Gooding County High Point Trip Report
Date: November 6, 1999
Author: Ken Jones
From Hill City on US 20 (mile 0.0), head south on Swamp Road. At 3.2 miles, bear left;
at 3.9 turn right up monument Gulch (where we spent time stuck in a flock of sheep).
At 9.0 miles, take left fork. Passing a corral at 9.7, turn left onto less-good road at 9.8.
Follow this to T-intersection at 15.9 miles (ignoring minor side tracks).
A BLM sign indicates "Monument Gulch 6" here; it was pointing the wrong way when we arrived.
You can probably get here in a passenger car.
An alternate route to this point turns south
from US 20 six miles west of Fairfield (mile 0.0') onto Barron Lane. Head south, ignoring
crossing roads, for 6.1 miles to an offset cross road; pass the left fork and take the right.
You'll pass through a wooden arch in a mile (7.1') and reach a left fork at 7.3' miles.
Turn left, through an immediate gate, and follow the Long Gulch road through gates at 8.7'
and 9.5' to the above mentioned intersection (10.2' = 15.9). A high-clearance vehicle is
necessary to this point, maybe 4WD.
From the T, head south (right, if following the
primary route; straight if you came up Long Gulch). A rough patch about 1/2 mile further
probably requires high clearance. Continue to a fork at 17.1 miles. Take the right fork,
pass a jeep trail heading right in 0.4 miles, and pass a left fork at 18.0 (you could have
gotten here from 17.1 by going left, then right). At 18.4 keep right; at 18.8 go straight,
passing a left fork up Davis Mountain. At 19.0 cross over a saddle, at 19.7 the road
straightens out for a bit and heads south. You're just about on the county line. Park.
(High clearance probably necessary to get here, but I never count you guys out!)
Walk due west over the toe of the first ridge to the second. Where the county line
crosses this ridge is Gooding's HP. We went about 50 vertical feet above and below
the suspected point, and built a cairn in the vicinity where we thought it was
(based on compass sightings, altimeter readings, and GPS).