tackled another mountain. Of course, it was Louisiana's Driskill Mountain which, like many of the state's figurative highpoints, was rather uninmpressive.Compared to our previous climbing trip, this one involved rather little planning, other than the SHTT Driskill Mountain Official Margarita Recipe Contest which was to be prepared in Jamie's battery powered blender at the top of the mountain.
Come to think of it, last time we prefaced our 8 hour climbing trip with an evening of popcorn, booze, and bad comedy which resulted in one team member being seriously hungover during the hike, so I guess this was about normal.
On this climb we had three guest highpointers join us for the climb, which was good because we needed someone to take pictures at the summit. As payment for their free labor I promised to include a photo of them.
Disclaimer: These are unofficial members of the SHTT. As such, the authenticity of this photo cannot be verified.
We started our trip from our base camp (i.e. my apartment) in Dallas, TX. We made liberal use of my car's model name and crammed all of 5 of us inside the Honda Fit and made our way to across east Texas and into Louisiana. Our first stop was at a Sonic restaurant where we found out that you can indeed purchase ice by the bag. Despite having no way of keeping it frozen, we stowed it my backpack where it kept me cool and wet during the hike.
The trail head began at what looked like a church that had been abandoned for all purposes but funeral services. Were it a more dangerous trail, we might have found this more comforting, since body retrieval is probably an unpleasant task in climbing accidents and a nearby burial location would be helpful.
In fact, the trail was so easy and well marked that we, being the rugged band teacher/auditor/student/unemployed guy we were decided to leave it and strike off into the wilderness for a "more authentic hiking experience" (as the sign put it).
The hike was short and we soon reached the
summit. Though some of us just barely.
At the top we partook in the ritual that gives our team its namesake followed by the delicious drink courtesy of a half melted bag of sonic ice, Jamie's battery-powered blender, and a pre-mixed batch of t
he winning margarita recipe (forever inscribed in the peak logbook).
All in all, Driskill Mountain was an unimpressive hike though it did have some nice forest and a good view of surrounding hill country. It won't be much help as preparation for Epic Road Trip 2009.
We followed our hike with a trip to Blackjack's casino in Shreveport where Jamie won $30 while the rest of us milled about and enjoyed the smoke-choked atmosphere, beer-besotted patrons, and waitresses clothed in demeaning garb.
We also had dinner at a surprisingly delicious Mexican Food restaurant (perhaps even better than the Mexican Cafe and Bail Bonds of Pecos, TX).
We've now ascended 2 of 50 state points for a total of 9284 out of 308105 ft. Good progress!
The trail head began at what looked like a church that had been abandoned for all purposes but funeral services. Were it a more dangerous trail, we might have found this more comforting, since body retrieval is probably an unpleasant task in climbing accidents and a nearby burial location would be helpful.
In fact, the trail was so easy and well marked that we, being the rugged band teacher/auditor/student/unemployed guy we were decided to leave it and strike off into the wilderness for a "more authentic hiking experience" (as the sign put it).
The hike was short and we soon reached the
summit. Though some of us just barely.At the top we partook in the ritual that gives our team its namesake followed by the delicious drink courtesy of a half melted bag of sonic ice, Jamie's battery-powered blender, and a pre-mixed batch of t
he winning margarita recipe (forever inscribed in the peak logbook).All in all, Driskill Mountain was an unimpressive hike though it did have some nice forest and a good view of surrounding hill country. It won't be much help as preparation for Epic Road Trip 2009.
We followed our hike with a trip to Blackjack's casino in Shreveport where Jamie won $30 while the rest of us milled about and enjoyed the smoke-choked atmosphere, beer-besotted patrons, and waitresses clothed in demeaning garb.
We also had dinner at a surprisingly delicious Mexican Food restaurant (perhaps even better than the Mexican Cafe and Bail Bonds of Pecos, TX).
We've now ascended 2 of 50 state points for a total of 9284 out of 308105 ft. Good progress!
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