Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas, April 2024

For at least 10 years, we have talked about visiting Palo Duro Canyon State Park just south of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle either on our way out west in the fall, or on our way home in the spring. This year, we finally made it happen.

Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge
	For $2/night, we camped at Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge. There is barely much water left in the "lake", but the grasslands are full of wildlife, including a small family of deer who came one morning to entertain our cat. The only caveat of this campground is that the gate to get in is automatically locked at night (time dependent on the season), so you have to be sure to arrive before this happens. There are no services other than pit toilets.
	Sitting outside after a day exploring at the state park, we were serenaded by this Western Meadowlark for quite a long time. We truly loved the peace, solitude and natural surroundings of this campground. There are about 15 sites, most suitable for large RVs, although branches across the access into the sites from the (dirt) road may be a problem for high profile vehicles (ours is almost 13 feet high and we managed to easily find a site). There were only one or two other campers here during the 2 nights we stayed.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park
	They call this the Grand Canyon of Texas because at 120 miles (190 km) long, it is the second largest canyon in the country. Here is a view from the Visitor Center. There are several campgrounds in the park for RVs of all sizes. We really loved this park, and would definitely return one day.
	Along the shady Sunflower Trail, Brad stands beside the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River that flows through the park. There are also layers of white gypsum in the red rock wall beside this trail for the rockhound.
	Near the start of the Lighthouse Trail, this pedestal stands atop the multicolored sandstone cliffs showing the different rates of erosion at work in this canyon.
	It was a very hot day, and the Lighthouse Trail is very exposed to the sun, so we only walked about half way to the iconic Lighthouse formation. This photo was taken with extreme telephoto, making it a bit blurry. Many people have hiked out to it, and they stand between the two pillars.

 

Sierra Vista in Arizona, March 2024

We have driven through Sierra Vista before, but this year we stayed for a couple of weeks because our friends, Tom and Dianne, have bought a house here, so we came for a visit and to explore the area. Due to its higher elevation of 4,623 feet (1,412 meters), Sierra Vista can be cooler than many other parts of Arizona. It is also surrounded by mountains peaking at nearly 10,000 feet (over 3,000 meters), providing for beautiful views especially when they are snow-capped as some of them were while we were here.

Ramsey Canyon
	On the way into Ramsey Canyon, we visited the Brown Canyon Ranch. Now an historic site with nature trails, it was built in the late 1800s and has been occupied by many ranching families over the years. On the property is the well-preserved adobe house, water system, corrals and a pond.
	There is a small fee to visit the Ramsey Canyon Preserve-Nature Conservancy at the end of East Ramsey Canyon Road, and we felt it was worth it. The trail follows the creek up into the canyon, where it connects to the Hamburg Trail which is steep and moderately difficult. We didn't do that. Usually there are many hummingbirds in the preserve, but we didn't see any as it was still a bit early for them to arrive. There were many other birds though, as well as historic cabins, and it was a very nice, easy walk.
Carr Canyon
	Brad at the Carr Canyon Waterfall Overlook. There is no water flowing now (even though there had been snow in the mountains a few days earlier), but the waterfall itself is at the top middle of the photo where you can see a small gap. The road goes to the top of the waterfall as well, although it is fenced off and sign warns of the dangers getting too close to the edge from where several people have fallen to their death.
	A view of Sierra Vista from an overlook on East Carr Canyon Road.  You can see the brown line which is the road winding up the canyon.
	Part way up the road is Reef Campground, which looked like it would be a really nice spot at any time of the year. We stopped for lunch in one of the campsites in the Ramsey Vista Campground at the top and the end of the road.  There was still a bit of snow up here, so maybe not a good spot for winter camping.
	After lunch, we hiked the Carr Peak Trail from the Ramsey Vista Campground for about a half-mile, just to get a nice view of the Peak. There are many trails around here, including a trail connecting to the Hamburg Trail and Ramsey Canyon.
Miller Canyon
	We drove up East Miller Canyon Road to the Upper Parking area. There were hiking trails from here, although we simply walked down to the dry creek and admired the open oak/juniper forest. This photo was taken somewhere part way up the road. The cliffs reminded us of Chiricahua National Monument, which is just to the northeast.
Coronado National Memorial
	During our first winter in the southwest, we passed through this area and spent a day at Coronado National Memorial. We came again and this time I hiked the Coronado Peak Trail at the end of West Montezuma Canyon Road in the park. In this view from the parking lot looking southeast, you can see the border wall (thin straight black line near the center of the photo).
	This is the view from Coronado Peak looking south into Mexico.
	The fruit on the cholla cactus is a beautiful bright yellow, and is edible. However, the thorns on the plant are pretty darn sharp!
Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary
Photo enhanced	We only visited the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary just off of Highway 92 because I saw a pin on Google Maps. I am really glad we did. Benches are arranged around several small gardens, so we just sat and waited for the birds to arrive. I wish I could have gotten better photos, but I did see some birds I had never seen before. This is a Scott's Oriole. He is bright yellow, whereas I am used to our Baltimore Orioles which are bright orange.
	Here is an acorn woodpecker ensuring the stash of acorns is secure in this tree. Yes, almost every hole has an acorn in it. There were several of these woodpeckers working together to keep the stash full and safe. They are very interesting birds.
	Hummingbirds are my favorite birds, simply because they are fascinating to watch, and the males can be so colorful. This is a black-chinned hummingbird flashing his iridescent purple band. The docent said he had just arrived, as that day was a first sighting. Lucky us!
	A Mexican Jay perching on a dead yucca stalk. Although these birds are pretty common, I love their soft grey-blue coloring.