Weld County High Point Trip Report

Date: April 17, 2004
Author: Adam Helman

I received permission to hike solo from the manager of the Terry Bison Ranch, starting my eastward trek at 6:14 a.m. - a few minutes before sunrise.

The highpoint area is now occupied by a set of enormous windmills of the modern type that generate kilowatts of electricity. When you start out from the ranch these windmills appear to be only a mile or two distant. Lo and behold, they ended up being three or four miles away - so much had I underestimated their height.

I returned to my rental at 9:30 a.m. - with nary a close encounter with bison. I did, however, find myself waiting for Union Pacific railcars to pass prior to crossing their north-south trending tracks - both coming and returning.

Dave and John's good book on Colorado county highpoints specifies that Dan Thiel is the Terry Bison Ranch contact. Upon talking to him by telephone, he referred me to Amy Lenhart for final approval. She can be reached at Iron Mountain Bison, telephone (307) 635-5975.