Bison on Parade at Caprock Canyon State Park

Location: Caprock Canyon State Park (el. 2,600 ft); Quitaque, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 Cell Phone)
(click picture to enlarge)

I pulled into Caprock Canyon State Park about 1:00 pm on Monday with plans to be here a couple of days but immediately changed my mind. There was no reliable cell phone signal or wi-fi connection anywhere in the park. It was strange in that one minute my phone would have a very strong signal and then absolutely nothing. That on again/off again was very frustrating. Reading the brochure the park gives out at the time of checking in, it said, "In case of emergency, call 911." I thought that was funny since there was no cell phone signal. A year ago it wouldn't have bothered me to stay here a couple days and be off the cell grid but my situation has changed and I feel the need to be available all the time. So my plan was to explore as much of the park that afternoon as I could and move on the next day. 

Campsite. Lots of different spiders around.

Typical road and view in the park

This is a panoramic picture from the cell phone. This type of landscape needs it.

Red Rock outcroppings

Erosion has been working overtime

Some cactus with blooms or fruit. It was growing right on the side of the road.

I was able to walk a short trail that led to a nice outcropping with a great view.

Rugged Landscape

I hitched up Tuesday morning with plans to go to campground in Amarillo. I have been camping in the country for a while and the change to city-life will be nice. 

On my way out of the park, I was behind a man and woman on motorcycles who had camped a few sites away from me. They suddenly came to a stop and I saw the reason why. Bison were crossing the road. This park is the home of the Official Texas State Bison Herd and was one of the reasons I came to this park. The beginning of the herd was put together by Charles Goodnight back in the late 1800's at the nagging  encouragement of his wife. With the isolation of this herd, they remain direct descendants from the vast herds that used to roam the Great Plains.

The motorcyclists wisely stopped a ways back because who knows how many motorcycles the bison have seen. I eased forward to act as a buffer for the motorcycles and to try to hurry the bison along.

I heard the big one that was looking at me clearly say, "Hey partner, we have the right-of-way here". I said, OK.

It appeared to be at least a half dozen spring calves so the herd is doing well. Just about the time the first group cleared the road, the second group came out of the woods.

There were some big animals walking slow.

The one on the right stopped and looked at me as I was taking the pictures. The one directly behind him must have been his wife cause she prompted him to keep moving.  

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.