was feeling pretty good about myself as I worked my way back through some pretty remote prairie and farmland in the Westernmost portion of Oklahoma. Two high points in one day and a fair amount of mileage driven as well. On the way in, there were a number of small towns with motels and this point,I was happy to stay at any one of them. Little did I know I was in for one of my longest nights ever.

All the motels in the three small towns on the way back to I-25 were all booked. I checked about six different motels and to my surprise all were full. It was now about eleven in the evening and I was pretty tired. I finally got to I-25 and figured that the towns off this Interstate would be much better options. A little closer to Arizona wouldn’t hurt either. I then stopped in Springer, Wagon Mound and Las Vegas New Mexico certain I would find something. And to my surprise and disbelief, all these hotels were full all because it was the Fourth of July weekend. I thought to myself who traveling to and vacationing in these towns. Not to be too snobbish, but there was nothing obvious that these locations had to offer that would warrant any vacation time. I finally got to Las Vegas, NM which had about twenty hotels. I pretty much stopped at everyone and all full. How can this be? Who are these people and why are they vacationing here? I was now forced to press on to Santa Fe and figured I would definitely be able to find something there. When I got to Santa Fe at about 2 AM, hotel row was all booked up as well. I spent about a half-hour going to hotel to hotel and hearing the same things, all booked up for the long weekend. So after a while, I gave up and decided to sleep in the car I had rented. Unfortunately, it was a sedan, so the best I could do is crank down the driver’s seat and make the best of it. I slept off and on for a few hours. After about four hours it was seven in the morning and I could not sleep anymore.

I got up, cleaned myself off as best I could and went to a Starbucks. I got a couple of coffees and some breakfast sandwiches. I started driving west towards Flagstaff Arizona. In a few hours, I was getting close. I was constantly doing math on whether I would hike Humphrey this day, or wait until tomorrow. The map shows that it is about ten miles out an back, so I was looking at five hours. However, I did two high points yesterday and effectively got no sleep so doing it today would be pushing it in a major way. I got into Flagstaff a little afternoon. I stopped at the local supermarket, got some hiking supplies and decided I would drive to the trailhead. The mountain is also a ski resort. It was one o’clock and I was feeling pretty good so I figured I would give it try.

The trail starts from the parking lot and cuts across ski trail before heading into the woods. There was a fair amount of traffic and I was following a few hikers which was good for pushing my pace which I thought was important based on the late start. Speaking to people, there was a saddle which was an important landmark on the trail. This day a few people were saying it was so windy that people were not going past the saddle. It was a bit of a slog, but I finally made it to the saddle and it was definitely windy. However, I had gone this far and there was no chance I was going to turn back and do it all over in the morning. I dropped my pack at the saddle to lighten the load a little and headed my way to the top. While the wind was quite strong, this portion was good terrain and it was quite clear. I finally made it to the top and was pretty proud of this last effort.

Maximum effort with a great pay-off. Check-off Arizona.

I worked my way back down which was rough. I was exhausted. I also almost got lost as I missed a switchback and walked out into a boulder field and could not spot the trail on the other side. I was definitely disoriented. I happened to see out of the corner of my eye someone making the turn I missed and was able to backtrack. If it was not for that person, I could have been in trouble.

Getting back to the car and getting my gear off was magical. I headed back into Flagstaff and had only three things on my mind; food, a shower and sleep. I went to Chipotle and got a giant burrito. I went to my hotel, ate it and took a shower. I got into bed and fell asleep in short order. I woke up the next morning at 8 AM, got some breakfast and drove home to Southern California. This trip worked out great. I was four for four on my high points without incident. The scenery was great and I saw a bunch of the country I really had not seen before. I can’t wait for my next trip!

Saddleback Mountain

I have stared at this mountain for fifteen years because it sits directly behind my house in the Cleveland National Forest. Saddleback is also referred to as Santiago Peak measuring 5,689 feet. I have always been impressed by this as it eclipses the height of my favorite mountain, Katahdin. I have often been struck that there is a significant peak right in my backyard just asking to be climbed. Unfortunately, it has taken me nearly fifteen years to actually climb it.

This is a typical view looking East in Orange County, California. One of those specs at the ‘base’ of Saddleback is my house.

When I was young, I did a fair amount of hiking, mostly on the East Coast. Then life got in the way and with a wife, kids and a career. I got busy, but mostly tired, fat and soft. Starting to hike again was mostly a passing thought. Something I should get back into. Maybe next month.

I would be reminded that Saddleback was just waiting to be climbed nearly every day. Driving home from work, the mountain was right there just waiting to be climbed. On occasion, I would look on the internet to try to figure out if there was a hiking trail but never really could find anything definitive. I traveled a fair amount and most air traffic coming into John Wayne Airport flies right over the northern end of the Cleveland National Forest. I would study all the fire roads trying to see the route up and try to figure out where is a ‘trailhead’. My efforts were genuine but never resulted in any meaningful results.

Then one day, my wife came home and in her work travels met someone who was talking about hiking Saddleback. She shared this with me and I asked her to get the person’s contact information. If he knew a trail and a route, I wanted to tag along. One of the biggest obstacles for me was trying to go it alone. Wandering around hoping I was going the right way was not something I wanted to do.

The connection and trip were confirmed with this individual, Tex. He was planning to climb Saddleback over the July Fourth weekend. I was in. This was enough to finally get me to check this ‘To Do’ item off my list. Tex was going to meet me at a location not far from my house at 5 AM. He had four-wheel drive, so I was going to hitch a ride into the trailhead, called Holy Jim.

The best part was I convinced my youngest to come with me at the last minute; the night before. Generally speaking, when I ask my youngest to do something like this with me, he turns me down. For him, rejecting my request is somewhat reflexive. In this case, since it was around my birthday, I think I convinced him to do it by leveraging guilt to push him over the line to a yes.

We met with some others that Tex had included in this trip at Cook’s Corner. My son and I hopped into one of the four-wheel-drive vehicles and we drove to the trailhead. After about twenty minutes, we finally got to the trailhead. The road in was definitely a bit rough in parts. Everyone got ready and we were finally ready to start. We walked through a small collection of cabins where people were actually living and then got on the trail.

After a short period of hiking, it was quickly apparent that most of the group was going at a pretty slow pace. My son and I were definitely in front along with one older lady that kept our pace. Early on, we would stop and wait for others to catch up but after a few times, it was clear that this was not going to work. So we just forged ahead.

The trail was single-track for maybe two-thirds of the way up and then the trail changes to a fire road. It was a fairly long trip up. There was nothing particularly technical or steep, but it was a long trip up. I was very surprised by how vast the Cleveland National forest was. When I would fly over it, you never really sensed how big it was; probably because what you can see at 10,000 feet and going 500 miles an hour.

We finally made it to the top which is mostly a collection of communication towers. There is not an obvious peak, but we did find the marker. The best views tended to be during the hike. There was good visibility West, and hiking back down you got to see a good view looking East. The views were good, but there was not a lot of wow.

The trip down seemed to go forever. I was in descent shape, but not for long hikes. We got down at about 2 PM and I was pretty tired. My legs were quite sore. We had seen our party when we headed back down and there was some question if they were going to make it to the top. At the bottom, we waited for about half an hour. I got desperate to get home and we took the opportunity to hitch a ride out with some kids that had just come down. Getting home, showered and horizontal felt great.

Saddleback or Mount Santiago was a good hike and something I needed to check off my list, but I am not sure I would rush back.

The summit looking West. The Pacific is out there somewhere.