1/23-24/2009: Palo Duro Canyon SP, TX

The kids and I ledt Dimmitt around 2:45 for a quick overnighter to Palo Duro State Park. We had day tripped there numerous times in the past, but never overnighted. We arrived an hour later and stopped by the entrance station to get our permits. From there it was on to the trailhead.

We started by paralleling the Prairie Dog Fork of the Red, passing amidst juniper, mesquite and cottonwood. The sky was sunny, but a cool north wind was dropping the temperature from the 54 degrees we had at the trailhead. We made several stops to play along the rocky bluffs and toss rocks into the creek. About 3/4 of a mile into our walk we turned north into Tub Springs Draw and found a flat, prickly pear free area to sleep for the night.

I fixed bean burritos while the kids played. After dinner we climbed into the sleeping bags and watched the stars come out as it grew steadily colder. Sometime after 8:00 we all fell asleep.

Morning brought frozen water bottles and a temperature of 16 degrees. We thawed our water supply, ate some oatmeal and headed back to the car. By 10:45 we were back from our brief trip and loaded up in the car to head home.