High Plains Drifter

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Palo Duro Canyon at night under near-full moonlight

There isn’t a whole lot to talk about concerning the second day of my chase/photography vacation.  I made a last minute decision to abandon the idea to stay south (Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Pass for Day 2 and chasing Central/South Texas Day 3).  Trends in the models were less and less favorable for an isolated supercell in an area I feel comfortable chasing.  This ultimately turned out to be a good decision, because at the time I am typing this summary, storms developed south of Waco and by sunset were east of I-35 between Austin and Houston.

Instead, on Day 2 I decided to drive out toward the Palo Duro Canyon/Caprock Canyons area.  I was initially somewhat intrigued at the possibility of an isolated storm in a pathetic 500 J/kg CAPE environment, and I leisurely drove across the far southern Texas Panhandle watching cumulus struggle to develop into towering cumulus in the lower to mid 30s dewpoints…despite quite chilly temperatures aloft.  I reached Caprock Canyons state park, but it was about 6:00pm by that time.  I didn’t spend a whole lot of time here, though, as I was feeling pretty fatigued from the long drive from Roswell.  At around 7:00pm, watching the last of the cumulus dissipate, I decided to take the scenic Highway 207 drive north.  About 20 miles north of Silverton, I stopped for a little bit to photograph some of the flooded farm fields from a recent heavy rain event.  I was thinking initially of just driving straight to Dodge City.  I then changed my mind and decided that, since there was a near-full moon, I would do some late night photography of the Palo Duro Canyon… so I drove over to Amarillo for a late dinner and got a motel room for the night.  I slept from about 10:00pm to 1:00am and then set out to the Palo Duro Canyon via Wayside.  I spent about an hour and a half photographing some of the same farm fields with water as well as the Palo Duro Canyon at a picnic area and roadside pull off on the south side of the canyon along Highway 207.

Begin:  Roswell, NM
End: Amarillo, TX
Day Two Mileage: 389 mi.
Trip Mileage: 1007 mi.

14 images from this day’s shoot: