State Highpoint Number Nine:



LOUISIANA (9)
Date: Monday, November 8, 1999
Peak: Driskill Mountain
Height: 535 feet
Vertical Climb: 150 feet
Round-trip Mileage: 1.8 miles
Peak Class: #2
Height Rank: #48 of 50
Difficulty Rank: #25 of 50

Took I-20 west to Arcadia and found Hwy 147 looking for Hwy 797 and headed toward Driskill Mountain. Almost hit two deer standing in the road but they took off just in time. Gradually climbing uphill on the road. Lots of small pine trees---looked like a reforesting project. Took 507 west and found the Mt. Zion Presbyterian and Driskill Memorial Cemetery at 11:35. This is a very isolated area---the only houses for miles were small, woodframe buildings and not very many of them. I’m miles from the nearest small town and these Louisiana county roads are poorly marked and not even on my road atlas.
Packed my daypack but decided not to wear my boots since the road seemed stable enough. Followed my Internet map past the first false peak and then got sidetracked onto an old logging path and followed it for about a mile round-trip before returning to the main road. Very brushy and lots of reedy cane here---the most physically isolated spot I’ve visited and I feel a little uneasy. Continued on and the road became a footpath and not very developed. There were no markers or signs on trees but I just continued up the slope. At the summit, I knew there were no markers---not even a USGS survey marker---and I got a good reading from my Magellan and shot some pictures and looked around. It had a somewhat eerie feeling and I somebody was watching me. I headed back down after a short visit and continued to have a feeling I was being watched and followed. This is the only time I've felt uneasy at a highpoint and the isolated nature of the area wasn't helping but the trip back went ok and I hiked approximately two miles in 25 minutes. Was starting to sweat heavily under my baseball cap.
Looked around the cemetery and headed out and continued on Hwy 507 at 12:15 toward Bienville. These roads were really confusing so I headed southwest. Headed towards Jamestown and Ringgold. Accidentally found Culbertson’s Grocery which I had been wanting to visit but wasn’t sure where it was located. Went inside through an old wooden screen door---it is an old woodframe building with the creaky wooden floors and shelves stocked with two or three each of essentials. Outside the front door, there was a minnow tank and cricket box.
The lady inside, Mertha Culbertson, was around 60 years old and very nice. I ordered a ham sandwich and Coke and talked to her while she handmade the sandwich. This had been Bonnie and Clyde territory and they were killed six miles from here. They were hiding out with a man who was from this area so the locals all knew them and more or less kept quiet about them. She told me her father had owned the grocery store and had sold them food on several occasions. When I asked her why they didn’t just rob him like like they did everybody else, she said it was because of the man they were hiding with. There are still some older people in that area that remember them. I mentioned that I had gotten her name from another highpointer off the Internet and she knew who it was and asked me to send him her regards which I will do when I get back.