Reaching Oklahoma's Highpoint, Black Mesa

Just after sunrise on April 7th we drove the remaining portions of the old Santa Fe Trail to Black Mesa.  The great thing about my quest to reach the highpoint of all 50 states is exposure to areas of the country I would never have seen otherwise.  The pan handle of Oklahoma was like driving through the scenery of every old western that you've seen.  In fact, from 1822 to 1880 before the railroad was complete, this trail was a major commercial thoroughfare connecting Santa Fe, NM with Missouri.  According to Wikipedia, Americans routinely traded with the Comanches along the trail, and it was the invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican American War.  The area we traveled is a stark high desert with tumble weed and mesas, cactus and prairie with vast open big blue sky and occasional deer and antelope sightings.  In the sporadic small towns of the panhandle we saw the real deal working cowboy fueling up his working vehicle, often towing a horse trailer.  It took about two hours to make our way to the parking lot of the Nature Conservancy's entrance to the land surrounding Black Mesa.  I can't say enough to sing the praises of the Nature Conservancy.  They buy land that is considered important, representative habitat and set it aside for preservation so people like me can enjoy it.

An old building along the Santa Fe Trail

We stopped for a morning breakfast sandwich at a mini-mart, also the choice of local cowboys

John doing his best to look like a cowboy

Antelope "playing" beside the highway

The start of the trail to the "summit" of Black Mesa 

The trail to Black Mesa is about 8 miles round trip from parking lot to "summit".  We arrived at the trailhead about 10:30 am with plenty of water and snacks.  Midday is not the best time to hike an open and exposed part of a high western desert, but we were on a schedule to bag the summit and deliver the car to John's sister Jean on Saturday in Washington DC, so off we treked, trying to recall the words of the Broadway musical Oklahoma so we'd have a hiking song to sing.

Beginning the trail to Black Mesa

The trail was mostly flat with the exception of a 700 foot elevation gain as we climbed to the top of the "table" on the Mesa.  The geology is interesting, a volcano left a crust of rock that protects the sublayers of the Mesa from erosion.  The areas that were not covered by the "crust" have eroded away, leaving the Mesa.  It was great to be on the land after hours of watching it pass our windows at high speed.  We walked past beautiful cacti, scrub and occasional trees.  Whenever we passed a tree, we took advantage of their shelter from the hot sun.

Near the top of the climb to Black Mesa

We reached Oklahoma's highpoint on April 7, 2011

We reached the highpoint at about 12:30pm, although it was difficult to tell the correct time because we kept passing between the mountain and the central time zones during our walk.  Oklahoma's highpoint is 4,972.97 feet above sea level.  It's 1605 miles from NYC and it is in Cimarron County Oklahoma, the only county in the United States to border 4 states (Texas, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico).  John walked to New Mexico, 1299 feet away, while I waited at the monument.  Then we we sang our way back down the trail and began our "run" to Washington DC.