Westbound, put the hammer down!

My buddy, Needles, was here in January of 2018 and raved about it, so we went to it. They call it the Grand Canyon of Texas. It is 120 miles long, as much as 20 miles wide, and has a maximum depth of more than 800 feet. Its elevation at the rim is 3,500 feet above sea level. It is often claimed that Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States. It was fairly impressive but nothing even close to the real Grand Canyon, or for that matter Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon, or even the Wedge at the San Rafael Swell, know as Utah’s Little Grand Canyon.

It’s a steep windy 10% grade down into the park and the first time the Tundra has been in first gear. She handled it like a champ. Amelia’s modus operandi at a new campground worked like a charm. Look for real mountain bikers by checking out their bikes then ask them about the trails and what they recommend. It’s even better when they have an Airstream! There were three guys from Dallas that gave us great riding tips for the area. We had a one day respite from the wind, then it returned with a vengeance.

We visited five Texas state parks and camped in four of them. All told we spent 25 days in Texas. 😳

I really like this pic of a defunct water tower in Britton, Oklahoma.

Goodbye Oklahoma, hello again Texas, we are getting closer to home.

Beautiful Site 79, Mesquite Loop

Here’s an early morning view of the campground. The only negative against the campground was we had zero cell reception. I had a hunch if I climbed the hill above us I might have reception. It worked the first day. The second day not at all. I blamed it on the wind.

Artsy fartsy shot from my hike down from the cell reception site the first morning.

Purple Locoweed

I’ve seen a few things in my day, but never a sunscreen dispenser at a trailhead.

We survived.

The riding was better than we anticipated, so that was a pleasant surprise. 🙂

And quite a bit different than the terrain at Bentonville.

The Lighthouse,  the “famous” landmark at Palo Duro. We rode our bikes then hiked up to it.

It was actually quite impressive. The couple pictured were geeking out on taking a jillion pics for Instagram.

Amelia walking towards the unseen Lighthouse in the picture, between the two rock formations.

Here it is, the last sunset in Texas. My cousin means the world to me, but I think it’ll be a long time before we are back in this state.