![]() It is now classified as a biohazard zone, for unknown reasons." Who ever said the high plains were boring? Cacti in the morning sun.Map Description: "This canyon used to play host to a classified mining operation. My car’s compass probably would have guided me just fine. The dirt roads have a couple of forks en route between Black Mesa and US-160. This allowed me to punch in a town in Colorado on google maps and load directions for the return trip. By some miracle, I picked up a brief trace of cell signal atop the mesa. Descending from the top of Black Mesa.īefore long I was back at the car. I’m a big sucker for educational signage. You’ll also find plenty of educational signage along the route. Give yourself a good three-to-four hours to complete it at a relaxed pace. Round trip, this hike clocks in at 8.5 miles. Where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain Western states feel weirdly close together on the Oklahoma Panhandle. Did you know Cimarron County, OK is the only county that borders four other states? Those would be Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, and Kansas. Carved into it were some other geography facts. A stone obelisk marks Oklahoma’s high point atop Black Mesa.Įach side of the monument highlighted its geographic relation to points near and far. I signed the register in a small canister at its base. The obelisk sits just 1200′ from the New Mexico border. In short order, I arrived at the stone obelisk marking Oklahoma’s high point. Basalt’s black appearance gives the mesa its name. Hence a table-top-like formation got left behind. The hills eventually eroded away, but the protective layer of basalt shielded the mesa itself from erosion. A massive volcanic eruption filled the valleys between these hills with basaltic rock. Three-to-five million years ago, higher hills surrounded the present-day mesa. But it exists as part of a much larger formation stretching for 50-ish miles through Colorado and New Mexico. Dry shrubs and snow patches on the high plains of Oklahoma in early February.īlack Mesa runs 10-ish miles through New Mexico before peaking into Oklahoma for its final three miles. Without a trail and marker, it would be more or less impossible to find. I worked my way along the mesa-top for another mile to the official “high point”. This being early February, patches of snow from a recent storm dotted the trail. Straw-colored vegetation stretched out across the large, flat expanse. The fine folks of the Sooner State have even placed a scenic bench midway up the incline.Ītop the mesa, I was greeted by some brilliant, golden sunshine.
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