Shelby County High Point Trip Report
Date: December 27, 2003
Author: Dick Ellsworth
The ten candidates can be narrowed down to four candidates all within five miles of Cherry Box.
(Cherry Box got its name when early settlers made a box out of wood from a cherry tree for their mail -
before the box they had to go all the way to Palmyra for their mail!)
I came from the north, so will describe access from HWY 156. About 2.9 miles west of Novelty turn south
off of 156 onto County B. Enter Shelby County about 4.8 miles south of the 156/B junction and continue
another 0.7 mile to Shelby County 100 (gravel). Turn right (west) and drive about 0.75 mile to a house on the
left (south) side of the road to ask for permission to walk into the large area you drove through. The man's
name is Carl Dodd [(660) 762-4460] and he is friendly and quite knowledgeable about the local history.
I wandered around in the fields on the north and south side of the road and sighted to the other tiny areas.
They do not need to be visited. This is a flat area, but as is usual in the Midwest, I thought the highest area
was by the road.
To get to area six, the next largest area to the southeast of area one, I returned to B and drove 0.5 mile
south to a driveway on the left (west) side of the road. Merlin Yoder gave me permission to wander around
his field. His home is the older one to the west of B. There is a newer house closer to the road. This area
sighted marginally lower than area one, but probably should visit it to be sure.
The next cluster is about three miles west of Cherry Box. Drive into town and turn west on Shelby 102.
Go 2.8 miles (crossing the North Fork of the Salt River at 1.5 miles) to Orlando and turn right (north).
Go 0.2 mile north and turn off just before a row of hay rolls onto a field road on the right. This is area seven.
I walked south-southeast about 80-100 yards to the highest part of the hay field. This area sights higher than
areas eight or nine to the east. I walked to the other side of the fence row on the north side of the hay row,
but couldn't level back because of the hay rolls. Visit area seven and call this cluster good.
For the last candidate, return to Cherry Box and drive south on B. Go about 2.1 miles south (passing MO 151)
and turn west on Shelby 106. About 1 mile from B bear left and head west at a "Y" going downhill.
Cross the Salt River at 1.4 miles, pass a complex of grain bins, then a pond, then finally reach Shelby 103 (dirt)
about 2.9 miles in. Turn north and go 0.35 mile up the road to area ten on the right (east) side of the
road in a clearing. This was really muddy when I was there so I walked to avoid getting the car stuck in the clay.
Total time for the ten areas was about three hours.
Future visitors should be able to do them in 30-45 minutes.