Orange County Highpoint Trip Report
Cowherd Mtn (1,197 ft)
Date: September 19, 2008
Author: Fred Lobdell
I followed previous trip reports, which proved entirely accurate. The owner of
the last house on the dirt road had no problems with my leaving my car there
while I did the hike. He said that he had seen "four or five" of us over the
past few years, so wasn't entirely surprised by my appearance.
Following Don Desrosiers's report, I hiked up the old woods road much of the way
and, when that petered out, bushwhacked to the summit plateau. Right where I
stepped out onto the summit area was an outcrop that rose two or three feet
above the surrounding ground; this may even be the true HP. I followed my GPS
unit across relatively flat ground toward the spot elevation until the ground
started descending in front of me. I then wandered around placing my foot at
the base of a number of large trees before invoking the Rule of Schweiker and
calling it good.
My descent was made more interesting by my uncertainty as to which ridge I ought
to descend. I moved from one to another two or three times while the
uncertainty remained. Eventually a glint of reflected sunlight through the
trees revealed to me one of the more rewarding sights any descending hiker has:
the vehicle that got him there.