Tuesday 3/20

Traveler’s Observation: Bud Light seems to be the beer of choice of the people who litter by a long throw.

Traveler’s Observation: A toilet is a handy item to carry with you.

Got going about 9 and made a left when i should of made a right coming out of the campground. It started taking me out of the park but there is a scenic drive i wanted to do. Next place to check and turn around was also the intersection to go to the highway…i was thinking screw it and going to leave when a couple of buffalo came up a ravine and dilly-dallied on the road going to the highway. Easy decision to turn around and do the scenic drive.

Don’t have very far to go today. GPS says 56 miles…but i know the GPS likes to get there quickly but i’m not going the quickest way. I want to take Texas 207 West, also called Hamblen’s Drive, that crosses Palo Duro Canyon way down at the NW end. So I’m sort of circling the canyon rim today. It’s NOT the Grand Canyon from a depth POV but from a length & width. The parts that are vehicle accessible are few and far. Site #87 is 8 miles down the canyon. Crowded. Couldn’t get 2 nights in the same site. Still spring break for New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma.

Did a short walk across the canyon to the little stream. Lots of people. Not really much to see other than the canyon. I’m going to get a hike or two in tomorrow so we’ll see. It is the second biggest canyon in the US per the Texas State Park literature. It is also where Ranald MacKenzie of the US Calvary finally ended the Indian Wars by burning all the food and clothing and killing over 1100 horses that the Comanches had to leave behind after being attacked. They couldn’t survive the winter so they surrendered and were taken to a Oklahoma reservation. And of course, Charles Goodnight stepped in and bought the land and started the biggest ranch in the US. I’m going to do some reading on Ranald (with a “a”).

This is also the start of the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains. These are high plains. It is a sea of grass that must of seemed impenetrable to early travelers. You can’t see very far because even tho’ it is flat, it isn’t level. A high point is a small hill. Nothing to guide you. Not the kind of place to get caught in a storm. No shelter. The storms are ferocious but short and the wind, she’s always fixin’ to blow.

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