Caprock Canyon State Park

We're out in the middle of Nowhere, Texas, for the next couple of days. So far are we from anything that we didn't think we'd have a cell signal. Then...magically...we did! So here I am to blather on about the latest happenings here at the Traveling Three Cats Ranch RV.

Yesterday's drive took us through the flattest of country and the most remote of one-cow towns.

Actually, there's some ranching in this part of the world, and so there was more than just one cow in most towns we passed through. They were the kinds of towns where you had to look fast or you might miss them entirely. Blinking was discouraged. There is a lot of grain and cotton grown out here. We saw acre upon acre of harvested cotton fields and a number of co-operative cotton gins. We only knew about the grain because of the large number of co-operative mills we saw along the way. Possibly cotton has taken over as the crop of choice.

We drove a zig-zagging route over county and farm roads. Eventually, we came to another wind farm. We aren't very far north of our road into Lubbock, and so possibly, we are on the other side of the large wind farm we saw on our last driving day.

As we drew closer to the state park, the terrain began to change.

When we reached this town (prounounced "kitty quay," according to the sign), we were very nearly to the state park.

A few more miles, and there we were.

On the other side of the road was this sign:

The visitor center was closed for lunch when we arrived. We had reservations at the campground, but couldn't check in for about 20 minutes (when lunch was over). We decided to drive back into the campground and scope out a site we liked. Along the way...

Hm. Speaking of bison...Excuse me...um...pardon me...uh, could you just....we're trying to...could you...? Slowly, ever so slowly, we forged ahead without causing anybody to get into charging mode.

Here's what the park literature tells us about the bison:  In 1878, toward the end of the great slaughter of bison, a handful of individuals became concerned about the bison and took on the difficult task of saving them. They began caring for orphaned calves and started to increase the number of bison by forming their own herds. In particular, Mary Ann Goodnight urged husband Charles to capture some of the orphaned calves from the southern herd. They were raised up on the JA Ranch and formed the nucleus of what was to become the Goodnight Herd. Eventually, the herd grew to around 200 head. The descendants of those animals now constitute the Texas State Bison Herd. The Goodnight Herd, together with four other herds nurtured by other concerned citizens, provided the foundation stock for virtually all bison found in North America today.

As for the Texas State Bison Herd, it eventually faded from public awareness following the death of the Goodnights.  When wildlife conservationinst Wolfgang Frey learned about the remaining herd of 50 or so head on the JA Ranch in 1994, he contacted the state of Texas. Genetic testing by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department found a rare genetic marker within the herd, revealing it to be perhaps the last remaining group of southern plains bison. The JA Ranch donated the herd to Texas Parks and Wildlife. In 1997, they were moved here to Caprock Canyons State Park. Unique not only in its historical importance, but also in its rare genetic makeup, this herd has been designated the "Official Bison Herd of the state of Texas."  Texas, I salute you. What other state would have the cojones to have its own herd of bison?

So wanna see our campsite? There are other campers here in the park, but from where we sit, it appears we have the place to ourselves. Our site is spacious and private. That structure to the right is a sheltered picnic table.

Okay, now this brings me to a funny story...funny to me, at least. Now y'all know I'm fond of your accents around here, so please don't take offense at what I'm about to say. As we were checking in, the woman behind the counter observed, "I noticed you have 'bocks' on the back of your RV."

Hm, what? "Bocks?" I inquired.

"Yes, bocks."

"Bocks," I repeated again.

"You know...bah-cycles."

Yes, we do have bikes on the back of our rig. She wanted to tell us about all the hiking and biking trails. I just need to learn the Texas King's English if I'm going to communicate with the locals.

Smitty has figured out that these kinds of spots are good for walking, and he's become very adventurous...a far cry from his early days as a traveling cat. When we arrive at a new spot, he runs from window to window looking out to determine if this is a good walking place. As for this one...yes...and we got him outside right away. He wasn't able to get outside much at all in Lubbock. Too many cars, too many mans, and definitely too many woofies. Here, he took a good long whiff of this juniper, no doubt smelling bison who've passed this way.

In fact, the post that protects our water hook-up has been used as a bison scratching post.

While I was being dragged around on the leash, I noticed we were just a few hundred yards away from a prairie dog town. See that sign down there? There is a field of prairie dogs right there.

Well, don't you know I was itching to get out and take some pictures of these endearing little critters. They were none too happy to see me. This little guy was barking up a storm.

"Go away! Git out of here! Hey you! Git along there! We don't cotton to your kind around here!"

This one popped up from a hole right beside me. He looked at me...I looked at him. He was wary, but he held his ground. (Pardon me...squee!)

They are on both sides of the road. Looking across, I saw these two.

Just down the road, I could see the ever-present bison herd.

About that time, my camera ran out of batteries. I was using my Olympus DSLR with a telephoto lens. It was cranky at how I've been neglecting it in favor of the point and shoot. As of this morning, it's all charged up again, so get ready for thousands of prairie dog pictures. Really. Don't say I didn't warn you.

We went back to the RV and picked up my other camera, and then headed out for a hike. The Canyon Rim Trail heads off just down the road from where our campsite is located. You can see it in the background of the image below.

There are two spur trails off the main trail that took us alongside Holmes Creek Canyon. It reminds us of the terrain in the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park with its red rock and green juniper.

The landscape here has been created over millions of years, and shaped by wind and water. It's located along the Caprock Escarpment that forms a natural transition between the flat, high plains of the Llano Estacado to the west and the lower rolling plains to the east.

There's also an abundance of prickly pear cactus growing here.

Here's a panorama of the area. Remember that you can make the image larger by clicking on it.

Across the expanse of the valley, looking in the other direction, we could see this:

We walked a little over two miles. As we reached the end of the trail, we could see the bison off in the distance. You can see them just a little below where the sky meets the mountains in the image below.

We're expecting a high temperature of 81 degrees today. Can I get a "Hallelujah!" There's lots of hiking to be done in the park. If I can tear myself away from the prairie dogs, we'll do some walking.