Big Texas Road Trip Part the Fourth - Palo Duro

By débora Ewing
Palo Duro Canyon is the second biggest in the United States after the Grand, and yet I didn't know about it until I went to visit my friends at the Academy of Advanced Imagery in Canyon, Texas.

"Yes, there is a canyon," I kept telling everybody, because I'd Googled. And then we went there.

I'd almost not brought my camera on this trip, because I knew Maz had hers and she's a talented photographer. We have different perspectives, though, so it's a good thing I did. We often took different trails; also, she's got the better telephoto lens. There were times I bade her take the long-distance shots I knew would fail with my camera.

This cute yellow flower tried to kill me. I really wanted that shot, so I crouched low and finally lay prone to find my angle, and then I realised how close I was to the edge of the cliff. It was at least twelve feet away, but I was frozen in terror. You see, when I was a teenager my friends thought it was funny to throw me in the lake up to seven times a day. Thanks, Russ.

I carefully capped and bagged my camera, rolled over onto my backside, and crabwalked slowly upward until I was at least eighteen feet from the edge, hoping Mazzy was taking selfies and paying no attention to me. I am pleased with the picture.

I was enamoured with the desert jungle - foamy waves of cacti and grass, desert willow tendrils hanging like mangrove roots. I liked the cactus bones, too, and hard clay footprints. I found little tufts of fur tucked in the grass along the path; I picked some up and put it in my medicine bag.

I found Maz around the event cabin, and found also that she had an enormous bug on her back.

"Don't move...just a second...just don't. Move."  Once I had my shot, I flicked it off her. She kept her cool and didn't scream until she saw it cursing us from a rock (that picture you can see in the link below.) She claims I'm a terrible person. This is not news.


I'm a forest-for-the-trees gal. And rocks. And the blades of grass, and the little tiny things that creep therein. Please click the links below and see for yourself.


Comments

  1. MariMonday, 10 December, 2018

    THAT's the canyon I remember from 41 years ago. Hsn't changed a bit! That bug was different. Fine looking bug!

    ReplyDelete

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