Coke County Highpoint Trip Report
Date: May 26, 2007
Author: Bob Packard
I'm not quite ready to claim this county yet. This trip report is to tell you
what I did and share information that I have and my current thoughts.
For the moment, consider this still virgin.
On TX 158 just east of the Coke-Sterling County line is a road with sign that
says "Private Road, Drive at Your Own Risk". I drove this north 1 mile to where
the road turns right (east). This is just east of spot elevation 2587 on the
Crawford Slide Quad. At this point there was a locked gate stopping me from
driving east and a driveway heading northwest to the house west of the 2600-foot
depression contour.
I parked, left a note on my truck saying what I was up to, and walked the roads,
just as they show on the map, to the spot elevation of 2609 where the map shows
a windmill. The girders are still there but there is no fan (propeller).
The large, concrete, open-topped water tank was full of very good looking water,
the pump being now solar powered. It is my guess that this is the Coke County HP
but more research needs to be done before I claim it.
There is a radio tower 1 mile south of the water tank. A guy in a utility truck
passed me as I walked in, asked if I was OK. I think there are plans for a wind
farm out there. On the way back I was met by the guy that lives in the
aforementioned house. He has been the caretaker for the owner of this ranch
land for over 20 years. He was very friendly, not the slightest perturbed that
I was out there and gave me a ride back. He thinks the 2609 spot elevation is
the HP out there in this gargantuan contour area (about 7 miles long and over a
mile wide in some places).
I don't see how the 3 southern areas on the Broome Quad can be contenders.
They are SO small and the land is SO flat. The 2 areas north of the 2609 spot
elevation can be ruled out, it seems to me, as one is very tiny and the other
has spot elevation of 2603. How can the 5 small flat areas out the northeastern
arm be contenders? How can they compete with the 2608 spot elevation near Goat BM?
Sure would like to know what USGS lists as elevation for Goat BM.
Can someone find out or tell me how to do it myself? I rule out the tiny area with
spot elevation 2602 cradled between the northeastern and northern arms.
That leaves the 2600 contour on the southeastern arm which should be easy to
check out and, of course, the HUGE contour. When you walk it, it FEELS like it
is going uphill as you go north and it FEELS like it is going downhill as you go south.
Notice also that there are quite a few spot elevations on it. At any rate,
I'm going back by this area on my way to AL and FL next spring and plan to
work on this some more. I'll bet my caretaker friend will help me out.
Meanwhile I'm open to suggestions as to what to do.