Update: My Sweetie has written her geologic view of this park and you can view it at her blog, Geology Journeys, (by a Geoscience Geek if you ask me :)
My Sweetie was up and getting ready for work Friday morning around the butt-crack of dawn (or, to be a little bit more precise, about oh-dark-thirty! Or 0500) so she could work her half-day and be here at 1000. We have a long day ahead of us!
I started packing up my F-150 and making sure the oil is good, tire pressure is correct, and other mind-numbing but necessary tasks are completed. Then, I go through my packing list to make absolutely sure I have everything we need. *More on that later.*
I head over to the storage unit to pick up our PUP. On the way, I fill up with gas and grab 60 pounds of ice for the chest. Hook up the PUP and back to the house in no time! My Sweetie shows up at 1010 and we hit the road heading north (it's cooler in the north). She notes that the temperature is supposed to hit 107 or 108 in Midland today but only 104 in Canyon! Oh, yeah. It's gonna be a lot cooler.
We're driving, taking turns every hour or so, just so's we don't get too tired, and, before you know it, we're turning on SR217 and heading to the park. We are about a mile from the park when my Sweetie gets the first glimpse of what the park is going to look like. Remember, up until now, we have seen miles and miles of flat nothing on the drive. Then, the land kinda falls off on the side and a big canyon starts unfolding.
We get to the park, pay our fees (got another free night because I have an annual pass and we're staying for 3 nights. Woot!), and get our assigned spot. We drive down a fairly steep, narrow, and windy road to get from the plains down to the bottom of the canyon. My Sweetie says the scenario is really nice but I don't see anything except fallen rocks, sheer cliffs, first gear, and, possibly, enough room to make those hairpin turns.
We safely arrive at our destination of #21 Hackberry Campground. We get our PUP installed in record time because it is bloody hot. We find a shady spot and put up our chairs and relax.
We then get around to driving the park to see where everything is located. We find a ton of different geological things that my Sweetie finds absolutely fascinating and I, as a true geology novice, am trying to grasp as well as I can. Somethings are just too darned complex for my current geology education. But I'm still learning!
After getting back to our chairs, we began to notice all of the wildlife. An adult woodpecker keeps flying to our tree and then heading off to another. He appears to be followed by a juvenile who clearly expects the adult to feed him! My Sweetie finally got a nice shot of the adult feeding the juvenile.
But the amazing critters in the park aren't afraid of humans. Several times, adult doe Mule deer approached to within ten feet of my Sweetie and me while we're sitting in our chairs outside. The turkeys were also very used to humans as they slowly walked across the campground looking for food and water. The turkeys have learned that some of the water connections leak so they wander around expecting a free drink of really cool, clear water in these camps.
On Saturday, we have a hot breakfast with coffee (ask me about the on-going coffee stories!) before we head over to the Lighthouse trailhead. We get our water together and I start to prepare the backpacks when I realize - OMG - I forgot to pack the bladders for the backpacks and, therefore, we would have 3 liters less than I expected we would have! So, I did some self-beating and realized there was nothing we could do about it. We drove over to the parking lot for the beginning of the walk. After we put on our sunscreen, read the important safety information, and filled our tummies with water, we start out on this 6 mile hike.
Little did I realize that we would be taking lots of pictures. Actually, I knew that but I forgot about using quarters to check the size of the rocks. The colors of the canyon are amazing, too.
We make the journey back with only a small bit of angst. With only two tenths of a mile to go, I had to stop and get some cold water on my head. Nearly made the whole trip. (To be fair, at the very end, the trail became VERY steep and I had to let my Sweetie go ahead to finish the trail.) Eventually, we did get back to the truck and then back to the campsite, then to the Visitors Center for some much needed air conditioning.
After a short nap, we got ready for the supper. We had decided to purchase supper tickets just before the musical-comedy-drama "Texas" since we were attending the show anyway. A great decision as we had salad, pickled okra, cheese potatoes, rolls, steak, and iced tea! We ate with part of a bus tour who were doing the Route 66 tour starting in Oklahoma, running through Amarillo, to Arizona and back.
The show was fantastic! The stage is outdoors and their backdrop is Palo Duro Canyon! Amazing! If you visit, you should really consider this musical as something to see. The show ended sometime after 2200 (don't know for sure). Get back to our PUP and sleep til we wake up.
Sunday morning we decide we should head to town for the day. We head over to Canyon and St. Ann's Catholic Church for the 1115 Mass (oh, it's so cool inside!). Then, we find a hole in the wall cafe and have a great chicken fried steak (with great cream gravy, mashed taters, and onion rings) and a 1/3 pound burger with seasoned fries. After finishing everything on our plate and my third glass of iced tea, we head over to the museum, the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.
The PPHM has a lot of information about geology, paleontology, and the oil & gas industry. Plus, windmill history - who knew? Plus, they have some nice original paintings and sculptures on loan to them. One cool thing about this was the fact that they have a self-guided tour - given by cell phone! All you have to do is to dial a number up and press a number and you get the information you about what you are looking at. Test it out using (806) 318-9056 and enter any stop number 1 through 13.
Overall, I was very impressed with this museum out in the middle of nowhere in Canyon, TX. Again, if you are ever in Canyon, you should make a point of visiting this museum. Costs $10 per adult. We arrived around 1400 and didn't leave until just after 1700.
As we are heading back to the park, we see lots of flashing lights and a prairie fire off to the south. One of the roads we pass has been closed and the fire and smoke are moving towards the park road. We make it back to the park but start worrying a bit about whether the fire will hit the park.
It doesn't.
Monday morning, we pack up and head back to Midland. Overall, outstanding!
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| Here's a shot of a thermometer while we were at the park! |
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