Comanche National Grassland: Picketwire Canyon

I arrived at the Withers Canyon Trailhead/Camping area in the dark last night and quickly set up camp. It was a clear, calm night and so I decided to try and take a few astrophotography photos with my new lens. I ended up getting a decent photo of the Milky Way above my glowing tent.

This morning, I woke up, ate breakfast and hit the trail. The hike starts with a pretty steep descent down into the canyon. Once down below the hiking is pretty flat and easy with lots of views of the wide canyon system.

Late season blooming wildflowers (Rocky Mountain bee plant and sunflowers) were still in bloom.

The first point of interest was the ruins of a stone building.

From the building the trail continued on southwest through some pleasant scenery with scattered cottonwood trees.

Along the way I found a few panels of rock art: petroglyphs carved into the rock.

The next point of interest was the Dolores Mission and Cemetery. 

Dating from the late 1800s, the mission served a small Hispanic community in the Picketwire Canyon. Headstones in the cemetery mostly mark the graves of young children and were the ornate carvings were carved into "blanks", headstones that could be purchased pre-made. 

After a short time exploring the mission and cemetery, it was time to move on to the main attraction of Picketwire Canyon: the dinosaur trackway. Just before reaching the trackway, there is a replica Apatosaurus shoulder blade. The replica is based on an actual shoulder blade that was excavated from this area.

Shortly after checking out the shoulder blade, I arrived at the track site. It is the largest dinosaur track site in North America. 

The tracks found here are mainly from two different species of dinosaurs: herbivorous apatosaurus and carnivorous allosaurus. The tracks are found in the rocks on both sides of the Purgatory River.

Tracks on the opposite side of the river from the trailhead were difficult to find. It seems that river has flooded fairly recently covering parts of the trackway with logs and other debris. I spent about an hour at the trackway before moving on. 

The last stop of the hike would be Rourke Ranch. Along the way to the ranch house, I found an interesting natural arch.

 There was also more rock art,

and some nice views of the Purgatory River.

The ranch itself was a little bit anticlimactic. The old house is interesting, but the area surrounding it is a bit weedy and structures seem to be falling down.

I relaxed, snacked and dozed off for a bit on the porch of the ranch house. As I moved on, retracing my steps back to the trailhead, I observed a few migrating tarantulas.

I was a long, but worthwhile hike. I would return to the area again. However, I don't think I would bother hiking all the way back to the Rourke Ranch. I would probably turn around at the arch, just past the dinosaur trackway.