Upon leaving Santa Fe, our plan was to winter in Carrollton, TX. Getting back required two 3-night stops in Amarillo and Wichita Falls, respectively. I was still hiking in the mornings, jumping on a trail adjacent to the campground when possible, or having MFI drop me off at a local trailhead. Despite being the queen of hiking-haters, sometimes she’s up for tagging along, and I love it when she does.
Using my All Trails app on the first morning, I chose to hike Amarillo’s Lower Bluff and Windmill Trail Loop, and MFI decided to go with me. The trail was easy, the weather was perfect, and we saw several interesting sights as pictured. We did pass the operating windmill, but were hard pressed to see what the attraction was. I had hiked portions of the Santa Fe Trail while in Santa Fe and was surprised to run into it again here. This historic trail west for pioneers was just so significant at that time.
Just driving around Amarillo, one doesn’t see much beyond a small panhandle town surrounded by cattle ranches and crop farms with a few hills scatterred here and there. Yet only 30 miles south, the terrain changes surprisingly as you drop into the 120-mile long Palo Dura Canyon, the second largest canyon in the country and locally referred to as “The Grand Canyon of Texas.” The canyon was cut by the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River into the Caprock Escarpment over millennia. It averages a width of 6 miles but is 20 miles at its widest. The canyon depth is listed at 880 feet but is 1000 feet at its deepest. There are steep mesa walls, dramatic geological features, and multi-colored layers of rock.
I decided on a 5-mile hike along the Kiowa and Upper Comanche trails at the northern end of the canyon. The trailhead was conveniently located adjacent to a large parking lot for a visitor center (closed) with public restrooms (open). MFI parked in the lot with a book and some knitting and off I trekked. The first mile and a half was flat along the river. Only a quarter mile in, I came across a dung beetle rolling his prize across the trail. I was intrigued, but having just started, I decided to pass up the opportunity to shoot a video. Fortunately, I saw another beetle working hard to take his possession home, and I captured this.
The trail became rocky and began to climb at about the half way point. I took a ton of pictures of the scenery and rock formations.
The surface of many exposed rocks showed various forms of erosion.
Next, we stopped in Wichita Falls. I found a trail head adjacent to the property line of our RV park and hiked along the river and into a nearby park. The trail climbed to a bluff about 200 feet above the river and afforded some good views and beautiful landscaping.
I wasn’t the only one starting my day early. These large red ants were already very busy and their nest was one of the largest I’d ever seen. I just had to take a video.
MFI called me near the end of my hike. She had selected a nearby coffee house and said she’s meet me there shortly. I had to back track slightly but arrived at Hobo about the time she did.
My second hike was to the Witchita Waterfalls via the Wichita River Trail. This trail was part of the nearly completed 20-mile Circle Trail network the city has been working on since 1987, and like my bluffs trail hike the day before, we’re talking 10′-wide paved concrete. So I headed again to the river and turned right as it passed the RV park, only to find it ended abruptly in a stretch of thick brambles just a quarter mile downstream . I initially thought I might power my way through it, but they quickly became impenetrable. I turned onto neighborhood streets until I picked up the concrete again in Lucy Park. Two miles later I was at the falls.
The city was named in 1876 after the 5′ high natural waterfall occurring on the Wichita River; however, the falls were destroyed by severe flooding only 10 years later. After nearly 100 years, the city raised $900,000 and constructed the four-tiered, 54′ high artificial waterfall in 1987. This project was part of a city-wide effort to lift and regain community pride after an F4 tornado caused $400 million in damage and killed 42 citizens in 1979.
Our final tow of the year was only 110 miles to Carrollton, TX, where we’ve been wintering since October 1st. 2022 was an eventful year, covering nearly 6,000 miles in the US and Canada, and eight projects stops. Now we’re wrapping up addressing all our personal needs before heading out for 2023.
