Monday, October 8, 2012

Caprock Canyons Hikes - Oct. 5-7



This marks the fourth year in a row that we have hiked with the West Texas Trail Walkers on their annual Columbus Day weekend hikes.  The first year was in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, then Guadalupe Mountains National Park and last year in Fort Davis State Park.  Next year is in Big Bend National Park and we have already made our hotel reservations.  This year the three-day hikes were in Caprock Canyons State Park and it was the first time for us to visit this scenic area on the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains of West Texas.

Our friend from Saudi Arabia days, Jo Ann Stewart, has joined us on all these hikes and she joined us once again this year in our annual tradition.  Jo Ann drove up from Houston and spent the night at our house on Wednesday, October 3.  Thursday morning we woke early to get a good start on the long drive.  We stopped for breakfast at the Old German Bakery in Fredericksburg and then we drove in a northwest direction on some highways I hadn’t driven on previously. 

In Brady, where we have been before, we headed north on highway 283 through Santa Anna, Coleman and Baird which were mundane as was the countryside.  We took Interstate 20 a short distance to Abilene where we headed northwest to Anson, east to Roby, then northwest to Rotan and Clairemont.  In the wide spot called Clairemont we saw two bright rust-red buildings made out of local clay blocks with no signs or historical markers to explain their pasts.  A Google search found that this town is officially listed as a ghost town.  At one time it was the county seat of Kent County but the railroad bypassed it and the water dried up so the courthouse was moved to the town of Jayton in 1954.  One of the buildings was what remained of the courthouse after a fire destroyed the original and the other building was a jail that still stands with its iron cells intact. 

After a brief stop for photos of the jail we were hungry and looking for food.  Unfortunately we were in the wrong area to find much.  Internet searches didn’t turn up much and most of those were found as closed up businesses.  So in the town of Spur we found a Dairy Queen where we shared a small plate of tacos and had drinks to wash them down.  We continued north to Dickens, west to Ralls, north to Floydada, and then on into Plainview and the hotel where we had reservations.  On a recommendation we had dinner at the Dixie Tavern (not really a tavern – no wine or beer) and had so-so steaks.  The staff was friendly and the food satisfied us so we couldn’t complain too much.  After dinner we drove around downtown Plainview, which like most of the small towns we passed through today, was drying up.  At least Plainview has a small college and an Interstate passing through it so the whole area isn’t dying like the small towns.

Friday was the first of our hikes but it didn’t start until noon so we had time for a leisurely breakfast at our hotel.  The day was cool but very nice as there were no clouds in the sky.  We left Plainview about 10:30 am to drive to the Pole Canyon Ranch which is actually inside the Caprock Canyons State Park boundary.  Rita’s back was acting up so I hiked the short 5K (3 miles) hike with her while Jo Ann went on and hiked the 11K (6.5 miles) hike.  The hike took us down a mostly dried up river bed then up some banks with nice views of the red dirt hills in the near distance.  Rita did fine and we finished in time to take our sandwiches, made from the breakfast buffet, to the porch with rocking chairs for a pleasant lunch.  Jo Ann finished about 1:30 pm and after getting our hiking books stamped we headed in the car to the town of Quitaque (pronounced Kitty Quay) which is on the edge of the state park.  From there we drove east to the town of Turkey, the home of Bob Wills, and had a look around.  Finally we drove back to Plainview where we had dinner at a chain restaurant called the Cotton Patch.  A bit tired, we turned in early for an early start the next morning.

Saturday morning we set our alarms for 5:30 am, gobbled down a quick breakfast and were away in the dark about 6:45 am for an early hike start in the center of Caprock Canyons park.  A cold front had blown through in the night and the day was cold, cloudy and windy but dry.  On entering the park we saw bison from the official Texas State Bison Herd grazing near the park headquarters.  Jo Ann hiked the 11K hike which had some steep climbs while Rita and I hiked the 5K hike called the Lower Canyon Trail.  We crossed the same muddy creek about six times to the check point then retraced the trail back to the start area.  However, we had great views of red cliffs with white crystal rock veins which stood out boldly.  After our small lunch we headed back to Plainview through Silverton and Tulia.  We decided to check out the next day and drive back to Wimberley rather than stay to Monday as originally planned.  Dinner tonight was at the West Texas Wood Fire Grill which was the best steaks on this trip and since the restaurant did not have a liquor license, they gave us complimentary glasses of wine with our meals.

Sunday was another early morning hike so we checked out of the hotel after a quick breakfast and headed to the park for our last hike.  We saw mule deer on our drive to the park and more bison close up as we entered the park entrance.  Rita did not feel like hiking today so I hiked with Jo Ann on the 11K hike called the Canyon Rim Trail.  We had good views overlooking the canyon and finished about 11:00 am.  We said our good byes to the hikers we’ve come to know over the past four years and headed home.

We were hungry and in the town of Matador found that all the cafes there were closed for Sunday.  We headed east to Paducah and found a café named Double GG open.  It sounded like a cattle brand.  It was 1:00 pm and they closed at 2:00 pm so we considered ourselves lucky to find a place to eat.  Then we had some of the best chili cheese hamburgers with “real” fried potatoes that tasted delicious.  Now we considered ourselves double lucky.  The staff was very friendly as were the other customers in the café. 

From there we headed south to Guthrie, Aspermont, Stamford, Avoca and then stopped in Albany, a pretty town with an imposing courthouse.  We stretched our legs walking around the town square and reading the many historical markers.  Finally we headed south to Cisco, Rising Star, and Brownwood where we stopped for a small dinner as it was getting dark.  We continued through San Saba and Llano, arriving home about 9:30 pm after another long day’s drive.  Jo Ann spent the night at our house and after we all had a great night’s sleep we had a late breakfast Monday morning before Jo Ann headed back to her home in Houston.

It was a very nice weekend of hiking and we look forward to next year in Big Bend.