Uncategorized – Page 48 – Living Wonderously

thermometer
It looks like tomorrow’s bike ride in Wichita Falls, Texas, is going to live up to its name. The temperature reading above was taken at 10:30 this morning in the trailhead parking area for the 6-mile hike we did at Palo Duro Canyon State Park. I felt sorry for the many hikers and bikers we saw just heading out on the trail. We had already finished our hike by 10:30. Yesterday afternoon when we arrived at the park we felt the brunt of the blistering Texas summer heat and knew that we’d have to start out early today if we wanted to make the walk to see the famous Lighthouse landmark.

The Lighthouse is a beautiful rock formation in the canyon and it’s not accessible by car. You can see it through a telescope that’s set up in the Visitor Center, which is probably the only way a large majority of the hoards of people who visit this park have ever seen it. I’m very thankful that we have the health and energy required to get up close and personal with natural wonders. By the way, Lee wants to let Ruth know that if she had been on this trip the two of them would have climbed to the top. Ha!

canyon

Now we’re on the road to Wichita Falls, enjoying the air-conditioning in the car. Miles of flat, northwest Texas landscape viewed from here makes me wonder even more that a place like Palo Duro could be in the same state.

Along the highway between Roseburg, Oregon, and Diamond Lake, a number of areas in the Umpqua National Forest provide easy access to viewpoints of spectacular waterfalls. A part of our annual trip to Oregon is a visit with a friend who lives in Roseburg. After a week of strenuous outdoor activities we decided that we could allow ourselves one day that would involve more time driving instead of hiking to view this scenic part of southern Oregon.

We met our friends at the Toketee Ranger Station for a picnic lunch. We then drove the short distance to Toketee Falls and walked the half-mile trail to the viewpoint. A dive into the pool at the base of the falls would have been refreshing, but we couldn’t find a way to get close to the rocks at the edge of the falls.

The trail to Watson Falls approached the bottom of the falls so at this waterfall we could get close enough to feel the refreshing spray from the falls. Many ferns and lush vegetation take advantage of the shade and moisture here, which added to our enjoyment of this beautiful spot.