After last weeks disaster with the mosquitoes, I decided it was time for a change of scenery. So far I’ve done this Greenbelt trail from FM 380 to FM 428. I decided today would be a good day to start at FM 428 and hike up to FM 455.

You start out at the Greenbelt Park 428 Access. You’ll walk up and over a red iron bridge taking you to the west side of the Trinity River. For pretty much 3 miles, you’re hiking on that edge where forest meets meadow. The grass was as tall if not taller than me in some places!

Pretty good hike. We’ve been really lucky here in North Texas in that we had another rain event which has cooled things off considerably.

About 3 miles in you finally come to the southern boundary of Lake Ray Roberts. The last mile or so you’ll be hiking in woods. This was my chance to test out my grand experiment!

I can now confirm that Off Deep Woods Sportsman II with 30% Deet is effective against the damn bloody mosquitoes. You can thank me later for putting my body to the test for science to keep you all safe out there.

I even stopped at one point to see what would happen. I had about 40 of the blood thirsty suckers surrounding me….but they never would land. Keep in mind that this go around I even had on shorts so I had even more skin I needed to cover. The Deep Woods worked! If you’re looking for this specific Off product, be aware that you probably can’t just traipse into your local WallyWorld or Target and find it. Those stores tend to carry the 10% variety and when it comes to Deep Woods these buggers laugh at 10%. I ended up ordering 4 cans of the stuff off of Amazon.com; damn well worth it.

I took a break at the park at FM 455. Here you’re just on the other side of the Lake Ray Roberts dam. I grabbed a map to see where I could go next. As luck would have it, at the north east corner of the parking lot, the Equestrian Trail continues toward Isle du Bois. So far most of this “hiking” has been even trails…however this trail doesn’t disappoint. I saw a small deer; probably not even a year old yet. She was the only deer I saw today.

The trail from here toward the lake is fun and challenging in that lots of ups and downs, rocks, and deep deep sand. About a mile and a half past the 455 park you’ll come to an aquaduct that takes you under the road. I went in another 1/2 a mile and decided I’d have to leave the rest of this trail for another day. I headed back.

Since I was hiking through shifting sand and wet grass needless to say my feet were slipping every which a way. I could tell I had some nasty blisters building.

I stopped off at the 455 park for another quick break. This park is much like the one off of FM 428 in that they have proper clean restrooms. Be sure and read about the area before you cross the bridge…the Aubrey Clovis tribes were found to frequent this area nearly 11,500 years ago. Cool stuff.

As I headed back, I realized my feet were getting worse and worse. Despite my hiking boots, I could feel every rock, pebble, and grain of sand through the boots. I didn’t dare stop and take my boots off because I know I’d never get them back on. Luckily I got distracted by a couple of snakes. I don’t know what it is with me and snakes…guess since my Chinese Calendar says I was born in the year of the Snake they just naturally gravitate to me. I saw a green snake and a baby rat snake.

The last two miles were the hardest and longest I’ve hiked. I could feel the various blisters popping. I could barely walk. I continue to hobble along although at a much slower pace.

Once I got back to the truck, I immediately took off my boots and socks and confirmed the damage. I switched over to my crocks and looked forward to getting home and off my feet for the rest of the day. Guess I’ll be taking a couple of days off!

I’ll update this later with pictures. My camera is in my backpack and I really don’t want to get up and walk to get it…yeah…the feet are that painful. Ah well, this’ll continue to tough them up!