Palo Duro Canyon

On Labor Day, we finally had a chance to go back and visit Palo Duro Canyon (when we tried a few weeks ago, the roads in the canyon were closed due to high water).

We got away later in the day than we planned, but it worked out okay. Our main goals were to (1) See the canyon and (2) Go for a short family hike for one of McKay's Cub Scout requirements.

After entering the canyon, we first stopped at a scenic overlook. It's really beautiful! It's referred to as the "Grand Canyon of Texas."

Hayley got hit by a gust of wind just as I took this picture:

Then we drove down, down into the bottom of the canyon. They have a big ampitheatre where every summer they perform a big musical production called "Texas!" Maybe next summer we'll make it to that. They also have several hiking trails, a stable to rent horses, a mountain bike trail and several camping sites.

We stopped at one of the picnic/day use areas that was near one of the small trails. Then we were off on our "hike"! (And note to self: next time, remember the bug spray!)

This was a perfect hike for our family -- no steep hills or treacherous inclines. The only trouble we had was McKay & Courtney continuously jockeying for position as "line leader". This is what happens when McKay wins:

(No, he didn't push her, she fell down in a mini-tantrum when she got upset.)

Watch out for all the ant "holes" and these, which are everywhere:

There's a river that goes through the base of the canyon and crosses the road at 6 different points (where they close the roads if the water gets too high). At one crossing, we drove through a fair amount of water. The ground in lots of places looks like this from being wet and dried out again:

I took this picture of all the kids at about the point we turned around on our hike.

Then I wanted to hurry and take a horizontal shot, but obviously pressed the shutter a little too quickly as I turned the camera! Oops!

Brian took a picture with me in it...

And McKay decided he can be a nice big brother when he wants to...

We stopped again at the scenic overlook briefly on our way back out for a couple more pictures.

The kids didn't want to leave, but we told them it's not too far away so I'm sure we'll be back!