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| Hiking | 11.20 Miles |
450 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.20 Miles | 5 Hrs 16 Mns | | 2.29 mph |
| 450 ft AEG | 22 Mns Break | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Caprock Canyon wasn’t closed for deer hunting this week so I headed back up there to finish the Holmes Canyon hike. I did this hike solo because I think I broke Ginny on our last hike, sore foot. Left just before sunrise and was able to experience driving along the Llano Estacado Plateau just as the sun was rising. Not a mountain or hill in sight just flat. Lots of flat. Still an awesome experience, the sun just cresting to the east, still kind of flat looking as it rises and a view to the west as far as you can see on a flat earth (about 16 miles). The Canadian Geese were just heading out somewhere to the south all in formation. Kind of beautiful for me in its own way being I’m used to mountains. Temps were in the low 30’s but is supposed to get up to the mid 60’s today.
Arrived at the lower end of Holmes Creek about 9:00 and headed up stream. There is no trail along this creek, it is strictly a bushwhack. Caprock has a heard of buffalo and they have created a sort of route that I would follow up the creek. Heavy grasses or reeds growing along the creek bed in places over 6 feet tall so it was kind of slow going. Between the deer, wild boar and buffalo (of which I saw none in this canyon but a lot of sign) a route could be made out in the tall grasses, still required pushing through in places. It had just rained here in the last few days so everything was muddy. This is a rally slick mud that involved a lot of slipping and sliding, also the kind of mud that cakes to the bottoms of your boots. I think I added a couple pounds to my boots. Made it to the upper reaches of the canyon that ends near the park entrance, 5.5 miles. Took a short break and headed back.
Great hike with fantastic weather, luckily I didn’t encounter any buffalo along the creek, I’m not sure of trail etiquette for buffalo, I know I yield to horses and bikes yield to hikers but what about buffalo. I would probably yield since they are a bit bigger than me, although it would have been tricky in the tall reeds. I did stop near the park headquarters to view the heard of bison up near lake Theo. |
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