[I visited Dallas around November 10, this entry is just catching up.]

There are nice people in Dallas, and there are also assholes. Just like any other big city. Some of the assholes here however have a particular talent for soul-sucking. One would wish to pay actual money not to have run into these people. Unlike the assholes in Indy, who weren't quite adept, the assholes of the Big D seem to have the knack. As if Dallas was a Mecca for soul-sucking assholes.

So, anyway, on a completely different topic, I went in search of some place in Dallas where there's some elevation gain. I had to stay there until Monday, and I might as well give it a chance. It's just that betwen trying to get some work done, and the general process of having to go one place and then another, driving 10 miles this way and 10 miles that, it's a bit difficult. I never thought I'd see a place more sprawled all over the countryside than L.A., but DFW is indeed that place.

So, I tried to find a place where I could find some elevation change. Based on beta supplied by two separate people, I went to the Camp Wisdom Boy Scout camp.

There was no one at the front office of the camp, so I started wandering around until I found a building a short distance from the office where I thought someone might be. It looked empty until I got closer and saw seated heads inside. Someone apparently saw my approach, and unlocked a door near me. He got a little too close to my face for comfort and then backed down after I asked about public access and then was told that there was no such thing there. He told me that, contrary to what I'd heard, there were no rocks or much elevation gain there.

Perhaps I'd interrupted an indoctrination meeting of some kind. The mock highway sign on the way to the camp said "Character under construction." Inside the camp house there were hunting magazines advertising the Charlton Heston Saturday Night Special, or some such. There was also a sign "Free! Take One!" over a full stack of H. Ross Perot books.

Then I went to Ceder Hill State Park. The trails were closed for both hiking and biking due to recent rain. The toad-like gent at the gate wasn't any help at all. The answer to my question about the highest elevation in the park was answered with: "5280'." Ha ha, boy was that funny. I asked to see a ranger. "He wants to speak to a ranger," he said off to the side of the booth. The ranger acted a bit sheepish and stunned, as if he were under the sway of the powerful personality of the gatekeeper. Most rangers I've met don't have a Gomer Pyle air about them. I asked to see a topo map of the park. None was available.

I get the feeling that Cedar Hill State Park is more for the RVing and picnicing crowd. Even though they have a specially designed mountain biking trail, I don't think the people there are like, say, backcountry rangers in Alaska. The conversation soon switched to a discussion of county highpoints. The gatekeeper asked what was the highest California highpoint I'd gotten, and I sheepishly admitted that that would be San Jacinto Peak, and that I hadn't gotten Mount Whitney. "Oh, I walked up that one." Oh boy, the jokes just kept on a-comin', Ah tell ya whut. Bottom line: pancakes, at even a global level, are more topographically varied than the Big, Flat D. If you want a challenging hike near Dallas, prepare for a challenging drive and buy a guidebook rather than asking the people who should know something but don't. And, don't wear your Goretex jacket, shorts and hiking boots around Dallas unless you want strange looks.