Wednesday in Palo Duro Canyon

I made a quick post yesterday indicating that we did not have internet access at the campground. Last night at the "Texas" show, the lady next to me indicated that she had had access most of the time they had been in the canyon on her AT&T phone. I tried hooking our AT&T MiFi device up again, and, with our cellular signal booster, it has an "ok" signal, so I'm going to try to write up about our day yesterday!

First... a picture of the sunset Tuesday evening at Buffalo Lake NWR. We enjoyed the National Wildlife Refuge and would like to return there in slightly cooler weather.

 We arrived at Palo Duro Canyon State Park by mid-morning...

The park had run out of printed copies of the trails maps, so the lady who checked us in to our campsite encouraged us to take a picture of the copy of the map on the wall...

Information about the trails...

I had read that the road into the canyon had a 10% grade, so I was a little concerned, but I put the engine retarder on high and put the transmission on "1" and went really slowly!

We were assigned to a nice pullthru in the campground nearest to the "Texas" show location - in fact, there was a walk path from our campground to the show just across the road from our site!

It was about 11am by the time we got parked, but we decided to drive out to see the park....

We stopped at one of the trails - they have these handy thermometers at the trail heads to let you know that it is HOT! We decided not to do any hiking on Wednesday afternoon...

We stopped by the theater for the "Texas" production so we would know where to come...

"Welcome Ya'll"

The theater - they used the stage, the areas to the left and right, and the area all behind the stage during the production!

When we were there in the afternoon, the birds (swallows?) who had built their nests in the theater were busily feeding. The show just started production on June 1, so I guess they are trying to get their families raised in what had previously been a peaceful, quiet environment, but which now gets a lot visiting by humans!

The baby bird chorus!

This "scare owl", intended to dissuade nest building at the ticket booth, was NOT doing a very good job as there is a nest built on top of his head!

Views of the canyon from the road into the canyon...

Beautiful!

Dwayne went across the road to take some close-up pictures of the rocks.

Dwayne's close-ups... 1...

2...

3...

4!

From the overlook near the visitor center - 1...

2...

3...

4!

There is a Visitor Center near the overlook, and we went in to see the information that they had about the canyon and the park. The building of many of the the state park facilities was don by CCCs in the late 1930s.

The road down into the canyon...

The Texas LonghornIn 1493, the Spanish explorers brought the first long-horned cattle to the new world. Later, after the English settlers had arrived, these Spanish herds interbred with the Northern European cattle. The Texas Longhorn developed from this mixture.
Noted for its longevity, the Texas Longhorn may live longer than 30 years and may produce calves past the age of 20. Bulls are known for their large horns which, along with their narrow faces, can produce a mean expression. These massive horns may spread up to 6 feet from tip to tip. The Texas Longhorn is known for their hardy nature, speed, and mothering instincts. Endowed with endurance and ability to maintain a herd even while stampeding, this cattle has proven itself valuable in trail driving.
"As trail cattle, their equal never has been known. Their hoofs are superior to those of any other cattle. In stampedes, they hold together better, are easier to circle during a run, and rarely split off when you commence to turn the front. No animal of the cow kind will shift and take care of itself under all conditions as will the Longhorns. They can go farther without water and endure more suffering than others." Charles Goodnight, Co-Founder of the JA Ranch

State Longhorn Herd
The Texas Longhorn enjoyed favor among settlers of the region for many years. However, as the cattle trails began to close and new breeds were introduced, the number of longhorns began to decline.
By 1936, a Texas businessman, Sid Richardson, and J. Frank Dobie, a Texas historian, began to discuss the possibility of establishing a state herd in order to preserve the Texas Longhorn. In the beginning, 20 head of longhorns were placed at Lake Corpus Christi State Park. These longhorns proved problematic for the park, and in 1948, the herd was moved to Fort Griffin State Park, where they remain to this day. On May 17, 1969, under Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 79, the herd managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department became the official State of Texas Longhorn Herd.
Since 1950, several steers from the official herd have resided at Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Longhorns may also be viewed at the following state parks: Abilene, Big Bend Ranch, Copper Breaks, Dinosaur Valley, Fort Griffin, Lyndon B. Johnson, and San Angelo.
In 1995, the state legislature declared the Texas Longhorn to be the official large mammal of Texas.

They keep a Longhorn (or some Longhorns) here at the park (we haven't seen any Longhorns, but we did see some that looked like black Angus)... This was a set of pictures of ones that have been here in the past. I thought these names were funny - except, "Omelet" seems out of place! They reminded me of Ginny naming her steer calf "Sir Loin"!

It got pretty warm in the afternoon - 125F outside (the thermometer was in the sun) and 99F in the front of the bus (where the clock is mounted).

In the evening, we took the walking trail to the "Texas" show... it started at 8:30pm (we took naps in the afternoon so we could stay up late to see it!) - it had cooled off a little (probably in mid 80s by the time it started) and there was a nice breeze in the theater.

No pictures during the production, but some of the players were greeting the audience outside the theater as we left.

We thoroughly enjoyed the "Texas" show and would highly recommend it if you are going to be in this area in the summer time! Outside of seeing it, however, we don't particularly recommend visiting Palo Duro Canyon State Park during the summer - it is just too hot!!!