(My first official trip post is dedicated to Katie, an awesome adventure lady who is undergoing surgery as I write this post. You are tough as nails, girl!)
The trip to Palo Duro started off quite rough. By rough, I mean that I essentially completed a full hike before even getting in the car. I live in a midrise in downtown Dallas, and of all days for the elevator to go out, it decided to haunt me this morning in particular. This was my first trip of quarantine, and I was still at a point in my outdoor evolution where I was very much reliant on cheap (aka heavy) car camping gear. I eagerly loaded all of my gear into my trusty cart, wheeled it to the elevator, only to find that nothing happened when I pressed the elevator call button. I pressed it many more times, just to be sure. No luck. As such, I faced three choices.
Give up altogether.
Wait for the elevator repair company to come, hopefully fix it, then be on my way.
Suck it up and carry my gear down 26 flights of stairs.
I went with choice number three. I did the math-a total of 130 flights of stairs between the trips back and forth as well as the equivalent of carrying my gear 1.5 city blocks. If I needed a sign to start transitioning to lighter gear and more modern tech, this was it! My legs were jello, my gear was haphazardly tossed into the back of my little Nissan Versa because I stopped caring around flight 50, and Butters was very concerned about the amount of sweat coming from my body. But we were off! I picked up my friend Katie (another Texas transplant who hails from the Northeast) and we drove in the general direction of the Texas Panhandle.
Despite the late start, we arrived at Palo Duro with just enough time to get in a late afternoon/early evening hike. Katie, Butters, and I eagerly started the Juniper Cliffside Trail to Sunflower Trail Loop. I highly recommend this trail as an intro to PD as it introduces you to the various landscapes you will find throughout the park. It also provides a few opportunities for shade (a rarity at Palo Duro).
As the sun set, we left the park and drove to our campsite just outside the park gates at Palo Duro Rim campground. Due to COVID, all campgrounds in the park itself were closed. Palo Duro Rim provided a convenient spot to sleep as it is right outside the park gates, and as the name suggests, is located on the rim of the canyon itself. Although the campsites were not as private as I would have wished, this campground had clean, modern bathrooms and a zip line to boot! In the photo below, you can just barely see the rim of the canyon beyond the green shrubbery.
The next morning, we made a quick breakfast and headed back into the park. We chose the Givens, Spicer, & Lowry Trail to Lighthouse Trail to Paseo del Rio Trail, creating a 7.9 mile loop. If hiking this route, I have a few recommendations. First, start the loop with the GSL portion which boasts the more technical parts of this trail including the descent down into the canyon. There is little to no shade on this portion, so it is best to tackle it early when the weather is still semi-cool. By ending on the Paseo del Rio trail, you will find yourself walking along a creek on a shaded path. After accomplishing the grueling canyon section and the lighthouse area, this creek path feels like an absolute lush oasis. There are no spots to get water on the trail, so make sure you pack plenty of water in. I carried 3 L of water in my pack and another gallon jug in my hand. I needed all of it. Despite it only being the first week of June, temperatures were already in the 80’s with the canyon temperature elevated beyond that. I would not attempt this entire loop any later in the summer, and instead do only the lighthouse portion early in the morning if you find yourself in PD in the summer months.
My favorite portion of this loop is the GSL trail with the descent down into the canyon. This portion offered spectacular views, and Butters enjoyed frolicking around on the trail terrain features. The weather at this point was very mild and energizing. By the time we hit the Lighthouse portion, Butters and I were absolutely wiped. I carried my pack on my back, Butters on my front via his new pet carrier, and a gallon of water in my hands. Butters and I sat out the ascent to the Lighthouse, as I wasn’t sure about carrying him up the steep incline. We welcomed the opportunity to sit and make small talk with a few other hikers as Katie conquered the famous Lighthouse. Trail tip: I heard from many that had completed the Lighthouse portion that it is safer to ascend to the left of the bench, on the steep incline, and come back down on the right side of the bench, offering a more manageable descent. One poor soul was battered and bloody from slipping while trying to come down the steep side.
After completing our hike, we drove to the Palo Duro Trading Post, the only place open within the park to get food due to COVID. I inhaled a delicious burger, fries, and some refreshing oreo ice cream. Hiking hunger is real, people! Butters highly recommends their fries. We then returned to our campsite to settle in for the evening, sharing my favorite drink of the summer, Blind Lemon Seltzer by Deep Ellum Brewing Co. I’m sure you will see Blind Lemon featured in many of my upcoming posts. Palo Duro is a fantastic spot for stargazing, and we spent the evening lounging in our camp chairs and mapping out the night sky by using one of my favorite stargazing apps, Sky Guide.
Palo Duro Zip allows you to purchase a zipline ticket across the canyon as part of your camping reservation. When booking online, it seems like a fantastic idea. When staring down at the second largest canyon in the United States, it seems like the worst idea. Katie and I almost talked ourselves out of it. I had never gone ziplining before, and Katie regaled me with stories of patients she had treated who were victims of tragic ziplining accidents. Despite Katie’s best efforts, in the end we decided we would regret it if we didn’t use our tickets, and agreed to at least put on our harnesses and take the jeep ride out to the zipline spot. We could always bail last minute, right? We thought we could at least, until we saw who our zipline-mates were. Two (young at heart) grandparents and their 10 year old grandson. If they were brave enough to dangle above the canyon, suspended by a rope, and zoom from one side to the other, then we had to as well. It was a matter of pride. We dug deep within ourselves, swallowed our screams, and we did the thing! I don’t have any photos or videos because I was terrified that I would drop my phone into the canyon, but we did it. We lived solely off the high from that adrenaline for the first two hours of our drive home.
Palo Duro was a great way to jump-start my summer of “local” adventure thanks to the pandemic, and I look forward to returning again when the weather cools down!
Abbreviated Gear Reviews:
In addition to trip reviews, I would like to end each post by highlighting some gear that I used and my thoughts regarding that gear. Please note that if a gear review contains an amazon link, I am a registered amazon affiliate and may receive compensation for qualifying purchases. Links to other websites throughout my blog are for your convenience and I do not receive compensation for such.
Dog carrier-Pawaboo Pet Carrier. This was the Pawaboo’s first adventure, and likely not it’s last. It was the perfect carrying system to carry Butters when he started to get hot and tired on the trail. We got SO many compliments about this carrier. One person even asked me for the link so that she could start taking her senior dog back out on adventures!
Sleeping pad-Fox Outfitters Self Inflating Comfort Pad. It’s safe to say that I LOVE this sleeping pad. I have used the same one for years now, and it has stood up to the test of time. It performs well for summer camping as well as cold camping at high elevations without losing comfort. I am a sidesleeper, and never feel my hips hit the ground. Not quite light or small enough to be used for backpacking (unless you made serious gram savings elsewhere), it performs best for car camping and short walk-in sites. This pad performed really well on the hard, packed dirt surrounding the Palo Duro canyon. The ground was hard enough to bend several tent stakes, but I didn’t notice a thing sleeping on my Fox Outfitters pad. I'm a fan of good gear for a good price, and this sleeping pad fits that category. I have replaced it with a Sea to Summit pad for backpacking.
Camp stove-Coleman Triton, AKA “Old Faithful”. This simple camp stove has faithfully provided us with dinners and full bellies in almost every type of car camping or day trip situation. It worked particularly well in this situation as the windguard protected our food from the dusty canyon breeze. I have since upgraded to the Fire Maple backpacking stove, with similar trappings to a JetBoil.
Wenzel Tent-This is the OG of my tent collection. I don’t know how much you should expect for a tent that is now <$50, but this tent performed above its paygrade. Cole and I have used this tent for car-camping over the last 7 years. The pentagon shape works well for us as it gives Cole and his 6’3 frame room to stretch out without touching the tent walls. It has since been replaced by a tent from Big Agnes, but I still hold a soft spot for this tent.
コメント