{"id":44127,"date":"2025-08-17T15:53:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-pilgrimage-to-the-desk-with-the-greatest-view\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T15:53:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:53:00","slug":"a-pilgrimage-to-the-desk-with-the-greatest-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-pilgrimage-to-the-desk-with-the-greatest-view\/","title":{"rendered":"A pilgrimage to the desk with the greatest view"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>In the high desert of West Texas, there&#8217;s a trail dodging cactus. No signs or guideposts here \u2026 just the crunch of gravel underfoot, and above, a wide-open sky. But for those in the know, like Matt Walter, this is the journey to a local legend.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s become known as The Desk on Hancock Hill. Locals call it simply &#8220;the desk&#8221; \u2026 an unlikely landmark in the city of Alpine that&#8217;s been holding court for more than 45 years.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Walter has been making the trek to it almost as long: &#8220;The first time I came up was like January 1986,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was cold. There was snow on the ground. I didn&#8217;t know about the desk then; that was before the signage. And I was just kind of like, <em>Oh my gosh, this is so cool!<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-large\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/14\/0b460a80-9675-42d6-898d-c12298e412de\/thumbnail\/620x349\/08c6ba700fd2ab6dc4c5e3af3201326f\/the-desk-at-hancock-hill-a.jpg#\" alt=\"the-desk-at-hancock-hill-a.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/14\/0b460a80-9675-42d6-898d-c12298e412de\/thumbnail\/620x349\/08c6ba700fd2ab6dc4c5e3af3201326f\/the-desk-at-hancock-hill-a.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/14\/0b460a80-9675-42d6-898d-c12298e412de\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/2abc10e5aff83bdd8c32cc8798a0bc2d\/the-desk-at-hancock-hill-a.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">A desk parked on top of a hill in the high desert of West Texas offers hikers a contemplative overlook.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An amateur photographer, Walter has documented the changes over the years. The desk isn&#8217;t much to look at. It could have come from any classroom \u2013 weathered by the weather, and covered in graffiti<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But when seated at it, and looking out over the desert, you feel <em>changed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Walter said he has felt introspective when visiting the desk: &#8220;I&#8217;ve had a couple of moments like that where you reflect on the views, the distance, looking out onto this vastness, and wondering about the amazement of Mother Nature,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n<p>Dani Bell, who was visiting the site, said, &#8220;It&#8217;s very therapeutic. You can clear your mind and really just get some stuff out if you need to.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What may be more remarkable than the feeling it inspires is how it came to be. <\/p>\n<p>In the late 1970s, Jim Kitchen was a student at nearby Sul Ross State University. He wanted a place to study with a view, so with a couple of classmates, they hauled up a desk, planting it at the top, like a flag on a new frontier.<\/p>\n<p>Kitchen&#8217;s nephew, Tony Curry, said his uncle was someone who would drag a desk to the top of a hill: &#8220;He is that kind of guy,&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;He&#8217;s a wild, wild man and he&#8217;s got a lot of energy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Curry showed us one of the earlier desks. (They&#8217;re now swapped out every decade or so, as the elements and visitors take a toll.) And Kitchen left more than a desk up here \u2013 also, a notebook and pen, because with vast views come big thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>Curry said he&#8217;d written in the book many times. &#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like a meditative place, you know, where you can go and you can just think about things and kind of sort out your problems,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-large\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/17\/330f85d9-d397-4a0c-9c46-a74a07460d46\/thumbnail\/620x349\/a5b77dd5465252dc2546b62377d455ab\/the-desk-on-hancock-hill-notebook.jpg#\" alt=\"the-desk-on-hancock-hill-notebook.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/17\/330f85d9-d397-4a0c-9c46-a74a07460d46\/thumbnail\/620x349\/a5b77dd5465252dc2546b62377d455ab\/the-desk-on-hancock-hill-notebook.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/17\/330f85d9-d397-4a0c-9c46-a74a07460d46\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/2e2ed55352c6cb713a3751d3c0a1619e\/the-desk-on-hancock-hill-notebook.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dozens of filled notebooks, dating back decades, are catalogued at the university library, and meticulously preserved by the school&#8217;s archivist.<\/p>\n<p>You might call Paula Kitchen Curry, Jim&#8217;s sister, the unofficial<em> <\/em>archivist, having gone up to the desk at least 30 times to rotate out the notebooks. &#8220;I&#8217;ve copied them one time and sent them to my brother, just so he can see what has happened,&#8221; she said. <\/p>\n<p>What she&#8217;s comes back with is something akin to a confession booth wrapped in a time capsule \u2026 the entries, often heartbreaking.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;To 18 y\/o me &amp; everyone who needs to hear it: It does get better. Change can be good. The world is bigger than you think it is.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Reading the entries, Paula said, &#8220;Sometimes it breaks my heart, and sometimes it makes me laugh, sometimes it makes me want to be a better writer!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Asked what he believes the notebooks, and the solitude at the desk, provide to people, Tony Curry said, &#8220;There are times when you find yourself looking for a way to get something out of your head, and going up to the desk gives you time to think about it, and then the notebook gives you a place to put it down, and then the journey back down gives you a place to kind of leave it behind.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-large\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/17\/51f7946f-b258-4a73-a549-cbf48c772afc\/thumbnail\/620x465\/4c3fead16c64c671fb29203da3c229e5\/the-desk-on-hancock-hill-in-alpine-texas-1280.jpg#\" alt=\"the-desk-on-hancock-hill-in-alpine-texas-1280.jpg \" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/17\/51f7946f-b258-4a73-a549-cbf48c772afc\/thumbnail\/620x465\/4c3fead16c64c671fb29203da3c229e5\/the-desk-on-hancock-hill-in-alpine-texas-1280.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/08\/17\/51f7946f-b258-4a73-a549-cbf48c772afc\/thumbnail\/1240x930\/8472f75c986c7a930a60732e748339a4\/the-desk-on-hancock-hill-in-alpine-texas-1280.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">The Desk on Hancock Hill in Alpine, Texas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<br \/>For more info:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<br \/>Story produced by Christ Laible. Editor: David Bhagat.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>    <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/team\/janet-shamlian\/\" class=\"content-author__name\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Janet  Shamlian<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author__bio\">\n<div class=\"content-author__full-information\">\n<p class=\"content-author__text\">Janet Shamlian is a CBS News correspondent based in Houston, Texas. In a career that spans three decades, Shamlian has covered many of the biggest national and international stories of our time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/a-desk-with-the-greatest-view\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the high desert of West Texas, there&#8217;s a trail dodging cactus. No signs or guideposts here \u2026 just the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A pilgrimage to the desk with the greatest view - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the late 1970s, a group of university students in West Texas, wanting a place to study with a view, hauled a desk to the top of Hancock Hill in the town of Alpine. 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