Palo Duro Canyon SP

In northwest Texas, there is a state park containing a canyon.  Called the “Grand Canyon” of Texas, it's not really comparable to the National Park, but its still a welcome break from the vast desert plains spotted with oil derricks.   We stopped for the day, and spent a number of hours walking the margin between the arid canyon uplands, and the lush riparian areas surrounding the Red River.

 

 

 

 

Salt and gypsum crystal deposits.

 

 

A number of shady characters used the canyon as a hideout in 19th century.

 

 

 

 

 

The windblown sediments which makeup much of the rock contained a fair amount of water-soluble minerals.  As water percolated down through the sediment, these minerals concentrated into bands of white and crystalline structures.  Further out west, this process produces veins of zinc, copper, silver, uranium, and lead, often in the fault boundaries between rock layers.  In Texas these younger sediments lack these valuable metals, but are still quite pleasing to look at. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were pretty proud of a few fun rock formations, Lighthouse rock shown below.  While they pale in comparison to the south of Utah, its impressive for Texas.

Guadalupe Mountains NP

Dates: 3-20-21 through 3-23-21

 

With our stopover completed, we headed west through Oklahoma and Texas.  If you have never crossed the gas and oil fields of the Texas Panhandle, it's an experience.  We typically cross it as fast as possible, and hope the wind is blowing the right way.  The fumes given off by the oil wells can be especially noxious some days.

 

 

Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted and eroded remains of a 250-million-year-old reef.  The various ridge lines are made of different rock types, with the southern ones being limestone, and farther northwest being sedimentary in nature. 

 

 

We got lucky with our timing, as a few days prior the entire area around Guadalupe NP had been hit with sustained 60-mph winds.  These are often for 12+ hours a day, turning the sky brown, and sandblasting anything exposed.  With good weather we decided to hike McKittrick Canyon first.

 

 

Prior to the park being established in the late 60s, this was a hunting lodge and retreat deep in the back country.  Stone walls and roofs made for a cool escape in the sun.  A nearby spring is one of few permanent water sources in the area.

 

 

Some interesting caves were about halfway down.

 

The adaptations of the plants in the desert can be quite interesting.

 

Here is a Texas Madrone.  A unique tree which has bright red bark, usually covered with a waxy layer. 

 

Just a bit spiky!

 

 

 

The following day we hiked up to Devil’s Hall, a slot canyon in the mountains.

 

 

Here is another madrone which has sustained some damage.  Note how the  wood twists as it grows.   This helps the tree be more resistant to injury, and continues to thrive despite it.

 

It took a bit of scrambling over boulders and up dry falls, but we got there.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

On the 22nd we decided to try and do Guadalupe Peak, the highest one in the park. The weather was starting to turn, and we didn’t want to hang around for another week.  This was a good workout, but with the elevation gain we found ourselves a bit under-dressed, with wind chills well below freezing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These desert mountain ranges are always fascinating from a biology standpoint.  As we rose in elevation the yearly precipitation would double.   On sheltered north-facing slopes or drainage areas, conifer forests appeared.

 

 

 

We persevered, and were eventually rewarded with a sweeping vista.  The winds were starting to pick up at this point.  In the distance you can see the salt dunes, with the wind whipping up a dust storm, indicating it was time to move on. 

Big Bend: Part 1

With a case of cabin fever, and a few weeks to burn, we searched for a location to visit within striking distance of Oklahoma.  After consulting the weather, driving distances, etc, we decided to visit Big Bend area in Texas.

There are two large parks here, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and Big Bend National Park.  Located along the Rio Grande, which forms the Mexican border, and is part of the Chihuahua Desert.

The slog across the wasteland of west Texas was a long one.  Thankfully they had had a wet winter, and there were large swaths of wildflowers blooming in the dirt between oil wells.

Surprisingly we actually knew someone out here.  So we stopped over in Midland TX to say hello.  Also intrepid explorers, their daughter (like most children) enjoyed the van.

Arriving just a few minutes too late to BB NP, we had to camp outside the park at a ranch/campground.  Lots of spring flowers scattered about.

 

There was also a large rattlesnake, which was quite annoyed when Jen almost stepped on it while taking photos!

The next day we drove into the park, and took some time enjoying the flora.

We also checked out some of the (long extinct) fauna.  This area was quite temperate and green on and off over the last 100 million years.  There are several excellent fossil dig sites, and examples of the recovered fossils are displayed.

Such as this giant crocodile. With specimens up to 39ft long and 16,000 lbs, it was not to be taken lightly.

You can pick out parts of the giants skull below. 



This is the earliest ancestor of the modern horse.  Hard to imagine, but they definitely got bigger and faster!


A relative of the Triceratops.



Check out that femur!

Here is the arm (wing) of a giant flying dinosaur.  Bigger than a small Cessna...

With a back country campsite secured, we wandered one of the few oases in the park.  Hard to believe, but humans have been living here for over 15,000 years.  Most recently European settlers who tried ranching with some success.

Then we made our way down to our campsite along the river.  You will notice Mexico over there.  Despite what you may hear on the TV, there was no rapists or criminals in sight.  Don't worry, I am sure someone will insist on building a "big beautiful" wall to protect us from such beauty.

To be continued in part 2.