Category: Landscapes

Caprock Canyon – The Canyon

by Michael

Welcome back. The main attraction of Caprock Canyon is the canyon itself. It is very picturesque, but once again we were plagued with dull, empty skies. No clouds to be found today. At least we weren’t doing any long hikes this time!

The rugged landscape makes one think of the stories we used to read in history books in school, about the explorers that were first scoping out this land from Europe. What must it have been like seeing all of this!

Beautiful scenery, but blank skies

The park is the third largest state park in Texas covering a little over 15,000 acres. The geology of the area is very unique. “The park sits along the Caprock Escarpment, a long, narrow rocky formation as high as 1,000 feet. The escarpment is a natural transition between the flat, high plains of the Llano Estacado to the west and the lower Rolling Plains to the east.”(TDPW Website)

We drove around the park a bit, checking out several overlooks and were able to see the canyon from several different locations. Each stop provided a slightly different sight of what the canyon offers.

Caprock was very green this visit as well

At one overlook I was able to take a nice panorama that covered about 180 degrees. This landscape really takes you in.

Caprock panorama

A friend who grew up in the area commented that it is very rare to see this much green in the canyons. Makes us wonder what this landscape would look like in a “normal” year. This normally arid landscape has had a record amount of rainfall this year.

More green than usual

Spanish explorers began going through this area in the 16th century. Imagine if you will, traveling with a large contingent of men across the plains when suddenly you come up to a very large ditch which you have to figure out how to cross with all your equipment, men, and animals. This would have been the situation with the exploders as they approached this area. According to the TDPW website:

Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado crossed these plains in 1541. Spanish colonies in New Mexico appeared around 1600. Trade between Plains Indians and New Mexicans gradually grew.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/caprock-canyons/park_history
Caprock: a big ditch, but so much more

If ever you are in the area, the vistas are worth the effort to stop and check out. This park really deserves more time than we had to offer this trip, so if you go, plan at least a couple of days here.

Next time, we’ll share the cutest members of this park, the prairie dogs.

Until then,

Michael & Karen

All words and photos copyright 2023 M Hampton Photography

Palo Duro Canyon – Part 6

by Michael

Welcome to part 6-Chasing the Sunset!

After resting up from our horeback adventure and having a good dinner at Joe Taco in Canyon, thanks to the recommendation of Kristin at Palo Duro Riding Stables, we headed back to the canyon to try and chase the light for some sunset photography. On our way back to the canyon, we spotted this windmill, just as some color began to creep into the sky.

Lone windmill

After entering the park we began to have doubts about any chance of a sunset as we noticed that the sky began to be covered with a solid sheet of cloud. This is not helpful for a colorful sunset, or any sunset at all for that matter. But we began to try and make the most of it, taking shots as we could before the sky, and light, was completely gone.

Sky becoming cloud covered.

We drove from place to pace, trying to find the best spot to catch the sunset. With the cloud cover iit was difficult to know exactly where the sun would be peaking out in order to frame it properly. Eventually, the clouds did part and we were able to finish up our time at Palo Duro Canyon with these photographs. At this point, words will simply get in the way, so enjoy our final moments in the Canyon.

Moonrise over the canyon wall
Sun beginning to set
Setting sun backlighting the rim
Karen taking in the setting sunlight
Setting sun on rim with rising moon
Michael taking his shots at the sunset light (no hat needed)
Fire in the sky
Sunset panorama
Backlit canyon flora
Farewell to the sun

While this brings a close to our time at Palo Duro Canyon, tomorrow we travel a little to the south to visit the Caprock Canyon State Park where there will be more canyon scenes and some wildlife. Be sure to tune in for that episode of the blog.

Michael & Karen

All words and photographs copyright 2023 M Hampton Photography

Palo Duro Canyon – Part 5

by Michael

Welcome to part 5, or day 3 part 1 if you will. Today was our 31st anniversary and we celebrated by going horseback riding in the canyon. We selected Palo Duro Riding Stables for this because they have history here. They are a third generation operation, and we just loved everything we read about them. To jump to the end, we loved them and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for this experiance!

The beautiful bride and “Forrest”

Karen was assigned to ride “Forrest”. The story behind his name is that when he was young, he had an issue with his legs and had to wear special braces. Once the braces were removed, he was so happy he just started running and someone yelled “Run, Forrest! Run!” The name stuck. He was a great horse!

The bride taking a shot at the groom

We were blessed with a beautiful day for this ride. It wasn’t too hot and the trail meandered through areas of sun and shade. It also provided many magnificent views of the canyon!

Palo Duro canyon from horseback

During the ride we were regaled with tales of the canyon and the history of this family run business. There have been many of the Hollywood crowd that has gone through here over the years. One name that jumped out to me was Ben Johnson. He was an actor in many great western shows and movies in the past, and like us, originally from Oklahoma. If you have watched many westerns, you have likely seen him.

Obligatory Photo Stop

Michael’s horse was named “Coyote”. He was described as the herd’s alpha. Of course, they may have said that just to make Michael feel good. He was after all wearing his big hat. They also said that Coyote was a “union horse”, meaning that he decides to take union breaks whenever he feels like it. Any time we stopped he would need to take a moment to chew on whatever plant was nearby. A gentle nudge and he would be ready to go again though. His union breaks did present time for photo taking, so it wasn’t altogether a bad thing.

That smile alone was worth the cost of admission

As you can tell from the above photo, Karen had a blast, as did Michael. We have watched a lot of westerns and always comment about what amazing animals horses are. They are so strong and endure so much, yet at the same time can be so fragile. We just love them.

Jesse, third generation owner of Palo Duro Stables

According to their web site:

Jesse Sorenson is 3rd generation here at PDRS. Growing up in the saddle with a gun on his hip, Jesse spent his childhood entertaining folks from all over the world. Many of the horses in the PDRS herd are direct descendants from the horses that Jesse rode as a kid.

https://paloduroridingstables.com/about
Jesse’s girl, Kristin

The trail leader for our ride was Kristin, Jesse’s wife and mother to their children. She had plenty of stories about the place and the many famous visitors they have had over the years. Both Jesse and Kristin were very friendly and again, I highly recommend their place if you want to see the canyon from horseback.

The neighbor’s horses

During the ride I noticed up on the rim of the canyon, three horses. We were amazed that there didn’t appear to be a fence along the canyon wall. But with that said, we found this to be a very picturesque scene.

Photo op spot

As our trail ride was ending, we came to the pre-assigned “photo op” spot, where Jesse took one of our cameras and took this photo of us together on horseback. What a great memory for our anniversary! Apparently, Coyote has a habit of mugging for the camera and making faces any time a camera comes out, so several photos had to be taken before getting one without him making a crazy face. Don’t tell me that horses don’t have personalities!

Let us take this time to once again give a big thumbs up to Jesse and Kristin at Palo Duro Riding Stables. We could not have asked for a more friendly couple to take us riding on our anniversary. If you are in the area and want to take a ride through the canyon, I can’t recommend them enough! Check them out.

Next time, we’ll be chasing a sunset in the canyon.

See you then,

Michael & Karen

All words and photos copyright 2023 M Hampton Photography