Eddy County High Point Trip Report
The Rim
Date: April 22, 2000
Author: John Mitchler
Set in the spectacular Gaudalupe Mountains, this hill is located at the edge of an escarpment and provides
some classic desert mountain hiking with sharp limestone rock, multiple cactus species, and prickly plants
of all types. Wear leg protection, whether it be pants or gaiters. From the refinery town of Artesia, NM,
we took US285 south to NM137 which goes west and south 36 miles to the hamlet of Queen. Three and
half miles west of Queen, take FR540 (Guadalupe Ridge Road) south passing along the very edge of the
spectacular Rim. After 11.5 miles, the good gravel road ends at a turnaround. At this point a dirt road
extends south, but you better have a high clearance vehicle to negotiate the ruts and rocks placed cleverly
in the road. After 1.6 miles of this slow going, the torture really begins. Watch for a small tree-covered
pile of brick-size rocks, and veer right on a rocky (!) road, taking it about a mile (downhill) out to the end
of the ridge. You can park anywhere off this road and hike to the HP, but a steep escarpment lies
immediately to your left (southwest).
There's several routes to get you to the peak. Some folks start their hike farther up the final rocky (!) road
and descend the escarpment and take a prominent west-trending nose down to the creek bottom and then
ascend a saddle at which point the hike follows the ridge to the HP hill. We, being a different and
adventurous sort, drove 0.7 miles of torture to nearly the end of the ridge and parked at about 7,320'. We
hiked northwest out to the end of the ridge and descended off the end, past some trivial cliffs and down to
the saddle at 6,920'. We then turned south and went up and over the 7,139' hill and followed a poor horse
trail up to the summit of the 7,440' hill that is Eddy County's HP. The rocky ridge just below Eddy's
summit is best negotiated via the trail just east of the ridge (to the west is a 400' cliff!) and 30' below the
ridge crest. You can certainly climb up the spine of this ridge and there's even an exhilarating catwalk
near the top.
We chose to return by dropping directly down into the dry creek bed (North McKittrick Canyon) and
following it up to the saddle at the end of the 4WD ridge where our vehicle was parked. The creek is an
excellent route, with smooth rock, shady trees, and little deadfall. John found an old pocketknife and a
full bag of tent poles in the creek bed, so if you know anyone who's missing those items, please inform
him. When doing Eddy Co., consider variations of your route. Study the limestone and note the
biological evidence of the ancient reef that makes up the Gaudaulpe Mountains. The summit register was
signed by county highpointers only.