By the time we got to the towns of Elton and Barnsdall along US-190 in northwest Jefferson Davis Parish, we'd been on the road for about 5 hours amid a consistent downpour of heavy rain. We had visited a nightmarish muddy highpoint in Hardin County, Texas, then nabbed a quickie up in Allen Parish, from which we made our way down through Kinder then east to Elton and Barnsdall. The highpoints of Jefferson Davis Parish only reach to just above 55 feet, as this is basically a typical low-lying parish not far from the bayous along the gulf. Five areas comprise the highpoint: one large area north of Barnsdall along the parish boundary and four smaller areas just south, of which it is likely that most or all of these four have been artificially built up by roadbed construction. Nevertheless we visited the southern areas as best we could. Heavy, heavy rain kept our extra-vehicular activities short. Of the four southern areas we felt some berms along a dirt road might be as high as anything.

The northern area we saved for last. We went up and over the railroad then north about a half-mile to a slight bend in the road, where a small stand of large, mature trees stood to our north. The map had us within the 55-foot contour and the ground near the trees seemed to be a good 2-3 feet higher. However, the heavy rain and horrific mud made even stepping this short of a distance difficult. We tagged the high ground and walked up on nearby high ground where the footing was better, then got moving. Ironically, the railroad bed is higher than everything but definitely man-enhanced. Beth was slightly bemused by this highpoint. This was just a primer for the next one: an 11-point monster a few miles down the road in Acadia Parish. The rain stayed heavy.