Pecos County High Point Trip Report
Date: March 11, 2002
Author: Bob Martin
You meet some of the nicest people in Texas. Here we met four of them.
On US385, some 16 miles north of US90 east of Marathon, we found the gated entrance to the Brooks Ranch.
We were able to determine that no one was home at the ranch. We then drove a couple of miles
north to the residence on the west side of the highway just north of the county line. Here we met Richard
Newsome who said we were welcome to go to the cohp if it was on his land. A check of the maps showed
it was on the Brooks Ranch, not on Richard's land. Richard said the Brooks Ranch was owned by the wife
of John Landgraf. He gave us John's phone number in Midland.
Not getting phone service in the area, we retreated to Marathon to call John. Out to lunch. Later, in a meeting.
Finally, we made contact with John. He said we were welcome to go to the hp on the ranch.
How best to do it? He said his son Brooks was on his way to the ranch and would be there about 4 pm.
He suggested that we meet Brooks at the ranch entrance. He told us that Brooks was named for his
grandfather, who originally owned the ranch.
At the ranch entrance, the first arrival was Hector Sanchez (sp?), a maintenance man. We visited with him
while waiting for Brooks. When Brooks arrived, he and Hector had a lengthy conversation in Spanish.
Brooks then asked us to follow him the 3 miles to the ranch house. Brooks invited us into the house to look
at maps and show us the best route to the hp. He also told us he was a junior at Texas A&M and played
trombone in the band, so we had a conversation about band music.
The driving route from the ranch starts just southwest of the ranch buildings and goes a mile west to point 4750,
then 0.3 mile north to a fence line. The hiking route is west over a ridge and then on to the HP.
We got back just before dark and stopped by the ranch to say goodbye and thank Brooks for his hospitality.
There are lots of ways to get to a cohp, but this one proved most satisfying.