It was a two hour drive from the ranch to the canyon. When I got out of the car and arrived at the first scenic overlook, I was the only person there. It was sooo silent. I heard some birds and the wind and that was it. Very, very peaceful. Here are some views from the lookout.
If you need some help gauging just how humongous the canyon is, click on the photo below and look for the man in the black shirt near the bottom right corner. Yeah, the canyon is pretty big.
The guy is actually in this photo, too, (about in the middle and standing on the edge of the cliff). Good luck finding him.
I had an "and you call yourself an anthropologist?" moment at the scenic overlook, too. A light-skinned couple arrived, and I asked them if they would be willing to take a photo of me. They looked a little frightened at first, and then the man responded in broken English that they would be happy to. They were definitely European--it sounded like a Scandinavian accent. I felt like an idiot. Just because someone is white, doesn't mean they speak English. You'd think an anthropologist would know that!
There's a paved road through the park, and you actually drive down into the canyon.
There are lots of trails, including one to a really cool rock formation. I was considering hiking to it... until I actually got there. First of all, check out this temperature. (And this is real temp, not even with the heat index!)
Then I saw the warning sign at the trail head.
That's pretty dramatic warning. Since I was down to half a water bottle, I figured I probably shouldn't try it. Oh well. There's one reason to come back to Texas.I did do a little bit of hiking on a couple other trails, though. And after all the rattlesnake warning signs I had seen earlier in the day, this little guy scared the dickens out of me! I think the feeling was mutual.
Apparently, I should have filled up my gas tank before I drove to the canyon. It was located in the middle of nowhere, and I was below a quarter of a tank when I got there. I didn't realize how much driving I would do at the park itself. So, I actually ended up leaving after only 1-2 hours. I wasn't very happy about that... but I also didn't want to run out of gas. And, let's face it, that was probably the only way to get me to leave. It was really, really lovely there.But... I still had another two hour drive ahead of me to my hotel in Lubbock... stay tuned for photos from Lubbock. When I finish transcribing another interview, I'll treat myself by posting again.
5 comments:
Very beautiful and amazing. I do believe youd still be there if it wasnt for needing gas :) I am sure that the lizard would have scared the crap out of me also.
Wow! Those pictures were really cool! I'll bet it was even better in person!
I don't want any of you girls to think of moving away. I agree Texas is very pretty but you are not allowed to move there. What did you do on your birthday? Did you go anywhere or see anything new. Hope you enjoyed youself since you couldn't be with your family. Keep the pictures coming.
No worries, Mom. I won't be moving to Texas. (But I'm not sure if I can make that same promise about Guatemala!)
And my birthday was pretty boring--I spent 10 hours transcribing interviews. I did go out to dinner and ice cream with the other students, though. That was a nice break.
You're hilarious. I love how blogging is your reward to yourself.
That canyon was amazing. And I did find the man in the second pic. So tiny! lol I'm really glad you're taking all these photos. They're so great.
Good call on the not hiking... my parents keep telling me how hot it is right now. So crazy!
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