On Route 66 in Texas. Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo.
It is said to be the second largest canyon in the country. It is called the Grand Canyon of Texas. I did a morning photography shoot there (starting at dawn).
My Route 66 guidebooks said not to miss this one. They were right. The Texas website describes it as having a “rugged beauty” which is an apt description.
I did not hike in to where the most famous part of the park is, a rock formation called “The Lighthouse” – it is about a three mile hike, and regrettably that wasn’t on the program for the day. I did walk out one of the paths for a bit. It is indeed a ruggedly beautiful place – especially in the soft morning light.
Georgia O’Keeffe lived in nearby Canyon from 1916 to 1918 and taught art at West Texas State Normal College (now West Texas A&M University) there. The big sky, the dramatic colors – she would visit and paint the canyon during her time there. Read more about her brief time in Canyon here.
I did the first shots in this set from the view at the small visitor center at sunrise. A car with some campers from southern Texas arrived about the same time I did. Really nice people. That is the three of them enjoying the sunrise. The last few shots were taken at the visitor center (1937) at the end of my visit – it was a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) New Deal project under President (Franklin) Roosevelt. Meet Bob, one of the volunteers there at the visitor center. Read more about the CCC here. I stay away from politics in these posts but the CCC, the Peace Corps and the like – IMHO we could use some of these programs for our young people now, too, for a lot of good reasons.
One of those unforgettable times on the drive.
