Sherman County High Point Trip Report
Date: August 24, 2002
Author: Jeff Howbert
Following Ken Jones' report from 1999, I parked at the signed Sherman-Wasco county line on Highway 97
and headed directly east by compass. Within moments I saw several large trailers and a couple of pickups,
parked together near the section corner and therefore right in my path. As I approached closer, several men
dressed in camouflage and armed with hunting bows appeared. I talked with their leader, a gray-bearded
older gentleman, who, though friendly and polite, firmly insisted that the landowner would not appreciate me
being there. Apparently the man I talked to rents this vast expanse from a Mr. Mobley for purposes of
private hunting, and the other men with him were paying clients. My timing was especially bad, as bow
season for both deer and elk had begun that day. I asked about getting permission from Mr. Mobley,
perhaps when hunting season was over, and the man said he doubted Mr. Mobley would agree to it even then.
When I mentioned that an earlier highpointer had gotten permission from the landowner on Decker
Road and hiked in from the north, the man was at first confused, then amused. Apparently Mr. Mobley
doesn't live on Decker Road, but the next road over (he didn't name it). He speculated that the earlier
highpointer talked to a particular neighbor who has feuded with Mr. Mobley for years, and may have taken
some perverse glee in granting permission to pass through pastures he doesn't own.
Anyway, I wasn't going to argue with three men equipped with high-powered bows and razor-tipped arrows,
so I returned to the highway without my highpoint. The only encouragement I got from the man I talked to
was a cryptic remark that the snows don't get very deep around there in winter (hunting season runs August
through late November). For future highpointers who want to get proper permission to pass onto the land,
I have no clue who they really should talk to.