Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Justin Eller, Holly Eller
Date: May 25, 2024
Justin and Holly flew to Amarillo and drove to our nearby campsite to surprise Rosie for Mother’s Day. I had purchased a two-day pass for the Palo Duro Canyon which is called the “Grand Canyon of Texas” and is the second largest canyon in the USA (the Grand Canyon is the largest). We drove 25 miles south of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle and toured the visitor center to read the educational and historic exhibits. The center overlook gave us a majestic view of the canyon which is 6 to 20 miles wide. We walked over to the trailhead which took us along the rim for a while before we began our descent into the canyon. As we carefully descended 500 feet to the canyon floor, we crossed four historic Civilian Conservation Corps bridges, past four geologic layers, multicolored layers of rock, a few hoodoos and saw numerous wildflowers, sage, scrub plants and lizards. About 1.4 miles later we were at the canyon bottom where we found a small visitor center/gift shop, restrooms and the Pioneer Amphitheater where they hold an outdoor musical drama in the summertime. After drinking some water, we began the grueling 1.4 miles back up the canyon trail. It was getting hotter as we slowly hiked up towards the distant rim. Occasionally on a canyon overlook there was a good refreshing breeze.
One funny nature story. Descending the trail, we came across a female lizard (Photo #5) who was about a foot away from a deceased lizard (Photo#6) which we assumed was her husband. The female lizard would not move away so we politely did not threaten her and hiked around her. Returning on the same trail 30 minutes later we noticed the deceased lizard was gone. Looking around we found the female lizard enjoying a good meal, her husband (Photo#8). LOL. Ah, Mother Nature!
After the two hikes that day we drove back to Amarillo and refueled at the Big Texan Steak Ranch.
