Growing Taller On The Muddy Tandy Hills While Hunting For Roadrunners

Today seemed to be a mighty fine time to return to the Tandy Hills for the first time since the Great North Texas Ice Storm of 2013 rendered hill hiking an icy impossibility.

In the picture you are look at today's view from the top of Mount Tandy, looking west across the wagon train trail which heads towards downtown Fort Worth, the stunning skyline of which you see in the distance.

Soon upon arrival my worry that the hills might still be in a muddy state from our recent bout of freezing ice was quickly abated by the dry conditions I found on top of Mount Tandy.

But then when I made my way to the Tandy Highway I quickly found myself walking over mud which quickly added a couple inches to my regular six feet. The muddy condition of the Tandy Highway appeared to have been exacerbated by Fort Worth Water trucks tracking over the highway, post-thaw.

Due to the muddy Tandy Highway I altered my hiking route to making a full circle, returning to the summit of Mount Tandy via the Tandy Falls route, avoiding the muddy part of the Tandy Highway.

Taking an alternative route soon had me coming across what I thought was a Roadrunner, standing uncharacteristically still for that particular brand of bird.

I got out my camera, turned it on, expecting the camera's bird-like beeping noise to send the bird running.

Instead the bird politely posed for several photos. Only when I resumed my hiking, hiking towards the bird, did the bird move, not via running, but by flying, clearly indicating that that which I thought was a Roadrunner was not a Roadrunner.

By the time I made it back to the summit of Mount Tandy and my motorized vehicular transport most of the mud had absented itself from my shoes, rendering me back to being my usual short self.

Other than the mud I had myself a mighty fine time hill hiking today.