Mother Nature doesn’t think too much of state lines and such.  On Wednesday, I left Lamar, Co and headed south, through range and silo country.  One farmer outside Springfield has this arrangement of his silos.

Along the route to Black Mesa, Oklahoma, the Comanche National Grassland of southeast Colorado offers several bucolic scenes.

Some of these evoke days gone by, but there are some active cow herds grazing under lease.  I’d have photographed them, but the bulls were a bit too close to the road.

Once in the Oklahoma portion of Comanche National Grassland, I saw hints of the terrain to come, and spotted Black Mesa (above, right).

I spent about ten minutes driving around the nearly empty town of Kenton, before getting directions to Black Mesa from the Postmistress.  The Diner tells no tales; it’s closed.

Here are some shots of the eight-mile round trip up and down Black Mesa, Oklahoma’s highest peak.

Each mile is marked.  The first three markers are benches.

The view is terrific, once atop the switchbacks.

At the summit, there is an obelisk with info on how far it is to distant point, in each direction.  It was clear, so I could see New Mexico (a whopping 1,299 feet away) and Texas (18 miles due south)!

Every plain has its heights and every mountain its low points.