Bonafide Member of the Driskill Mountain Society

Yep, you heard me right. Driskill Mountain Society.

I bet you didn't know that Mount Driskill is the highest point in Louisiana. 535 feet and I have climbed it. Found in the northeast corner of Sec. 32, T. 17 N., R. 5 W. at 32° 25′ 29.32″ N 92° 53′ 47.90″ W (WGS84) within Bienville Parish for all you legal wingnuts.

I took a Louisiana Geography class my last year at Louisiana Tech. Ralph Pierce was my teacher and he was great! What an interesting man. At one time I could tell you the Louisiana town that received the most rainfall in a 24 hour period. We even visited Poverty Point in Epps, Louisiana to see the Indian Mounds.

He took us all on a field trip to Bienville Parish to climb Driskill Mountain. The path was rough and needed clearing, but we all managed to get to the top and find..... trees. Lots and lots of pine trees. No view. Just a big hill and trees. But, that sweet man made every student who attended the field trip a certificate. You got it.... we were all made "Bonafide Members of the Driskill Mountain Society".

A few years later at the Barnes and Noble they had a book signing of David Brashers book about his climb of Everest. This is the guy who with a crew of 4 or people lugged the IMAX camera up Everest. It just happened to be the same year that they had the worst disaster ever on Everest. Into Thin Air was the story about that climbing season. A crazy number of people died in one 24 hour period.

I went to get my book signed. He was a very nice man. Tall, lanky, scraggly. Looked like a mountain climbing man. I think he was surprised by the number of people who showed up in Shreveport, Louisiana for his book. When I got up in line Mr. Brashers asked if I had ever been climbing. I told him yes. I had climbed the highest point in Louisiana. Mount Driskill at 535 feet. He looked at me, smiled and said "well, you gotta start somewhere".