Thursday, March 4, 2021 - Copper Breaks SP, Quanah, TX

Thursday, March 4, 2021 - Our Last Night at Copper Breaks SP, Quanah, TX 

Dean was awake and up before me this morning.  I think it was around 6am, but I'm not sure.  I was tired after I was up with leg cramps last night.  I used to have them all the time, but haven't dealt with this for quite awhile.  I hope it was just a one time thing.  Maybe all the hiking yesterday played a part.

We decided we would get out this morning and make one last hike here in the park.  Rocky Ledges Trail is another "challenging" hike according to the park's literature.  It was nearly 10:30 when we arrived at the trail site.  It started out pretty easy.  It didn't take too long to see what they meant by challenging  As a hiker only, I can't imagine riding a bicycle down this trail.  We saw the tire tracks along the way.  I would have been terrified to ride a bike on this often narrow with a few rapid drops in elevation that we came to.   We slid, held on to things, climbed, once literally on our hands and knees going up.  It was too far to turn back, so we just kept on going.  It was all worth it, as it was just a beautiful area. 

This was so pretty this morning looking out over the lake.

This is part of the trail

Pretty view.

A view from our walk

Part of our path

More of the path

Looks like a mushroom.

This area has had a lot of rock collapse - we stayed back from it.

This is when we saw the jets fly over.  Dean was looking for it as I was trying to take a picture...and missed it.

Beautiful views along the way

Another view

Pease River in the background

Another picture of the Pease River - to the right, the white colored area is part of the path we will walk.

This was an interesting drop.  I had to take a picture to prove we came down this.

It is really a beautiful area.

More of our path

Towards the end.  This path was narrow and high, and we could see the bicycle tracks on this path.  

I was wasted by the time we finished the hike, which was about 1.5 miles in length.  It was a real workout.  We returned to the campground just before noon.  Here are a few more pictures of the campground with a little more daylight.

After a light lunch and a little rest, we made the drive to Crowell, Texas for groceries at Smith's Grocery.  It was a small store but it had everything we needed.  The lady at the register was very nice and visited with us after we paid.  I loved how the cart was pulled up to the counter so she could remove the items and scan them. 

 

We returned to the park.  I put the groceries away and we both rested for awhile before it was time to fix dinner.  I made meatloaf, macaroni and cheese and warmed up some frozen corn.  It really hit the spot.  We have enough leftovers for tomorrow night, always a plus on a travel day.

Our drive tomorrow is approximately 251 miles which will be approximately 5 hours on the road, including stops along the way.  It will be a long day, but worth driving the extra hours to see family in the Wichita area before making our way back home.