The Louisiana state highpoint, Driskill Mountain, weighs in at all of 535 feet above sea level. A good trail and set of old roads lead right to the summit. And yet, I failed on my first visit in January 1997! Without a map nor my trusty guidebook, I entered into the dense forest and went up the wrong hill. As I drove off I started to get the uneasy feeling I missed the proper highpoint, but it was too late to go back... so I bided my time and tried again two years later during my Spring Break vacation, 1999. Then, five years later my wife and I journeyed to Louisiana for Christmas to see New Orleans and to explore the state. We did a number of parish highpoints as well as a visit to Driskill, for Beth's first time and my second. Over my three visits here - 1997, 1999 and 2004 - I have seen the nature of the land change dramatically. In 1997 it was all dense forest. In 1999 the frontage along the highway had been heavily logged and the area was an ugly mess. In 2004 new trees were growing and it looked pretty again.

First visit, Unsuccessful (January 1997): I flew into New Orleans a few days earlier to begin a few days of state highpoints, saving Driskill for last. The plan was to drive east to Florida, then work my way northwestish and bag the state highpoints of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas along the way. Then, south into Louisiana again, make easy work of Driskill, then go into Baton Rouge where some college friends of mine were living and hang with tjem for a day or two. You can read all about this by clicking here. I had mostly bad weather for this trip, dodging some big snowmakers and almost getting myself in trouble in Missouri. But when I drove into Louisiana from Arkansas, the weather was clear and dry, and very pleasant. Humidity was low and the sky was a deep blue. I had some trouble getting to the little church that signifies the road into the highpoint, but some locals helped me out. I followed the little road in a few hundred yards and it came to a gate that I wasn't sure was okay for me to pass. There was a hill nearby so I hiked up that ... and figured this was it, but even then didn't feel too sure about that. So I drove out and on to Baton Rouge. So why didn't I stick around and explore further? I have no idea. I knew I hadn't visited it properly so I came back in March 1999 to make things right...

Second Visit, First Successful (March 1999): For my 1999 Spring Break from teaching, I wanted to revisit two state highpoints that I had previously visited (or thought I had), but for various reasons left me dissatisfied about them. They were Oklahoma and Louisiana. I was successful on Oklahoma's Black Mesa in 1996, but I did it under such horrible conditions that I wanted to go back in better weather. Click here for the narrative. Once done there I drove south through the panhandle into Lubbock. Admittedly I thought driving another 450+ miles east to visit Louisana's highpoint seemed a bit silly, but I decided to go for it anyway. I went east on Interstate-20 and stayed in Eastland, a bit west of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

I awoke very early on Monday the 15th, and began my drive from Eastland. I had about 380 miles of one way driving to do before I’d get to Louisiana’s Driskill Mountain, and more than once I doubted my sanity, but I pressed on anyway. I almost made it through the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex without any hassles until a nasty traffic snarl prompted me to exit the Interstate and make an unplanned detour through the housing projects of Big D. Once back on Interstate-20, I encountered no further delays, passed through Shreveport and drove another half hour to the town of Arcadia, and my jump-off point to Driskill. After gassing up, I drove the little routes to the little country church that sits at the driveway of the highpoint. Wow, how had the scenery changed! The region has been logged extensively and an entire tract of trees near the church and along the highway were gone. I drove my truck in about a quarter-mile along the muddy access road, parked, and proceeded in.

In 1997, on my first go-round with Driskill, I had neglected to bring a map or my guidebooks and as such, had no clue where to proceed once in the trees. The dense trees hid the land forms and it was not obvious at all where the true highpoint was. This time, I had my map and found the highpoint with no difficulty whatsoever. As it turned out, it was one hill to the north of where I had gone the first time. Oh, so frustratingly close! After spending a few minutes surveying all before me, I hiked out back to my car, completing the round trip in about 30 minutes. Nearly 400 miles of one-way driving for a thirty minute hike up a little bump in the Louisiana wilderness? If you’re a highpointer, you’ll understand. Highpoint #26, check.

Now it was back home, only about 1300 miles away. I pretty much returned the way I came in, making one stop in Bossier City to lose $20 in their slot machines. I had great weather and no problems getting back through the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. By this time it was dark, and I just wanted to get as far west as possible. I had dinner at a small road-side diner near Mineral Wells, and made it to Abilene before I gave in to my fatigue and took a hotel. Mileage for day 3: 807 miles. Day four was just another marathon drive back home to Arizona, with some side trips thrown in here and there. Total mileage for the 4 days was 3,007. I haven't put on that many miles in that short a time since.

Third Visit, Second Successful and Beth's First (December 2004): After a few days in New Orleans and the Bayou country of Acadiana, highlighted by the only Christmas Day snow ever in the Big Easy, Beth and I made the long drive to Natchitoches, which bills itself as the city of lights during the Holidays. We arrived about 6 p.m., got a hotel and drove into town, had dinner, then walked the waterfront and viewed the beautiful display of Christmas lights strung out everywhere, some even spanning the river that passes through town. The next day we had a number of easy parish highpoints on the docket, highlighted by our visit to Driskill Mountain, which would allow Beth to double her state highpoint totals from one to two in one easy hike! After very quick visits to the Winn and Lincoln parish highpoints - the latter just a few miles up the road from Driskill - we arrived at the little red Baptist Church marking the trailhead, so to speak, of the Driskill hike. The weather was cool but nice, and clear. A gate now spanned the road so we parked at the church.

We followed the road into the trees and within 15 minutes or so arrived at the highpoint. The landowners have erected a sturdy wooden sign and past visitors have erected a good-sized cairn at the top. We spent some time here and enjoyed the visit, then returned to our truck. Two more parish visits were on the docket, and we spent that night camped at Lake Claiborne State Park, where a cute black kitty made friends with us that evening.