– Dalai Lama
We took 380 to Denton, then bypassed the city on the "truck route". At Decator we got on US 287 N and stayed there for a long time; then TX 86 west to Quitaque, and Ranch Road 1065 up to the park.
1. Planned distance: 310 miles
2. Map time estimate: 5:24
3. Adjusted estimate: 6:08 hours (minus stoppage = 5:38 driving)
4. Actual distance: 311.3 miles
5. Actual time: 6:33 (minus stoppage = 5:26 driving time)
6. One gear check; one bathroom break with dog walking and at least 45 minutes driving around Childress looking for a pet gate. Note to self: there is no Lowes in Childress
7. Average mph trip: 58
During the last of the trip I bugged Ed by repeatedly asking if it was, "flat enough for you yet?" He grew up in Plainview, near Lubbock, where it's really flat. So this was flat enough to amaze me but nothing compared to his memories.
We left in a drizzle, drove in a sprinkle, and arrived to sunshine and swallows. Dozens and dozens of cliff swallows squeezing in and out of their mud nests on the outside walls of the entrance station. Even Ed thought it was amazing. I identified them by the "buffy" rump and the gourd-shaped mud houses they occupied. Seeing a tiny white patch on the forehead of a bird moving at 25 mph and shifting direction erratically....? Not with my old eyes.
I might have goofed on our arrival time, but not by much. I definitely noted that we were parked and the hookups were complete by 4:15. Allowing 45 minutes from our approximate arrival at 3:30, that would include all of the following: checking in, using the bathroom, unhooking the car in the parking lot, driving to the campsite, unhooking the tow dolly, parking the car, leveling, sliding out sides, connecting electricity and water. Strangely enough, one of the slides was only out part way and we didn't notice it until the next day. I guess we were tired!
Our hookups were accomplished quickly and easily. There is no view of the canyons here--I didn't expect any--but the sites are pretty well separated from each other with mesquite and other low plants, mostly plants with prickles, thorns and spiky leaves. Up here on the camping area the yucca are shooting up spikes but not yet in flower; the prickly pear are putting out buds but not a one is opened. No matter--we're surrounded by flowers. It's like a big garden without fences or walls.
I was very perturbed by the song of one bird that I kept hearing all over--it even visited our "backyard" a few times to serenade us. It had a lovely song with an ending 'trill' that reminded me of a towhee. But towhees have tiny, conical bills, and this had a strong, long bill. Its tail was cocked up like a wren, so I assumed rock wren or canyon wren. But no--not a sign of spotted underparts or a rufous back and tail. Finally after getting internet connection (more on that later) I listened to various bird songs--thrasher, rock wren, canyon wren, even some mimids, when I finally fell back to wrens. Was it Bewick's wren? Gotcha!
I'd ruled out Bewick's because I didn't see the flippy, spotted tail. We had a Bewick's wren at the house last winter, but it wasn't singing.
Many, many bobwhite were heard but not seen. In fact, I don't believe I've ever seen one.
After sitting around for a while we decided to take the short canyon rim hike, listed on the map as 0.6 miles. Note to future self: that's a one way distance. Out and back would be 1.2 miles--but we didn't realize that.
As soon as we left the camping area we were in the middle of a prairie dog town on both sides of the road. Wow. It's hard to take a picture of a prairie dog without a zoom lens but that didn't stop us from trying.
After a short while--fifteen minutes?--walking through low mesquite trees and watching for birds, the undergrowth darkened ahead and suddenly we were at the canyon rim. Gorgeous, indeed! Lots of pictures later....We got confused about what route to take to get back. You see, on the way out it was a well-marked, easy trail and we were distracted looking at flowers and searching for the canyon. I was trying to hold back Zack who kept charging into roadside brush, smelling all over and galloping like a teenager. We thought the trail was a circle and eventually we'd be headed back, but no--it just kept going on.
After a couple of intervals of puzzling over the map, we finally got the smarts to consult the sun. Of course I never thought about pulling out the compass I always carry in my lightweight backpack...oh...wait--I didn't have the pack on. Anyway, we realized that the trail was heading north when it should have been turning around and going southwest. After a while we noticed a side trail on the left marked "canyon rim trail", but wasn't that the one we came out on? We didn't want to go back to the rim!
So we kept on, passing two mysteriously numbered trail markers (14 and 15). Now, before you point out that any idiot would realize that they were going the wrong direction and make a change, remember that when I say "north" I really mean east then north then west then north then southeast then southwest then northeast....
After the second marker, we backtracked and took the canyon rim trail branch, and soon we were going the right direction. Some bicyclers came along to confirm it. And then--
Ed kept staring to the right. I was distracted, pulling Zack in our brand-new "fishing gear wagon" with one hand and holding Izzy with the other. Suddenly Ed pointed out an odd bird that took off from the ground, flew a short distance, then landed on the ground. Standing on very long legs. One look told me--burrowing owl!
There was a prairie dog town over there where he was hanging out, but it appeared to be nearly deserted. We saw maybe three or four dogs, which was nothing compared to the dozens over close to the campsites. Did the owl not like the proximity of the people? Or was that just a coincidence?
Shortly after seeing the owl we joined up with the original trail and we were back. We'd been that close all the time.
It was later than we expected so we made grilled chicken, watched Impractical Jokers on the satellite dish, ate supper and went to bed. The story should end there but--
No comments:
Post a Comment