A recent trip to Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle, brought back memories of younger days. My wife and I met and married there – and one of our daughters was born there. It is a great town…city…but often overlooked as people pass through on I-40 heading east or west, and to a lesser extent, I-27 as people go north or south. It is usually seen as a good stopping point to spend the night because the next larger cities are 100 miles south, 280 miles west, 240 miles east, or 360 miles north. Not enough people pause long enough to explore the area.
For those unfamiliar with the term or the geographical region, the Texas Panhandle is the northern rectangle of the state that consists of 26 counties bordered by the states of Oklahoma and New Mexico. (Not to be confused with the country of Mexico that borders the southern edge of Texas.)
About twenty miles south of Amarillo is the Palo Duro Canyon. Seventy miles long, averaging about six miles wide, and up to 1,000 feet deep, it is second only to the Grand Canyon! In the canyon itself are a number of things to see and do – camping, hiking, horseback riding, and a musical drama called “Texas” which is performed in a beautiful amphitheater with a backdrop of a section of the canyon wall. The entire cast are amateurs but they are very good! It is an entertaining play – well worth the time, effort and cost to see.
But it is the canyon itself, combined with the indigenous fauna, that is the real draw. The rocks vary from the normal sandy-colored dirt of the Panhandle at the very top and the off-white of the Ogallala aquifer just below, to the iron-oxide rich red claystone near the bottom. In between, varying rock layers elicit streaks of white, gray, yellow and even lavender. One of the prominent features in the canyon is the formation named the “Lighthouse”. I have hiked up to the base of the Lighthouse…if you want to call it a hike. It is actually a nice walk across fairly even terrain. You can choose to observe it from your car and it is still impressive, but either way, never more impressive than with a typical Panhandle sunset.
Panhandle sunsets are often spectacular. The sky, with no mountains and few other obstructions, stretches from horizon to horizon. Add a few clouds and as the sun retreats from view, the colors are amazing! Bright gold in the west, with patches of orange shading gradually darker as your gaze traverses toward the east. All on a background of blue darkening to indigo as time slips away…but in the canyon…
The last rays of the sun seem to ignite a beacon in the Lighthouse and along the rim of the canyon where the Ogallala lies. The bright rust-red rock below the rim begins its daily journey to darker hues, passing through ruby to wine and ultimately to a dark, dark mahogany as another day draws to a close and it is time to rest and restore your soul for the morrow.
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