August 10 - Texas: Palo Duro Canyon

I never knew there were so many beautiful canyons in our country! Today I visited Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas. The Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States and runs 120 miles long. Featuring brilliant colors of pink, orange, brown and green it has an average width of 6 miles and is 20 miles wide in some places.

Most of my day was spend heading west from Oklahoma on Texas Highway 82 towards Amarillo. The temperatures were fairly hot – in the triple digits—but thankfully I had my cooling vest on, and the speed limit was rather high. I stopped several times to re-wet my vest and hydrate and was not too uncomfortable.

Much of the scenery was of yellow or green fields or farmland with wide-sweeping vistas of the open range. Little tufts of sagebrush regularly swept across the road along with side winds that regularly buffeted the bike.

The visit at the canyon was a great reward for all of the miles in the heat. The canyon, formed by millions of years of water erosion by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River and the West Texas wind, is breathtaking in its sheer size and scope. Layer upon layer of colorful sedimentary rocks provide a kaleidoscope of colors.

Famished from the many miles of driving in the heat I treated myself to dinner at the Big Texan Steak Ranch and Brewery in Amarillo. The food there is all home made and the portions are generous. I would say that my prime rib was not as tender as it could have been, but it was very flavorful, and the sides were excellent. It was also fun to see a customer try to win a free 72 oz steak by eating it and it’s sides in one hour. I have enjoyed eating there in the past and would do so again. Overall a great day.