The Short Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Pondering The Rut He Is In

The sun directly overhead at noon made for a Short Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man, which I am stepping on in the picture.

Today I realized the extent of the rut in which I've fallen.

Ever since I discovered, about 4 years ago, the Tandy Hills trails, less than 4 miles from my abode, it became my default hiking location.

Even after the discovery of the Tandy Hills I used to go to locations like Rockledge Park in Grapevine to hike along Lake Grapevine. Or Bob Jones Park in Southlake. Or Cedar Hills State Park in south Dallas. Or Dinosaur Valley State Park down by Glen Rose.

Or even drive as far as Waco to hike or bike around Cameron Park. Or all the way down to Austin to head west to climb up Enchanted Rock.

But then going to other locations began to taper off. I did go to Bob Jones Park in Southlake on New Year's Day, or maybe it was the day before New Year's Day.

It is 25 miles from my current location to Cedar Hills State Park. 50 miles roundtrip. I don't remember at what point I decided it was ridiculous to drive 50 miles to go on a hike.

I can not remember the last time I went to Dinosaur Valley State Park. I think it was the time I remember getting gas in Glen Rose for $1.50 a gallon and calling my mom to tell her I got gas and how much it cost.

I don't know what I'm going to do to get out of this Tandy Hills rut. I really don't feel like burning 3 or 4 gallons of gas and an hour of time, driving just to go to Cedar Hills State Park just to hike their many miles of very nice trails.

Not when the Tandy Hills is pretty much in my backyard. Maybe I will take up bowling to get me out of my rut.

A Saturday Hike On The Tandy Hills With Mike, Sara & Penny

That is Mike and Sara and their canine hiking companion, Penny, taking a break and having lunch on the Tandy Hills today.

Mike and Sara have lived in Dallas for 3 years. Before Dallas they lived in Eugene, Oregon, where they'd hiked a lot.

Mike and Sara were Googling for places to hike in Texas and somehow found this blog called Durango Texas, which led them to their first visit to the Tandy Hills.

I talked to Mike and Sara and Penny for awhile. Told them about other hiking places in the area.

I forgot to mention some good hiking locations, so I'll mention them now, in the oft chance Mike and Sara visit that Durango Texas Blog again.

Well, Lake Grapevine has some good trails. The trails from Rockledge Park are probably the best. You'll find the entry to Rockledge Park after you drive across Lake Grapevine Dam. Grapevine currently charges an entry fee to Rockledge Park, which I consider an outrage and an abomination.

There are several park areas around Lake Grapevine from which you can access the trails, like the Horseshoe Trails.

Across the Red River, in Oklahoma, there is Turner Falls Park, with hiking, caves and cliffs to climb.

About 60 miles southwest of Fort Worth you'll find Dinosaur Valley State Park. There are miles of good trails in this state park. Very hilly. And it is very easy to get lost. The trails are marked by color. Which does not help all that much with the getting lost problem.

There are a couple other good Fort Worth hiking locations. The Fort Worth Nature Preserve is one. It's got miles of trails, cliffs, prairie dogs, bayous and alligators. Trails that you can access from the Lake Worth overlook in Sansom Park are the steepest I have been on in Texas. Sansom Park is a maze of trails and it is possible to have fun getting lost.

I told Mike and Sara about the trails in Cedar Hills State Park. I neglected to mention how huge this park is. It is a several mile drive, once you enter the park, to get to the first hiking trailhead. At the end of the road you'll find the trailhead for some 13 miles of mountain bike trails, that you can also hike. I told Mike and Sara I've seldom seen a snake on the Tandy Hills. At Cedar Hills State Park I had my biggest rattlesnake encounter. As in, it was HUGE.

This makes twice this week I've run into humans on the Tandy Hills who had not been there before. The hills are coming alive with humans.