In A Mountain Free Zone Of Texas Vicariously Enjoying Maxine's Washington Mountain Hiking

On the left you are looking at Washington native, Maxine, leading a visiting hiker up Sauk Mountain. The trail up Sauk Mountain is ever so slightly unnerving due to the fact that the trail is a series of switchbacks, out in the open, no trees, working its way to the top.

I last hiked up Sauk Mountain at some point in the 1990s, with my favorite nephew Joey, in what became one of the more infamous "Nephews in Danger" incidents, due to the fact that as we made our way to the top the temperature dropped with the drizzly precipitation turning to ice which had the final few switchbacks ice covered which added an element of risk.

But, Joey and I continued on to the top and then gingerly made our way back down to safety.

Years later, in the current century, Joey's mom, my favorite ex-sister-in-law, Cindy, took up the hiking hobby, which eventually had Cindy hiking up Sauk Mountain, which then had Joey telling his mom about the "Nephews in Danger" incident. When I was later asked about this incident I plead not guilty due to the fact so much time had passed that some sort of statute of limitations had to be in play.

Maxine is an avid year round hiker. When the high country of the North Cascades is frozen over Maxine hikes the lowland hikes of the north Puget Sound zone. Through Maxine I get to vicariously enjoy Washington mountain hiking.

The state I am currently in, Texas, does not have much in the way of mountains, except out in the West Texas Big Bend Region. I have seen the Quadalupe Mountains in the distance,whilst driving to and from Texas. I would like to go to Guadalupe Mountains National Park and do some real mountain hiking.

The closest I have come in Texas to what seems like a real mountain hike I experienced by hiking to the top of Enchanted Rock down south in the Texas Hill Country.

A couple days ago Maxine asked me if I'd seen the Washington Trails Association website. I had not. I blogged about the Washington Trails Association website this morning on my Washington blog in a blogging cleverly titled Washington Trails Association Website.

The WTA website covers all of Washington's 31 Wilderness Areas. Daily, hikers post trail reports. Some days there are dozens of trail reports.

As far as I know nothing like the WTA website existed whilst I was still in Washington. I relied on old-fashioned trail guide books for my trail hiking information.

For several years now, in the fall, Maxine has hiked Cascade Pass to Stehekin. I have always wanted to do that. I've hiked to the summit of Cascade Pass several times and have floated the Lady of the Lake on Lake Chelan to Stehekin, one time.

Well, there is no mountain hiking in the near future for me. Today I may go do some mountain biking with Arlington's Village Creek Indian Ghosts.

One more picture of this week's Maxine hikes. Below Maxine and her hiking troop are on Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park. I can not tell if the view is looking west, towards my old home zone of the Skagit Valley, or looking east towards Stehekin and Lake Chelan.

A Post-Christmas Pre-New Year's Tandy HIlls Hike Pondering Generating Electricity From Tandy Falls

Today I felt the need for some extreme aerobicizing.

Fast hiking on the Tandy Hills is my nearest location where I can get myself some extreme aerobicizing, and so it was to the Tandy Hills I motored myself today for the first time since last Saturday's deluge.

I was last on the Tandy Hills several days after the Great North Texas Ice Storm of 2013. At that point in time the Tandy Highway was muddier than I like my hiking to be.

Today the Tandy Hills were even muddier than my previous visit. So I avoided the Tandy Highway, except for a short distance at the north end,  en route to the Tandy Escarpment from which Tandy Falls falls.

Today Tandy Falls was dropping a lot of water, as you can see photo documented above. Viewing all that hydro power had me wondering if there has ever been any consideration of adding a generator at this location. I suspect not.

I came upon two fellow hikers today, both with two dogs. Human sightings are quite rare on the Tandy Hills. Two sightings in one day are even rarer.

I feel a lot better after getting myself some endorphins.

Swimming in the hot tub just does not do it for me, aerobically-wise, like hill hiking does. I did have one real quick bout in the cool pool this morning when I got too hot in the hot tub. A real quick bout in the cool pool was quite stimulating, so much so that I did not need a second round of stimulation.

I enjoyed hiking the Tandy Hills so much today I think I may go for a repeat tomorrow, before my regularly scheduled Saturday visit to Town Talk, weather permitting...

Hiking The Tandy Hills With New Wildflowers Thinking About Steamy Pools & Elsie Hotpepper Laughing Til She Cries

With 11 days to go til the 2011 Prairie Fest the Tandy Hills is starting to become a bit more colorful.

Better a late bloomer than a no bloomer.

This year I must try to be at the Prairie Fest when my favorite Fort Worth band, Triggerfish, is playing.

My noon inspection of the Tandy Hills found the trails dried out, for the most part. The rain seems to have caused some new blooms to sprout for the first time this year, like the yellow and orange wildflower you see in the picture.

Changing the subject to my other regular subject, that being my morning swim.

Well, this morning's swim was odd. The air was heated to 50. The water in the pool was at a temperature level of a heat differential significant enough to cause vapor to rise from the water, like what happens when the air is freezing. This seemed strange to me.

Changing the subject again to one of my other regular subjects, Miss Puerto Rico. Tomorrow she returns to her home island, which means I begin cat sitting duty.

Cat sitting duty is a boring subject, so let's change the subject to another of my regular subjects, Elsie Hotpepper.

This morning Elsie sent me an email that said....

I don't know if it's as funny to you since you don't text but you have to check out the site damnyouautocorrect.com. It made me laugh til I cried. It happens to all of us...

Do people really do that? Laugh til they cry? I don't think I've ever laughed til I cried. But I really don't do all that much laughing or crying. Maybe if I laughed more I'd cry more. I am emotionally stilted.

My therapist, Dr. L.C., is working on my emotional stiltedness. We are not making much progress.

I think I'll go for an afternoon swim in the steamy pool and see if I can force myself to laugh til I cry.

Hot Tandy Hills Hiking In Fort Worth With My Mom & Dad Gone Missing In Arizona

I remembered my camera today when I went hiking on the Tandy Hills. My co-hiker also remembered her camera, hence the picture of me hiking.

You can sort of tell from the picture that it is a warm day on the hills.

I think with all the hill hiking I do and all the swimming I do that I am eventually going to get myself in good shape and eventually lose all my unsightly weight gain.

I think I may go for an afternoon swim. It is 80 something out there right now, with a clear blue sky, which should make for some good sun lounging.

I called my mom and dad on Wednesday when I got gas in Hurst. My one longtime reader may remember I call my mom and dad whenever I get gas. They were not home when I called. Usually my mom then calls me back later in the day.

I'd forgotten about the Wednesday gas call when I got gas again today and called my mom and dad and again got the answering machine.

I guess I shall call my sister who lives in Chandler to find out what's up with my mom and dad. My mom and dad live in Sun Lake. About 8 miles, I think, from my sister's house. Chandler and Sun Lake are Phoenix suburbs.

I will likely hear from Betty Jo Bouvier now, harping about me going to Arizona to see my mom and dad.

In the meantime I'm going to go swimming and lay on a lounge chair for awhile.

Sunday Hiking On The Tandy Hills With Dogs, Humans & Waterfalls

I parked on top of Mount Tandy today, not knowing if the Tandy Trails were hikable.

Upon arrival at the mountain top I saw a pair of hikers with a canine passing the Fort Worth Space Needle. This was to be the first of many human and canine Tandy Encounters today.

A short time later I came upon 3 guys who I thought, at first, were homeless people, possibly scouting out a new Shanty Town location. One of them asked where I was parked. I pointed back towards the road that leads to the Fort Worth Space Needle. The spokesman told me they'd hiked from "way over there," pointing towards View Street.

For some reason they wanted to get a look at the Fort Worth Space Needle and did not realize they could drive right up to it. This trio did not have the look of regular hikers.

A short time later I found myself facing a German Shepherd type dog, who was in a pack of two, with another dog of a brand not recognized by me. I don't think the dogs were rabid and they were not too menacing. I never did see a human to match with these dogs.

About a half hour after that dog encounter I was hearing the rushing water sounds of the Tandy River as it roars over Tandy Falls. I'd not seen water flowing over the falls in a long time.

As Tandy Falls came in to view, to the south of the falls I saw 3 more humans, with 3 dogs. These dogs were leashed. I did not have a close encounter with this particular human/dog combo, because they took a different path at the next junction.

This was my first successful Tandy Hills Hiking Day in a couple weeks.

As you can see in the view to the right, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, it is a gray, wintry day this Sunday in Texas.

Looking at that stunning skyline, I wonder if Fort Worth's Moron Mayor Moncrief thinks that skyline is yet one more reason Fort Worth is the Envy of the Nation?

This afternoon I am more than a little worried about Elsie Hotpepper. The last I heard from Elsie was yesterday, with a very cryptic message that really made no sense to me. All the message said was "I landed the eagle."

What can that possibly mean? I hope Elsie Hotpepper is not out somewhere shooting eagles. I'm fairly certain this is not legal to do.

In Texas Thinking About Going Hiking With My Favorite Former Sister-In-Law

No, you are not looking at today's view from the Tandy Hills Natural Area in Fort Worth, Texas.

What you are looking at is the big hiking boots of my favorite former sister-in-law, Mindy Mae, taking a rest after hiking to the top of Sauk Mountain in the Skagit Valley of the State of Washington.

The snow cone in the distance is what is known as a mountain. We don't have such things in my current location. I can tell the mountain in the picture is a volcano, but I can't tell if it is the Mount Baker or Glacier Peak volcano.

I am leaning towards it being Mount Baker, because I don't recollect being able to see Glacier Peak from Sauk Mountain. Glacier Peak is the least seen of the Washington volcanoes. It is deeper into the Cascades, thus blocked from view, usually, unless you are up high in the Cascades or in a location deep in the valleys surrounding Glacier Peak.

The last time I was on Sauk Mountain was with my favorite former sister-in-law's youngest, my nephew, Joey. It was snowing and icy. I was likely being an irresponsible uncle. But, we made it to the top of the mountain and safely back down. With a little sliding along the way.

My favorite former sister-in-law has become an ardent hiker. Hiking was something she did not do before she got the "former" title. I think maybe being married to my brother kept Mindy Mae metaphorically anchored to the valley, and when that anchor went aweigh she started soaring into the mountains.

I blogged about Sauk Mountain on one of my other blogs today. Along with another picture from Mindy Mae.

Overheating HOT Hill Hiking In Texas Thinking About Taking An Ice Bath

A new forest of a strange looking plants has sprouted up on the Tandy Hills.

I suspect Don Young may have identified this strange looking plant in his most recent Prairie Notes, but at the time I read it I had not seen the plant in person, and so remembering its name did not register.

It was barely 90 when I hit the hills hiking today.

90 and very humid.

Last summer I had absolutely no problem with hitting the hills hiking when it was over 100.

This summer I am having a little trouble with hitting the hills hiking when it is HOT. I think the difference is this is being a very humid summer in Texas. Very humid.

Today I added to the humidity by leaking 5 bottles of water.

To cool down, after the HOT hill hiking, I went to Town Talk to stand in their walk-in cooler. It was refreshing. Way more refreshing than my swimming pool is being. The day after day after day of being over 100 has heated the water to lukewarm.

Even cold showers are no longer cold, with the HOT ground heating the waterpipes and the water flowing inside. By the time it makes it out of my showerhead the water feels like some hot water has been mixed in, when it hasn't.

I've heard ice baths are refreshing. I'm not sure how that works. Fill the tub with water and throw in some ice cubes?

Thinking About Moving To San Manuel

I have had me a rough few days. Savagely, brutally attacked by hackers, twice. In between hack attacks I got a text message from my mom and dad that caused me to collapse while hiking the Tandy Hills Natural Area's mountains.

Today was my first day back stomping on the Tandy Hills since I got battered and banged by rough rocks. I was slightly concerned that there might be another fall. Apparently falling down is a common malady of the elderly, I learned this morning from Nurse Martha.


We had a good storm last night. A lot of thunder, but not a lot of water. Today, for the most part, the Tandy Hills were mud free. But whatever rain fell, it made for extra humid hot air. But it was not too bad because it was not even in the 90s. I think our 100 degree days of the year may be over. Overnight it is supposed to get down to 65. That should make the pool refreshing in the morning, for the first time in a long time.

It is almost September and there are still wildflowers coloring up the Tandy Hills prairie. I do not remember seeing flowers this late last summer. And I was back on the Tandy Hills by this time last year, using strenuous hiking and its attendant endorphin release to help mediate the pain I was feeling from all I endured in Tacoma. Maybe I was too distracted by all I was aggravated by to notice something like a flower.

I am thinking about moving to San Manuel, Arizona. That's a mining town. There is a house there waiting for me. It is semi-close to Tucson, with a semi-good buffer from my brother, sister and parental units. I'm sure they'd call first before dropping in for a visit.

My therapist, Dr. L.C., sent me an email this morning with the word "love" in the subject line. That sort of word in the subject line always makes me a bit nervous to open the email. Turned out there was nothing I needed to be nervous about. The "love" in the subject line was the first line in a sentence continued in the body of the email, as in "love the blog!!! you rock."

I like it when someone uses teenage type lingo directed at me. It does not happen very often.

Texas Hot 4th Of July Hiking With No Fireworks Or Orcas

The red, white and blue of the stars and stripes were providing the best color on the prairie this afternoon at the Tandy Hills Natural Area. That's the flag waving in the slight breeze on its pole high atop Mount Tandy.

I slept in to the unprecedented hour of 7 this morning. This had me in the pool way later than usual. Which pushed breakfast off til 10, which pushed going hiking off til 1, giving the air plenty of time to get HOT, which it did.

It was 98 when I left here to go hiking. By the time I got back here I jumped in the pool. I didn't care that I was in my hiking cargo shorts. I wanted to get wet from something other than being drenched in sweat. This morning when I went swimming the pool was warmer than the air. By this afternoon that condition had reversed, which was a good thing.

It is the 4th of July. I have not heard a single firecracker. Texas is such a repressive state. Due to running their Indians out of the state, or killing them off, Texas has only 2, very small, Indian Reservations. In my old state of Washington we liked our Indians and made them our friends. The Indians help Washingtonians participate in the 4th of July by providing fireworks supply areas, with names like Boom Town. Boom Town is huge. It is run by the Tulalip Tribe. The Tulalip also have what may be the best casino in Washington. I liked the big Orca out front with the giant Indian getting ready to spear a salmon. Just a sec, I'll see if I can find a picture I took of the Orca.

That picture took way too long to find. The Tulalip Casino is, for want of a better word, cool. You've got that splashing Orca, the Tulalip Indian spearing giant salmon, a lot of water, sound effects, and when you walk into the casino there are waterfalls on either side of you. Inside the casino the effect is that you are underwater, in an aquarium. I've been told the buffet is really good. The slightly nearby Swinomish Casino, just a few miles from my Washington abode, had the best seafood buffet. Oysters just like mom makes them.

In my old neighborhood, known as Thunderbird, in the town known as Mount Vernon, all the streets are named after tribes. I lived on Pawnee Lane. Pawnee connected to Apache. (Go here for a virtual visit to where I used to live, where you'll see my cat Hortense reading the morning paper with me and the deepest snow in all my years of living up north) In the valley in which I lived, Skagit, there are several tribes, the Skagit, the Samish and the Swinomish. The Skagit Valley tribes have nice reservations. Two of the tribes have built casinos in the valley. The little valley I lived in has 2 huge casino complexes. There are none of those anywhere in Texas.

The Washington casinos are not like those goofy ones up in Oklahoma where it's like a pretend casino, the Washington casinos are just like what you find in Nevada, minus topless girls and strip shows. And free drinks.

Anyway, the tribes in Washington make a lot of money selling fireworks. Tonight my old neighborhood will become like a war zone. It was fun to watch and would go on for hours. One group would launch a display, then another would try and out do them. The area where my house sat was heavily wooded with huge fir trees. I was ready with a hose should a firework go awry. I had several land on my roof, which was flat. No fires ever started though.

So, what was I saying, oh yeah, in Washington, by now, I would have been hearing firecrackers going off for days. With today almost non-stop, with all hell breaking loose once it got dark.

When I moved to Texas, the first location was in far north Fort Worth, with the mailbox in Fort Worth and the house in Haslet. We all anticipated a very wild 4th. We were in Texas, for gawdsakes, everyone packs heat here, they're big on their cowboy, wild west past. So, as the sun began to set, we sat outside waiting for something to happen. There were a few random noises, but we were all in WTH? mode. Now I live deeper into the urban zone. I suspect I will not hear a single firecracker tonight.

What happened here that has these people so stifled? Was there some sort of silent coup that took away some basic freedoms that the rest of America enjoys? It perplexes me. It would likely really perplex a lifelong Texan if he/she were to find him/herself in my old neighborhood tonight.

A Hunky Dory Day at the Tandy Hills Natural Area

Everything was going just hunky dory today, well, except for my pool still being closed. I'd solved a long time vexation over Feedburner and was feeling real pleased about that.

I'm not missing a morning paper, even though I did glance through that Star-Telegram that was left at my door this morning.

Like I said, everything was going just fine, one good thing after another. And then I decided it had been enough days, since our recent deluge, that the Tandy Hills should be dried out and hikable.

So, I go to get in my vehicle to find that a mechanical problem, that was fixed a month ago, is back malfunctioning. It's no HUGE big deal, but still annoying, particularly since I had such a long string of things going right going.

Thus, I got to the Tandy Hills Natural Area (I'm switching to calling it Natural Area instead of Park, due to noticing that's how Don Young refers to it. And he knows best about such matters) in a grumpy mood. But was pleased to find the hills dried out enough for a very hot, humid hike. The only muddy zone was very odd. It was on the slope up to the former Tandy Hills Shrine. It made no sense that this was muddy. Other, usual wet spots were dried out. Why was this usually dry slope muddy? It perplexed me.

It was too hot and humid today to be wearing my heavy duty cargo shorts. After about an hour I was saturated. It's time to break out the nice breezy mesh shorts.

The Tandy Hills Wildflowers were being their most numerous yet. The picture above does not do them justice. You should see them with your own eyes and not rely on my photo taking skills.

Remember. The Prairieland Wildflower Ball is this Saturday at the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Freezing And Hiking In Texas

A week ago, today, I went hiking at the Tandy Hills. Then I was sidelined by rain and incoming Parental Units.

And now, a week after that last hike, I decided nothing was going to stop me today. Well, unless there was something like an ice storm. Today's misery was temps barely above freezing with the Wind Chill Factor making it feel like it was well below freezing.

So, I put on several layers and set off for Village Creek Natural Historical Area. I usually, erroneously, call this park Indian Village. Well, it used to be an Indian Village, which would be a more appropriate, historically accurate name. Or so it seems to me.

That would be me, hiking away from a little pond at Indian Village, in the picture above. It was in this pond, one day, years ago, that I saw my first Water Moccasins. Several of them. I have since greatly abated my aversion to snakes, but, at that point in time, it was a bone-chilling thing for me to see.

Just as I started to walk I got a call from Tootsie Tonasket. Her soap opera travails have grown worse. Yesterday she gave her husband an ultimatum, stop seeing his girl friend or never come home again. That's the short version. Tootsie's drunk son was ranting in the background. A couple days ago, in a drunken rage, the son told Tootsie he'd whack her head off with an ax. That same day the wandering husband wandered off, barefoot, with snow on the ground and no coat, heading to town.

I can only listen to very little of that insanity, then I have to excuse myself.

That ham I cooked this morning made a very tasty lunch, along with stir fried spinach I got at the Dallas Farmers Market. My Mom included a container of her patented Mustard Plaster, along with the ham. My relatives do not eat ham without Mustard Plaster.

We're Freezing in Fort Worth

Coming up on 2 in the afternoon we are still below freezing here in Fort Worth. As in right now it is 28 with a Wind Chill Factor making it feel like 19. According to WeatherBug.

That's me hiking at the Tandy Hills about an hour ago in the dark photo. It's a snow clouds type sky. The white stuff may fall later today. That happens rarely in this part of Texas.

I had to find my long underwear to make hiking possible. I think I had 4 layers on top, two of which had hoods, both of which I pulled over my wool stocking cap. And I wore two pairs of gloves. Eventually I overheated.

Now, I know you're wondering if I went swimming this morning. Well, wonder no more. A bit before 8 I went down to the pool. The air temperature was 25, with WeatherBug saying it'd feel like 19, due to the wind. It was less windy this morning than when I went hiking, which I guess accounts for WeatherBug's Wind Chill Factor being the same 19 degrees.

So, this morning was the oddest getting in the water sensation yet. Due to the air being so cold the water felt warm. I stayed in it longer than yesterday when both the water and the air were way warmer than this morning. I swam maybe 10 minutes, then got in the hot tub. Did not stay in the hot tub long. I got out and back in the cold water for about 2 minutes.

I think I have gradually desensitized my skin nerve endings. They are so traumatized now that I think they've given up sending signals to my brain telling me that I should feel cold.

Last Day of November Swimming, Hiking, Texas Fire Danger

It has been very windy here in North Texas this last day of November. Due to the wind and the low humidity and overall dry conditions we are under a Red Flag Alert here, meaning, be careful not to start a wildfire. I'm careful not to do that, even without an Alert.

We are having gusts up to 33 mph. The overnight low was 45. I went swimming about 8am. I stayed in it longer than yesterday. At the start of November I made a video of me swimming and wondered if I'd still be able to do so come the start of December. I guess a video will need to document swimming on the first day of December tomorrow.

This afternoon I went hiking at the Tandy Hills again. I talked on the phone while I hiked. The gusts made that a bit difficult. And then towards the end of hiking I got an incoming second call and I was able, once more, to successfully answer the incoming call without disconnecting the first call. This skill has been years in the making. For a long time I did not even try to answer a second call. Then someone told me to hit the green button. That worked. The switching back to the first call can still vex me. Today it did not work.

Miss Puerto Rico called a bit ago, wanting me to go to Dillards with her to get a new outfit for Friday's Christmas party. Last year her 'new' outfit was wearing one of my shirts. I don't know why a new outfit is needed this year. What I do know is there was no way I was going clothes shopping with Miss Volatile Latina.

Bye Bye High Blood Pressure, Hello Peaceful Solitude

Well. Today was all about peaceful solitude. And my high blood pressure, which is no longer high. Maybe in part due to days like today.

Sunday started off with the aforementioned photo documented icy cold skinny dip. During that icy dip I decided I was going to have a human free day. Just me to talk to myself all day long.

At 11 I needed to be in the Tandy Hills zone again. So, even though I'd hiked there the day before I decided a solo hike would be a totally different thing. I thought it would be cold like yesterday, so I totally overdressed. I was dressed for the 40s, but it was in the low 70s.

So, I thought to myself the early morning skinny dip was refreshing, why not go on a skinny hike?

I rarely see anyone at the Tandy Hills. It's actual name is Tandy Hills Natural Area. I know where the isolated trails are. I thought it might be a liberating blood pressure reducing type thing to do. I was right.

When I was done with my au naturel nature hike I decided, since it was nearby, roller blading at Quanah Parker Park would be a good thing. I don't think roller blading would be a fun thing to do au naturel. That and it'd look ridiculous wearing the protective pads and nothing else. I'll spare you a photo of me roller blading today.

After the roller blading I decided to make a 3 park day of it and went to Oakland Lake Park. Just to sit and watch the birds. There are a lot of birds in Oakland Lake. And turtles. I never saw a black goose before, but I saw one today. The black goose was with a pair of white geese, which you can see for yourself in the photo.

The first photo at the top is also at Oakland Lake Park. I was sitting in the lotus position on the edge of a wall.

In two weeks I've gotten my blood pressure down to a good reading, as in 118/69, pulse rate of 56. I think getting off the sleeping pills is one cause. Amping up the exercise so as to not need the pills, due to being worn out by the end of the day, is another likely cause. Zero tolerance for Toxic People likely has many benefits, including lower blood pressure. And I've cut way back on coffee. I think the early morning cold swims also might have a salubrious affect.

Well, it's time to put some clothes on and go have some human interaction. All this solitude gets sort of boring after awhile.

Fort Worth Tandy Hills Park Search & Rescue

I got up early, real early today. When the day started it didn't cross my mind that part of my day would be spent participating in a search and rescue mission.

About noon my brainpan began its daily performance lag due to lack of oxygen. So, I knew it was time for my daily bout of aerobic exertion. Usually, since it is almost in my backyard, this means going to the most scenic part of Fort Worth, that being Tandy Hills Park.

Last winter, when I discovered the Tandy maze of trails and hills, I never thought I'd be able to still hike Tandy when the heat of summer arrived. But here it is July, it is hot. And I'm still hiking. I was a sweaty mess today though. Totally soaked. I used to hate to sweat. Texas has changed me. For the better? Or worse? I'm debating that.

I rarely see other humans at Tandy Hills Park. I had an encounter with a Doberman last week. That was mildly unpleasant.

But today I did have a human encounter. Upon reaching the top of a hill I saw a man and a woman in some sort of bright uniform. They were standing under the shade of a tree. They had a large German Shepherd on a leash.

I remarked that I rarely see humans here. They asked if I'd seen anyone else. They told me they were searching for a scruffy looking 50 something guy who was missing. And that there were search teams all over the park. I talked to the pair for a bit. The man seemed too old to be out in the middle of this strenuous place at nearly 100 degrees. The woman was much younger and in good shape. We shared our favorite hiking places. She thought I must be in training for something, like going to Colorado.

They told me if I see a man matching the description to call 911 and tell them to notify the search team in the park. But not to approach the man because he could get violent.

So, all this time I've been concerned about encountering a Rattlesnake, Copperhead, Cottonmouth or Panther and today I got to add a dangerous, violent man to what I needed to look out for. Somehow, I was less concerned about him than my ongoing concerns about snakes and cats. And Dobermans.

Getting Lost at Bob Jones Park

Today I wanted to go to Sprouts Farmers Market to get oranges and since it is only a few miles further to Bob Jones Park I decided that'd be a good place to go on a hike.

Bob Jones Park is in a remote part of the town of Southlake on Lake Grapevine in the state of Texas. The Park is named for John Dolford "Bob" Jones. Bob Jones was the son of Alvis Jones and Alvis' slave, Elizabeth. The would make Bob Jones the slave of his father. After the Civil War Bob and his mom were freed. They bought a 60 acre farm. Bob got married to Meady Chisum, eventually having 10 kids and expanding their farm to nearly 2,000 acres.

When Grapevine dam was finished and Lake Grapevine began to grow behind it, most of Bob Jones' land ended up being under water. Of course, Bob Jones was long gone by then, his land had been split among his kids and grandkids. In the 1990s Southlake bought the land that became Bob Jones Park.

Which is where I went hiking today. And got lost. The developed part of Bob Jones Park leads to what amounts to being a nature preserve with it being a prime piece of the Cross Timbers ecosytem. There is some signage to help hikers find their way, like you see in the above photo.

But there are so many trails, most without signage, it becomes a fun confusing maze that is easy to get lost in. It did not help that today Lake Grapevine is in flood stage so many of the trails were under water. My worst time of getting lost at Bob Jones Park ended up turning an hour hike into a 3 hours with sore feet and serious hunger pangs.

Today's lost experience did not last too long. But I was happy to find my van and drive to Sprouts for those oranges. And some real nice red peppers.