After leaving Salt Plains, OK en route to Muleshoe, Texas for our third refuge, we spent an afternoon at the Palo Duro Canyon State Park, just south of Amarillo, TX. My travel book said it is a "must-see" natural landmark and it certainly is! We had a very warm summer-like day, with temps in the low 90's. This made our five-mile hike to the "lighthouse" rock formation a little more challenging. It felt great to be out hiking and the sun did feel good. These images are all from the day in the canyon.
We took advantage of every piece of shade we could find along the trail for water and snack breaks.
There were colorful plants and flowers throughout the hike. It was always nice to see them.
The 60-mile canyon is sculpted by the Prairie Dog Town fork of the Red River over the past 90 million years. Palo Duro is Spanish for "hardwood"and is a geology buff's dream as there are layers of colored rock and shale at every juncture. The colors of red, orange, yellow, white, and browns are seen throughout the canyon. The surrounding area of the Texas panhandle is flat and relatively treeless. It is a shock to drive up through that landscape to this gigantic and colorful hole in the ground!
You can see in the above photo just how steep the trail became at the end of the climb.
Here is Oliver at the lighthouse - we made it! The views were fabulous.
We are almost back to the car for more food and water, and the two-hour drive on to Muleshoe!
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