Palo Duro Canyon Revisited

We finally had a free weekend, so we decided to make a short trip to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Just the two of us. The weather looked promising with high temperatures forecast to be in the 80's (the last time we camped here was in July and the daytime highs topped 100).
We weren't disappointed. No wind, no rain, and great temperatures. The only "issue" was a young couple tent camping in the site next to us. They had an awesome radio in their truck, and they shared it....a lot. A loud radio, however, couldn't discourage the deer and turkeys who frequented the area. Eventually the radio was turned down and the evening was crystal clear. Perfect for grilling burgers.

Saturday morning we fired up the Keurig, brewed a couple cups of coffee (man, I love that coffee maker!) and after a chilly half mile walk around the campground, we cooked breakfast, cleaned up the dishes and wondered what we were going to do with the rest of the day. Deciding that since we had lived in Amarillo for almost 20 years, and had never been to The Lighthouse, that would be a great place to hike to. We got started about 10:00 am. Well, it got real warm real quick and at the one mile point of a six mile hike we decided it was time to turn back.

As if we hadn't had enough, we hiked a little around our campsite.

How hot has it been in the Texas Panhandle?

So hot that even the cactus is dying!

This old power pole was spotted behind our campsite.

It seems that electricity was smaller back then!

The deer just really don't mind humans being around at all.

We loved watching a beautiful moon rise over a canyon rim.

Fully rested and mentally prepared, the following day we tried it again.
We set out at 8:00 am, took twice as much water and had a great hike. There was no one else on the trail for the first hour or so. In fact it wasn't until we needed to "pause for a cause" that we met another hiker. I was supposed to be the lookout and it wasn't until Betty had her pants around her ankles that he turned the corner in the trail and with his head down, walked right up to us before looking up! "Oh, uh, sorry" he mumbled as he did an about face. Oh well. I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.

When we returned to camp we got an added bonus! The kids with the awesome radio had departed, so we had a peaceful lunch before packing up to head home.